Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Environment on the Evolution of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function

We study the effects of galaxy environment on the evolution of the stellar mass function (SMF) over 0.2 < z < 2.0 using the FourStar Galaxy Evolution (ZFOURGE) Survey and NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey (NMBS) down to the stellar mass completeness limit, (9.5) at z = 1.0 (2.0). We compare the SMFs for quiescent and star-forming galaxies in the highest and lowest environments using a density estimator based on the distance to the galaxies’ third-nearest neighbors. For star-forming galaxies, at all redshifts there are only minor differences with environment in the shape of the SMF. For quiescent galaxies, the SMF in the lowest densities shows no evolution with redshift other than an overall increase in number density (ϕ*) with time. This suggests that the stellar mass dependence of quenching in relatively isolated galaxies both is universal and does not evolve strongly. While at , the SMF of quiescent galaxies is indistinguishable in the highest and lowest densities, at lower redshifts, it shows a rapidly increasing number density of lower-mass galaxies, , in the highest-density environments. We argue that this evolution can account for all the redshift evolution in the shape of the total quiescent galaxy SMF. This evolution in the quiescent galaxy SMF at higher redshift (z > 1) requires an environmental quenching efficiency that decreases with decreasing stellar mass at 0.5 < z < 1.5 or it would overproduce the number of lower-mass quiescent galaxies in denser environments. This requires a dominant environmental process such as starvation combined with rapid gas depletion and ejection at z > 0.5–1.0 for galaxies in our mass range. The efficiency of this process decreases with redshift, allowing other processes (such as galaxy interactions and ram-pressure stripping) to become more important at later times, z < 0.5.
Preliminary study of particulate fouling in a high temperature controlled experimental facility

Fouling is a highly complex process and numerical modeling of fouling has been an evasive task. One of the reasons for this is attributed to the lack of detailed experimental data. In-situ experiments performed at the power plants give a global picture of the overall deposition process in a qualitative manner. However, detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms becomes difficult. This is due to the fact that too many parameters like varying particle composition and size, gas phase dynamics, chemical reactions etc. are lumped together in such experiments. On the other hand, controlled lab-scale experiments that have been reported are meager and those that have been published are performed either at low temperatures or at very high temperatures (>1000 °C). In order to understand the underlying mechanisms of particulate fouling and to provide experimental data for validation, a high temperature controlled fouling experimental facility has been built. The facility is a vertically oriented closed loop wind tunnel with which parameters like gas phase temperature, velocity and particle concentration can be controlled. The setup was tested for proper operation and preliminary experiments were performed on particulate fouling over a circular cylinder as function of gas phase velocity and temperature. It was found that the gas phase velocity and temperature has a major influence on particulate fouling. This is a preliminary study and will be extended in future.
Current Trends in Bioterrorism and Biodefense

ISSN:2157-2526 JBTBD, an open access journal Advances in Biosciences: Bioterrorism J Bioterr Biodef Current trends in bioterrorism and biodefense research have resulted in the realization of cheap, effective and powerful methods of both detection and protection based biodefense strategies. For the first time, the U.S. FDA has approved a monoclonal antibody (mAb) for antibacterial uses: ABthrax for treatment of inhalational anthrax [1]. This event suggests exciting new trends in the licensing and commercial production of novel prophylactic technologies. To foster further development of emerging technologies, it is essential that funding for research programs which contribute to public health and safety remains a high priority.
Investigating the influence of Remote Climate Drivers as the Predictors in Forecasting South Australian spring rainfall

Australian rainfall is related with numerous key climate predictors namely El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Some studies have tried to discover the effects of these climate predictors on rainfall variability of different parts of Australia, particularly Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria. Nonetheless, clear association between separate or combined large-scale climate predictors and South Australian spring rainfall is yet to be established. Past studies showed that maximum rainfall predictability was only 20% considering isolated/individual effects of ENSO and SAM predictors in this region. The present study further explored these hypotheses by investigating two additional important aspects: investigating the relationship between lagged individual climate predictors with spring rainfall and linked (multiple combinations of ENSO and SAM) influences of significant lagged-climate indicators on spring rainfall forecasting using multiple regression (MR) modeling. Three stations were chosen as case studies for this region. MR models with combined-lagged climate predictors (SOI-SAM based models) showed better forecast ability in both model calibration and validation periods for all the stations. Results demonstrated that rainfall predictability significantly increased using combined climate predictor’s influence compared to their individual effect. It was discovered that rainfall predictability increased up-to 63% using combined climate predictors compared to their single influences. The maximum attained rainfall predictability for the SOI-SAM based models was 47% for calibration period that significantly enhanced with combined predictors influence to 97% during validation period. Therefore, MR analyses delineated the capabilities and influences of remote climate drivers in forecasting South Australian spring rainfall.
The relative importance of various source regions on East Asian surface ozone

Abstract. We estimated the source-receptor relationship for surface O3 in East Asia during the early 2000s using a method that tags O3 tracers according to their region of chemical production (tagged tracer method) with a global chemical transport model. The estimation demonstrated the importance of intracontinental transport of O3 inside East Asia as well as of the transport of O3 from distant source regions. The model well simulated the absolute concentration and seasonal variation of surface O3 in East Asia and demonstrated significant seasonal differences in the origin of surface O3. In the cold season (October to March), more than half of surface O3 in East Asia is attributable to the O3 transported from distant sources outside of East Asia. In the warm season (April to September), most of the surface O3 is attributable to O3 created within East Asia in most areas of East Asia. In spring the contribution of domestically created O3 accounted for 20% of the surface O3 in Japan and the Korean Peninsula, 40% in the North China Plain, and around 50% in the southern part of China, and the domestic contribution increased greatly in summer. The contributions of O3 created in China and the Korean Peninsula to O3 in Japan were estimated at about 10% and 5%, respectively. We also demonstrated a large contribution (20%) from China to the Korean Peninsula. In the northern and southern parts of China, large contributions of over 10% from East Siberia and the Indochina Peninsula, respectively, were identified. The contribution from intercontinental transport increased with latitude; it was 21% in Northeast China and 13% in Japan and the Korean Peninsula in spring. As for the hourly mean of surface O3, domestically created O3 was the main contributor in most areas of East Asia, except for the low O3 class ( 90 ppbv). The mean relative contribution of O3 created in China to O3 in central Japan was about 10% in every class, but that created in the Korean Peninsula was significant in all except the low O3 class. We identified the substantial impact of foreign sources on Japan's ambient air quality standard in the high O3 class (60–90 ppbv) in spring.
15 A computational Bayes approach to some common archaeological problems

Over the past few years it has become abundantly clear that much more information can be obtained from archaeological data by postulating a mathematical model and using the data to estimate the parameters of the model than by merely using simple descriptive statistics to summarise the data. Indeed Fieller and Flenley (1988) neatly make this point in their paper on particle size analysis in which they observe that:
A Novel Noise-Robust ASR Method by Applying Partially Connected DNN Model and Mixed-Bandwidth Concept

In recent years, deep neural networks achieve significant improvements in automatic speech recognition. In this paper, we propose a deep structure used for robust ASR. The model has several partially connected layers which can suppress noise in different frequency bands. In order to recognize the speech data which has been distorted by noise seriously, we try to use parts of their frequency bands with a mixed-bandwidth model. The results have shown that the partially connected network could suppress noises in different frequency bands properly. The model's phone recognition on TIMIT corpus outperforms the state-of-the-art DNN model. Keywords-robust; ASR; DNN; mixed-bandwidth
A comparative high-altitude meteorological analysis from three catchments in the Nepalese Himalaya

Meteorological studies in high-mountain environments form the basis of our understanding of catchment hydrology and glacier accumulation and melt processes, yet high-altitude (>4000 m above sea level, asl) observatories are rare. This research presents meteorological data recorded between December 2012 and November 2013 at seven stations in Nepal, ranging in elevation from 3860 to 5360 m asl. Seasonal and diurnal cycles in air temperature, vapour pressure, incoming short-wave and long-wave radiation, atmospheric transmissivity, wind speed, and precipitation are compared between sites. Solar radiation strongly affects diurnal temperature and vapour pressure cycles, but local topography and valley-scale circulations alter wind speed and precipitation cycles. The observed diurnal variability in vertical temperature gradients in all seasons highlights the importance of in situ measurements for melt modelling. The monsoon signal (progressive onset and sharp end) is visible in all data-sets, and the passage of the remnants of Typhoon Phailin in mid-October 2013 provides an interesting case study on the possible effects of such storms on glaciers in the region.
The impact of dental restorations’ quality on caries risk

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the quality of government funded restorations can impact caries prevalence. After randomisation, One hundred thirty five (135) 12-13-year-old children were examined in the Gulbene municipality of Latvia and 175 restorations placed in premolars or second molars were evaluated. It was concluded that the quality of restorations made by publicly funded dentistry is low, which could be a reason for secondary caries and other complications and results in greater expenses in the future.
EIGENVIBRATIONS OF A PLATE WITH ELASTICALLY ATTACHED LOADS

In this contribution we consider the rational eigenvalue problem governing free vibrations of a plate with elastically attached masses. We discuss the numerical solution of the problem by an iterative projection method generalizing the Arnoldi method for linear eigenproblems. Taking advantage of a minmax characterization of the eigenvalues for nonoverdamped problems the projected eigenproblems are solved by safeguarded iteration. Special care is taken to determine all eigenvalues between two consecutive poles, and to inhibit the method from converging to the same eigenvalues repeatedly.
CHALLENGES OF ALBANIAN WOMEN IN ACADEMIC CAREERS

Education level is an indicator that speaks about the status of women and girls in society. Statistics data according to INSTAT publication "Women and Men in Albania" and the official data of the Ministry of Education and Sports show that despite the high percentage of female staff in the education system, the allocation of women in decision-making positions follows the traditional pyramidal model: the percentage of women directors does not exceed the figure 30 per cent in any of the levels of education. The dominant percentage of the full-time staff, with the title Professor, is men. During 2009-2010 the proportion male/female full-time professors with the title Professor in higher education system was 2.8: 1. In terms of public higher education there are 11 Rectors and there are no women Rectors, Deans are 32 and only 5 women Deans, 98 Head of departments and only 35 women Head of departments. Although girls comprise the largest number of graduation at all levels of education, and provide an important contribution in the field of education, their social status and economic is very unsatisfactory. The study is focused on exploring the challenges that women and girls face in the Albanian reality in career field and academic achievements. In order to fulfill the purpose and objectives of this research, as well as to address the research question of the study is chosen the qualitative approach. Career and academic achievements remain maledominated areas in Albania. The percentage of women involved in career and academic achievement remains very low, a figure attributed to gender inequality in terms of attendance and benefit from higher levels of education. Academic women and girls perceive themselves as a minority group, in an environment completely dominated by men. The lack of socio-historical background and positive role-models of women participation in academic career is another important aspect in assessing the barriers and challenges faced by Albanian women and girls in the field of career and academic achievements. Marriage, divorce, head of household statutes and roles of caring seem to be factors that prevent women and girls for academic career. These roles and statuses, control their work and career, positioning them always as the second ones. Overview, the difference between work, personal care and leisure time show a big difference between men and women. Another finding of the study highlights the differentiated of appropriate skills acquisition for an academic career. Although both sides have opportunity of involvement and commitment, men attain much faster and perform higher to titles and academic posts.
DSM Modelling for Digital Design Using Verilog HDL

Abstract In the practice of product design, the efficient control of complexity has increasingly gained importance. The Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) has proved to be a useful tool for analysing system structure and managing structural complexity. In order to provide a deep insight of system structure in designing Verilog HDL source code artefacts for digital system designers and project managers, the paper proposes a DSM modelling method based on the characteristics of the digital system structural modelling with Verilog and the component dependencies relationship. A DSM modelling example is presented. Result shows that with the DSM model, the source code artefacts can be efficiently analyzed.
Optimization of a Conical Corrugated Antenna Using Multiobjective Heuristics for Radio-Astronomy Applications

This paper presents the design of a tree sections corrugated horn antenna with a modified linear profile, using NURBS, suitable for radio-astronomy applications. The operating band ranges from 4.5 to 8.8 GHz. The aperture efficiency is higher than 84% and the return losses are greater than 20 dB in the whole bandwidth. The antenna optimization has been carried out with multiobjective versions of an evolutionary algorithm (EA) and a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. We show that both techniques provide good antenna design, but the experience carried out shows that the results of the evolutionary algorithm outperform the particle swarm results.
Foray foraging behavior: seasonally variable, food-driven migratory behavior in two calanoid copepod species

We tested a hypothesis we termed 'foray foraging', which states that zooplankton make repeated short-term and short-distance migrations between food-rich surface layers and deeper layers throughout the night. Ultimately, the reason for the behavior is to balance the neces- sity of feeding with the predation risk in surface waters. We tested the hypothesis on 2 species of marine copepods, Calanus pacificus and Metridia pacifica, in Dabob Bay, Washington, USA. Zoo- plankton nets and traps were used to collect females of both species from specific layers and while migrating up into and down out of the surface mixed layer to determine turnover rates in the sur- face layer. Gut contents of individuals were measured to determine if feeding history varied between individuals caught migrating upward and downward or in different layers. Turnover rates of the surface layer were highly variable, ranging from near zero to over 1000%, and were higher in summer and autumn than in spring for both species. Gut contents were consistently higher in animals migrating downward than in those migrating upward, but overall gut contents were higher in spring than in summer or autumn. These results suggest that foray behavior varies in magnitude seasonally and occurs throughout the year for both species but is most pronounced for M. pacifica. These findings suggest that vertical migration behaviors occurring in periods shorter than diel scales may affect zooplankton population dynamics through feeding and preda- tion and likely impact the flux of energy and material into and out of the surface mixed layer.
Geographical Information System Techniques for Evaluation of Groundwater Quality

Problem statement: The present paper tries to assess groundwater suit ability for irrigation purpose in Damghan plain (5400 ha). Approach: Twenty four water samples were collected from the active wells. Parameters such as Electrical Conduct ivity (EC), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), were recorded in the field and major anions and cations (Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + , Na + , CO3 2- , HCO 3- , Cl - , SO4 2- and NO 3- ) were analyzed in the laboratory. The data of wate r wells were imported into the GIS software and the different water quality maps were produced usin g point data. Then Suitability index of groundwater quality determined by overlaying of water quality m aps. Results: Suitability index values revealed that the ground water in Amin Abad, Abdi, Abd Abad, Nasr Abad and parts of Shams Abad villages of study area had "Suitable" quality with the suitability in dex range between 75-100 and therefore can be used for irrigation usage. Suitability index of the groundwa ter in Hasnie, Gani Abad and parts of Shams Abad villages were "Moderate" quality with the range bet ween 35-70 and Abas Abad, Abir Abad and Shaman villages had "unsuitable" quality and cannot be use d for irrigation purposes. In respect of all evalua ting criteria, villages of study areas that had "Suitabl e" and "Moderate" quality could safely be used for long- term irrigation purposes. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated high efficiency for GIS to analyze complex spatial data and groundwater quality suitab ility.
Assessing the effects of nitrogen availability on fine root turnover and tissue chemistry in forest ecosystems

The patterns and controls of fine root (i.e., non-woody roots generally $\le$ 0.5 mm and 1 mm in diameter for deciduous and coniferous species, respectively) turnover and tissue chemistry were assessed along artificial and natural nitrogen availability gradients within and among forest ecosystems. Fine root turnover rate and chemical composition were generally strongly correlated with nitrate availability indices. A pilot study using a new $\sp{15}$N tracer technique suggested that turnover rates increased with nitrate availability in a red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) stand and indicated that this turnover assessment technique may avoid the major limitations which hinder existing methods. Assessments of fine root total non-structural carbohydrate concentrations suggested that turnover rates also increased with nitrate availability across temperate coniferous and deciduous forest ecosystems. Surveys of fine root chemistry (i.e., carbon-fraction and nitrogen concentrations) indicated that nitrogen concentrations generally increased while lignin (average of 48.8 $\pm$ 3.0 percent for all species and sites) remained relatively constant along nitrate availability gradients within red pine and red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.)-balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Miller) ecosystems, as well as among temperate coniferous and deciduous forest types. As a result, fine root lignin:N was inversely correlated with nitrate availability within and among forest ecosystems. The results of these studies combined with the findings of previous assessments in these sites indicate that fine root and foliar production, turnover (for the foliage of coniferous species), and potential decomposition (via increases in fine root nitrogen concentrations and decreases in foliar lignin concentrations) rates are positively correlated within and among forest types. In turn, this direct relationship suggests that both the fine root and foliar systems exhibit positive carbon and nutrient cycling feedbacks with nitrogen availability in forest ecosystems.
Stratospheric impact on tropospheric ozone variability and trends: 1990–2009

Abstract. The influence of stratospheric ozone on the interannual variability and trends in tropospheric ozone is evaluated between 30 and 90° N from 1990–2009 using ozone measurements and a global chemical transport model, the Community Atmospheric Model with chemistry (CAM-chem). Long-term measurements from ozonesondes, at 150 and 500 hPa, and the Measurements of OZone and water vapour by in-service Airbus aircraft programme (MOZAIC), at 500 hPa, are analyzed over Japan, Canada, the Eastern US and Northern and Central Europe. The measurements generally emphasize northern latitudes, although the simulation suggests that measurements over the Canadian, Northern and Central European regions are representative of the large-scale interannual ozone variability from 30 to 90° N at 500 hPa. CAM-chem is run with input meteorology from the National Center for Environmental Prediction; a tagging methodology is used to identify the stratospheric contribution to tropospheric ozone concentrations. A variant of the synthetic ozone tracer (synoz) is used to represent stratospheric ozone. Both the model and measurements indicate that on large spatial scales stratospheric interannual ozone variability drives significant tropospheric variability at 500 hPa and the surface. In particular, the simulation and the measurements suggest large stratospheric influence at the surface sites of Mace Head (Ireland) and Jungfraujoch (Switzerland) as well as many 500 hPa measurement locations. Both the measurements and simulation suggest the stratosphere has contributed to tropospheric ozone trends. In many locations between 30–90° N 500 hPa ozone significantly increased from 1990–2000, but has leveled off since (from 2000–2009). The simulated global ozone budget suggests global stratosphere-troposphere exchange increased in 1998–1999 in association with a global ozone anomaly. Discrepancies between the simulated and measured ozone budget include a large underestimation of measured ozone variability and discrepancies in long-term stratospheric ozone trends. This suggests the need for more sophisticated simulations including better representations of stratospheric chemistry and circulation.