Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seismic Behavior of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Moment Frame Members

Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) has superior material properties with high compressive strength (> 22 ksi [150 MPa]) and shear strength, improved tensile and compressive ductility, and excellent bond and confinement characteristics. All of these features provide an improved and innovative way to design earthquake-resistant moment frame members. In order to maintain adequate ductility, high-strength concrete (HSC) requires a large amount of transverse reinforcement, which has traditionally added to the complexity of the process. In UHP-FRC, the addition of high-strength steel microfibers into high-strength concrete can resolve such congestion issues and still allow the concrete to remain self-consolidating. The use of UHP-FRC completely changes the typical failure modes of flexural concrete members of moment frames as it improves confinement and prevents premature concrete distress and bar buckling, which provides increased resistance to strong seismic forces. Current ACI 318 provisions limit the longitudinal reinforcement ratio in beams of special moment frames to prevent undesirable shear damage. On the other hand, using UHP-FRC can also result in reduced cross sections or an increased number of longitudinal bars because of its high shear resistance capacity. Since the compressive and post-cracking tensile behavior of UHP-FRC is different from that of conventional concrete, new design criteria need to be developed for UHP-FRC flexural members of special moment frames. This paper presents the authors’ research on the novel design aspects of UHP-FRC and their experimental results after testing fulland large-scale UHP-FRC moment frame columns and beams.
PROBLEMS OF VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL ARRANGEMENT IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF THE EXTREME ARID ZONE (CENTRAL SAHARA)

Three geomorphological-ecological altitude stages in the mountains of the extreme arid zone are described: glacial or nival forms, solifluction or "periglacial appearances," and the problem of the upper tree line. The present altitude levels are not thermally dependent in the alpine, Mediterranean, or fully tropical sense, but are primarily influenced by availability of moisture. They are not comparable with high mountains of other climatic zones and are subject to their own laws. In the fully arid mountain areas of the tropics an extratropical thermal seasonal climate clashes with a tropical monsoon precipitation distribution.
The California Community Colleges

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (Aspen) aims to advance higher education practices, policies, and leadership that significantly improve student outcomes. As part of its community college leadership work, Aspen developed and published in 2014 a hiring toolkit designed to help identify and select community college chancellors and presidents with the full range of qualities and abilities needed to lead their institutions to high and improving levels of student success.
Flent: The FLExible Network Tester

We present a tool designed to make experimental evaluations of networks more reliable and easier to perform. This tool, called Flent, works by composing well-known benchmarking tools to, for example, run tests consisting of several bulk data flows combined with simultaneous latency measurements. Tests are specified in source code, and several common tests are included with the tool. In addition, Flent contains features to automate test runs, and to interactively plot and explore data collected from experiments.
Surficial deposits of Qatar Peninsula

Summary The present work is the first step of a geomorphological mapping of the surface of Qatar. In this work a regional map of the surficial deposits at a scale of 1:200 000 was prepared on the basis of Landsat imagery of aerial photographs and topographic maps. The Qatar Peninsula has been exposed since the Miocene and consequently a variety of erosional and depositional landforms have been formed. Features of depositional origin (surficial deposits) can be classified into seven main groups according to their occurrence and textural properties, namely hamadas, sand accumulations, saline flats, coastal sediments, depression sediments, fluvial sediments and duricrusts. The deposits may be of a local or exogenous origin.
On the origin of oriented rutile needles in garnet from UHP eclogites

Although oriented rutile needles in garnet have been reported from several ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) rocks and considered to be important UHP indicators, their crystallographic features including growth habit and lattice correspondences with garnet host have never been properly characterized. This paper presents a detailed analytical electron microscopic (AEM) study on evenly distributed oriented rutile needles in garnet of two eclogitic rocks from Sulu. Some garnet in one UHP diamondiferous quartzofeldspathic rock from the Saxonian Erzgebirge, and in one high‐pressure (HP) felsic granulite from Bohemia also contain a few unevenly distributed oriented rutile needles. They have also been studied for the purpose of comparison. Despite different distribution patterns, AEM revealed that all rutile needles are oriented along the 〈111〉 directions of garnet with their lateral sides surrounded by the {110} planes of garnet, and that the growth directions of most needles are close to the normal of the {101} planes of rutile. No other specific crystallographic orientation relationships between rutile and garnet host were observed, and there is no pyroxene associated with rutile, as necessitated by the precipitation reaction of rutile in garnet as previously proposed. A simple solid‐state precipitation scenario for the formation of the rutile needles in garnet in these two eclogitic rocks is not justified. Three alternative mechanisms are considered for the formation of oriented rutile needles: (i) the rutile needles may be inherited from precursor minerals; (ii) the rutile needles may be formed by a dissolution–reprecipitation mechanism; and (iii) the rutile needles may be formed by cleaving and healing of garnet with rutile deposition. None of these mechanisms can fully explain the observations, although the first one is less likely and the third one is preferred. This study presents an example where the presence of oriented/aligned inclusions in minerals does not necessarily imply a precipitation origin.
Electrospray surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (ES-SERS) for probing surface chemical compositions of atmospherically relevant particles

Abstract. We present electrospray surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (ES-SERS) as a new approach to measuring the surface chemical compositions of atmospherically relevant particles. The surface-sensitive SERS is realized by electrospraying Ag nanoparticle aerosols over analyte particles. Spectral features at v(SO42−), v(C–H) and v(O–H) modes were observed from the normal Raman and SERS measurements of laboratory-generated supermicron particles of ammonium sulfate (AS), AS mixed with succinic acid (AS ∕ SA) and AS mixed with sucrose (AS ∕ sucrose). SERS measurements showed strong interaction (or chemisorption) between Ag nanoparticles and surface aqueous sulfate [SO42−] with [SO42−]AS ∕ sucrose > [SO42−]AS ∕ SA > [SO42−]AS. Enhanced spectra of the solid AS and AS ∕ SA particles revealed the formation of surface-adsorbed water on their surfaces at 60 % relative humidity. These observations of surface aqueous sulfate and adsorbed water demonstrate a possible role of surface-adsorbed water in facilitating the dissolution of sulfate from the bulk phase into its water layer(s). Submicron ambient aerosol particles collected in Hong Kong exhibited non-enhanced features of black carbon and enhanced features of sulfate and organic matter (carbonyl group), indicating an enrichment of sulfate and organic matter on the particle surface.
Sharing the Cost of Multicast Transmissions [ Preliminary Version ]

We investigate cost sharing algorithms for multicast trans mission Economic considerations point to two distinct mech anisms marginal cost and Shapley value as the two solutions most appropriate in this context We prove that the former has a natural algorithm that uses only two messages per link of the multicast tree while we give evidence that the lat ter requires a quadratic total number of messages We also show that the welfare value achieved by an optimal multicast tree is NP hard to approximate within any constant factor even for bounded degree networks The lower bound proof for the Shapley value uses a novel algebraic technique for bounding from below the number of messages exchanged in a distributed computation this technique may prove useful in other contexts as well
Prescribing in primary care

The National Audit Office (NAO) asked RAND Europe to conduct a qualitative study into general practitioners’ (GPs) prescribing behaviors. This study aims to understand what shapes GPs’ prescribing decisions, and how the cost efficiency of prescribing might be improved. This qualitative study contributes to the NAO’s larger investigation into primary care prescribing in England, and more specifically how financial savings can be delivered.
Borehole log guided seismic spectral enhancement applied for well to seismic tie workflow

The difference in scale of geophysical measurements is a widely known issue to the oil industry. Well tie workflows commonly relate centimeter scale of well logging tools to tens of meters resolution of seismic data. A common workflow for well to seismic ties is based on downscaling well log data. The main aim of downscaling is to filter out small scale variations leaving the significant lithological changes (from an interpreter’s point of view). Common tools include smoothing and filtering operators, blocking and Backus averaging. Those steps remove minor (intralayer) variation keeping major acoustic impedance contrasts to generate the synthetic seismic trace. The seismic wavelet width used to convolve the reflection coefficient series to produce the synthetic seismogram serves as a downscaling operator resolving only distinct major acoustic impedance contrasts. On the other hand the earth serves as a natural filter for the seismic signal travelling through it, attenuating higher frequencies. As the exploration process moves toward development, the need for more precise well ties becomes more acute. In this paper an additional step in the methodology is discussed by upscaling seismic resolution using well log data as a guide. Well and seismic data from the Teapot Dome field were used in this work.
NEW OCCURRENCE DATA OF NEOTROPICAL OTTERS Lontra longicaudis (OLFERS, 1818), IN BAHIA STATE, NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Very little is known about the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The purpose of this study was to record the number and location of sites where otters have been recorded in this area. Between 1988 and 2009, there were 29 records of otters in Bahia, including the collection of 13 living (9) and dead (4) otters. Of the live otters, 61.53% were adults and 38.46% pups. Five of these were males, five were females and the gender of three individual was not established. The majority (41,37%) of otter records were made in northern Bahia, and 31.03% were made in southern Bahia (31.03%). Eight records (27,58%) were made in the area around Todos os Santos bay, including seven sites where the species was not previously known to occur. No observations were made in the mid-west region of the state, so future studies are needed in this region.
Actuación del usuario en un sistema interactivo multilingüe de búsqueda de respuestas

Resumen Se describe una investigación experimental llevada a cabo para evaluar la actuación del usuario en un sistema interactivo multilingüe de búsqueda de respuestas. La búsqueda de respuestas es una de las facetas más avanzadas en recuperación de la información, que quiere hallar soluciones precisas a necesidades de información concretas. Se persigue encontrar un fragmento de texto mínimo que responda a la pregunta, empleando para ello una extensa colección de documentos. La tarea se complica si se utilizan documentos escritos en un idioma del que el usuario sólo tiene un conocimiento pasivo. En esta situación, la interacción con el mismo puede mejorar los resultados del sistema. El objetivo final es desarrollar mejores sistemas para ayudar al usuario a resolver sus necesidades informativas. Se han explorado dos formas de interacción. Por una parte, haciendo que el sistema sugiera términos relacionados con su búsqueda, para ser incorporados a la pregunta en el idioma de los documentos. Por otra, permitiendo que el usuario visualice no sólo pasajes de texto, sino también, si lo desea, los documentos completos. Los resultados muestran que la posibilidad de añadir términos relacionados fue poco valorada por los usuarios, que la consideraron poco útil. Sin embargo, la posibilidad de obtener y visualizar los documentos completos, partiendo de los pasajes recuperados, mejoró el número de aciertos, así como el tiempo requerido para conseguir una respuesta correcta.
Sustainability & the Management of Water Resources in Florida

Florida is governed by a mix of eastern and western water management philosophies under Chapter 373, Florida Statutes. A water use must be reasonable and beneficial and in the public interest. This philosophy is a mixture of appropriative right and vested use. How the current water management methods fit with the sustainable water management concept is open to question. There are three general aspects to the water management philosophy being administered by Florida’s five regional water management districts: 1) The water management planning process 2) Management by regulation (water use permitting) 3) Management by compliance to minimum flows and levels Each of these components can be evaluated within the context of sustainability, which requires that the resource be managed in a manner consistent with the use of the resource without depleting it, and without creating harm to the resource, the environment, or other users of the resource. Water management by regulation and minimum flows and levels as practiced in Florida is clearly not consistent with the philosophy of sustainable water management. Individual water-use decisions are often made within the context of groundwater models that have not been assessed adequately to understand the range of errors within the projected water levels. Regulatory constraints commonly are defined by political, legal, and economic issues, rather than a technical assessment of the facts. For example, a water management district may limit the pumping of an aquifer because of a perceived concept of saline water intrusion based on a model, despite the fact that in some instances the actual monitoring data shows that the saline/freshwater interface is not within several miles of the perceived or modeled location, and the response of the interface to pumping is often just assumed. Minimum water levels can be established to “control” the position of the saline/freshwater interface, but internal aquifer upconing of saline water can still occur inside the set minimum water level. Water planning and regulatory decisions are relying more upon modeling each year, while the collection of basic data on the aquifer systems is declining. Many critical parameters in groundwater flow and solute transport models are being changed with each succeeding modeling effort—not based upon actual data, but upon model calibration. Models, therefore, are generating the data upon which the models are based. The resulting groundwater models are not necessarily more accurate and can lead to water management decisions based not on science, but on conjecture. Sustainable water management requires that new, high-quality hydrogeologic data be added to each new generation of models to make reasonable and valid decisions. This requirement also includes the addition of meteorological data and water-demand projections so that flexibility can be added to the decision-making process.
Evidence of a Second, Large Archosauriform Reptile in the Lower Triassic Katberg Formation of South Africa

Crown-group diapsid reptiles first appeared at the end of the Paleozoic Era (Late Permian, Lopingian), but became conspicuous components of vertebrate faunas only at the dawn of the Mesozoic Era (Early Triassic: Reisz et al., 2000). The diapsid crown is divided into two sister groups: Lepidosauromorpha, consisting of squamates, tuataras, and their fossil relatives, and Archosauromorpha, which consists of crocodilians, birds, and their fossil relatives (Gauthier, 1994). Archosauromorph diapsids exhibited greater taxonomic, morphological, and ecological diversification than lepidosauromorphs during the Mesozoic. The richest continental vertebrate faunas that include early archosauromorphs comprise the Lower Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone (LAZ) of the Beaufort Group, South Africa. The LAZ includes two species, Prolacerta broomi and Proterosuchus fergusi, that have been integral to both anatomical (Clark et al., 1993) and phylogenetic (Dilkes, 1998; Modesto and Sues, 2004) studies of basal Archosauromorpha. Although the seminal biostratigraphic overview of the LAZ fauna by Groenewald and Kitching (1995) posited disjunct stratigraphic ranges for Prolacerta and Proterosuchus, recent collecting efforts that have concentrated on the lower part of the zone have established that these archosauromorphs overlap in the Palingkloof Member of the Balfour Formation and in lowermost strata of the overlying Katberg Formation (Damiani et al., 2004; Ward et al., 2005; Smith and Botha, 2005; Botha and Smith, 2006). There are no definitive records of Prolacerta and Proterosuchus from upper Katberg Formation localities of which we are aware. Recent field work by the authors has led to the discovery of new LAZ localities, which have produced vertebrate fossils with interesting biostratigraphic implications. Initial prospecting of the farm Vangfontein in Middelburg District, Eastern Cape Province, produced the youngest specimen of the procolophonoid reptile Sauropareion anoplus, providing support for the hypothesis that the lower Katberg Formation preserves a relatively diverse assemblage of these small parareptiles (Botha et al., 2007). A visit to Vangfontein in 2006 yielded the partial maxilla of a large reptile with a distinctive morphology, one that precludes referral to Proterosuchus, Prolacerta, or to any other reptile known from the Beaufort Group. This maxilla, despite its fragmentary preservation, exhibits a posterodorsal embayment. Thus, this specimen displays evidence of an antorbital fenestra, which is a synapomorphy of Archosauriformes (Benton and Clark, 1988; Parrish, 1992; Archosauria of Benton, 1985). We describe the Vangfontein maxilla in this paper, and consider its biostratigraphic significance for the Early Triassic tetrapod fauna of South Africa. Institutional Abbreviations—NM, National Museum, Bloemfontein; SAM, Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town.
WiPrint : 3 D Printing Your Wireless Coverage

Wireless signals are everywhere in residential, commercial and industrial environments. Directing wireless signals to conform to custom physical boundaries is of great importance in improving the performance, security and privacy of a wireless system. Unfortunately current solutions like directional antennas are bulky and expensive for ordinary users. We propose WiPrint, a novel approach to customizing wireless signal maps using 3D printed glossy reﬂectors. This solution is easily manufactured and adapts easily to different environments. The WiPrint system is highly ﬂexible as it does not require adding additional APs or moving the AP to new locations. This is signiﬁcant in the ﬁeld of wireless networking as it provides consumers with an intuitive and novel solution to performance and security problems.
Introducing the Cray XMT

Cray recently introduced the Cray XMT system, which builds on the parallel architecture of the Cray XT3 system and the multithreaded architecture of the Cray MTA systems with a Cray-designed multithreaded processor. This paper highlights not only the details of the architecture, but also the application areas it is best suited for.
DRAFT WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT WHEN USING CAAD ? AN EX

This paper presents a case study exploring the eye-movement of an architecture master student while using a parametric CAAD tool. The student completed an architectural design task using CAAD software in a 60 minute design session. The “Think aloud” method was used to collect cognitive data while her eye movements were captured using eye-tracking equipment. The session was segmented and coded for visual location. Results of this exploratory study indicate differences when using a parametric CAAD tool when designing compared to visual scanning of existing objects. These results, if generalizable imply that CAAD software development should focus on space making as well as on object boundaries.
Outage limited cooperative channels: protocols and analysis

We propose novel cooperative protocols for various coherent flat-fading channels composed of half-duplex nodes. We consider relay, cooperative broadcast (CB), multiple-access relay (MAR) and cooperative multiple-access (CMA) channels and devise efficient protocols for them. We also present automatic repeat request (ARQ) variants of these protocols. We evaluate the proposed protocols using the diversitymultiplexing tradeoff (DMT). For the relay channel, we investigate two classes of cooperation protocols, i.e., amplify and forward (AF) and decode and forward (DF). For the first class, we establish an upper bound on the achievable DMT with a single relay. We then propose a AF protocol that achieves this upper bound. The proposed algorithm is then extended to the case of arbitrary number of relays. For the class of DF protocols, we propose a dynamic decode and forward (DDF) protocol that achieves the optimal DMT for a range of multiplexing gains. We further show that, with a single relay, the DDF protocol dominates the class of AF protocols for all multiplexing gains. The superiority of the DDF protocol is shown to be more significant in the CB and MAR channels. The situation is reversed in the CMA scenario, where we propose a novel AF protocol that achieves the optimal tradeoff for all multiplexing gains. This result highlights the fundamental difference between the relay and CMA channels.
The Thermal State and Interior Structure of Mars

The present‐day thermal state, interior structure, composition, and rheology of Mars can be constrained by comparing the results of thermal history calculations with geophysical, petrological, and geological observations. Using the largest‐to‐date set of 3‐D thermal evolution models, we find that a limited set of models can satisfy all available constraints simultaneously. These models require a core radius strictly larger than 1,800 km, a crust with an average thickness between 48.8 and 87.1 km containing more than half of the planet's bulk abundance of heat producing elements, and a dry mantle rheology. A strong pressure dependence of the viscosity leads to the formation of prominent mantle plumes producing melt underneath Tharsis up to the present time. Heat flow and core size estimates derived from the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission will increase the set of constraining data and help to confine the range of admissible models.