Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Direct Calculation of Snow Water Balances Using Snow Cover Information

We present a novel method for the direct determination of the snowmelt coefficient of widely used degree-day models, using only cumulated temperature and precipitation over the days of snow cover. We develop a proof of concept using (1) local measurements of precipitation, temperature and snow water equivalent (SWE) at a set of well-monitored sites in the US, and (2) available time series of snow cover from satellite and gridded daily precipitation and daily average temperature for the study region of South Tyrol, in the Italian Alps. We demonstrate how the method can reproduce the snow water balance to an acceptable extent, critically depending on the accuracy of input precipitation and temperature, highlighting the importance of a reliable representation of weather forcing if the estimate has to be robust and representative. Although not always accurate at a point, our approach yields a SWE reasonably consistent with observations, and snowmelt flows compatible with measured streamflow. At the same time, the model allows an interpretation of discrepancies between observations and simulations to detect inconsistencies between snow cover and weather forcing. This method is in principle applicable for large-scale hydrological assessments thanks to the increasing global coverage of snow cover, precipitation and temperature data. As the only other type of observation available to calibrate models is often streamflow, the direct calibration of the snow component of a model using snow cover and weather forcing reduces the number of model processes and parameters to be calibrated with streamflow, and is expected to increase model robustness.
Assessing Business-It Alignment Maturity on Multiple Assessing Business-It Alignment Maturity on Multiple Organizational Levels Organizational Levels

Close collaboration, and harmony between IT and business is crucial to succeed with efficient and effective digitalization. This is encapsulated in the concept of Business-IT alignment (BITA). Much has been written in the research literature regarding what BITA entails, how to assess BITA, and how to improve BITA. However, none of these frameworks or theories provide a practical framework that treats BITA as a multi-leveled, co-evolving process between business and IT. The purpose of this paper is thus to provide a Multi-Level BITA framework, for assessing BITA on multiple-organizational levels. The framework is constructed based on an analysis of the existing BITA frameworks and is applied to an empirical case, to evaluate its applicability to practice. The analysis shows how the BITA maturity in the case company varies and decreases along the organizational levels and how it is assessed higher by IT than by business. An in-depth reasoning behind the BITA maturity scores are provided by in-depth interviews. The Multi-Level BITA framework thus demonstrates its applicability in assessing and visualizing BITA maturity on multiple organizational levels and identifying the underlying causes for the assessment.
Indirect Adversarial Losses via an Intermediate Distribution for Training GANs – Supplementary Material

Before the proof, two concepts are vital to be clarified. First, f∗(·) is the function of two functions: the IPM function conditioned on parameters in the discriminator function. In other words, f∗(·) = IPM(D(·)), where D(·) is the discriminator function. Second, D(·) gains its Lipschitz continuity from spectral normalization[6] or gradient penalty[1]. In practice, the original MMD-GAN defined an auto-encoder as its discriminator. At the same time, other IPM-GANs normally use a binary classifier or an encoder to map input image space to an implicit feature space. Thus, output space is also bounded if input space is bounded and vice versa. Our methods followed the repulsive MMD-GAN’s discriminator mapping real or fake images to a multidimensional feature space. Thus, f∗(·) is bounded, and the additive linear operation in Lemma 1 does not change this property. As a result, the sum of f∗ q (r) + f ∗ q (g) is still a real-valued bounded measurable function (assuming q as the intermediate distribution).
EQUILIBRIUM TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION, TRADE, AND GROWTH

We study how opening to trade affects economic growth in a model where heterogeneous firms can choose to adopt a new technology already in use by other firms. We characterize the growth rate using summary statistics of the profit distribution—the ratio of profits between the average and marginal adopting firm. Opening to trade increases the spread in profits through increased export opportunities and foreign competition, induces more rapid technology adoption, and generates faster growth. Quantitatively, opening to trade yields large increases in growth, but welfare effects are muted due to loss of variety and reallocation of labor away from production.
Nature and dynamics of ice-stream beds: assessing their role in ice-sheet stability

Ice streams are fast flowing outlet glaciers through which over 90% of the ice stored within the Antarctic Ice Sheet drains. The dynamic behaviour of ice streams is therefore crucial in controlling the mass balance of the ice sheet. Over the past few decades, Antarctica has been losing mass. Much of this mass loss has been focussed around coastal regions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Some of the most dramatic changes such as grounding-line retreat, acceleration and surface elevation change have been observed in Pine Island Glacier (PIG) and its neighbouring ice streams. This is of particular concern because these ice streams account for∼10% of the discharge from the west Antarctic Ice Sheet and therefore have the potential to contribute significantly to global sea-level rise. One of the key challenges in accurately forecasting this future sea-level rise is improving understanding of processes occurring at the beds of ice streams. This requires detailed knowledge of the properties and dynamics of the bed. This thesis aims to address this knowledge gap by investigating the spatial and temporal characteristics of the bed of PIG using high-resolution geophysical data acquired in its trunk and tributaries and beneath the ice shelf. The thesis begins by analysing radar-derived high-resolution maps of subglacial topography. These data show a contrasting topography across the ice-bed interface. These diverse subglacial landscapes have an impact on ice flow through form drag, controlled by the size and orientation of bedrock undulations and protuberances. The next chapter provides a quantitative analysis of these landscapes using Fast Fourier analysis of subglacial roughness. This analysis investigates the roughness signature of subglacial bedforms and the how the orientation and wavelength of roughness elements determine their correlation with ice dynamic parameters. The slow-flowing inter-tributary site is found to have a distinct signature comparable to “ribbed” patterns of modelled basal shear stress and transverse “mega rib” bedforms. Roughness oriented parallel to ice flow with wavelengths approaching mean ice thickness are found to have the highest correlation with ice dynamic parameters. The temporal stability of PIG is analysed using repeat radar measurements. No significant change is observed over a period of 3-6 years with no evidence of rapid erosion or the evolution of subglacial bedforms as observed in previous repeat measurements of ice-stream beds elsewhere in Antarctica. This suggests that the widespread deforming till layer detected in extensive seismic reflection surveys is in steady state. Lastly, the thesis explores geomorphological evidence of twentieth-century grounding-line retreat beneath PIG Ice Shelf using high-resolution geophysical data acquired from autonomous underwater vehicle surveys. Evidence of erosion, deposition, meltwater flow and post-glacial
Ambient Tectonic Tremor in the San Jacinto Fault, near the Anza Gap, Detected by Multiple Mini Seismic Arrays

We detect multiple short-duration ambient tremor events in the San Jacinto fault near the Anza gap applying multiple independent detection and location methods, including multibeam backprojection (Ghosh, Vidale, Sweet, et al., 2009; Ghosh et al., 2012), envelope cross correlation (Wech and Creager, 2008), spectral analyses, and visual inspection of existing network stations and high-density mini seismic array data. Different methods provide similar source locations for each of the tremor events in our catalog. All of the events have low-peak slowness values, indicating that they originate from a deep source, aiding in the elimination of potential surface noise sources that may cause false detections. The tremor events are depleted of high-frequency energy in the displacement-amplitude spectrum compared with a small local earthquake at a similar location, a characteristic of tectonic tremor (Shelly et al., 2007). All tremor events are located near the northwestern boundary of the Anza gap, where the Hot Springs fault terminates. Recent studies may be interpreted to indicate that deep creep may occur at depth in this region (e.g., Lindsey et al., 2014; Jiang and Fialko, 2016; Meng and Peng, 2016). Another study by Inbal et al. (2017) provided evidence for a slow-slip event in the Anza gap following the El Mayor– Cucapah earthquake, suggesting the potential for transient behavior in the region, for which we interpret tremor to be a seismic manifestation. Electronic Supplement: Figures supporting the uncertainty tests.
Sediment Provenance of the Intracontinental Ordos Basin in North China Craton Controlled by Tectonic Evolution of the Basin-Orogen System

The intracontinental Ordos Basin hosts many large uranium deposits, and its evolution was controlled by the surrounding orogenic belts during the Paleozoic to Mesozoic. Paleocurrent data of the Jurassic Zhiluo Formation reveal that its sedimentary detritus were transported dominantly from southwest to northeast in the basin. However, the detrital zircon age pattern of the Zhiluo Formation is similar to those of the Inner Mongolia Paleo-uplift, the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the Yinshan Block, and the Khondalite Belt to the north but is remarkably different from those of the Qinling Orogenic Belt (QOB) and the North Qilian Belt to the south. Discriminant diagrams using immobile elements also reveal that the detritus of the Zhiluo Formation are dominated by felsic volcanic rocks and andesitic arc rocks, consistent with rock types in its northern orogenic units. The Zhiluo sandstones show high chemical index of weathering values (68–83), suggesting long-distance transportation and intensive weathering. These lines of evidence demonstrate that rocks from the Zhiluo Formation were recycled from underlying Permian-Triassic sediments that were ultimately sourced from the northern orogenic units. The Ordos Basin has a three-stage growth that was controlled by the formation and tectonic evolution of the QOB to the south and the CAOB to the north during the Late Carboniferous to Jurassic.
Characterisation and Properties of Biomass Compost Pellets

i DECLARATION . iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . iv TABLE OF CONTENTS . v LIST OF FIGURES . x LIST OF TABLES . xviii LIST OF NOMENCLATURE . xix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Palm oil . 1 1.2 Palm oil by-products . 3 1.3 Composting process . 3 1.4 Pelleting compost . 6 1.5 Challenges and research needs . 6 1.6 Objectives . 8 1.7 Overview of thesis . 9 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW . 11 2.1 Densification process . 11 2.1.1 Binding mechanism . 12 2.1.2 Density . 14
Directed Graph Networks for Logical Entailment

We introduce a neural model for approximating propositional entailment, a benchmark task for logical reasoning, based upon learned graph convolutions on directed graphs. The model dispenses with some of the inﬂexible inductive biases applied in previous work on this domain, while still producing competitive results on the dataset. In particular, model performance on larger problems surpasses all previous work. subset
Systemic Risk, Information Technology Artifacts, and High Reliability Organizations: A Case of Constructing a Radical Architecture

“The test of a first-class mind is the ability to hold two opposing views…at the same time and still retain the ability to function. ” (F. Scott Fitzgerald) In distributed, complex socio-technical systems, risks increasingly originate from multiple sources, affect multiple agents in diverse ways, and thus become systemic. The traditional linear causal model of risk control and an individual decision-maker orientation is no longer adequate to contain such risks. This paper reports a detailed case study of a highly complex architectural project by the architect Frank Gehry and his firm Gehry Partners, L.L. C. Gehry and his partners successfully used the 3D representation software Catia to construct radical architectures with dauntingly complex geometric surfaces in spite of increasing systemic risks. Our findings suggest that, in order to successfully combat such risks, organizations rely upon organizing mechanisms characteristic of high reliability organizations (HROs). Our analysis also indicates that creating and maintaining a collective mindfulness is critical for risk control and mitigation in complex socio-technical systems. IT artifacts such as Catia, in combination with other social/technical elements such as skilled workers, contracts, and communication protocols, can enable the five cognitive processes underlying collective mindfulness: preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify interpretations, sensitivity to operations, commitment to resilience, and under-specification of structures.
Casser la connectivité hydrosédimentaire pour gérer la ressource en sol : cas du vignoble de Mercurey (Bourgogne)

La Cote de Bourgogne (France) est l'un des vignobles les plus reputes au monde, ses « Climats » ont ete inscrits sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO en 2015. Neanmoins, les vignobles sont connus pour subir des pertes en sol parmi les plus importantes en Europe. Cette perte de ressource en sol implique une degradation de l'environnement, une perte financiere et sociale pour les vignerons et les economies locales. Face a ces enjeux, cet article vise d’une part a comprendre le fonctionnement du systeme erosif qui se deploie dans le vignoble, d’autre part a preciser le role des pratiques humaines dans le fonctionnement de la cascade sedimentaire. La methodologie repose sur trois etapes principales qui comprennent (i) des mesures in situ de l'erosion et des stocks sedimentaires, (ii) l'inventaire des infrastructures de gestion des flux hydrologiques sur le bassin versant et (iii) l'analyse spatiale des interactions de processus a l'echelle du bassin versant. Les resultats soulignent que le comportement des transferts hydrosedimentaires emerge, a l'echelle du bassin versant, d’une combinaison de multiples interactions locales. Les transferts sont ainsi controles par un ensemble de facteurs geomorphologiques attendus (e.g. la topographie, les proprietes du sol, etc.) couples a un ensemble de facteurs anthropiques modifiant le fonctionnement du systeme (pratiques agricoles). Des infrastructures de correction hydraulique ont conduit a une augmentation des couplages sedimentaires sur les hauts de versant, afin de mieux collecter les sediments et de les transferer vers des pieges artificiels en aval. Ces pieges cassent la connectivite hydrosedimentaire du bassin versant et reorganisent les relais de processus geomorphologiques qui s’organisent de l’amant vers l’aval.
The Application of a Three-Dimensional Deterministic Model in the Study of Debris Flow Prediction Based on the Rainfall-Unstable Soil Coupling Mechanism

As debris flow is one of the most destructive natural disasters in many parts of the world, the assessment and management of future debris flows with proper forecasting methods are crucial for the safety of life and property. So increasing attention has been paid to the forecasting methods on debris flows. A debris flow forecasting method based on the rainfall-unstable soil coupling mechanism (R-USCM) is presented in the current study. This method is based on the debris flow formation mechanism. The density of sediment is introduced as an evaluation index to determine the susceptibility of debris flow occurrence. The forecasting method includes two phases: (1) rainfall and soil coupling and (2) runoff and unstable soil coupling. Scoops3D, a three-dimensional (3D) model for analyzing slope stability, was introduced into the debris flow forecasting method. In order to test the forecasting accuracy of this method, Jiaohe County was selected as a research area, and the serious debris flow disasters attributed to strong rainfall on 20 July 2017 were taken as the research case. By comparing the forecasting results with the debris flow distribution map for Jiaohe County, the method based on the R-USCM is feasible for forecasting debris flows at the regional scale. The application of the Scoops3D model can more reasonably analyze the slope stability than the traditional two dimensional (2D) method and improve the forecasting ability of debris flows.
A Comparative Study of Atmospheric Moisture Recycling Rate Between Observations and Models

AbstractPrecipitation and column water vapor data from 13 CMIP5 models and observational datasets are used to analyze atmospheric moisture recycling rate from 1988 to 2008. The comparisons between the observations and model simulations suggest that most CMIP5 models capture two main characteristics of recycling rate: (1) long-term decreasing trend of global-average maritime recycling rate (atmospheric recycling rate over ocean within 60°S-60°N) and (2) dominant spatial patterns of the temporal variations of recycling rate (i.e., increasing in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and decreasing in sub-tropical region). All models except one successfully simulate not only the long-term trend but also inter-annual variability of column water vapor. The simulations of precipitation are relatively poor especially over the relatively short time scales, which lead to the discrepancy of recycling rate between the observations and the CMIP5 models. Comparisons of spatial patterns also suggest that the CMIP5 models s.
International Journal of Computer Science Issues

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important biomedical tool for the diagnosis of heart disorders. However, the signal is susceptible to noise and it is essential to remove the noise especially when undertaking automated processing of the signal. In this paper, an intelligent approach based on moving median filter and Self-Organizing Map (SOM) neural network is proposed to identify the cutoff frequency of the noise, which is to be filtered out. In general, the spectrum of the ECG signal is derived, subsequently, baseline wander is removed using the moving median filter and finally, SOM is applied to the spectrum to calculate the cutoff frequency. The results of the proposed scheme are compared with the low-pass FIR filtering for ECG signal high frequency noise removal. Results show that using the proposed intelligent method, the calculated cutoff frequency will be equal or better than the classical results for ECG noise removal. Also, in all the cases of atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia and supraventricular ECG signals, the automatically calculated cutoff frequency produces very smoother signals than the classical low-pass filtering.
Mild and Arid Climate in the Eastern Sahara‐Arabian Desert During the Late Little Ice Age

The climate of the Sahara and Arabian Deserts during the Little Ice Age is not well known, due to a lack of annually resolved natural and documentary archives. We present an annual reconstruction of temperature and aridity derived from Sr/Ca and oxygen isotopes in a coral of the desert‐surrounded northern Red Sea. Our data indicate that the eastern Sahara and Arabian Deserts did not experience pronounced cooling during the late Little Ice Age (~1750–1850) but suggest an even more arid mean climate than in the following ~150 years. The mild temperatures are broadly in line with predominantly negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the Little Ice Age. The more arid climate is best explained by meridional advection of dry continental air from Eurasia. We find evidence for an abrupt termination of the more arid climate after 1850, coincident with a reorganization of the atmospheric circulation over Europe.
The Benefits of Crop Rotation Including Cereals and Green Manures onPotato Yield and Nitrogen Nutrition and Soil Properties

Soil quality decline is a common concern in potato production systems. Including cereals and green manures (GMs) in potato rotation could improve soil productivity and sustain potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yields and quality. This experiment initiated in Quebec, eastern Canada, assessed the effects of two cycles of 2-yr potato rotations with cereals and GMs on soil properties and potato yield and quality, and on disease incidence from 2008 to 2011. Three cereals [corn (Zea mays), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and oat (Avena sativa)] seeded in spring, three summer GMs [mustard (Sinapsis alba), japanese millet (Setaria italica), and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)], four fall GM crops [oat, mustard, wheat (Triticum aestivum), and rye (Secale cereale)], and continuous potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) were grown on main plots in 2008 and 2010. In following years (2009 and 2011), each main plot was split, and five N fertilizer rates (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg N ha-1) were applied to potato. After two rotation cycles in 2011, soils under cereals and summer and fall GMs had higher soil water-extractable organic C and N contents, nitrate levels, soil respiration, urease and dehydrogenase activities, and a larger proportion of soil macro aggregates (0.25 to 2 mm), compared with the continuous potato. Cereals and summer GMs increased marketable potato yield and specific gravity, whereas fall GMs increased tuber yield but reduced tuber quality. In addition, fall GMs favored the incidence of common scab and black scurf. Summer GMs had higher potato N uptake and N efficiency compared to cereals and fall GMs. Although fall GMs produced higher net returns than cereals and summer GMs, they may not represent a viable long term option to sustain potato production and to enhance soil quality. Results indicated that growing cereals or summer GMs in rotation with potato is an interesting alternative to improve soil properties while sustaining potato yield and quality. A fall GM with a better growth during the fall season may sustain potato yield and quality, if included in longer potato rotation, but this remains to be determined.