Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cosmogenic nuclides indicate that boulder fields are dynamic, ancient, multigenerational features

Boulder fields are found throughout the world; yet, the history of these features, as well as the processes that form them, remain poorly understood. In high and mid-latitudes, boulder fields are thought to form and be active during glacial periods; however, few quantitative data support this assertion. Here, we use in situ cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al to quantify the near-surface history of 52 samples in and around the largest boulder field in North America, Hickory Run, in central Pennsylvania, USA. Boulder surface 10Be concentrations (n = 43) increase downslope, indicate minimum near-surface histories of 70–600 k.y. , and are not correlated with lithology or boulder size. Measurements of samples from the top and bottom of one boulder and three underlying clasts as well as 26Al/10Be ratios (n = 25) suggest that at least some boulders have complex exposure histories caused by flipping and/or cover by other rocks, soil, or ice. Cosmogenic nuclide data demonstrate that Hickory Run, and likely other boulder fields, are dynamic features that persist through multiple glacial-interglacial cycles because of boulder resistance to weathering and erosion. Long and complex boulder histories suggest that climatic interpretations based on the presence of these rocky landforms are likely oversimplifications.
Seasonal diversity and temporal variation in the assemblage of ants on trees raised under urban habitat

The seasonal assemblage of ants and their species composition on Teak (Tectona grandis), Sisoo (Dalbergia sissoo), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Bahada (Terminalia bellirica), and Sandal wood (Santalum album) were studied from April’14 to February’15, in the campus of Forestry college, O.U. A.T. , Bhubaneswar. In proportion to the total ants collected through bait and pitfall traps, Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Dolichoderinae, Ponerinae, and Pseudomyrmicinae constituted about 55.7%, 20.12%, 17.16%, 6.68% and 0.35%, respectively across seasons and trees studied. Irrespective of seasons, ant activity varied with the type of the tree. Myrmicine ants predominated on Sandalwood, Teak and Neem and formicine ants on bahada, while the dolichoderine ants exceptionally predominated on Sissoo. Further, ants represented by Myrmicinae were found active in all seasons excepting monsoon months, which otherwise favoured the formicinae and dolichoderinae ants. The species richness was higher in the case of Myrmicinae (10species), Formicinae (4 species) and Ponerinae (4 species). More than 12 ant species have been documented on neem, sissoo, teak and sandal wood. Among the myrmicinae ants Crematogaster sp. , C. soror, C. subnuda and Monomorium sp. were populous in most seasons. Among the formicinae ants Camponotus compressus remained more populous from summer to post-rainy season on all trees. The odorus ants, Tapinoma melanocephalum (Dolichoderinae) were more populous on sissoo during July-August. The Simspon’s Index of diversity (SID) also showed diversity in species composition not only with respect to trees, but also with the seasons.
A Complex Variable Solution for Rectangle Pipe Jacking in Elastic Half-Plane

In mechanics, the solution of soil stresses and displacements field caused by shallow rectangular jacking pipe construction can be simplified as half-plane problem. Both the boundary conditions of the surface and the cavity boundary must be taken into account. It is the essential prerequisite for mechanical analysis of the pipe jacking with the complex variable theory that the mechanical boundary must be transformed from the half-plane with a rectangle cavity to the concentric ring. According to Riemann’s existence theorem and basic complex variable theory, a conformal mapping function is established. Both sides of boundary conditions equation are developed into Laurent series, and then the coefficients of complex stress function are solved by power series method. The derived solution is applied to an example and a comparison is made using FEM method to show the accuracy of the methods. The result shows the following: the method presented in this paper is applicable to a shallow-buried rectangular tunnel; the complex function method proposed in this paper is characterized by clear steps, fast convergence, and simple operation.
Performance Investigation of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Different types of ABPBI (poly(2,5-benzimidazole)) membranes and polymer binders were evaluated to investigate the performance of MEAs for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). The properties of the prepared MEAs were evaluated and analyzed by polarization curve, electrochemistry impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and durability test. The results showed that MEA with modified ABPBI membrane (AM) has satisfactory performance and durability for fuel cell application. Compare to conventional PBI or Nafion binders, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) are more attractive as binders in the catalyst layer (CL) of gas diffusion electrode (GDE) for HT-PEMFC.
Understanding User Behavior in Job and Talent Search: An Initial Investigation

The Web has created a global marketplace for e-Commerce as well as for talent. Online employment marketplaces provide an effective channel to facilitate the matching between job seekers and hirers. This paper presents an initial exploration of user behavior in job and talent search using query and click logs from a popular employment marketplace. The observations suggest that the understanding of users’ search behavior in this scenario is still at its infancy and that some of the assumptions made in general web search may not hold true. The open challenges identified so far are presented.
Analysis and Simulation of a Parallel Packet Switch for Satellite On-board Switching

In this paper we consider a packet switching system composed of X parallel switching planes operating independently and at a speed lower than the input lines. Arriving traffic is segmented into fixed length cells, then each cell is sent to one of the X planes, where it is switched to the correct output port and finally recombined with the other cells, coming from other planes, to reconstruct the original packet. This architecture, originally proposed by Iyer and McKeown [1], is referred to as a Parallel Packet Switch (PPS) and allows to design a switching fabric operating at a fraction of the line rate R. A PPS, with planes operating at rate r, must have at least k=R/r planes to avoid systematic packet losses. In [1] it was proved that a PPS can emulate the behavior of an Output Queue Switch (OQS) with the same buffering capabilities and the same number of ports. However, the centralized scheduling algorithm required to achieve this result can not be easily implemented in hardware, due to its complexity. In this paper we propose a Redundant Parallel Packet Switch (RePPS), i.e. a PPS with more than k planes, with a distributed scheduling algorithm, and multiplexing/demultiplexing stages without coordination buffers, which is a fair trade-off between performance and complexity. In particular we show that the minimum number n = X - k of redundant planes required to emulate an OQS with FIFO policy under any incoming traffic type is n = k2-2k+1. The distributed scheduling algorithm, which is the key component of the proposed switch, is presented and its performance, analyzed thru simulation, is discussed for a realistic fabric with a limited number of redundant planes. The results so far obtained suggest a possible application of this architecture for satellite on-board packet switches
Replies to Interactive comment on Ozone Impacts of Gas-Aerosol Uptake in Global Chemistry Transport Models by Scarlet Stadtler et al . 1 Anonymous Referee # 2

This paper presents two global model simulations (EMEP, ECHAM-HAMMOZ) that assess the influence of six heterogeneous reactions on global atmospheric mixing ratios of reactive nitrogen species and ozone. The six reactions (given in Table 1) have been investigated in previous model studies, notably Jacob, Atmos. Environ. 2000, on which this submission appears to be largely based. The influence of heterogeneous chemistry is known to be important in global chemical transport models, but it is also generally difficult to parameterize for a number of reasons. These include the difficulty of accurately simulating aerosol surface areas available for heterogeneous reactions and the large uncertainty in some uptake coefficients, especially N2O5, which has the largest effects in the analysis from this paper. For these reasons, further investigations of the details of the heterogeneous reactions in global models are generally valuable contributions to the literature.
Hybrid Models of Alternative Current Filter for Hvdc

Based on a hybrid simulation concept of HVDC, the developed hybrid AC filter models, providing the sufficiently full and adequate modeling of all single continuous spectrum of quasi-steady-state and transient processes in the filter, are presented. The obtained results suggest that usage of the hybrid simulation approach is carried out a methodically accurate with guaranteed instrumental error solution of differential equation systems of mathematical models of HVDC.
A Note on the Link between Firm Size and Exports

This paper re-examines the link between firm size and exports in order to study the proposal that consists of increasing the firm size to raise exports as a way out of the current economic crisis. The elasticity of export propensity (percentage of exported sales) with respect to firm size depends on several firm characteristics. The new theories of international trade emphasize the firm heterogeneity as the theoretical basis of this behaviour. In the context of such heterogeneity, this paper uses the quantile regression methodology to analyze the effect of firm size on export propensity of the firms, confirming the existence of a positive relationship that becomes less important as export propensity increases. The traditional estimate of this elasticity on the average of the export propensities distribution underestimates the effect in the bottom of the distribution and overestimates the effect on most of it.
AGE CLASSIFICATION BASED ON FEATURES EXTRACTED FROM THIRD ORDER NEIGHBORHOOD LOCAL BINARY PATTERN

The present paper extended the work carried out by Kumar et. al. [10] on Third order Neighbourhood LBP (TN-LBP) and derived an approach that estimates pattern trends on the outer cell of TN-LBP. The present paper observed and noted that the TN-LBP forms two types of V-patterns on the outer cell of TN-LBP i.e. Outer Right V Patterns (ORVP) and Outer Left V Patterns (OLVP). The ORLP and OLVP of TN-LBP consist of 5 pixels each. The present paper derived Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) features based on LBP values of ORVP and OLVP. This GLCM is named as ORLVP-GLCM (Outer cell Right and Left V-Patterns of GLCM) and on this four features are evaluated to classify human into child (0 to 12 years), young (13 to 30 years), middle aged (31 to 50 years) and senior adult (above 60 years). The proposed method is experimented on FGNET, GOOGLE and Scanned facial images and the results are compared with the existing methods. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method over the existing methods.
Project Based Learning Method using Simulation Tools and Hardware Exposure

Power electronics have rapid growth in research and prompt emergent technology in electrical discipline. Study of Power Electronics (PE) for undergraduate and post graduate students is very much necessary as every industry is driven with power electronic converter based control of electric drives. This paper showcases the teaching of PE with effective teaching methodologies such as project based, lab acclimatize learning etc., Project Based Learning is recognized to be a motivating and problem centric teaching, that not only supports the students to acquire core knowledge but also helps the students to transfer their technical knowledge into realtime application. Problem will be given to students and asked to solve it to fulfil the industrial requirement and to obtain the course attainment. In this review paper Project Based Learning (PBL) is introduced and the feedback of the students before and after introducing the PBL is analysed.
Determining the link between hygroscopicity and composition for semi-volatile aerosol species

Abstract. Internally and externally mixed aerosols present significant challenges in assessing the hygroscopicity of each aerosol component. This study presents a new sampling technique which uses differences in volatility to separate mixtures and directly examine their respective composition and hygroscopic contribution. A shared thermodenuder and unheated bypass line are continuously cycled between an aerosol mass spectrometer and a volatility and hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyser, allowing real-time comparative analysis of heated and unheated aerosol properties. Measurements have been taken of both chamber-generated secondary organic aerosol and coastal marine aerosol at Cape Grim, Australia, to investigate system performance under diverse conditions. Despite rapidly changing aerosol properties and the need to restrict analysis to a narrow size range, the former experiment separated the hygroscopic influences of ammonium sulfate and two distinct organic components with similar oxygen to carbon ratios but different volatilities. Analysis of the marine aerosol revealed an external mixture of non-sea-salt sulfates and sea spray aerosol, which likely shared similar volatile fractions composed of sulfuric acid and a non-hygroscopic organic component.
A Model To Improve The Performance Of Condor Through Cache Memory In Grid Environment

Grid application consists of one or more tasks. These tasks are generally divided into two types such as Independent task and Workflow tasks. A number of resource brokers that act as middleware such as Condor, Nimrod-G etc are used in grid based application. Since, workflow tasks are not easily executed with these architecture, we slightly modified the Condor architecture to suit workflow tasks. This paper focuses on cache management system in Condor resource broker. By adding cache to condor architecture, it allows to store intermediate results. As a result the overhead of read and writes to central database is reduced. Therefore it improves the performance and throughput of the system.
MUHAMMAD ALI RAMAY A SEMI-AUTOMATIC VISION BASED CALIBRATION AND CONTROL OF A MICROMANIPULATOR FOR FIBER HANDLING

Muhammad Ali Ramay: A Semi-Automatic Vision Based Calibration and Control of a Micromanipulator for Fiber Handling Tampere University of Technology Master of Science Thesis, 70 pages April 2018 Master’s Degree Program in Automation Engineering Major: Mechatronics and Micro Machines Examiner: Professor Pasi Kallio
Estimations in a skewed uniform distribution

Abstract We obtain a skewed uniform distribution by a uniform distribution, and evaluate itscoecient of skewness. And we obtain the approximate maximum likelihood estimator(AML) and moment estimator of skew parameter in the skewed uniform distribution.And we compare simulated mean squared errors (MSE) of those estimators, and alsocompare MSE of two proposed reliability estimators in two independent skewed uniformdistributions each with di erent skew parameters.Keywords: Approximate ML, reliability, right-tail probability, skewed uniform distri-bution. 1. Introduction Many authors had studied estimation and characterization in a uniform symmetric dis-tribution about origin, whose distribution was used widely in engineering applications inJohnson et al. (1994). Azzalini (1985) studied a class of distributions which includes the normal ones. Azzaliniand Capitanio (1999) studied the multivariate skewed normal distribution. Woo (2007) stud-ied reliability in half-triangle distributions and skewness of an induced skewed distribution,Son and Woo (2007) studied the approximate maximum likelihood estimator (AML) of askew parameter in a skewed Laplace. Ali et al. (2008) studied skew reected distributionsgenerated by reected gamma kernel.Balakrishnan and Cohen (1991) proposed method of nding AML of a scale parameter inseveral distributions. Han and Kang (2006) studied AML of parameters in several distribu-tions with multiple censored samples.Let X and Y be two independent identical distributed continuous random variables withthe probability density function(pdf) f(x) = F
Vine and soil-based measures of water status in a Tempranillo vineyard

Seasonal changes of leaf and stem water potential and midday stomatal conductance (gs) of Tempranillo grapevines were determined in irrigated and non-irrigated vines in 2003 and 2004. Leaf water potential was measured at pre-dawn (Ψpd) and at midday (Ψl md), while stem water potential was measured in the early morning (Ψs em) and at midday (Ψs md). At Ψpd to -0.54 MPa rain-fed and irrigated vines had similar midday Ψl and Ψs. This was due to both, stomatal closure and reduction of leaf area. Under these conditions, Ψpd and Ψs em were better water stress indicators than midday Ψ. In both years a close correlation was found between Ψpd and Ψs em. However, for a given Ψpd, Ψs em of vines was lower in 2004 than in 2003. This was probably due to the larger leaf area developed by vines in 2004. Stomatal conductance reflected reasonably well differences in the vine water status but its variability was much higher than that of Ψ. Moreover, the afternoon depression of stomatal conductance observed even in irrigated plots, indicates that measuring gs early in the morning is more convenient when assessing different treatments.
Short-term Distributed Energy Resource Scheduling for a DC Microgrid

A microgrid is associated with a low voltage distribution power network and inherits small modular generation systems and loads that have certain coordinated functions to provide the solution to supply premium power to remote or specific areas. Similar to conventional power systems, the energy management of distributed generation resources (DERs) is carried out to minimize the operation cost and maximize benefit of installation of DERS in a microgrid. This paper presents the process of implementing the short-term DER scheduling function for a dc microgrid. The optimal scheduling results for two operation modes are then reported.
The Fire-Lantana Cycle Hypothesis in Indian Forests

Anthropogenic fires in Indian forests probably date back to the arrival of the first hominids on the Indian subcontinent.However, with our continuing dependence on forests for a variety of resources, but with shrinking forested areas, forests are being subjected to more intensive use than before. As a result, fires are occurring more frequently today than at any time in the past. This altered fire regime is probably qualitatively different from historical fire regimes in its impact on forests at multiple spatial scales. Present-day fires have possibly led to forest degradation, increasing susceptibility to invasion by alien species such as lantana (Lantana camara). We hypothesise that there may be a positive feedback between present-day fires and invasion by lantana, leading to a fire- lantana cycle that can have deleterious compositional and functional consequences for forest ecosystems and the commodities and services that society derives from them. Despite the widespread nature of the problem, we lack good empirical information on the effects of varying fire frequency and severity in Indian dry forests. So also, we lack a sound understanding of the mechanistic underpinnings of lantana's success and barriers to its control in Indian forests. Without such information we have little hope of a way out of the fire-lantana cycle.
Measuring Global Drug Markets: How Good Are the Numbers and Why Should We Care About Them?

Drug markets are large enough that there is a demand, detached from any policy purpose, for putting a revenue figure to them. This demand for numbers creates its own supply. Indeed, figures on revenues are a staple of newspaper reports on the global drug trade, and on more acute issues such as the income sources of terrorist networks, like Al Qaeda. For such purposes, a broad-brush stroke is often enough; the reader needs only to know that the value of the global drug trade is in the order of many tens of billions of dollars and that Afghanistan’s total exports are in the tens of millions of dollars. However, sometimes these figures take on policy significance that requires greater precision. Before September 11, 2001, the call for international money laundering controls, and approaches to their design, rested largely on beliefs about the size of the international drug trade. The underlying data that give rise to estimates of global drug markets are riddled with discrepancies and inconsistencies. Nonetheless, they can provide useful information on the overall size or ‘scale’ of the global drug trade, the distribution of supply chain activities and value added across countries, and the distribution of final consumption across countries. This paper describes some of the data on production and consumption and summarises the estimates. A critical point is that the most widely cited
Improving the GPR Detectability Using a Novel Loop Bowtie Antenna

The Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technique finds immense applications in civil engineering today, as the most suitable approach for non-destructive testing of pavements, highways, concrete structures, and more. The major challenge in carrying out a GPR evaluation is that the properties of the probed medium are usually unknown. The permittivity and conductivity of the medium may vary from those of air to water. The electromagnetic waves also have a frequency dependent attenuation. The ability of GPR to detect signals reflected and scattered by the targets largely depends upon the antenna performance. This paper studies a novel 11:1 wideband loop bowtie antenna with very good radiation properties in the entire operating bandwidth. Synthetic and experimental results are presented for the return loss and gain of the antenna. Furthermore, experimental results are presented for the radiation patterns in the Eand H-plane. We also used the antenna to measure B-scans over two different pipes, a bamboo, and a reinforced concrete structure. All results obtained with the proposed antenna have been compared with results obtained by using a RC loaded antenna. It has been found that the loop bowtie antenna has excellent detection capability and produces less clutter. The loop loading technique can be applied to existing antennas for improved GPR imaging. This will improve the detectability of GPR by improving the target return signal. Keywords—antenna, Ground Penetrating Radar, imaging, UHF, UWB.