Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minimum BRIR grid resolution for dynamic binaural synthesis

Binaural synthesis of acoustical environments is based on binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) measured with a certain grid of spherical coordinates separated by angles of typically between 1° and 15°. The resulting spatial resolution defines the size of the BRIR database as well as the duration of its measurement. Perceptual evaluations of datasets with a different spatial resolution using HRTFs (anechoic case) have been reported from. Most of these studies use the localization performance of listeners as a criterion; a more sensitive measurement for slight degradations in audio quality can be expected from a criterion‐free comparison of datasets with different angular grids. Thus, to determine the minimum grid resolution required for dynamic binaural synthesis a listening test was performed. Following an adaptive 3AFC procedure, the spatial resolution of a recorded BRIR dataset was gradually lowered from a maximum of 1°/1° resolution until audible artefacts were introduced. This was done for a sound .
Long-term sea-level change revisited: the role of salinity

Of the many processes contributing to long-term sea-level change, little attention has been paid to the large-scale contributions of salinity-driven halosteric changes. We evaluate observed and simulated estimates of long-term (1950-present) halosteric patterns and compare these to corresponding thermosteric changes. Spatially coherent halosteric patterns are visible in the historical record, and are consistent with estimates of long-term water cycle amplification. Our results suggest that long-term basin-scale halosteric changes in the Pacific and Atlantic are substantially larger than previously assumed, with observed estimates and coupled climate models suggesting magnitudes of ∼25% of the corresponding thermosteric changes. In both observations and simulations, Pacific basin-scale freshening leads to a density reduction that augments coincident thermosteric expansion, whereas in the Atlantic halosteric changes partially compensate strong thermosteric expansion via a basin-scale enhanced salinity density increase. Although regional differences are apparent, at basin-scales consistency is found between the observed and simulated partitioning of halosteric and thermosteric changes, and suggests that models are simulating the processes driving observed long-term basin-scale steric changes. Further analysis demonstrates that the observed halosteric changes and their basin partitioning are consistent with CMIP5 simulations that include anthropogenic CO2 forcings (Historical), but are found to be inconsistent with simulations that exclude anthropogenic forcings (HistoricalNat).
Emergence of Strategic Human Resource Management Historical Perspective

Organization today, by necessity have become more focused on exploiting sources of competitiveadvantage in the face of rapid environmental, technological and global economic changes. Accordingto Pfeffer (1994:14), as other sources of competitive success have become less important, whatremains a crucial, differentiating factor is the organization, its employees and how they work.Additionally, he states that the current recognition among strategic management researchers is thatsustained competitive advantage arises more from a firms internal resource endowments and resourcedeployments particularly its human capital that are imperfectly imitable than from a firm’s productmarket position. These "people" issues used to be the sole responsibility of personnel departments.However, recent research such as that by Fernie, Metcalf, and Woodland (1994) in the United Kingdomusing data from a nationally representative sample of workplaces suggests that specialist personnelfunctions appear to detract from both economic and industrial relations performance rather thanenhance it.
Exploración sobre el máximo desempeño en la selección no supervisada de términos para agrupamiento de textos

Resumen. El agrupamiento de textos es uno reto importante por la diversidad de aplicaciones que se derivan de la soluci´on de dicha tarea. Un elemento indispensable en el agrupamiento es la selecci´on de t´erminos para representar lo mejor posible los textos. Aunque hay muchos m´etodos orientados a extraer t´erminos de documentos para llevar a cabo catego-rizaci´on de textos, son pocos los que enfrentan la tarea de agrupamiento por la diﬁcultad que se presenta al no contar con la clase de cada uno de los documentos. En este trabajo se propone un nuevo m´etodo que extrae los t´erminos para representar los textos y, al ser agrupados, se obtiene el desempe˜no m´aximo en una cantidad notable de casos. Las pruebas se llevaron a cabo con un conjunto de varias decenas de colecciones de textos cortos (tuits)
Gradient methods of maximization.

is an approximation to the point c. Assuming that x ( 0 ) is sufficiently close to c, we may obtain an improved approximation to c by considering the first few terms of the Taylor expansion of fix) about # ( 0 ) . Presumably, the greater the number of terms of the expansion that we consider, the better will be our improved approximation and the more rapidly will the corresponding iterative procedure converge. On the other hand, increasing the number of terms of the expansion involves the calculation of higher order derivatives and increases considerably the computational cost of each iteration.
Role of phytoplankton in mercury cycling in the San Francisco Bay estuary

To study the role of phytoplankton in mercury cycling, we measured methylmercury (MeHg) and total mercury (HgT) in surface waters during the spring 2003 phytoplankton bloom in San Francisco Bay. Conditions that described the peak of the bloom, the amount of sorbent, and decay of the bloom were summarized by principal component analysis (PCA). Multivariate analyses conducted with the PCA factors demonstrated that the bloom accounted for a significant (p = 0.03) decrease in dissolved (<0.45 µm) MeHg. Dissolved MeHg was depleted to 0.026 pmol L−1 and was unaffected when chlorophyll a concentrations nearly tripled, indicating that bloom dilution could occur as a result of a limited amount of MeHg. The calculated algal MeHg concentration was 3‐10 pmol g−1 (dry weight). As the bloom decayed, dissolved MeHg concentrations significantly (p = 0.04) increased, likely due to MeHg remineralization from decaying phytoplankton and/or production in sediments. By creating suboxic conditions in surface sediments and stimulating microbial activity, decomposing phytoplankton could bolster MeHg production, a potential side effect of large blooms. Unlike dissolved MeHg, dissolved HgT concentrations were not measurably altered by the bloom or decay factors. That difference corroborated previous culture studies in which phytoplankton actively accumulated MeHg, but not HgT. As the bloom decayed, HgT Kd values significantly (p = 0.012) increased, possibly because particles (i.e., phytoplankton) with low HgT concentrations were lost from the water column. Based on the relationship between HgT particulate concentrations and percent phytoplankton, the calculated algal HgT concentration was ~0.5 nmol g−1 (dry weight).
Impacts of physical data assimilation on the Global Ocean Carbonate System

Prognostic simulations of ocean carbon distribution are largely dependent on an adequate representation of physical dynamics. In this work we show that the assimilation of temperature and salinity in a coupled ocean-biogeochemical model significantly improves the reconstruction of the carbonate system variables over the last two decades. For this purpose, we use the NEMO ocean global circulation model, coupled to the Biogeochemical Flux Model (BFM) in the global PELAGOS configuration. The assimilation of temperature and salinity is included into the coupled ocean-biogeochemical model by using a variational assimilation method. The use of ocean physics data assimilation improves the simulation of alkalinity and dissolved organic carbon against the control run as assessed by comparing with independent time series and gridded datasets. At the global scale, the effects of the assimilation of physical variables in the simulation of p CO 2 improves the seasonal cycle in all basins, getting closer to the SOCAT estimates. Biases in the partial pressure of CO 2 with respect to data that are evident in the control run are reduced once the physical data assimilation is used. The root mean squared errors in the p CO 2 are reduced by up to 30% depending on the ocean basin considered. In addition, we quantify the relative contribution of biological carbon uptake on surface p CO 2 by performing another simulation in which biology is neglected in the assimilated run.
Data on geochemical and hydraulic properties of a characteristic confined/unconfined aquifer system of the younger Pleistocene in northeast Germany

Abstract. The paper presents a database of hydrochemical and hydraulic groundwater measurements of a younger Pleistocene multilayered, unconfined/confined aquifer system in NE Germany. The Institute of Landscape Hydrology of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) operates seven groundwater monitoring wells in the Quillow catchment located in the Uckermark region (federal state of Brandenburg, Germany). From July 2000 to March 2014, water samples were collected periodically on different days of the year and at depths between 3 and 5 m (shallow wells) and 16 and 24 m (deeper wells) below the surface. The parameters pH value, redox potential, electric conductivity, water temperature, oxygen content, spectral absorption coefficient and concentration of hydrogen carbonate, ammonium, phosphate, chloride, bromide, nitrite, sulfate, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcite, dissolved organic carbon, iron(II) and manganese were determined for each sample ( doi:10.4228/ZALF.2000.266 ). The measurements, taken over a period of 14 years, include a high variation of hydraulic situations represented by a corresponding database of 19 000 recorded groundwater heads. The hydraulic head was measured between 2000 and 2014 ( doi:10.4228/ZALF.2000.272 ).
Outside Board Availability and Composition in High Tech Start-Ups

Boards in large organizations have been subject to much empirical research, however, boards in start-ups have been a largely neglected research topic. The dearth of research into boards in start-up companies is surprising as since the early nineties high tech start-ups have increasingly become multi-stakeholder firms due to the increased availability of venture capital finance and the increased interest by public research organizations (including universities) in academic spin-outs. In this paper we address this gap in literature by examining the issue of board composition in high tech start-ups and, in particular, what determines the composition of the board in these start-ups. We draw on agency theory, resource dependence theory and social network theory to examine the tensions that exist between the founding team and other stakeholders in determining board composition. Our results provide evidence that teams that have powerful external stakeholders are more likely to develop boards that have complementary skills. Conversely, in start-ups where the founding team has had autonomy in composing their own board the team tends to look for outside board members with similar human capital.
Functionalised natural zeolite and its potential for treating drinking water containing excess amount of nitrate

An excess level of nitrate in drinking water is responsible for methemoglobinemia, or ‘blue baby’ disease. Consequently, management of nitrate in drinking water is universally of public health interest. In this study, clinoptilolite functionalised with cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium (HDTMA) was used for the removal of nitrate from drinking water. The effects of surfactant loading, adsorbent dosage, pH, coexisting ions, temperature and environmental water quality on the adsorption of nitrate were investigated. It was found that adsorption was optimum when the initial concentration of the functionalising surfactant was 3 000 mg∙l-1. An increase in adsorbent dosage raised the percentage removal of nitrate. The valency of the coexisting anion had a major effect on nitrate removal, with the presence of phosphate (a trivalent anion) leading to the lowest removal ability. Temperature and pH had negligible effects on adsorbent performance. Environmental water samples (natural groundwater samples from Limpopo Province, South Africa) were tested and it was found that the World Health Organisation (WHO) regulatory compliance can be achieved even when the initial concentration of nitrate exceeds 300 mg∙l-1. Equilibrium data was modelled using the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms and the data conformed well to the Freundlich isotherm, indicating the heterogeneous nature of the active sites. Kinetically, nitrate adsorption was best described by the pseudo-second rate equation. Keywords: adsorption, zeolite, nitrate, kinetics, equilibrium
SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF AUDITORY SPATIAL IMAGERY ASSOCIATED WITH DECORRELATED SUBWOOFER SIGNALS

Although only a single subwoofer is typically used in two-channel and multichannel stereophonic sound reproduction, the use of two subwoofers enables manipulation of low-frequency interaural crosscorrelation (IACC), and this manipulation is particularly effective in producing variation in auditory spatial imagery. In order to document this variation objectively, a series of listening experiments were executed using a set of stimuli generated at five correlation values and presented in two reproduction modes. Both modes used two subwoofers, but in one of the reproduction modes identical signals were applied to the two subwoofers. The results of both exploratory and confirmatory listening experiments showed that the range of variation in both perceived auditory source width (ASW) and perceived auditory source distance (ASD) is reduced when negatively correlated signals are not reproduced at low frequencies. Global dissimilarity judgments were made for this set of ten stimuli in an exploratory study designed to reveal the salient perceptual dimensions of the stimuli. A subsequent confirmatory study employed a two-alternative forced-choice task in order to determine how identifiably different the stimuli were with respect to the two perceptual attributes revealed in the exploratory study, those two attributes being ASW and ASD. The implications of these findings for loudspeaker-based spatial auditory display are discussed.
Numerical simulation of floating bodies in extreme free surface waves

Abstract. In this paper, we use the in-house Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) flow code AMAZON-SC as a numerical wave tank (NWT) to study wave loading on a wave energy converter (WEC) device in heave motion. This is a surface-capturing method for two fluid flows that treats the free surface as contact surface in the density field that is captured automatically without special provision. A time-accurate artificial compressibility method and high resolution Godunov-type scheme are employed in both fluid regions (air/water). The Cartesian cut cell method can provide a boundary-fitted mesh for a complex geometry with no requirement to re-mesh globally or even locally for moving geometry, requiring only changes to cut cell data at the body contour. Extreme wave boundary conditions are prescribed in an empty NWT and compared with physical experiments prior to calculations of extreme waves acting on a floating Bobber-type device. The validation work also includes the wave force on a fixed cylinder compared with theoretical and experimental data under regular waves. Results include free surface elevations, vertical displacement of the float, induced vertical velocity and heave force for a typical Bobber geometry with a hemispherical base under extreme wave conditions.
A Study on the Factors Promoting the Usage of WiBro Service

This study was to investigate which factors promote the usage of WiBro service, and to propose a few of research propositions on the relationships between these factor and characteristics of mobile Internet usage. To accomplish these research purposes, the study defined research variables such as factors promoting the usage of WiBro service, characteristic of mobile Internet usage, and types of user based on the review of mobile Internet service related studies. The study performed various statistical analyses using survey questionnaires on mobile Internet users, and finally proposed some research propositions, based on the analysis results, that could be used in the future studies.
Hybrid Ground Motion Simulation for the 2013 M_L 6.4 Ruisui, Taiwan Earthquake

The 2013 M_L 6.4 Ruisui earthquake struck a seismic gap around the northern part of the Longitudinal Valley where rare earthquakes have occurred for at least two decades. Seismic data with different frequency bands connote a diverse scale of source characteristics. The slip model derived by a previous study using long-period seismic data provided us with the preliminary earthquake source properties in low-frequency energy radiation. However, the high-frequency part of the seismic energy needs to be considered for the strong motions in the comprehensive frequency band. As a case study, we carried out broadband strong motion simulations through the hybrid scheme, which simulated waveforms combining the low-frequency motions (frequency-wavenumber integration method) and high-frequency motions (empirical Green's function method) to reveal the strong ground motion and source characteristics of the 2013 Ruisui earthquake. The results show that even though the local structure is complicated this hybrid simulation can effectively rebuild the overall broadband strong ground motion characteristics for the 2013 Ruisui earthquake. Additional study issues are required to better understand the nature of localized high peak ground acceleration and the related seismic hazards for future earthquakes.
An appraisal of the wealth effect in the US: evidence from pseudo-panel data

How does household wealth influence consumption? The empirical evidence brought so far by the literature is unclear, mostly because of the low quality of the data more readily available: aggregate data, cross sections and panel datasets lacking important variables all present major shortcomings for a proper analysis of the wealth effect. The aim of our paper is to contribute to the appraisal of the wealth effect performing a pseudo-panel analysis for the USA (1989-2007), combining information from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the Survey of Consumer Finances. We distinguish between total and non durables consumption, and we also investigate the roles of the different components of household wealth, both gross and net. Our estimates indicate that there is a significant tangible wealth effect (between 2 and 4 cents per dollar), with an overwhelming importance of the value of the house of residence. On the contrary, financial wealth seems to positively affect consumption of the older households only. In general, it seems that older households experience higher wealth effects, i.e., extract more liquidity from their assets, than younger ones, which rely more on income effects.
Nation-States into Nationalising States: The Impact of Transformation on Minority Participation in the Baltic States

The widely shared perception in the Baltic societies about these countries being national homelands of respective ethno-nations is indispensable for understanding recent political developments in the region. Arguably, the outcomes of the transition from Soviet to European Union member-states have been by far and large positive, forging functioning state institutions and creating polities that are on the forefront of upholding European standards in a range of areas. Much of the debate on the region, my own past contributions included, has emphasised the importance of nation-state-building agendas that have facilitated the transformation of the Russian-speaking population of the region from a formerly dominant nationality of the Soviet Union (SU) into a group that is today a minority in nation-states of Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians. Although there are plenty of assessments of how the change in minority members’ opportunities has impacted their social, economic and political mobilisation strategies over the decades since the Soviet demise, this article looks at the framework for these groups’ participation in public life.
A Modular Algorithm for Automatic Slice Positioning in Tubular Organs

Many algorithms for automatic slice positioning in tubular organs exist but they are generally devoted to one kind of organ (vessel or bronchus) and not usable for the other. We propose a new modular algorithm based on three steps: first a pre-segmentation of the organ; then a skeletonisation step that builds a poly-line skeleton of this organ; finally we are able to position and compute slices from this skeleton and work on them applying more conventional 2D segmentation algorithms.
Sensitivity of PARASOL multi-angle photopolarimetric aerosol retrievals to cloud contamination

Abstract. An important problem in satellite remote sensing of aerosols is related to the need to perform an adequate cloud screening. If a cloud screening is applied that is not strict enough, the ground scene has the probability of residual cloud cover which causes large errors on the retrieved aerosol parameters. On the other hand, if the cloud-screening procedure is too strict, too many clear sky cases, especially near-cloud scenes, will falsely be flagged cloudy. The detrimental effects of cloud contamination as well as the importance of aerosol cloud interactions that can be studied in these near-cloud scenes call for new approaches to cloud screening. Multi-angle multi-wavelength photopolarimetric measurements have a unique capability to distinguish between scattering by (liquid) cloud droplets and aerosol particles. In this paper the sensitivity of aerosol retrievals from multi-angle photopolarimetric measurements to cloud contamination is investigated and the ability to intrinsically filter the cloud-contaminated scenes based on a goodness-of-fit criteria is evaluated. Hereto, an aerosol retrieval algorithm is applied to a partially clouded over-ocean synthetic data set as well as non-cloud-screened over-ocean POLDER-3/PARASOL observations. It is found that a goodness-of-fit filter, together with a filter on the coarse mode refractive index (mrcoarse > 1.335) and a cirrus screening, adequately rejects the cloud-contaminated scenes. No bias or larger SD are found in the retrieved parameters for this intrinsic cloud filter compared to the parameters retrieved in a priori cloud-screened data set (using MODIS/AQUA cloud masks) of PARASOL observations. Moreover, less high-aerosol load scenes are misinterpreted as cloud contaminated. The retrieved aerosol optical thickness, single scattering albedo and Angstrom exponent show good agreement with AERONET observations. Furthermore, the synthetic retrievals give confidence in the ability of the algorithm to correctly retrieve the micro-physical aerosol parameters.
When Capital Follows Profitability: Non-linear Residual Income Dynamics

Economic reasoning suggests that capital follows profitability. This study introduces into residual income valuation “capital follows profitability” investment dynamics whereby capital investments are guided by the profitability of underlying investment opportunities. These investment dynamics predict convex versus linear relations between future and current residual income, with slope and convexity dependent on investment opportunity. We test these predictions against the linear information dynamics (LID) proposed by Ohlson (1995) and Feltham and Ohlson (1996), with supportive results. These findings point the way to further development of links between firm value and the economics of value creation.