Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Foraging ecology of a reintroduced population of breeding Bald Eagles on the Channel Islands, California, USA, inferred from prey remains and stable isotope analysis

ABSTRACT Successful management of reintroduced populations requires recognizing that ecological conditions may have changed between extirpation and reintroduction. For example, characterizing dietary patterns of generalist apex predators in the past and present can help to define how their functional role may change as translocated populations grow. We identified prey remains collected from Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests and used carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope analysis to quantify diet composition of the recently reintroduced Bald Eagle population on the Channel Islands off southern California, USA. We collected >6,000 prey items from recently occupied nests on Santa Catalina, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa islands in 2010 and 2011. Prey identification and stable isotope analysis yielded similar results and showed that eagles on Santa Catalina Island consumed a high proportion (~60%) of marine fish and a lower proportion (25–30%) of seabirds, while their counterparts on the Northern Channel Islands consumed equal proportions (~40–45%) of these prey types. Terrestrial resource use was low with the exception of eagles from one nest on Santa Catalina Island, where eagles primarily consumed ground squirrels and freshwater fish. We suggest that a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors is responsible for the interisland differences in Bald Eagle diet. Bald Eagle interactions with a robust recreational fishery off Santa Catalina Island may enhance access to fish species that are not available to eagles on the Northern Channel Islands, where the availability of breeding seabirds is far greater. The proportion of seabirds consumed by eagles on the Northern Channel Islands today is similar to that consumed by eagles from this region historically and prehistorically. This suggests that the restoration of breeding seabirds on the Channel Islands will benefit the long-term viability of eagle populations in the northern archipelago.
On the Welfare Economic Foundations of Health Status Measures

Measures of health status, such as e.g. the QALY (Quality Adjusted Life Years) measure, have been proposed as a tool in the economic assessment of new medical technologies, and its possible foundations in individual utility theory have been discussed in the literature. However, the problems of aggregation or interpersonal utility comparison inherent in the application of such measures has went largely unnoticed. In the present work, we consider a general equilibrium model of a society, where different aspects of health are identified as Lancasterian characteristics. In this model, we consider the welfare theoretical basis for evaluation of changes of allocation from a Pareto optimum, and in particular, we investigate conditions on the economy under which the individuals will have the same marginal rates of substitution between characteristics, which is a precondition for a meaningful measurement of health status. It turns out that this equality will obtain only under very restrictive conditions of separability in characteristics production.
Modeling, Identification and Control at Telemark University College

AbstractMaster studies in process automation started in 1989 at what soon became Telemark University College,and the 20 year anniversary marks the start of our own PhD degree in Process, Energy and Automa-tion Engineering. The paper gives an overview of research activities related to control engineering atDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Cybernetics.Keywords: modeling, simulation, identi cation, control, sensor technology 1 Introduction The Norwegian research journal MIC was initiated bylate Professor Jens Glad Balchen, with the rst issuepublished in 1980. MIC has played a central role inNorwegian cybernetics research, as it coincided with adramatic growth in the number of PhD students andgave these an arena to publish. Telemark UniversityCollege (HiT) salutes the journal, and those who madethe journal possible.The master studies in engineering at HiT started in1988, and the initial board was led by Finn Lied andincluded Inge Johansen and Sven G. Terjesen, all cen-tral people in the engineering community of Norwayin the last part of the 20th century. The leader of theengineering studies was May-Britt Hagg, now professorat The Norwegian University of Science and Technol-ogy (NTNU). In 1989, a study in Process Automationstarted; this study was planned by Terje Hertzberg,Steinar Sˆlid, Gudolf Kjˆrheim, Sven G. Terjesen,Ivar Loe, Jens I. Ytreeide, and Rolf Ergon. Later,Ytreeide became professor in these studies, while Loewas adjunct professor for many years. The Process Au-tomation study was led by Rolf Ergon, now professoremeritus. In 1994, these studies became part of HiT,organized under Faculty of Technology (HiT-TF). From the start, the MSc studies in Porsgrunn hadtheir accreditation from the Ministry of Education andResearch, while the PhD study was formally a degreeat NTNU, where HiT-TF operated almost as a facultyunder NTNU. In April 2009, the Ministry of Educa-tion and Research gave HiT the right to give our ownPhD-degree, in Process, Energy, and Automation En-gineering.The current MSc studies are in Process Technol-ogy, Systems and Control Engineering, and Energyand Environmental Technology, and they are taughtin English. Initially, the strong position of the re-gional process industry shaped the process automationstudy, which had a strong emphasis on modeling of dy-namic systems, numeric methods, process chemistry,separation technology, thermodynamics, etc. Controlengineering was also important, with topics in multi-variable control, optimal and predictive control, stateestimation, and control structures for industrial pro-cesses. Instrumentation technology and process safetywere core topics, and laboratory exercises widely used.With a compact group of teachers in close touch withthe students, this enabled necessary changes in pacewith the developments in the regional and nationalindustry, and today, the core topics are modeling ofdynamic systems, model based control, model based
Design and Analysis of 8-bit Vedic Multiplier in 90nm Technology using GDI Technique

Vedic mathematics is an old mathematics which is more effective than other mathematic procedures. Vedic maths is utilized as a part of numerous applications, for example, hypothesis of numbers, compound duplications, squaring, cubing, square root and solid shape root and so on. Absolutely there are 16 sutras and 14 sub-sutras in Vedic maths. Among those sutras, just 3 sutras and 2 sub-sutras are utilized for augmentation. Multiplier is a very important part of a microprocessor as multiplication is performed continuously in all calculative procedures. This paper is in importance of a 8-bit multiplier designed in 90 nm technology. Urdhva-Tiryakbyham is the sutra that is used for multiplication in Vedic mathematics. Actualizing the different scientific operations utilizing Vedic Mathematics causes us accomplish better speed, bring down unpredictability and higher execution. [2] The technique used is Gate Diffusion Input (GDI) which is a more refined way to design a circuit which less complex than circuits designed by other techniques.
The Fundamental on Demand Forecasting in Inventory Management

Several past studies or some inventory management text book have shown that the accuracy of the demand forecast significantly affects safety stock and inventory levels, inventory holding costs, and customer service levels. Currently, the Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) distributor Company is facing the problem meeting the required inventory level for some of the product and the problem might be due to inaccurate demand forecast. T he objectives of this paper are to implement and compare the performance of individual forecasting techniques and combination forecasting technique in demand forecast for inventory management. The study will be conduct using case study method. The demand data for one of the series product will be collect. Data analysis will be held using three individual forecasting method and two combination forecasting method.
Dequantization techniques for Weyl quantization

By quantization we mean the linear bijection from J'(II) to JsPG^GR), i^'(M)) due to Weyl, and by dequantization we mean its inverse. We propose two new, but related, dequantization schemes. The first is adapted to knowledge of the matrix elements (with respect to the Hermite—Gaussian functions) of the operator to be dequantized, while the second is adapted to its integral kernel. Our dequantization schemes are completely general. We apply these methods to the case where the operators in question are Toeplitz operators related to functions of angle on phase space. This enables us to compare the symbols of these Toeplitz operators with the functions of angle themselves. §
Absorption of ultrasonic waves in air at high frequencies (10–20 MHz)

A high power and sensitive gated radio‐frequency (rf) measurement system has been used to determine the absorption of compressional waves in air, in the frequency range from 10–20 MHz. The measured absorption, between 80 and 90 kPa and at room temperature (15 °C to 25 °C), has been found to be in good agreement with that predicted, by extrapolation, from low‐frequency (below 1 MHz) data for the combination of the classical and rotational loss effects. The measured data fit a classical‐plus‐rotational absorption loss coefficient (αcr) for a 20 °C value of 1.83×10−11 Np/m. Above 500 kHz at normal atmospheric pressures, this coefficient becomes dominant, and the effects of variation in humidity are insignificant. The bounds for the parameter domain for this relationship to be valid are now pressures between 80 and 90 kPa, temperatures between 15 °C and 25 °C, and frequency/pressure combinations up to 200 Hz Pa−1. The velocity of ultrasound in air in the frequency range from 10–18 MHz has also been measured a.
INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI ISOLATED FROM SUKABUMI TURMERIC PLANT (Curcuma longa L.) AGAINST MCF-7 CELL LINE

Kunyit or turmeric plant ( Curcuma longa L.) is a native Southeast Asia plant that has been widely used as herbal medicine. In our previous research we isolated and screened 44 of endophytic fungi of turmeric plant from Sukabumi and Cibinong to determine their antioxidant activity. There were 4 samples isolated from Sukabumi with antioxidant activity for more than 70% at concentration of 100ppm, K.Cl. Sb.R9 (93%), K.Cl. Sb.A11 (81%), K.Cl. Sb.B1 (79%) and K.Cl. Sb.R11 (71%). This research aimed to determine inhibitory activity of the endophytic fungi against estrogen positive MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. To obtain the filtrate, the broth cultures were filtered and the extracellular fraction was extracted with ethyl acetate. The inhibitory activity was determined by using MTT assay. The result showed that the ability of endophytic fungi to inhibit MCF-7 growth was dose dependently. IC 50 of endophytic fungi K.Cl. Sb.R9 was 579±38 ppm, K.Cl. Sb.R11 was 542±21ppm, K.Cl. Sb.B1 was 446±15ppm and K.Cl. Sb.A11 was 520±28ppm. Fluorescent double staining based method using calcein AM and ethidium bromide was performed to confirm the inhibitory activity. At 500ppm of filtrate concentration with 24h of cell treatment, treated cell lines showed fewer viable cells compared to untreated cell lines. The four isolates of endophytic fungi were able to inhibit proliferation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cell line.
Post-treatment of coke wastewater on activated carbons

The aim of this research was to determine the effect the ozonation and sonification processes for post-treatment of coke wastewaters using activated carbons. The tests were carried out in three systems ie. I-AC (activated carbon), II-O 3 +AC (ozonation + activated carbon) and III-US+AC (ultrasound + activated carbon). In the experiment were used a three types of activated carbons: WG-12, ROW 08 Supra and Picabiol. The sorption process was carried out in static conditions at contact for 24h time of the wastewater with activated carbons. Coke wastewater was oxidized through ozonation at a constant ozone dose of 10 mg/dm 3 . Sonication of coke wastewater was conducted at vibration amplitude was 61.5 μm, with sonication time of 8 min. Results of removing of COD were estimated on the base of sorption capacity and COD removal efficiency. The second system was the most effective (O 3 +AC) for carbons WG-12 and ROW 08 Supra, whereas in the case of carbon Picabiol, the best efficiency was found for system I (AC). The lowest efficiency of removal of COD from coke wastewater was the systems III (US+AC) for all three activated carbons.
Correlated multistate models for multiple processes: an application to renal disease progression in systemic lupus erythematosus

Bidirectional changes over time in the estimated glomerular filtration rate and in urine protein content are of interest for the treatment and management of patients with lupus nephritis. Although these processes may be modelled by separate multistate models, the processes are likely to be correlated within patients. Motivated by the lupus nephritis application, we develop a new multistate modelling framework where subject‐specific random effects are introduced to account for the correlations both between the processes and within patients over time. Models are fitted by using bespoke code in standard statistical software. A variety of forms for the random effects are introduced and evaluated by using the data from the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics.
Bit and Power Allocation Scheme for Multicarrier Faster-Than-Nyquist Signaling

The transmitter of multicarrier faster-than- Nyquist Signaling is a promising direction. In this paper, the bit and power allocation problem is discussed for the multicarrier FTN environment, with the aim to maximum mutual information while guarantee the practicality. An improved spectral shaping scheme with integer bit constraint is proposed for the transmitter. It is based on the modified iterative water-filling and greedy algorithm revised for our scenario. Correspondingly, there are two processes for the scheme called iterative power allocation and discrete bit replenishment. With the benefit of improved method, integer bits can be ensured for each subcarrier at the cost of a little mutual information loss. This is confirmed by simulation and numerical results.
Photosynthetic Productivity of Three Coniferous Species in Baikal Siberia, Eastern Russia

This paper explores changes in photosynthetic productivities of common pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) during several successive years. Considered are both inter-annual and intra-annual changes, with intra-annual periods defined as early spring (April - May 15), spring-summer (May 16 - June 15), summer (June 16 - August 31), and autumn (September 1 - the first week of November). The study has revealed that high annual photosynthetic productivities in the different species concerned correlates with particular weather conditions during the vegetation periods. The total amount of carbon dioxide assimilated by the two evergreen coniferous species in the early spring, spring-summer and autumn exceeded the amount assimilated in the summer and was as large as 50 - 70% of the annual value. Meanwhile larch has been found to assimilate more than half of the total annual CO2 in the summer. It is concluded that the characteristics of inter- and intra-annual dynamics of photosynthetic productivity identified in this study offer an opportunity to account for some of the ecosystem-specific features of the coniferous species under investigation, for instance, their ability to co-exist with deciduous plants in mixed communities, as well as the possibility of long-term preservation of boreal ecosystems on the same territories.
An Improved Unscented Kalman Filter for Discrete Nonlinear Systems with Random Parameters

This paper investigates the nonlinear unscented Kalman filtering (UKF) problem for discrete nonlinear dynamic systems with random parameters. We develop an improved unscented transformation by incorporating the random parameters into the state vector to enlarge the number of sigma points. The theoretical analysis reveals that the approximated mean and covariance via the improved unscented transformation match the true values correctly up to the third order of Taylor series expansion. Based on the improved unscented transformation, an improved UKF method is proposed to expand the application of the UKF for nonlinear systems with random parameters. An application to the mobile source localization with time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements and sensor position uncertainties is provided where the simulation results illustrate that the improved UKF method leads to a superior performance in comparison with the normal UKF method.
THE POWER OF MULTI-RAY PHOTOGRAMMETRY - ULTRAMAP 3.0

Starting 2007 a dense matching algorithm and an automated ortho/true-ortho workflow has been developed by Vexcel Imaging GmbH that has exclusively been used for the automated 3D city model production of Microsoft’s Virtual Earth project and is now also in use for the production of the current BING maps platform. This famous automated workflow has now been disclosed and has been implemented into UltraMap 3.0. This makes the workflow now commercially available for all UltraCam users world-wide. The dense-matching algorithm generates very dense surface models from overlapping aerial images by multi-ray photogrammetry, superior to airborne Lidar collection. Based on the results of the dense matcher, an automated workflow generates ortho images and true-ortho images automatically within UltraMap 3.0. The paper shows the new UltraMap 3.0 workflow, the results of the automated dense matching such as point clouds and DSM and the results of the automated ortho and true-ortho workflow.
Explaining intention to use the Islamic credit card: an extension of the TRA model

Abstract Purpose – The Islamic credit card is a type of banking product offered by Islamic banks. Given the importance to the Islamic credit card to Islamic banks, the study is aimed at identifying the factors determining the Malaysian bank customers’ behavioral intention to use the Islamic credit card. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the Theory of Reasoned Action (the TRA model), this study proposes a modified model to examine the acceptance factors of attitude, subjective norm and perceived financial cost within the Islamic credit card context. The study used multiple regression model in order to examine the impacts of these explanatory variables on the intention to use the Islamic credit card. The model is tested using survey data from 257 respondents. Findings – The results reveal that attitude, subjective norm and perceived financial cost significantly influence the Islamic credit card intention to use. Of these, attitude was first ranked factor explaining intention to use the Islamic credit card. Research limitations/implications – The research suffers from two limitations. The first limitation is related to the generalization of finding whilst the second limitation is related to the limited measures employed in the current work. Despite these limitations, this research is significantly contributed to the body of knowledge in the area of Islamic credit card, at least at exploratory level. Practical implications – Information gathered from the study will serve as a basis for more future works in the area of Islamic credit card. The theory developed in the current study’s model could also be generalized into other contexts of Islamic banking products and services. Practically, branch managers of Islamic banking institutions could of prime importance to extend the findings of the study for the better future planning of their Islamic credit card offerings. Originality/value – Importantly, the study extends the applicability of the TRA model into Islamic credit card context. Few studies have conducted over the years under this context in Malaysia.
Image restoration in the presence of bad pixels

IMAGE RESTORATION IN THE PRESENCE OF BAD PIXELS Name: Brys, Brandon J. University of Dayton, 2010 Advisor: Russell C. Hardie Spatially varying temporal noise can occur in imaging sensors from nonuniform responsivity of the detectors in the focal plane detector array. Furthermore, some pixels can have extreme responsivities or simply be unresponsive altogether. Such “bad pixels” must be detected and addressed to provide the best possible imagery from a given sensor. Restoration in the presence of bad pixels is a particularly important problem in infrared imaging systems, but it is also an issue with many other camera systems. Bad pixels are traditionally treated by some form of replacement. Rather than performing a simple pixel replacement followed by traditional image restoration, we believe that a superior method of performing restoration in the presence of bad pixels is to perform the restoration and bad pixel replacement jointly. This way, we are able to exploit knowledge of each pixel’s characteristics in the restoration process. When a simple pixel replacement method is used, knowledge of which pixel was originally bad is often lost and not exploited in any subsequent image restoration. In this thesis we propose and compare two methods for scene-based bad pixel detection. We also adapt the FIR adaptive Wiener filter (AWF) to perform image iii restoration in the presence of bad pixels on other forms of spatially varying noise. The AWF estimates each pixel using a weighted sum of neighboring pixel values. The weights are determined based on spatially varying autocorrelation models which may use specific knowledge of each pixel’s noise characteristics. We propose a fast version of the AWF that is able to handle the bad pixels by using pre-computed weights in a table look-up process. We also propose a modified version of the Non-Local Means (NLM) filter that is robust in handling bad pixels, as it provides background noise reduction. We quantitatively and subjectively compare the performance of the AWF and NLM methods along with several other benchmark restoration methods using simulated images with spatially varying noise and bad pixels. We use both simulated and real infrared imagery to test the proposed algorithms. A computational complexity analysis is also provided to provide further insight into the comparison between the AWF and NLM methods.
The Application of Multivariate Statistical Analysis to the Valuation of Durable Goods Brands

Abstract Nowadays, due to changes in the market and new trends in consumer behaviours, intangible assets, such as brand, have gained fundamental importance. The more frequent conviction that a product with a well-known name is better than other products contributes to the case of replacing the price of a product by its brand name as the predominant factor in the purchase decision process. Thus, for many companies the strengthening of brand equity has become one of the key elements of marketing strategy. The main aim of this study is an attempt to improve the process of analysing the position and value of brands using selected multivariate statistical analysis methods (hedonic regression, multidimensional scaling, classification and linear ordination methods). In the conducted research the direct approach to the evaluation of the position of the brands for a selected ICT good – smartphones – have been applied. The measurement was performed on two levels: the product level, in which the prices of branded products were compared, and the consumer level, where the perception and attitudes of consumers towards the brands were studied. The analyses have been carried out on two sets of data, which enabled fuller and more comprehensible understanding of decision rules that guide consumers in choosing the brand.