Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combination of fast-ion diagnostics in velocity-space tomographies

Fast-ion Dα (FIDA) and collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostics provide indirect measurements of fast-ion velocity distribution functions in magnetically confined plasmas. Here we present the first prescription for velocity-space tomographic inversion of CTS and FIDA measurements that can use CTS and FIDA measurements together and that takes uncertainties in such measurements into account. Our prescription is general and could be applied to other diagnostics. We demonstrate tomographic reconstructions of an ASDEX Upgrade beam ion velocity distribution function. First, we compute synthetic measurements from two CTS views and two FIDA views using a TRANSP/NUBEAM simulation, and then we compute joint tomographic inversions in velocity-space from these. The overall shape of the 2D velocity distribution function and the location of the maxima at full and half beam injection energy are well reproduced in velocity-space tomographic inversions, if the noise level in the measurements is below 10%. Our results suggest that 2D fast-ion velocity distribution functions can be directly inferred from fast-ion measurements and their uncertainties, even if the measurements are taken with different diagnostic methods.
Efficient NC Toolpath Generation for 3-axis Machining of 3-Dimensional Freeform Faceted Surfaces Developed from Digital Images

v Nomenclature . ix Acronym . x List of figures . xi List of tables . xiii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION. 1 1.1 Conversion of Digital Images to 3D Freeform Surfaces . 2 1.2 Freeform Surface as a Point Cloud Data . 3 1.3 Freeform Surfaces in STL Data Format . 4 1.4 Issues in Digital Image to Freeform Surface Conversion . 4 1.5 Toolpath Planning for 3-axis Machining of Freeform Surfaces. 5 1.6 Cutter Contact and Cutter Location Points . 6 1.7 Cutter Location Data Reduction . 7 1.8 Present Work . 8 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. 9 2.1 Digital Image to 3D Model Conversion . 9 2.2 Toolpath Planning for Sculptured Surfaces . 10 2.2.1 Point cloud based toolpath generation . 10 2.2.2 STL based machining of free form surfaces. 11 2.2.3 Tool positioning strategies for 3-axis milling . 12 2.3 Toolpath Efficiency Improvement . 13 2.4 Conclusion . 14 Chapter 3: DIGITAL IMAGE TO FREEFORM SURFACE CONVERSION . 15 3.1 Digital Input Image . 15 3.1.1 Image resolution . 17 3.1.2 Image brightness . 17 3.1.3 Image colors . 18 3.2 Methodology for Digital Image to 3D Freeform Surface Conversion . 18 3.2.1 Colored image to grayscale conversion . 19 3.2.2 Gaussian smoothing (blurring) . 20 3.2.3 Gaussian kernel size . 21 3.2.4 3D point cloud generation . 21
Efficient Algorithm for Railway Tracks Detection Using Satellite Imagery

Satellite imagery can produce maps including roads, railway tracks, buildings, bridges, oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. In developed countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, images produced by Google map are of high resolution and good quality. On the other hand, mostly images of the third world countries like Pakistan, Asian and African countries are of poor quality and not clearly visible. Similarly railway tracks of these countries are hardly visible in Google map. We have developed an efficient algorithm for railway track detection from a low quality image of Google map. This would lead to detect damaged railway track, railway crossings and help to schedule/divert locomotive movements in order to avoid catastrophe.
Assessment of genetic diversity among Sargassum species from selected locations along the north-west coast of India

The present study was carried out to assess the genetic diversity of three different species of Sargassum viz. , S. swartzii , S. tenerrimum and S. plagiophyllum collected from Okhaport, Malwan and Veraval respectively, along the north-west coast of India, using Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) primer. A total of five ISSR primers, namely ISSR-807, ISSR-811, ISSR-840, ISSR-855 and ISSR-859 were used for the genetic diversity studies. A total of thirty numbers of each species were taken for the analysis. Software POPGENE version 1.32 was used to estimate the percentage of polymorphic loci (P), Nei’s gene diversity (h) and genetic identity and genetic distance (D). The percentage of polymorphic loci over all the primers was 12.5% in S. swartzii , 20% in S. tenerrimum and 40% in S. plagiophyllum . The genetic diversity was comparatively less in S. swartzii (0.06) and S. tenerrimum (0.07), whereas it was 0.21 in S. plagiophyllum . Nei’s genetic distance (D) was higher in all the species as expected among species of same genus.
UEL 175: a novel lipoxygenase-free soybean cultivar with kunitz trypsin inhibitor absence

UEL 175 is lipoxygenase-free soybean cultivar and has absence of the antinutritional factors kunitz trypsin inhibitor (SKTI). UEL 175 presents high yield potential and good adaptation under no-tillage. It is resistant to soybean stem canker, brown stem rot, frogeye leaf spot, and bacterial pustule.
AUTOMATIC CRACK MEASUREMENT IN SWEDEN

Depuis 1986, les caracteristiques de la surface du reseau routier en Suede ont ete regulierement collectees dans une base nationale de donnees routieres. Plus de 800 000 km de routes ont ete mesures au fil des ans. C'est principalement l'uni, longitudinal et transversal, tel que l'International Roughness Index (IRI) et la profondeur d'orniere qui a ete enregistre, parallelement avec des informations sur la circulation et autres donnees generales. Jusqu'ici, aucune information sur les degradations de la surface tels que la fissuration n'a ete enregistree dans la base de donnees. De nouvelles connaissances indiquent que la fissuration va devenir un parametre encore plus important dans les Systemes de gestion des chaussees (Pavement Management Systems) ainsi que pour la specification des criteres et de la qualite de la surface de la route. La collecte manuelle des donnees de degradations demande beaucoup de temps et presente une faible repetabilite, ce qui confirme le besoin d'un systeme automatique. Plusieurs tentatives ont ete faites pour developper un tel systeme. PAVUE, et son utilite en Suede, sont presentes dans ce document. Le systeme est presente avec les ameliorations recemment apportees au systeme d'analyse. Six lasers collectent des informations sur la texture de la route parallelement avec la collecte des images des fissures. Cette etude a pour but d'evaluer le systeme PAVUE et sa capacite de remplacer les collectes manuelles des donnees de fissuration. Pour l'evaluation du systeme, cinq sections de chaussees ont ete choisis. Ces sections sont choisies parmi celles de l'etude du comportement a long terme des chaussees (LTPP) en Suede disposant d'un historique bien documente des 15 dernieres annees. Toutes les sections sont inspectees manuellement et par inspection visuelle effectuee par un personnel experimente, et automatiquement avec le systeme PAVUE. Une comparaison est ensuite effectuee entre les cartes de fissures de PAVUE et les inspections manuelles. Sur 20 metres, une inspection tres detaillee est effectuee manuellement et comparee avec les resultats des mesures automatiques. Les memes sections sont photographiees chaque annee pour suivre la propagation des fissures. En outre, ces photos seront comparees avec les resultats des mesures effectuees avec le systeme PAVUE. L'objectif a long terme de cette etude est de completer la base nationale de donnees routieres (National Road Database) par ce parametre manquant, la fissuration.
Customer Loyalty among Subscribers in Metropolitan Kano: The Predicting Power of Gender, Age, Income Level and Education

With the realization that the traditional marketing Ps can no longer provide the competitive edge that is so much needed in today’s fast changing business landscape, being characterized by creativity and innovation, business leaders have started shifting their focus to those customer relationship tactics which they assume will earn them the ability to attract different customer segments while at the same time retaining them to advance organizational profitability. This paper investigates the concept of customer loyalty among the subscribers of Mobile telecommunication in Nigeria. It x-rays the predicting power of Gender, Age Group, Income level and Education on the tendency of subscribers to remain loyal to their mobile phone service providers. Making use three hundred and ninety (390) respondents who are conveniently selected from eight geographical clusters, of Kano metropolitan areas, responses were generated from the subscribers of four major telecommunication company in Nigeria through close ended and structured questionnaire. furthermore, the independent T-test of difference and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed as statistical test while the results obtained indicated that all the demographical characteristics considered does not have any significant predicting power on customer loyalty. In other words, a significant difference does not exist in customer loyalty among the subscribers according to their demographic characteristics: Gender, Age group, Income level and education. In the light of these findings, it was recommended that telecom companies should ensure that their customer loyalty campaigns and resources are extended to all customer groups regardless of these critical demographic characteristics in that such action will result in an optimum customer loyalty, more prudent use of marketing resources, and an un-necessary wastage of these resources. Keywords : Customer Loyalty, Gender, Age Group, Income Level, Education.
Effects of Phytase and Citric Acid Supplemented Corn Gluten (30%) MealBased Diets on the Mineral Digestibility of Cirrhinus mrigala Fingerlings

Phytic acid is a major part of oilseed meals which reduces bioavailability of minerals and protein to fish. The present research project was planned to check the effects of citric acid and phytase supplementation in corn gluten (30%) meal-based diets, on mineral digestibility of Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings. The diets were formulated to supply adequate levels of all required nutrients for normal fish growth. Feces were collected twice a day from each tank. Effect of each treatment on the minerals digestibility was calculated using standard formulae. Highest apparent digestibility coefficient % of minerals (Calcium 68%, Phosphorus 77%, Sodium 64%, Potassium 62%, Magnesium 53%, Iron 64%, Copper 68%, Manganese 67% and Zinc 74%) was observed in the fish fed at 5% citric acid and 500 FTUkg phytase in corn gluten (30%) meal-based diet. Results of the current study indicated that addition of 5% citric acid and 500 FTUkg phytase to corn gluten (30%) mealbased diet was most effective among the levels to release the chelated minerals to Cirrhinus mrigala from phytate complexes. Hence, the use of citric acid (5%) and phytase (500 FTUkg) improves the fish performance when both were used in corn gluten (30%) meal-based diets.
Detection of Camouflaged People

The use of thermal imaging is a benefit for the military people. Due to their advantages, it has a large number of applications, including the detection of camouflaged people. For better results, the thermal information can be merged with the color information which allows a greater de-tail, resulting in a higher degree of security. The present work implemented as pixel level image fusion methods: Principal Components Analysis, Laplacian Pyramid, and Discrete Wavelet Transform. A qualitative analysis concluded that the method which performs better is the one that uses Wavelets, followed by the Laplacian Pyramid and finally the PCA. A quantitative analysis was made using the metrics: Standard Deviation, Entropy, Spatial Frequency, Mutual Information, Fusion Quality Index and Structural Similarity Index. The values obtained support the conclusions extracted from the qualitative analysis.
Delay-Optimal Scheduling for Two-Hop Relay Networks with Randomly Varying Connectivity: Join the Shortest Queue-Longest Connected Queue Policy

We consider a scheduling problem for a two-hop queueing network where the queues have randomly varying connectivity. Customers arrive at the source queue and are later routed to multiple relay queues. A relay queue can be served only if it is in connected state, and the state changes randomly over time. The source queue and relay queues are served in a time-sharing manner; that is, only one customer can be served at any instant. We propose Join the Shortest Queue-Longest Connected Queue (JSQ-LCQ) policy as follows: (1) if there exist nonempty relay queues in connected state, serve the longest queue among them; (2) if there are no relay queues to serve, route a customer from the source queue to the shortest relay queue. For symmetric systems in which the connectivity has symmetric statistics across the relay queues, we show that JSQ-LCQ is strongly optimal, that is, minimizes the delay in the stochastic ordering sense. We use stochastic coupling and show that the systems under coupling exist in two distinct phases, due to dynamic interactions among source and relay queues. By careful construction of coupling in both phases, we establish the stochastic dominance in delay between JSQ-LCQ and any arbitrary policy.
AN RDF REPRESENTATION FOR SEMANTIC MUSIC PRODUCTION DATA

Music production involves a wide range of techniques that can be described by natural language. Capturing these descriptions at the source allows us to understand the intentions of an engineer and consequently develop intelligent tools and interfaces by computationally modelling them. In this paper we present a database architecture for capturing these attributes in a digital audio workstation, in which we retain audio features, audio-effect parameters, user informatics and semantic descriptions of the audio transformations. This allows us to build a comprehensive map of the audio engineering workflow using linked-data, which can be utilised on the semantic web. We show that attributes such as provenance, which is omitted from relational database models can be a useful indicator of data validity.
India in international climate governance: Through soft power from REDD to REDD+ policy in favor of relative gains

This paper seeks to examine India’s role in the politics of a specific climate change mitigation policy called “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+)”. It explores India’s strategic behaviour towards the development of REDD policy. The paper argues that India had pushed for the remodelling of the global REDD negotiations by expanding its scope to conservation activities, which entails more direct benefits for India. This is largely due to differences in India’s rates of forest cover and deforestation as compared to high forest - high deforestation countries such as Brazil and Indonesia. To substantiate its argument, the paper uses the main underpinnings of relative gains theory in international relations and applies them toward interpreting India’s behaviour in negotiating REDD+ at global level. Further, the paper analyses the Indian strategies used to remodel the REDD mechanism using insights from soft power theory and its more recent amendments. Thematic analysis of the REDD-relevant documents as well as exploratory expert interviews have been employed for showing India’s proactive role in the politics of REDD+. It is concluded that India indeed played a central role in critical past decisions, which lead to re-shaping REDD due to relative gains concerns and mainly by means of soft power strategies.
Empirical Calibration of a Least-Cost Conservation Reserve Program

Mechanism design models typically conclude by characterizing an optimal allocation schedule based on the principal's beliefs regarding agent value functions and the distribution of agent types. This article addresses the question of how a principal can develop these beliefs given a standard cross-sectional data set in which agents' input-output choices are observable, but their underlying heterogeneity is not. I employ the methodology to evaluate strategies for reducing the cost of a voluntary program that reduces cultivation on environmentally-sensitive farmland.
Breeding Bird Communities in Riparian Forests Along the Central Platte River, Nebraska

~The Platte River has changed from a nearly treeless prairie river to a heavily forested river. These habitat changes have likely benefited many woodland birds, but have harmed other migratory birds such as cranes. In response to this impact on migratory birds, conservation groups implemented a tree-clearing program to enhance habitat for these species. This practice is not without controversy because of concerns about its effect on woodland birds. The goal of this study was to determine the composition and abundance of breeding birds that use these forests and discuss the potential impacts of tree clearing on woodland birds. Surveys were conducted using the point-count method. I observed 56 breeding species during 1998 and 1999. The most abundant woodland birds were house wrens (Troglodytes aedon), Baltimore orioles (Icterus galbula) , American goldfinches (Carduelis tristis), blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata), common yellowthroats (Geothlypis trichas), eastern towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), and northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). The avian community is dominated by migratory species that are forest-edge and open-forest generalists. Certainly, conservationists and managers should consider the impact of the river-clearing program on woodland birds. However, a high priority must be placed on those species that are declining or have been severely impacted by the expansion of riparian forests. Ultimately, conservationists and managers must consider both the detriments and benefits of the program and make management decisions accordingly.
Changing Beliefs and Systematic Rational Forecast Errors with Evidence from Foreign Exchange

This paper addresses a new interpretation to the appearance, in the early 1980s, of systematic errors in forecasting the dollar exchange rate. Following a change in the process of a fundamental variable, market participants revise their beliefs about the process using Bayes' Rule. Since the market does not immediately recognize the change, forecast errors are, on average, wrong during a period when the market is rationally learning. For conservative parameter values, the learning behavior of the dollar exchange rate in the early 1980s appears consistent with about half of the dollar's underprediction implied by the forward market. Copyright 1989 by American Economic Association.
Primary productivity induced by iron and nitrogen in the Tasman Sea: An overview of the PINTS expedition

The Tasman Sea and the adjacent subantarctic zone (SAZ) are economically important regions, where the parameters controlling the phytoplankton community composition and carbon fixation are not yet fully resolved. Contrasting nutrient distributions, as well as phytoplankton biomass, biodiversity and productivity were observed between the North Tasman Sea and the SAZ. In situ photosynthetic efficiency (FV/FM), dissolved and particulate nutrients, iron biological uptake, and nitrogen and carbon fixation were used to determine the factor-limiting phytoplankton growth and productivity in the North Tasman Sea and the SAZ. Highly productive cyanobacteria dominated the North Tasman Sea. High atmospheric nitrogen fixation and low nitrate dissolved concentrations indicated that non-diazotroph phytoplankton are nitrogen limited. Deck-board incubations also suggested that, at depth, iron could limit eukaryotes, but not cyanobacteria in that region. In the SAZ, the phytoplankton community was dominated by a bloom of haptophytes. The low productivity in the SAZ was mainly explained by light limitation, but nitrogen, silicic acid as well as iron were all depleted to the extent that they could become co-limiting. This study illustrates the challenge associated with identification of the limiting nutrient, as it varied between phytoplankton groups, depths and sites.
Examination of Young Adults’ Frequency of Social Media Use within a Narcissistic Context

In today's digital age, the use of social media for different purposes is rapidly increasing due to the possibilities provided by the internet infrastructure, and the efforts of today's people to analyze the main causes of social media-related intensive communication practices suggest the influence of personality traits. Thus, this research aims to determine the relationship between the narcissistic personality structure of young adults and their social media use considering that narcissistic personality characteristic may be influenced by individuals’ social media use. The research is a descriptive study in the screening model. The research sample consisted of 390 students receiving pedagogical formation education at Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Faculty of Education during the spring term of 2016-2017 academic year. They were selected by random sampling method.This research deployed three data collection tools. “Personal Information Form” and ‘Social Media Use Questionnaire’ developed by the researcher; ‘Narcissism Questionnaire' developed by Gungor and Selcuk. The research data were analyzed through SPSS 17.0. Arithmetic mean, frequency, standard deviation and percentage distributions were calculated to determine socio-demographic features of the participants; their social media use frequency and narcissistic personality traits. Pearson Moment Product Correlation Analysis was used to determine the relationship between participants’ social media use frequency and their narcissistic personality traits, between narcissistic personality trait and social media categories use frequency with age; independent group t-test to reveal narcissistic personality traits and social media categories use frequency in terms of gender. Research results have revealed that the narcissistic personality traits of young adults who receive pedagogical formation education are low, and there is a low level of relationship between narcissism and some categories of social media use. The most frequent use of social media by participants was to check their daily emails and to follow people via internet and collect information (google stalking). Keywords: Social Media, narcissism, young adults
Validity and reliability of scales on intrapersonal, interpersonal and environmental factors associated with physical activity in Brazilian secondary students

This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of scales of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors associated with physical activity (PA) in secondary students. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted with students in 7th to 9th grades form secondary schools in order to test the validity, internal consistency (n = 1,178, 51.4% were boys), and test–retest reproducibility (n = 194, 56.2% were boys) of the instrument. Factors associated with PA (attitude, self-efficacy, social support of friends, parents and the school’s teachers, as well as the perceived neighborhood environment and perceived school environment) were measured. The confirmatory factor analysis and Spearman correlation between the scales and the weekly time spent in moderateto-vigorous PA (measured by questionnaire) were applied to test the construct validity. For reliability, the Cronbach’s α (internal consistency), composite reliability (CR) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC for test–retest reproducibility) were applied. The confirmatory factorial analysis showed five one-dimensional and two two-dimensional (self-efficacy and perceived environment) scales, with factor loadings ranging from 0.46 to 0.85. Significant and positive correlations between almost all scale scores and moderateto-vigorous PA (p<0.05) were found. The Cronbach’s α and CR were greater than 0.70 in almost all scales (except perceived school environment, α and CR of 0.61) and the ICC ranged from 0.62 (parental social support) to 0.70 (self-efficacy). In conclusion, the scales showed acceptable validity and reliability and can be used for measuring of PA correlates in elementary students.