Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deep Learning based Aesthetic Evaluation of State-OfThe-Art 3 D Reconstruction Techniques

In the field of 3D human body scanning, due to different scanning technologies different reconstruction approaches have emerged. The two main ones are based either on pure 2D information, like photogrammetry, or 2D plus depth, as used with RGBD active structured light sensors. Reconstruction results of these technologies differ in geometric as well as aesthetic quality. Whereas the judgement of geometric quality is straight forward, a judgement of the aesthetics aspects (e.g. proper texture mapping, etc.) strongly depends on the subjective perception of the human viewer. Recent advances in image aesthetics assessment, demonstrate that machine-learning algorithms, specifically deep neural networks, are able to model human aesthetic perception in a reasonable way. Especially if they are trained with a huge number of data. This work presents research towards an unbiased aesthetic judgement of 3D reconstructions by utilizing a deep neural network. In detail, two state-of-the-art software suites as representatives for 2D and 2D plus depth reconstruction approaches are compared according to the aesthetics of their results. The models of a publicly available dataset are virtually scanned with a sensor simulator, which produces the necessary 2D and depth information. This data serves as input to the mentioned software suites. The resulting 3D reconstructions are aligned and a deep neural net aesthetically compares frontal views of the models. To ensure a fair comparison between different models a normalized aesthetic value is introduced.
Exploring the functional association between physiological plasticity, climatic variability, and geographical latitude: lessons from land snails

Background: The climatic variability hypothesis states that, as the range of climatic fluctuation experienced by terrestrial animals increases with latitude, individuals at higher latitudes should be more plastic than individuals inhabiting lower latitudes. However, it is unclear whether comparatively high flexibility at higher latitudes is due to the direct effect of climatic variability or to other factors associated with latitude. Aim: To investigate the relationship between phenotypic flexibility, geographical latitude, and climatic variability using a dataset where latitude and climatic variability are inversely related. Methods: We assessed the physiological plasticity to cope with thermal change (10C vs. 20C), at the level of metabolic rate and organ dry weight, in three populations of the brown garden snail (Cornu aspersum): Vina del Mar (3320S, 7132W), with high temperature and rainfall variability; Concepcion (3647S, 737W), with a narrow range of temperature variability and intermediate rainfall variability; and Valdivia (3938S, 735W), with low temperature and rainfall variability. Results: Standard metabolic rate was higher at 20C than at 10C, but did not differ between populations. Intestine dry weight did not differ among populations but it was higher at 20C than at 10C, particularly for individuals from the Vina del Mar and Concepcion populations. Hepatopancreas and kidney dry weight differed between populations, which was due to higher values in Vina del Mar at 20C. Conclusions: Flexibility in the weight of the organs analysed changed in a similar fashion to annual temperature variation at each locality, suggesting that, as stated by the climatic variability hypothesis, climatic variability is the main force behind physiological plasticity.
AIRS: Improving Weather Forecasting and Providing New Data on Greenhouse Gases.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. The AIRS instrument has met its primary scientific objective to improve weather prediction and to retrieve tem-perature and precipitable water vapor profiles with accuracies approaching those of radiosondes. AIRS also has provided new information on the concen-tration of tropospheric mi-nor constituents, includ-ing several greenhouse gases essential for climate studies.The foundation of all AIRS data products is the physical retrieval algorithm (PRA) that is being main-tained and continuously upgraded by the AIRS Sci-ence Team. The results described in this paper are “work in progress,” and al-though significant accom-plishments have already been made, much more work remains in order to realize the full potential of this instrument. The AIRS Science Team is currently pursuing improvements to the retrieval algorithm, in particular 1) determina-tion of land surface emissivity, 2) modification of the radiative transfer algorithm (RTA) to account for nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) effects on the shortwave channels, 3) development of a cloud-clearing algorithm based on AIRS spectra only, and 4) incorporation of variable atmospheric CO
Firm Specific Wage Spread in Germany - Decomposition of regional differences in inter firm wage dispersion

The purpose of this paper is to sort out firm-related differences from effects that result from different economic structures. A non-parametric decomposition is used to analyse firm level difference between the wage spread in the two major regions of unified Germany. If firm-specific effects explain wage dispersion between firms, a decomposition of the wage dispersion between firms is necessary. The decomposition can help to find out, whether the economy-wide results for different regions are due to the composition of the regional economies by industries and firm-size, or whether the differences are due to firm-specific influences, like distinctions in market power. For Germany, a considerable part of the difference in the wage spread between the East and the West can be explained by different economic structures. However, by far the greater part of the difference in the wage spread between firms in the two parts of the country results from lower wages paid by firms of the same type in East Germany compared with their counterparts in West Germany.
Smoke aerosol and its radiative effects during extreme fire event over Central Russia in summer 2010

Abstract. Different microphysical, optical and radiative properties of aerosol were analyzed during the severe fires in summer 2010 over Central Russia using ground measurements at two AERONET sites in Moscow (Meteorological Observatory of Moscow State University – MSU MO) and Zvenigorod (Moscow Region) and radiative measurements at the MSU MO. Volume aerosol size distribution in smoke conditions had a bimodal character with the significant prevalence of fine mode particles, for which effective radius was shifted to higher values (r eff-fine = 0.24 μm against approximately 0.15 μm in typical conditions). For smoke aerosol, the imaginary part of refractive index (REFI) in the visible spectral region was lower than that for typical aerosol (REFIλ =675 nm = 0.006 against REFIλ =675 nm = 0.01), while single scattering albedo (SSA) was significantly higher (SSAλ =675 nm = 0.95 against SSAλ =675 nm ~ 0.9). Extremely high aerosol optical thickness at 500 nm (AOT500) was observed on 6–8 August reaching the absolute maximum on 7 August in Moscow (AOT500 = 6.4) and at Zvenigorod (AOT500 = 5.9). A dramatic attenuation of solar irradiance at ground was also recorded. Maximum irradiance loss had reached 64% for global shortwave irradiance, 91% for UV radiation 300–380 nm, and 97% for erythemally-weighted UV irradiance at relatively high solar elevation 47°. Significant spectral dependence in attenuation of solar irradiance in smoky conditions was mainly explained by higher AOT and smaller SSA in UV (0.8–0.9) compared with SSA in the visible region of spectrum. The assessments of radiative forcing effect (RFE) at the TOA indicated a significant cooling of the smoky atmosphere. Instant RFE reached −167 Wm−2 at AOT500 = 6.4, climatological RFE calculated with August 2010 monthly mean AOT was about −65 Wm−2, compared with −20 Wm−2 for typical aerosol according to the 10 yr period of measurements in Moscow.
Photoacoustic for Oral Soft Tissue Imaging based on Intensity Modulated Continuous-Wave Diode Laser

We built the photoacoustic imaging (PAI) systems to image oral soft tissue. To reduce the cost and size significantly, the PAI system used an intensity-modulated continuous-wave (CW) diode laser with a wavelength of 532nm and output peak power of 200mW as an excitation source, combined with a condenser microphone as photoacoustic signals detector. The Pulse Width Modulation technique was applied to form a square wave fluctuation of laser radiation by using certain duty cycle on single-frequency of 17.8 kHz. Sample of this study was Sprague Dawley rats tongue on plasticine media, irradiated by modulated CW diode laser. The result of this study showed that modulated laser exposure on one certain spot of the sample produced PA-signals in polynomial correlation with a duty cycle of laser modulation. Based on it, the photoacoustic imaging then was done by using gradual duty cycles, i.e., 20%, 30%, and 40%. This study also showed that using CW diode laser which is modulated with low duty cycle can produce most accurate PA image, as well as keeping the sample from the high energy of laser exposure that may cause biological changes. Furthermore, the maximum duty cycle to modulate laser for oral soft tissue imaging in this system was 30%.
Lightning protection for offshore wind turbines

Wind turbines are rapidly becoming important generators of electric energy, and the size and rated power of new wind turbines continue to increase. As a consequence it is important that wind turbines are treated as other power system components and meets the standards for reliability, protection and safety used in the electric industry in order to reach an acceptable level of operational reliability. In this paper are presented the observations made in a project concerning lightning protection for offshore wind turbines. The objectives were to describe appropriate lightning protection methodologies that ensure a sufficiently high level of lightning protection for wind turbines placed offshore in Denmark, and based on this to open a dialog regarding lightning protection with the major wind turbine manufactures.
How stratospheric are deep stratospheric intrusions? LUAMI 2008

Abstract. A large-scale comparison of water-vapour vertical-sounding instruments took place over central Europe on 17 October 2008, during a rather homogeneous deep stratospheric intrusion event (LUAMI, Lindenberg Upper-Air Methods Intercomparison). The measurements were carried out at four observational sites: Payerne (Switzerland), Bilthoven (the Netherlands), Lindenberg (north-eastern Germany), and the Zugspitze mountain (Garmisch-Partenkichen, German Alps), and by an airborne water-vapour lidar system creating a transect of humidity profiles between all four stations. A high data quality was verified that strongly underlines the scientific findings. The intrusion layer was very dry with a minimum mixing ratios of 0 to 35 ppm on its lower west side, but did not drop below 120 ppm on the higher-lying east side (Lindenberg). The dryness hardens the findings of a preceding study (“Part 1”, Trickl et al., 2014) that, e.g., 73 % of deep intrusions reaching the German Alps and travelling 6 days or less exhibit minimum mixing ratios of 50 ppm and less. These low values reflect values found in the lowermost stratosphere and indicate very slow mixing with tropospheric air during the downward transport to the lower troposphere. The peak ozone values were around 70 ppb, confirming the idea that intrusion layers depart from the lowermost edge of the stratosphere. The data suggest an increase of ozone from the lower to the higher edge of the intrusion layer. This behaviour is also confirmed by stratospheric aerosol caught in the layer. Both observations are in agreement with the idea that sections of the vertical distributions of these constituents in the source region were transferred to central Europe without major change. LAGRANTO trajectory calculations demonstrated a rather shallow outflow from the stratosphere just above the dynamical tropopause, for the first time confirming the conclusions in “Part 1” from the Zugspitze CO observations. The trajectories qualitatively explain the temporal evolution of the intrusion layers above the four stations participating in the campaign.
(In)accurate Intuition: Fast Reasoning in Decision Making

Dual-process theories postulate a distinction between fast, automatic, intuitive and error-prone (Type 1) versus slow, controlled, deliberate and analytic (Type 2) processes. When less time is available, performance is predicted to be based on low-effort Type 1 processes, which leads to an increase in biases. Using variations of the gambler’s fallacy task with or without time pressure, we will test whether Type 1 processes are indeed more error-prone than Type 2 processes and how this discrepancy is modulated by individual differences in impulsivity and cognitive abilities. It is hypothesized that i) people with high expertise levels will perform equally well both under and without time pressure; and ii) people higher on cognitive abilities will perform equally well under time pressure and without time pressure, unlike those with lower cognitive abilities.
Slant Wire Models Using Accurate Correction Techniques in FDTD Method

This paper presents a simple slant wire model for lightning surge analyses using accurate correction techniques to decrease error caused by a numerical difference used around a slant wire in FDTD method. The proposed method is to apply an implicit scheme around a diagonal wire, and turn the first order finite difference into the second order. The numerical formulation of the proposed method is explained, and the comparison between slant wire models and a measured result for real applications is shown.
Host specialization of leaf-chewing insects in a New Guinea rainforest

Summary 1 Data on host use by herbivorous insects in the tropics cannot be cross-referenced between the studies as only a fraction of the species can be formally identified. It is thus imperative for each study to include a wide range of plant and insect taxa, but this requirement has rarely been met because of logistical difficulties. 2 A novel approach using mass insect collecting and rearing by parataxonomists was applied to study the use of 59 species, 39 genera and 18 families of woody plants by 58 588 individuals and 1010 species of leaf-chewing insects in a lowland rainforest. 3 Most species had wide host plant ranges with reference to congeneric plants. The modal host range for a herbivore feeding on a particular genus (Ficus, Macaranga or Psychotria) included >90% of congeneric species studied. Only 3·7% of species feeding on these genera were monophagous. 4 Most herbivores were specialized with respect to confamilial plant genera, with modal host range of 1 genus from 9 studied in Euphorbiaceae and 13 in Rubiaceae. This pattern was corroborated by modal host range of 1 plant family from 18 studied. 5 Because of the overlap among the herbivore communities on congeneric plants, the total number of herbivores on speciose plant genera was relatively small. For example, although 336 species of leaf-chewers used the 13 study species of Ficus, the 35 additional Ficus species present locally would support only estimated 163 additional species. 6 Since large genera constitute a significant proportion of tropical floras, these results have implications for regional estimates of herbivore species richness. Our estimate of 10·6–24·1 leaf-chewing species effectively specialized to a rainforest tree species is an order of magnitude lower than previously suggested. 7 The number of new herbivore species (y) resulting from the addition of the xth plant species to the compound community (x = 1, 2, 3, . , n where n is the total number of plants studied) can be described as y = cxk, where c and k are constants. k is a useful descriptor of similarity among herbivore communities from different hosts.
Interactive comment on “ Modern isotope hydrology and controls on δ D of plant leaf waxes at Lake El ’ gygytgyn , NE Russia ” by K

AC (Author’s comment) Indeed, several different fractionations are presented and discussed throughout the paper. In particular, we define δDwax as a mass-weighted mean δD n-alkanoic acid value calculated to provide a common basis for comparison of the δD of different species regardless of chain length abundances (Page3732, lines 13-14). Clarifications as to which are being discussed have been added here (e.g.)“. between source water (precipitation) and nC30 leaf wax lipids (e.g. εC30/precip mean value is -105± 13‰ . ” and throughout the manuscript where applicable.
Stannite group minerals: investigations on stannite and kesterite

ABSTUCT. The oplical, chemical and X-tlly powdef diffraction characteristics of the . stannile grotlp. minerals in the collection of the Mineralogical Museum of the University of Florence are ~ned. Slannite and keslerite are lhe only minerals present. This WQfk has enabled a revised and complete stannile diffraClion pauem to be reponed, doubt to be shed on the evidence for the existence of isostannite and evidence presented that WANG'S (J982) synlhetic product is aClually a stannite.
A Note on Integral Non-Commuting Graphs

The non-commuting graph Γ(G) of group G is a graph with the vertex set G − Z(G) and two distinct vertices x and y are adjacent whenever xy = yx. In this paper, we compute the spectrum of non-commuting graphs of some wellknown groups. Further, if G is a non-abelian finite group and its non-commuting graph Γ(G) is k−regular, then we prove k = 2sq where q is an odd prime.
Unsteady natural convection induced by constant surface cooling in a reservoir

This article concerns numerical simulations of unsteady natural convection induced by constant cooling at the water surface of a reservoir. Numerical computations reveal the occurrence of sinking cold water plumes soon after the initiation of cooling. These sinking plumes are responsible for an initial mixing over the local water depth, resulting later in a distinct horizontal temperature gradient with the water temperature decreasing toward the shallow region due to the presence of a sloping boundary. Simulations also show that the relatively higher cooling rate in the shallow water causes a cold water current flowing downwards along the sloping bottom and penetrating into the deeper regions. After a sufficient time a quasi-steady state is attained and at the end two main fluid layers are developed: a relatively stable undercurrent, and a very unstable return flow just below the water surface. Numerical results for different Grashof numbers are discussed. Understanding of the flow mechanisms pertinent to this flow is important for predicting the transport of nutrients and pollutants across the reservoir.
Temperature extremes in Europe: overview of their driving atmospheric patterns

Abstract. As temperature extremes have a deep impact on environment, hydrology, agriculture, society and economy, the analysis of the mechanisms underlying their occurrence, including their relationships with the large-scale atmospheric circulation, is particularly pertinent and is discussed here for Europe and in the period 1961–2010 (50 yr). For this aim, a canonical correlation analysis, coupled with a principal component analysis (BPCCA), is applied between the monthly mean sea level pressure fields, defined within a large Euro-Atlantic sector, and the monthly occurrences of two temperature extreme indices (TN10p – cold nights and TX90p – warm days) in Europe. Each co-variability mode represents a large-scale forcing on the occurrence of temperature extremes. North Atlantic Oscillation-like patterns and strong anomalies in the atmospheric flow westwards of the British Isles are leading couplings between large-scale atmospheric circulation and winter, spring and autumn occurrences of both cold nights and warm days in Europe. Although summer couplings depict lower coherence between warm and cold events, important atmospheric anomalies are key driving mechanisms. For a better characterization of the extremes, the main features of the statistical distributions of the absolute minima (TNN) and maxima (TXX) are also examined for each season. Furthermore, statistically significant downward (upward) trends are detected in the cold night (warm day) occurrences over the period 1961–2010 throughout Europe, particularly in summer, which is in clear agreement with the overall warming.
High frequency volatility spillover effect based on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Program

The authors explore the influence of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Program (SHSCP, begun on November 17, 2014) on the one-minute intraday high frequency volatility spillover between the two markets. The program is a strategic movement of the Chinese capital market opening up to the rest of world, which has milestone implications for the development of China’s financial market (enhancing the financial center status for both Shanghai and Hong Kong, the internationalization of Chinese currency, and enhancing its economic strength in the world economy). The authors apply asymmetric BEKK-GARCH and adopt the VAR approach as a robustness test. The results indicate that while there is no volatility spillover in the pre-connect period, strong bi-directional volatility spillover exists in the connected period. The statistic test results support the assumption that the program does increase the capital linkage between these two markets.
Interactive comment on “ Sensitivities of the absorptive partitioning model of secondary organic aerosol formation to the inclusion of water ” by M . Barley et al

1. Overview The Abstract (page 20312 lines 3-5) summarizes the authors’ two main conclusions for the paper: “. the prediction of the distribution of semi-volatile organic component between the gaseous and condensed phases is shown to be highly sensitive to the ambient relative humidity and the formulation of the partitioning model used. ” Regarding the assertion that organic PM levels in the atmosphere (or in chamber situations) can be sensitive to RH, this has been established in the literature by theoretical