Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Responses to pest control in Nelson beech forests.

VI Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Mammalian Predators in New Zealand.1 1.2 Mammalian impacts on the New Zealand avifauna.3 1.3 Mammalian predator control methods.4 1.4 Species interactions.6 1.5 Environmental interactions.8 1.6 Measuring success.9 1.7 Thesis outline and objectives.10 Chapter 2: Study sites and methods 2.1 Site selection.12 2.2 Nelson Lakes National Park.13 2.3 Kahurangi National Park.20 2.4 Monitoring methods.23 Chapter 3: Factors affecting ship rat abundance 3.1 Objectives.28 3.2 Methods.28 3.3 Results.30 3.4 Discussion.37 Chapter 4: Factors affecting bird abundance 4.1 Objectives.42 4.2 Methods.44 4.3 Results.46 4.4 Discussion.62 Chapter 5: Discussion 5.1 Importance of long-term data sets: 5MBCs.68 5.2 Interactions between mammals.69 5.3 Interactions between birds.71 5.4 Disparity between bird responses.73 5.5 Future research.73 References.76 Appendices.91
Estimation of measurement uncertainties - an alternative to the ISO Guide

The procedure for uncertainty assessment set out in the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is compared with an alternative system. The ISO Guide links the overall uncertainty to a so-called kP factor, implicitly expressing the degree of confidence that the measured result should cover the true value of the physical quantity in question. Here it is argued that this standard procedure, in which the magnitude of a given kp factor is tied to the degree of confidence, presents the experimenter with difficulties. These arise from the need to associate a probability density with so-called unknown systematic errors. Consequently, the recommended procedures may not be taken up by experimenters who carry out laboratory measurements on a daily basis. A simplification of the ISO procedure suggested by the Guide involves the assignment of the values 1 or 2 (or even 3) to kP. The alternative approach presented here argues that this simplification does not reflect the prevailing physical situation, and that the degree of confidence obtained lacks physical objectivity. Stationary measurement processes, strictly separating random and unknown systematic errors, are considered. Random errors are assumed to be normally distributed, and no probability distribution density is attributed to the unknown systematic errors. As random and systematic errors are kept separate, it is possible to express the influence of random errors by generalized confidence intervals (from Student's t-distribution) and the influence of systematic errors by worst-case estimates. No confidence statement is associated with the overall uncertainties, and the intrinsic problem of the Guide is circumvented. The formalisms are robust, transparent, and locate measured quantities with reasonable reliability.
On the importance of considering the incident spectrum when measuring the outdoor performance of amorphous silicon photovoltaic devices

Conventional measurement practice for the outdoor performance evaluation of solar cells does not make use of the complete spectrum, relying instead on the total irradiance as measured, say, with a pyranometer. In this paper it is shown that this can result in significant errors for solar cells having wide band gaps, in particular, for amorphous silicon solar cells. Two effects are investigated. The first relates to quantifying the typical errors associated with instantaneous measurements; what one might term the calibration of devices. The second relates to quantifying the impact of neglecting variations in the spectrum on the estimation of the annual energy production. It is observed that the fraction of the spectrum falling in the spectrally useful range for amorphous silicon can vary by as much as +10% to −15% with respect to standard test conditions at the test site used in this study, which translates directly into performance variations of similar magnitude. The relationship between changes due to spectral variations as opposed to variations in device temperature is also investigated. The results show that there is a strong case for investigating spectral effects more thoroughly, and explicitly including the measurement of the spectral distribution in all outdoor performance testing.
Chiral symmetry breaking and the soliton-stripe pattern in Langmuir monolayers and smectic films

Chiral symmetry breaking in Langmuir monolayers and smectic films may be modelled by a system of two coupled fields: a scalar field that represents the chirality of the molecules and a vector field that represents the tilt direction of the molecules. In a particular parameter range, we prove the existence of a soliton-stripe pattern using the Γ-limit theory in perturbative variational calculus. This pattern, modelled by one-dimensional local minimizers of the free energy of the system, consists of stripes of molecules with distinct chirality in the film delineated by sharp domain walls.
Z - imaging of Xe(M) and Xe(L) emissions from channelled propagation of intense femtosecond 248 nm pulses in a Xe cluster target

The spatial image of the spectrum of Xe(M) and Xe(L) emissions produced by the development of stable channelled propagation of intense femtosecond ( fs) 248 nm pulses propagating through a gas-phase Xe cluster target has been obtained. Analysis (i) shows that the observed channel length exceeds 20 Rayleigh ranges, (ii) reveals enhanced emission from the channel by very highly excited species such as Xe ions having double 2p-vacancies Å), (iii) gives spectral evidence for a substantial departure of the excitation from conditions of thermal equilibrium in the channel, (iv) confirms earlier studies which indicated the development of intensities of in the channel, and (v) provides additional evidence for the role of an anomolously strong multiphoton coupling in the generation of the observed X-ray emission.
Precise relativistic orbits in Kerr and Kerr–(anti) de Sitter spacetimes

The timelike geodesic equations resulting from the Kerr gravitational metric element are derived and solved exactly including the contribution from the cosmological constant. The geodesic equations are derived, by solving the Hamilton–Jacobi partial differential equation by separation of variables. The solutions can be applied in the investigation of the motion of a test particle in the Kerr and Kerr–(anti) de Sitter gravitational fields. In particular, we apply the exact solutions of the timelike geodesics: (i) to the precise calculation of dragging (Lense–Thirring effect) of a satellite's spherical polar orbit in the gravitational field of Earth assuming Kerr geometry; (ii) assuming the galactic centre is a rotating black hole we calculate the precise dragging of a stellar polar orbit around the galactic centre for various values of the Kerr parameter including those supported by recent observations. The exact solution of non-spherical geodesics in Kerr geometry is obtained by using the transformation theory of elliptic functions. The exact solution of spherical polar geodesics with a nonzero cosmological constant can be expressed in terms of Abelian modular theta functions that solve the corresponding Jacobi's inversion problem.
The Probability of Slipping During Level Walking

Worldwide falls-related accidents are the second leading cause of fatalities and of all falls, 67% are caused by slips and trips in the elderly and 32% in young populations. Foot slippage is reported as the most common unforeseen factor triggering falls while walking on the same level. The main human factors affecting slipping risk are gait characteristics and the health of the individual's sensory systems. The primary environmental factors are the frictional characteristics of the walking surface and footwear. The walker's slipping risk can be estimated by comparing the surface Coefficient of Friction (COF) to their friction requirement; the Required Coefficient of Friction (RCOF) calculated as the ratio of the vertical and horizontal ground reaction forces (GRF). In the biomechanical modelling undertaken in this project walking was regarded as safe, with respect to slipping, when the COF exceeded the RCOF. This study investigated ageing effects on RCOF by measuring the foot-ground reaction forces of young and older healthy female and male participants.
Migraine through the life span: Focus on the child and young adult

3 Introduction and Background 4 Problem Statement 4 Review of the Literature 5 Organizational and Theoretical Frameworks 13 Project Design and Methods 15 Settings and Resources 15 Description of the group, population or community 15 Organizational analysis of project site 16 Evidence of stakeholder support 17 Facilitators and barriers 18 Goals, Objectives and Outcomes 18 Implementation 20 Cost Analysis/Budget 22 Ethics and Human Subjects Protection 23 Results 24 Discussion 26 Conclusion 31 References 33 Appendix 36
Aerodynamic Performance of High Turning Airfoils and the Effect of Endwall Contouring on Turbine Performance

Gas turbine companies are always focused on reducing capital costs and increasing overall efficiency. There are numerous advantages in reducing the number of airfoils per stage in the turbine section. While increased airfoil loading offers great advantages like low cost and weight, they also result in increased aerodynamic losses and associated issues. The strength of secondary flows is influenced by the upstream boundary layer thickness as well as the overall flow turning angle through the blade row. Secondary flows result in stagnation pressure loss which accounts for a considerable portion of the total stagnation pressure loss occurring in a turbine passage. A turbine designer strives to minimize these aerodynamic losses through design changes and geometrical effects. Performance of airfoils with varying loading levels and turning angles at transonic flow conditions are investigated in this study. The pressure difference between the pressure side and suction side of an airfoil gives an indication of the loading level of that airfoil. Secondary loss generation and the 3D flow near the endwalls of turbine blades are studied in detail. Detailed aerodynamic loss measurements, both in the pitchwise as well as spanwise directions, are conducted at 0.1 axial chord and 1.0 axial chord locations downstream of the trailing edge. Static pressure measurements on the airfoil surface and endwall pressure measurements were carried out in addition to
Finite element analysis of Bi-stable plates for piezoelectric energy harvesting

In order to increase the output voltage of piezoelectric energy harvesting, this paper mainly discusses bi-stable plates for piezoelectric energy harvesting, and its property is analyzed with finite element analysis. The device changes kinetic energy into electrical one, whose core part comprises a substrate, a piezoelectric layer, mass block and the electrode. The research focuses on firstly examining the effect of the area of piezoelectric layer, the temperature and the mass block on the natural frequency of the system, and then analyzing the effect of laying type and area of piezoelectric layer on the output voltage of the system. Eventually a new structure of bi-stable piezoelectric energy harvesting is put forward to improve its harvesting efficiency. This conclusion can be used to provide a theoretical basis for application of piezoelectric technology in engineering.
Integrable equations, addition theorems, and the Riemann-Schottky problem

The classical Weierstrass theorem claims that, among the analytic functions, the only functions admitting an algebraic addition theorem are the elliptic functions and their degenerations. This survey is devoted to far-reaching generalizations of this result that are motivated by the theory of integrable systems. The authors discovered a strong form of the addition theorem for theta functions of Jacobian varieties, and this form led to new approaches to known problems in the geometry of Abelian varieties. It is shown that strong forms of addition theorems arise naturally in the theory of the so-called trilinear functional equations. Diverse aspects of the approaches suggested here are discussed, and some important open problems are formulated.
A reverse electrochemical floating-layer technique of SPM tip preparation

An experimental set-up involving a combination of reverse electrochemical etching and the floating-layer technique of tip preparation is presented. In the model only dc bias is used, avoiding the shortcomings of ac bias. The collection of two tips in a single etching process and mechanical auto-breaking of the circuit are emphasized. This cost and time effective, easy in-laboratory approach yields two sharp tips without paying attention to switching off the circuit. The nature of the tip shape arising from the floating-layer technique has been explained in terms of the electrical field distribution between the electrodes. The addition of some new information together with a few established facts will enrich and enlighten the art of tip preparation.
Wireless intra-body communication for implantable and wearable body devices using galvanic coupling

of the Dissertation Wireless Intra-body Communication for Implantable and Wearable Body Devices using Galvanic Coupling by Meenupriya Swaminathan Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering Northeastern University, April 2017 Prof. Kaushik R Chowdhury, Adviser Implantable body sensors and actuators (eg., drug delivery pumps and neural stimulators) are becoming commonplace promising unprecedented improvements in personalized medicine. These miniaturized devices need to communicate with each other (i) to share the real time health data for actuation purposes, (ii) to upload the physiological data to a remote monitoring entity, and (iii) to dynamically configure implant sensing tasks with new instructions. Over-the-air radio waves are largely absorbed in human tissues and also leak into the environment up to two meters from the body. In this thesis we design a low power galvanic coupling based intra-body communication network (GC-IBN) that involves transmitting electrical currents and leveraging the natural conduction of the body tissues. We first derive and experimentally validate expressions for the gain of the body tissue channel by building (1) a three-dimensional multi-layered tissue equivalent circuit model, and (2) a two-port network model that adapts for different body parts by enabling rearrangement of the signal source and pickup locations flexibly. Our models are sensitive to nearly ten different parameters, including electrode separation and tissue thicknesses. Towards safe deployment of GC-IBN, it is critical to verify that the power injected into the tissue and the amount of heat generated during the signal propagation are both within the permissible limits. We next estimate the bounds on induced current that can be safely coupled to tissue. This induced current density and the frequency dependent power dissipation are measured and quantified to verify the safe limits. We then analyze the best and worst case for the thermal energy distribution within tissues for varying transmission power levels, number of co-located transmitters and blood perfusion conditions through finite element simulation and experiments on a human tissue phantom.
ESTIRAMIENTO INTERMITENTE Y CONTINUO AUMENTAN LA AMPLITUD DEL MOVIMIENTO Y REDUCEN LA FUERZA DE LOS FLEXORES DE MUÑECA

Introduccion El manejo de la pausa entre series puede influir en el desempeno de actividades posteriores. Objetivo Comparar el efecto del intervalo de estiramiento estatico de forma continua e intermitente en el desempeno de los flexores de la muneca. Metodos La muestra era composta por 14 jovenes, varones y sanos (edad 31±9anos, altura 178±0,7cm, peso 85±12kg). Se evaluo la amplitud del movimiento pasivo (ADMP) en extension de la muneca, la fuerza maxima isometrica de la flexion de la muneca asociada con electromiografia de superficie antes y despues de dos protocolos de estiramientos con diferentes intervalos entre series. Para cada individuo, uno de los miembros superiores se alargo con el protocolo continuo (CON) y el otro con el intermitente (INT), al azar. El protocolo CON consistio en la realizacion de 6 minutos sin interrupciones durante el estiramiento, y el INT consistio en 6 series de 1 minuto por 20 segundos de intervalo entre series. La intensidad se mantuvo en 70-90% de la percepcion subjetiva de malestar. Resultados Los resultados de ADMP mostraron aumento significativo entre las condiciones antes y despues de la intervencion, en ambos protocolos INT (81°±10 y 94°±10, P<0,001) y CON (87°±12 y 96°±11, P=0,004). Los resultados para el pico de fuerza mostraron reduccion significativa en las condiciones posteriores a la intervencion de ambos protocolos: INT (205 ± 54 Kgf y 148 ± 56 Kgf, P<0,001) y CON (211 ± 39 Kg y 144 ± 36 Kgf, P<0,001). Los resultados de la tasa de produccion de fuerza mostraron aumento significativo en las condiciones pre- y despues de la intervencion, para ambos protocolos INT (0,52±0,29Kgf/ms y 1,24±0,45Kgf/ms, P< 0,001) y CON (0,43±0,29Kgf/ms y 1,11±0,34Kgf/ms, P<0,001). Conclusion Ambos protocolos aumentaron la amplitud del movimiento pasivo, reduciran la fuerza maxima y la tasa de produccion de fuerza, sin cambios en la activacion de los flexores de la muneca.
Power density analysis and optimization of a regenerated closed variable-temperature heat reservoir Brayton cycle

In this paper, the power density, defined as the ratio of power output to the maximum specific volume in the cycle, is taken as the objective for performance analysis and optimization of an irreversible regenerated closed Brayton cycle coupled to variable-temperature heat reservoirs from the viewpoint of finite time thermodynamics (FTT) or entropy generation minimization (EGM). The analytical formulae about the relations between power density and pressure ratio are derived with the heat resistance losses in the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers and the regenerator, the irreversible compression and expansion losses in the compressor and turbine, the pressure drop losses at the heater, cooler and regenerator as well as in the piping, and the effect of the finite thermal capacity rate of the heat reservoirs. The obtained results are compared with those results obtained by using the maximum power criterion, and the advantages and disadvantages of maximum power density design are analysed. The maximum power density optimization is performed in two stages. The first is to search the optimum heat conductance distribution corresponding to the optimum power density among the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers and the regenerator for a fixed total heat exchanger inventory. The second is to search the optimum thermal capacitance rate matching corresponding to the optimum power density between the working fluid and the high-temperature heat source for a fixed ratio of the thermal capacitance rates of two heat reservoirs. The influences of some design parameters, including the effectiveness of the regenerator, the inlet temperature ratio of the heat reservoirs, the effectiveness of the heat exchangers between the working fluid and the heat reservoirs, the efficiencies of the compressor and the turbine, and the pressure recovery coefficient, on the optimum heat conductance distribution, the optimum thermal capacitance rate matching, and the maximum power density are provided by numerical examples. The power plant design with optimization leads to a smaller size including the compressor, turbine, and the hot- and cold-side heat exchangers and the regenerator. When the heat transfers between the working fluid and the heat reservoirs are carried out ideally, the pressure drop loss may be neglected, and the thermal capacity rates of the heat reservoirs are infinite, the results of this paper then replicate those obtained in recent literature.
On a new Darboux transformation for the construction of exact solutions of the Schrodinger equation

The author presents a new Darboux transformation that allows new solutions of the Schrodinger equations to be obtained in the case when the potential diverges asymptotically. The cases of a linearly divergent potential, a quadratically divergent potential and a potential with a double pole at the origin are considered as examples.
The value of stress MRI in evaluation of myocardial ischemia

I heart disease (IHD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, with more than seven million deaths in 2008. According the WHO statistics from 2013, the burden of IHD is shifting away from high-income nations to other parts of the world. With the emergence of CMR stress imaging as a valuable tool in the diagnosis of stressinducible cardiac ischemia, it became of utmost importance to master the different techniques of CMR stress imaging. The advantage of this modality is that it is a noninvasive examination that does not expose the patient to any radiation compared with other modalities. CMR imaging offers the ability to study cardiac morphology, function, myocardial perfusion, detection of scar tissue, and additional information such as thrombus formation or no-reflow phenomenon that are usually not detected by other imaging modalities. This presentation focuses on the role of CMR stress examination in regard to evaluation of IHD including the diagnostic performance and prognostic value.
Polymer gel water equivalence and relative energy response with emphasis on low photon energy dosimetry in brachytherapy

The water equivalence and stable relative energy response of polymer gel dosimeters are usually taken for granted in the relatively high x-ray energy range of external beam radiotherapy based on qualitative indices such as mass and electron density and effective atomic number. However, these favourable dosimetric characteristics are questionable in the energy range of interest to brachytherapy especially in the case of lower energy photon sources such as 103Pd and 125I that are currently utilized. In this work, six representative polymer gel formulations as well as the most commonly used experimental set-up of a LiF TLD detector–solid water phantom are discussed on the basis of mass attenuation and energy absorption coefficients calculated in the energy range of 10 keV–10 MeV with regard to their water equivalence as a phantom and detector material. The discussion is also supported by Monte Carlo simulation results. It is found that water equivalence of polymer gel dosimeters is sustained for photon energies down to about 60 keV and no corrections are needed for polymer gel dosimetry of 169Yb or 192Ir sources. For 125I and 103Pd sources, however, a correction that is source-distance dependent is required. Appropriate Monte Carlo results show that at the dosimetric reference distance of 1 cm from a source, these corrections are of the order of 3% for 125I and 2% for 103Pd. These have to be compared with corresponding corrections of up to 35% for 125I and 103Pd and up to 15% even for the 169Yb energies for the experimental set-up of the LiF TLD detector–solid water phantom.