Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preparations for a New Gravimetric Geoid Model of New Zealand, and Some Preliminary Results

The rationale is given for a new gravimetric model of the New Zealand geoid to support a new vertical geodetic datum based on entirely different principles to the conventional use of tide gauges and geodetic levelling. The geoid model is currently being computed by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) in close collaboration with the Western Australian Centre for Geodesy. The data to be used in this new geoid model comprise >40,000 land and >1.3M ship-track gravity data points, a 56 m-resolution digital elevation model (DEM), a 2' × 2' grid of marine gravity anomalies derived from multimission satellite altimetry, and a hybrid global geopotential model derived from EGM96 and the new EIGEN-2 model. A preliminary geoid model has been computed from these data using spectral techniques with modified kernels, and comparisons with existing GPS-levelling data on the 13 different vertical datums used in New Zealand indicate an overall precision of ~ 35 cm, which can be improved with the more sophisticated data pre-processing currently underway. This preliminary geoid model has been used to estimate preliminary offsets among the 13 different vertical datums used throughout New Zealand. Importantly, the standard deviations are less than the computed offsets, which indicates that statistically significant offsets can be computed with the proposed approaches. M. J. AMOS Office of the Surveyor-General, Land Information New Zealand, Private Box 5501, Wellington, New Zealand; email: mamos@linz.govt. nz
The Book-to-Price Effect in Stock Returns: Accounting for Leverage

ABSTRACT This paper lays out a decomposition of book-to-price (B/P) that derives from the accounting for book value and that articulates precisely how B/P "absorbs" leverage. The B/P ratio can be decomposed into an enterprise book-to-price (that pertains to operations and potentially reflects operating risk) and a leverage component (that reflects financing risk). The empirical analysis shows that the enterprise book-to-price ratio is positively related to subsequent stock returns but, conditional upon the enterprise book-to-price, the leverage component of B/P is "negatively" associated with future stock returns. Further, both enterprise book-to-price and leverage explain returns over those associated with Fama and French nominated factors-including the book-to-price factor-albeit negatively so for leverage. The seemingly perverse finding with respect to the leverage component of B/P survives under controls for size, estimated beta, return volatility, momentum, and default risk. Copyright University of Chicago on behalf of the Institute of Professional Accounting, 2007.
Estimation of effective anisotropy simultaneously with locations of microseismic events

Passive seismic tomography, in which the event locations and the velocity model are inferred simultaneously, is seldom used to process microseismic surveys acquired in the oil and gas industry. We discuss advantages of applying tomographic ideas to typical microseismic data recorded in a single, nearly vertical well to monitor hydraulic stimulation of a shale-gas reservoir. Microseismic events are conventionally located in the energy-industry applications using a velocity model derived from sonic logs and perforation shots. Instead of fixing the model, as is normally done, we alter it while locating the events. This added flexibility not only makes it possible to accurately predict traveltimes of the recorded P- and S-waves, but also provides a convincing evidence for anisotropy of the examined shale formation. While we find that velocity heterogeneity does not need to be introduced to explain the data acquired at each stage of hydraulic fracturing, the obtained models are suggestive of possible time-laps.
Community fishery resources management in Malalison Island, Philippines

The Community Fishery Resources Management Project, launched in 1991 in Malalison Island, Philippines is a development-oriented research project integrating biology, economics, sociology, engineering, and public administration. The general objective is to support, and learn from, the collaboration of people's organization, biologists, and social scientists in applying community-based techniques in fishery management. During Phase I, the Project concentrated on community organizing, institution building, and the introduction of seaweed farming as alternative livelihood. Studies were made on the marine resources of the island, the traditional boundaries and territorial use rights, the economic utilization of resources in the island, and the cultivation techniques for seaweeds. Phase II started in 1994 with the implementation of the territorial use rights in fisheries and the test deployment of prototype concrete artificial reefs. Phase II includes impact assessment (environmental, social, and economic), institutional arrangements in fishery co-management, ethnographic studies, economics of Seafarming techniques, and management of fishery cooperatives.
Print Article

Background/Context: Faced with rapidly changing demographics, districts are increasingly looking to partner with parents to support and improve student learning. Community organizing holds promise for pursuing educational equity through the development of low-income parent participation and leadership, but previous research has focused primarily on the use of structural social capital theory in qualitative studies to understand school-based organizing mechanisms and impacts in traditional urban centers.
Synrift Continental to Marine Depositional Sequences, Tertiary, Gulf of Aden, Yemen

ABSTRACT Tertiary synrift deposits along the northern margin of the Gulf of Aden, Republic of Yemen, provide new information on the controls on deposition and stratigraphic relationships during the transition from continental to marine rift sedimentation. Intracontinental rifting in the region commenced in the Oligocene, developing into a marine extensional margin in the Miocene. The outcropping part of a small subbasin at Wadi Hiru, west of Mukalla, contains carbonate platform, alluvial-fan, fan-delta, and raised-beach deposits that record the development of the rift margin. The spatial relationships between carbonate and clastic units, their location adjacent to rift-border faults, and timing of sea-level changes indicate that tectonics was the overriding control on relative sea-level change . Accommodation space created by fault movement and the morphology of older sediment bodies dictated the three-dimensional architecture of carbonate platforms and clastic fans. Fault movements are documented by changes in clast provenance in fanglomerates. Rift-parallel and rift-perpendicular faults formed a trap-door configuration that controlled long-lived pathways of terrigenous clastic supply throughout rifting. Five local depositional sequences, bounded by erosion surfaces, are recognized. Sequences have a distinct tectonic signature in the form of sequence boundaries overlain by thick fanglomerates followed by transgressive and highstand carbonates. Two of these sequences were dated using 87Sr/86Sr isotope dating. The relative sea-level curve derived from thi study bears little relationship to published "eustatic" curves.
The E ﬀ ect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function

: Concussion is known to detrimentally a ﬀ ect brain health. Rugby tackles commonly occur with high collision force between tackler and ball carrier, and low impact head contact is not uncommon. Cognitive deﬁcits following a bout of soccer ball heading has been attributed to the impact and termed sub-concussion. Although soccer ball heading studies provide evidence for acute e ﬀ ects of sub-concussion, it is unknown whether this phenomenon occurs following rugby tackles. This study investigates the acute e ﬀ ects of rugby tackles on brain function and balance in rugby players. Twenty-six volunteers were assigned to either the ball carrier (9), tackler (9) or control (8) group. Controls performed running without the tackle. Outcome measures included corticomotor function using transcranial magnetic brain stimulation (TMS) and balance was assessed by a series of tasks performed on a NeuroCom Balance Master before and immediately after a tackle training drill. Following the tackling bout, the cortical silent period (cSP) increased for the tacklers with no change for ball carrier and control groups, and no di ﬀ erences between groups for balance measures were observed. Lengthening of cSP observed in the tacklers following the bout has been reported in studies of concussion and may indicate long term detrimental e ﬀ ects.
An application of the diary method to data collection and analysis for the tourism sector.

peer-reviewed%%%%Tourism plays an important role in many countries around the globe by creating foreign exchange and generating employment, and by contributing to a more balanced spread of economic activity in areas with few alternative economic opportunities. Considering this importance, the continuous growth of the sector and the increasingly competitive environment, accurate tourism statistics are vital. While there is a general agreement that the tourism statistics are suboptimal due to inappropriate data collected, little research has been conducted into investigating new ways to gather more accurate data to describe tourist behaviour. Currently most expenditure data is collected through exitsurveys, which leads to too much data-aggregation and there are also concerns regarding the quality because recall error can alter the accuracy. The diary method is well known as a tool for data-collection in many areas outside tourism-research, and has been proven to deliver more detailed and more accurate data. This thesis will investigate the use of the diary method in tourism, explore its applicability and show in a case-study how the better quality of data can be applied to gain new insights into tourist-behaviour, e.g. adding temporal and geographical dimensions to expenditure analysis. The case study analyses the spending behaviour of a specific tourist market and illustrates at the same time the innovative features of the diary method. The study reveals that the concerns surrounding the diary approach are generally unfounded. The issues that arise e.g. conditioning effect or low response rates, are less of a problem than recall error and in addition there are many corrective measures that researchers can use to avoid the consequences. Using a unique dataset comprising of 297 diary questionnaires, the expenditure analysis revealed links between the spending and different socio-demographic and trip-related characteristics of tourists. In addition, since diaries give a temporal and geographical dimension to the data, it is possible to investigate the variations in spending over the days of the trip and the mobility of tourists and their level of spending in specific areas. The study shows, for the first time, that although the level of spending for different cohorts significantly differs, the expenditure trajectory follows a general pattern regardless of the tourist group under study.
A Transmission Line Method for the Simulation of Fiber Bragg Gratings

A new method for the analysis and design of fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) based on the theory of transmission lines has been developed and verified both theoretically and experimentally. The method is an extension of the Coupled Mode Theory and utilizes the equivalent transmission lines in order to simulate any type of grating, with an easy and direct implementation. The method provides the ability to analyze the optical devices without using full wave approaches, while also facilitating the incorporation of core materials with a complex or nonlinear refractive index, non-uniform distributions of the grating’s refractive index, and tilted and phase shifted gratings. The approach also allows the design of the grating for a given reflection spectra. Numerical results of the method’s application on a randomly varied inscription of the refractive index of a FBG have also been simulated and discussed. Using this method, the characteristics of an Erbium – Doped FBG have been simulated and the predictions verified experimentally.
Algorithm-improved high-speed and non-invasive confocal Raman imaging of 2D materials

Abstract Confocal Raman microscopy is important for characterizing 2D materials, but its low throughput significantly hinders its applications. For metastable materials such as graphene oxide (GO), the low throughput is aggravated by the requirement of extremely low laser dose to avoid sample damage. Here we introduce algorithm-improved confocal Raman microscopy (ai-CRM), which increases the Raman scanning rate by one to two orders of magnitude with respect to state-of-the-art works for a variety of 2D materials. Meanwhile, GO can be imaged at a laser dose that is two to three orders of magnitude lower than previously reported, such that laser-induced variations of the material properties can be avoided. ai-CRM also enables fast and spatially resolved quantitative analysis, and is readily extended to 3D mapping of composite materials. Since ai-CRM is based on general mathematical principles, it is cost-effective, facile to implement and universally applicable to other hyperspectral imaging methods.
Differential Expression of Collagen Type V and XI ?-1 in Human Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms

Background— The molecular mechanisms leading to ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (ATAAs) remain unknown. We hypothesized that alterations in expression levels of specific fibrillar collagens occur during the aneurysmal process. Methods— Surgical samples from ascending aortas from patients with degenerative ATAAs were subdivided by aneurysm diameter: small, 5 to 6 cm; medium, 6 to 7 cm; and large, greater than 7 cm; and compared with nonaneurysmal aortas (mean diameter, 2.3 cm). Results— Histology, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy demonstrated greater disorganization of extracellular matrix constituents in ATAAs as compared with control with an increase in collagen α 1(XI) within regions of cystic medial degenerative lesions. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase
Retention of fish early-life stages and copepod prey in an estuarine nursery area: the influence of environmental variability

The estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) is an important nursery area for anadromous fish in Chesapeake Bay where early-life stages can be retained in high prey concentrations and favorable salinities by the physics of the region. Episodic discharge, wind events and annual differences in river flow could influence the retention of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) early-life stages and their prey in the ETM. This hypothesis was evaluated with a coupled biologicalphysical model of a theoretical estuary. A particle tracking model was constructed within a numerical circulation model to simulate the transport of fish early-life stages and copepods in a 3-D flow field. Most neutrally buoyant particles released at depth within the ETM region were retained, while most released up-estuary of the ETM were transported down estuary, bypassing the ETM region within 10 days. Particles with the sinking speed of striped bass eggs were released up-estuary of the salt front. The number of egg-like particles located within the optimum ETM nursery area depended upon egg density and release site. Compared to steadystate conditions, a sudden increase in freshwater flow transported heavier egg-like particles to the optimum area and reduced the total number of particles within it by 12.9%. A down-estuary wind event resulted in a 72.4% reduction in the number of egg-like particles in the optimum area compared to steady-state conditions. Episodic river flow and wind events associated with storms during the striped bass spawning season may alter circulation patterns within the ETM region and cause loss of striped bass eggs from the ETM nursery area with negative consequences for survival. Results of preliminary scenarios with sub-grid scale turbulent motion suggest that inclusion and proper parameterization of sub-grid scale turbulence is critical for determining transport and retention of particles in the ETM.
Performance Accuracy between Classifiers in Sustain of Disease Conversion for Clinical Trial Tuberculosis Data : Data Mining Approach

Data mining has been used intensively and extensively by many organizations. In healthcare, data mining is becoming increasingly popular, if not increasingly essential. Data mining applications can greatly benefit all parties involved in the healthcare industry. For example, data mining can help physicians to identify risk factors, effective treatments and best practices in health care industry which helps patients to receive better and affordable healthcare services. The huge amounts of data generated by healthcare transactions are too complex and voluminous to be processed and analyzed by traditional methods. Data mining provides the methodology and technology to transform these mounds of data into useful information for decision making. This work will explore data mining applications within healthcare in one of the major area such as the evaluation of treatment effectiveness as well as disease conversion in tuberculosis patients; it aims to compare various classification techniques and its performance accuracy to build a predictive modelling with controlled clinical trial tuberculosis (TB) data. The classification of tuberculosis patients is of substantial importance in TB disease conversion. During the last few years, many algorithms have been proposed for this task. In this paper, we review different supervised machine learning techniques and its performance accuracy for classification with an original dataset and carry out a methodological comparison using “WEKA” software (Wang, 2010). We used the C4.5 (J48) tree classifier, Iterative Dichotomiser3 (ID3), a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and a naive Bayes 7classifier over a large set of TB data. It is found that Multilayer Perceptron achieves a competitive performance than naive Bayes, and when the number of features to be classified is reduced naive bayes performs well.
Heavy metals in sediments of the Kaštela Bay

Six sediment samples from Kastela Bay (Adriatic Sea) and 6 samples of source rocks around the bay have been taken in order to establish the dependence of heavy metal concentration on granulometric and mineral composition, on surface characteristics of the sediment, and on source rocks.The mineral composition of sediments is homogeneous. It reflects mostly the lithology of the surrounding area (carbonates and flysch). The concentration of Cd is greater in parent rocks than in the sediments, which points to the partial lithogenous origin of Cd. The anthrophogenic influence on Pb, Cu and ZN concentrations was identified in the all surface sediment samples.
Application of mathematical modeling for malaria control decision-making in settings of varying transmission intensity

Planning for the control of Plasmodium falciparum malaria at the population level demands models of malaria epidemiology that provide realistic quantitative prediction of likely epidemiological outcomes of a wide range of control strategies. This project applies mathematical modeling parameterized both generally and with site-specific field data to better understand transmission dynamics of malaria across sites with varying transmission intensity and seasonality, primarily the highlands of western Kenya and in the lowlands of Zambia's Southern Province. Simulation results explore possible epidemiological scenarios for malaria in the presence and absence of a mix of control interventions, and for different amounts and patterns of seasonality of transmission. Together with a cost effectiveness analysis, results form the basis of recommendations for control programs. Individual-based stochastic models of malaria epidemiology were developed by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). To provide the site-specific parameters needed to fit the models to the study areas data on existing entomological, demographic, intervention deployment and health systems was gathered from field studies conducted by collaborating institutes and a literature review. Model simulations were run on an ensemble of models with multiple random seeds on the OpenMalaria simulator. Simulation outputs were compared to the observed data from the study areas in order to assess the validity of the model and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to address uncertainty. The model was then used to predict the impact of different combinations of malaria control interventions, and the impact of different seasonal transmission patterns, on impact measures. The models were able to simulate the transmission patterns of malaria in the study areas of western Kenyan highlands and Zambia lowlands and gain insight into the potential impact of malaria control interventions currently being un- or under- utilized in these areas. Despite the ability of mathematical modeling to be used to translate between measures of malaria transmission and indicators of disease burden in areas where sparse data renders evidence-based programmatic decision-making challenging, these models remain largely inaccessible to program managers. Results from such models can provide public health officials with accurate estimates of transmission, by seasonal pattern, that are necessary for assessing and tailoring malaria control and elimination programs to specific settings.
Anchor Loss Reduction in Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems Flexural Beam Resonators Using Trench Hole Array Reflectors

The quality factor of microelectromechanical resonators is a crucial performance metric and has thus been the subject of numerous studies aimed at maximizing its value by minimizing the anchor loss. This work presents a study on the effect of elastic wave reflectors on the quality factor of MEMS clamped–clamped flexural beam resonators. The elastic wave reflectors are a series of holes created by trenches in the silicon substrate of the resonators. In this regard, four different shapes of arrayed holes are considered, i.e., two sizes of squares and two half circles with different directions are positioned in proximity to the anchors. The impact of these shapes on the quality factor is examined through both numerical simulations and experimental analysis. A 2D in-plane wave propagation model with a low-reflecting fixed boundary condition was used in the numerical simulation to predict the behavior, and the MEMS resonator prototypes were fabricated using a commercially available micro-fabrication process to validate the findings. Notably, the research identifies that half-circle-shaped holes with their curved sides facing the anchors yield the most promising results. With these reflectors, the quality factor of the resonator is increased by a factor of 1.70× in air or 1.72× in vacuum.
A Review of the Digital Elevation Model Extraction and Digital Hydrological Modeling

In this paper, the methodology of drainage network extraction from grid based the digital elevation model (DEM) is reviewed. Then the current situation of application of information extracted from a DEM data in the field of hydrology and water resources are remarked. It is shown that the digital model plays a great role in data mining in hydrology and water resources. Water related data measured at gauged stations could be assimilated to areal information over a catchment by the digital model, so as to serve for all trades and professions of national economy. Finally the position and the perspective of the digital hydrology (DH)in digital earth are discussed. The DH is an important component of digital earth. It needs further research.