Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MAPPING OF PLANETARY SURFACE AGE BASED ON CRATER STATISTICS OBTAINED BY AN AUTOMATIC DETECTION ALGORITHM

Abstract. The analysis of the impact crater size-frequency distribution (CSFD) is a well-established approach to the determination of the age of planetary surfaces. Classically, estimation of the CSFD is achieved by manual crater counting and size determination in spacecraft images, which, however, becomes very time-consuming for large surface areas and/or high image resolution. With increasing availability of high-resolution (nearly) global image mosaics of planetary surfaces, a variety of automated methods for the detection of craters based on image data and/or topographic data have been developed. In this contribution a template-based crater detection algorithm is used which analyses image data acquired under known illumination conditions. Its results are used to establish the CSFD for the examined area, which is then used to estimate the absolute model age of the surface. The detection threshold of the automatic crater detection algorithm is calibrated based on a region with available manually determined CSFD such that the age inferred from the manual crater counts corresponds to the age inferred from the automatic crater detection results. With this detection threshold, the automatic crater detection algorithm can be applied to a much larger surface region around the calibration area. The proposed age estimation method is demonstrated for a Kaguya Terrain Camera image mosaic of 7.4 m per pixel resolution of the floor region of the lunar crater Tsiolkovsky, which consists of dark and flat mare basalt and has an area of nearly 10,000 km2. The region used for calibration, for which manual crater counts are available, has an area of 100 km2. In order to obtain a spatially resolved age map, CSFDs and surface ages are computed for overlapping quadratic regions of about 4.4 x 4.4 km2 size offset by a step width of 74 m. Our constructed surface age map of the floor of Tsiolkovsky shows age values of typically 3.2-3.3 Ga, while for small regions lower (down to 2.9 Ga) and higher (up to 3.6 Ga) age values can be observed. It is known that CSFD-derived absolute model ages can exhibit variations although the surface has a constant age. However, for four 10-20 km sized regions in the eastern part of the crater floor our map shows age values differing by several hundred Ma from the typical age of the crater floor, where the same regions are also discernible in Clementine UV/VIS color ratio image data probably due to compositional variations, such that the age differences of these four regions may be real.
An Approach to Modeling and Scaling of Hysteresis in Soft Magnetic Materials. I Magnetization Curve

A new mathematical model of hysteresis loop has been derived. Model consists in an extansion of tanh($\cdot$) by extanding the base of exp function into an arbitrary positive number. The presented model is self-similar and invariant with respect to scaling. Scaling of magnetic hysteresis loop has been done using the notion of homogenous function in general sense.
Identification of surface proteins of trophic and cyst forms of Blastocystis hominis by biotin labeling

The surface proteins of trophic (vacuolar and ameboid forms) and cyst forms of two axenic Blastocystis hominis Brumpt, 1912 isolates were studied. The surface proteins of both forms were biotin-labeled and the soluble proteins from unlabeled and biotin-labeled cells were electrophoresed in 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gels under reducing conditions. The electrophoresed proteins from biotinylated cells were transferred to nitrocellulose membranes and the avidin-peroxidase-labeled complex was used to identify the surface proteins. In trophic forms, 26 of the 38 soluble proteins, with MW ranging between 30 and >200 kDa, were identified as surface proteins. In cyst forms, 15 of the 29 soluble proteins, with MW ranging between 30 and 193 kDa, were considered as located on the surface of cysts. The comparative analysis of surface protein profiles of both forms showed the presence of a common pattern, composed of 13 bands, and the characteristic proteins of trophic (36, 44, 46, 51, 70, 74, 76, 92, 98, 101, 166, 176 and >200 kDa) and cyst forms (42 and 193 kDa).
Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in milk and dairy products

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic Gram positive pathogen and the causative agent of many human and animal diseases. It is also an important human foodborne pathogen. Certain strains of S. aureus can produce staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) in foods and cause staphylococcal food poisonings (SFP). In recent years S. aureus has been increasingly associated with antibiotic resistance. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) includes those strains that have acquired genes conferring resistance to methicillin and essentially all other beta-lactam antibiotics. MRSA was initially reported as a nosocomial pathogen in human hospitals (or hospital-associated MRSA, HA-MRSA). Since the 1990s, community-acquired or community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections have also been reported to affect people having no epidemiological connection with hospitals. More recently, MRSA has been isolated from most food-producing animals and foods of animal origin, raising public health concerns. MRSA strains have been isolated from cows’ or small ruminants’ milk and various dairy products in many countries. The MRSA prevalence in milk and dairy products recorded in different countries or even regions of the same country differs significantly. High MRSA prevalence have been recorded in milk produced in most African countries, for instance as high as 60.3% in Ethiopia. The MRSA prevalence in Asian countries varies from high e.g. 28.3% in Iran to low (e.g. in Korea and Japan). In most European countries, the MRSA prevalence in milk and dairy products has been generally found to be low. In the US and Canada, zero to low MRSA prevalence estimates have been reported. The investigation of MRSA prevalence in milk may serve as a tool for assessing both the sanitary conditions employed in dairy herds and the health risks that humans may encounter when infected with antibiotic-resistant strains.
Comparation and analysis methods of moderate-resolution satellite remote sensing image classification

Moderate resolution remote sensing images provide broad spectrum, high spatial resolution, and rich texture information. However, most traditional classification approaches are based exclusively on the digital number of the pixel itself. Thereby only the spectral information is used for the classification. But some researches have shown that pixel-based approaches for classification of remotely sensed data are not very suitable for the analysis of moderate resolution images. In order to get a reasonable planning and effective management of land cover, the paper provide a new classification and extraction method. In this paper, the object-oriented image classification technology is used in the experiment of land cover information extraction for CBERS-01 data, and compared with the results of the pixel-based approaches. The results show that the Object-oriented technique is a more suited method for moderate-resolution remote sensing image classification and a better classification results.
ICT factors affecting agritourism growth in rural communities of Lesotho

Agritourism is an important part of the tourism strategy and can improve the livelihoods of farmers in the agricultural industry. Changes that have been brought about by technology have created a challenging environment for farmers who do not have access to and knowledge about technologies available for agritourism. The aim of the study was to explore some of the factors that affect the growth of agritourism as an industry in Lesotho. The study further aims to contribute towards agritourism development and related studies, and proposes guidelines to overcome the negative impacts of agritourism growth. Multiple-case studies were used as a research strategy. Six commercial farms were selected using non-probability sampling and judgemental techniques. The units of analysis were farms, officials from government and tourists as a group. The units of observation included the individual farmers, farm employees, officials from the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture and individual tourists. Content analysis was used to analyse data collected from faceto- face interviews. The findings show that whilst technology is viewed as an important component for agritourism growth, issues such as the lack of infrastructure, costs, ICT literacy, awareness and education are some of the factors that hinder the growth of agritourism. The study concludes by recommending guidelines on how to overcome some of the factors affecting the growth of agritourism.
Technopreneurship (entreprenology) as the Holy Grail of SMEs growth: a historical analysis

Technopreneurship / entreprenology is a relatively new term and is receiving increasing recognition from the scholars of various streams of business and science and technology disciplines, as well as from the industry players and business men practically. Technopreneurship is, indeed, becoming vital in the current globalization and liberalization economy, as it provides greater opportunities and enables effective optimization of resources to attain high profit margins. This article presents a summary of research on entrepreneurs and discusses the trends in the development of entrepreneurship to present day technopreneurship. It begins by introducing the pioneers of the domain, Cantillon, Say and Schumpeter. The contribution of economists such as Knight, Hayek, Penrose, Kirzner and Casson are mentioned. A second section presents the contributions of the behavioral scientists and the characteristics most commonly ascribed to entrepreneurs. From the 1980s onwards, the field of entrepreneurship detonated and was absorbed into almost every soft science discipline. Two separate trends one applied, the other theory-based began to emerge. Thus, the article necessitates that the field is in the process of dividing into two separate entities: entrepreneurship, the applied aspect, and technopreneurship, the theoretical aspect.
Preparation on Chitosan Derivative Nanoparticles as Prolonged Releasing Drug Carrier

Ricinoleic acid grafted amphiphilic carboxymethy chitosan (CMC-g-RA) was synthetised as a carrier to load botanical drug rotenone (Rot). Then Rot/CMC-g-RA water dispersion in nanoscale was prepared, whose shape, zeta potential, loading efficiency and outdoor stability were characterized accordingly. The results indicated that the sizes, polydispersity index, zeta potential of Rot/CMC-g-RA particles were affected by concentrations of this water dispersion. When the ratio of carrier to drug ascended, the water dispersion had monodisperse nanoparticle sizes with negative charge on nanoparticle surface. And the water dispersion restrained Rot degradation in natural environment with higher loading efficiency.
Taxation, Debt and Relative Prices in the Long Run: The Irish Experience

This paper investigates the effects of public debt and distortionary labour taxation on the long-run behaviour of Irish relative non-traded goods prices. We highlight that higher public debt, acting through higher taxes, has an equivocal impact on the relative supply of non-traded goods and, correspondingly, relative prices. Our empirical analysis for Ireland suggests that taxes and public debt play significant roles in the long run, comoving negatively with the relative price of non-tradables. Accordingly, shifts in public debt and taxation bear implications for the country’s international price competitiveness.
Preliminary Results of Plasma Flow Measurements in a 2 KW Segmented Hall Thruster

A 2-kW Hall thruster was developed, built, and operated in an upgraded vacuum facility. The thruster performance and parameters of the plasma flow were measured by new diagnostics for plume measurements and plasma measurements inside the thruster channel. The thruster demonstrated efficient operation in terms of propellant and current utilization efficiencies in the input power range of 0.5-3.5 kW. Preliminary measurements of the ion energy spectra from the thruster axis region and the distribution of plasma parameters in the vicinity of the thruster exit are reported.
Supply Chain Integration: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Supply chain integration has been widely identified as a key research topic by both practitioners and academicians. In such environment, it is essential to vividly illustrate the publications contribution during the period of time and recognize research area and interests as well as the direction of research trend for future studies. With the availability of bibliometric data and variety of analytical tools for evaluation purposes, disregarding bibliometric analysis would be a missed opportunity for this area. Therefore, the current research attempts to deliver a comprehensive comparison thorough using rigorous bibliometric tools that provides a better understanding not previously fully grasped or evaluated by prior studies in the area of supply chain integration. The objective of this research is to recognize the global scientific production; the most productive authors, journals, articles and countries as well as to extract the most influential articles. The analysis begins by identifying over 500 published studies during the period of 1980 to 24th February 2016, which are then purified to works of proven influence and those authored by influential investigators. Web of Science Core Collection (formerly known as ISI), category of management was utilized to identify the relevant articles. Gaps are also discussed in knowledge about literature and bibliometrics analysis. The findings provide wisdom and a vigorous roadmap for further investigation in this field.
Exploiting Big Data for Customer and Retailer Benefits: A Study of Emerging Mobile Checkout Scenarios

Purpose – Mobile checkout in the retail store has the promise to be a rich source of big data. It is also a means to increase the rate at which big data flows into an organization as well as the potential to integrate product recommendations and promotions in real time. However, despite efforts by retailers to implement this retail innovation, adoption by customers has been slow. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Based on interviews and focus groups with leading retailers, technology providers, and service providers, the authors identified several emerging in-store mobile scenarios; and based on customer focus groups, the authors identified potential drivers and inhibitors of use. Findings – A first departure from the traditional customer checkout process flow is that a mobile checkout involves two processes: scanning and payment, and that checkout scenarios with respect to each of these processes varied across two dimensions: first, location – whether they were fixed b.
Transient three‐dimensional domain decomposition problems: Frame‐indifferent mortar constraints and conserving integration

The present work deals with transient large‐deformation domain decomposition problems. The tying of dissimilar meshed grids is performed by applying the mortar method. In this connection, a reformulation of the original linear mortar constraints is proposed, which retains frame‐indifference for arbitrary discretizations of the interface. Furthermore, a specific coordinate augmentation technique is proposed to make possible the design of an energy–momentum scheme. Numerical examples demonstrate the robustness and enhanced numerical stability of the newly developed energy–momentum scheme for three‐dimensional problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the correlation between the X-ray and gamma-ray emission in TeV blazars

The observations of TeV blazars published recently show an unexpected quadratic or even cubic correlation between the X-ray and gamma-ray emission. A standard model of the synchrotron self-Compton emission of a compact source inside a jet is not able to explain such a correlation. Therefore, we propose an alternative scenario where the emission of at least two independent compact components is observed at the same time. We compare two different models. The first model assumes the injection of relativistic particles into a downstream region of a shock wave inside a jet that creates the emitting source. The model precisely describes the evolution of the particle energy spectrum inside the source and takes into account a light-crossing time effect for the produced radiation. The second model assumes an intrinsically constant emission of a homogeneous source that travels inside the jet along a curved trajectory, where the activity is produced simply by different values of the source's Doppler factor. To verify the two models we use recentlu published observations of Mrk 421. Our simulations show that simultaneous radiation of at least two independent sources, where the first source dominates the emission in the X-ray range and the second source radiates strongly in the gamma-ray range, can explain the observed correlations. However, the injection model provides inadequate results because it gives different values for the correlation of the rise and decay of a flare. This problem is negligible in the scenario that uses the Doppler boosting effect. Therefore, this approach yields much better results.
Secured Query Processing in Wireless Sensor Networks

– Sensing and Wireless technology has evolved to the point where hundreds of tiny, battery-powered sensors are deployed for monitoring applications that continuously collect data about its surroundings. These sensors need to process the data which it collects into data streams to be fed into a database, and this is where network connecting the sensors comes into play. The very aspect of mobility and low setup cost makes wireless sensor networks easier to implement than the wired ones. The query processing in wireless sensor networks deals with the query and information retrievation of data to and from the sensor nodes to the user ends. Now as we know, we have a network and routing layer that allow us to communicate with any node in the network, we will look at how data streams or tuples are processed within the network. Each data stream in the network is labeled with a unique identifier. Data streams are created by the actual sensors collecting data and by operators in the network. The query processor module is responsible for delivering the tuples to the correct operator and node. The paper discusses all these processing along with the architecture of the query processor.
Characterization of RF-sputtered ultra-thin WO3 films grown on TiO2 surface

Ultra-thin WO3/TiO2 bilayer thin films were deposited on glass and silicon substrates using RF reactive magnetron sputtering. The films structure, morphology, and transmittance were investigated by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The surface elemental composition and electronic structure were determined by X-ray and valence band photoelectron spectroscopy XRD detected the presence of rutile crystalline phase. AFM images reveal changes in surface morphology with the increase of the ultra-thin WO3 film thickness. Core level and valence band XPS spectra are suggesting a narrowing of the band gap with the increase of tungsten atomic concentration in the surface of the bilayer structure.
Relationship between ENSO and northward propagating intraseasonal oscillation in the east Asian summer monsoon system

(1) Observational studies are presented on the relationship between El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the northward propagating intraseasonal oscillation (NPISO) in the east Asian summer monsoon (EASM) system. The summer NPISO activity shows a significant correlation with the preceding winter extreme phase of ENSO cycles. A higher correlation appears during late summer, which is consistent with frequent heavy rainfall events at that time as revealed in some previous case studies. The westward expansion of broad anticyclonic circulation over the western North Pacific and the smaller cyclonic circulation around Korea and Japan are found to be associated with the NPISO activity. ENSO affects the late summer NPISO activity through an atmospheric bridge and wave propagation; the springtime Indian Ocean sea surface temperature warming induced by ENSO through the Walker circulation leads to the downward motion and suppressed convection over the Philippine Sea, and this generates the forced Rossby wave train, forming the above south-to-north low-level circulation anomalies.
Long-term visibility variation in Athens (1931–2013): a proxy forlocal and regional atmospheric aerosol loads

Abstract. This study explores the interdecadal variability and trends of surface horizontal visibility at the urban area of Athens from 1931 to 2013, using the historical archives of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA). A prominent deterioration of visibility in the city was detected, with the long-term linear trend amounting to −2.8 km decade−1 (p 20 km) occurred at a frequency of 34 % before the 1950s, while this percentage drops to just 2 % during the decade 2004–2013. The rapid impairment of the visual air quality in Athens around the 1950s points to the increased levels of air pollution on a local and/or regional scale, related to high urbanization rates and/or increased anthropogenic emissions on a global scale at that period. Visibility was found to be negatively/positively correlated with relative humidity/wind speed, the correlation being statistically valid at certain periods. Wind regime and mainly wind direction and corresponding air mass origin were found to highly control visibility levels in Athens. The comparison of visibility variation in Athens and at a non-urban reference site on Crete island revealed similar negative trends over the common period of observations. This suggests that apart local sources, visibility in Athens is highly determined by aerosol load of regional origin. AVHRR and MODIS satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals over Athens and surface measurements of PM10 confirmed the relation of visibility to aerosol load.
Integration of geographic information system and RADARSAT synthetic aperture radar data using a self-organizing map network as compensation for real-time ground data in automatic image classification

The paper presents results of using advanced techniques such as Self-Organizing feature Map (SOM) to incorporate a GIS data layer to compensate for the limited amount of real-time ground-truth data available for land-use and land-cover mapping in wet-season conditions in Bangladesh based on multi-temporal RADARSAT-1 SAR images. The experimental results were compared with those of traditional statistical classifiers such as Maximum Likelihood, Mahalanobis Distance, and Minimum Distance, which are not suitable for incorporating low-level GIS data in the image classification process. The performances of the classifiers were evaluated in terms of the classification accuracy with respect to the collected real-time ground truth data. The SOM neural network provided the highest overall accuracy when a GIS layer of land type classification with respect to the depth and duration of regular flooding was used in the network. Using this method, the overall accuracy was around 15% higher than the previously mentioned traditional classifiers at 79.6% where the training data covered only 0.53% of the total image. It also achieved higher accuracies for more classes in comparison to the other classifiers.