Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing Finite-Frequency Regional Pn Velocity Models

Abstract : Head waves and Pn waves in particular are important in studying the predominantly layered velocity structure of the Earth and discriminating the seismic sources. Conventional studies of head waves have used high-frequency (ray) approximation in wave propagation. While recent studies have shown the diffractive nature and the three dimensional (3-D) sensitivities of finite-frequency turning waves, analogs of head waves in a continuous velocity structure, the finite-frequency effects and sensitivity kernels of head waves are yet to he carefully examine% We present the results of a numerical study on the finite-frequency behavior of head waves. A reference model with a low-velocity layer over a high-velocity half-space is used. Velocity anomalies of various sixes are placed on either side of the interface at different locations. A 3-D fourth- order staggered-grid finite-difference method is used to calculate synthetic waveforms, and travel time anomalies are measured by cross correlations of seismograms for models with and without velocity anomalies. The results show that finite-frequency head waves are sensitive to the 3-D velocity perturbation in a more complex way than predicted by ray theory. The peak travel time sensitivity is located near the two piercing points at which the head wave reaches and leaves the interface. The Sensitivity is much smaller elsewhere on the ray path. Fresnel zones can be observed from the pattern of positive and negative sensitivities, with the strongest negative sensitivity in the first Fresnel zone. Unlike turning waves, the head wave has a nonzero sensitivity right beneath the interface along the source-receiver path. But at some distance below the interface, the sensitivity has a local minimum. We are in the process of constructing 3-D full-wave sensitivity kernels from 3-D reference velocity models and compare the measured travel time anomalies with the predictions from the 3-D sensitivity kernels.
Mineralogical and Microbial Controls on Iron Reduction in a Contaminated Aquifer-Wetland System

Mineralogical and Microbial Controls on Iron Reduction in a Contaminated AquiferWetland System. (December 2010) Andrea Melissa Howson, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Anne Raymond Iron reduction is an important redox reaction in anaerobic environments for both biological and chemical cycling of elements such as carbon. However, the controls on the rate and extent of iron reduction are poorly understood and unlike other major terminal electron accepting processes, iron reduction has the added complexity that its oxidized form (ferric iron) exists primarily as one of several solid phases in environments with pH greater than 3. Thus, the distribution and form of ferric iron minerals are important controls on iron reduction in natural systems. For the first phase of this research a series of sequential chemical extractions was performed on a core taken from a landfill-leachate-contaminated wetland-aquifer system at the Norman Landfill, Norman, OK. The phases targeted by the sequential extractions consist of easily water soluble salts and ions present in the soil solution; weakly acid soluble iron (such as siderite and ankerite); easily reducible iron (such as ferrihydrite and lepidocrocite); moderately reducible iron (such as goethite, akageneite, and hematite); organically bound iron; magnetite; and pyrite. The second phase of this research involved creating in situ microcosm experiments that exposed native microbial communities to a test solution amended with 2-line ferrihydrite (Fe5HO8∙4H2O), electron
Economic Incentives of a Non-handicapping Built Environment: A Case Study of Tourism Sites in Stockholm

More than 10% of the world population comprises persons with disabilities as a result of mental, physical or sensory impairment. Nevertheless, they are legally entitled to the same rights and obligations as all other human beings. However, too often their lives are handicapped by physical and social barriers that hamper their active and full participation. Because of this, thousands of them in all parts of the globe often face a life that is segregated and debased. The ultimate responsibilities of remedying the conditions that led to their impairment and dealing with the consequences of disabilities rest with the national governments. In spite of this, it doesn’t deprive individuals of contributing their quota to national development. In a bid to look at disabilities and related matters from the social perspective – the traditional approach - the study was undertaken to examine the economic benefits of making the built environment accessible to persons with disabilities by focusing on the tourist industry. It concentrated on sites within Stockholm and its environs. For many years policies and advocacy strategies were based on different social models however, since duty bearers including the governments have always been lamenting on the cost of inclusive society, I feel it is critical that this area is research to validate the fears. Therefore, it is anticipated that the findings will serve as a source of information for policy makers, academics, researchers, non-governmental organizations, the business community, and other institutions interested in the pursue of equal rights and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. The major tasks of the study were to: Examine how the business community views persons with disabilities, Investigate awareness among decision-makers of the market potential of persons with disabilities, Examine the strategies of integrating them into the overall market mix and why, Identify some profit indicators and constraints posing as major hindrances. The major findings are: There is a high level of awareness of the potential market of persons with disabilities and those who have decided to seize the opportunities are reaping the financial rewards as manifested by an increase in accessible rooms, a high-rate occupancy and the reasonable impact the accessible rooms have on the overall occupancy rate. The major constraints are lack of experts and awareness. Keywords: persons with disabilities non-handicapping, built environment, accessibility, disability, universal design, and conventional design.
BIOLOGICAL, ADVANCED OXIDATION & CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR OLIVE MILL EFFLUENTS TREATMENT - A REVIEW

The Olive Mill Effluent (OME) contains a high organic load, acidic pH and several recalcitrant and toxic substances, such as phenolic compounds and lipids hard to degrading. Due to this containing the OME cause a serious environmental descent, such as coloring of natural water, contamination of surface and ground waters, alterations in soil quality and odor nuisance. However different studies and research were carried out toward the development of efficient treatment technologies, to avoid theses environmental problems, including various physico-chemical and biological processes. Herein a brief review on the available worldwide olive mill effluent treatment processes used (Biological, Advanced oxidation and biochemical) processes.
Modelling the potential role of control strategies on Ebola virus disease dynamics

Modelling the potential role of control strategies on Ebola virus disease dynamics Sylvie Diane Djiomba Njankou Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa. Thesis: MSc. (Mathematical Biology) December 2015 The most deadly Ebola disease epidemic ever was still ongoing as of June 2015 in West Africa. It started in Guinea, where the first cases were recorded in March 2014. Control strategies, aiming at stopping the transmission chain of Ebola disease were publicised through national and international media and were successful in Liberia. Using two different approaches, the dynamics of Ebola disease is described in this thesis. First, a six compartments mathematical model is formulated to investigate the role of media campaigns on Ebola transmission. The model includes tweets or messages sent by individuals with different disease status through the media. The media campaigns reproduction number is computed and used to investigate the stability of the disease free steady state. The presence of a backward bifurcation as well as a forward bifurcation are shown together with the existence and local stability of the endemic equilibrium. We concluded through numerical simulations, that messages sent through media have a time limited beneficial effect on the reduction of Ebola cases and media campaigns must be spaced out in order to be more efficacious. Second, we use a seven compartments model to describe the evolution of the disease in the population when educational campaigns, active case-finding and pharmaceutical interventions are implemented as controls against the disease. We prove the existence of an optimal control set and analyse the necessary and sufficient conditions, optimality and transversality conditions. Using data from ii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za
ZVS based current fed converter for PVsystem with voltage doubler

In this paper Incremental Conductance (IC) algorithm for photovoltaic (PV) system with full bridge isolated current fed DC/DC converter with output voltage doubler is proposed. This algorithm is used to obtain the high efficiency and to protect the systems from the variations of the temperature and irradiance. In this paper maximum output power tracking and different modes of operations of proposed DC/DC converter is presented. The PV output is fed to the current fed DC/DC converter to obtain the high output voltageand it is controlled by the Proportional Integral (PI) controller. Soft switching technique is also implemented to improve the performance of converter. The Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) is maintained for all switches in the converter. Voltage doubler is connected in the high voltage side which results in twice the amount of input voltage with reduced components. The MATLAB/Simulink toolbox is used to model the PV system with full-bridge isolated current fed DC/DC converter and simulation results validate the working of the proposed DC/DC converter
Theoretical and numerical structure for reacting shock waves

Several remarkable theoretical and computational properties of reacting shock waves are both documented and analyzed. In particular, for sufficiently small heat release or large reaction rate, we demonstrate that the reacting compressible Navier–Stokes equations have dynamically stable weak detonations which occur in bifurcating wave patterns from strong detonation initial data. In the reported calculations, an increase in reaction rate by a factor of 5 is sufficient to create the bifurcation from a spiked nearly Z-N-D detonation to the wave pattern with a precursor weak detonation. The numerical schemes used in the calculations are fractional step methods based on the use of a second order Godunov method in the inviscid hydrodynamic sweep; on sufficiently coarse meshes in inviscid calculations, these fractional step schemes exhibit qualitatively similar but purely numerical bifurcating wave patterns with numerical weak detonations. We explain this computational phenomenon theoretically through a new class of nonphysical discrete travelling waves for the difference scheme which are numerical weak detonations. The use of simplified model equations both to predict and analyze the theoretical and numerical phenomena is emphasized.
Childlessness and the concentration of reproduction in Austria

In this paper we study the changes of reproduction concentration among women, the levels of childlessness, individual factors influencing childlessness, and the contribution of childlessness to the concentration of reproduction in Austria for the female age cohorts 1917-1961. International comparative studies find a decline in the concentration of reproduction in the last century for all western countries, a trend that was reversed for the most recent cohorts that have reached the end of their reproductive period. This reversal was mainly triggered by an increase of childlessness, a result that can be confirmed also for Austria. The country has one of the highest levels of childlessness, both currently and historically, and changes in the level of childlessness are very pronounced. Austria has very low fertility, too; between the world wars it even witnessed the lowest period fertility in the world. While cohort fertility rates peaked during the baby-boom with 2.5 children per women, fertility decreased considerably for more recent age cohorts. The recent changes in fertility can be attributed partly to composition effects resulting from the educational expansion of the last decades. As our analysis shows, even in the times of the baby boom, cohort fertility exceeded the reproductive level only for the lowest of eight different educational groups, and this group is rapidly decreasing in size. Besides the strong impact of educational on cohort fertility, childlessness and concentration measures of reproduction, a detailed study based on micro-census data reveals strong urban-rural differentials in the demographic changes of the last decades. We can conclude that the recent re-increase in reproduction concentration is an entirely urban phenomenon. Micro-census data also allow for the study of intergenerational dynamics. Comparing the educational level of women with their parents’ educational attainment, we found a strong positive effect on childlessness of downward mobility in the lower end of the educational spectrum. In the upper end of the educational spectrum we found a strong positive effect on childlessness of upward mobility.
Intraspecific Variation in Leaf Traits Across an Environmental Gradient in the Cape Floristic Provence of South Africa

Intraspecific variability has been an overlooked and under-investigated driving force behind biodiversity. Both interspecific and intraspecific variability contribute to species community assembly, and the South African Cape Floristic Region (CFR), as an area of remarkable biodiversity, provides the perfect opportunity to the latter. The objective of this research is to study intraspecific variability in leaf traits across three biomes that span rainfall and temperature gradients, and to assess the partitioning of that variability across biomes, across shrubs within biomes, and within shrubs of four focal species Rushia intricata, Aridaria noctiflorum, Diospyros austro-africana and Chrysocoma ciliata. All collections were made in the towns of Calvinia, Nieuwoudtville, and Sutherland from July 28-August 27, 2014. ANOVAs were performed using the statistical package R. The results suggest that for all species except Diospyros austro-africana, most of the variability occurs at the within-shrub level. This study also suggests that the focal species, with the exception of Rushia intricata, are in fact responding to environmental conditions. Introduction The evolution of biodiversity has always been a topic of great interest in biology. Accounting for the adaptive radiation of species within a community and understanding their interactions has been an enormous challenge taken by evolutionary biologists and ecologists to understand the reasons and implications behind species diversity and their coexistence in any given biome (Messier, et al., 2010). It is no surprise that rainforests, where biodiversity is high, can be very attractive locations for research. Even more interesting, however, are locations where the environmental factors are, theoretically, not favorable to the adaptive radiation of many species, and yet high levels of diversity are present. One of these locations is the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa, where species diversity is so high that some have called it one of the world’s floral kingdoms (Golblatt, 2002). The landscape of the CFR ranges from mountains of different elevations to arid plains and fertile fields, each influenced by different amounts of rain, temperature, types of soil, and degree of grazing. These ecosystems are made of their own unique species assemblages,
Official population statistics and the Human Mortality Database estimates of populations aged 80+ in Germany and nine other European countries

A systematic comparison of the Human Mortality Database and official estimates of populations aged 80+ is presented. We consider statistical series for East and West Germany and also series for Denmark, England and Wales, France, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland. The Human Mortality Database (HMD, www.mortality.org) methodology re-lies on the methods of extinct and almost extinct generations. HMD estimates are precise if the quality of death data is high and the migration among the elderly is negligible. The comparisons between the HMD and the official populations are not fully appropriate for the 1990s since the HMD calculations are related to official population estimates. A significant overestimation of the male population aged 80+ and especially 90+ between the censuses of 1970 and 1987 was found in West Germany. The relative surplus of men aged 90+ increased from 5 to 20 percent, which expressed in absolute numbers indicates an increase from 2 to 10 thousand. In 1971-1987 the of-ficial death rates have fallen dramatically to implausibly low values. In 1987-88 death rates based on the official populations suddenly jumped to the HMD death rates due to the census re-estimation. In the 1990s an accelerated decrease in male death rates has resumed. For other coun-tries, the relative and absolute deviations from the HMD estimates were especially high in Rus-sia, Hungary, and England and Wales. Regression analysis reveals common factors of the rela-tive deviation from the HMD populations. The deviation tends to decrease with time, increase with age, be higher during inter-census periods than in census years, and to decrease after the introduction of population registers. (Key words: aging; elderly; population estimates; quality of statistics)
Review of achievements in the optimization coding theory for satellite channels and Earth remote sensing systems: 25 years of evolution

Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow 117997, Russia E-mail: zolotasd@yandex.ru Ryazan State Radio Engineering University, Ryazan 390005, Russia Е-mail: g_ovechkin@mail.ru United Radioelectronic Technologies, Moscow 111033, Russia Е-mail: ser_averin@yandex.ru L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana 010008, Kazakhstan Republic Е-mail: satybaldina_dzh@enu.kz Institute of Electronics, Ha Noi 122108, Vietnam Е-mail: caotoanryazan@gmail.com
Introduction to moduli spaces of connections: some explicit constructions

We give some concrete examples of moduli spaces of connections. Precisely, we explain how to explicitly construct the moduli spaces of rank 2 fuchsian systems and logarithmic connections on the Riemann sphere with 4 poles. The former ones are affine cubic surfaces; the latter ones are analytically isomorphic to affine surfaces but not algebraically: they do not carry non constant regular functions. We end with some remark on arbitrary number of poles.
Poachers and gamekeepers: processes of class-based organisational closure and usurpation in Sri Lanka’s emerging private sector

Abstract In a qualitative study based on 25 interviews, we examine highly skilled workers’ accounts of class-based closure in emerging occupational sectors in Sri Lanka. Our findings reveal holes in the entrance criteria firms demanded to secure their elite status. Highlighting how individuals who were excluded at junior levels negotiate entry at mid/senior levels, we show how ‘poachers turn into gamekeepers’, illuminating the dialectical relationship between exclusion and inclusionary usurpation. We contextualise organisational closure, highlighting the influence of wider societal effects on the process.
Barrier and Platform Reefs of the Vietnamese Coast of the South China Sea

The composition and spatial distribution of the coral communities of the barrier reefs of Giang Bo, Ly Son island and the platform reef at Bach Long Vi Island were described in detail for the first time for Vietnamese waters. In common, more 260 species of corals and their accompanying species of macrobenthos were found. Acroporids, poritids, and mussids among the scleractinian corals dominated. Monospecific aggregations of Alcyonarian Sinularia and Lobophytum and the hydroid Millepora were rather numerous. Based on its geomorphological characteristics, coral species diversity and zonal distribution, the reefs of entire area are comparable with ribbon and platform reefs on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and to the barrier reefs of the Philippines and Indian Ocean.
Complex haemodynamic changes in vivo after adrenomedullin administration in rats

Adrenomedullin (ADM) is a peptide that has potent vasodilatory effect in several vascular beds. Its effect on the haemody- namics of the systemic-pulmonary circulation is unknown. We studied the kinetics of ADM action in rats in vivo with pulmo- nary hypertension. Sprague-Dawley rats, 6 weeks old (280-340 g), were divided into control (n = 5), MCT (n = 6) and ADM (n = 6) groups and received a single intraperitoneal dose of vehicle, monocrotaline (60 mg/kg b.wt.) and ADM(1-50) (3 nmol/kg b.wt.) respec- tively. Three weeks later, systemic (Ps) and direct pulmonary arterial mean pressures (Pa, mmHg) were measured after ADM administration (6.6 pmol) every 2 min for up to 18 min. Ps declined at 2 min in MCT and ADM groups (79.4 ± 3.5 to 76.6 ± 3.8 and 63.7 ± 5.5 to 58.7 ± 1.1 respectively), but was delayed until 4 min in the Control group (68.5 ± 1.4 to 61.8 ± 1.9). There were no significant differences in Ps 6 to 12 min following ADM administration between the groups. At 12 min, there was a 30.8 % (54.9 ± 4.0) decrease in MCT group compared to baseline (p = 0.0005). Similar kinetic patterns were observed in Pa in all three groups with a marked decrease (28.4 %) from 18.0 ± 1.0 to 12.9 ± 0.7, p = 0.0007, in MCT group after 12 min. The hypotensive effect of ADM in the Pa was shorter (8 min) in the ADM pretreated animals compared to either control or MCT groups (12 min). The results indicate that ADM vasodilates more rapidly in MCT and ADM pretreated rats. The effect of ADM is pro- nounced and long lasting in MCT- and vehicle-treated rats. It may be explained by the regulated clearance of ADM and related receptors. J Clin Basic Cardiol 2001; 4: 79-82.
Military Spending and External Debt Burden in Nigeria

This study explores the relationship between external debt and military spending in Nigeria over the period 1986 – 2011. The study applied Granger causality, vector autoregressive, variance decomposition and impulse response techniques. The outcome of the results showed long run and a unidirectional causal relationship between military spending and external debt. The response of external debt due to random shock in military spending was positive from the first period up to the fifth period and thereafter became negative all through. The impulse response had a sustained positive short run but negative in the long run horizon. The variance decomposition test revealed that military expenditure own shock on external debt steadily increase external debt. The implication of this study is that any innovations in military policy that does not create spin off effect will trigger external debt burden stock in Nigeria.