Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Direct-Push Vadose Zone Sediments from the 241-B and 241-BX Tank Farms

Geochemical tests provide evidence for the transit of a plume of caustic waste solution through the sediment column at the Hanford 241-B and -BX Tank Farms. Direct-push samples recovered from boreholes surrounding Tanks 241-B-110 and 241-BX-102 and related waste transfer lines and diversion boxes included sediments typical of those previously recovered from other localities on the Hanford Site. The Hanford formation sediments are dominantly quartzo-feldspathic sands strewn with lithic fragments, displaying a range of particle size distributions and sorting characteristics. Some moderately well-sorted, fine-grained lithologies are interpreted as lenticular bodies irregularly dispersed in coarser-grained, more poorly sorted sediments. Tier I tests conducted on the vadose zone sediments revealed an inverse correlation between moisture content and sediment size fraction (i.e., there is greater moisture content in finer-grained sediments). The Tier I tests also showed that the pore water solutions were likely sodium-rich, moderately saline, and possessed higher pH values than background (untainted) sediments. These data are characteristic of sediments that have encountered sodium-rich, saline, caustic waste solution, as documented in other reports at other suspect contamination sites around Hanford. Analyses of solutions from 1:1 water extracts reveal relatively balanced cation and anion concentrations, indicating that most of the geochemical species have been accounted for. The water extract data for affected sediments also indicate unusually high concentrations of aluminum, iron, and phosphorus. The relatively high concentrations of aluminum and iron may be the result of dissolution of secondary amorphous phases that precipitated after a reactive plume partially dissolved aluminum- and iron-bearing phases as it migrated through the sediment column. On the other hand, the presence of elevated concentrations of phosphorous may be the tell-tale signature of wastes derived from the bismuth phosphate separation process. Elements typically mobile in the geosphere, such as technetium-99, are present at either low concentrations or are below the analytical detection limit. However, we expect that the mobile elements would be present mainly along a narrow plume front, and if this front had passed deeper into the sediment profile than depths sampled, the retention of these elements would be minor. On the other hand for the direct push sediments from around BX Tank Farm, uranium-238 was detected in nearly all sediment specimens (by acid extract experiments) at concentrations above the natural crustal average (0.763 pCi/g), and we also detected the presence of several anthropogenic radioisotopes, such as cobalt-60, cesium-137, europium-154, and europium-155 (by gamma energy analysis). These data are direct confirmation of contamination of the sediments.
Characterising the Financial Cycle: Don't Lose Sight of the Medium Term!

We characterise empirically the financial cycle using two approaches: analysis of turning points and frequency-based filters. We identify the financial cycle with the medium-term component in the joint fluctuations of credit and property prices; equity prices do not fit this picture well. We show that financial cycle peaks are very closely associated with financial crises and that the length and amplitude of the financial cycle have increased markedly since the mid-1980s. We argue that this reflects, in particular, financial liberalisation and changes in monetary policy frameworks. So defined, the financial cycle is much longer than the traditional business cycle. Business cycle recessions are much deeper when they coincide with the contraction phase of the financial cycle. We also draw attention to the "unfinished recession" phenomenon: policy responses that fail to take into account the length of the financial cycle may help contain recessions in the short run but at the expense of larger recessions down the road.
Disking and mid- and understory removal following an above-average acorn crop in three mature oak forests in southern Indiana

We disked using small-scale equipment in the understory of three mature upland oak (Quercus) forests in southern Indiana immediately following acorn dispersal in an aboveaverage seed crop year as a means of improving oak seedling establishment. Three different mid- and understory removal treatments were also applied to create favorable light conditions for the new cohort of oak seedlings. Disking increased the number of new oak seedlings by 14,586 per hectare.
Ecological studies of intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska

Field studies were conducted from May 1976 to November 1979 in intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats in lower Cook Inlet and the Northeast Gulf of Alaska (NEGOA) to examine species composition, zonation, seasonal patterns, trophic structure, rates of production, and energy pathays. Habitats examined included rocky intertidal and subtidal areas, sand beaches and mud flats (Dames and Moore 1976a, 1979b).
Motivational determinants of achievement of children in sport

espanolEste articulo presenta una revision de las mas recientes investigaciones sobre los determinantes de la motivacion infantil desde el punto de vista de la motivacion de logro. Desde este marco teorico, se cree que los objetivos de tarea y del ego deciden como las personas construyen sus contextos de logro, y se lleva a cabo la interpretacion, evaluacion y la reaccion respecto a la consecucion del objetivo. Las investigaciones revisadas sugieren que las creencias paternas constituyen un importante antecedente de las diferencias individuales respecto a la orientacion de la consecucion de objetivos de logro. De todas maneras, los hallazgos mas recientes apoyan el argumento de que las percepciones del clima motivacional son asimismo importantes a la hora de determinar la conducta de logro del nino. Consecuentemente, en el trabajo se presenta una perspectiva interaccionista que combina tanto las variables individuales como las situacionales. Esta perspectiva promete proporcionar un entendimiento mas completo de la motivacion infantil en las experiencias de deporte competitivas. El trabajo concluye examinando las estrategias de intervencion basadas en la creacion de un clima motivacional orientado a la tarea que pueda ser usado por los adultos para mejorar la motivacion y el disfrute de todos los ninos en el contexto del deporte de competicion. EnglishThis paper provides a review of recent research dealing with the determinants of children’s motivation stemming from an achievement goal perspective. In this framework, task and ego achievement goals are believed to govern how individuals construe achievement contexts as well as how they interpret, assess, and react to achievement feedback. Research is reviewed that suggests that parental beliefs are an important antecedent to individual differences in achievement goal orientation. Recent findings, however, support the argument that perceptions of the motivational climate are also important in determining a child’s achievement behavior. Consequently, an interactionist perspective that combines both individual and situational difference variables is presented which promises to provide a more complete understanding of children’s motivation in competitive sport experiences. The paper concludes by examining intervention strategies based on creating a task involving motivational climate that adults can use to enhance the motivation and enjoyment of all children in the context of competitive sport.
Shadow tracking on multi-touch tables

Multi-touch interfaces have been a focus of research in recent years, resulting in development of various innovative UI concepts. Support for existing WIMP interfaces, however, should not be overlooked. Although several approaches exist, there is still room for improvement, particularly regarding implementation of the "hover" state, commonly used in mouse-based interfaces. In this paper, we present a multi-touch system which is designed to address this problem. A multi-touch table based on FTIR (frustrated total internal reflection) is extended with a ceiling-mounted light source to create shadows of hands and arms. By tracking these shadows with the rear-mounted camera which is already present in the FTIR setup, users can control multiple cursors without touching the table and trigger a "click" event by tapping the surface with any finger of the corresponding hand. An informal evaluation with 15 subjects found an improvement in accuracy when compared to an unaugmented touch screen.
Identification of risk-factors for perioperative morbidity and mortality during different phases in the treatment of esophageal cancer patients

Een chirurgische resectie van een slokdarmcarcinoom is nog steeds de belangrijkste curatieve behandelmodaliteit. Deze gaat echter gepaard met een aanzienlijk risico op complicaties. Het doel van dit proefschrift was om risicofactoren te identificeren die gerelateerd zijn aan morbiditeit en mortaliteit gedurende de behandeling van een patient met een slokdarmcarcinoom. Om een correcte inschatting te maken van het individuele perioperatieve risico, zijn verschillende risico-inschattende modellen ontwikkeld. Uit dit proefschrift blijkt dat O-POSSUM een relatief correcte voorspelling geeft, maar nog steeds ongeschikt is voor individuele risico-inschatting in de dagelijkse praktijk. Een mogelijk risicovolle groep wordt gevormd door de oudere patienten (> 70 jaar). Uit dit proefschrift blijkt echter dat er geen significant verschil bestaat in korte –en lange termijn overleving tussen oudere en jongere patienten. Wel kwamen enkele complicaties vaker voor bij oudere patienten. Neoadjuvante chemoradiotherapie (CRT) wordt tegenwoordig standaard toegepast in de behandeling van patienten met een slokdarmcarcinoom. Ondanks laag gerapporteerde toxiciteit, toont dit proefschrift aan dat neoadjuvante CRT een verhoogd risico geeft op preoperatieve trombo-embolische processen. Tevens werden er meer postoperatieve longontstekingen en hartritmestoornissen geconstateerd na neoadjuvante CRT. Laboratorium waarden zijn een belangrijk hulpmiddel in de vroege identificatie van patienten met een gecompliceerd postoperatief beloop. Dit proefschrift toont aan dat zowel bekende waarden (C-reactief protein en lactaat dehydrogenase), als minder bekende waarden (intestinal fatty acid binding protein en angiopoietin) een belangrijke rol spelen in de vroege identificatie van postoperatieve complicaties. Daarnaast zijn er aanwijzingen dat cytokinen concentraties gerelateerd zijn aan de mate van pathologische respons na neoadjuvante CRT. Mogelijk spelen ze ook een rol bij geindividualiseerde behandelingsvormen.
Atmospheric Deposition as a Source of Stormwater Pollution in Gold Coast, Australia

Atmospheric deposition is one of the most important pollutant pathways for urban stormwater pollution. Atmospheric deposition can be in the form of dry and wet depositions which have distinct characteristics in terms of pollutant types, pollutant sources and influential parameters. This paper discusses the outcomes of a comprehensive study undertaken to identify the characteristics of wet and dry deposition of pollutants. Sample collection was undertaken at eight study sites with distinct characteristics. Four sites were close to road sites with varying traffic characteristics, whilst the other four sites had different land use characteristics. Dry deposition samples were collected for different antecedent dry days and wet deposition samples were collected immediately after rainfall events. The dry deposition was found to increase with the antecedent dry days and consisted of relatively coarser particles (greater than 1 μm) when compared to wet deposition. The wet deposition showed a strong affinity to rainfall depth, but was not related to the antecedent dry period. It was also found that smaller size particles (less than 1 μm) travel much longer distances from the source and deposit mainly with the wet deposition.
Are Phillips Curves Useful for Forecasting Inflation

This study evaluates the conventional wisdom that modern Phillips curve-based models are useful tools for forecasting inflation. These models are based on the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (the NAIRU). The study compares the accuracy, over the last 15 years, of three sets of inflation forecasts from NAIRU models to the naive forecast that at any date inflation will be the same over the next year as it has been over the last year. The conventional wisdom is wrong; none of the NAIRU forecasts is more accurate than the naive forecast. The likelihood of accurately predicting a change in the inflation rate from these three forecasts is no better than the likelihood of accurately predicting a change based on a coin flip. The forecasts include those from a textbook NAIRU model, those from two models similar to Stock and Watson's, and those produced by the Federal Reserve Board.
The Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Prediction Project Database

AbstractDemands are growing rapidly in the operational prediction and applications communities for forecasts that fill the gap between medium-range weather and long-range or seasonal forecasts. Based on the potential for improved forecast skill at the subseasonal to seasonal time range, the Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Prediction research project has been established by the World Weather Research Programme/World Climate Research Programme. A main deliverable of this project is the establishment of an extensive database containing subseasonal (up to 60 days) forecasts, 3 weeks behind real time, and reforecasts from 11 operational centers, modeled in part on the The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Interactive Grand Global Ensemble (TIGGE) database for medium-range forecasts (up to 15 days). The S2S database, available to the research community since May 2015, represents an important tool to advance our understanding of the subseasonal to seasonal time range that has been co.
Bayesian adaptive Lasso for quantile regression models with nonignorably missing response data

Abstract Handling data with the nonignorably missing mechanism is still a challenging problem in statistics. In this paper, we develop a fully Bayesian adaptive Lasso approach for quantile regression models with nonignorably missing response data, where the nonignorable missingness mechanism is specified by a logistic regression model. The proposed method extends the Bayesian Lasso by allowing different penalization parameters for different regression coefficients. Furthermore, a hybrid algorithm that combined the Gibbs sampler and Metropolis-Hastings algorithm is implemented to simulate the parameters from posterior distributions, mainly including regression coefficients, shrinkage coefficients, parameters in the non-ignorable missing models. Finally, some simulation studies and a real example are used to illustrate the proposed methodology.
Processes, patterns and petrophysical heterogeneity of grainstone shoals at Ocean Cay, western Great Bahama Bank

Holocene and Pleistocene carbonate shoals at Ocean Cay, Bahamas, provide key evidence to comprehend patterns, processes and petrophysics of grainstone deposits. High-resolution remote sensing data, acoustic Doppler measurements, sub-bottom profiles, sedimentological and petrophysical analyses elucidate various factors in the deposition of a shoal complex and assess how much the sedimentary fabric and early diagenesis influence the petrophysical characteristics of such deposits. The Holocene Cat Cay ooid shoal and the Ocean Cay tidal deltas collectively form a 1-3 km wide, 35 km long sand belt. Controls on their distribution, preservation and modification are the antecedent Pleistocene topography, bathymetry, and hydrodynamics. The Cat Cay ooid shoal is situated platformward of a bedrock ridge but high-resolution seismic data reveal a flat Pleistocene surface underneath the laterally continuous Cat Cay shoal. This finding challenges assumptions of previous studies that an antecedent high is needed for ooid shoal initiation. South of Ocean Cay, skeletal-rich tidal deltas form over a slightly shallower and irregular Pleistocene surface than the surface north of Ocean Cay. Hydrodynamic data indicate that the modern shoal geometry is primarily a product of fair-weather current conditions. In particular, tidal flows form and modify bars creating sinuous and parabolic forms. Flow velocities Copyright © AAPG. Serial rights given by author. For all other rights contact author directly. up to 100 cm sec-1 inside tidal channels and inlets control the spatial distribution of grain size and sorting by remobilizing and mixing skeletal grains, peloids and ooids. Lobes that protrude from the shoal have been interpreted as storm generated spillover lobes but they are produced by focused flow in shallow channels across the shoal. The underlying Pleistocene at Ocean Cay shows a similar facies architecture as the Holocene shoals with bars, channels, and stabilized areas. Cross-bedded and bioturbated grainstone facies exhibit petrophysical heterogeneity. Porosity and permeability are high (up to 47% and 11,500 mD, respectively). Early diagenesis modifies pore geometry, reducing permeability. This study integrates modern and ancient systems to offer a better understanding of the controls on morphology, architecture, and petrophysics of grainstone shoals of shallow carbonate platforms.
Shear and compressional wave structure of the East

We use shear and compressional arrivals recorded by 45 ocean bottom seismograph receivers to model regional structure of the 9°–10°N region of the East Pacific Rise. Modeling indicates that shear conversion occurs at the base of layer 2A, producing Ps (energy that travels through oceanic crust as P and converts to S at the base of layer 2A on upgoing path) and pS (energy that travels as P through layer 2A and converts to S at the base of layer 2A on downgoing path) arrivals. The travel times of these arrivals require a shear wave velocity within layer 2A of 0.4–0.8 km/s (Poisson's ratio of 0.46–0.49). Waveform inversion was used to model the Poisson's ratio structure of layers 2B and 3 for nine instruments with good shear arrivals. Poisson's ratio within layer 2B was highly variable, with values as low as 0.24 and a mean value of 0.263. Some of this variability might be due to lateral variability in layer 2A structure. The mean Poisson's ratio of layer 3 was 0.271. According to the cracking model of Shaw [1994], the low Poisson's ratios within the upper portion of layer 2B indicate that thick cracks (aspect ratio α = 0.1) extend to depths of ∼ 1.5–1.7 km in this region. Two-dimensional travel time modeling indicates that the southwestern portion of our study area is associated with anomalously low seismic velocities, with layer 2B and layer 3 velocities reduced by up to 11% from the regional values. Cracking theory suggests that these low velocities could be caused by porosities of 0.3–5.5%, depending on the crack aspect ratio; a maximum porosity of 1.5% is predicted from our one Poisson's ratio measurement in this area. The anomalous velocities are located near the western discordant zone left by the 9°03′N overlapping spreading center. We suggest that shearing associated with on-axis rotation of the overlap basins is responsible for the low seismic velocities. The pattern of anomalies indicates that faulting extends to distances of 10–15 km from the basins.
The Children's Fund

Fund was hampered by inadequate financial support from governments. Officials of the Fund acknowledged that the agency had been compelled to limit its assistance to the most desperate cases of malnutrition, sickness, and want. The survey, made by the New York Times on the third anniversary of the Children's Fund, showed that a supplementary meal, composed mainly of mill? : and possibly a small portion of meat, fish, or fats, is going to six million children.
Financial Institutions Center Interest-Rate Exposure and Bank Mergers

This study examines how interest rates and interest-rate exposures affect the level of acquisition activity, the identities of targets and acquirers, and the pricing of acquisitions in the banking industry. Using a sample of 477 large mergers from 1980 to 1994, we find that the level of acquisition activity is more negatively correlated with interest rates and more positively correlated with yield curve spreads for banks than for non-banks. Although we find that targets and acquirers have significantly different interest-rate exposures, we find little evidence that one group is consistently better or worse positioned, ex post, for various interest-rate environments. Finally, we find evidence that merger pricing is a function of the interest-rate environment, with acquirers paying higher prices and earning lower returns when rates are lower (and when more deals are announced.)
Theory of planned behaviour: Higher education students' attitudes towards ICT-based learning interactions

Phase one of a pilot study (Siragusa & Dixon, 2008) collected data from a group of undergraduate students in a higher education setting to determine their attitudes towards their engagement with ICT interactions. Phase two of the pilot study was undertaken in 2009 with another group of students in a pre-service teaching course which employed a mixed method approach. The participants completed a quantitative questionnaire, worked though an ICT-based activity and then completed a qualitative questionnaire. The questionnaire items related to components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour to determine students’ attitudes and planned use of ICT-based instruction. The quantitative data indicated that students believed engaging with ICT can potentially enhance learning and plan to engage with ICT during their teaching careers. The qualitative data showed that students felt overwhelmed when commencing the activity, but felt more confident as the activity progressed. Some students suggested improvements to the learning environment.