Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Albedo over rough snow and ice surfaces

Both satellite and ground-based broadband albedo measurements over rough and complex terrain show several limitations concerning feasibility and representativeness. To assess these limitations and understand the effect of surface roughness on albedo, firstly, an intrasurface radiative transfer (ISRT) model is combined with albedo measurements over different penitente surfaces on Glaciar Tapado in the semi-arid Andes of northern Chile. Results of the ISRT model show effective albedo reductions over the penitentes up to 0.4 when comparing the rough surface albedo relative to the albedo of the flat surface. The magnitude of these reductions primarily depends on the opening angles of the penitentes, but the shape of the penitentes and spatial variability of the material albedo also play a major role. Secondly, the ISRT model is used to reveal the effect of using albedo measurements at a specific location (i.e., apparent albedo) to infer the true albedo of a penitente field (i.e., effective albedo). This effect is especially strong for narrow penitentes, resulting in sampling biases of up to ±0.05. The sampling biases are more pronounced when the sensor is low above the surface, but remain relatively constant throughout the day. Consequently, it is important to use a large number of samples at various places and/or to locate the sensor sufficiently high in order to avoid this sampling bias of surface albedo over rough surfaces. Thirdly, the temporal evolution of broadband albedo over a penitente-covered surface is analyzed to place the experiments and their uncertainty into a longer temporal context. Time series of albedo measurements at an automated weather station over two ablation seasons reveal that albedo decreases early in the ablation season. These decreases stabilize from February onwards with variations being caused by fresh snowfall events. The 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 seasons differ notably, where the latter shows lower albedo values caused by larger penitentes. Finally, a comparison of the ground-based albedo observations with Landsat and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)-derived albedo showed that both satellite albedo products capture the albedo evolution with root mean square errors of 0.08 and 0.15, respectively, but also illustrate their shortcomings related to temporal resolution and spatial heterogeneity over small mountain glaciers.
Growth of Photosynthetic Biofilms and Fe, Pb, Cu, and Zn Speciation in Unsaturated Columns with Calcareous Mine Tailings from Arid Zones

Mine tailing remediation aims to reduce the rate of sulfide mineral oxidation. Earlier studies showed that photosynthetic biofilms may act as a physical barrier against oxygen diffusion. Currently, a long-term assay (6 months) is required to evaluate the solid phase redistribution of the Pb, Fe, Cu, and Zn originally present in historic and calcareous mine tailing samples (in our case from a semiarid region in North-Central Mexico). The presence of biofilms may provide chemical gradients and physical conditions that shift the proportion of Fe, Cu, and Zn originally associated with oxides to carbonates and organic matter/sulfide fractions.
A MDA-based Campus Data Analysis and Visualization Framework

As the rapid development of high education informatization, it will be a new important research topic to conduct the data mining and visual analytics to the existing data in the sepa-rated information systems. The existing campus information sys-tem is the integration of some business systems, so the system has some problems, such as it stores the data separately and it has poor ability to analyze data. In order to solve these problems, we propose Model Driven Architecture (MDA) based campus data analysis and visualization framework. The framework is com-posed of multi-dimension data modeling, data extraction, visualization-based data exhibition, and some other modules. Data extraction solves the problem caused by separately stored data and heterogeneous data. Multi-dimension data modeling analysis and visualization enhances the analysis ability of existing system. Based on the idea of MDA modeling analysis, we provide a rapid develop platform of campus business for both business analyzers and developers.
Walking Pattern Generation of Dual-Arm Mobile Robot Using Preview Controller

Based on the stability request of robot's moving on the ground, the motion planning of dual-arm mobile robot when moving on the ground is studied and the preview control system is applied in the robot walking pattern generation. Direct question of robot kinematics in the extended task space is analyzed according to Degrees of Freedom configuration of the dual-arm mobile robot. It is proved that the preview control system could be used in the generation of robot Center of Mass forward trajectory through the building of double linear inverted pendulum model of dual-arm mobile robot. The sector gridding search algorithm is proposed and the reachable workspace which meets the Zero Moment Point stability principle when the robot moving on the ground is obtained. Tip Trajectory is generated through polynomial interpolation. Each joint curve is calculated using MATLAB which is imported to virtual physical model. The feasibility of gait generation is verified.
Assessment of Nano-toxicity and Safety Profiles of Silver Nanoparticles

Nanotoxicology, which is related with toxic potentials of nanoparticles (NPs) and their adverse effects on living organisms and environment, is a sub-branch of toxicology discipline. Nano-toxicity of NPs depends on their doses, unique chemical, and physical prop- erties. Nowadays, silver (Ag) NPs are used in many consumer and scientific applications such as antimicrobial and pharmaceutical applications, water purification systems, tex- tile industry, and food packaging processes. However, the information that about their nano-toxic potentials is still not complete, and it is considered that several parameters of Ag NPs such as size, shape, surface, and stability affect the toxic potential in different ways. Nano-toxic potentials of Ag NPs were mentioned as in vivo , in vitro and in silico the studies. In this chapter, it was evaluated the common unique properties of NPs are related with nanotoxicology such as size, surface area and modifications, shape, agglomeration status, dose.
Analysis Of User Navigational Behavior ForE-learning Personalization

Personalization is an important issue in e-learning as it might help to improve both student performance and experience of use. In this chapter we describe a framework for studying the navigational behavior of the users of an e-learning environment integrated in a virtual campus. The students navigate through the web based virtual campus interacting with learning resources which are structured following the SCORM e-learning standard. These learning resources are structured following the concept of itinerary which it is basically a temporal scheduling involving several activities and the use of several learning resources. Itineraries may be structured depending on several personalization issues, ranging from student preferences to instructional designer and teacher teams expertise, including also knowledge extracted from the usage in previous semesters. Our main goal is to analyze such user navigational behavior for extracting information that can be used to validate several aspects related to virtual campus design and usability but also to determine the optimal scheduling for each course depending on user profile. We intend to extend the sequencing capabilities of standard learning management systems to include the concept of recommended itinerary, by combining teachers expertise with learned experience acquired by virtual campus usage analysis.
replay : visualising the structure and behaviour of interconnected systems

Visualisation is often used to help understand complex systems and in particular scale-free networks which are present in many systems, from object-oriented software, to real-world and on-line social networks. While a number of tools already exist to visualise these systems, most focus on presenting the network as a whole and neglect to include information on the possibly concurrent behaviour of individual nodes. In this paper we present replay which aims to meet these demands, by visualising both the structure and evolution of the network through time, as well as the behaviour of individual nodes and the communications between nodes. We describe the unique and novel aspects of replay, including its three different but related visualisations of the underlying system, as well as its plug-in architecture, which allows replay to be extended and applied to visualise different networked systems. We also demonstrate the utility and flexibility of replay with a number of real-world visualisation examples, as well as present possible directions for future work.
Stratigraphic relationships between the last occurrence of Neogloboquadrina inglei and marine isotope stages in the northwest Pacific, D/V Chikyu Expedition 902, Hole C9001C

The stratigraphic relationships between the last occurrence (LO) of the planktic foraminiferan Neogloboquadrina inglei in the middle Pleistocene and established marine isotope stages (MIS) was investigated using a 365-m-long sediment core from a continental slope in the northwest Pacific near the Shimokita Peninsula, Japan. Two tephra layers (Shikotsu-Daiichi and Aso-4 tephras) and two nannofossil datum planes (first occurrence of Emiliania huxleyi and LO of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa) were used as age- control points, and the oxygen isotope stratigraphy of Hole C9001C was established by correlating the oxygen isotope values of the benthic foraminiferan Uvigerina akitaensis with the standard oxygen isotope curve LR04. Hole C9001C provides the first continuous, high-sedimentation-rate (20-90 cm/kyr) record from MIS 18 to present in the northwestern Pacific near Japan. The stratigraphic position of the LO of N. inglei is in late MIS 16 or near the MIS 16/15 boundary.
Fast Third-Order Texture Filtering

Current programmable graphics hardware makes it possible to implement general convolution filters in fragment shaders for high-quality texture filtering, such as cubic filters (Bjorke 2004). However, several shortcomings are usually associated with these approaches: the need to perform many texture lookups and the inability to antialias lookups with mipmaps, in particular. We address these issues in this chapter for filtering with a cubic B-spline kernel and its first and second derivatives in one, two, and three dimensions.
Damage Assessment in Concrete Structures using PZT patches

Piezoelectric based PZT smart sensors offer significant potential for continuously monitoring the development and progression of internal damage in concrete structures. PZT-based damage sensors consisting of piezo-electric patches, which are bonded to the surface of a concrete structure can be developed for assessing the damage progression of concrete members. The primary challenge in developing a PZT-based sensor lies in developing a methodology to infer about the level of damage in the material from measurement. Changes in the resonant behavior in the measured electrical conductance obtained from electro-mechanical (EM) response of a PZT bonded to a concrete substrate is investigated for increasing levels of damage. The sensitivity of EM impedance- based measurements to level of damage in concrete is reported. Incipient damage in the form of microcracks in the concrete substrate produces a change in the electrical conductance signature associated with the resonant peaks. Changes in the conductance resonant signature from EM conductance measurement are detected before visible signs of cracking. The root mean square deviation of the conductance signature at resonant peaks is shown to accurately reflect the level of damage in the substrate. The findings presented here provide a basis for developing a sensing methodology using PZT patches for continuous monitoring of concrete structures.
Local Public Sector Investment and Stabilization Policy: Evidence from Japan

The Japanese government has adopted a fiscal policy for macroeconomic stabilization. Above all, public investment has been used as a principal policy instrument of economic stimulus packages implemented to boost the economy. In terms of public investments, most of the works have been implemented by local governments. Figure 1 represents the trend of the fixed investments between central governments and local governments from the Annual Report of the National Account. This figure shows that almost 80% of fixed investments in general government have been implemented by local governments.
The Role of Financial and Managerial Variables on the Policy Towards Home-Grown Players in English Soccer

The training and development of young players both as athletes and individuals is one of the task soccer governing bodies assign to professional soccer team in order to fully exploit the social aspects of sport activities. Recently UEFA imposed new rules to improve the use of home-grown players. We analyze a panel data of English Premier and Championship league clubs for the seasons 2001-02 to 2005-06 in order to understand what clubs characteristics lead to the employment of young players in the team during official matches. Sport commercialization and the employment of star players have been considered harmful to this role. Our findings suggest that, counter-intuitively, economic and commercial aspects of clubs are not important for the development of home-grown players, for example well paid players do not crowd-out home-growns. Managerial policies play a significant role. Major clubs in the Premier league deploy home-grown less often; leasing them to the Championship league could be a solution. Attendance favors home-grown players, which hints at a more active communication policy for the clubs in order to nurture the link with the local community. These results suggest social responsible strategies for Premier League clubs in order to improve their perceived social role and to avoid invasive interventions from national and international governing bodies in their managerial decisions on the clubs.
Electrical Manipulation of a Single Nanowire by Dielectrophoresis

Nanowires (NWs), due to their unique highly anisotropic characteristics, hold a great prom- ise to be used in wide technological fields, such as building blocks for data storage and memory, advanced scanning probes, and biotechnological applications. In addition, given the high sensitivity to their environment, NWs can be used as sensor for a number of appli -cations. The fabrication and electrical characterization of NW‐based devices can be achieved after proper placing of NWs between electrodes, which represents one of the major chal lenges in this field. The dielectrophoresis (DEP) method can be used to trap electrically neu - tral NWs by the application of an alternating electric field between a pair of electrodes. Here, we present a systematic study of DEP parameters as well as electrodes geometry for NW deposition. This method presents a suitable protocol for deposition in a useful and coherent fashion of post‐growth electrodeposited NWs and further electrical characterization. This can be used for investigation of the fundamental transport properties of individual NWs and fabrication of NW‐based devices, such as sensors and field‐effect transistors. promising alternative to the traditional Si‐based MOSFET devices.
Economic benefits of meteorological services

There is an increasing need for more rigorous and more broadly based determination of the economic value of meteorological services as an aid to decision‐making on the appropriate level of funding to be committed to their provision at the national level. This paper develops an overall framework for assessment of the economic value of meteorological services based on the recognition that most national meteorological infrastructure and services possess the non rival properties of public goods. Given this overall framework for determination of both total and marginal benefits, four main methodologies appropriate for use in valuation studies –market prices, normative or prescriptive decision‐making models, descriptive behavioural response studies and contingent valuation studies –are outlined and their strengths and limitations described. Notwithstanding the methodological limitations and the need for a much more comprehensive set of studies for the various application sectors, it is clear that the actual and potential benefits to individuals, firms, industry sectors and national economies from state‐of‐the‐art meteorological and related services are substantial and that, at this stage, they are inadequately recognised and insufficiently exploited in many countries. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society.
Marine sediment shear velocity structure from the ratio of displacement to pressure of Rayleigh waves at seafloor

The complex ratio of vertical displacement to pressure (D/P) at seafloor is a function of frequency. It is sensitive to the subsurface elastic properties, particularly the shear modulus, and therefore can be used to determine the shear velocity and thickness of marine sediments. Instead of using compliance in response to loading of long‐period infragravity waves as in previous studies, we investigate the transfer function from pressure to displacement using Rayleigh waves generated by microseisms and earthquakes. We find that at frequencies between 0.1 and 0.2 Hz, the Rayleigh wave transfer function is very sensitive to marine sediments and can be reliably obtained from microseism noise. Using a surface wave mode method, we calculate synthetic D/P ratios and examine their sensitivity to water depth, shear wave speed, and thickness of sediments. We develop a method to invert the Rayleigh wave D/P ratio for a regional 1‐D profile of sediment shear wave speed and associated sediment thickness beneath each ocean bottom seismograph (OBS). We apply our method to a group of deep water OBSs deployed in the Cascadia Initiative and obtain a well‐resolved depth‐dependent shear wave speed for sediments on the Juan de Fuca plate and shear wave traveltime delays caused by sediments at each station.
Effect of hydroalcoholic Echium amoenum extract on scopolamine-induced learning and memory impairment in rats

Abstract Context: Scopolamine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, causes memory loss that resembles Alzheimer's disease (AD). Echium amoenum L. (Boraginaceae) is a famous medicinal plant of Iran that is traditionally used as a sedative and mood enhancer. Objective: This study evaluates the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of E. amoenum flowers on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in rats. Materials and methods: Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups. Control group received normal saline, model group received scopolamine (0.7 mg/kg, IP, daily for 21 days), and test groups received E. amoenum extract (50, 75, and 100 mg/kg, IP, daily for 21 days) 30 min before each scopolamine injection. The elevated plus maze (EPM), shuttle box, novel object and rotarod tests were performed after treatment. Brain levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TCA) were also determined. Results: Scopolamine-treated rats spent more time exploring the novel object compared to the control, and E. amoenum extract at all three doses significantly decreased the time spent exploring the novel object (p < 0.05). E. amoenum extract (75 and 100 mg/kg) significantly elongated the secondary latency in rats receiving scopolamine in the shuttle box test (p < 0.05). In addition, treatment with 75 and 100 mg/kg doses of E. amoenum extract significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced motor in coordination in rotarod test (p < 0.05). It also significantly increased the time spent in the open arms and reduced the time spent in the closed arms of EPM (p < 0.05). Treatment of scopolamine-exposed rats with E. amoenum extract significantly increased TCA and reduced MDA level of brain (p < 0.05). Discussion and conclusions: E. amoenum extract shows protective effect against scopolamine-induced impairment and is suggested to be tested in clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy on AD.
Optics Design of the High-power Proton Synchrotron for LAGUNA-LBNO

The prospects for future high-power proton beams for producing neutrinos at CERN within the LAGUNA-LBNO study, include the design of a 2 MW High-Power Proton Synchrotron (HP-PS). In this paper, the optics design of the ring is reviewed, comprising Negative Momentum Compaction (NMC) arc cells and quadrupole triplet long straight sections, flexible enough to achieve the constraints imposed mainly by different beam transfer equipment and processes. A global tunability study is undertaken including aperture and magnet parameter considerations. Basic correction systems are specified and their impact to beam dynamics including dynamic aperture is finally evaluated.
Yukawa Bound States and Their LHC Phenomenology

We present the current status on the possible bound states of extra generation quarks. These include phenomenology and search strategy at the LHC. If chiral fourth-generation quarks do exist their strong Yukawa couplings, implied by current experimental lower bound on their masses, may lead to formation of bound states. Due to nearly degenerate 4G masses suggested by Precision Electroweak Test one can employ “heavy isospin” symmetry to classify possible spectrum. Among these states, the color-octet isosinglet vector <path id="x1D714" d="M615 290q0 -148 -114 -245q-65 -57 -125 -57q-39 0 -62 27t-29 70q-31 -41 -72 -69t-74 -28q-49 0 -82.5 43t-33.5 124q0 97 55 174.5t148 124.5l15 -24q-59 -45 -94 -113t-35 -146q0 -58 19.5 -88.5t48. 5 -30.5q33 0 62 34.5t45 101.5q16 73 20 135l80 17l5 -6 q-11 -37 -23.5 -100t-12.5 -92q0 -47 16.5 -71.5t44. 5 -24.5q62 0 95.5 67t33.5 160q0 107 -63 152l1 9q14 14 45 14q29 0 57.5 -44t28.5 -114z" /> <path id="x38" d="M249 635q70 0 116 -43t46 -105q0 -46 -28 -80q-22 -25 -80 -64q62 -35 97 -75t35 -99q0 -81 -63 -131t-135 -50q-83 0 -137.5 45.5t-54.5 123.5q0 52 45 95q29 28 89 64q-109 62 -109 155q0 66 50.5 115t128.5 49zM238 603q-42 0 -67.5 -31t-25.5 -72q0 -50 32.5 -79.5 t98.5 -62.5q61 48 61 124q0 59 -29.5 90t-69.5 31zM248 20q46 0 76.5 33.5t30. 5 89.5q0 50 -39 85.5t-110 71.5q-81 -54 -81 -137q0 -67 35.5 -105t87.5 -38z" /> is the easiest to be produced at the LHC. The discovery potential and corresponding decay channels are covered in this paper. With possible light Higgs at ~125 GeV two-Higgs doublet version is briefly discussed.
Towards MRI-guided radiation therapy of regional lymph nodes in breast cancer patients

Several subjects relevant for MRI-guided radiation therapy of regional lymph nodes in breast cancer patients were explored. Interfraction displacement of individual lymph nodes (LN) was measured. Differences in center of gravity (CoG) position up to 2.5mm were found for different anatomical LN levels. LNs moved independently from each other. Displacements were small, but local verification of target position is important. Intrafraction motion of individual LNs was studied using the cine MRIs. An optical flow algorithm showed maximum peak-to-peak amplitude ranging from 1.6-2.1mm. LN displacement was caused mainly by breathing motion, but some small baseline drifts were seen. Intrapatient contour propagation of LN delineations was investigated for recontouring of daily MRI scans. Mean distance between propagated and manual LN contours was 0.70mm (SD: 0.30mm) and 1.09mm (SD 0.60mm) between the CoGs. Median propagated LN volume was 11% smaller than the manual volume. Geometrical correctness and volumes of propagated contours have to be checked. Also patient experiences during MRI scanning were evaluated. Overall, patients indicated that they could well endure scanning. The subjects that have been investigated are important for workflow development of MRI-guided RT of individual regional LNs. An MRI-guided approach will improve LN targeting accuracy and thereby reduce treatment-induced toxicity.