Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Marble Dust on ConsolidationCharacteristics of Clay Soils

The usage of waste materials as an additive material has became widespread, in soil stabilization. This case was positive effects on environment by means of recycling, regains to economy and reducing environmental pollutions. In this study, marble dust had been used as an additive material in clay soil. Marble dust is a waste of the marble industry and despite its recycling in various industries, there is still a significant amount of marble dust left as waste. In this study, soil specimens were sampled from different locations in the ANS campus of Afyon Kocatepe University. These specimens were mixed with waste marble dust at ratios of 5%, 10% and 15%. Geotechnical experiments were carried out on specimens. Test results shows that marble dust have affected consolidation characteristics of clay soils. Especially, swelling index and consolidation index of specimens were decreased. This decrease is important in point of swelling potential of clay soils.
Environmentalists' Mediawork for Jumbo Pass and the Tobeatic Wilderness, Canada: Combining Text-Centred and Activist-Centred Approaches to News Media and Social Movements

For social movements, the mass media are a key means of reaching potential supporters, engaging public and political debate and reshaping cultural interpretations of relationships with the non-human environment. We examine how outdoor sport becomes the object of environmental movement mobilization and media claims-making in conflict over the Jumbo Pass ski resort, British Columbia, and Off-Highway Vehicle use in the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, Nova Scotia. We use provincial and national news coverage and interviews with key movement actors to examine how activists interpret the success or failure of their media work. We find that environmentalists are generally successful at translating claims on behalf of nature to a general audience through newspaper coverage. Using an activist-centred approach to media and social movements, interviews with core activists provide insight into barriers that persist and characterize environmental movement relationships with the media.
Application of Multivariate Geostatistics to Investigate the Surface Sediment Distribution of the High-Energy and Shallow Sandy Spiekeroog Shelf at the German Bight, Southern North Sea

Surface sediment data acquired by the grab sampling technique were used in the present study to produce a high-resolution and full coverage surface grain-size mapping. The objective is to test whether the hypothetically natural relationship between the surface sediment distribution and complex bathymetry could be used to improve the quality of surface sediment patches mapping. This is based on our hypothesis that grain-size characteristics of the ridge surface sediments must be intrinsically related to the hydrodynamic condition, i.e. storm-induced currents and the geometry of the seabed morphology. The median grain-size data were obtained from grab samples with inclusive bathymetric point recorded at 713 locations on the high-energy and shallow shelf of the Spiekeroog Barrier Island at the German Bight of the Southern North Sea. The area features two-parallel shoreface-connected ridges which is situated obliquely WNW-SSE oriented and mostly sandy in texture. We made use the median grain-size (d50) as the predictand and the bathymetry as the covariable to produce a high-resolution raster map of median grain-size distribution using the Cokriging interpolation. From the cross-validation of the estimated median grain-size data with the measured ones, it is clear that the gradient of the linear regression line for Cokriging is leaning closer towards the theoretical perfect-correlation line (45°) compared to that for Anisotropy Kriging. The interpolation result with Cokriging shows more realistic estimates on the unknown points of the median grain-size and gave detail to surface sediment patchiness, which spatial scale is more or less in agreement with previous studies. In addition to the moderate correlation obtained from the Pearson correlation (r = 0.44), the cross-variogram shows a more precise nature of their spatial correlation, which is physically meaningful for the interpolation process. The present study partially contributes to the framework of habitat mapping and nature protection that is to fill the gaps in physical information in a high-energetic and shallow coastal shelf.
Neural network approach to the prediction of seismic events based on low-frequency signal monitoring of the Kuril-Kamchatka and Japanese regions

Very-low-frequency/ low-frequency (VLF/LF) sub-ionospheric radiowave monitoring has been widely used in recent years to analyze earthquake preparatory processes. The connection between earthquakes with M ≥5.5 and nighttime disturbances of signal amplitude and phase has been established. Thus, it is possible to use nighttime anomalies of VLF/LF signals as earthquake precursors. Here, we propose a method for estimation of the VLF/LF signal sensitivity to seismic processes using a neural network approach. We apply the error back-propagation technique based on a three-level perceptron to predict a seismic event. The back-propagation technique involves two main stages to solve the problem; namely, network training, and recognition (the prediction itself). To train a neural network, we first create a so-called ‘training set’. The ‘teacher’ specifies the correspondence between the chosen input and the output data. In the present case, a representative database includes both the LF data received over three years of monitoring at the station in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (2005-2007), and the seismicity parameters of the Kuril-Kamchatka and Japanese regions. At the first stage, the neural network established the relationship between the characteristic features of the LF signal (the mean and dispersion of a phase and an amplitude at nighttime for a few days before a seismic event) and the corresponding level of correlation with a seismic event, or the absence of a seismic event. For the second stage, the trained neural network was applied to predict seismic events from the LF data using twelve time intervals in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The results of the prediction are discussed.
Bio-Inspired Visual Navigation for a Quadcopter using Optic Flow

Small Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) have become increasingly used in many fields to keep up with demands for technological growth and due to their unique ability to provide an “eye-in-the-sky”. However, traditional guidance systems are not always suitable for a transition to smaller UAVs. Honeybee navigation has long been proposed as a basis for developing navigation for robotics as they are known to solve complex tasks efficiently and robustly. An approach for bio-inspired navigation using optic flow is presented here based on honeybee reactive flight control. This approach is tested and verified in the benchmark hallway navigation problem. It is shown that the control approach can explain a wide-range of biological behaviors using minimal sensors similar to flying insects.
Compactness of iso-resonant potentials for Schrödinger operators in dimensions one and three

We prove compactness of a restricted set of real-valued, compactly supported potentials $V$ for which the corresponding Schr\"odinger operators $H_V$ have the same resonances, including multiplicities. More specifically, let $B_R(0)$ be the ball of radius $R > 0$ about the origin in $R^d$, for $d=1,3$. Let $\mathcal{I}_R (V_0)$ be the set of real-valued potentials in $C_0^\infty( \overline{B}_R(0); R)$ so that the corresponding Schr\"odinger operators have the same resonances, including multiplicities, as $H_{V_0}$. We prove that the set $\mathcal{I}_R (V_0)$ is a compact subset of $C_0^\infty (\overline{B}_R(0))$ in the $C^\infty$-topology. An extension to Sobolev spaces of less regular potentials is discussed.
Recovery of simultaneous low rank and two-way sparse coefficient matrices, a nonconvex approach

We study the problem of recovery of matrices that are simultaneously low rank and row and/or column sparse. Such matrices appear in recent applications in cognitive neuroscience, imaging, computer vision, macroeconomics, and genetics. We propose a GDT (Gradient Descent with hard Thresholding) algorithm to efficiently recover matrices with such structure, by minimizing a bi-convex function over a nonconvex set of constraints. We show linear convergence of the iterates obtained by GDT to a region within statistical error of an optimal solution. As an application of our method, we consider multi-task learning problems and show that the statistical error rate obtained by GDT is near optimal compared to minimax rate. Experiments demonstrate competitive performance and much faster running speed compared to existing methods, on both simulations and real data sets.
Research on Computer Network Intrusion Detection System

With the computer virus, hacking and other network information security incidents gradually increase the frequency, people are increasingly aware of the importance of network security. Network security has become the current computer network is facing one of the most important issues. Intrusion detection system as a field of IT information security within the field of a new hot technology, in the protection of network security occupies a pivotal position. This paper introduces the intrusion detection of the content, intrusion detection of the main methods, and based on the computer network security intrusion detection system design.
A new regression model for positive data

In this paper, we propose a regression model where the response variable is beta prime distributed using a new parameterization of this distribution that is indexed by mean and precision parameters. The proposed regression model is useful for situations where the variable of interest is continuous and restricted to the positive real line and is related to other variables through the mean and precision parameters. The variance function of the proposed model has a quadratic form. In addition, the beta prime model has properties that its competitor distributions of the exponential family do not have. Estimation is performed by maximum likelihood. Furthermore, we discuss residuals and influence diagnostic tools. Finally, we also carry out an application to real data that demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed model.
Economics and Uncertainty of Lignocellulosic Biofuel Production from Energy Cane and Sweet Sorghum in South Texas

Government support uncertainty, scarce yield information, and the inherent risk in bioeconomic phenomena are some of the deterrents faced by investors in the nascent cellulosic biofuel industry. A financial probabilistic model was developed to contrast the economic feasibility of producing cellulosic biofuels from energy cane and sweet sorghum using three technologies: hydrolysis, pyrolysis, and gasification. Hydrolysis and pyrolysis proved feasible (showed possibilities of a positive net present value) without government support and conditioned to stochastic feedstock yields and biofuel prices. Gasification was feasible with government support. Improved feedstock and biofuel productivity would considerably raise the feasibility probabilities for hydrolysis and pyrolysis without government support.
A Simulation-based Approach to Optimize the Execution Time and Minimization of Average Waiting Time Using Queuing Model in Cloud Computing Environment

Cloud computing is the emerging domain in academia and IT Industry. It is a business framework for delivering the services and computing power on-demand basis. Cloud users have to pay the service providers based on their usage. For enterprises, cloud computing is the worthy of consideration and they try to build business systems with lower costs, higher profits and quality-of-service. Considering cost optmization, service provider may initially try to use less number of CPU cores and data centers. For that reason, this paper deals with CloudSim simulation tool which has been utilized for evaluating the number of CPU cores and execution time. Minimization of waiting time is also a considerable issue. When a large number of jobs are requested, they have to wait for getting allocated to the servers which in turn may increase the queue length and also waiting time. This paper also deals with queuing model with multi-server and finite capacity to reduce the waiting time and queue length.
Genetic analysis of calf vitality, survival and disease resistance in Charolais beef cattle

The objective of the present study was to investigate calf health and survival. Data of 2740 Charolais calves, born in 16 French farms and observed from birth until 30 d of age wereanalyzed. Both direct and maternal genetic parameters were estimated for vitality of the calf at birth (NV), survival at 30d (Surv), umbilical infections and diarrhea for 2 age slots: 05d and 6-20d (respectively, Umb1, Diar1, Umb2, Diar2). Direct and maternal heritabilities ranged respectively from 0 to 0.081 and from 0 to 0.096. Maternal genetic effects were clearly more important to explain health performance than direct genetic effects for Surv, Diar1 and Umb2. Genetic correlations were estimated with large standard errors and varied markedly between traits varied strongly (from 0 to 1 in absolute values) depending on traits, age slot for a given trait and the nature of the genetic effects considered, direct or maternal. Therefore, the question of the priority arises for the breeding objective because all health traits will be difficult to improve simultaneously in Charolais cattle.
MICROWAVE FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE ION BEAM EXTRACTED FROM A CAPRICE TYPE ECRIS

In order to improve the quality of ion beams extracted from ECR ion sources it is mandatory to better understand the relations between the plasma conditions and the beam properties. The present investigations concentrate on the analysis of different beam properties under the influence of various applications of frequency tuning and of multiple frequency heating. The changes in the microwave frequency feeding the plasma affect the electromagnetic field distribution and the dimension and position of the ECR surface inside the plasma chamber. This in turn has an influence on the generation of the extracted ion beam in terms of intensity, shape and emittance. In order to analyze the corresponding effects, measurements have been performed with the CAPRICE-Type ECRIS installed at the ECR Injector Setup (EIS) of GSI. The experimental setup uses a microwave sweep generator which feed a TWTA (Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier) covering a wide frequency range from 12.5 to 16.5 GHz. This arrangement provides a precise determination of the frequencies and of the reflection coefficient along with the beam properties. A sequence of viewing targets positioned inside the beam line monitors the beam shape evolution.
Defining Corridor Functions for Endemic Birds in Fragmented South‐Temperate Rainforest

Abstract: For five species of endemic understory birds ( families Rhinocryptidae, Furnariidae) inhabiting fragmented temperate rainforest in southcentral Chile, we distinguished between vegetated corridors functioning as living space and those potentially suitable for short‐distance movements only. In the first phase of the study, we surveyed 24 forested corridors ≤50 m wide using passive and song‐playback censuses. Corridor width determined species presence or absence, whereas the number of individuals increased with width and understory vegetation density. Birds were infrequently encountered in corridors ≤10 m wide but were always present in corridors 25–50 m wide. Birds present in intermediate‐width (11–24 m) corridors were detected significantly less often during passive than playback census, suggesting that these birds exhibited conspicuous territorial display less frequently than those present in wider corridors, where passive and playback census yielded similar detection rates. Corridors approximately 10–25 m wide, therefore, may be transitional between corridors too narrow for most regular uses and those sufficiently wide for birds to establish territories. Also, bird abundance decreased as the ratio of corridor length to width ( L / W) increased. Almost no birds were detected in corridors with L / W ≥ 10, suggesting the existence of a threshold value for the influence of L / W on corridor use. In the second phase of the study, taped‐song playback experiments in corridors ≤10 m wide showed that all five species traveled in them for short distances: 52% of respondents moved up to 50 m from forest patches into narrow corridors. Availability of dense understory vegetation was the primary predictor of birds' responses to playback and may determine their willingness to use minimal corridors for short movements. We suggest that corridors for endemic rainforest‐understory birds living in agricultural landscapes of southern Chile can be designed to fulfill distinct functions.
Interactive comment on “ A 4 D-Var inversion system based on the icosahedral grid model ( NICAM-TM 4 D-Var v 1 . 0 ) : 1 . Off-line forward and adjoint transport models ” by Yosuke Niwa

There is only one major comment that I would like to make. The numerical errors due to the use of a flux-limiter and due to low temporal resolution of the driver meteo are typically in the order of∼1 ppm for CO2 (and mostly smaller). It is difficult to place these numbers in a proper context. I advise the authors to provide this context by (i) report typical RMSD differences between different models, e.g. the TRANSCOM ensemble (ii) provide a typical “error” in the NICAM-TM that can be obtained by running in a different temporal or spatial resolution, or by other means (e.g. sampling error)
Formation of TiC Ceramic Coating on AISI D2 Tool Steel through Mechanical Milling Technique

In the present research, the TiC powder was used to coat the surface of AISI D2 substrate by means of mechanical alloying technique. During this novel method, a mixture of titanium and graphite with the composition of Ti-50%mole C, ball-to-powder mass ratio of 30:1 and rotational speed of 300 rpm under pure argon atmosphere in planetary ball-mill were used. Phase transformation, structure of the coating and local composition at different steps was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. It was found that, a dense coating layer with no microcracks and porosity can be fabricated after 35 h mechanical alloying.
Financial Integration, International Portfolio Choice and the European Monetary Union

We investigate the determinants of bilateral international equity and bond portfolio reallocation across a large cross section of countries over the 1997 to 2001 period. We first argue that financial integration is not a global phenomenon, as equity and bond home biases declined significantly only among European countries, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Then, we show that the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) eased the access to the equity market and, to a larger extent, the bond market; thereby, enhancing regional financial integration in the euro area. Beside the effect of the EMU, the strongest determinants of the changes in portfolio weights are expected diversification benefits and the initial degree of underweight. JEL Classification: C13, C21, F37, G11
Embodiment as preparation: Pupillary responses to words that convey a sense of brightness or darkness

A strongly embodied view of language holds that, to understand a word, you must simulate associated sensory input (e.g. simulate perception of brightness to understand 'lamp'), and prepare associated actions (e.g. prepare finger movements to understand 'typing'). To test this, we measured pupillary responses to single words that conveyed a sense of brightness (e.g. 'day') or darkness (e.g. 'night'), or were luminance-neutral (e.g. 'house'). Crucially, we found that the pupil was largest for darkness-conveying words, intermediate for neutral words, and smallest for brightness-conveying words; however, this semantic pupillary response peaked long after participants had already understood and responded to the words. These findings suggest that word comprehension activates sensory representations, and even triggers physiological (pupillary) responses, but that this occurs too late to be a necessary part of the comprehension process itself. Instead, we suggest that pupillary responses to darkness- and brightness-conveying words―and perhaps embodied language in general―may reflect preparation for the immediate future: When you read the word 'lamp', you automatically prepare to look at a lamp, and prepare to read more brightness-related words; this may cause your pupils to constrict in anticipation.
EXPERIENCE OF INTERVIEWING STAKEHOLDERS

Cooperation and communication with stakeholders is important for engineering educators as is emphasized in the CDIO standards. The School of Science and Engineering at Reykjavik University is implementing the CDIO standards and when reviewing and revising learning outcomes, i.e. CDIO standards 2 and 3, it was decided to contact stakeholders and obtain their views and recommendations regarding priorities in the program content. This work is on-going and will be carried out until the fall of 2014. This paper will discuss the methodology used by the four different departments at the School of Science and Engineering at Reykjavik University: Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering Management and Financial Engineering, and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Although all the departments used interviews to some extent, they used different approaches and some also used focus groups and surveys. The experience of each department will be presented and discussed. This paper compares the different procedures used by the four departments in selecting and approaching stakeholders and extracting their views. Conclusions are drawn with regard to future methods for involving stakeholders in developing and validating learning outcomes for engineering programs at Reykjavik University.
Interval censored PH survival models for longitudinal data: precision of estimators

We present a general likelihood for interval censored survival data arising in longitudinal studies such as longitudinal randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) and give some general formulae for inference in parametric, interval censored, proportional hazards, regression survival models. For the exponential regression model we compare the performance of the general likelihood with a commonly used proxy likelihood, which ignores the interval censoring by treating the interval censored times to events as if they were exact. We show analytically that use of the proxy likelihood leads to estimators (for example, of the treatment effect) which are artificially precise and we quantify the extent of the resulting biases in a simulation study.
Matrix Factorization for Automatic Chemical Mapping from Electron Microscopic Spectral Imaging Datasets

Motoki Shiga, Shunsuke Muto, Kazuyoshi Tatsumi and Koji Tsuda 1 Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, Gifu University, 1-1, Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan 2 Advanced Measurement Technology Center, Institute of Materials and Systems for Sustainability, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan 3 Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-8561, Japan 4 Center for Materials Research by Information Integration, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan 5 Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2-4-7 Aomi Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan