Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the geometry of turbulent mixing

We investigate the temporal evolution of the geometrical distribution of a passive scalar injected continuously into the far field of a turbulent water jet at a scale d smaller than the local integral scale of the turbulence. The concentration field is studied quantitatively by a laser-induced- fluorescence technique on a plane cut containing the jet axis. Global features such as the scalar dispersion from the source, as well as the fine structure of the scalar field, are analysed. In particular, we define the volume occupied by the regions whose concentration is larger than a given concentration threshold (support of the scalar field) and the surface in which this volume is enclosed (boundary of the support). The volume and surface extents, and their respective fractal dimensions are measured as a function of time t, and the concentration threshold is normalized by the initial concentration Cs/C0 for different injection sizes d. All of these quantities display a clear dependence on t, d and Cs, and their evolutions rescale with the variable ξ = (ut/d)(Cs/C0), the fractal dimension being, in addition, scale dependent. The surface-to-volume ratio and the fractal dimension of both the volume and the surface tend towards unity at large ξ, reflecting the sheet-like structure of the scalar at small scales. These findings suggest an original picture of the kinetics of turbulent mixing.
Microstructural changes in instant noodles during production via triple staining and confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) was used to study changes in microstructure throughout the process of instant noodle production. Multiple staining of acridine orange, fluorolink Cy3 and sulforhodamine was applied in order to differentiate protein, starch and lipid, respectively, in the same image. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was also applied, complementarily, to contribute stereoscopic images. The microscopic data obtained from triple-labeled samples examined by CLSM were found to correspond to the stereoscopic SEM micrographs. Morphological changes and microstructural arrangement of starch granules and protein matrix, and the presence of lipids were found to respond to different regimes of process: addition of water, inputs of mechanical force and heat and introduction of frying. Thus, triple staining, via CLSM, could be regarded as a potential tool for monitoring microstructural differences resulting from varied processing conditions.
Seasonal transition of predominant precipitation type and lightning activity over tropical monsoon areas derived from TRMM observations

Monthly statistics from TRMM‐PR and LIS observations for the three years 1998 to 2000 describe large‐scale features in rainfall and lightning activity during pre‐monsoon and monsoon periods of the Asian and South American summer monsoons. Heavy (∼5–10 mm/day) pre‐monsoon rainfall in the one or two months before onset was widespread mainly over land. Pre‐monsoon rainfall was highly convective and characterized by active lightning, a high ratio of convective rain, and high echo tops. After onset, in contrast, intense rains also occurred over the ocean and land, however, convective intensity over land was diminished. Lightning activity was suppressed over the Amazon basin and Bangladesh during the latter half of the summer monsoon.
Abrupt termination of the 2012 Pacific warming and its implication on ENSO prediction

In the summer of 2012, there was a clear signal of the developing El Niño over the equatorial Pacific, and many climate models forecasted the occurrence of El Niño with a peak phase in the subsequent winter. However, the warming was aborted abruptly in late fall. Here we show that the abrupt termination of the 2012 Pacific warming was largely attributed to the anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) cooling in the northeastern and southeastern subtropical Pacific. The anomalous SST cooling induced strong easterly and low‐level divergence anomalies, suppressing the development of westerly and convection anomalies over the equatorial central Pacific. Thus, the surface warming over the equatorial Pacific was decoupled from the surface wind forcing and subsurface thermocline variability, inhibiting its further development into a mature El Niño in the winter of 2012–2013. This study highlights the importance of the SST anomaly in the subtropical Pacific in El Niño prediction.
Acipenser sturio and Acipenser nudiventris in the Danube – extant or extinct?

Summary The presence of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) and ship sturgeon (Acipenser nudiventris) in the Danube has been known through only occasional, chance sightings; significant uncertainty remains as to whether these species are already extinct or still present in the Danube River basin. In this study, five different statistical methods were applied for assessment of their extinction probability. All methods provided a significant probability that the Atlantic sturgeon is extinct, with extinction having occurred somewhere between 1966 and 1970. Although the applied methods provided different results, all indicated that the ship sturgeon is probably still present, but that extinction may occur within a few decades. Sensitivity analyses of these statistical methods projected that new sightings of ship sturgeon in the coming years would not extend the length of extinction by more than a few years. The best management approach for these two species, given the lack of knowledge on their presence in the Danube River basin, could be to apply all feasible protection measures for the other four Danube sturgeon species. These measures could at the same time provide protection for these two species, presuming they are not already extinct or beyond recovery.
Elastic Wave Scattering From a Strained Region

This dissertation considers elastic wave scattering from a micro-sphere embedded in a rubber substrate which has been initially strained. Its aim is to ascertain the extent to which the strained region affects the scattering process. It is proposed that under hydrostatic loading a micro-sphere will compress nonlinearly. This is justified by calculating the compressed radius of a micro-sphere for different forms of the stored energy function corresponding to linear and nonlinear elasticity. It is shown that linear elasticity, as used in current TMSL models, predicts that the micro-sphere compresses to a smaller radius than that predicted by standard nonlinear elastic models of rubber-like materials. The initial strain modifies the Lame moduli and therefore further experimental work is necessary in order to calculate the full equations of motion for small displacements superposed on top of the initial finite strain. Without this further experimental knowledge the equations are correct only to leading order. The low frequency scattering problem is solved at leading order so that we can ascertain how monopole scattering is affected by the strained region. It is shown that the monopole scattering cross section for scattering from a spherical cavity in a strained region is three orders of magnitude smaller than that for an isotropic region. Hence, the scattering process is significantly affected by the strained region. Two modifications to the current TMSL model are proposed. Firstly, the prediction of the compressed radius should be made according to nonlinear elasticity. Secondly, scattering effects due to the strained region should be included in the model since they contribute significantly to the scattering process.
How do exporters react to the prices of their competitors

This paper uses firm-product-destination level trade data from Hungary linked to Eurostat data on unit values and quantities in production, imports and exports of products in EU member states to see how firms react following price and exchange rate changes in their export markets. The results show that exchange rate pass-through is similar to that found in other countries, but the elasticity with respect to changes in the market price is only about a precisely estimated 0.02, suggesting that firms adjust their markups very differently following exchange rate and price shocks. In addition, quantity reaction after a change in the market price is quite small, suggesting a very low residual demand elasticity. Regarding heterogeneity, the paper finds that exchange rate pass-through is more incomplete for larger firms, while reaction to price changes is stronger for products which Hungary competes with low price competitors. These results are not easy to explain in a flexible price model, but can be in line with multi-year contracts which handle different shocks differently.
Inhibition of Ekortikus Island Expansion in Banyuasin Estuary, South Sumatra Modelling by Using Finite Volume Method with Unstructured Mesh

Ekortikus Island was formed through continuous sedimentation in Banyuasin Estuary (BAE) in Banyuasin District, South Sumatra. Based on satellite data, Ekortikus Islands area is expanding dramatically, 22 times greater in 21-year period. This expansion narrowed the estuary and disturbing estuary function, especially related to water run off from water cathment area. Ekortikus expansion was caused by high sedimentation and flow distribution mode which were formed by the fusion of two river flows assembled in the estuary, confounded by tidal flow dynamic with amplitude of 0.6 – 3.9 m. An experiment was conducted to simulate development of Ekortikus Island with or without placement of a potential barrier. The simulation used Finite Volume Method (FVM) with triangle unstructured mesh. Simulation with normal conditions or without treatment, in which the flow is Banyuasin greater than the flow Lalan turn out Ekortikus island increases toward the Southwest and due to tidal flow, Ekortikus Island increases towards the Northwest. Simulation could also manipulate the future form of the Island when a potential barrier was placed to direct flows of both rivers. Treatment simulation, by changing the flow Banyuasin becoming greater than Lalan flow, altered the location of the deposition of sediment to another place and Ekortikus Island area expansion was reduced.
Is the Growth of Regionalism as Significant as the Headlines Suggest? Lessons from Agricultural Trade

The proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has motivated a significant number of ex post econometric studies investigating their agricultural trade impacts. The general conclusion is that RTAs increase members’ trade by as much as 150 percent, on average. In this article, we demonstrate that previous empirical work likely misrepresents the impact of RTAs because of considerable heterogeneity in the depth of economic integration pursued by these agreements. Contrary to previous studies, the results reveal that RTAs are not universally trade creating, and some agreements appear to provide very little benefit. “Deep integration agreements”, on the other hand, are largely responsible for the impressive agricultural trade flow increases reported in the literature. Testing the hierarchy of RTAs largely confirms the theory: the benefits of regionalism are an increasing function of the depth of economic integration.
Novel source of sorghum tolerance to the African stem borer, Busseola fusca

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is an important cereal food crop in semi-arid tropics, but its productivity is curtailed mainly by insect pests and diseases. The African stem borer, Busseola fusca Fuller (Lepidopteran: Noctuidae), is among the most injurious pests of sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa and is responsible for >15% sorghum grain yield losses. Sorghum from India with records of stem borer invasion could provide supplementary and novel resources of tolerance to this pest. Utilization of tolerant varieties in combination with other methods of control is likely to offer a sustainable strategy for B. fusca management in sorghum production. The objective of this study was to evaluate several local and exotic sorghum genotypes for tolerance to B. fusca. Genotype Swarna from India which is known to be susceptible to Chilo partellus was used as a susceptible check. There is limited information regarding tolerant/resistant sorghum to B. fusca. Seven commercial cultivars and 20 introductions from India were evaluated for B. fusca tolerance at Kabete, in central province of Kenya, during long and short rainy seasons in 2010. Selection index were based on leaf damage, dead hearts, exit holes and stem tunneling. The following genotypes named ICSA 467, ICSA 473, MACIA and ICSB 464 were found to be the most tolerant to B. fusca. These tolerant genotypes, can be used as novel sources of tolerance, and could be introgressed into the local common varieties since they are well adapted to the local environment.
Confined fluidised bed porosity in the light of bubbling-bed models

Based on hydrodynamic data, Kato-Wen and Kunii-Levenspiel bubbling-bed model parameters, supplemented with assumptions characteristic for tested confined fluidised bed, were analysed. The calculated bubble diameters and the bed composition proved essential influence of inter-particle space of packed compacted component onto fluidisation character. The usability of the conducted model analysis was also confirmed. Finally, it can be concluded that Kunii-Levenspiel and Kato-Wen models with characteristic assumptions (for the tested bed) can be applied for calculation of the confined fluidised bed layer porosity. Discrepancies of ε f value, determined on the basis of the above mentioned bubbling-bed models do not exceed 8% of the error. The model parameters obtained from the matching the model relations to experimental data ε f = f( u 0 ) allow an analysis of the fluidisation character as well as gas velocity regime and the fluidised bed structural composition identification. A description of the regime of the process in which confined fluidised bed is characterised with an increase of mass and heat transfer rate is also possible using relation (17) derived in the present study.
Environmental Accounting and Firm Profitability : An Empirical Analysis of Selected Firms Listed in Bombay Stock Exchange , India

Environmental accounting is the ability to provide accurate information in the financial statements regarding the estimated social cost occasioned by the production externalities on the environment and how much deliberate intervention cost had been incurred to bridge the gap between the marginal social cost and the marginal private cost by a firm. The objective of this study is to establish whether there is any significant relationship between environmental accounting and profitability of selected firms listed in India. The data for the study were collected from annual reports and accounts of 14 randomly selected quoted companies in Bombay Stock Exchange in India. The data were analyzed using multiple regression models. The key findings of the study shows that there is significant negative relationship between Environmental Accounting and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) and Earnings per Share (EPS) and a significant positive relationship between Environmental Accounting and Net Profit Margin and Dividend per Share. Based on this it was recommended that government should give tax credit to organizations that comply with its environmental laws and that environmental reporting should be made compulsory in India so as to improve the performance of organizations and the nation as a whole.
SEU-sensitive volumes in bulk and SOI SRAMs from first-principles calculations and experiments

Large-scale three-dimensional (3D) device simulations, focused ion microscopy, and broadbeam heavy-ion experiments are used to determine and compare the SEU-sensitive volumes of bulk-Si and SOI CMOS SRAMs. Single-event upset maps and cross-section curves calculated directly from 3D simulations show excellent agreement with broadbeam cross section curves and microbeam, charge collection and upset images for 16 K bulk-Si SRAMs. Charge-collection and single-event upset (SEU) experiments on 64 K and 1 M SOI SRAMs indicate that drain strikes can cause single-event upsets in SOI ICs. 3D simulations do not predict this result, which appears to be due to anomalous charge collection from the substrate through the buried oxide. This substrate charge-collection mechanism can considerably increase the SEU-sensitive volume of SOI SRAMs, and must be included in single-event models if they are to provide accurate predictions of SOI device response in radiation environments.
Managerial and Disciplinary Responses to Abandoned Acquisitions in Bidding Firms: A New Perspective

Manuscript Type Empirical Research Question/Issue Existing research suggests that internal and external corporate governance mechanisms substitute for one another to mitigate agency problems in bidding firms. This paper tests whether the interaction between these mechanisms is more complementary. Research Findings/Insights While there is evidence for disciplinary responses to bids for unrelated targets involving strategic retrenchment and significant asset divestment, the influence of the information conveyed by this characteristic on the likelihood of post-abandonment discipline is not amplified when boards are less independent. Theoretical/Academic Implications The results suggest that certain characteristics are used to distinguish between abandoned bidders which require discipline and those that do not. However, our findings do not suggest that interaction between internal and external governance mechanisms is contingent on board independence. Instead, these interactions between shareholders and boards seem to be contingent on a range of company, industry, and situation-specific factors. Practitioner/Policy Implications While policy in the UK has focused on board independence as a means of effective corporate governance, our results suggest that this is not a panacea. Effective governance involves active owners, communicating their interests to boards, and boards responding accordingly. Further encouragement of such communication before, during, and after acquisitions will improve signals to managers that shareholders can target the necessary discipline of those whom they perceive to need it most.
Tackling Multi-member Problem in IPTV Recommendation with Virtual Users

With the popularity of the Internet, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has been replacing traditional TV and recommendation systems can help IPTV users to choose programs that may interest them. Compared with other recommendations (e.g., movies), IPTV recommendation suffers from a multi-member problem — more than one family members in a household share TV. Because family members can have different tastes, this problem makes recommendations less accurate for IPTV. We propose a virtual user approach to solve this problem. We virtualize two virtual users in a household — Kid and Adult. We have integrated virtual users into both content-based and collaborative filtering recommendation approaches. Experimental results on a real IPTV dataset show that the proposed approaches perform better than the recommendation algorithms without virtual users.
A Rule Based System to Refine User Walls

The core problem in today’s Online Social Networks (OSNs) is to allocate users the authority to manage the messages posted on their private space to avert that unwanted content. The unwanted data may contains political, vulgar, non-neural etc. message filtering systems are designed for unstructured or semi-structured data, as opposed to database applications, which use very structured data. In this paper we proposed a System with the flexible rules to filter the unwanted messages posted on user wall. After passing threshold value the informing message is send to that user. This allows users to customize the refining criteria to be applied to their walls, and a Machine Learning-based classifier automatically classifies the messages and labelling messages in support of content-based filtering. Keywords—flexible rules, message filtering, Online social networks, short text classification. __________________________________________________*****_______________________________________________
Efficiency Analysis of Multiple-Transmitter Wireless Power Transfer Systems

The range of the power transmission region can be effectively enlarged by a multiple-transmitter (TXs) and single-receiver (RX) magnetic wireless power transfer (WPT) system. However, the power transfer efficiency (PTE) of the WPT system with two TXs and a single RX has been intensively studied in the past few years. Therefore, a deep analysis of multiple-TX WPT systems needs to be implemented urgently to achieve the highest PTE in a wider range of power transmission. This paper analyzes a general multiple-TX single-RX system in detail based on the circuit model. Two optimal conditions, in which the feeding amplitude ratios need be equal to the mutual inductance ratios and the optimal load should be connected to RX, are derived to obtain the highest PTE. In the experiment part, the feeding amplitude ratios for multiple TXs are implemented by a proposed lumped transformer for the first time. The use of the lumped transformer reduces the complexity compared with the use of multiple inverters to achieve predetermined feeding amplitude ratios. Multiple-TX systems are designed and measured to validate the theoretical analysis. Experimental results agree very well with theoretical calculations.
Techniques for quantifying gaseous HOCl using atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry

HOCl is speculated to be an important intermediate in mid-latitude marine boundary layer chemistry and at high latitudes in spring-time when surface-level O3 depletion occurs. However, techniques do not currently exist to measure HOCl in the troposphere. We demonstrate that atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry (API-MS) is a highly sensitive and selective technique which has promise for HOCl measurements both in laboratory systems and in field studies. While HOCl can be measured as the (HOCl·O2)- adduct with air as the chemical ionization (CI) reagent gas, the intensity of this adduct is sensitive to the presence of acids and to the amount of water vapor, complicating its use for quantitative measurements. However, the addition of bromoform vapor to the corona discharge region forms bromide ions that attach to HOCl and allow its detection via the (HOCl·Br)- adduct. The ion–molecule chemistry associated with the use of air or bromoform as the CI reagent gas is discussed, with particular emphasis on the effects of relative humidity and gas phase acid concentrations. HOCl is quantified by measuring the amount of Cl2 formed by its heterogeneous reaction with condensed-phase HCl/H2O. Detection limits are ∽3 parts per billion (ppb) using air as the CI reagent gas and ∽0.9 ppb using bromoform. The atmospheric implications of this work are discussed.