Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
J3.4 LAGRANGIAN MODELING OF DISPERSION IN THE STABLE BOUNDARY LAYER

Current knowledge of dispersion in the stable boundary layer (SBL) is far from complete and indeed much less so than for its convective counterpart. For the SBL, dispersion from surface releases is the most wellunderstood and documented case thanks to theoretical work (e.g., Horst, 1979; van Ulden, 1978) and field observations, most notably the Prairie Grass experiment (Barad, 1958). However, for sources above the surface, the situation is less clear due to insufficient observations and information on the turbulence structure. Theories exist for the vertical dispersion of elevated plumes—standard statistical theory (Taylor, 1921; Venkatram et al., 1984), an alternative statistical model for stable environments (Pearson et al., 1983), and eddydiffusion (K) theory (Nieuwstadt, 1984a). The main challenge is knowing the conditions under which they apply and having the required turbulence information. Large-eddy simulation (LES) is a promising tool for investigating turbulence and dispersion in the SBL. A number of LESs have been conducted (e.g., Beare et al., 2005; Brown et al., 1994; Kosovic and Curry, 2000), but they have been restricted to a weakly stable boundary layer (WSBL), which is characterized by moderate-tostrong winds, weak surface cooling, and a continuously turbulent layer. The key restriction is to continuous (i.e. , non-intermittent) turbulence. The above LESs and the one used here (Moeng and Sullivan, 1994; Sullivan et al., 1994) have reproduced several SBL features including a low-level jet, a triple-layer potential temperature struc ture, and realistic turbulence profiles. We investigate dispersion in the SBL using a Lagrangian particle model driven by velocity fields from LES. In this approach, one follows passive particles in a turbulent flow given the random velocity field and finds the ensemble-mean concentration by simulating thousands of particle trajectories; the mean concentration is proportional to the probability density function (PDF) of particle position. The approach has been applied suc-
Morphometric Analysis of Maxillary Skeletal Expansion Effects on the Nasal Cavity

Author(s): Moschik, Christoph Erich | Advisor(s): Moon, Won | Abstract: Introduction: The shape, size and volume of the bony nasal cavity is highly influenced by the width of the nasal floor, which is formed by the palatine bone and the palatal processes of the maxilla and can be orthodontically manipulated with the MSE (Maxillary Skeletal Expansion) technique. Current evaluation of changes in this area before and after expansion relay on cross-sectional areas and airflow measurements. However, these techniques are not able to truly point out the extend of bone changes and volume changes of this important structure. Materials and Method: This retrospective study had a sample of 22 patients distributed in two groups. Group 1 was treated with Hyrax and consisted of 6 growing patients (3 females and 3 males, mean age 12y2mo), group 2 was treated with MSE and consisted of 16 non-growing patients (10 females and 6 males, mean age 20y7mo) who met inclusion criteria. Analysis of CBCT scans before and after expansion treatment was conducted in OnDemand3D software, with automated superimposition on the cranial base. Three reference planes were established, based on reliably identifiable anatomical landmarks, anterior nasal spine (ANS), posterior nasal spine (PNS) and nasion (N). The distance between ANS and PNS in the AP plane was divided into 4 sections, and the distance between ANS and N was divided into 5 sections, excluding the most superior one. Transverse linear measurements at the resulting cross-points between the vertical and horizontal sections resulted in a total of 32 measurement points along the lateral walls of the nasal cavity.Results: The MSE group showed overall statistically significant larger movements of the lateral walls of the nasal cavity (p l 0.05). The bony structures followed the overall expansion pattern of the maxilla, though bending at the orbital rims and areas of higher bone density occured. Conclusion: MSE produces not only larger maxillary skeletal transverse movements, but also shows more expansion effects on the lateral walls of the nasal cavity compared to tooth-borne expansion.
Open‐canal fittings: Ten take‐home tips

Fitting hearing aids involves innovation and compromise. This is especially true in deciding the tightness of the fit, whether of an earmold or a custom product. Tight-fitting instruments are good for obtaining high levels of gain and output, especially in the lower frequencies, and for minimizing feedback problems. However, they often are uncomfortable, sometimes create an unacceptable occlusion effect, and can give the patient a “plugged up” sensation. If the patient has normal or near-normal hearing in the lower frequencies, it is common practice to move toward a more open fitting to alleviate occlusion and let low frequencies into the ear naturally. In this case, the compromise is reduced gain and output, and a greater chance of unwanted acoustic feedback. There is little documentation of the first open-canal (OC) fittings, but we know they received considerable attention immediately after the CROS-type hearing aid was introduced.1 It was quickly discovered that the open earpieces (or tubing only) used for the CROS hearing aid also could be used for ipsilateral high-frequency amplification (hence, the term IROS [ipsilateral routing of signals], referring to a large vent). In the late 1960s, researchers showed that OC fittings could provide useful high-frequency amplification.2-4 In the ensuing decades, there wasn’t much excitement about open fittings, though there was some renewed interest during the Libby horn’s peak of popularity5 and on other occasions when a product designed specifically for high-frequency hearing loss was introduced.6 The ho-hum attitude toward OC fittings that persisted for more than 30 years was stirred up considerably a few years ago when five key aspects were combined in a single OC product: a small “cute” BTE casing, multichannel compression and gain adjustments, a thin tube channeling the sound from the hearing aid to the ear, a comfortable nonoccluding eartip, and, most importantly, effective feedbackreduction algorithms. As reviewed by Mueller,7 these five factors combine to offer a wide range of potential patient benefits, and OC products have rapidly taken over a sizable share of the total hearing aid market. While the peer-reviewed journals have published little about these modern OC fittings, several articles about this style have appeared in the trade journals, and the OC product is a hot topic at hearing aid workshops and seminars. However, there are still some key issues related to these products that need further clarification, and maybe even a couple areas where misconceptions exist. In this paper, we’ll provide some tips on OC fittings, which we hope will clarify more than they confuse.
Measurement and Inference in Wine Tasting*

The paper has three basic objectives: (1) to discuss and analyze the subtleties of ranking wines in blind tastings, (2) to analyze the degree of agreement or disagreement among the tasters (judges) and (3) to shed some light on the problem of identifying the wines and to determine when the identifications of the judges might be called statistically significant. The first issue utilizes the rank sums or the related measure, “votes against,” and discusses the appropriateness of a statistical test introduced by Kramer. The second introduces Kendall's W coefficient of concordance and discusses some other, related measures. The third derives the finite sample distribution of the number of correct identifications under the null hypothesis of random identifications, from which critical values can be obtained, both for the case in which each wine has to be identified exactly and the case in which there is a small number of different types of wine that have to be identified. (JEL Classification numbers: C12, C15, C49, C59)
Shelf Life and Field Evaluation of CAMB Bacillus thuringiensis Biopesticide Against Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner)(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Tomato

Previous lab report (Karim et al., 1999) had shown the efficacy of CAMB Bacillus thuringiensis preparation in potato field to control Helicoverpa armigera. In present study, CAMB Bt formulations based on locally isolated Bt strain were checked against 1st to 4th instar larvae of H. armigera by incorporating Bt proteins into artificial diet. Early instars showed significant susceptibility to Bt formulation. Laboratory assays of stored CAMB Bt formulations did not show any significant change in their toxicity towards H. armigera larvae in laboratory assays. Potency of stored Bt formulations for 12 and 24 months were also tested in small scale experiment conducted under contained conditions on tomato crop. All formulations were found effective to control H. armigera larvae in tomato crop. The present study shows that CAMB Bt formulation can be used in field applications to control target pests after long storage time.
On G-Cyclicity Of Operators

In this thesis, we focus our study on a part of cyclic phenomena, namely Gcyclic operators on an infinite dimensional separable complex Hilbert space. We study some properties of cyclic, supercyclic, and hyupersyclic operators, then we give some examples that explain the relationship between them, where we find that, supercyclicity stands in the midway between hypercyclicity and cyclicity. In the first step we give a necessary and sufficient conditions for an operator to be G-cyclic, we show that every G-cyclic operator is supercyclic but the converse need not be true in general. Then we discuss some of the properties of the spectrum of G-cyclic operators. In the second step, as examples of G-cyclic operators we define disk-cyclic and codisk-cyclic operators, and state and prove the Disk-Codisk cyclicity criterion. Finally we give applications of this result.
Do Input Subsidies Reduce Poverty among Smallholder Farm Households? Panel Survey Evidence from Zambia

Many of the ‘new’ agricultural input subsidy programs (ISPs) in sub-Saharan Africa include among their objectives raising farm incomes and reducing rural poverty, but there is a dearth of empirical evidence on whether ISPs are achieving these objectives. Focusing on the case of Zambia, where ISPs account for approximately 50% of all agricultural sector poverty reduction program expenditures, we use nationally-representative panel survey data to estimate the effects of ISP fertilizer on smallholder farm household incomes, poverty incidence, and poverty severity based on the US$2 and US$1.25/capita/day poverty lines. Panel data (fixed effects and correlated random effects) and instrumental variables/control function methods are used to correct for the potential endogeneity of subsidized fertilizer to household incomes and poverty status. Results suggest that although ISP fertilizer raises incomes, the increase is not large enough or widely distributed enough to substantively reduce poverty incidence or severity among smallholder farm households in Zambia.
Inattentiveness to Warnings and Precautions on Prescription Drug Labels among Malaysian Adult Patients: The Influence of Polypharmacy

Background: Cautionary information on prescription drug labels is crucial to ensure safe administration. The current study examined patients’ attentiveness to warnings and precautions on drug labels in a Malaysian public hospital. Methods: Five labels of the most commonly prescribed medications in the hospital were shown to 208 adult patients. Using face-to-face interviews, participants were asked to interpret the information on the labels. Results: The majority (78.4%) of the participants did not attempt to interpret the warnings and precautions of at least one label. Inattentiveness to such information was also found to be associated with polypharmacy, which was defined as taking five or more prescription medications (adjusted odds ratio: 8.57; 95% confidence interval: 1.44, 50.96; p=0.02). Conclusion: This study confirms the lack of awareness of drug safety among the Malaysian population in general, highlighting the need for improving patient education and revising the labeling format. Key words: Drug labeling, Malaysia, Public hospitals, Polypharmacy, Prescription drugs.
Directed deposition of nickel nanoparticles using self-assembled organic template

Self-assembled organic monolayers are useful templates for nanofabrication. Ordered layer of long alkyl-chain molecules can direct the wet chemical deposition of metallic coatings on different substrates. Ordered structures of fatty acids and their motions on the phenyloctane/HOPG interface are observed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Modification of self-assembled fatty acid patterns due to hydroxamic acid presence is also in the focus of the research. Fatty acid layer formation, the structure of the formed thin film on solid/liquid interface, and simultaneous nickel colloidal deposition have been investigated.
Water–energy balance and the geographic pattern of species richness of western Palearctic butterflies

Abstract. 1. Using two sources of data to estimate butterfly species richness, the potential influences of 11 environmental variables on the richness gradient of butterflies in western/central Europe and northern Africa were examined with multiple regression and spatial autocorrelation analysis. A measure of water–energy balance, actual evapotranspiration, explained 79% of the variance in butterfly species richness using data derived from range maps, and 72% of the variance using data derived from grid‐based distribution maps. All other variables explained less than 4% of the variance in the regression models and differed depending on the data source.
ESTIMATION OF THE SPECTRAL SENSITIVITY FUNCTIONS OF UN-MODIFIED AND MODIFIED COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF DIGITAL CAMERAS TO ENABLE THEIR USE AS A MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING SYSTEM FOR UAVS

Abstract. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) digital cameras on-board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to be used as multispectral imaging systems; however, their spectral sensitivity is usually unknown and needs to be either measured or estimated. This paper details a step by step methodology for identifying the spectral sensitivity of modified (to be response to near infra-red wavelengths) and un-modified COTS digital cameras, showing the results of its application for three different models of camera. Six digital still cameras, which are being used as imaging systems on-board different UAVs, were selected to have their spectral sensitivities measured by a monochromator. Each camera was exposed to monochromatic light ranging from 370 nm to 1100 nm in 10 nm steps, with images of each step recorded in RAW format. The RAW images were converted linearly into TIFF images using DCRaw, an open-source program, before being batch processed through ImageJ (also open-source), which calculated the mean and standard deviation values from each of the red-green-blue (RGB) channels over a fixed central region within each image. These mean values were then related to the relative spectral radiance from the monochromator and its integrating sphere, in order to obtain the relative spectral response (RSR) for each of the cameras colour channels. It was found that different un-modified camera models present very different RSR in some channels, and one of the modified cameras showed a response that was unexpected. This highlights the need to determine the RSR of a camera before using it for any quantitative studies.
Corporate Governance, Norms and Practices

We evaluate the impact of corporate governance on the valuation of firms in a large cross-section of countries. Unlike previous work, we differentiate between minimally accepted governance attributes that are satisfied by all firms in a given country and governance attributes that are adopted at the firm level. This approach allows us to differentiate between firm-level and country-level corporate governance, thus contributing to an ongoing debate in the literature about whether governance attributes are largely determined by country factors or firm characteristics. Despite the costs associated with improving corporate governance at the firm level, we find that many firms choose to adopt governance provisions beyond those that are adopted by all firms in the country, and that these improvements in corporate governance are positively associated with firm valuation. Firms that choose not to adopt sound governance mechanisms tend to have concentrated ownership and sizeable free cash flow, consistent with agency theories based on self-interested managers and controlling shareholders. Our results indicate that the market rewards companies that are prepared to adopt governance attributes beyond those required by laws and common corporate practices in the home country.
nExaminer: A Semi-automated Assignment Assessment Framework for Moodle.

In this paper, we present the nExaminer framework for semi-automated assignment assessment in an open source virtual learning system, namely, Moodle. The motivation for developing the framework is established on the observation of a major problem associated with traditional assignment assessment in Moodle - managing an effective relationship between the instructor and the students is difficult. Thus, the design and implementation of the nExaminer framework is discussed, along with the advantages it provides to both students and instructors. Experimental results with the nExaminer framework have been encouraging. It shows that the framework provides instructors with the ability to semi-automatically generate subjective feedback and automate the process of objective assessment within Moodle in an efficient manner. Moreover, the results also manifest that students are motivated by the usage of automated objective assessment in the nExaminer framework.
Advanced Asian summer monsoon onset in recent decades

In this paper, we first elucidate the significant seasonality in long‐term trends in the Asian monsoon on a monthly mean basis. Advanced monsoon onsets over the Bay of Bengal and the western Pacific were evident in recent decades. Increasing rainfall in May along 10°N reflected the advanced monsoon onset. Decreasing rainfall trends in June along 10°N were also detected. Because the rainfall trends in July and August showed less significance, the monsoon transition phase should be discussed in the context of climate change rather than boreal summer mean field. The advanced monsoon onset and weakening of the monsoon during early summer are most likely to be attributed to the heat contrast between the Asian landmass and the tropical Indian Ocean. The heating trend over the Asian landmass primarily contributes to the heat contrast variability with the persistent SST increase in the Indian Ocean throughout the season.
Slovakia: Record holder in the lowest turnout

On May 24 the election to European parliament was held in Slovakia. This election was the third since the country`s entry to the EU. As in the previous contests, the turnout was extremely low and in 2014 it reached its historical minimum as only 13 per cent of the Slovak citizens participated on the polls. The elections to EP in Slovakia are held under a proportional electoral system with a single nationwide constituency where all 13 MEPs are elected. Originally Slovakia had 14 MEPs, but after Romania and Bulgaria entered the Union, this number was slightly reduced. In the election only political parties may compete and the country applies a 5 per cent threshold what limits the chances for smaller parties. This system was adopted before the country`s first European election in 2004 and has not been modified so far.
Factors affecting the spread of "Bois Noir" disease in north Italy vineyards

To define control strategies for “Bois Noir” disease (BN) it is necessary to know factors favouring its spreading by the vector Hyalesthes obsoletus Signoret. During 2003-2006 a research was carried out in 18 vineyards of a grape-growing area of North Italy to assess the influence of insecticides, applied on grapevine canopies, and environment surrounding the vineyards on disease spreading. The vector population density was higher outside than in the centre of the vineyards. Insecticides applied to grapevine canopies did not significantly influence the vector population level in the centre of the vineyards. The majority of vineyards showed randomized distribution of symptomatic grapevines. Seven vineyards had an aggregate distribution due to an edge effect from a border side with nettle. The incidence of border sides not contiguous to other grapevine rows on vineyard surface was positively related to higher levels of BN. The incidence of border sides with nettle on vineyard surface was positively correlated to disease incidence in the vineyards with aggregate distribution of symptomatic grapevines. All the data support the importance of surrounding vegetation as source of inoculum of BN phytoplasma. Molecular analyses on ribosomal and tuf genes show that 16 out of the 18 vineyards were affected only by BN: in 13 only tuf-type I was identified, in 2 only tuf-type II, in 1 both tuf-types, and in 2 it was not possible to identify the tuf-type of phytoplasmas detected. In the weeds tested only tuftype II phytoplasmas were identified while H. obsoletus was carrying both phytoplasma tuf-types.
Effect of friction fatigue on pile capacity in dense sand

The paper presents the results of a series of field tests performed to study the causes of friction fatigue experienced by displacement piles. Four instrumented model piles were installed at a dense sand test-bed site. The test series was designed to impose different levels of cyclic loading during pile installation. Static and cyclic load tests were subsequently performed to study the differences in the axial capacities developed for ostensibly monotonic and cyclic installations. The test results indicated that the mobilized horizontal effective stress regime that controls pile side friction primarily depends on the in situ sand state, as reflected by the cone penetration test CPT qc resistance. A zone of highly stressed sand that produced a concentration of high shear resistance was mobilized in the vicinity of the pile base. The horizontal effective stress that acted on the pile shaft reduced in response to cyclic loading, with the largest reductions occurring for high-intensity cyclic loading or when the pile had experienced only a few load cycles during installation. Although cyclic loading caused a reduction in the horizontal effective stress that acted on the pile shaft, the elevated stress built up in the vicinity of the pile base during installation remained higher than that remote from the base. The elevated stress in the vicinity of the pile base only dissipated after cyclic tension loading had been applied.
Semantic Tools for Forensics: Towards Finding Evidence in Short Messages

Mobile devices are a popular means for planning, appointing and conducting criminal offences. In particular, short messages (SMS) and chats often contain evidential information. Due to the terms of their use, these types of messages are fundamentally different from other forms of written communication in terms of their grammatical and syntactic structure. Due to the low price of media storage, messages are rarely deleted. On one hand, this fact is quite positive as possible evidential information is not lost. On the other hand, considering only SMSs, 15,000 and more on only one cell phone is not uncommon. In the most cases of organized or gang crime, there is not one but many devices in use. Analysing this huge amount of messages manually is time consuming and therefore not economically justifiable in the cases of small and medium crimes. In this work, we propose a process chain that enables to decrease the analysis and evaluation time dramatically by reducing the messages which need to be examined manually. Keywords–forensic; short message; German; text processing