Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Scalar Comparison of Motivations and Expectations of Experience within the Religious Tourism Market

market and highlight the change in geographical scale of these studies over time. Next, rather than propose a new typology of religious tourists or to suggest a ground-breaking way of synthesizing studies of the religious tourism market to help researchers and Academic studies on tourism market segmentation have decreased in scale over time, with the focus on tourist segmentation changing from segmenting the market as a whole to segmenting specific tourism niche markets. This change in scale can also be seen in how academics have attempted to segment the religious tourism market moving from discussions related to the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy to segmenting visitors based on religious affiliation to world regions and countries to specific religious activities such as religious festivals and infrastructural amenities such as hotels. In this paper the author, following Wall‟s (1997) discussion of the spatial characteristics of tourist attractions (i.e., points, lines, and areas), raises the question as to whether there is a scalar difference in the motivations and the „expectation of experience‟ of: people who travel to specific religious sites (points); those who travel along religiously - themed routes (lines) and; those who travel to the Holy Land (area). To answer this question the author looks at and compares three case studies - Cathedrals in the United Kingdom (point), the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (line), and the Holy Land (area) - and summarizes the academic literature pertaining to the characteristics, motivations and expectations of experience of visitors to these locations. Cursory findings show that there are differences regarding the motivations and the „expectation of experience‟ of people who travel to religious points versus religious lines and religious areas.
Exploring Aesthetic Preferences in Rural Landscapes and the Relationship with Spatial Pattern Indices

Abstract This study examines how local population, tourists and farmers relate to rural landscapes, by exploring visual landscape preferences and the influence of everyday landscapes on the research subjects. Results point towards an immense variability in visual landscape preferences amongst user groups living in or visiting the study area (Plana de l’Empordà, Girona, Spain). Tourists rate grasslands at the top of their preference list, local residents prefer orchards, and farmers favour fields of irrigated herbaceous crops; showing, altogether, that the user's relationship with the landscape determines their visual preferences. Results show that farmers prefer agriculture dominated scenes while local residents and tourists prefer scenes with equilibrium between agricultural and natural elements. Likewise, the presence of margins is widely appreciated aesthetically by all respondents. Furthermore, results underline the importance of landscapes that are familiar to the respondents.
High-Q aluminum nitride Lamb wave resonators with biconvex edges

A Lamb wave resonator utilizing an aluminum nitride (AlN) plate with biconvex edges to enhance the quality factor (Q) is demonstrated. The simulation results based on finite element analysis verify that the use of the biconvex edges, instead of the conventional flat edges, can efficiently confine mechanical energy in the AlN Lamb wave resonator. Specifically, the measured frequency response of a 491.8-MHz AlN Lamb wave resonator with biconvex edges yields a Q of 3280 which represents a 2.6× enhancement in Q over a 517.9-MHz Lamb wave resonator on the same AlN plate but with the suspended flat edges.
Analysis of Temporal and Spatial Changes in the Vegetation Density of Similipal Biosphere Reserve in Odisha (India) Using Multitemporal Satellite Imagery

National parks and protected areas require periodic monitoring because of changing land cover types and variability of landscape contexts within and adjacent to their boundaries. In this study, remote sensing and GIS techniques were used to analyse the changes in the vegetation density particularly in the zones of higher anthropogenic pressure in the Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) of Odisha (India), using Landsat imagery from 1975 to 2005. A technique for the detection of postclassification changes was followed and the change in vegetation density as expressed by normalized difference vegetation index was computed. Results indicate that high dense forest in the core zone has been conserved and the highest reforestation has also occurred in this zone of SBR. The results also reveal that anthropological interventions are more in the less dense forest areas and along the roads, whereas high dense forest areas have remained undisturbed and rejuvenated. This study provides baseline data demonstrating alteration in land cover over the past three decades and also serves as a foundation for monitoring future changes in the national parks and protected areas.
Dynamic selection of suitable pivots for similarity search in metric spaces

This paper presents a data structure based on Sparse Spatial Selection (SSS) for similarity searching. An algorithm that tries periodically to adjust pivots to the use of database index is presented. This index is dynamic. In this way, it is possible to improve the amount of discriminations done by the pivots. So, the primary objective of indexes is achieved: to reduce the number of distance function evaluations, as it is showed in the experimentation.
Effects of Process-Genre Based Approach on the Written English Performance of Computer Science Students in a

Writing is one of the four language skills which learners must acquire in order to be able to demonstrate competence in the use of English language. It is also considered as the most difficult because it requires the application of the knowledge of the other three skills. Research has shown that polytechnic students in Nigeria have difficulties in acquiring writing skills due mainly to the limited attention being paid to the teaching of writing and the use of out-dated and teacher-centred methodology. This study therefore aims at investigating the effect of the Process-Genre based approach (PGBA) on the written English performance of computer science students in the Federal Polytechnic, Ede. Nigeria. The quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test and control group design was adopted for the study. Four research questions and three null hypotheses were tested using the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Results indicate that there is a significant effect of PGBA on the performance in written English of computer science students involved in the treatment.
A Study on Homogeneous Fuzzy Semi-Markov Model

In this paper, we have defined homogeneous fuzzy semi-Markov process through the interval fuzzy transition possibilities between the states. A large number of results have been obtained including the following conditional possibilities: the process will be in state j after a time t given that it entered at starting time in state i; the process will survive to a time t, given that the starting state; that it will continue to remain in the starting state up to time t; that it reach state j in the next transition, if the previous state was in i and no state change occurred up to time t. We have also analyzed the steady state behavior of homogeneous fuzzy semi-Markov process through steady state behavior of fuzzy Markov chain and average time spent in each state. These approaches are demonstrated by considering web navigational model.
FE analysis of circular CFT columns considering bond-slip effect: A numerical formulation

Abstract. In this paper, a numerical model for the analysis of bond-slip occurring in concrete filled steel tube (CFT) columns is introduced. Unlike the classical bond-link or bond-zone element using double nodes, the introduced model considers the bond-slip effect without taking double nodes by incorporation of the equivalent steel stiffness. Upon constructing the equations system on the basis of the force equilibrium and the compatibility condition at each nodal point, the deformations in a steel tube are determined, followed by evaluation of the bond-slip. Moreover, as a part of solving the equations system to evaluate the slip behavior, the mechanical properties for steel and bond-slip have been changed and updated through an iteration procedure. Finally, the validity of the introduced numerical model is verified by comparing the experimental data with the analytical results for CFT columns subjected to axial force and bending moment.
On the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture for modular elliptic curves over totally real fields

Soit E/F une courbe elliptique modulaire definie sur un corps de nombres totalement reel F et soit Φ la forme propre associee. Cet article presente un nouvelle methode, inspiree par un recent travail de Bertolini et Darmon, pour controler le rang de E sur des extensions convenables quadratiques imaginaires K/F. En particulier, ce resultat peut etre applique aux cas qui ne sont pas consideres dans le travail de Kolyvagin et Logachev, i.e., quand [F: Q] est pair et Φ n'est pas nouveau en aucun ideal premier.
Alternative inputs for games and AR/VR applications: deep headbanging on the web

In multimedia research, scientific progress is often slowed down by high demands on hard-and software. However, hardware continuously improves and today’s hardware got powerful enough to meet the performance demands of complex 3D and deep learning applications. With this demo, we demonstrate that utilizing deep learning and 3D modeling is not a major barrier anymore when building prototypes for showcasing research projects. Our web-based game, called “HeadbangZ”, showcases a novel gesture-based input methodology realized through deeply learned pose estimation and user interaction in a 3D environment. Since gesture-based inputs increase the immersion in virtual environments, we assume this input methodology to be especially useful for AR/VR applications and games. Furthermore, we demonstrate that rapid prototyping of applications using novel technologies, such as deep learning, is even possible within 48 hours by developing a working demo within this time frame. Finally, we provide insights into what we learned during the development of HeadbangZ to encourage other researchers to make use of novel technologies. In reference to Stephen Harper’s quote “ Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it. ”, we hope that the presentation of HeadbangZ encourages researchers to bang their heads rhythmi-cally to rock music instead of angrily against a virtual wall created by hard-and software limitations.
Optimisation of Wind Turbine Inspection Intervals

The choice of correct inspection intervals poses a serious challenge to industries that utilise physical assets. Too short an interval increases operational cost and waste production time while too long an interval increases the likelihood of unexpected asset failures. Failure Modes and Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) is a technique that permits qualitative evaluation of assets' functions to predict critical failure modes and the resultant consequences to determine appropriate maintenance tasks for the assets. The Delay-Time Maintenance Model (DTMM) is a quantitative maintenance optimisation technique that examines equipment failure patterns by taking into account failure consequences, inspection time and cost in order to determine optimum inspection interval. In this paper, a hybrid of FMECA and DTMM is used to assess the failure characteristics of a selected subsystems of a chosen wind turbine. Optimal inspection intervals for critical subsystems of the wind turbine are determined to minimise its total life-cycle cost.
Comparative performance of the stable isotope signatures of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in assessing early vigour and grain yield in durum wheat

SUMMARY The present paper studied the performance of the stable isotope signatures of carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and oxygen (δ18O) in plants when used to assess early vigour and grain yield (GY) in durum wheat growing under mild and moderate Mediterranean stress conditions. A collection of 114 recombinant inbred lines was grown under rainfed (RF) and supplementary irrigation (IR) conditions. Broad sense heritabilities (H2) for GY and harvest index (HI) were higher under RF conditions than under IR. Broad sense heritabilities for δ13C were always above 0·60, regardless of the plant part studied, with similar values for IR and RF trials. Some of the largest genetic correlations with GY were those shown by the δ13C content of the flag leaf blade and mature grains. Under both water treatments, mature grains showed the highest negative correlations between δ13C and GY across genotypes. Flag leaf δ13C was negatively correlated with GY only under RF conditions. The δ13C in seedlings was negatively correlated, under IR conditions only, with GY but also with early vigour. The sources of variation in early vigour were studied by stepwise analysis using the stable isotope signatures measured in seedlings. The δ13C was able to explain almost 0·20 of this variation under RF, but up to 0·30 under IR. In addition, nitrogen concentration in seedlings accounted for another 0·05 of variation, increasing the amount explained to 0·35. The sources of variation in GY were also studied through stable isotope signatures and biomass of different plant parts: δ13C was always the first parameter to appear in the models for both water conditions, explaining c. 0·20 of the variation. The second parameter (δ15N or N concentration of grain, or biomass at maturity) depended on the water conditions and the plant tissue being analysed. Oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) was only able to explain a small amount of the variation in GY. In this regard, despite the known and previously described value of δ13C as a tool in breeding, δ15N is confirmed as an additional tool in the present study. Oxygen isotope composition does not seem to offer any potential, at least under the conditions of the present study.
Structural deformation of branching corals associated with the vermetid gastropod Dendropoma maxima

The vermetid gastropod Dendropoma maxima is found in association with diverse coral species. This association is often characterized by the coral head covered by a wide mucus net secreted by the gastropod to trap food particles from the water column. Here we report on the quan- titative effect of the gastropod on the morphology of Stylophora pistillata, one of the most abundant branching corals on the reef flat in Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat, Red Sea). The existence of D. maxima in the vicinity of corals plays a significant role in deforming coral morphology. Compared with corals located outside the influence range of D. maxima, affected corals were found to be approx. 52% lower in their vertical dimension and approx. 35% smaller in diameter, and their slenderness ratio (height:diameter ratio) was found to be approx. 35% smaller. In addition, we found that over the last decade the population of D. maxima on the reef flat in Eilat has significantly increased in density (by a factor of approx. 2.5). The reason for this dramatic increase is currently unknown. However, it may be linked to the reported eutrophication of the northern Gulf of Aqaba, as this kind of environmental shift enhances the competitive advantage of suspension feeders over corals. Thus, the increase in the gastropod abundance may be a precursor of change in the reef flat community structure.
Technological Challenges for Efficient AlGaAs Nonlinear Sources on Chip

Photonics puts at stake a wide variety of applications, from applied fields of physics, such as ultrafast all-optical signal processing [1] or pollutant monitoring [2], to more fundamental ones, e.g. quantum information [3], and its convergence with electronics at chip-scale level is one of today’s great scientific and technological challenges. As a consequence, the full inte‐ gration of optoelectronics devices on existing developed platforms is expected to be the next technological leap, with major breakthroughs in telecommunications, industry and health. While the main building blocks of optical integrated circuitry have been reported in the standard SOI platform [4], coherent light sources still markedly lack to achieve this transi‐ tion of paradigm. To date, the hybrid conjunction of silicon photonics and direct-gap III-V compounds appears to be one of the most promising key technologies towards large-scale photonic integration and scalability [5]. In particular, such photonics platform could capital‐ ize advanced functionalities enabled by guided-wave quadratic nonlinear optics. Thus, the demonstration of the electrically pumped versions of an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) or of a telecom twin-photon source (TTPS) would have a great impact on applications re‐ quiring room-temperature operation and wide tunability.
Herbicide-Resistant Crops

The term herbicide-resistant crops (HRC) (sometimes termed herbicide-tolerant crops) has come to mean crops that have been genetically altered by biotechnology to be resistant to herbicides to which they are normally susceptible. Until the advent of plant biotechnology, selective herbicides were designed to kill important weed species while causing limited injury to major crops. Nonselective herbicides that kill almost all plant species were used only at times and places where crop injury was not a concern or with complicated application methods that avoided contact with the crop. There was little success in breeding crops for herbicide resistance especially to nonselective herbicides. Crops with genetics altered by biotechnology to impart herbicide resistance now offer the farmer valuable new tools for weed management. During the past few years, herbicideresistant canola, cotton, maize, and soybeans have been widely adopted in North America and a few countries outside of North America. This technology has had many critics who have pointed out an array of environmental, toxicological, and societal risks.
Characterisation of Carotenoids Involved in the Xanthophyll Cycle

Carotenoids are known for versatile roles they play in living organisms; however, their most pivotal function is involvement in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and photoprotection. In plant kingdom, an important photoprotective mechanism, referred to as the xanthophyll cycle, has been developed by photosynthetic organism to avoid excess light that might lead to photoinhibition and inactivation of photosystems and induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in photodamage and long-term changes in the cells caused by oxidative stress. Apart from high-light driven enzymatic conversion of violaxanthin (Viola) to zeaxanthin (Zea) that occurs mostly in higher plants, mosses and lichens, other less known types of the xanthophyll cycle have been hitherto described. The work is aimed at summarising the current knowledge on the pigments engaged in the xanthophyll cycles operating in various organisms.
Potential serpentinization, degassing, and gas hydrate formation at a young (<20 Ma) sedimented ocean crust of the Arctic Ocean ridge system

[1] Global assessment of methane must consider the role of mid-ocean ridges. Fluids from serpentinized mantle and gabbro material are noteworthy on ocean ridges, although they are not very well understood. Only a few sedimented ocean ridges exist worldwide, and they may document past and ongoing serpentinization-driven migration of gas-rich fluids. This study is based on two multichannel reflection seismic profiles acquired across a sedimented segment of the ultraslow spreading Knipovich Ridge offshore NW Svalbard. Seismic data allow suggesting a potential link between inferred areas of serpentinization, transfer of carbon from the deep-seated host rocks through the sediments above by diapirism, and methane capture within the gas hydrate stability zone at the eastern flank of the Knipovich Ridge. The origin of sediment remobilization features can be related to intrusions and the degassing process from mantle serpentinization. These disturbances in sediments overlying the oceanic crust can be observed in seismic data and are interpreted as diapirs. In shallower sediments, at the predicted base of the gas hydrate stability zone, the seismic data show a bright spot with all the characteristics of a gas hydrate related bottom-simulating reflector (BSR), such as enhanced reflection amplitude, phase reversal relative to the seabed reflection, and crosscutting of sedimentary strata. The BSR occurs at about 200 ms two-way time within a sequence of marine sediments. Two-dimensional concentration models of methane hydrate using the differential effective medium theory predict saturations of up to 26% of methane hydrate in the pore space of sediments in the gas hydrate reservoir.
Challenges to understanding dynamics of biodiversity in time and space

The negative consequences of anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and urbanization (e.g., deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution) have become exacerbated by rapid rates of human population increase (see Pimm et al. 2001). Subsequent habitat loss and modification has accelerated rates of extinction, creating a biodiversity crises which arguably is one of the most pressing problems of the twenty-first century. Although causative agents are unclear, the fossil record suggests that biotas undergo periods of massive extinction as well as considerable diversification (Alroy et al. 2001; Jackson and Johnson 2001) at the global scale, even in the absence of human activities. As such, quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of biodiversity in past and contemporary times, and understanding their mechanistic bases represent disciplinary emphases of evolutionary and environmental biology. Equally important, such understanding is a critical step in informing regional as well as global management strategies and conservation efforts. Nonetheless, considerable controversy or uncertainty exists surrounding the patterns, underlying mechanisms, and strategies of conservation (Willig 2000; Andelman and Willig 2002). The past may provide important insights into a number of relevant issues regarding contemporary biodiversity (and vice versa), but only recently has the dialogue between neontologists and paleontologists charted productive areas of collaboration. Indeed, a growing body of work has questioned the meaning of global measures of biodiversity (past or present) and has suggested that only detailed studies at local sites provide resolution to important issues about biodiversity. This is due, in part, to considerable sampling problems associated with broad-scale estimation, including the averaging of local and regional patterns.