Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular size of riverine dissolved organic matter influences coastal phytoplankton communities

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations in many northern European freshwater systems have been increasing during the past decades. DOM affects the marine plankton community where rivers discharge into the sea. Large DOM molecules have been suggested to be more available to aquatic plankton than smaller ones due to their more recent origin in the degradation process. In this study, we investigated the effect of riverine DOM molecular size on coastal plankton with the hypothesis that nitrogen associated with large molecules stimulates the plankton more than nitrogen in smaller molecules. Three size fractions of riverine DOM were isolated with tangential ultrafiltration and introduced at similar nitrogen concentrations to mesocosms with a natural coastal marine plankton community under nitrogen limiting conditions. The results show that growth of bacteria and dinoflagellates, but not diatoms, was stimulated by addition of large DOM molecules. Even though organic nitrogen concentrations tended to decrease more in large DOM treatments compared to smaller DOM treatments, no significant differences were detected. However, proteolytic enzyme activities were elevated in treatments with the largest DOM molecules, suggesting that more organic nitrogen was utilized in this treatment. We suggest that input of larger river DOM molecules to nitrogen limited coastal systems may influence the composition of the coastal phytoplankton community in favour of dinoflagellates.
Thiol-Mediated Reduction of Staphylococcus aureus Tellurite Resistance

The goal of this work was to enhance tellurite toxicity against Gram positive bacteria, especially Staphyloccocus aureus. Using a combination of assays (growth inhibition zones, growth curves, and minimal inhibitory concentrations), tellurite toxicity against this bacterium was tested in the presence of various SH- and OH-containing compounds. Results showed that the noxiousness of tellurite was strongly enhanced in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol. The potentiating effect was observed in S. aureus ATCC 6538 (the model organism of this study) and in other Gram positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtillis ATCC 6051 and the methicillin-resistant S. aureus strain 622-4. No enhancing effect was observed in Gram negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli BW25113, Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 11388. These results open new perspectives for studying the treatment of multidrug-resistant Gram positive bacteria, which are responsible for numerous nosocomial infections.
Validating Contingent Valuation with Surveys of Experts

Contingent-valuation estimates for white-water boating passengers are compared with Likert ratings by river guides. The approach involves asking whether passengers and their guides ordinally rank alternative flows the same. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Contingent Valuation Panel (1993) suggested “one might want to compare its (contingent-valuation's) outcome with that provided by a panel of experts. ” River guides constitute a counterfactual panel of “experts. ” For commercial trips, optimum flows are 34,000 cfs and 31,000 cfs for passengers and guides, and the comparable figures for private trips are 28,000 cfs and 29,000 cfs. In the NOAA Panel framework, passengers can evaluate the consequences of various river flows and translate this into contingent-valuation responses.
Modeling Condensation in Deep Convection

AbstractCloud-scale models apply two drastically different methods to represent condensation of water vapor to form and grow cloud droplets. Maintenance of water saturation inside liquid clouds is assumed in the computationally efficient saturation adjustment approach used in most bulk microphysics schemes. When super- or subsaturations are allowed, condensation/evaporation can be calculated using the predicted saturation ratio and (either predicted or prescribed) mean droplet radius and concentration. The study investigates differences between simulations of deep unorganized convection applying a saturation adjustment condensation scheme (SADJ) and a scheme with supersaturation prediction (SPRE). A double-moment microphysics scheme with CCN activation parameterized as a function of the local vertical velocity is applied to compare cloud fields simulated applying SPRE and SADJ. Clean CCN conditions are assumed to demonstrate upper limits of the SPRE and SADJ difference. Microphysical piggybacking is used .
Where the Dimensions of Religion and Mass Media Social Marketing Campaigns Intersect

This paper explores mass media social marketing practitioner insights of where the dimensions of religion and mass media social marketing campaigns intersect. Under an interpretive paradigm (Crotty, 1998), in-depth interviews were conducted with five expert mass media social marketing practitioners in Australia. The data was analysed qualitatively and three themes emerged from the results: (1) The dimensions of religion do have application in mass media social marketing campaigns; (2) participants employed the dimensions of religion with care to avoid a negative effect on the target audience and (3) while social marketing campaigns use ‘preaching’ as a communication medium, it tends not to be deliberately linked to religious practices.
Optimization of alkali pretreatment of wheat straw to be used as substrate for biofuels production

Alkali pretreatment of wheat straw was optimized by response surface methodology to maximize yields of ferment able sugars in subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and to remove maximum lignin in order to improve rheological at tributes of the media. The effects of pretreatment conditions on biomass properties were studied using the Expert Designer software. Concentration of sodium hydroxide and temperature were the factors most affecting pretreatment efficiency. At the optimum (80°C, 39 min, 0.18 g NaOH and 0.06 g lime per g of raw biomass), 93.1 ± 1.0% conversion of cellulose to glucose after enzymatic hydrolysis and 80.3 ± 1.2% yield of monosaccharides (glucose plus xylose and arabinose) from cellulose and hemicellulose of wheat straw were achieved.
The Role of Capabilities of Creating Export-Market Oriented Products in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises ( SMEs )

The main purpose of this paper is to measure the effects of SMEs capabilities on their export performance. This paper offers a model to test the effects of the capabilities of creating export-market oriented products (EMOPs) on increasing SMEs’ export performance. Six hypotheses are developed to analyze causal effects of variables. Using 387 Indonesian SMEs as sample, hypotheses testing highlight the importance of SMEs’ capabilities of building export-market oriented products, which highly follow foreign (export) market standards. Hence, these kinds of products increase foreign consumer acceptance. In general, this paper offers a possible explanation to predict the determinants of how SMEs’ can perform in the export market.
BANCO CENTRAL DE RESERVA DEL PERÚ Learning under Fear of Floating Saki Bigio

Cross-country evidence suggests that during recent years a large fraction of developing countries seem to began to overcome fear of floating, i.e., a lower relative volatility of exchange rates to monetary policy instruments. To explain this trend, we build a model that describes the behavior of Central Banks in developing countries under uncertainty and fear of misspecification about the effects of exchange rate depreciations. The Central Bank is uncertain about two sub-models which differ in that exchange rate depreciations can cause output either to expand (textbook effect) or contract (balance sheet effect). Optimal policy within the second sub-model is consistent with fear of floating. A feature of fear of floating is that, by preventing sizeable exchange rate swings, Central Banks could loose valuable information useful to distinguish among models. We describe how the Central Bank’s the evolution of the prior depends on the optimal policy and viceversa. We conclude that the trend towards less fear of floating may not be explained by Bayesian or robust policies because it would have been too quick to explain the data. However, if there was a parameter change affecting many countries during the early 2000’s, the model generates the observed pattern.
Experimental study of runners for vertical axis wind turbine

The work presents the results of experimental study of a wind turbine with a vertical axis. Research to make on test rig No 7 in the laboratory of hydropower and hydraulic turbomachinery of the Technical University of Sofia. Examined the characteristics of a wind turbine, whose runners are working with cylindrical blades. It is made planned physical experiment varied the values of the number of blades, the runner diameter and angle of insertion of blades on the grid of the runner. As a result of these studies is the inadequacy of the resulting models (objective function are the values of TSR). Therefore, based on analysis of the results is introduced a new criterion for dynamic similarity. This allows to optimize the geometry of the blade system.
A new technique for estimating the thickness of mare basalts in Imbrium Basin

The total volume of extrusive volcanism on the Moon provides a basic thermal and geologic constraint, and accurate volume assessments are contingent upon constraining lava flow depths. Here, employing UV‐VIS data from the Clementine mission, we estimate mare thickness values in the Imbrium Basin by analyzing ejecta from large (>10 km diameter) impact craters that penetrate (or failed to penetrate) through the mare. Mare thickness values are found to range from at least ∼2 km at the basin center to 1.5–2.0 km in the buried ring shelf annulus. This corresponds to a basalt volume of ∼1.3 × 106 km3, almost a factor of two greater than the volume estimated from partially filled craters alone. Our results indicate that thickness measurements from penetrating craters, combined with minimum estimates from partially filled and non‐penetrating craters, provide a more complete picture of the spatial variation of basalt thickness values than could previously be obtained.
The Relative Importance of Social and Personal Norms in Explaining Intentions to Choose Eco-Friendly Travel Options†

International Journal of Tourism Research Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Tap-tap menu: body touching for virtual interactive menus

Virtual and mixed realities make it possible to view and interact with virtual objects in 3D space. However, where to position menus in 3D space and how to interact with them are often problems. Existing studies developed methods of displaying a menu on the hand or arm. In this study, we proposed a menu system that appears at various body parts. By placing the menu on the body, it enables the user to operate the menus comfortably through kinesthesia, and perceive tactile feedback. Furthermore, displaying the menu not only in the hands and arms but also in the upper legs and the abdomen, the menu display area can be expanded. In this study, we developed a modeling application and introduced a proposed menu design for that application.
Examining goods market integration in the Eurozone: evidence obtained from an analysis of price-setting by UK automobile exporters

This paper investigates whether the pervasive dispersion of automobile prices within the Eurozone (1999-2006) is caused by the existence of market segmentation and divergences in the market structures. The results concerning the Pricing to Market behavior of the United Kingdom exporters indicate that it is heterogeneous across the Eurozone countries, which suggests that the goods markets are not totally integrated.
Emotional Intelligence and the Identity Negotiation of a Racial Minority Group in a Majority School Context

This article describes the possible impact of emotional intelligence on identity negotiation of a racial minority group in a majority school context. The study investigated the adjustment and functioning of racial minority groups in majority school contexts, as well as the identity negotiation associated with it, and determined whether there is a correlation between the former and the Emotional Intelligence (EI) of the participants. Participants were 16 black and 21 white learners attending two schools where they were in the minority (mean age = 16.23 years; SD = 1.49 years). The learners attended Grades 9–12. Data were first organised, after which themes and patterns were identified, and the data appraised and categorised (Creswell, 2007), after which a comparison was drawn between the identified categories of existing knowledge. Findings suggest that racial integration in both high schools actually occurred in name only; most participants chose to mingle within their own racial groups and the black participants in particular were exposed to racism, discrimination and prejudice on a regular basis. Despite the necessary steps taken and implemented by government in order to oppose racism in the country and promote racial integration in schools, it seems that the consequences of apartheid remain for the foreseeable future.
Sample Efficient Stochastic Variance-Reduced Cubic Regularization Method

We propose a sample efficient stochastic variance-reduced cubic regularization (Lite-SVRC) algorithm for finding the local minimum efficiently in nonconvex optimization. The proposed algorithm achieves a lower sample complexity of Hessian matrix computation than existing cubic regularization based methods. At the heart of our analysis is the choice of a constant batch size of Hessian matrix computation at each iteration and the stochastic variance reduction techniques. In detail, for a nonconvex function with $n$ component functions, Lite-SVRC converges to the local minimum within $\tilde{O}(n+n^{2/3}/\epsilon^{3/2})$ Hessian sample complexity, which is faster than all existing cubic regularization based methods. Numerical experiments with different nonconvex optimization problems conducted on real datasets validate our theoretical results.
The Role of Serum Cystatin C in the Early Detection of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy after Coronary Intervention

Objective: Contrast induced nephropathy is the most common complication for both coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of serum cystatin C among patients undergoing coronary angiography for earlier detection of contrast induced nephropathy. Materials and Methods: The study included 80 elective patients attending the cardiology center (48 males, 32 females). The study was conducted in cardiac catheterization unit at Al-Hussein Medical City/ Karbala Health Directorate-Holy Karbala, Iraq. Clinical examination and laboratory investigations were made before and 24 h after angiography. These investigations include: serum creatinine, blood urea, estimated GFR and serum cystatin C. Results: According to the definition, contrast induced nephropathy occurred in 19 patients 23.8% with grade 0 to 2 of renal dysfunction. There were significant increments in serum creatinine, cystatin C and eGFR after 24 h of angiography/angioplasty procedures p 7 ng/ml. Conclusion: Cystatin C was a good biomarker for earlier diagnosis of contrast induced nephropathy when compared with blood urea and eGFR.
Quantifying and Mitigating Wind‐Induced Undercatch in Rainfall Measurements

Despite the apparent simplicity, it is notoriously difficult to measure rainfall accurately because of the challenging environment within which it is measured. Systematic bias caused by wind is inherent in rainfall measurement and introduces an inconvenient unknown into hydrological science that is generally ignored. This paper examines the role of rain gauge shape and mounting height on catch efficiency (CE), where CE is defined as the ratio between nonreference and reference rainfall measurements. Using a pit gauge as a reference, we have demonstrated that rainfall measurements from an exposed upland site, recorded by an adjacent conventional cylinder rain gauge mounted at 0.5 m, were underestimated by more than 23% on average. At an exposed lowland site, with lower wind speeds on average, the equivalent mean undercatch was 9.4% for an equivalent gauge pairing. An improved‐aerodynamic gauge shape enhanced CE when compared to a conventional cylinder gauge shape. For an improved‐aerodynamic gauge mounted at 0.5 m above the ground, the mean undercatch was 11.2% at the upland site and 3.4% at the lowland site. The mounting height of a rain gauge above the ground also affected CE due to the vertical wind gradient near to the ground. Identical rain gauges mounted at 0.5 and 1.5 m were compared at an upland site, resulting in a mean undercatch of 11.2% and 17.5%, respectively. By selecting three large rainfall events and splitting them into shorter‐duration intervals, a relationship explaining 81% of the variance was established between CE and wind speed.
Factors influencing densities of striped hyenas (Hyaena hyaena) in arid regions of India

Abstract The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), despite being a threatened species, frequently occurs in human-dominated landscapes of India's Rajasthan State. We estimated hyena densities using photographic capture–recapture sampling to identify key ecological factors influencing hyena abundances in such areas. Our 2 study sites (307 km2 in Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and 218 km2 in Esrana Forest Range) had different topographies and levels of human disturbances. We proposed explicit hypotheses regarding effects of livestock densities and topographic features on hyena abundances. We tested these hypotheses by examining the correspondence of estimated hyena densities to food availability in the form of livestock carcasses and potential refugia offered by hilly terrain. Sampling efforts of 548 and 538 camera-trap nights were invested in Kumbhalgarh and Esrana, respectively. Density estimates (hyenas/100 km2) based on capture–recapture sampling were higher (6.5 ± 2.6 SE) for Kumbhalgarh than Esrana (3.67 ± 0.3 SE). Our results supported the prediction that denning refugia in hilly terrain sustain higher hyena densities, but the prediction that higher livestock densities maintain higher hyena densities was not supported. Because the striped hyena is a threatened species for which few data exist, our findings have major potential utility for range-wide conservation of the species.
Relation of Magnetic and Gravity Field Data to Selected Structural Elements of the Central Portion of the Arkoma Basin

In order to acquire a greater understanding of some of the major basement structural features characteristic of the Arkoma basin, magnetic and gravity data have been collected and analyzed for a selected area. Several anomalies exist and are found to be associated withfault-ing or major fracturing in the Precambrian basement. Modelling of source bodies based on magnetic and gravity values provides quantitative estimates of the depth as well as the geometry ofbasement structural geology.
INTEGRATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING PLATFORM TO GRID INFRASTRUCTURE

Both grid and cloud are used to organize large scale calculations and data processing on remote computers. Grid which became a basic computing infrastructure for the Large Hadron Collider experiments provides unified technical solutions for sharing and merging distributed heterogeneous computing resources within big collaboration groups. Cloud became popular among data centers and computing service providers because of flexibility, manageability and efficient hardware utilization. Both share common ideology “computing as a service”, so one can expect additional benefits from their integration. The paper describes our approach to the integration. We propose to use cloud within grid sites for acceleration of application deployment and easy support of multiple virtual organizations by grid sites. The cloud in grid approach has been implemented and tested in Ukrainian National Grid, a part of European Grid Infrastructure.
Hamiltonian simulation with nearly optimal dependence on spectral norm

We present a quantum algorithm for approximating the real time evolution e−iHt of an arbitrary d-sparse Hamiltonian to error є, given black-box access to the positions and b-bit values of its non-zero matrix entries. The query complexity of our algorithm is O((t√d||H||1 → 2)1+o(1)/єo(1)) with respect to the largest Euclidean row norm ||H||1 → 2, which is shown to be optimal up to subpolynomial factors through a matching lower bound, and it uses a factor O(b) more gates. This provides a polynomial speedup in sparsity for the common case where the spectral norm is known, and generalizes previous approaches which achieve optimal scaling, but with respect to more restrictive parameters. By exploiting knowledge of the spectral norm, our algorithm solves the black-box unitary implementation problem – O(d1/2+o(1)) queries suffice to approximate any d-sparse unitary in the black-box setting, which matches the quantum search lower bound of Ω(√d) queries and improves upon prior art [Berry and Childs, QIP 2010] of Õ(d2/3) queries. Combined with known techniques, we also solve systems of sparse linear equations with condition number κ using O((κ √d)1+o(1)/єo(1)) queries, which is a quadratic improvement in sparsity.
A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL DESIGN RESEARCH PROCESSES

Knowledge management can support industrial design research processes. Indeed, these industrial design research processes are situated between a system of operational units, requiring and using design research results, and a system of technological providers and academic laboratories. The knowledge flow between these systems is exposed to certain industrial constraints. The EADS industrial research center needs to optimise internal and external knowledge flows. In this purpose we propose a knowledge management system. Based on a research process model, the knowledge typology and a theoretical knowledge management model we propose a system architecture. This system architecture allows manipulating information and knowledge more flexible in order to assure a certain dynamic for the knowledge management system. This article discusses the introduction of a knowledge management system for industrial design research processes at the EADS Corporate Research Center.
Comparative Analysis of Edge Detection Techniques for extracting Refined Boundaries

Edge detection is an important task in Computer Vision for extracting meaningful information from digital images. The main goal of our proposed technique is to obtain thin edges, so that the result is more suitable for further application such as boundary detection, image segmentation, motion detection/estimation, texture analysis, object identification and so on. We tested four edge detectors that use different methods for detecting edges and compared their results under a variety of situations to determine which detector was preferable under different sets of conditions. This data could then be used to create a multi-edge-detector system, which analyzes the scene and runs the edge detector best suited for the current set of data. For one of the edge detectors we considered two different ways of implementation, the one using intensity only and the other using color information. We also considered one additional edge detector which takes a different philosophy to edge detection. Rather than trying to find the ideal edge detector to apply to traditional photographs, it would be more efficient to merely change the method of photography to one which is more conducive to edge detection. It makes use of a camera that takes multiple images in rapid succession under different lighting conditions.