SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Waste management for the improvement of port waters

Our future development will depend on Blue Growth and the crucial role of ports. Reconciling the need for growth with the preservation of the cultural and environmental heritage will be the challenge to face. The evaluation of impacts and pressures on ecosystems brought by human activities must be developed on a solid scientific/technical basis, as suggested by the most modern management approaches, such as Ecosystem-Based Management. Following this approach and with the awareness that the environmental quality of a port affects the marine environment on a vast scale, the pollution risk must be managed on a cross-border basis. GEREMIA proposes the general objective to train and support those who will be responsible for managing port waters with innovative tools and solutions. The harmonisation of the results of modelling, monitoring and analysis of risk management procedures will lead to the preparation of a Decision Support System for port companies easy to export to different contexts, in addition to the pilot sites of the project. Managing different levels of information and a large amount of data, the DSS will represent a significant increase in operator capacity for prevention and intervention in the event of emergencies. The project will propose management strategies that will be applied to pilot actions in several of our ports (installation of bioremediation and wastewater containment systems, intervention drills). Furthermore, the project will develop a proposal for a new integrated and weighted environmental quality index to complement TRIX, more suitable for specific port conditions.
The Economics of Bounced Checks in Lebanon

The purpose of this paper is to identify the variables that determine or explain the supply of bounced checks, either issued in Lebanese pounds or issued in US dollars. This is an area that the extant empirical research fails to cover, and hence, this paper is, by itself, quite innovative. Four major explanatory variables are identified. Two of them are structural, and the other two are under the control of a bank on its own, and of the central bank, or at least of the Association of Banks. The high values of the goodness-of-fit, the favorable econometric diagnostics, and the failure to reject stability, all point to the same direction: the models have all the necessary characteristics to predict correctly bounced checks. In case actual bounced checks are consistently and persistently higher than those predicted by the models, corrective action can be taken to avert a financial crisis. The first action is that banks can control the amount of loans they extend to their clientele. And the second action is by a manipulation of interest rates. It is understood that these two actions should be used sparingly and only in a case of financial crisis. Keywords: bounced checks, multiple regression models, econometric prediction, banks, Lebanon. JEL Classifications : C32, G21
WASTE HEAT STEAM GENERATOR

The invention relates to a waste heat steam generator (1) having a plurality of evaporator tubes (4) which are connected in parallel on the flow medium side, a plurality of overheating tubes (26) being mounted downstream of the evaporator tubes by means of a water separation system. Said water separation system comprises a number of water separating elements (12), each water separation element being respectively mounted downstream of a plurality of evaporator tubes (4) and/or upstream of a plurality of overheating tubes (26). Each water separating element (12) comprises an inlet pipe (14) which is respectively connected upstream to the evaporator tubes (4), said inlet pipe extending into a water evacuation pipe when seen in the longitudinal direction. A plurality of outflow pipes (18) branch off in the transitional area, said pipes being connected to a inlet collector (28) of the overheating tubes (26) which are respectively connected downstream. The aim of the invention is to provide said type of waste heat steam generator which is characterised in that it has a particularly high level of operational flexibility with comparatively low construction and reparation complexity. As a result, a distribution element (34) is arranged on the steam side between the respective water separating element (12) and the inlet collector (28).
Bayesian filtering for orientational distributions: A fourier approach

A Bayesian filter for rotation groups in 2D and 3D is derived. The prior, propagator, and measurement probability densities are all assumed to be bandlimited functions on SO(2) or SO(3), expressed as a Fourier series on these compact Lie groups. The posterior, which has a higher bandlimit, is computed and then low-pass filtered, resulting in a bandlimited approximation. The benefits and drawbacks of the Fourier approach presented here are examined in contrast to the Gaussian approach designed for small error covariances. While the Gaussian approach is much faster, it breaks down for large error covariances. The point where the Gaussian approach breaks down is analyzed with the Fourier method, indicating the range of error sizes where the switch to Fourier methods is required.
Faults evolution and its impact on hydrocarbon accumulation in Wuerxun depression

The formation of faults in Wuerxun depression has obvious characters of substage,by analysising the tectonic sequence boundaries,growth index,faults acting rate and stretch,we considered the evolution of the fault had under gone early extension,middle strile-slip and late reversion three stages.By researching the effection of the main faults formed in different periods on hydrocarbon,we have concluded the main faults which controled the depression controled the distribution of hydrocarbon rock;the main controlling faults was the main hydrocarbon migration channel;faults in the direction of SN formed at the end of Yimin group and long-term development oil source faults which in the direction of NNE perpendicular array,forming a lot of traps in Damoguaihe and Yimin group,was one of the main oil enrichment zones.
Labor strategies and agribusiness counterstrike during the Bracero Era: the peculiar case of the National Farm Labor Union, 1946–1952

AbstractThis article investigates the responses of the political establishment and the agro-industry to the militant actions of the National Farm Labor Union (NFLU) from 1946 until 1952. It confirms the well-known hypothesis that the maintenance of the bracero program affected the efforts to form agricultural unions in California, but it also underlines strategies and the roles played by the agro-industry, California Farm Placement Service and other federal instances of government in the weakening of agricultural unionization. It argues that the agricultural unions’ weakness in California throughout this period can be attributed to the needs of the food-processing industry and the latter’s special relationship with the political establishment. I demonstrate that while the failure to consolidate agricultural unions in California during the postwar years, is not attributable to the strategies adopted by the NFLU per se, it is closely related to a lack of support from the major political players and to the p...
Safety data for levonorgestrel, ulipristal acetate and Yuzpe regimens for emergency contraception

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide recommendations for use of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), including levonorgestrel (LNG) and combined oral contraceptives (COCs). A new ECP formulation, ulipristal acetate (UPA), is now available worldwide. To determine whether LNG, UPA or COC (Yuzpe) ECPs are safe for women with certain characteristics or medical conditions, we searched the PubMed and Cochrane databases for articles published from date of inception until May 2015 pertaining to the safety of LNG, UPA or Yuzpe ECP use. For direct evidence, we considered studies that looked at safety outcomes among women with certain medical conditions or characteristics taking ECPs compared with women not taking ECPs. For indirect evidence, we considered studies that reported pharmacokinetic (PK) data for ECP use among women with certain medical conditions or characteristics and studies that reported safety outcomes among healthy women taking ECPs. Five studies provided direct evidence; of these five studies, four examined LNG or Yuzpe use among pregnant or breastfeeding women, and one reported risk of ectopic pregnancy among women repeatedly using LNG ECPs. Poor pregnancy outcomes were rare among pregnant women who used LNG or Yuzpe ECPs during the conception cycle or early pregnancy. Breastfeeding outcomes did not differ between women exposed to LNG ECP and those unexposed, and there was no increased risk of ectopic pregnancy versus intrauterine pregnancy after repeated use of LNG ECPs compared with nonuse. Forty-five studies provided indirect evidence. One PK study demonstrated that LNG passes into breastmilk but in minimal quantities. In addition, nine studies examined pregnancy outcomes following ECP failure among healthy women, and 35 articles reported adverse events. Studies suggest that serious adverse events are rare among women taking any of these ECP formulations.Evidence on safety of ECPs among women with characteristics or medical conditions listed within WHO and CDC family planning guidance is limited. However, both direct and indirect evidence for our study question did not suggest any special safety concerns for the use of ECPs among women with particular medical conditions or personal characteristics, such as pregnancy, lactation or frequent ECP use.
Viewpoint: An Alternative Management Paradigm for Plant Communities Affected by Invasive Annual Grass in the Intermountain West

On the Ground • Over 400,000 km2 of the Intermountain West is colonized by cheatgrass and other annual grasses. • Planning and management actions designed to foster perennial grass health throughout the region have never addressed how annual grasses would respond. • For decades, the most significant landscape-level management approach toward invasive annual grasses has been to complain. • We now know how to begin the process of taking the Intermountain West back from the domination of invasive annual grasses: through the management of standing dead litter. • Sustaining perennial bunchgrasses at landscape scales will require an integrated ecological approach to fuels management.
Clinical and radiological evaluation of Inverse impaction of supernumerary teeth

To describe the clinical and radiological features of children with inverted supernumerary teeth.Thirty eight patients with inverted supernumerary teeth (ST) were enrolled in this descriptive and restrospective study. Data from patient records including age, gender, status of dentition, number of ST, number of ST in inverted position, coexistence of ST in inverted and normal direction of eruption, location, orientation, morphology, clinical complications, management and radiography were assessed during 3-years period.Thirty eight patients with a mean age of 9.10 ± 1.97 years (range:6-13) and a strong male preponderance of 3.7:1 (male:30, female:8) had a total of 69 ST, of which 41 were in inverted position. Thirty five patients had one (92.1%) inverted tooth, whereas 3 patients had two inverted teeth per case (7.9%). All cases were located in the maxilla. Midline was the most frequent site for the single inverted supernumerary tooth in 18 (47.4%) patients, followed equally by the right and left premaxillary region in 10 patients each (26.3%). Regarding morphology, 30 patients had conical (78.9%) and 8 (21.1%) had incisiform ST. No tuberculate shaped ST was detected. There was no statistically significant difference between number of inverted teeth and delayed tooth eruption, diastema, local malocclusion, palatinal swelling (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between complications and age (p>0.05). Surgical removal at the time of diagnosis with subsequent follow-up during completion of permanent dentition was the treatment approach in all cases.Thorough clinical examination followed by a comprehensive radiographic screening is the crucial determinant of an accurate diagnosis of an impacted ST. Early diagnosis and timely management are key factors to prevent or minimize the complications, which may influence function and esthetics of the teeth and even psychological condition of the growing child.
Packaging method and article therefore

A method of forming an insulated packaging article for subsequent use comprises compressing an insulating layer 5, sealing it in an air-tight outer layer 3, and transporting or storing the compressed article for subsequent use, whereby the outer layer can be punctured in order to cause the insulating layer 5 to provide insulating properties by expanding through ingress of air. The article may be mechanically compressed to compress the insulation layer and then sealed (fig. 2a-2m), or may be vacuum sealed (not shown). The article may comprises a pouch or pocket member having exterior and interior faces (fig. 1c), with an exterior face being punctured to allow ingress of air. Alternatively the article may comprise an insulated panel or liner for use in a container (fig. 3a-3c). The insulating layer is preferably removable from the outer layer for insertion into another, non-punctured outer layer for re-use. An insulated packaging article which is provided in compressed and sealed form within an outer layer which is subsequently punctured to cause expansion of the insulation layer through ingress of air is also claimed. The insulating layer is preferably wool. Compressing the articles is intended to make them easier to transport before use.
A 277 year cool season dam inflow reconstruction for <scp>T</scp> asmania, southeastern <scp>A</scp> ustralia

Seasonal variability is a significant source of uncertainty in projected changes to precipitation across southeastern Australia (SEA). While existing instrumental records provide seasonal data for recent decades, most proxy records (e.g., tree rings, corals, speleothems) offer only annual reconstructions of hydroclimate. We present the first cool-season (July–August) reconstruction of dam inflow (Lake Burbury) for western Tasmania in SEA based on tree-ring width (Athrotaxis selaginoides) and mean latewood cell wall thickness (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius) chronologies. The reconstruction, produced using principal component regression, verifies back to 1731 and is moderately skillful, explaining around 23% of the variance. According to the reconstruction, relatively low inflow periods occurred around 1860, the early 1900s and 1970, while relatively high inflows occurred in the 1770s and 1810s. Highest reconstructed inflows occurred in 1816, and lowest in 1909. Comparison with available documentary and instrumental records indicates that the reconstruction better captures high rather than low flow events. There is virtually no correlation between our reconstruction and another for December–January inflow for the same catchment, a result consistent with the relationship between seasonal instrumental data. This suggests that conditions in one season have not generally reflected conditions in the other season over the instrumental record, or for the past 277 years. This illustrates the value of obtaining reconstructions of regional hydroclimatic variability for multiple individual seasons in regions where dry and wet seasons are not strongly defined. The results also indicate that the hydroclimate of the southeastern Australian region cannot be adequately represented by a single regional reconstruction.
Multiple back-end support for the armadillo linear algebra interface

The Armadillo C++ library provides programmers with a high-level Matlab-like syntax for linear algebra. Its design aims at providing a good balance between speed and ease of use. It can be linked with different back-ends, i.e. different LAPACK-compliant libraries. In this work we present a novel run-time support of Armadillo, which gracefully extends mainstream implementation to enable back-end switching without recompilation and multiple back-end support. The extension is specifically designed to not affect Armadillo class template prototypes, thus to be easily interoperable with future evolutions of the Armadillo library itself. The proposed software stack is then tested for functionality and performance against a kernel code extracted from an industrial application.
Adriatic port facilities as a bridge for trans-European networks

The project’s global objective is to develop and strengthen the sea transport networks thus linking the Region of Abruzzo to the most important pan-European networks such as the Corridor V and the Corridor VIII. The Project aims, in fact, to help increase the co-operation factors between the two versants of the Adriatic sea and, at the same time, to favour and strengthen the cross-border exchanges of both people and goods, optimising their flows. The project’s specific objectives are the realisation of two infrastructural interventions in the Port of Pescara and of Ortona and the realisation of a feasibility study.
Fluidized bed torrefaction of biomass pellets: A comparison between oxidative and inert atmosphere

Abstract The paper reports on an experimental study aimed at investigating the potential of performing biomass torrefaction using air instead of nitrogen as a carrier gas, which allows reducing the operating costs of upgrading biomass. Specifically, the performances of oxidative and non-oxidative torrefaction treatments were comparatively investigated by using commercial wood pellets and olive pomace pellets as a feedstock. Batch torrefaction tests at three different temperature levels (200, 230 and 250 °C) were performed in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor by fixing the reaction time equal to 15 min; this allowed to investigate the impact of the torrefaction temperature and atmosphere on: a) the distribution of the main output products of the torrefaction process (torrefied solids, condensable volatiles and permanent gases); b) the properties of torrefied pellets as a fuel (i.e., proximate composition, ultimate composition and calorific values); c) the process performances in terms of mass and energy yields of the solid product; and d) the quality of torrefied pellets in terms of mass and energy densities, hardness (shore D) and non-standard durability index. Fluidized-bed torrefaction tests were also complemented by non-isothermal thermogravimetric measurements (TG/DTG/DSC) performed in both air and nitrogen atmospheres. Results show that, under the same operating conditions, the process performance of oxidative torrefaction (i.e., mass and energy yields of the solid product) are worse than that of the non-oxidative treatment, particularly in the case of olive pomace pellets. This is mostly a consequence of the higher degradation rate triggered by oxidative reactions. On the other hand, the physical properties (i.e., mass density, energy density, hardness and durability) of torrefied olive pomace pellets obtained under oxidative atmosphere are better than those obtained via non-oxidative torrefaction. A similar behavior, however, was not observed in the case of woody fir pellets. This confirms that the fluidized bed torrefaction is feedstock-sensitive process; in particular, non-woody olive pomace pellets can be torrefied in oxidative environments, whereas fir pellets are more suitable for non-oxidative torrefaction. Since the torrefaction treatment of biomass pellets in a fluidized bed reactor has not been investigated so far, findings of this work can be useful to highlight potential advantages related to use of such a technology in this specific application.
Integrating Experiences and Recommendations in Eco-Innovation for Sustainable Production and Consumption in the Mediterranean Area

The project ECO-SCP-MED is a 16-month project which aims at ensure sustainability across the supply chain of the main products and services in the MED area, whose cornerstone is fostering eco-innovation and competitiveness through transnational cooperation, integrating experiences and recommendations towards this objective. ECO-SCP-MED will integrate relevant outputs and mutualize experiences and achievements in view to future policy evolution and next programming period. Four main areas will be covered throughout the project: Sustainability of Products and Services, Sustainability of the production process, Sustainable management of Industrial areas, and sustainable consumption patterns and behaviour. Partners from 5 Med countries and 1 IPA, together with 18 external experts, will gather their experiences from previous Med or other projects to capitalize their outputs towards a wider objective and to reinforce and enlarge the capacities of the classical, targeted and strategic projects carried out at multi-stakeholders levels (operational, institutional, entrepreneurial). Partnership, together with external experts, will make an in depth-analysis of achieved outputs in the focus areas, and develop on this basis a common integrated model of sustainable consumption and production in the MED area. On another hand, partners will carry out Networking activities to share and discuss policy recommendations together with Institutional stakeholders in order to develop joint policy recommendations that aim to be proposed to European Authorities to be included in next Programming Period. At this step, various Regional Authorities will be involved to ensure the validation of these policy recommendations. Finally, and in order to reach all target groups and to validate the integrated model, regional conferences will be organized by all partners, and training sessions directed to market will be organized in the four focus areas.
A review of aspects of hydrological sciences research in Africa over the past decade

AbstractThis review assesses the potential of the African continent to contribute to the three main targets of the new science decade of IAHS (Panta Rhei): understanding, estimation and prediction, and science in practice. The continent has an extremely diverse climate and physical environment, and is faced with many problems in the interaction between hydrology and society. While inadequate financial and institutional resources often constrain the pursuit of high-level scientific research, there is substantial hydrological research capacity within Africa. The topics covered over the past decade have partly anticipated some of the research themes adopted as part of the Panta Rhei initiative. African hydrological scientists should therefore be in a better position to make future contributions, largely because their research is already grounded in applications linked to societal needs. Some of the papers reviewed and included in the special issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal introduced in this paper ref...