Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing microstructures of pyrrhotites in basalts by multifractal analysis

Abstract. Understanding and describing spatial arrangements of mineral particles and determining the mineral distribution structure are important to model the rock-forming process. Geometric properties of individual mineral particles can be estimated from thin sections, and different models have been proposed to quantify the spatial complexity of mineral arrangement. The Gejiu tin-polymetallic ore-forming district, located in Yunnan province, southwestern China, is chosen as the study area. The aim of this paper is to apply fractal and multifractal analysis to quantify distribution patterns of pyrrhotite particles from twenty-eight binary images obtained from seven basalt segments and then to discern the possible petrological formation environments of the basalts based on concentrations of trace elements. The areas and perimeters of pyrrhotite particles were measured for each image. Perimeter-area fractal analysis shows that the perimeter and area of pyrrhotite particles follow a power-law relationship, which implies the scale-invariance of the shapes of the pyrrhotites. Furthermore, the spatial variation of the pyrrhotite particles in space was characterized by multifractal analysis using the method of moments. The results show that the average values of the area-perimeter exponent (DAP), the width of the multifractal spectra (Δ(D(0)−D(2)) and Δ(D(qmin)−D(qmax))) and the multifractality index (τ"(1)) for the pyrrhotite particles reach their minimum in the second basalt segment, which implies that the spatial arrangement of pyrrhotite particles in Segment 2 is less heterogeneous. Geochemical trace element analysis results distinguish the second basalt segment sample from other basalt samples. In this aspect, the fractal and multifractal analysis may provide new insights into the quantitative assessment of mineral microstructures which may be closely associated with the petrogenesis as shown by the bulk-rock geochemical analysis.
Hunting migratory geese: is there an optimal practice?

Since the mid-20th century, many European and North American goose populations have increased dramatically in numbers, causing conflict with agricultural interests in their staging and wintering areas. In some cases, to mitigate such impacts of rapid population increases, population control has been attempted by increasing harvest rate. In this study, we investigated how autumn-staging pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus responded to hunting, with a view to determine hunting practice that would lead to an increase in the hunting bag. There was a significant increase in the distance between the hunting site and the goose flocks, on comparing goose distribution on the day before the hunt up to one day after the hunt. The effect was significant when at least 10 shots were fired per site but not when 1–10 shots were fired. The timing of shooting in relation to migratory phenology did not affect the time taken by the geese to return to the hunting site, but after a hunt in the early part of the staging season, the number of geese in the study area increased more rapidly than towards the end of the season. The maximum number of geese shot per hunting event was obtained when hunting events were separated by three days. Our results indicate that hunters can increase local harvest by temporal and spatial optimisation of practices. These results may be used as a tool in wider-scale regional and international processes to regulate the population size of pink-footed geese by shooting, depending on the willingness of landowners, hunters and managers to coordinate hunting practices.
Integrating sustainability in Sweco Management’s projects

The concept of sustainability has become a recognized component of decision making and gained increased attention in management research and practice during the last decades. Integration of sustainability in project management has picked up momentum in the research field, but there are few studies that illustrate how it can be achieved in practice. As the interest and demand for sustainability within the urban development market is increasing, the aim of the thesis is to investigate how the consulting organization Sweco Management can integrate sustainability into their projects. The study was conducted with a research design called systematic combining where the initial aim and research questions were modified along with an increased understanding of the phenomenon. A qualitative research methodology was chosen with a single case study carried out at Sweco Management. A literature review was conducted along with semi-structured interviews with both project managers at Sweco Management and their customers, participant observations and reviews of the intranet and internal documents. The study shows that understanding and concretizing of the sustainability concept in projects is challenging. It is unclear what is expected of project managers and they perceive that there are insufficient supporting functions for sustainability work. Additionally, the study shows that working with sustainability entails several values and opportunities implying that there are strong arguments for integrating sustainability into projects. The conclusions indicate that Sustainable Development Goal’s (SDGs) provide a meaningful tool for concretizing and understanding the concept and that sustainability can be used in order to maintain market positions. The project managers need to become more proactive and address sustainability in order to meet customer expectations and demands. Vertical integration and supporting functions to embed the concept are needed where the skills, knowledge and mind-set of the project manager are important to consider. The recommendations suggest design and utilization of several methods such as e-learning, workshop, routine at Sweco@Work and checklists. Finally, a corporate environment needs to be promoted where sustainability is discussed and emphasised in order to normalize the sustainability concept.
Low-Power, Low-Latency Transceiver Design Using d-TGMS Flip-Flop for On-Chip Interconnects

The routers in Network on Chips (NoCs) are used to transmit the data among the Processing Elements (PEs) in the field, and it can be done through transmission links between the routers. Traditionally, the data transmission between the PEs of NoC is carried out by the parallel bus which consumes more power, leads to be complex routing strategies and occupies more area within the field. Instead of parallel bus, serializes and deserialisers are used for serial data transmission, which consumes very less power and area than traditional method. To implement serialiser-deserialiser at the transceiver in the router for on chip communication, a three-level encoding technique is implemented in this design, which eliminates power hungry blocks in earlier works, such as Phase Locked Loops, Feed Forward Equalizers, Decision Feedback Equalizers and the repeaters along the transmission line. In this paper, a low-power transceiver is pro-posed using modified C2MOS flip flop and Dynamic TGMS flip flop circuits in order to minimize the delay. The power reduction of 35.683% and the delay reduction of 44.71% were achieved in the proposed transceiver than the NAND gate based D flip flop transceivers.
Resources in academic discourse: An empirical investigation of management journals

Commonly shared conceptualizations of resources are scant in academic management research which strikes as somewhat peculiar since resources and their allocation thereof have long been recognised to be at the heart of the competitive advantage and performance of a firm. The research literature considering resources as basis for competitive advantages has further faced contemporary criticism for the vagueness of the fundamental definition of the resource concept. Therefore, this paper empirically studies the representation of resource concept in academic management research literature. The paper reports results on the state of conceptualisations of organisations’ resources found in two distinct sources of research literature, namely ScienceDirect’s database and ISI’s top management journals, resulting in two data sets of a total of 457 articles. The findings illustrate the two-dimensional conceptual farrago in the conceptualisations; on the definitions of the resource concept itself and on the internal structure and the level of analysis when the concept is considered. In addition, the paper sheds light on the temporal evolution of the discourse explicitly considering resources. Finally, the paper considers several remedies for these deficiencies in order both to aid future theory development in management studies and to help increase the practical impact of the research in assisting managerial decision-making.
In vitro Effects of Certain Plant Extracts on Acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) Enzyme in Lake Van Fish Liver and Brain

Bu çalışmada; sinir uyarılarının naklinden görevli enzim olan Van Gölü balığı (Chalcalburnus tarichi P.1811) karaciğer ve beyin asetilkolinesteraz (EC 3.1.1.7) enzimi üzerine meyan [Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Leguminosae)], anason [Pimpinella anisum L. (Umbelliferae)] ve papatya [Matricaria chamomilla L. (Compositae)] özütlerinin etkisi araştırılmıştır. Bu özütler balık karaciğer AChE’ni active ederken balık beyin AChE’ni inhibe etmiştir. Kullanılan bitkiler balık beyni AChE üzerine yarışmasız inhibisyon göstermiştir. I 50 değerleri meyan için 1,714 mg.ml, anason için 0,394 mg.ml ve papatya için 0,604 mg.ml olarak bulunmuştur. Karaciğer ve beyin AcHE için optimum sıcaklık 30C ve optimum pH sırasıyla 6-8 ve 6-8,5 olarak bulunmuştur. Ek olarak balık beyin ve karaciğer AChE’nin spesifik aktiviteleri sırasıyla 130,5 EU.mg ve 13,59 EU.mg olarak bulunmuştur.
Approximating Lévy processes with completely monotone jumps.

L\'{e}vy processes with completely monotone jumps appear frequently in various applications of probability. For example, all popular stock price models based on L\'{e}vy processes (such as the Variance Gamma, CGMY/KoBoL and Normal Inverse Gaussian) belong to this class. In this paper we continue the work started in [Int. J. Theor. Appl. Finance 13 (2010) 63-91, Quant. Finance 10 (2010) 629-644] and develop a simple yet very efficient method for approximating processes with completely monotone jumps by processes with hyperexponential jumps, the latter being the most convenient class for performing numerical computations. Our approach is based on connecting L\'{e}vy processes with completely monotone jumps with several areas of classical analysis, including Pad\'{e} approximations, Gaussian quadrature and orthogonal polynomials.
Electrolysis-based on-chip dispensing system for ESI-MS

We report here an integrated on-chip sample dispensing system for Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) applications. The stand-alone chip includes an electrolysis-based micropump, a passive micro mixer and an ESI nozzle. Operation of the chip doesn't require any external fluidic coupling because the chip is designed to have samples filled, sealed and stored in reservoirs inside the chip before testing. Demonstrated here is a chip with two sample reservoirs and dispensing of the samples is electrically controlled individually. Experimentally, on-chip co-dispensing of two different samples is successfully achieved with a dispensing flow rate about 50 nl/min and a continuous spray for 2 minutes.
The Impact of Body Mass Index on Hospital Outcomes following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Objective: More than one-third of adults in the United States are obese. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has become necessary for many obese individuals. We evaluate the effect of this procedure on in-hospital mortality and morbidity of patients based on their body mass index (BMI). Methods: Data in a cardiac surgery database was examined retrospectively. Data selected from the database included CABG surgery from January 2003 to December 2007. The resulting cohort included a total of 10,590 patients. BMI was grouped into four categories: underweight (BMI 19), normal weight (BMI 20 to 29), obese (BMI 30 to 39), morbidly obese (BMI 40). Regression analysis was conducted to determine whether body mass index was an independent predictor of mortality and morbidity following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Results: Logistic regression analysis found that CABG patients in the underweight body mass index group had a great risk of mortality, prolonged ventilation, reoperation for bleeding, and renal failure. Linear regression indicated length of hospital stay and intensive care unit stay following surgery were the longest in patients with an underweight body mass index. Conclusion: Despite the co-morbidities that are often present with obesity, the underweight patients are at greater risk for mortality and complications following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Individuals with the highest risk for in hospital mortality following CABG surgery were underweight, older, non-Caucasian females with COPD.
Requirements Engineering for Enterprise Systems

Requirements Engineering for Enterprise Systems can be differentiated in developing and configuring these comprehensive solutions. This paper focuses on the system configuration. This process is supported by implementation tools, which guide the project team through the system individualization. A main activity within this process is the configuration of reference models, which support the specification of requirements related to Enterprise Systems. Enterprise Systems reference models, however, do not depict the actual configuration potential of the system, but rather describe the complete system functionality and structure. This paper suggests modifications of reference modeling techniques for Enterprise Systems. These extensions allow the exact specification of configuration opportunities. Thus, they facilitate the use of conceptual models for all stages of an Enterprise System lifecycle. The presented research uses reference data models and the market leading mySAP applications as examples. Enterprise System Lifecycle The process of introducing Enterprise Systems is significantly different from the well-discussed classical software engineering lifecycle (Figure 1). After a common phase of defining project objectives, analyzing the current situation and developing a business blueprint (to-be-model), Enterprise Systems management contains the two main phases of system selection and configuration (Kirchmer, 2000). Configuration management includes the individualization of the system and the development of add-on functionality. This activity if of enormous complexity as the configuration of an Enterprise Systems requires the comprehensive selection of relevant parameters. This process can easily contain the evaluation of more than 1,000 alternatives. Most Enterprise Systems support the implementation team with step-by-step guidelines, which lead the project team through the required configuration process. Similar to the classical software development process, the configuration of Enterprise Systems has a requirements engineering phase. However, instead of developing conceptual models from scratch, requirements engineering for Enterprise Systems consists of a continuous process of specifying reference models. This specification includes the selection between given alternatives, the evaluation of optional alternatives, the confirmation and eventual modification of defaults, the entering of master data for the
A Bidirectional Dual Buck-Boost Voltage Balancer with Direct Coupling Based on a Burst-Mode Control Scheme for Low-Voltage Bipolar-Type DC Microgrids

DC microgrids are considered as prospective systems because of their easy connection of distributed energy resources (DERs) and electric vehicles (EVs), reduction of conversion loss between dc output sources and loads, lack of reactive power issues, etc. These features make them very suitable for future industrial and commercial buildings’ power systems. In addition, the bipolar-type dc system structure is more popular, because it provides two voltage levels for different power converters and loads. To keep voltage balanced in such a dc system, a bidirectional dual buck-boost voltage balancer with direct coupling is introduced based on P-cell and N-cell concepts. This results in greatly enhanced system reliability thanks to no shoot-through problems and lower switching losses with the help of power MOSFETs. In order to increase system efficiency and reliability, a novel burst-mode control strategy is proposed for the dual buck-boost voltage balancer. The basic operating principle, the current relations, and a small-signal model of the voltage balancer are analyzed under the burst-mode control scheme in detail. Finally, simulation experiments are performed and a laboratory unit with a 5kW unbalanced ability is constructed to verify the viability of the bidirectional dual buck-boost voltage balancer under the proposed burst-mode control scheme in low-voltage bipolar-type dc microgrids.
QUALITY MEASURE FOR TEXTURES EXTRACTED FROM AIRBORNE IR IMAGE SEQUENCES

Energy and climate changes are big topics in near future. In the European countries a significant part of consumed energy is used for heating in the buildings. Much effort is required for reducing this energy loss. Inspection and monitoring of buildings contribute in further development saving energy. For detection of areas with the highest loss of heat thermal infrared (IR) imaging can be used. For such inspection a spatial correspondence between IR-images and existing 3D building models is helpful. This correspondence can be created by geo-referencing of the images. Then, the 3D model can be projected into the image and for each surface of the model a region of the image can be selected for texture. In this paper a concept for the texture mapping using IR image sequences is introduced. Emphasis is placed on analysis of texture quality and resolution changes in oblique view images. The influence of the angular aperture and inclination angle on the effective texture resolution is discussed. A formula for calculation of texture quality is proposed. For experiments with data an IR image sequence of test area "Technische Universitet Muenchen" in Munich is used.
Using δ13C and δ15N to determine the migratory history of offshore Louisiana blue crab spawning stocks

During offshore sampling conducted between 2005 and 2007, we discovered large concentrations of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus spawning between 4 and 50 km offshore of the Louisiana coast; the greatest concentrations were found on high-relief sandy shoals. We used natural abundance carbon and nitrogen isotopes to evaluate C. sapidus migratory source locations within south-central Louisiana estuarine systems as well as residency on the shoals. There was an east-west trend of decreasing δ 13 C and increasing δ 15 N for offshore crab tissue (muscle and ovary) related to proximity to the Atchafalaya River. This indicates that crabs predominately migrate directly offshore from their home estuary rather than migrating long distances alongshore. Many δ 13 C values for offshore crab muscle and ovary were depleted relative to typical salt marsh values, indicating that some female blue crabs migrate directly offshore from low salinity regions higher in the estuary. The convergence of muscle and ovary isotope values towards a proxy for offshore residence (i.e. Callinectes similis mean isotope values) indicated that migrating C. sapidus utilize offshore prey resources and do not typically re-enter inshore estuaries during the spawning season. A correlation between crab δ 13 C values and the body size of shell-associated epibiotic acorn barnacles Chelonibia patula indicated that crabs found on shoals acquire offshore isotopic values over time. These findings have important research implications for studies involving animal migrations, as well as for management of this ecologically and economically important species. The findings provide evidence of a direct link between the inshore fishery and female blue crabs captured offshore in unique sandy shoal habitats, which likely support at least 20% of the known Louisiana blue crab spawning stock west of the Mississippi River.
Improving Organizational Health Literacy in Extracurricular Youth Work Settings

Although most health literacy (HL) interventions in Europe focus on the enhancement of individual competences and primarily address health care, this article describes a novel approach to improving the HL friendliness of extracurricular youth work in Austria. Accordingly, the “Vienna Concept of Health-Literate Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations (V-HLO)” was transferred to extracurricular youth work for the first time. This article first gives a concise overview of the project, then outlines the interaction between the project development and the evaluation, and finally summarizes the main project outcomes and results. The project outcomes and the results indicate that the concept of organizational HL, in particular the V-HLO, could be transferred from the health care setting to the extracurricular youth work setting; yet data indicate that different priorities are relevant and different tools are needed. Although quality management is an important partner to implement the V-HLO in hospitals, more informal and flexible structures are required for an extracurricular youth work setting. The successful transfer of the V-HLO to the extracurricular youth work setting illustrates that the V-HLO has potential in varied settings beyond health care. [Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2017;1(4):e233–e238. ]
Coordination in cobweb experiments with(out) elicited beliefs

We address empirically the rational expectations hypothesis implication of perfect coordination in beliefs in simple environments. Early experiments on the "guessing game" (Nagel, 1995) suggested that subjects' beliefs are poorly coordinated. In contrast, in a market environment where subjects choose output levels, our results show that decisions are strongly correlated, although not necessarily on the equilibrium price level. Our experimental design relies on a linear cobweb model for which the equilibrium can be obtained through eductive reasoning, i.e. iterated elimination of dominated strategies (Guesnerie (1992)). We manipulate two treatment variables : the "speed" of convergence and belief elicitation. We compare sessions with and without belief elicitation to test whether explicit belief elicitation favours the type of (eductive) reasonin underlying the convergence process towards equilibrium. Our data does not support the hypothesis that belief elicitation favours the coordination of subjects' decisions. However, in all sessions, even for those where divergence was predicted, we observe strong coordination on a price level that is slightly above the rational expectation equilibrium price.
Dynamical and Microphysical Retrieval from Doppler Radar Observations Using a Cloud Model and Its Adjoint. Part II: Retrieval Experiments of an Observed Florida Convective Storm

Abstract The variational Doppler radar analysis system developed in part I of this study is tested on a Florida airmass storm observed during the Convection and Precipitation/ Electrification Experiment. The 3D wind, temperature, and microphysical structure of this storm are obtained by minimizing the difference between the radar-observed radial velocities and rainwater mixing ratios (derived from reflectivity) and their model predictions. Retrieval experiments are carried out to assimilate information from one or two radars. The retrieved fields are compared with measurements of two aircraft penetrating the storm at different heights. The retrieved wind, thermodynamical, and microphysical fields indicate that the minimization converges to a solution consistent with the input velocity and rainwater fields. The primary difference between using single-Doppler and dual-Doppler information is the reduction of the peak strength of the storm on the order of 10% when information from only one radar is provided.