Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Volcanic, tectonic and climate controls on lacustrine sedimentary supplies over the last millenia in NE Chilean Patagonia (Lake Esponja, Aysen, 45°S)

The environmental variability of Northern Chilean Patagonia during the last millennia is evaluated using a multi-proxy analysis of sediment cores from Lake Esponja (45°S 72°W) to decipher if the sediment deposition is controlled by volcanic eruptions, landslides induced by earthquake or heavy rainfall. The lake is located in a glacio-tectonic valley in Patagonia. The organic-rich clayey silt sediment with low biogenic silica content was analysed for grain size, magnetic susceptibility, organic matter, biogenic silica content and diatom assemblages, mineralogy (X-ray diffraction), organic (IRMS C and N analyses) and inorganic (XRF core-scanner) geochemistry and glass shard major composition (Microprobe, SEM). The combination of 210Pb, 137Cs, 14C and tephrochronology indicates an averaged accumulation rate of 0.4 mm/year, leading to a record of ~3.5 kyr within 154 cm. The sedimentary geochemistry records changes in volcanic supplies, diatom productivity and detrital inputs. The sediments were interrupted by millimetric to centimetric layers corresponding to tephra deposition related to explosive eruptions of nearby volcanoes Macá, Melimoyu and Hudson. Concerning the diatoms, the dominant planktonic species (80–150 cm) are replaced by benthic species in a transition interval (55–80 cm) and then by Surirella spp. in the upper core. This last genus indicates a closure of the basin ~2 ka ago, probably related to an uplift linked to a rejuvenation of the Mañihuales fault. This local change could reflect regional tectonic instability. Indeed, a partial earthquake rupture occurred around ~AD100 along the southern part of the Valdivia segment, recorded as a mass transport deposit in Aysén fjord sedimentation. The fine detrital input varies over time with more variable Si/Al values in the lower part of the LEs14 core than in the upper 80 cm. The higher values may reflect wetter conditions, leading to an higher lake level and more turbid conditions in agreement with changes in diatom assemblages.
On the quantisation of gravity by embedding spacetime in a higher dimensional space

Certain difficulties of quantum gravity can be avoided if we embed the spacetime $V_4$ into a higher dimensional space $V_N$; then our spacetime is merely a 4-surface in $V_N$. What remains is conceptually not so difficult: just to quantise this 4-surface. Our formal procedure generalises our version of Stueckelberg's proper time method of worldline quantisation. We write the equations of $V_4$ in the covariant canonical form starting from a model Lagrangian which contains the classical Einstein gravity as a particular case. Then we perform quantisation in the Schr\"odinger picture by using the concepts of a phase functional and wave functional. As a result we obtain the uncertainty relations which imply that an observer is `aware' either of a particular spacetime surface and has no information about other spacetime surfaces (which represent alternative histories); or conversely, he loses information about a particular $V_4$ whilst he obtains some information about other spacetimes (and histories). Equivalently, one cannot measure to an arbitrary precision both the metric on $V_4$ and matter distribution on various alternative spacetime surfaces. We show how this special case in the `coordinate' representations can be generalised to an arbitrary vector in an abstract Hilbert space.
Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on soil organic matter priming and net carbon balance in alpine meadows

Fertilizers‐induced priming effects of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition influences net carbon balance and nutrient release. We hypothesize that very strong limitation of plant productivity and microbial activities by nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), common in Tibetan meadows, retard SOM decomposition and turnover. Consequently, N and/or P fertilization will induce priming effects of SOM and have implications for carbon balance. Soils from a nine‐year fertilization experiment (N alone, P alone, NP together, and control) from a Tibetan alpine meadow were used to investigate priming effect of SOM and carbon balance after addition of 13C labeled glucose. N and/or P fertilization acidified soil by 0.5 pH unit, decreased SOM content, and increased total and available N, total P. Regardless of fertilization, glucose addition accelerated SOM decomposition with priming effects of 30–60 μg C g−1 soil during 78 days. Alleviation of N and P limitation by N and NP fertilization lowered the priming effect by 17% and 14%, respectively, but P fertilization increased priming effect by 67%. The negative correlation of priming effect intensity with SOM, nitrate or total N, and microbial biomass contents indicated that fertilization‐induced differences in soil N and the microbial community are responsible for the priming effects. Positive correlation of carbon balance with total N and ammonium contents suggested that soil N accounts for carbon sequestration. Therefore, long‐term N and/or P fertilization accelerate SOM decomposition and reduce SOM storage in alpine meadows, of which P fertilization induces the highest priming effect and the lowest SOM storage.
Evolution and dynamics of shear-layer structures in near-wall turbulence

Near-wall flow structures in turbulent shear flows are analysed, with particular emphasis on the study of their space–time evolution and connection to turbulence production. The results are obtained from investigation of a database generated from direct numerical simulation of turbulent channel flow at a Reynolds number of 180 based on half-channel width and friction velocity. New light is shed on problems associated with conditional sampling techniques, together with methods to improve these techniques, for use both in physical and numerical experiments. The results clearly indicate that earlier conceptual models of the processes associated with near-wall turbulence production, based on flow visualization and probe measurements need to be modified. For instance, the development of asymmetry in the spanwise direction seems to be an important element in the evolution of near-wall structures in general, and for shear layers in particular. The inhibition of spanwise motion of the near-wall streaky pattern may be the primary reason for the ability of small longitudinal riblets to reduce turbulent skin friction below the value for a flat surface.
Towards shifted NMF for improved monaural separation

The ability of Non-negative Matrix Factorisation (NMF) to decompose magnitude spectrogram into meaningful entities has found use in many audio applications. NMF can be used to factorise audio spectrogram of a music signal into parts based frequency basis functions which typically corresponds to notes and chords in music. However, these pitched basis functions needed to be clustered to their respective sources. Many clustering algorithms have been proposed to group these basis functions. Recently, Shifted Non-negative Matrix Factorisation (SNMF) based methods have been used to reconstruct individual sound sources. Clustering of basis functions using SNMF uses a Constant Q Transform (CQT) of the frequency basis functions. Here, we argue that incorporating the CQT into the SNMF model can be used to better the separation quality of individual sources. An algorithm is presented to estimate sound sources and is an improvement to the existing techniques. Results are compared to show the improvement.
Land‐use change in the Amazon decreases ant diversity but increases ant‐mediated predation

Food production in Amazonian traditional societies often occurs through shifting cultivation that uses few pesticides and relies on ecosystem services provided by natural enemies. However, these sustainable agricultural practices are being threatened by increasing livestock and mechanised agriculture. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the conversion from Amazon Forest to anthropogenic land uses (shifting cultivation and pasture) on α‐ and β‐diversity, functional groups, and ant‐mediated predation. Three types of habitats were sampled: forest (eight sites), shifting cultivation (five sites) and pasture (seven sites). The ant assembly of each site was sampled using pitfall traps in the epigeic and hypogeic strata. Beetle larvae were used to evaluate the predation function. Negative effects on epigeic ants and functional groups were found to be greater in sites where anthropogenic land use was more intensive (pasture) than in those where it was less intensive (shifting cultivation). Furthermore, this change increased the predation of insects in shifting cultivation and pasture compared to that in forest. This increase in insect predation was due to high activity of Ectatomma brunneum Smith, 1858, an environmental indicator for shifting cultivation and pasture. The increase in the number of predations in shifting cultivation and pasture may be beneficial from the perspective of biological pest control. However, this relationship needs to be better understood because the high presence and predatory activity of Ectatomma brunneum in these environments may be one mechanism by which α‐ and β‐diversity decrease through antagonistic interactions and dominance.
Multisensory Pseudo‐Haptics for Rendering Manual Interactions with Virtual Objects

Recent advances in extended reality (XR) technologies make seeing and hearing virtual objects commonplace, yet strategies for synthesizing haptic interactions with virtual objects continue to be limited. Two design principles govern the rendering of believable and intuitive haptic feedback: movement through open space must feel “free” while contact with virtual objects must feel stiff. Herein, a novel multisensory approach that conveys proprioception and effort through illusory visual feedback and refers to the wrist, via a bracelet interface, discrete and continuous interaction forces that would otherwise occur at the hands and fingertips, is presented. Results demonstrate that users reliably discriminate the stiffness of virtual buttons when provided with multisensory pseudohaptic feedback, comprising tactile pseudohaptic feedback (discrete vibrotactile feedback and continuous squeeze cues in a bracelet interface) and visual pseudohaptic illusions of touch interactions. Compared to the use of tactile or visual pseudohaptic feedback alone, multisensory pseudohaptic feedback expands the range of physical stiffnesses that are intuitively associated with the rendered virtual interactions and reduces individual differences in physical‐to‐virtual stiffness mappings. This multisensory approach, which leaves users' hands unencumbered, provides a flexible framework for synthesizing a wide array of touch‐enabled interactions in XR, with great potential for enhancing user experiences.
Modeling electrical transport in blend heterojunction organic solar cells

In order to understand how to enhance the performance of blend heterojunction organic solar cells, we have developed a theoretical model that enables us to investigate the impact of a number of materials and device parameters on device performance. A full description of the charge transport of photogenerated holes and electrons in a continuum model of the blend is given. The injection of charges at anode and cathode is treated according to previous models. The input of our model is the optical absorption in the active layer of the cell, as calculated within previous optical models, and measured as well as estimated transport parameters. By applying the model to devices with the active layer consisting of an alternating copolymer of fluorene blended with a fullerene derivative, we conclude that the most limiting parameter in these devices is the low hole mobility in the blend. Electron-hole recombination is strongly suppressed compared to Langevin recombination, due to the donor-acceptor separation.
High-energy emission from pulsars in polar-cap models with curvature-radiation-induced cascades

For a subclass of polar-cap models based on electromagnetic cascades induced by curvature radiation (CR) we calculate broad-band high-energy spectra of pulsed emission expected for classical and millisecond pulsars. The spectra are a combination of curvature and synchrotron components. The spectrum of the curvature component breaks at 150 MeV, and neither its slope nor the level below this energy is compatible with phase-averaged spectra of pulsed X-ray emission inferred from observations. Spectral properties in the combined energy range of ROSAT and ASCA (0.1--10 keV) depend upon the location of the cyclotron turnover energy ect = [h¯ (e B)/(mec) ]/sin ψ in the synchrotron component. Unlike in outer-gap models, the available range of pitch angles ψ is rather narrow and confined to low values. For classical pulsars, a gradual turnover begins at ∼ 1 MeV, and the level of the synchrotron spectrum decreases. At ∼ 10 keV the curvature component eventually takes over, but with photon index α = 2/3, which disagrees with observations. For millisecond pulsars, the X-ray spectra are dominated by the synchrotron component with α≃ 1.5, and a sharp turnover into α≃ -1 at ect∼ 100 eV. Relationships of pulsed luminosity LX to spin-down luminosity Lsd are presented for classical and millisecond pulsars. We conclude that spectral properties and fluxes of pulsed non-thermal X-ray emission of some objects, like the Crab or the millisecond pulsar B1821-24, pose a challenge to the subclass of polar-cap models based on curvature and synchrotron radiation alone.
Immersion of Non-Linear Systems into Linear Systems up to Output Injection: Characteristic Equation Approach

There exists a class of non-linear systems which cannot be transformed into non-linear observer form via diffeomorphism, but can be immersed into higher dimensional non-linear observer form. This paper investigates when n dimensional non-linear systems can be immersed into (n + m)-dimensional non-linear systems in non-linear observer form, and provides a necessary and sufficient condition. We also present an algorithm to check the immersibility. In general, at the first step of the algorithm, one should solve a differential equation with m + 1 unknowns rather than solving one with n + m unknowns simultaneously. When a solution to the differential equation can be obtained, the immersibility can be checked by a recursive algorithm. Moreover, when 2m ≤ n, a straightforward algorithm is provided to check the immersibility.
Color vector quantization by competitive learning

In this paper, color vector quantization is performed by a competitive learning based clustering algorithm with some modifications that eliminate the false colors that may appear on the resulting image. The preliminary operations that must be applied to the input image pixels before the algorithm can be applied are also stated. Moreover, it is demonstrated that with this scheme, faster convergence and less computations are possible using only a small fraction of all the pixels, but at the same time producing satisfactory results. Finally the results are compared to those of the K-means clustering algorithm.
FAST AND RELIABLE OBJECT CLASSIFICATION IN VIDEO BASED ON A 3D GENERIC MODEL

We propose a new object classification approach for monocular video sequences, which allows to classify objects modelled independently from the camera position and object orientation. To achieve this independence, a simple 3D object model that represents an object as a parallelepiped is proposed. The approach is able to give good estimates of object dimensions and proposes visual reliability measures for the object dimensions. These measures give a representation of the visibility of the estimated dimension and are principally proposed to aid posterior phases of the video understanding process, as object tracking and event detection. The method obtains the 3D parallelepiped model estimation using a set of 2D moving regions (obtained in a segmentation phase), the perspective matrix transform (obtained from camera calibration using the pin-hole camera model) and predefined 3D models of expected objects in the scene. After classification, a merging step is performed to improve the classification performance by assembling 2D moving regions with better 3D model probability when together. This approach shows promising results on object classification, obtaining very high detection rates for complex situations and performing at video frame rate.
The fourth MIT-Green Bank 5 GHz survey

Le quatrieme survey MIT-Green Bank, couvrant la region en ascention droite 15.5 h-2.5 h, +37° ≤ δ ≤ 50.98°, de 3427 radiosources est presente. Les positions et densites de flux a 5 GHz sont tabulees. La distribution des indices spectraux est etudiee.
Superconducting state parameters of La100-CGaC binary metallic glasses

The theoretical investigations of the superconducting state parameters (SSP) viz. electron-phonon coupling strength λ, Coulomb pseudopotential μ*, transition temperature TC, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength NOV of six binary La100-CGaC (C = 16, 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 at. %) metallic glasses have been reported using Ashcroft’s empty core (EMC) model potential for the first time. Five local field correction functions proposed by Hartree (H), Taylor (T), Ichimaru-Utsumi (IU), Farid et al. (F) and Sarkar et al. (S) are used in the present investigation to study the screening influence on the aforesaid properties. It is observed that the electron-phonon coupling strength λ and the transition temperature TC are quite sensitive to the selection of the local field correction functions, whereas the Coulomb pseudopotential μ*, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength NOV show weak dependences on the local field correction functions. The TC obtained from H-local field correction function are found in qualitative agreement with available experimental data and show almost linear nature with the concentration (C) of ‘Ga’ element. A linear TC equation is proposed by fitting the present outcomes for H-local field correction function, which is in conformity with other results for the experimental data. Also, the present results are found to be in qualitative agreement with other such earlier reported data, which confirms the superconducting phase in the metallic glasses.
Modeling channel interference in an orbital angular momentum-multiplexed laser link

We study the effects of optical turbulence on the energy crosstalk among constituent orbital angular momentum (OAM) states in a vortex-based multi-channel laser communication link and determine channel interference in terms of turbulence strength and OAM state separation. We characterize the channel interference as a function of C2n and transmit OAM state, and propose probability models to predict the random fluctuations in the received signals for such architecture. Simulations indicate that turbulence-induced channel interference is mutually correlated across receive channels.
Permittivity, specific resistivity and surface roughness of silver nanolayers for plasmonic applications

We report on measurements of optical, morphological and electrical properties of silver nanolayers. The Ag films of thickness from 10 to 500 nm are deposited in e-beam evaporator. Fused silica and sapphire substrates are used with nominal root-mean-square (RMS) roughness equal 0.3 and 0.2 nm, respectively. Silver is deposited either directly on substrates or on Ge, Ni, or Ti wetting interlayer. The refractive index n and the extinction coefficient κ of Ag films are derived from spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectance measurements carried in air in the spectral range from 0.6 to 6.5 eV (2200 – 193 nm) using a rotating analyzer ellipsometer (V-VASE, J.A. Woollam Co.). Surface roughness is measured using AFM (Ntegra NT-MDT) under tapping mode in air with sharp etalon probes and 5:1 aspect ratio. Ag layers of 10 and 30 nm thickness have nearly the same RMS roughness when deposited at temperatures from 180 to 350 K. The lowest RMS=0.2 nm is achieved for 10 nm film Ag/Ge evaporated at 295 K. The sheet resistance of the Ag films is measured using two methods: the van der Pauw method with the electrical contacts located on perimeters of the samples and four probes contacting the samples at points lying in a straight line. Specific resistivity of Ag films on fused silica change from <109 to 1.80 [μΩ∙cm] when thickness increases from 10 to 500 nm. Specific resistivity of 10, 30 and 50 nm thick Ag films on 1 nm Ge wetting layer are equal 14.01, 7.89, and 5.58 [μΩ∙cm], respectively, and are about twice higher than those of Ag films on Ti or Ni interlayers.
Wide‐frequency specific heat spectrometer

We have developed a technique to measure the frequency‐dependent specific heat of a liquid over a frequency range exceeding five decades, 0.01–3000 Hz. The measurement is not performed adiabatically, but rather relies on heat diffusion from a thin, planar heater immersed in the liquid sample. The spectrometer has been used to study organic liquids near the glass transition.
Traveling solutions for a multi-anticipative car-following traffic model

In this paper, we consider a steady state multi-anticipative traffic model and we provide necessarily and sufficient conditions for the existence of traveling solutions. In our work, the word "traveling" means that the distance between two consecutive vehicles travels continuously between two different states. As application to our result, we show that taking a strictly concave optimal velocity, we can construct a traveling solution such that the distance between two vehicles decreases. The existence, uniqueness and the study of the asymptotic behavior of such solutions is done at the level of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation.
Quasistatic Manipulation with Compliance and Sliding

We propose a method for modeling dextrous manipulation with sliding fingers. The approach combines compliance and friction limit surfaces. The method is useful for describing how a grasp will behave in the presence of external forces (e.g., when and how the fingertips will slide) and for planning how to control the fingers so that the grasped object will follow a desired trajectory. The sliding trajectories are characterized by a transient and steady-state solution. The underlying theory is first dis cussed and illustrated with several single-finger examples. Experimental results are also presented. The analysis is then extended to grasps with multiple sliding and nonslid ing fingers. The multifinger analysis is illustrated with an example of manipulating a card with two soft-contact fingers.
CRACK FORMATION IN ICE PLATES BY THERMAL SHOCK

Cracks were formed in the surface of smooth ice blocks by bringing them into contact with a second colder ice block. The temperature change within each block and the associated thermal stress were calculated. The ultimate strength of a smooth ice surface was found to be between 30 and 40 kg/cm2. The surface temperature shock necessary to produce this stress was about 6 °C. There was a marked preference for the cracks to form parallel to the basal and prismatic planes.Maximum depth of crack penetration was obtained with ice blocks made up of only one or two crystals with their C axis perpendicular to the surface. The minimum observed value for the strain energy release rate at crack arrest was calculated to be between 150 and 200 ergs/cm2 for each cm2 of new crack surface, indicating that for the crystallographic orientation and stress distribution of those experiments there was relatively little plastic deformation at the crack tip. The associated crack edge stress intensity factor was between 3.0 × 106 a.