Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
APPLICATION OF A GIS BASED APPROACH TO ASSESS THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE MV WAKASHIO OIL SPILL IN THE SOUTH- EAST OF MAURITIUS

Marine oil spills are regarded as one of the most threatening environmental disasters that can have serious environmental and socio-economic impacts. For islands like Mauritius, such oil spills can have severe repercussions as island communities depend almost entirely on their coastal and marine resources. The MV Wakashio grounded on the coral reef on the south east coast of Mauritius on July 25th 2020, spilling 1000 tons of oil into its clear waters on August 06th 2020. It was the first time the island was faced with such a disaster and in this respect, this study aimed to use a GIS based approach to assess the environmental impacts of the Wakashio oil spill and demonstrate its usefulness in monitoring marine oil spills. SAR imagery was acquired from the Copernicus Platform and ArcGIS was used to process the images. An oil spill map was created using a SAR image dated August 10th 2020. GPS coordinates of the affected sites were recorded and overlaid on a terrain/road network map of Mauritius generated from layers of vector data obtained through the DIVA-GIS portal. The oil spill was mapped on the satellite image using ArcGIS and a vector map of the affected regions was created. From these maps, the short and long term impacts on the environments (marine waters, mangroves, coasts, biodiversity) were examined. This study concludes that GIS is an effective, inexpensive tool that coastal nations around the world, including Mauritius, can use to support management and decision making regarding oil spill preparedness and monitoring as well as disaster management. Keywords— marine oil spill, GIS, Mauritius, disaster
Predictive Control without Sensory Sheets

In mental action there is no motor output to be controlled and no sensory input vector that could be manipulated by bodily movement. It is therefore unclear whether this specific target phenomenon can be accommodated under the predictive processing framework at all, or if the concept of “active inference” can be adapted to this highly relevant explanatory domain. This contribution puts the phenomenon of mental action into explicit focus by introducing a set of novel conceptual instruments and developing a first positive model, concentrating on epistemic mental actions and epistemic self-control. Action initiation is a functionally adequate form of self-deception; mental actions are a specific form of predictive control of effective connectivity, accompanied and possibly even functionally mediated by a conscious “epistemic agent model”. The overall process is aimed at increasing the epistemic value of pre-existing states in the conscious self-model, without causally looping through sensory sheets or using the non-neural body as an instrument for active inference. Keywords
Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Integrated Energy Systems with Nuclear, Renewable, and District HeatinG

There is a paradigm shift in the energy industry towards green technologies which have incentivized nuclear and renewable-based energy production. The thermal power from the nuclear process could be optimally utilized to generate various end products thereby increasing the efficiency of nuclear power plants. A power plant being used for both electricity and heat is called an integrated energy system. One such integrated energy system coupling nuclear and wind energy resources by supplying electricity to the power grid and heat energy to a district heating network, is modeled and simulated in this paper. The dynamic model of the integrated energy system is developed using the Modelica language. Coordinated control is designed to ensure that the actual generation follows the demand associated with different end products. The performance of the dynamic model is evaluated for steady state responses and load following capabilities.
Accelerator-based architectures for wireless sensor network applications

Growing power consumption threatens the explosive growth that the semiconductor industry has sustained over the last several decades. While the number of transistors continues to double every process technology generation, the slowing of constant field scaling has caused power density to increase limiting clock frequency. To combat these trends, designers must get more performance from each transistor switch. Technology companies are applying microprocessors to a growing diversity of applications that are increasingly mobile and untethered from the power grid. One such domain is the emerging area of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) where, because nodes are often deeply embedded in an environment, power consumption is the primary design constraint. This dissertation explores the challenges of designing in a power-constrained era through the development of a model we call Navigo and the design and implementation of an accelerator-based architecture for WSNs. We designed Navigo to aid in early architecture exploration as an alternative to the spreadsheets and back-of-the-envelope calculations that planners use to guide future designs. The results show that, even under ideal conditions, multicore processors will not achieve the performance gains necessary to maintain growth. This dissertation shows that if an increasing amount of area per technology node is allocated to specialized accelerators, then microprocessor performance growth will be maintained. As a case study of accelerator-based architectures, we developed a processor for WSNs. Our architecture includes accelerators for regular tasks and event handling is offloaded to the event processor, removing the software overhead of a general purpose design. Because the architecture is modular, VDD-gating can be employed to address leakage current at the architecture level. We built a prototype in 130nm CMOS. We compare our system to other systems in the literature and a general purpose-based design. Our system has the lowest energy per equivalent instruction and results of our workload analysis shows the system is suited both for low-intensity and high-performance WSN applications.
On the evolution of infrastructure sharing in mobile networks: A survey

Infrastructure sharing for mobile networks has been a prolific research topic for more than three decades now. The key driver for Mobile Network Operators to share their network infrastructure is cost reduction. Spectrum sharing is often studied alongside infrastructure sharing although on its own it is a vast research topic outside the scope of this survey. Instead, in this survey we aim to provide a complete picture of infrastructure sharing both over time and in terms of research branches that have stemmed from it such as performance evaluation, resource management etc. We also put an emphasis on the relation between infrastructure sharing and the decoupling of infrastructure from services, wireless network virtualization and multi-tenancy in 5G networks. Such a relation reflects the evolution of infrastructure sharing over time and how it has become a commercial reality in the context of 5G.
Experimental and numerical study of Taylor-Couette flow

Taylor-Couette flow between in a gap of two coaxial cylinders is studied using a combination of particle image velocimetry (PIV) experimental data and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Wavy vortex flow and modulated wavy vortex flow which are two flow regimes of Taylor-Couette flow are investigated using the PIV technique and power spectral density. In addition, the turbulent Taylor-Couette flow is studied by means of Reynolds-average Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations and stereo-PIV. Two main turbulence models of Reynolds-average Navier-Stokes simulations are used in the investigation and verified with the PIV experimental data. The investigations provide in-depth evaluation of the simulation schemes. This work shows that computational fluid dynamics in combination with PIV data is an excellent tool to study turbulent structures in the Taylor-Couette flow. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the in-depth evaluation of RANS simulation.
Financial Slack and Firm Performance in Africa: The Mediating Effects of the Banking Sector and the Stock Market Development

Organizational theory claimed favorable effect of slack on performance and the agency theory; supported an adverse influence of slack on performance. This study explored the association between the financial slack and the financial performance of firms in Africa. This study further rexamined the mediating effect of the banking sector and the stock market development on the slack-performance nexus. While the firm performance is measured as the return on assets (ROA), and return on sales (ROS), the slack components are categorized as available, potential and recoverable slacks. We used firm-level data from 457 firms in 13 African countries from 2006 to 2015. The finding of this study supported the organizational theory that favors a positive effect of slack on performance. The result of mediation analysis shows that both the banking sector and the stock market development have no strong mediating effect on the slackperformance relationship of firms in Africa. This study finally offers micro and macro level policy
Event-Intensity Stereo: Estimating Depth by the Best of Both Worlds

Event cameras can report scene movements as an asynchronous stream of data called the events. Unlike traditional cameras, event cameras have very low latency (microseconds vs milliseconds) very high dynamic range (140 dB vs 60 dB), and low power consumption, as they report changes of a scene and not a complete frame. As they re- port per pixel feature-like events and not the whole intensity frame they are immune to motion blur. However, event cameras require movement between the scene and camera to fire events, i.e., they have no output when the scene is relatively static. Traditional cameras, however, report the whole frame of pixels at once in fixed intervals but have lower dynamic range and are prone to motion blur in case of rapid movements. We get the best from both worlds and use events and intensity images together in our complementary design and estimate dense disparity from this combination. The proposed end-to-end design combines events and images in a sequential manner and correlates them to estimate dense depth values. Our various experimental settings in real-world and simulated scenarios exploit the superiority of our method in predicting accurate depth values with fine details. We further extend our method to extreme cases of missing the left or right event or stereo pair and also investigate stereo depth estimation with inconsistent dynamic ranges or event thresholds on the left and right pairs.
Structural Equation Modeling: A Recent Trend in Marketing Research

Every day marketing people need to take decisions relating to Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place etc. For taking decisions marketing people must consider multiple variables, in the present Liberalized, Privatized and Globalized world. But making sense from multiple variables at a time is difficult if you analyze them separately. Hence there a need to consider a single tool which analyze multiple variables at a time? Structural equation modeling (SEM) serves this purpose. The major objectives of are, to the study basic concepts related to Structural equation modeling and examine the Awareness and preferences of Structural equation modeling. The results revealed that majority of Academicians and Marketing Practitioners were aware of SEM and they prefer to use SEM for Research.
LONG TERM FULL SCALE COMPARISON OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE (AS) WITH BIOLOGICAL AERATED FILTER (BAF)

The Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Frederikshavn, Denmark, was extended in the early nineties to increase its average daily flow to 4,5 MGD (16,500 m³/d) and meet new requirements for nutrient removal (8 mg/l TN, 1,5 mg TP/l). A parallel biological aerated filter (BAF) was the selected as the most economical upgrade of the existing activated sludge plant (AS), and started up in 1995. Running two full scale processes in parallel on the same wastewater and treatment objectives for over ten years enabled a direct comparison in relation to operating performance, costs and experience. After screening, a combined grit and grease chamber and 3 primary settlers, the effluent is pumped to the bio-treatment, consisting of AS with recirculation (Modified Lutzack-Ettinger – MLE) and an upflow BAF with floating media. The wastewater is a mixture of industrial and domestic wastewater, with a dominant discharge of fish processing effluent which can amount to 50 % of the flow. The maximum hydraulic load on the pretreatment section as a whole is 10 MGD (1,530 m3/h) . Approx. 60% of the sewer system is combined with a total of 32 overflow structures. To avoid the direct discharge of combined sewer overflows into the receiving waters, the total hydraulic capacity of the plant is increased during rain to 27 mgd (4,330 m³/hour) or 6 times average flow. During rain, this is achieved by directing some of the raw sewage through a stormwater bypass to the BAF and switching all six BAF to full nitrification. After final biotreatment, the wastewater is conveyed through a 500 m sea outfall. The operation of the BAF can be modified to accommodate various treatment needs: - either using simultaneous nitrification/denitrification in all filters with recirculation - bottom aeration with full nitrification in all filters for stormwater treatment - or post-denitrification in 1 filter. On-line measurements for the parameters NO3, NO2, NH4 and PO4 as well as dissolved oxygen (DO) are used for control of aeration and for addition of flocculants for P-removal and external carbon source (methanol). The BAF backwash sludge, approx. 0.5 MGD (1.900 m³/d) once every 24 h in dry weather, is redirected to the AS plant. Sludge from primary settlers and the combined biosolids from the AS plant are anaerobically digested, with methane gas being used for generation of heat and power. This paper discusses the experience gained from the plant operation during the last ten years, compiling comparative performance and cost data of the two processes.
Modeling Risk Dynamics in e-Operations Transitions

Migrations to new modes of operation are perilous times for most organizations. For firms that routinely work in high-threat, high-reward situations, the risks of innovation are particularly challenging. This paper presents a systems-based approach to understanding these risks, drawing examples from one firm migrating to e-Operations for offshore oil platforms to increase profitability. The firm recently participated in two facilitated group model building exercises to examine the effects of the migration on the organization and resources needed to safely implement multiple changes over time. Based on these exercises, a simulation model of the timing and relative levels of risk, was developed. The results of the workshop and simulation demonstrate the effect of a combined qualitative and quantitative modeling approach to understanding complex problems. 1
Philosophical and Theoretical Perspectives of Five Laws of Libraries and its Influence on the Library Profession

The role of information in knowledge society has changed. Library refers to information centre, which is actively involved information collection and promoting use of for the development of individual and society. Modem libraries are the centres of interaction for all interested in accessing information and in participating in the marathon of the present competitive age. Information and a conducive environment of its free flow is a vital tool in all forms of human endeavour. It is the link pin of national development. For a nation to develop it needs to have and provide relevant, updated and adequate information on food security, health, democracy, population, education， family planning, youth empowerment, gender quality, environment etc. The information intermediaries are the persons to modulate these complexities and find match between the information sources and users needs to satisfaction of Ranganathan’s law: Books are for use; Every reader his/her book; Every book its reader; Save the time of the reader; Library is a growing organism. The relative importance of these norms in modem context has been evident from experience, study, observations, discussions, etc., and only by scientists and technologists, but also by managers, planners, and policy makers. They recognize the usefulness of information in the performance of their needs information needs. Libraries are therefore proper management, provision and dissemination of such information. It is clearly visible in the contemporary context, that the libraries in the knowledge society are much more than the book depositories This article looks at the theory/practice divide in library and information science and particularly Ranganathan’s contributions, basic statements remain as valid in substance if not in expression as -to-day as when they were promulgated, concisely representing the ideal service and organizational philosophy of libraries today.
Cable-Driven Parallel Mechanisms: Application to a Locomotion Interface

Over the past decade, cable-driven parallel mechanisms have been used for several purposes. In this paper, a novel application is proposed, namely, using two 6DOF cable-driven parallel mechanisms sharing a common workspace to obtain the mechanical base for the design of a locomotion interface. The methodology used to develop the architecture of the mechanisms is presented, and the two main criteria used to optimize the geometry are described. These criteria are based on the wrench-closure workspace and a detection of the mechanical interferences between all the entities of the locomotion interface (cables and moving bodies). Then, the final design is described and its performances are given. Finally, in order to validate the relevance of the mechanism for the locomotion interface's design, tensile forces in the cables are computed to observe the maximal values reached during a typical human gait trajectory.
Unsupervised 3D Shape Coverage Estimation with Applications to Colonoscopy

Reconstructing shapes from partial and noisy 3D data is a well-studied problem, which in recent years has been dominated by data-driven techniques. Yet in a low data regime, these techniques struggle to provide fine and accurate reconstructions. Here we focus on the relaxed problem of estimating shape coverage, i.e. asking "how much of the shape was seen? " rather than "what was the original shape? " We propose a method for unsupervised shape coverage estimation, and validate that this task can be performed accurately in a low data regime. Shape coverage estimation can provide valuable insights which pave the way for innovative applications, as we demonstrate for the case of deficient coverage detection in colonoscopy screenings.
How the Failure to Account for Flexibility in the Economic Analysis of Flood Risk and Coastal Management Strategies Can Result in Maladaptive Decisions

AbstractThis paper uses two alternative economic analysis approaches, net present value (NPV) and real in options (RIO), to show how the failure to incorporate uncertainty and flexibility in the economic analysis of flood risk and coastal management strategies can result in maladaptive decisions. RIO offers a major development on the conventional NPV approach, because it integrates expected changes in future levels of uncertainty into economic analysis. This study applies RIO analysis to the semihypothetical case study of a coastal defense system to demonstrate its applicability for decision making on climate change adaptation. In the case study, two different adaptive strategies are analyzed, consisting of a hard and soft structural alternative. Soft strategies are often inherently more flexible than hard strategies. The results of the case study show that the NPV approach increases the relative cost of soft strategies for the two alternatives compared with hard strategies, because it does not account fo.
A new equivalent MOSFET representation of a HEMT to analytically model nonlinear charge control for simulation of HEMT devices and circuits

It is shown that, from the point of view of the behavior of the charge and position of the Two-Dimensional Electron Gas (2-DEG) as a function of gate-source and drain-source voltages, the complex High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) can be regarded as a simple Buried-Channel (BC) MOSFET. Thus, the characteristics of a HEMT, namely channel charge and capacitance/transconductance as a function of gate voltage below and above threshold are akin those of a BC MOSFET. Hence, there are discrepancies in the conventional Surface Channel MOSFET-like approach to HEMT modeling. Existing simple BC MOSFET dc and ac models can be used for on-paper analysis and computer aided simulation of HEMT devices and circuits, if the HEMT is represented by an equivalent BC MOSFET as derived in this paper. The new representation can be useful for modeling of short-channel HEMT phenomena.
Effects of Titanium Layer as Diffusion Barrier in Ti/Pt/Au Beam Lead Metallization on Polysilicon

The effect of a titanium layer as a diffusion barrier in Ti/Pt/Au beam lead metallization on polysilicon was investigated. A critical temperature, defined as the beginning of Au-Si eutectic reaction, was investigated for specimens with electron-beam (EB) evaporated and radio frequency (RF) sputtered titanium films 23-- 3000 A thick deposited onto polysilicon films 0.2-2 µm thick. Polysilicon surface roughness was characterized by grain step height as a function of grain size and polysilicon film thickness. The titanium film thickness required to retain the same metallization integrity during heat treatment became greater with increase in the polysilicon film thickness. At the polysilicon surface, the grain size and the grain step height became greater with increase in the polysilicon film thickness. The mechanism of increased heat resistance with increased titanium film thickness was examined relative to grain step coverage effect.
Applications of Nanofluids: Current and Future

Nanofluids are suspensions of nanoparticles in fluids that show significant enhancement of their properties at modest nanoparticle concentrations. Many of the publications on nanofluids are about understanding their behavior so that they can be utilized where straight heat transfer enhancement is paramount as in many industrial applications, nuclear reactors, transportation, electronics as well as biomedicine and food. Nanofluid as a smart fluid, where heat transfer can be reduced or enhanced at will, has also been reported. This paper focuses on presenting the broad range of current and future applications that involve nanofluids, emphasizing their improved heat transfer properties that are controllable and the specific characteristics that these nanofluids possess that make them suitable for such applications.
IDENTIFYING AND MEASURING ELECTRONIC SERVICE QUALITY GAPS

It has been proposed that the existence of electronic service quality gaps inhibits a customer’s website experience which reduces their perceived e-SQ, value, and ultimately purchases and repeat purchases. For a website to be an effective business tool e-SQ gaps should be minimal. In this paper a method of identifying and measuring e-SQ gaps is described. E-SQ gaps are first defined mathematically so that hypotheses regarding their existence can be tested using statistical measures. Secondly, the extent of the identified eSQ gaps are measured using a formula devised based on the statistical measures from the hypotheses testing. The process is demonstrated using data collected from a study of Australian wineries. It was found that while winery managers had a good idea of customer website requirements, often this was not implemented on the website itself leading to a large fulfilment gap, hence a less than ideal website experience. While it is unreasonable to expect the total elimination of e-SQ gaps, such analysis can give the practitioner vital knowledge in determining where improvements can be made