Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recovery from multi‐millennial natural coastal hypoxia in the Stockholm Archipelago, Baltic Sea, terminated by modern human activity

Enhanced nutrient input and warming have led to the development of low oxygen (hypoxia) in coastal waters globally. For many coastal areas, insight into redox conditions prior to human impact is lacking. Here, we reconstructed bottom water redox conditions and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the coastal Stockholm Archipelago over the past 3000 yr. Elevated sedimentary concentrations of molybdenum indicate (seasonal) hypoxia between 1000 b.c.e. and 1500 c.e. Biomarker‐based (TEX86) SST reconstructions indicate that the recovery from hypoxia after 1500 c.e. coincided with a period of significant cooling (∼ 2°C), while human activity in the study area, deduced from trends in sedimentary lead and existing paleobotanical and archeological records, had significantly increased. A strong increase in sedimentary lead and zinc, related to more intense human activity in the 18th and 19th century, and the onset of modern warming precede the return of hypoxia in the Stockholm Archipelago. We conclude that climatic cooling played an important role in the recovery from natural hypoxia after 1500 c.e. , but that eutrophication and warming, related to modern human activity, led to the return of hypoxia in the 20th century. Our findings imply that ongoing global warming may exacerbate hypoxia in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea.
Results of using internet as an academic tool for learning in the drawing course at the level university

This applied research was aimed to determine whether Internet use is effective as learning strategy in a module of engineering drawing. It was determined on the basis of the knowledge and skills in Internet usage, the perception of students toward the course and student achievement. The sample consisted of 70 students who were distributed into two groups, the Experimental Group (EG) and the Control Group (CG); 32 students (45.71%) were female and 38 (54.28%) were males. The results for the profile of students involved in research, both belonging to the CG as in the EG, show that groups were equivalent in the input variables, average age, length of use of computers, average hours a week of Internet use, Internet knowledge and skills in managing the Internet. Regarding the perception of course, the experimental group had a better perception on the student instructional module that the average perception of students in the control group. When comparing the average variable academic achievement among students in the experimental group and the control group, using statistical parametric test Student t, it was determined that there was no significant difference in the average academic performance between groups. However, the results of the average ratings of both groups show that the average scores for students in the EG was 11.88% higher than the average scores for students in the CG. The results showed that the use of the Internet as a tool for academic learning contributes to improving academic performance, but with no significant differences with regard to traditional improve the perception of students on an academic year and reduce the hours of class attendance.
Phonetics: A Coursebook

1. The difference between speech and writing 2. Consonant voicing 3. Consonant place of articulation 4. Consonant manner of articulation 5. The IPA chart and mid-sagittal sections for consonants 6. Vowels 7. Airstream mechanisms 8. Syllables and stress 9. Allophonic variations of voice 10. Allophonic variations of place 11. Allophonic variations of manner 12. Allophonic variations of vowels 13. Allophonic transcription and parametric diagrams 14. Speech sound variation 15. Weak forms and elision 16. Liaison 17. Assimilation 18. Broad transcription 19. Intonation 20. Functions of intonation.
On the Effect of Green Bonds on the Profitability and Credit Quality of Project Financing

The relatively recent green bond market is increasingly attracting interest at the technical, regulatory, and academic research levels. Although a considerable body of research on green bonds focuses on the investor’s perspective, this study takes the perspective of a project finance sponsor to analyze whether there is a direct financial incentive for issuing green bonds in contrast to other types of financing. In order to measure the impact of green bond financing on the profitability and solvency of environmentally friendly investments, we study the sensitivity of the financial performance of a well-established project finance investment—the Sagunto regasification plant—to shifts in its financial structure. In particular, we develop a base case that allows us to study the impact of green financing compared to other financial structures typically used in project finance, under different scenarios. Our results show that in all cases, the internal rate of return (IRR) for shareholders is higher when green bonds instead of bank loans are issued to finance investments. Additionally, in the vast majority of the scenarios, green bond financing results in higher average debt service coverage ratios. Consequently, our results suggest that green bond financing constitutes a strong financial incentive for sponsors, which can help align their objectives with those of public authorities.
A spatial minimum spanning tree filter

It is well-known that the minimum spanning tree (MST) is widely used in image segment, edge-preserving filtering, and stereo matching. However, the non-local (NL) filter based on the MST generally results in overly smooth images, since it ignores spatial affinity. In this paper, we propose a new spatial minimum spanning tree filter (SMSTF) to improve the performance of the NL filter by designing a spatial MST to avoid over-smoothing problems, by introducing recursive techniques to implement the filtering process. The SMSTF has the advantages that: (1) the kernel of our filter considers spatial affinity and similarity of intensity; (2) The size of the filter kernel is the entire image domain; (3) the complexity of the SMSTF is linear to the number of image pixels. For these reasons, our filter achieves excellent edge-preserving results. Extensive experiments demonstrate the versatility of the proposed method in a variety of image processing and computer vision tasks, including edge-preserving smoothing, stylization, colorization, and stereo matching.
The role of situational information in conceptual knowledge

This thesis investigated the influence of situational knowledge on the performance of two common tasks; category member generation under a free-emission procedure and the judgement of similarity between two items using rating scales. In both tasks, selfreport protocols were used to identify the strategies that people seemed to be using to complete the tasks. The main goal was to identify the role of situational knowledge in the organisation of semantic memory. Traditional models would not predict a role for situational knowledge in either of the target tasks. In the category member generation studies (Chapter 2) participants frequently instantiated situations or perspectives to cue retrieval of category members for both taxonomic and ad hoc categories. Chapter 3 investigated the factors that determine subjective similarity: category type, typicality, context and presence or absence of self-report. The quantitative data analysis showed the need for careful qualifications to previous claims concerning the effect of context on similarity (Barsalou, 1982). Specifically, ad hoc category members were rated more similar with context only when judgements were made without self-report and when items were relatively typical. Self-report protocols showed that co-occurrence of items in a situation frequently entered into judgements of similarity. Chapter 4 investigated the role of events in determining the strength of this 'thematic' similarity. Individual indices of association strength between the items and an event were shown to predict similarity ratings thus confirming that thematic similarity is driven, at least partially, by the association of items to common settings. The findings lend empirical weight to theoretical positions that present memory for situational information as an integral part of conceptual knowledge. This approach may underpin a new direction for research into concepts in both normal and clinical adult populations.
Turning the Lens Toward Emotions: Considering HIV-Positive Adolescent Mothers in South Africa

The idea that adolescence, an important developmental stage in human life is embodied in emotions is not new. However, the association between adolescence, unplanned motherhood, and HIV infection, which often lead to unanticipated transitions, may influence a rethink toward understanding the emotional and mental states of adolescent mothers. Using a sociological lens, this article draws on the concept of “emotionality” and the importance of paying attention to “emotions” in offering analysis of the new reality, which HIV-positive adolescent mothers find themselves in South Africa. Specifically, this article shifts the social research focus from behavioral (e.g. sexual behaviors) research to exploring HIV-positive adolescent mothers’ feelings, thus paying heed to a subjective emotional landscape. Through an inductive thematic analysis, the emotional accounts and unifying themes extracted from 13 (10 HIV-positive adolescent mothers and three key informants) semistructured in-depth interviews present an understanding of the various needs of an emerging youthful generation living with HIV, rather than a narrow, conventional focus on costs, risks, and impending mortality.
The LLAB model for quantifying colour appearance

A reliable colour appearance model is desired by industry to achieve high colour fidelity between images produced using a range of different imaging devices. The aim of this study was to derive a reliable colour appearance model capable of predicting the change of perceived attributes of colour appearance under a wide range of media/viewing conditions. The research was divided into three parts: characterising imaging devices, conducting a psychophysical experiment, and developing a colour appearance model. Various imaging devices were characterised including a graphic art scanner, a Cromalin proofing system, an IRIS ink jet printer, and a Barco Calibrator. For the former three devices, each colour is described by four primaries: cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). Three set of characterisation samples (120 and 31 black printer, and cube data sets) were produced and measured for deriving and testing the printing characterisation models. Four black printer algorithms (BPA), were derived. Each included both forward and reverse processes. A 2nd BPA printing model taking into account additivity failure, grey component replacement (GCR) algorithm gave the most accurate prediction to the characterisation data set than the other BPA models. The PLCC (Piecewise Linear interpolation assuming Constant Chromaticity coordinates) monitor model was also implemented to characterise the Barco monitor. The psychophysical experiment was conducted to compare Cromalin hardcopy images viewed in a viewing cabinet and softcopy images presented on a monitor under a wide range of illuminants (white points) including: D93, D65, D50 and A. Two scaling methods: category judgement and paired comparison, were employed by viewing a pair of images. Three classes of colour models were evaluated: uniform colour spaces, colour appearance models and chromatic adaptation transforms. Six images were selected and processed via each colour model. The results indicated that the BFD chromatic transform gave the most accurate predictions of the visual results. Finally, a colour appearance model, LLAB, was developed. It is a combination of the BFD chromatic transform and a modified version of CIELAB uniform colour space to fit the LUTCRI Colour Appearance Data previously accumulated. The form of the LLAB model is much simpler and its performance is more precise to fit experimental data than those of the other models.
A CHANDRA OBSERVATION OF THE ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXY IRAS 19254−7245 (THE SUPERANTENNAE): X-RAY EMISSION FROM THE COMPTON-THICK ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS AND THE DIFFUSE STARBURST

We present a Chandra observation of IRAS 19254−7245, a nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxy also known as the Superantennae. The high spatial resolution of Chandra allows us to disentangle for the first time the diffuse starburst (SB) emission from the embedded Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the southern nucleus. No AGN activity is detected in the northern nucleus. The 2–10 keV spectrum of the AGN emission is fitted by a flat power law (Γ = 1.3) and an He-like Fe Kα line with equivalent width ∼1.5 keV, consistent with previous observations. The Fe Kα line profile could be resolved as a blend of a neutral 6.4 keV line and an ionized 6.7 keV (He-like) or 6.9 keV (H-like) line. Variability of the neutral line is detected compared with the previous XMM-Newton and Suzaku observations, demonstrating the compact size of the iron line emission. The spectrum of the galaxy-scale extended emission excluding the AGN and other bright point sources is fitted with a thermal component with a best-fit kT of ∼0.8 keV. The 2–10 keV luminosity of the extended emission is about one order of magnitude lower than that of the AGN. The basic physical and structural properties of the extended emission are fully consistent with a galactic wind being driven by the SB. A candidate ultraluminous X-ray source is detected 8″ south of the southern nucleus. The 0.3–10 keV luminosity of this off-nuclear point source is ∼6 × 1040 erg s−1 if the emission is isotropic and the source is associated with the Superantennae.
Penerapan Sistem E-Budgeting Terhadap Transparansi Dan Akuntabilitas Keuangan Publik (Studi Pada Pemerintah Kota Surabaya)

Abstrak Surabaya adalah salah satu kota yang menggunakan teknologi informasi dalam akuntabilitas dan transparansi anggaran melalui pelaksanaan e-budgeting. Surabaya juga salah satu kota yang memiliki transparansi anggaran yang baik dan dilakukan secara online dengan menggunakan kemajuan teknologi informasi. Penerapan akuntabilitas dan transparansi anggaran pemerintah di kota Surabaya telah terwujud. Realisasi akuntabilitas bisa dilihat dari upaya pemerintah mempublikasikan pelaksanaan proses penganggaran dan program kegiatan Pemerintah Kota secara menyeluruh. Perwujudan transparansi informasi anggaran dalam penelitian ini dapat dilihat melalui informasi anggaran yang diberikan oleh Pemerintah Kota Surabaya. Implementasi berjalan dengan baik dan sesuai dengan prosedur operasional standar. Penelitian ini menggunakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Lokasi yang dipilih dalam penelitian ini adalah pemerintah kota Surabaya.
Phase Semantics of MSC Traces

Specifications for wireless telecommunications systems are often only partially defined. It is also common for the specification to consist of a set of normative scenarios together with scenarios for some of the more important exceptional behaviours. A major challenge is to find effective means of detecting feature interaction conflicts contained in such specifications. Moreover the detected conflicts should be of value in debugging the specifications and should not be cluttered with inconsequential errors that are due to the incompleteness of the specifications. The paper describes a technique for constructing a phase automaton that can be used to statically analyse the specification scenarios in order to detect certain types of interactions between them, known as phase transition conflicts. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that these kinds of inconsistency can account for a significant proportion of feature interactions. The phase automaton is intended primarily for the purpose of detecting these phase transition errors. This means the state space in the automaton only need include that part of the feature behaviour that is significant for those conflicts. This results in a small automaton that tends to make the conflict detection problem tractable.
Utilization and protection of personal data in ubiquitous computing environments

The advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) and the wide acceptance of electronic transactions for everyday tasks of individuals have a strong impact on the use and protection of personal information. Desktop and mobile computing technology, the World Wide Web, sensors, and the advances in database and storage technologies have increased the amount of personal information that is generated and the potential for this information to be (permanently) stored and processed. Any kind of personal information that results as an outcome of electronic activities of individuals, either personal or professional, belongs to the category of personal data. Personal data is a critical and valuable resource that has to be protected in order to ensure the individual’s privacy rights. In this dissertation we investigate how this personal data can be managed at the user side and simultaneously can be used in privacypreserving applications without violating individuals’ privacy. Each individual has the right to protect his privacy by retaining control over his personal data and knowing who, when and why gets access to his data. At the same time, individuals, as well as the society as a whole, may obtain significant benefits if personal data can be used legitimately for beneficial purposes. We propose an approach for privacypreserving computations and apply this approach to representative applications. These applications make use of cryptographic primitives and are based on secure multi-party computations (MPC’s). Every privacy-preserving application is implemented by a prototype and experimental results are presented to illustrate the feasibility of our approach. Apart from the management and usage of personal data we investigate how the web searches of individuals can be protected against search engine query-logs and simultaneously the target search results can be retrieved, without submitting the intended query. We model the problem theoretically, define a set of privacy objectives with respect to web search and investigate the effectiveness of the proposed solution with a set of real queries on a large web collection.
Critical appraisal on the use of everolimus in renal transplantation as an immunosuppressant to prevent organ transplant rejection

Correspondence: Fernando Giron Scientific Director, Colombiana de Trasplantes, Calle 61 N 13-23 Oficina 402 Bogota, Colombia Tel +57 1 8051165 Fax +57 1 8051164 email fgiron@colombianadetrasplantes. com Abstract: Everolimus is a proliferation inhibitor designed to target chronic allograft nephropathy including prevention of acute rejection. Acute renal allograft rejection incidence varies with the therapy used for immunosuppression. Registry data show that 15% to 35% of kidney recipients will undergo treatment for at least one episode of acute rejection within the first post-transplant year. Everolimus has been used as therapy with fullor reduced-dose cyclosporine A without evidence of increasing the acute rejection incidence. This review will summarize the available clinical trial data on the use of everolimus and its role in preventing acute rejection incidence in renal transplantation.
Chemical Contamination of Drinking Water in Resource-Constrained Settings: Global Prevalence and Piloted Mitigation Strategies

Chemical contamination of drinking water (including salinity) puts more than one billion people at risk of adverse health effects globally. Resource-constrained communities are the most affected and face unique challenges that require innovative safe water solutions. This review focuses on arsenic, fluoride, nitrates, lead, chromium, total dissolved solids, emerging organic contaminants, and, to a lesser extent, manganese, cadmium, selenium, and uranium. It covers contaminant prevalence, major health effects, and treatment technologies or avoidance strategies that have been proven effective in realistic water matrices and conditions. The review covers the levelized costs of water for pilot- and full-scale systems most relevant to resource-constrained communities, with a focus on component costs, including the costs of power systems, lifting water, waste management, and labor. These costs are not universally reported, but can be significant. The findingsare analyzed and discussed in the context of providing sustainable safe water solutions in resource-constrained settings.
Control of Nonlinear and Hybrid Process Systems: Designs for Uncertainty, Constraints and Time-Delays

Introduction. - Background on Analysis and Control of Nonlinear Systems. - Control of Nonlinear Systems with Uncertainty. - Control of Nonlinear Systems with Uncertainty and Constraints. - Hybrid Predictive Control of Constrained Linear Systems. - Hybrid Predictive Control of Nonlinear and Uncertain Systems. - Control of Hybrid Nonlinear Systems. - Fault-Tolerant Control of Process Systems. - Control of Nonlinear Systems with Time Delays.
High definition in vivo retinal volumetric video rate OCT at 0.6 Giga-voxels per second

We present full volumetric high speed OCT imaging of the retina with multiple settings varying in volume size and volume rate. The volume size ranges from 255x255 A-scans to 160x40 A-scans with 450 samples per depth scan with volume rates varying between 20.8 V/s for the largest volumes to 195.2 V/s for the smallest. The system is based on a 1060nm Fourier domain mode locked (FDML) laser with 1.6MHz line rate. Scanning along the fast axis is performed with a 2.7 kHz or 4.3 kHz resonant scanner operated in bidirectional scanning mode, while a standard galvo scanner is used for the slow axis. The performance is analyzed with respect to various potential applications, like intraoperative OCT.
FPGA Based Binary Heap Implementation: With an Application to Web Based Anomaly Prioritization

This thesis is devoted to the investigation of prioritization mechanism for web based anomaly detection. We propose a hardware realization of parallel binary heap as an application of web based anomaly prioritization. The heap is implemented in pipelined fashion in FPGA platform. The propose design takes O(1) time for all operations by ensuring minimum waiting time between two consecutive operations. We present the various design issues and hardware complexity. We explicitly analyze the design trade-offs of the proposed priority queue implementations. INDEX WORDS: Web Anomaly, FPGA, Priority Queue, Verilog FPGA BASED BINARY HEAP IMPLEMENTATION: WITH AN APPLICATION TO WEB BASED ANOMALY PRIORITIZATION