Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Keck spectroscopy and Spitzer space telescope analysis of the outer disk of the Triangulum spiral galaxy M 33

In an earlier study of the spiral galaxy M 33, we photometrically identified arcs or outer spiral arms of intermediate age (0.6-2 Gyr) carbon stars precisely at the commencement of the HI-warp. Stars in the arcs were unresolved, but were likely thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch carbon stars. Here we present Keck I spectroscopy of seven intrinsically bright and red target stars in the outer, northern arc in M 33. The target stars have estimated visual magnitudes as faint as V~25^(m). Absorption bands of CN are seen in all seven spectra reported here, confirming their carbon star status. In addition, we present Keck II spectra of a small area 0.5 degree away from the centre of M 33; the target stars there are also identified as carbon stars. We also study the non-stellar PAH dust morphology of M 33 secured using IRAC on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Spitzer 8 µm image attests to a change of spiral phase at the start of the HI warp. The Keck spectra confirm that carbon stars may safely be identified on the basis of their red J-K_s colours in the outer, low metallicity disk of M 33. We propose that the enhanced number of carbon stars in the outer arms are an indicator of recent star formation, fueled by gas accretion from the HI-warp reservoir.
Arctic Cloud Microphysics Retrievals from Surface-Based Remote Sensors at SHEBA

Abstract An operational suite of ground-based, remote sensing retrievals for producing cloud microphysical properties is described, assessed, and applied to 1 yr of observations in the Arctic. All measurements were made in support of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) program and First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE) Arctic Clouds Experiment (ACE) in 1997–98. Retrieval techniques and cloud-type classifications are based on measurements from a vertically pointing 35-GHz Doppler radar, microwave and infrared radiometers, and radiosondes. The retrieval methods are assessed using aircraft in situ measurements from a limited set of case studies and by intercomparison of multiple retrievals for the same parameters. In all-liquid clouds, retrieved droplet effective radii Re have an uncertainty of up to 32% and liquid water contents (LWC) have an uncertainty of 49%–72%. In all-ice clouds, ice particle mean sizes Dmean can be retrieved with an uncertainty of .
Optimization of Modulation Waveforms for Improved EMI Attenuation in Switching Frequency Modulated Power Converters

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is one of the major problems of switching power converters. This paper is devoted to switching frequency modulation used for conducted EMI suppression in switching power converters. Comprehensive theoretical analysis of switching power converter conducted EMI spectrum and EMI attenuation due the use of traditional ramp and multislope ramp modulation waveforms is presented. Expressions to calculate EMI spectrum and attenuation are derived. Optimization procedure of the multislope ramp modulation waveform is proposed to get maximum benefits from switching frequency modulation for EMI reduction. Experimental verification is also performed to prove that the optimized multislope ramp modulation waveform is very useful solution for effective EMI reduction in switching power converters.
Towards the evolution of laughter

A central question in evolutionary biology is to what extent humans share coding and decoding strategies of affective communication with great apes. Human laughter is of special interest for such comparative approach since it appears across all cultures and early in ontogeny and because its facial display shares commonalities with the nonhuman primate relaxed open-mouth (ROM) and open-mouth bared-teeth (OMBT) displays, which were also described as “laugh variants”. Like in humans, these facial expressions of great apes may be accompanied by low-frequency (LF) vocalizations during tickling and social play. In this thesis, we conducted a comparative analysis across hominoids (orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans) to assess the function, contagion, and evolution of their facial and vocal displays during tickling sessions and social play by using videographic and bioacoustic methods. Firstly, we assessed the function of LF vocalizations in orangutan social play and compared our results with those of previous studies on humans and chimpanzees. Our findings depicted partial support that LF play vocalizations activate playmates to continue with play and suggested phylogenetic continuity in this function for LF play vocalizations across hominoids. Secondly, we explored if orangutan open-mouth faces (e.g. ROM display and OMBT display) cause facial display congruency in conspecifics during social play. Results of this study showed that, similar to humans with laughter, orangutans mimic open-mouth faces of their playmates. Thirdly, we examined the acoustic properties and phylogeny of great ape LF vocalizations and human vocal laughter emitted when tickled using acoustic and phylogenetic analyses. Our findings revealed that these hominoid vocalizations showed the same topology as the one known from genetic studies. Therefore, we concluded that great ape LF vocalizations and human vocal laughter share the same phylogenetic origin and that the term vocal laughter is appropriate for these great ape vocalizations. Altogether, this thesis presented that laughter is not unique to humans, but that it emerged at least 12-16 million years ago.
Depression among Middle Aged and Elderly People in China

Concerning ageing, China is considered one of the most important developing countries in the world. China‟s population, the largest in the world, is ageing rapidly due to dramatic decreases in fertility and increases in life expectancy. The changes have produced and will continue to produce large proportions of elderly people in China. By 2000, China‟s population ages 65 and older had reached almost 90 million, and the number could reach over 300 million by 2050(Population Reference Bureau, 2010).
Individual versus collaborative concept mapping in a simulation-based inquiry learning environment

The goal of this research is to study the effect of collaboration on university students' learning outcomes and construction of a concept map after engaging in a simulation-based inquiry learning environment. This was investigated with a collaborative condition with 22 dyads of 44 participants and an individual condition with 23 participants. Results showed that the number of correct answers on multiple knowledge tests and the concept map scores were not significantly higher in the collaborative condition than in the individual condition. However, the pairs in the collaborative condition spent significantly more time on the first part of the learning environment and the concept mapping than the participants in the individual condition. Possible reasons for these results might include the difficult topic of the learning environment, the short preparation time, and the need for more support. More research should be done about collaborative concept mapping in an inquiry learning environment with students of several other universities and with variations of the learning topic, preparation time and support. The outcomes of such studies might be useful for universities wanting to optimize the quality of courses that apply collaboration and to improve their students' learning.
Medicanes: cataloguing criteria and exploration of meteorological environments

Depressions with a similar structure to tropical cyclones, that can reach the intensity of hurricanes, are occasionally generated in the Mediterranean. Such phenomena are called “medicanes”. Although the geographical dimensions of tropical oceans and the Mediterranean Sea are clearly different, the precursor mechanisms of these perturbations, based on the air-sea thermodynamic imbalance, are similar. This fact made us think about the existence of a physical parallelism between both phenomena. We tried to identify such cases from historical images of the Meteosat satellite, for the period 1982-2005. Different lists have been created, each of them increasingly delimiting the selection criteria based on the cyclone structure in the infrared channel. Some of these criteria are, for instance, the size of the cyclone, the clear existence of an eye and the lifetime of the system. This identification has been made in a subjective way. In total, twelve cases of medicanes were identified. The characterization of meteorological environments that are a precursor to medicanes can help us understand the genesis mechanisms and to improve forecasts. This study compares the values of several meteorological variables of interest in the cases of medicanes with those of cyclones catalogued in the database of the MEDEX project to try to identify the environments that favor the genesis and development of medicanes instead of other Mediterranean cyclones. In this sense, the sea surface temperature, the diabatic contribution to the local trend of surface equivalent potential temperature and an empirical index derived from the genesis of tropical cyclones are presented as possible discriminatory parameters.
ComboSplit: Combining Various Splitting Criteria for Building a Single Decision Tree

Typically existing decision tree building algorithms use a single splitting criterion such as Gain Ratio and Gini Index. In this paper three existing splitting criteria are compared within the framework of the C4.5 decision tree building algorithm. We also propose a technique called ComboSplit for combining the existing splitting criteria to build a single decision tree. We experimentally evaluate the decision trees obtained by various existing splitting criteria and ComboSplit. Ten publicly available datasets are used in the experiments. Decision Trees obtained by ComboSplit generally have higher prediction accuracy than the trees obtained by the existing splitting criteria.
Reliability of ENSO Dynamical Predictions

Abstract In this study, ensemble predictions were constructed using two realistic ENSO prediction models and stochastic optimals. By applying a recently developed theoretical framework, the authors have explored several important issues relating to ENSO predictability including reliability measures of ENSO dynamical predictions and the dominant precursors that control reliability. It was found that prediction utility (R), defined by relative entropy, is a useful measure for the reliability of ENSO dynamical predictions, such that the larger the value of R, the more reliable the prediction. The prediction utility R consists of two components, a dispersion component (DC) associated with the ensemble spread and a signal component (SC) determined by the predictive mean signals. Results show that the prediction utility R is dominated by SC. Using a linear stochastic dynamical system, SC was examined further and found to be intrinsically related to the leading eigenmode amplitude of the initial conditions. This.
Variability of projected terrestrial biosphere responses to elevated levels of atmospheric CO 2 due to uncertainty in biological nitrogen fixation

Abstract. Including a terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycle in Earth system models has led to substantial attenuation of predicted biosphere–climate feedbacks. However, the magnitude of this attenuation remains uncertain. A particularly important but highly uncertain process is biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), which is the largest natural input of N to land ecosystems globally. In order to quantify this uncertainty and estimate likely effects on terrestrial biosphere dynamics, we applied six alternative formulations of BNF spanning the range of process formulations in current state-of-the-art biosphere models within a common framework, the O-CN model: a global map of static BNF rates, two empirical relationships between BNF and other ecosystem variables (net primary productivity and evapotranspiration), two process-oriented formulations based on plant N status, and an optimality-based approach. We examined the resulting differences in model predictions under ambient and elevated atmospheric [CO2] and found that the predicted global BNF rates and their spatial distribution for contemporary conditions were broadly comparable, ranging from 108 to 148 Tg N yr−1 (median: 128 Tg N yr−1), despite distinct regional patterns associated with the assumptions of each approach. Notwithstanding, model responses in BNF rates to elevated levels of atmospheric [CO2] (+200 ppm) ranged between −4 Tg N yr−1 (−3 %) and 56 Tg N yr−1 (+42 %) (median: 7 Tg N yr−1 (+8 %)). As a consequence, future projections of global ecosystem carbon (C) storage (+281 to +353 Pg C, or +13 to +16 %) as well as N2O emission (−1.6 to +0.5 Tg N yr−1, or −19 to +7 %) differed significantly across the different model formulations. Our results emphasize the importance of better understanding the nature and magnitude of BNF responses to change-induced perturbations, particularly through new empirical perturbation experiments and improved model representation.
Costly innovators versus cheap imitators: a discrete choice model

Two alternative ways to an innovative product or process are R&D investment or imitation of others’ innovation. In this article we propose a discrete choice model with costly innovators and free imitators and study the endogenous dynamics of price and demand in a market with many firms producing a homogeneous good. The basic idea is that imitation works better the more innovators are around, with a trade off between the advantages of the two strategies. First we look at innovation as costs reduction in a perfectly competitive market. Here we also study the stabilizing or destabilizing effect of memory and asynchronous updating of strategies. Then we introduce endogenous technological progress and analyze the determinants of the speed of price reduction as well as the occurrence of an initial oscillatory phase that precedes convergence. An extension of the model introduces product differentiation addressing the effects of innovation on demand. While the basic version of the model have stable equilibrium or cyclical behaviour, there are conditions for chaotic behaviour of price and agents’ choices. This is the case of long memory and asynchronous updating of strategies, as well as with innovations affecting demand. These results indicate how the dynamical interplay of innovators and imitators can contribute to markets variability.
An examination of the effect of trailing edge flaps on swashplateless rotor performance

This paper evaluates the effect of trailing edge flaps on swashplateless rotor performance in hover and in forward flight. The baseline rotor to which the performance predictions are compared is the UH-60A. The swashplateless variant maintains similar hub and blade properties with a reduced torsional frequency and the addition of an integrated trailing edge flap on each blade. The comprehensive analysis includes the inertial and aerodynamic contributions of the trailing edge flaps. In hover, thrust sweeps of the swashplateless rotor show that high index angle increases the figure of merit compared to the baseline rotor for a small range of thrust. In forward flight, two different wake vorticity patterns, the first a single blade tip vortex and the second a tip vortex plus trailed vortices at the span-wise edges of the flap, are used to demonstrate the sensitivity of the performance prediction to the wake. Using full vehicle trim and the second of the two wake patterns, the swashplateless rotor power prediction is 1% lower than the baseline at low speed, μ = 0.16, and increases to 11% higher than the baseline at μ = 0.30. Reducing the equivalent flat plate area of the swashplateless rotor by 20% to simulate the removal of the swashplate leads to a decrease of 5% in the power prediction across the range of forward flight speed, compared to the baseline.
Mean square exponential stability of generalized stochastic neural networks with time‐varying delays

In this paper, the mean square exponential stability problem is dealt with a class of uncertain generalized stochastic neural networks with time‐varying delays. By introducing a new Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional, improved delay‐dependent stability criteria are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The activation functions are assumed to be of more general descriptions, which generalize and improve those earlier methods. Finally, a numerical example is given to show that our results are less conservative and more efficient than the existing stability criteria. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society
Industry research production and linkages with academia: evidence from UK science parks

The aim of this study is to identify the research areas, geographic regions, university- industry (U-I) collaborations, quality, and impact of the research associated with the research-intensive organisations based in the UK science parks. An analysis of scholarly publications (1975-2010) revealed three main research domains: food-biotechnology and bio-pharmacology; physics and material engineering; and agro-biotechnology. These three types of research were mainly produced in East England, South East England, and Scotland, respectively. Only a quarter of the research results from inter-institutional cooperation. The high involvement of private sector in the physics and material engineering domain involves the highest rate of U-I collaboration but the lowest citation impact. The research quality, defined in terms of the journals where research is published, is significantly higher than the average across research areas, although its impact is not significantly higher than the national average. In terms of inter-sector differences, the higher the involvement of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Research Institutions (RIs) the greater the impact of the publications produced. The low level of impact of private research suggests that citations may not be the best indicator to assess academic researchers with close and operational linkages with industry.
Work in progress: Spectrum data mining in the cognitive radio

With the rapid development of wireless communications, the ever increasing demand for limited spectrum resources will eventually cause spectrum scarcity problem. Cognitive Radio offers a solution to this problem, which intelligently detect unused spectrum and share it, without harmful interference to primary users. It has been a research hotspot on how to analyze and utilize licensed spectrum to meet the increasing need for bands. Aiming at such a problem, this paper presents a CR system model and then proposes the scheme for spectrum data mining from the large-scale of TV spectrum sensing data. We designed three levels of information mining: statistical information, space clustering, and sequential pattern mining. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the data mining scheme.
Is the comb jelly really to blame for it all? Mnemiopsis leidyi and the ecological concerns about the Caspian Sea

The appearance in 1995 of the alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Caspian Sea attracted considerable attention. In 1989, enormous mass development of the comb jelly in the Black Sea coincided with a breakdown of the commercially highly important anchovy Engraulis encrasi- cholus fishery in this area. This collapse probably resulted from multiple factors, among which overfishing and food competition from the ctenophore played a prominent role, enhanced by preda- tion of M. leidyi on the early life stages of the anchovy. The abundance of food due to the depletion of the anchovy stock permitted a population explosion of M. leidyi. Subsequently, reduced fishing pressure allowed recovery of the anchovy stock and led to a new peak in anchovy landings in the Black Sea in 1995. Moreover, changes in the atmospheric and oceanic patterns in the northern hemisphere in the second half of the 1980s could have altered the composition of the phyto- and zooplankton communities and thus the food base of the small pelagic fish species. In the second half of the 1990s, the invasion of the Black Sea by another alien ctenophore, Beroe ovata, preying on ctenophores, raised hopes that this species could control M. leidyi. However, it is uncertain whether the preying capacity of B. ovata is sufficient to control M. leidyi in other than locally favourable conditions. At the present time, judging by the recent development in the Black Sea, the invasion of the Caspian Sea by M. leidyi does not yet seem to have reached maximum intensity. More consistent and comparable investigations in the Caspian and Black Seas are necessary to improve the protec- tion, management and exploitation of the stocks of small pelagic fishes, in order to increase their capacity to resist and survive unforeseeable disturbances of their ecosystem by invaders such as M. leidyi. In view of the new invasion by this ctenophore, research into the exploitation of the Caspian kilka Clupeonella spp. stocks and the influence of atmospheric teleconnection patterns on ecological conditions in the Caspian Sea is of particular importance.
Cu(II) Extraction in Ionic Liquids and Chlorinated Solvents: Temperature Effect

Room temperature ionic liquids have been currently used in liquid/liquid extraction processes in order to substitute conventional organic solvents. In this paper, a series of chlorinated solvents and 1-alkyl-3-me- thylimidazolium-based ionic liquids were selected to study the extraction efficiency of a lipophilic polya- mine 1,1,7,7-tetraethyl-4-tetradecyldiethylenetriamine (TE14DT) towards the model ion Cu(II) in such dif-ferent media. The effect of temperature on the extraction efficiency was also investigated. The metal ion par-tition was found to be strongly dependent on both the nature of the solvent and on the working temperature. The viscosity of ionic liquids and the water content in ionic liquid were found to affect the extraction effi-ciency of TE14DT. The chemical nature of the cation of ionic liquids, and in particular the alkyl chain length on imidazolium ring, also seemed to be important in determining the efficiency of the extraction process. Finally, preliminary experiments on back-extraction of Cu(II) ions from ionic liquid also revealed interesting hints to the development of a continuous transport process.
The Role of Allocative Efficiency in a Decade of Recovery

The Chilean economy experienced a decade of sustained growth in aggregate output and productivity after the 1982 financial crisis. This paper analyzes the role of allocative efficiency on total factor productivity (TFP) in the manufacturing sector by applying the methodology of Hsieh and Klenow (2009) to establishment data from the Chilean manufacturing census. We find that a reduction in resource misallocation accounts for about 40 percent of the growth in manufacturing TFP between 1983 and 1996. In particular, a reduction in the least productive plants' implicit output subsidies is the primary reason for the reduction in resource misallocation during this period. Moreover, these plants enjoyed above industry-average growth in physical productivity, contributing to the overall improvement in efficient TFP after the financial crisis. Our evidence suggests that Chile's banking reform during the early and mid-1980s is likely to have played an important role in the observed improvement in allocative efficiency. (Copyright: Elsevier)