Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finite-Frequency Seismic Tomography of Body Waves and Surface Waves from Ambient Seismic Noise: Crustal and Mantle Structure Beneath Eastern Eurasia

To improve seismic calibration for nuclear explosion monitoring, we use 3D sensitivity kernels of finite-frequency body and surface waves to develop models of the crustal and mantle structures beneath eastern Eurasia. We have collected and processed available broadband data from both permanent stations and temporary networks in eastern Eurasia. We obtained a regional P-wave velocity model for the mantle structures down to 1,500 km beneath the eastern Eurasia. We also carried out a detailed study of the P- and S-wave velocity structures in southeastern Tibet, which led to some interesting geological findings. Our P- and S-wave velocity models reveal a low-velocity anomaly in the crust and upper mantle to ~ 300 km depth beneath a north-south-trending rift zone in southeastern Tibet. This low-velocity anomaly is situated above a tabular, high-dipping-angle, high-velocity anomaly that extends into the upper-mantle transition zone. These results are evidence for the delamination of the mantle lithosphere and its causal relationship to the formation of the north-south trending rift in southeastern Tibet. In order to improve models at shallow depths, we apply the finite-frequency methodology to the surface wave tomography using the ambient seismic noise. Unlike previous studies that calculated the dispersion curves from the estimated Green's functions to solve for phase or group velocity maps, we have developed a new approach using the 3D finite-frequency sensitivity kernels for the Green's functions. We have collected continuous data for stations in southeastern Tibet and computed the cross-correlations between all possible pairs of components from two stations. We constructed 3D sensitivity kernels for the estimated Green's functions derived from the cross-correlation of ambient noise, taking into account the effects of the surface topography. We will carry out a joint inversion of finitefrequency S-waves and estimated Green's functions, which are dominated by surface waves to resolve both the crustal and upper mantle structures.
Advanced Statistical 3D Models of Composite Materials for Microwave Electromagnetic Compatibility Applications

─ This article describes advanced tridimensional time domain tools for characterizing composite structures in EMC context. Because of current high interests from industrial areas (e.g., automotive, and/or aerospace), many domains are demanding for reliable and accurate numerical tools to characterize such materials. In this framework, a particular care is granted to mixing theories. This article will demonstrate the interest of trustworthy statistical tools to check at the same time the validity of electromagnetic mixing rules and to realistically calibrate these models. Index Terms ─ Composite material, computational electromagnetics, electromagnetic compatibility, shielding effectiveness, time domain modeling.
Modelling and control of partially shaded photovoltaic arrays

The photovoltaic (PV) array controlled by Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) method for optimum PV power generation, particularly when the PV array is under partially shaded condition is presented in this paper. The system modelling is carried out in MATLAB-SIMULINK where the PV array is formed by five series connected identical PV modules. Under uniform solar irradiance conditions, the PV module and the PV array present nonlinear P-V characteristic but the maximum power point (MPP) can be easily identified. However, when the PV array is under shaded conditions, the P-V characteristic becomes more complex with the present of multiple MPP. While the PV array operated at local MPP, the generated power is limited. Thus, the investigation on MPPT approach is carried out to maximize the PV generated power even when the PV array is under partially shaded conditions (PSC). Fuzzy logic is adopted into the conventional MPPT to form fuzzy logic based MPPT (FMPPT) for better performance. The developed MPPT and FMPPT are compared, particularly the performances on the transient response and the steady state response when the array is under various shaded conditions. FMPPT shows better performance where the simulation results demonstrate FMPPT is able to facilitate the PV array to reach the MPP faster while it helps the PV array to produce a more stable output power.
Relationship Between Exchange Rates and Stock Prices in Transition Economies Evidence from Linear and Nonlinear Causality Tests

The existence of causation linkage between stock prices and exchange rates is one of the popular debate especially since the beginning of 1990s. The aim of this paper is to investigate the nature of the causal transmission mechanism between foreign exchange and stock markets in 9 transition countries (i.e., Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Russia) for the periods of 1995-2011. The results of the paper show that uni-directional linear Granger causality running from exchange rates to stock prices for 4 countries (i.e., Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) and a feedback exists between two markets for only Russia when both linear and nonlinear Granger causality are used.
Comparative Performance of Various PV Technologies in Different Italian Locations

With the increasing number of photovoltaic (PV) installations on a worldwide scale, an outdoor performance analysis of various types of modules is needed. The purpose to assess and compare the performance of different types of modules in specific geographical locations, under various climatic conditions and to identify benefits/losses given by a specific surrounding context, is very important to evaluate the energetic behavior of future installations and direct them toward the most suitable technology to apply. The installations taken into consideration are located in Bolzano, Milan, and Catania, allowing comparison among three different Italian climate conditions and irradiance levels: the Alpine region, the upper Padana valley, and the see-side area in Sicily. In Bolzano, a multi-technology ground-mounted PV field is taken into analysis. For Milan and Catania, two multi-section PV power plants are monitored. The monitoring activities are done taking the international norm IEC 61724 as reference document, together with the best practice already existing in the field. The PV modules are evaluated in relation to ambient conditions, installation characteristics, module-specific behavior and state. Results are provided in a comparative way among the three considered geographical locations. Results are validated and an uncertainty estimation is shown. As instrumentation and environmental conditions are not the same, uncertainties for the locations might be different. Possible issues related to monitoring activities, as well as the performance of different PV technologies, will be highlighted.
Website Performance: Hong Kong Hotels

This research examines the performance of Hong Kong hotel websites in terms of information quality, and compares the performance among different hotel categories. Different from exsisting theoretical studies analyzing hotel websites, this research incorporates the perceptions of hotel guests and practitioners in the evaluation development process. Empirical results reveal that significant differences exist in the performance scores of luxury, mid-priced, and economy hotels. The authors also discuss implications for hotel industry practitioners and policymakers. This article is available in Hospitality Review: http://digitalcommons.fiu. edu/hospitalityreview/vol21/iss1/4 Website performance: Hong Kong hotels by Rob Law and Tony Chung This reseamh examines the performance of Hong Kong hotel wehsites in terms of information quahR and compares the performance among different hotel categories. Different from existing lheoretical s t uck analyzing hotel websites, this research incorporates the perceptions of hotel guests andpmc1it;oners in the evaluation development process. Empirical results reveal that significant differences exist in the performance swres of luxury, midpriwd, and economy hotels. The authors also discuss ~rnplications lor hotel industry practitioners and polrcymakers. t present, the hotel industry makes heavy use of the A World Wide Web for electronic commerce. In general, hoteliers hold a positive view toward bookings on the web because they perceive it as serving as a low-cost distribution channel, which has a significant effect on both businesses and consumers. ' The distinctiveness of the web lies in the fact that it offers highspeed global data transfening, high levels of interaction, and the possibility of direct links to database and reservation systems, all without any limitations in locations, time zones, or computer platforms. These unprecedented advantages benefit a hotel's business. When potential consumers browse the web, the company has a chance to extend its marketing reach to the global marketplace, supplementing traditional distribution channels. Van Hoof, et al., conducted a study with hotel managers in Queensland, Australia, about their use and perceptions of the Internet. The research indicated that the managers perceived the Internet to be very important to the future of the accommodation industry. However, Internet use in the form of e-mail and the web is still limited.2 Morrison, et al., presented a similar argument, stating that many small hotels are definitely not realizing all advantages of the Internet? In a study ofthe websites of 30 small travel agencies in the Netherlands, van der Pijl stated: "Although almost aU site owners
Austempered Ductile Iron for Gears

It is discussed the use of ADI (Austempered Ductile Iron) for gears. The gears were produced from continuous cast iron bars, heat treated for grade 3 of ASTM ADI Standard A897M06 (UTS >1200 MPa), and compared to carburized steel AISI 8620 and to induction hardened steel AISI 4140. Tests on gears were made using equipment developed at UTFPR, measuring the time for pitting and spalling on the surface of the gears. The results show very good potential of using ADI for gears, replacing induction hardened steels. The results show too that the nodule size affects the life of gears, independently of the mechanical properties of the matrix. The ADI with smallest nodules show higher life for pitting formation. It is discussed additionally the mechanisms of crack propagation under the surface of the gears, for all tested materials.
Evaluation of the Local Court Process Reforms (LCPR)

Aim: To assess whether the Local Court Process Reforms (LCPR) are associated with: (i) shorter police time preparing Briefs of Evidence; (ii) longer hearing times for defended cases, (iii) more court adjournments and; (iv) longer court delay/finalisation times. Method: A quasi-experiment where Manly Local Court returned to the non-LCPR arrangements in relation to Briefs of Evidence (BOE). These offenders were compared with a baseline group of offenders from Manly Local Court under the LCPR arrangements. Mt Druitt Local Court was used as the control group whereby they remained under the LCPR system. Results: Changing to the non-LCPR system in Manly Court did not result in an increase in the percentage of Table 1 (T1) offenders who had briefs prepared. Table 2 (T2) and non-specified summary offenders had a lower mean number of police statements in their briefs during the LCPR period compared with the non-LCPR period. There was no change in the mean hearing time for defended cases in Manly Court during the non-LCPR period, nor in the mean number of adjournments. In Manly Local Court the average finalisation time for all offenders was shorter during the LCPR period compared with the non-LCPR period. In the control Mt Druitt Local Court, there was no change in finalisation times for the baseline and intervention LCPR groups of offenders. Conclusion: The LCPR arrangements resulted in shorter briefs for T2 and non-specified summary offenders with fewer police statements. However, the non-LCPR requirement of briefs for all T1 offenders in Manly Local Court did not occur. Rather than resulting in longer finalisation times, the LCPR system had shorter finalisation times in Manly Local Court. The LCPR system did not have more local court adjournments compared with the non-LCPR system, nor longer defended hearings.
Disparitas, Konvergensi, dan Determinan Produktivitas Tenaga Kerja Regional di Indonesia

Indonesia masih mengalami masalah terkait dengan disparitas perekonomian regional, termasuk dalam hal produktivitas tenaga kerja. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan panel dinamis untuk menganalisis konvergensi dan mengidentifikasi determinan produktivitas tenaga kerja regional selama periode 1987-2011. Model estimasi System Generalized Method of Moments (Sys-GMM) menunjukkan bahwa proses konvergensi regional terjadi dengan kecepatan konvergensi 0,06518 per tahun. Stok modal fisik, stok modal manusia, total perdagangan, dan upah riil ditemukan memberikan pengaruh positif. Pemerintah harus lebih memprioritaskan untuk mengatasi masalah disparitas produktivitas tenaga kerja di Kawasan Timur Indonesia (KTI) yang lebih timpang dibandingkan Kawasan Barat Indonesia (KBI) di mana intervensi harus lebih fokus terhadap provinsi-provinsi dengan tingkat produktivitas tenaga kerja yang lebih rendah.
Effect of Sheep Manure, Ascorbic Acid and Sulphur On Some Growth Characteristics of Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cv. Royal

This study was carried out during (2010-2011) and (2011-2012) seasons to investigate the effect of soil application of four levels of sheep manure (0, 15 , 30 and 45 kg /tree), foliar application of ascorbic acid at four concentrations (0, 100 , 200 and 300 mg.L -1 ) and four levels of sulphur (0, 150, 300 and 450 g/tree) on some growth characteristics of apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca L. ) cv. " Royal" for two growing seasons 2011 and 2012, A factorial experiment with four replicates was carried out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (R.C.B.D). Results indicated that the leaf area, leaf dry weight and total chlorophyll content in the apricot leaves significantly increased by increasing the application of sheep manure, ascorbic acid and sulphur levels at both seasons.
Behavioral Biometrics in Assisted Living: A Methodology for Emotion Recognition

Behavioral biometrics aim at providing algorithms for the automatic recognition of individual behavioral traits, stemming from a person’s actions, attitude, expressions and conduct. In the field of ambient assisted living, behavioral biometrics find an important niche. Individuals suffering from the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases (MCI, Alzheimer’s, dementia) need supervision in their daily activities. In this context, an unobtrusive system to monitor subjects and alert formal and informal carers providing information on both physical and emotional status is of great importance and positively affects multiple stakeholders. The primary aim of this paper is to describe a methodology for recognizing the emotional status of a subject using facial expressions and to identify its uses, in conjunction with pre-existing risk-assessment methodologies, for its integration into the context of a smart monitoring system for subjects suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. Paul Ekman’s research provided the background on the universality of facial expressions as indicators of underlying emotions. The methodology then makes use of computational geometry, image processing and graph theory algorithms for the detection of regions of interest and then a neural network is used for the final classification. Findings are coupled with previous published work for risk assessment and alert generation in the context of an ambient assisted living environment based on Service oriented architecture principles, aimed at remote web-based estimation of the cognitive and physical status of MCI and dementia patients.
The Mechanism of Induced Codeposition of Ni-W Alloys

The term induced codeposition was coined by Brenner in 1963, to describe a situation where “a metal, which cannot be deposited alone from its aqueous solution, is codeposited in the presence of another metal, forming an alloy”. An overview of the mechanism suggested in our earlier papers for electrodeposition of Ni-W alloys from solutions containing citrate as the complexing agent, and the experimental observations that support it, are presented in this paper. It is postulated that induced codeposition results from the formation of a mixed-metal complex, such as ( )( )( )( ) [ ] − 2 4 Cit H WO Ni , which is the precursor for deposition of the alloy. Tungsten can only be deposited from this complex, while there are parallel paths for deposition of Ni. The concentration of this complex was calculated on the basis of an observed mass-transport limitation on the partial current for deposition of W.
MMID system with polarization diversity for ID and vital signal detection

The chipless RFID tag presented in this thesis is based in the millimetre wave technology and exploits the advantage offered by the polarization and frequency diversity for detecting and identifying. The RFID tag and reader consist on a ring slot etched on the top of a circular Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) cavity. Adding a gap as a shot in the ring slot, it is possible to detect different linear polarization depending of the angle position of the gap. Moreover, a new system of identification of the vital signal detection is proposed using RFID technology. The detection is based in different circular polarization tags located in the chest of different individuals. The received signal power corresponding to the chest vibration is analysed in order to compare the response of different tags. Use of this type of technology allows identifying different individual and monitoring their vital signal with a small, compact and low cost system based in the millimetre wave frequency.
TESTING FOR SEASONAL FRACTIONAL INTEGRATION IN QUARTERLY TIME SERIES

Many series such as agricultural commodity prices and economic and financial series, exhibit strong dependence-long memory property. Since many time series also exhibit seasonal patterns, this paper considers a number of tests - namely Hassler's extension of Geweke and Porter-Hudack's (1983) (GPH) semi-parametric test, Robinson's frequency domain score test and Silvapulle's time domain test - to assess the long memory properties of quarterly time series at zero and sesonal frequencies. Very little is known about the finite sample statistical property of these tests. In a simulation study, we find that time domain and semi-parametric tests generally have the rejection rates under the null hypothesis close to the nominal level, with the latter tests' rejection rates higher than the nominal level at the semi-annual frequency. In terms of power, the time domain score test was shown to be superior with respect to the others. Establishing the reliability of these tests in finite samples is very useful to applied researchers.
State and market relationships: Public financial policy support for SMEs growth in Vietnam

This paper investigates the role of the state institutions in creating financial market conditions for SMEs growth. The adequacy of the financial policy regime and the effectiveness of the financial support infrastructure have been discussed to identify the problems of the market development process under the socialist market economy model of Vietnam. The findings indicate that in the context of Vietnam’s move towards a market economy, where defective financial market factors and inadequate institutional support mechanisms are evident, it is vital that the state pursues a more entrepreneurial role. Such a role, with adequate financial policy support, tax policy is required to facilitate the development of SMEs. It is also found that the informal sector provided financial resources, such as social networks and private credit for the development of SMEs in the early stages of Vietnam’s journey to market economy. An alarming trend is that this informal financial support infrastructure still plays a key role. In addition, there is significant gap between the formulation and implication of financial policy support for SMEs. Furthermore, the SMEs sector has not yet been recognized by the government and society as one of the key driving forces to the development of market economy in Viet Nam.
Using research to improve long-term care

Research and evaluation play important roles in moving forward the underlying science of long-term care (LTC). The definition of the intervention is less precise in LTC than in clinical care. Long-term care research addresses both efficiency and effectiveness. Research can test whether a programme works or what elements are effective. The LTC research model has five steps: (1) identify a researchable problem; (2) develop a conceptual model; (3) operationalise the model; (4) develop the analysis plan; (5) present the findings. Empirical findings should drive future LTC but other factors must be considered as well.
A comparative study on mixture of Gaussians for object segmentation

Segmentation is the fundamental step in most of digital image processing and computer vision based applications for feature extraction. The purpose of segmentation is to partition an image into foreground and background. Numerous segmentation algorithms have been proposed for the last four decades ranging from degraded images; high and low contrast images, indoor video, outdoor videos, videos with static background and dynamic backgrounds. This paper presents evaluation and comparison of segmentation techniques used for real-time moving objects through static and adaptive number of Gaussians. The techniques are tested for both indoor and outdoor scenes. The comparison is presented on the basis of qualitative results and computational complexities.
Identification of meat-isolated Enterobacteriaceae by an In silico-ARDRA approach

A collection of 20 complete and published sequences were obtained from the NCBI Genbank. Then, an « electronic PCR » was realised for the sequences using the universal primer set S-D-Bact-0008-a-S-20 and S-D-Bact-1495-a-A-20 which target the conserved regions of the 16S ribosomal DNA gene. The In silico enzymatic restriction of amplified products by 180 restriction enzymes allowed the selection of AluI, MspI, and RsaI as the most discriminative restriction enzymes. Sixty isolates were collected from 10 different meat samples (chicken, turkey hen, sheep, pig, dromedary, cow, horse, fish, and ostrich). Preliminary morphological identification delimited the range of the concerned genera. Thus, the studied strains were assigned to one of the following genera: Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Salmonella, Proteus, Escherichia, Yesinia and Shigella spp. Enzymatic restriction of the 16S rDNA gene of the isolated strains using the same enzymes chosen for the theoretical restriction gave 12 ARDRA groups. Comparison of theoretical and experimental ARDRA profiles, using length and number analyses of the restricted fragments, confirm and identify each strain at the genus level, and sometimes up to species level. Epidemiological investigations can optimally be performed by the ARDRA technique, employing restriction enzymes designed electronically through public databases.
Mango (Mangifera indica. L) Malformation an Unsolved Mystery

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) universally considered to be one of the finest fruits, and is an important crop in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. There are about 1500 varieties of mango in the world of which about 1200 are found in India. Among the known diseases of mango, mango malformation is the most serious disease. The etiology of malformation has not yet been discovered due to paucity of information and thus no effective control measure is known. This review summarizes the plausible cause of the etiology of this disease. (Researcher. 2009;1(5):20-36). (ISSN: 1553-9865).