Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High temporal resolution estimates of columnar aerosol microphysical parameters from spectrum of aerosol optical depth by linear estimation: application to long-term AERONET and star-photometry measurements

Abstract. This work deals with the applicability of the linear estimation technique (LE) to invert spectral measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) provided by AERONET CIMEL sun photometers. The inversion of particle properties using only direct-sun AODs allows the evaluation of parameters such as effective radius (reff) and columnar volume aerosol content (V) with significantly better temporal resolution than the operational AERONET algorithm which requires both direct sun and sky radiance measurements. Sensitivity studies performed demonstrate that the constraints on the range of the inversion are very important to minimize the uncertainties, and therefore estimates of reff can be obtained with uncertainties less than 30 % and of V with uncertainties below 40 %. The LE technique is applied to data acquired at five AERONET sites influenced by different aerosol types and the retrievals are compared with the results of the operational AERONET code. Good agreement between the two techniques is obtained when the fine mode predominates, while for coarse mode cases the LE results systematically underestimate both reff and V. The highest differences are found for cases where no mode predominates. To minimize these biases, correction functions are developed using the multi-year database of observations at selected sites, where the AERONET retrieval is used as the reference. The derived corrections are tested using data from 18 other AERONET stations offering a range of aerosol types. After correction, the LE retrievals provide better agreement with AERONET for all the sites considered. Finally, the LE approach developed here is applied to AERONET and star-photometry measurements in the city of Granada (Spain) to obtain day-to-night time evolution of columnar aerosol microphysical properties.
Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity, Phytochemicals and ESR Analysis of Lavandula Stoechas

The antioxidant activity of phytochemicals and of the methanolic extract of Lavandula stoechas was evaluated by β-carotene-linoleate bleaching, DPPH radical scavenging, ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP). The obtained results were compared with antioxidant activities of synthetic antioxidants, such as BHT and BHA. The highest antioxidant activity of the extract was observed by DPPH radical scavenging assay, which was 84.45 ± 5.1% at 1 mgml−1. Rutin, rosmarinic acid, and caffeic acid were main phenolics in the extract. The total phenolic content of the methanolic extract of Lavandula stoechas was found to be 105.5± 2.7 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE). Electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements were also performed on the samples. Free radicals were determined by ESR method. g value was found to be 2.0034 for the Lavandula stoechas; 2.0052 for quercetin.
Conformally parallel Spin(7) structures on solvmanifolds

In this paper we review the Spin(7) geometry in relation to solvmanifolds. Starting from a 7-dimensional nilpotent Lie group N endowed with an invariant G2 structure, we present an example of a homogeneous conformally parallel Spin(7) metric on an associated solvmanifold. It is thought that this paper could lead to very interesting and exciting areas of research and new results in the direction of (locally conformally) parallel Spin(7) structures.
Implied Risk-Neutral probability Density functions from options prices: A comparison of estimation methods

This paper compares the goodness-of-fit of eight option-based approaches used to extract risk-neutral probability density functions from a high-frequency CAC 40 index options during a normal and troubled period. Our findings show that the kernel estimator generates a strong volatility smile with respect to the moneyness, and the kernel smiles shape varies with the chosen time to maturity. The mixture of log-normals, Edgeworth expansion, hermite polynomials, jump diffusion and Heston models are more in line and have heavier tails than the log-normal distribution. Moreover, according to the goodness of fit criteria we compute, the jump diffusion model provides a much better fit than the other models on the period just-before the crisis for relatively short maturities. However, during this same period, the mixture of log-normal models performs better for more than three month maturity. Furthermore, in the troubled period and the period just-after the crisis, we find that semi-parametric models are the methods with the best accuracy in fitting observed option prices for all maturities with a minimal difference towards the mixture of log-normals model.
A co-evolutionary landscape ecology framework for analyzing human effects on KwaZulu-Natal Province landscapes and its relevance to sustainable biodiversity conservation

The conservation of biotic diversity is a growing challenge within southern Africa at the beginning of the 21 st century. Growing populations and trends toward a questionable Western development model place demands on the use of land for food, fiber, and fuel production. The traditional establishment and use of formal conservation areas is being challenged against the needs of humans and the past unbalances created by colonial rule. Conservation areas, as isolated islands in a sea of change driven by interconnected economic and social systems, may not be a basis for sustainable biodiversity conservation. This thesis examines characteristics of avian species diversity response to abiotic environmental variables and land transformation. Environmental and land-use correlates of species gradients, species diversity patterns, and the spatial patterning of bird assemblages varied with location. The findings supported a conceptual model of multi-scaled controls on bird distribution, and the related notion that local community structure is the result of both regional environmental and local-scale landscape pattern that must be taken in to account in regional conservation planning assessments. An analytical framework including an landscape model, use of complementary-based reserve selection procedures, gradient analysis, and inclusion of the total spatial economy and development needs of the KwaZulu-Natal Province proved to be important for developing an integrated conservation plan for sustainable avian conservation. Pattern recognition results of the spatial economy and landscape pattern revealed the strong dichotomy in Western economic versus rural African landscapes, which have lead to strong differences in avian assemblage patterns. The research described in this thesis targets specific objectives of the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative by addressing requirements for landscape level analysis of humans and ecosystems in an integrated analytical framework. The development of a co-evolutionary landscape ecology framework for examining human-ecosystem interaction provides a strong basis for supporting targeted conservation planning within regions rather than supporting a generic conservation planning framework.
Depressive Symptoms Among Survivors of Burn Injuries

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients surviving a burn injury. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 burn inpatients (50 males and 50 females) admitted to Sina Burn Center; Tabriz University of Medical Sciences during 2012.The severity and grade of burn injury was evaluated by a dermatologist. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used to evaluate the existence and severity of depressive symptoms. Results: In this study, 56% of burn patients suffered from depressive symptoms. Among these, 38 (38%) patients were identified with low, 13 (13%) with moderate and 5 (5%) with severe depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were reported in 20 (40%) males and 36 (72%) females. Moreover, depressive symptoms were observed in 15 (26.3%) patients with a total body surface area (TBSA) less than 30% and 41 (73.2%) with TBSA more than 30%. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms are common in burn patients and was twice as common among women. Psychological interventions along with the medical therapy should be provided for these patients.
Voluntary Disclosure of Financial Targets - Empirical Evidence from Manufacturing Firms Listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2001 to 2009

We examine 1041 annual reports individually, published by 149 manufacturing rms listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange from 2001 to 2009. The purpose is to explain which rm characteristics inuence voluntary disclosure of nancial targets. Previous studies have focused on general di¤erences in voluntary disclosure practices and on disclosure e¤ects. This paper, however, focuses on nancial targets, an uncharted research area in the eld of voluntary disclosure and contributes the existing research with extensive empirical evidence on the rst decade of the 2000s. The result, supported by agency theory, legitimacyand signaling theory, indicate that rm size and industry sectors inuence the degree of voluntary disclosure. Additionally, economic cycles, international disclosure practices and management behavior are plausible explanations for variations in voluntary disclosure practices.
Redescription of Two Marine Ciliates (Ciliophora: Urostylida: Pseudokeronopsidae), Pseudokeronopsis carnea and Uroleptopsis citrina, from Korea

The morphology of the two marine urostyloid ciliates, Pseudokeronopsis carnea (Cohn, 1866) and Uroleptopsis citrina Kahl, 1932, in the family Pseudokeronopsidae, collected from the Yellow Sea, and the East Sea, Korea, respectively, were studied using live observation and protargol impregnation. Additionally, the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene was sequenced. These two species are firstly recorded in Korea. The main diagnostic key is as follows. Pseudokeronopsis carnea: body outline elongate-elliptical, brown-reddish or orange-red in colour in vivo; bicorona of 16-24 frontal cirri; one buccal and two frontoterminal cirri; 7-10 transverse cirri; 5-7 dorsal kineties; two types of cortical granules (one orange-red pigment, mainly grouped around cirri and dorsal bristles, arranged in typical rubra-pattern; the other, colourless and blood-cell-shaped, and densely distributed); contractile vacuole in the posterior half of the cell on the left side, usually in posterior 1/3-2/5. Uroleptopsis citrina: body outline elongate-elliptical, lemon-yellow in colour in vivo; two types of cortical granules (one yellow pigment; the other, blood-cell-shaped, densely distributed); bicorona of 12-18 frontal cirri; 2-3 frontoterminal cirri; two midventral rows comprising 26-35 cirri (consisting of anterior paired cirri, non-paired single cirri, and posterior paired cirri); three dorsal kineties. In addition, the SSU rRNA sequences of the two species were compared with public database of these species and consequently, showed high similarity.
1 PRESSURE-DEPENDENT EPANET EXTENSION

In water distribution systems (WDSs), the available flow at a demand node is dependent on the pressure at that node. When a network is lacking in pressure, not all consumer demands will be met in full. In this context, the assumption that all demands are fully satisfied regardless of the pressure in the system becomes unreasonable and represents the main limitation of the conventional demand driven analysis (DDA) approach to WDS modelling. A realistic depiction of the network performance can only be attained by considering demands to be pressure dependent. This paper presents an extension of the renowned DDA based hydraulic simulator EPANET 2 to incorporate pressure-dependent demands. This extension is termed “EPANET-PDX” (pressure-dependent extension) herein. The utilization of a continuous nodal pressure-flow function coupled with a line search and backtracking procedure greatly enhance the algorithm’s convergence rate and robustness. Simulations of real life networks consisting of multiple sources, pipes, valves and pumps were successfully executed and results are presented herein. Excellent modelling performance was achieved for analysing both normal and pressure deficient conditions of the WDSs. Detailed computational efficiency results of EPANET-PDX with reference to EPANET 2 are included as well.
Water-resistant Lewis-acid sites: carbonyl-ene reactions catalyzed by tin-containing, hydrophobic molecular sieves

Two solid Lewis acids, namely Sn-Beta and Sn-MCM-41, have been applied to the Carbonyl- Ene reaction of β-pinene and α-methylstyrene with paraformaldehyde. For the more bulky molecule β-pinene the mesoporous material Sn-MCM-41 has been found to be the better catalyst whereas for the smaller α-methylstyrene Sn-Beta has shown a higher activity. Best selectivities have been observed in nitrile solvents, such as acetonitrile and butyronitrile, whereas reactions in toluene or dioxane have been less selective. The catalysts are water resistant what has been evidenced by addition of up to 200 wt% (with respect to the catalyst) of water without loss of activity or selectivity. Sn-MCM-41 has been employed in several cycles with intermediate regeneration, always recovering the high activity.
Event Based Multiple Tourism Themes' Determination From Texts For Alternative Tourism Recommendations

This research aims to determine the multiple tourism themes based on attractiveness events expressed by the action verbs from the tourism web documents of the selected region. These several themes can be used for recommending tourists with alternative tourism theme choices. The problems of tourism themes' acquisition from the web blog texts are to determine the touristic themes and to identify a touristic event base on a simple sentence or EDU (Elementary Discourse Unit). This research proposes using the k-means clustering technique based on events expressed by verb phrases to determine the multiple tourism themes for a group of provinces within a region. Each cluster represents its own events while some of these events can be determined as the tourism themes by using verb-noun co-occurrences with the tourism event concepts. The result of the event-based tourism theme determination is evaluated by comparing to the answer set of the tourism highlight of each province provided by Tourism Authority of Thailand (http://thai.tourismthailand.org/), and our proposed methodology shows successfully results
Calibration of Synthetic Photometry Using DA White Dwarfs

We have calibrated four major ground-based photometric systems with respect to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) absolute flux scale, which is defined by Vega and four fundamental DA white dwarfs. These photometric systems include the Johnson-Kron-Cousins UBVRI, the Strömgren uvby filters, the Two Micron All Sky Survey JHKs, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey ugriz filters. Synthetic magnitudes are calculated from model white dwarf spectra folded through the published filter response functions; these magnitudes in turn are absolutely calibrated with respect to the HST flux scale. Effective zero-magnitude fluxes and zero-point offsets of each system are determined. In order to verify the external observational consistency, as well as to demonstrate the applicability of these definitions, the synthetic magnitudes are compared with the respective observed magnitudes of larger sets of DA white dwarfs that have well-determined effective temperatures and surface gravities and span a wide range in both of these parameters.
Labour matters: The politics of materials and making in architecture

Introduction: Thinking and engaging matter In architecture, many recent material-based discourses focus on the way in which digital drawing and fabrication technologies facilitate experimentation with the formal and affective capacities of materials, particularly through the use of 1:1 scale prototyping. Yet, there is often minimal discussion of the ontological and socio-political issues embedded within these practices; nor how these methodologies might challenge or disrupt established assumptions about materials and, in particular, the organisation of labour during the fabrication process. If the architectural discipline is to aspire to an “inclusive architecture” based on a reconsideration of matter and materials (Borden and Meredith 2012: 2), then it is also crucial to consider all aspects of practice – including labour. To unpack these issues in more depth, the paper refers to French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari’s critique of the philosophical model of form and matter known as “hylomorphism” and the association of this notion with the segregation of intellectual and manual labour in Western society, including architectural practice. They argue that the hylomorphic concept can be associated with a broader sense of hierarchy within Western philosophy: prompting a way of thinking based on “a society divided into governors and governed, and later, intellectuals and manual laborers” (Deleuze and Guattari 2004: 407). Their association of hylomorphism with classical Western philosophy establishes a specific theoretical context for the present paper.
Novel in-Line Microstrip Coupled-Line Bandstop Filter with Sharp Skirt Selectivity

This paper presents a novel design approach to design in- line microstrip bandstop fllter with accurate design theory and sharp skirt selectivity. This kind of bandstop fllter is based on a simple coupled-line structure, indicating compact and ∞exible circuit layout for microstrip implementation. For a single-section bandstop fllter, the scattering parameters and their constrain conditions are achieved, which provides an efiective design guide for multi-section bandstop fllters. Theoretical analysis indicates that the even-mode and odd- mode characteristic impedances can be easily used to determine the desired bandstop performance while the total circuit layout keeps very compact. For demonstration, seven numerical examples are designed, calculated, and compared. Finally, both experimental and simulation results of a two-section two-cell microstrip bandstop fllter operating at 1GHz are presented to verify the theoretical predications.
Accurate and Efficient Analysis of Large Antenna Arrays with Radome on a Large Aircraft

An accurate and efficient computational approach is presented for analyzing radiation characteristics of large antenna arrays with radome. This approach is based on the hybrid finite element- boundary integral-multilevel fast multipole algorithm (FE-BI-MLFMA). Unlike the conventional single- domain FE-BI-MLFMA, the whole domain of the antenna array with radome is separated into many disconnected domains. A large free space area unavoidable in the single-domain FE-BI-MLFMA is eliminated in this multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA formulation, thus the number of unknowns is greatly reduced in the presented multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA approach. Different from the single-domain FE- BI-MLFMA, many integral equations are required in this multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA. The numerical experiment shows that the presented multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA is more efficient than the single- domain one while maintaining the same accuracy. A whole complicated system of a slotted-waveguide array with radome mounted on an aircraft is analyzed to further demonstrate the generality and capability of the presented multi-domain FE-BI-MLFMA.
The effect of drill point geometry and drilling technique on tool life when drilling titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the effect of drill point geometry and drilling methods on tool life and tool wear in drilling titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V. Uncoated carbide drills with different type of geometry under various cutting speeds and drilling methods were used in the investigation. Experimental results revealed that both the drill geometry and drilling techniques affect the tool wear and tool life performance when drilling Ti-6Al-4V. It was also found that peck drilling outperformed direct drilling in terms of tool life all cutting speeds investigated. Non uniform wear and chipping were the dominant failure mode of the tools tested under most conditions.
Application of quadtree and multiresolution segmentation on rapideye images with and without histogram equalization for coffee crop classification in Machado municipality (MG) - Brazil

This paper evaluates the influence of segmentation by multiresolution and quadtree algorithm on automatic supervised classification of high spatial resolution satellite images with and without histogram equalization for crop coffee classification. The study area was the municipality of Machado (MG) and in this work were used rapideye images because of its high spatial and radiometric resolutions. The crop coffee plants because of its intrinsic characteristics is easily can be confused with savanna vegetation in automatic classification process because of their similar spectral response. The use of segmentation techniques allows the use of shape and texture features, yet the spectral ones. The study area had two images with two different angle looks at the same time, which implied in different responses for each sensor because of the non lambertianity of the objects. For each class training samples were collected and the thematic result image was got through the nearest neighbor classifier applied to its segments. The effects of the histogram equalization were measured by comparing the classification results with and without histogram equalization to the reference image classified manually by trained professional, getting the global and kappa indices. Also were done a comparison between the results of multiresolution segmentation and quadtree segmentation. Multiresolution have produced more adequate segments to the contours of the coffee plants objects, with homogeneous contents, while quadtree generated too many segments, not capturing border areas. Histogram equalization showed itself an important pre-processing step on image classification process, influencing in the accuracy.
How on Earth Did You Hear About Us? A Study of Exemplary Rural School Practices in the Upper Midwest.

As part of ongoing research into rural school improvement, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) at the request of its Rural Advisory Council set out to find, examine, and profile exemplary, successful school improvement programs in rural schools and districts in the upper Midwest. This paper is a summary of the first year results of a study that came from this initiative. In it are profiled four rural schools and the exemplary educational initiatives they have successfully installed and carried out. Federal Hocking High School (Ohio) adopted the "Coalition of Essential Schools" (CES) and "Expeditionary Learning-Outward Bound" programs and implemented block scheduling, multifunctional lunch periods, daily advisory meetings, team teaching, graduation portfolios, senior projects, and community internships. Dawson-Bryant Elementary school, a K-5 school in southeastern Ohio, adopted the "Success for All" model, which focuses on reading instruction, and invested in information technology equipment, wiring, training, and software. Northport K-12 school in Michigan also adopted the CES model, but its signature initiative was the senior projects program. West Liberty Elementary school (Iowa), a PreK-2 school, installed the first two-way Spanish/English immersion program in the state. Elements of success common to all these efforts were a school culture that was amenable to change and experimentation and that emphasized continuous improvement, reflection, and self-analysis; attention to principles of change; solid research, in some cases up to a year of research; local adaptation; and additional resources. Elements of rurality that assisted these reforms were eligibility for special consideration by grant-making agencies; small size, which enabled quick action; a sense of rural insecurity that acted as a motivator; and the integration of school and community. An appendix contains the data collection guide and rubrics. (Contains 25 references.) (TD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.