Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of extreme wave events on the southern coast of Brazil

Abstract. Using the wave model SWAN (simulating waves nearshore), high waves on the southwestern Atlantic generated by extra-tropical cyclones are simulated from 2000 to 2010, and their impact on the Rio Grande do Sul (RS) coast is studied. The modeled waves are compared with buoy data and good agreement is found. The six extreme events in the period that presented significant wave heights above 5 m, on a particular point of interest, are investigated in detail. It is found that the cyclogenetic pattern between the latitudes 31.5 and 34° S is the most favorable for developing high waves. Hovmoller diagrams for deep water show that the region between the south of Rio Grande do Sul up to a latitude of 31.5° S is the most energetic during a cyclone's passage, although the event of May 2008 indicates that the location of this region can vary, depending on the cyclone's displacement. On the other hand, the Hovmoller diagrams for shallow water show that the different shoreface morphologies were responsible for focusing or dissipating the waves' energy; the regions found are in agreement with the observations of erosion and progradation regions. It can be concluded that some of the urban areas of the beaches of Hermenegildo, Cidreira, Pinhal, Tramandai, Imbe and Torres have been more exposed during the extreme wave events on the Rio Grande do Sul coast, and are more vulnerable to this natural hazard.
Influence of grain shape on light penetration in snow

Abstract. The energy budget and the photochemistry of a snowpack depend greatly on the penetration of solar radiation in snow. Below the snow surface, spectral irradiance decreases exponentially with depth with a decay constant called the asymptotic flux extinction coefficient. As with the albedo of the snowpack, the asymptotic flux extinction coefficient depends on snow grain shape. While representing snow by a collection of spherical particles has been successful in the numerical computation of albedo, such a description poorly explains the decrease of irradiance in snow with depth. Here we explore the limits of the spherical representation. Under the assumption of geometric optics and weak absorption by snow, the grain shape can be simply described by two parameters: the absorption enhancement parameter B and the geometric asymmetry factor gG. Theoretical calculations show that the albedo depends on the ratio B/(1-gG) and the asymptotic flux extinction coefficient depends on the product B(1-gG). To understand the influence of grain shape, the values of B and gG are calculated for a variety of simple geometric shapes using ray tracing simulations. The results show that B and (1-gG) generally covary so that the asymptotic flux extinction coefficient exhibits larger sensitivity to the grain shape than albedo. In particular it is found that spherical grains propagate light deeper than any other investigated shape. In a second step, we developed a method to estimate B from optical measurements in snow. A multi-layer, two-stream, radiative transfer model, with explicit grain shape dependence, is used to retrieve values of the B parameter of snow by comparing the model to joint measurements of reflectance and irradiance profiles. Such measurements were performed in Antarctica and in the Alps yielding estimates of B between 0.8 and 2.0. In addition, values of B were estimated from various measurements found in the literature, leading to a wider range of values (1.0–9.9) which may be partially explained by the limited accuracy of the data. This work highlights the large variety of snow microstructure and experimentally demonstrates that spherical grains, with B = 1.25, are inappropriate to model irradiance profiles in snow, an important result that should be considered in further studies dedicated to subsurface absorption of short-wave radiation and snow photochemistry.
Population dynamics of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha relative to prey availability in the central California coastal region

Mortality during the first period at sea is thought to be a primary determinant of salmon productivity and return rates. Here, we test this hypothesis by linking variation in prey resources during the initial phase at sea with measurements of central California Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha diet, condition, and later adult abundance. Specifically, we investi- gate linkages between the distribution and abundance of krill and other prey with juvenile Chi- nook salmon diet and body condition. Hydrographic features of the Gulf of the Farallones during May and June were related to the abundance and spatial organization of Chinook salmon prey. When upwelling was reduced, there were fewer krill on the inner Gulf of the Farallones shelf, thereby less available to outgoing juvenile Chinook salmon smolts. Notably, we found a 1 yr lag in the relationship between the abundance of adult Thysanoessa spinifera and the volume of krill in the diet of juvenile Chinook salmon. Body condition of juvenile Chinook salmon was positively related to the abundance of adult krill the year before and specifically to the proportion of T. spinifera in the diet. In turn, the condition of juvenile Chinook salmon was correlated to the abun- dance of mature Chinook salmon returning from the same cohort the next year. This information may be useful for fisheries management by improving sibling-based forecasting models as well as informing escapement goals.
On cotangent manifolds, complex structures and generalized geometry

We develop various properties of symmetric generalized complex structures (in connection with their holomorphic space and B-field transformations), which are analogous to the well-known results of Gualtieri on skew-symmetric generalized complex structures. Given a symmetric or skew-symmetric generalized complex structure \mathcal J and a connection D on a manifold M, we construct an almost complex structure J^{\mathcal J,D} on the cotangent manifold T^{*}M and we study its integrability. For \mathcal J skew-symmetric, we relate the Courant integrability of \mathcal J with the integrability of J^{\mathcal J, D}. We consider in detail the case when M=G is a Lie group and \mathcal J , D are left-invariant. We also show that our approach generalizes various well-known results from special complex geometry.
Towards an Applied Cognitive Vision System

A promising way towards Artificial General Intelligence is to rely on an existing cognitive architecture. This allows to borrow intelligence capabilities from a real-time system already working with limited resources in an uncertain environment: the human brain. We will of course not copy the brain cell-by-cell but due to some requirements some of its general structure. When building such a system with an underlying cognitive architecture the physical constraints cannot be left out. Thus, it is necessary for the system to work in real-time, to deal with uncertainty, and to work with limited resources. First, we present an artificial cognitive vision system that can deal with these physical constraints. Second, we outline steps towards more general intelligence in this architecture. Finally, we show some applications in a vision-based environment. The contribution of this paper is a comprehensive description of the cognitive vision system and steps towards more general intelligence.
Cherry Picking or Depth-Oriented Strategic Investing? Evidence From SRI Activity

Today, socially responsible investing (SRI) represents the youngest financial-services industry that investors can exploit to implement their investment strategies. Although literature in this field is growing, additional research is needed to disentangle the factors affecting the performance of SRI funds. This paper focuses on the analysis of the influence that the depth of investment strategy by SRI funds may have on the investment performance, whereas larger SRI funds have a stronger capacity to address their investment choices. We used a sample of 149 USA SRI funds referring to the Social Investment Forum (SIF) Foundation in the period 2005-2010. We found that depth of investment strategy decreases the capacity of large SRI funds to reach positive financial returns if a broad sustainability investment strategy is pursued. On the other hand, SRI funds able to focus the attention on specific environmental, social, governance, or product criteria do increase their capacity to reach positive financial performance. This paper contributes to the existing literature by examining the depth of the sustainability investment strategy by SRI funds and investigating the moderating effect that peculiar investment strategies have on the well-known relation between size and performance of SRI funds. major-bidi;mso-bidi-theme-font:major-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'>This paper analyzes the wealth distribution taking into account the reaction of the market to the alliance as an indicator of a successful strategy. It explores the case of the automobile industry, which is characterised by a high use of inter-firm cooperation, such as strategic alliances and mergers & acquisitions, to effectively compete in the global market and face the global crisis.
On behavioural responses to smell and sight of alpine bullhead Cottus poecilopus Heckel for an allopatric and a sympatric population of brown trout Salmo trutta L.

4 Introduction 5 Material and methods 9 The study organisms 9 The study area 9 Experimental design 11 Statistical methods 19 Results 21 Situation before exposure 21 Activity level 22 Positioning 25 Confounding factors 29 Discussion 30 Before exposure 30 Stimuli from alpine bullhead 30 Differences between populations 31 Habituation 33 Possible interactions 33 Conclusion 35 References 36 Appendices 39
Simulation for IT Service Desk Improvement

IT service desk is a complex service that IT service company provides to its customers. This article provides a methodology which uses discrete-event simulation to help IT service management to make decision and to plan service strategy. Simulation model considers learning ability of service desk agents and growth of knowledge database of the company. Model shows how the learning curve influences the time development of service desk quality and efficiency. This article promotes using simulation to define quantitative goals for the service desk improvement.
The GALEX/S4G Surface Brightness and Color Profiles Catalog. I. Surface Photometry and Color Gradients of Galaxies

We present new spatially resolved surface photometry in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) and near-ultraviolet (NUV) from images obtained by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and IRAC1 (3.6 μm) photometry from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). We analyze the radial surface brightness profiles μFUV, μNUV, and μ[3.6], as well as the radial profiles of (FUV − NUV), (NUV − [3.6]), and (FUV − [3.6]) colors in 1931 nearby galaxies (z < 0.01). The analysis of the 3.6 μm surface brightness profiles also allows us to separate the bulge and disk components in a quasi-automatic way and to compare their light and color distribution with those predicted by the chemo-spectrophotometric models for the evolution of galaxy disks of Boissier & Prantzos. The exponential disk component is best isolated by setting an inner radial cutoff and an upper surface brightness limit in stellar mass surface density. The best-fitting models to the measured scale length and central surface brightness values yield distributions of spin and circular velocity within a factor of two of those obtained via direct kinematic measurements. We find that at a surface brightness fainter than μ[3.6] = 20.89 mag arcsec−2, or below 3 × 108 M⊙ kpc−2 in stellar mass surface density, the average specific star formation rate (sSFR) for star-forming and quiescent galaxies remains relatively flat with radius. However, a large fraction of GALEX Green Valley galaxies show a radial decrease in sSFR. This behavior suggests that an outside-in damping mechanism, possibly related to environmental effects, could be testimony of an early evolution of galaxies from the blue sequence of star-forming galaxies toward the red sequence of quiescent galaxies.
Stabilization of Gaits for the SemiQuad Robot

It was desired to make an orbitally stabilizing controller for a series of designed gaits for the SemiQuad robot. The designed gaits had virtual constraints of the second and third order. It was found that the gaits that had virtual constraints of third order broke a design restriction, which made the stance foot lift off the ground. The second order gaits did not break this restriction. A constant gain feedback controller was found to not be able to orbitally stabilize the gait. A linearization was made using the method of transverse linearization for one of the gaits with second degree constraints, and a controller was designed for this linearization. This controller stabilized the linearized system. The controller was not found to be able to stabilize the original nonlinear system. It was concluded that the gaits were of a too complicated nature to stabilize with this controller. A new gait was therefore created, which was of a simpler nature with a prolonged double support phase. This new gait was stabilized with a constant gain controller.
Comparative Economic Analysis of Improved and Local Cassava Varieties in Selected Local Government Areas of Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract The study was carried out in some selected local government areas of Taraba State. The result revealed that the elasticity of output with respect to land (0.2013 and 0.0912), hired labour (0.5444 and 0.2555) were significant at 1% level for the improved and locals varieties respectively, while family labour (0.1597 and 0.1629), fertilizer (0.2314 and 0.1766), stem cutting (0.1944 and 0.3291) and land preparation (0.3416 and 0.1090) were significant at 5% level respectively. It was also revealed that the level of technical efficiencies varied widely across farms with 88% and 81% been the mean technical efficiency of the improved and local varieties. The result revealed further that on the average, the output of cassava fell by 12.64% and 18.72% from the maximum level due to inefficiency of the improved and local cassava varieties. The analysis also shows that the gross farm margin and net farm profit were N26, 384.62 per hectare and N21, 908.87 per hectare and N19, 399.72 per hectare and N15, 515.73 per hectare for the improved and local cassava varieties. The study concluded that it is more profitable to venture into the business of farming improved varieties than the local varieties.
Study of genetic variation in wild diploid wheat (Triticum boeoticum) from Iran using AFLP markers

Little information is available regarding genetic variation in wild wheat relatives from Iran. In this study, genetic diversity of 36 populations of wild einkorn wheat, Triticum boeoticum, was studied using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations. Seventeen AFLP primer combinations led to amplify 979 scorable fragments ranging from 50 to 500 bp and of these, 429 (44%) were polymorphic across the 36 populations. The average Dice genetic similarity between T. boeoticum populations was 0.67 (range= 0.18-0.98). The dendrogram derived by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean algorithm (UPGMA) analysis revealed three main groups. PCO analysis also confirmed subgrouping obtained by cluster analysis. The measured relative genetic distances among accessions was not correlated with geographical distances of places of their origins, indicating that the populations are genetically different. The results demonstrated that AFLP technology is a suitable technique for genetic resource management in T. boeoticum populations of these studied origin sites.
Implementation of the Estimating Functions Approach in Asset Returns Volatility Forecasting Using First Order Asymmetric GARCH Models

This paper implements the method of estimating functions (EF) in the modelling and forecasting of financial returns volatility. This estimation approach incorporates higher order moments which are common in most financial time series, into modelling, leading to a substantial gain of information and overall efficiency benefits. The two models considered in this paper provide a better in-sample-fit under the estimating functions approach relative to the traditional maximum likely-hood estimation (MLE) approach when fitted to empirical time series. On this ground, the EF approach is employed in the first order EGARCH and GJR-GARCH models to forecast the volatility of two market indices from the USA and Japanese stock markets. The loss functions, mean square error (MSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), have been utilized in evaluating the predictive ability of the EGARCH vis-a-vis the GJR-GARCH model.
Noncommutative geometry of Zitterbewegung

Drawing from the advanced mathematics of noncommutative geometry, we model a ``classical'' Dirac fermion propagating in a curved spacetime. We demonstrate that the inherent causal structure of the model encodes the possibility of Zitterbewegung---the ``trembling motion'' of the fermion. We recover the well-known frequency of Zitterbewegung as the highest possible speed of change in the fermion's ``internal space. '' Furthermore, we show that the bound does not change in the presence of an external electromagnetic field and derive its explicit analogue when the mass parameter is promoted to a Yukawa field. We explain the universal character of the model and discuss a table-top experiment in the domain of quantum simulation to test its predictions.
Germany's Growth Potential, Structural Reforms and Global Imbalances

The potential growth rate of the economy has been low for a long time and the crisis has had a further adverse impact. The meagre growth performance mainly reflects low growth in a number of services sectors; most manufacturing sectors, by contrast, expanded at a rapid pace in the years preceding the recent crisis, on the back of robust foreign demand. The challenge is to consolidate the past success of the export sector and to broaden it to the whole economy by making the policy framework more conducive to innovation and structural change. Specifically, product market regulation needs to be eased to prevent it from sheltering uncompetitive industries; the framework conditions for innovation need to be improved; the education system needs to be reformed further to supply a sufficiently large pool of highly qualified labour; and immigration policy needs to become more favourable to the immigration of high-skilled. Strengthening Germany’s attractiveness as a location for investment would contribute to a higher trend growth rate through lifting barriers to higher growth, which are particular binding in the non-traded goods sector. This would reduce Germany’s current account surplus and make a contribution to reduce global imbalances. This paper relates to the 2010 OECD Economic Survey of Germany (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/germany). La croissance potentielle de l'Allemagne, des reformes structurelles et les desequilibres mondiaux Le taux de croissance potentiel, faible depuis longtemps, a encore flechi sous l’effet de la crise. Cette faiblesse tient surtout au manque de dynamisme d’un certain nombre de secteurs de services ; la plupart des branches manufacturieres, en revanche, ont connu une expansion rapide au cours des annees qui ont precede la crise, grâce a une demande exterieure soutenue. Il s’agit aujourd’hui de consolider les resultats enregistres jusqu’ici par les secteurs exportateurs et de faire en sorte que l’economie tout entiere suive la meme voie, en rendant les politiques publiques plus propices a l’innovation et au changement structurel. En particulier, il faut assouplir la reglementation des marches des produits afin d’eviter qu’elle ne protege les activites non competitives, ameliorer les conditions cadres de l’innovation, reformer le systeme educatif de maniere a former un nombre suffisant de travailleurs tres qualifies, et faire en sorte que la politique d’immigration facilite davantage l’entree de travailleurs hautement qualifies. Renforcer l'attractivite de l'Allemagne en tant que lieu d’investissement contribuerait a augmenter son taux de croissance potentiel en eliminant les obstacles a la croissance, qui sont particulierement contraignants dans les secteurs de biens non echangeables. Ceci pourrait reduire l’excedent du compte courant de l'Allemagne et contribuer a reduire les desequilibres mondiaux. Ce document se rapporte a l’Etude economique de l’Allemagne de l’OCDE, 2010, (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/allemagne).
Effect of UV light on pentachlorophenol removal in the electro-Fenton process

Background: This research studied the effect of UV light on pentachlorophenol (PCP) removal in the electro-Fenton (EF) process. Methods: PCP was used as the pollutant in this study. The effects of Fenton’s reagent, i.e. hydrogen peroxide concentration, solution pH, and treatment time by EF (EF) and photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) processes, were studied to determine rates of PCP removal. The results showed that a better performance and a high removal efficiency were achieved by coupling UV radiation and the EF process. Results: EF processes required more time to remove PCP, while after a reaction time of 10 minutes, the PEF achieved a removal efficiency of 90.4%; this value is higher than the maximum efficiency of the EF process (83.44% after 40 minutes). The kinetic mechanisms of both processes were examined and compared. The rate constants at optimum conditions were 0.0455 and 0.0579 min−1 for EF and PEF processes, respectively. Conclusion: Removal efficiency was obtained in the order of PEF > EF. Keywords: Ultraviolet rays, Reaction Time, Kinetics.
Peering through the veil: near-infrared photometry and extinction for the Galactic nuclear star cluster

The aims of this work are to provide accurate photometry in multiple near-infrared broadband filters, to determine the power-law index of the extinction-law toward the central parsec of the Galaxy, to provide measurements of the absolute extinction toward the Galactic center, and finally to measure the spatial variability of extinction on arcsecond scales.We use adaptive optics observations of the central parsec of the Milky Way. Absolute values for the extinction in the H, Ks, and L'-bands as well as of the power-law indices of the H to Ks and Ks to L' extinction-laws are measured based on the well-known properties of red clump stars. Extinction maps are derived based on H-Ks and Ks-L' colors. We present Ks-band photometry for ~7700 stars (H and L' photometry for a subset). From a number of recently published values we compute a mean distance of the Galactic center of R_0=8.03+-0.15 kpc, which has an uncertainty of just 2%. Based on this R_0 and on the RC method, we derive absolute mean extinction values toward the central parsec of the Galaxy of A_H=4.48+-0.13 mag, A_Ks=2.54+-0.12$ mag, and A_L'=1.27+-0.18 mag. We estimate values of the power-law indices of the extinction-law of alpha_{H-Ks}=2.21+-0.24 and alpha_{Ks-L'}=1.34+-0.29. A Ks-band extinction map for the Galactic center is computed based on this extinction law and on stellar H-Ks colors. Mean extinction values in a circular region with 0.5" radius centered on Sagittarius A* are A_{H, SgrA*}=4.35+-0.12, A_{Ks, SgrA*}=2.46+-0.03, and A_{L', SgrA*}=1.23+-0.08.
OPTIMIZATION OF SOLAR-WIND-DIESEL HYBRID POWER SYSTEM DESIGN USING HOMER

Indonesia has a lot of potential for renewable energy. Electricity generation from hybrid solar and wind energy will be a prospective solution to fulfill electricity supply for remote and rural communities. Although diesel generator was still part of the hybrid power system, however, with a proper design, the fuel consumption could be reduced significantly. HOMER software was utilized to aid the design process by providing optimum configuration of the hybrid power system components in terms of performance and economy.