cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Life Cycle Assessment of Using Biomass-Based Activated Carbon for Water Treatment in Oil Sands Operations in Alberta
Creators: name: Parchei Esfahani, Mehrshad
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Environmental Sciences
subject: Engineering--Chemical
subject: Engineering--Environmental
subject: Water Treatment
subject: Life cycle assessment (LCA)
subject: Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)
subject: Greenhouse gas (GHG)
subject: Tailings
subject: Pyrolysis

description: The recovery of bitumen through steam-assisted gravity drainage in Alberta produces about 2.7 m3 of water per one m3 of bitumen, resulting in about 118 million m3 of water per year having high levels of organic compounds. When this water is recycled to the boilers, the organic compounds contribute to fouling and corrosion, thus, the energy companies are interested in finding a cost-effective strategy to remove the organics before recycling the water. In mining operations, approximately 3 m3 of water are produced per one m3 of bitumen, resulting in 148 million m3 of water per year flowing into tailings ponds. While the majority of this water is reused, the organics in water can be metabolized and produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Laboratory studies have shown that activated carbon from forestry residues (aspen wood) could remove the organics, create a carbon sink, reduce emissions from tailings and provide a new market for the residual biomass from the local forestry industry. This study compares the cost, energy requirement, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with four scenarios: two scenarios for activated carbon production, pyrolysis and activation of biomass in mobile units in the field or transporting the residual biomass to a central location where it is both pyrolyzed and activated, and two scenarios for using the produced activated carbon for removal of organics from the produced water in either SAGD operations or tailings ponds in mining operations. Field pyrolysis of biomass for both SAGD and mining operations was calculated to have lower emissions (approximately 75% lower GHG emissions), but higher economic costs (approximately 20% higher cost) compared to the centralized processing. The net emissions of the systems were calculated to be between 0 to 16 kgCO2e/m3. Furthermore, at 75% removal level, the maximum feasible amount for the systems used in this study, the net emissions range between -55 to -76 kgCO2e/m3. Hence, the ultimate GHG emissions range achievable by these systems is 16 to -76 kgCO2e/m3. The sensitivity analysis showed pyrolysis and activation yields as well as removal level are the main parameters that should be the focus of future research in order to reduce energy requirements, emissions, and cost of the entire process.
Photon Propagation in the Casimir Vacuum
Creators: name: Vega, Javier Pardo
name: Rojas, Hugo Pérez
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A transformation that relates the Minkowskian space of the Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) vacuum between parallel conducting plates and the QED vacuum at finite temperature is obtained. From this formal analogy,the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the photon self-energy for the QED vacuum between parallel conducting plates (Casimir vacuum) are found in an approximation independent form. It leads to two different physical eigenvalues and three eigenmodes. We also apply the transformation to derive the low energy photons phase velocity in the Casimir vacuum from its expression in the QED vacuum at finite temperature.
description: 4 pages, proceedings of the 1st Caribbean Symposium on Cosmology, Gravitation, Nuclear and Astroparticle Physics (STARS2011) and the 2nd International Symposium on Strong Electromagnetic Fields and Neutron Stars (SMFNS2011)
Methanogenic biodegradation of crude oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Creators: name: Berdugo-Clavijo, Carolina
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: methanogenesis
subject: Hydrocarbons
subject: Anaerobic biodegradation

description: The methanogenic biodegradation of crude oil is an important process occurring in many subsurface hydrocarbon-associated environments, but little is known about this metabolism in such environments. In this thesis work, the methanogenic biodegradation of crude oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) was investigated. Methanogenic cultures able to metabolize light and heavy crude oil components were enriched from oilfield produced waters. Metabolites (e.g., alkylsuccinates) and genes (e.g. assA and bssA) associated with a fumarate addition mechanism were detected in the light oil-amended culture. A Smithella sp. dominated the community, suggesting this organism was involved in the degradation of the hydrocarbon components. In experiments conducted in sandstone-packed column systems simulating marginal oil fields, the light oil-amended culture was shown to bioconvert alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons to CH4. Other oil-associated microbial inocula also enhanced CH4 production from oil in the column systems. Shifts in the microbial communities were observed after the inocula were incubated in the columns. Methanogenic hydrocarbon metabolism was also investigated using new enrichment cultures that biodegraded 2-ringed PAHs under methanogenic conditions. Metabolite and marker gene analyses were conducted on these cultures to investigate the mechanism(s) involved in PAH metabolism. The PAH-utilizing enrichments were dominated by methanogens closely affiliating with Methanosaeta and Methanoculleus, and bacterial members most closely related to the Clostridiaceae family. Further qPCR analysis with a 2-methylnaphthalene-amended culture suggested that Clostridium was the main hydrocarbon degrader in the enrichment. The results of these studies have added new knowledge to the field of methanogenic hydrocarbon biodegradation that may find application in bioremediation or microbial enhanced energy recovery.
Hot Blogging: Exploring English Writing Experiences of Undergraduate Students in China
Creators: name: Li, Wei
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Education--Language and Literature
subject: English
subject: Writing
subject: Blogging
subject: EFL

description: Little investigation has been conducted in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) regarding writing experiences through blogs. This study explores students’ perceptions and experiences of using blogs in EFL writing in China. It draws upon Vygotsky’s constructivist theory and sociocultural theory in language learning. Thirty-one undergraduate students with English majors from a Chinese university participated in the study. Data for the study were collected from students’ blog and microblog entries, two questionnaires administered at the beginning and the end of the blog project, individual interviews, and informal conversations. Results indicate students reported that even though they were aware that English writing is an important component in the English exams and it is one of their weakest skills, they did not spend enough time on it. They found that the exam-oriented nature of the writing tasks on the blog designed by the researcher were not stimulating. They preferred to write about their personal feelings and post comments about current events on their microblogs rather than academic writing on their blogs. They created a new concept of “Anywhere, anytime English learning.” This means they preferred to share their personal comments on microblogs on their smart phones. Pedagogical implications of using blogs and microblogs to practice writing outside the classroom are discussed.
Stoichiometric Control and Optical Properties of BaTiO3 Thin Films Grown by Hybrid MBE
Creators: name: Yalcin, Benazir Fazlioglu
name: Suceava, Albert
name: Kuznetsova, Tatiana
name: Wang, Ke
name: Gopalan, Venkatraman
name: Engel-Herbert, Roman
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: BaTiO3 is a technologically relevant material in the perovskite oxide class with above room temperature ferroelectricity and a very large electro optical coefficient, making it highly suitable for emerging electronic and photonic devices. An easy, robust, straightforward, and scalable growth method is required to synthesize epitaxial BaTiO3 thin films with sufficient control over the film stoichiometry to achieve reproducible thin film properties. Here we report the growth of BaTiO3 thin films by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy. A self regulated growth window is identified using complementary information obtained from reflection high energy electron diffraction, the intrinsic film lattice parameter, film surface morphology, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Subsequent optical characterization of the BaTiO3 films by spectroscopic ellipsometry revealed refractive index and extinction coefficient values closely resembling those of stoichiometric bulk BaTiO3 crystals for films grown inside the growth window. Even in the absence of a lattice parameter change of BaTiO3 thin films, degradation of optical properties was observed, accompanied by the appearance of a wide optical absorption peak in the infrared spectrum, attributed to optical transitions involving defect states present. Therefore, the optical properties of BaTiO3 can be utilized as a much finer and more straightforward probe to determine the stoichiometry level present in BaTiO3 films.
The study of influence of the Teslar technology on aqueous solution of some biomolecules
Creators: name: Andreev, E.
name: Dovbeshko, G.
name: Krasnoholovets, V.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: General Physics (physics.gen-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The possibility of recording physical changes in aqueos solutions caused by a unique field generated by the Teslar chip (TC) inside a quartz wristwatch has been studied using holographic interferometry. We show that the refraction index of degassed pure distilled water and aqueous solutions of L-tyrosine and b-alanine affected by the TC does not change during the first 10 minutes of influence. In contrast, a 1% aqueous solution of plasma extracted from the blood of a patient with heart-vascular disease changes the refractive index when affected by the TC. The characteristic time of reaction is about 100 s. Based on our prior research experience we state that the response of the system studied to the TC's field is similar to that stipulated by the action of a constant magnetic field with the intensity of 1.1 x 10^{-3} T. Nevertheless, our team could unambiguously prove that the TC generates the inerton field, which is associated with a substructure of the matter waves (and, therefore, it does not relate to the electromagnetic nature).
description: 12 pages, 4 Figures, 16 Refs
title: Applications of intelligent control and optimization techniques in the field of credit insurance
title: Εφαρμογές τεχνικών ευφυούς ελέγχου και βελτιστοποίησης στον τομέα της ασφάλισης πιστώσεων
Creators: name: Αϊνατζογλου Κωνσταντινα
Publisher: name: Technical University of Crete
Year: 2020

description: In the present thesis, problems in the field of insurance will be addressed through intelligent control and optimization techniques. More specifically, a way of calculating the price of insurance policies that has to be paid by a prospective client of an insurance company will be suggested. This model will be created and implemented with the use of fuzzy systems. Moreover, a neurofuzzy control system will be created in order to establish the correct operation of the system. The training data that will be used will derive from real anonymous insurance policies. Additional algorithms and nature inspired optimization techniques such as the genetic algorithm will be used wherever required.
description: Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία θα μελετηθούν προβλήματα του τομέα Ασφάλισης Πιστώσεων με χρήση ευφυών τεχνικών ελέγχου και βελτιστοποίησης. Πιο συγκεκριμένα θα παρουσιαστεί ένας τρόπος υπολογισμού των ασφαλίστρων που θα πρέπει να καταβάλει ένας υποψήφιος πελάτης μιας ασφαλιστικής εταιρείας. Η υλοποίηση θα γίνει με χρήση ασαφών συστημάτων. Επίσης, θα κατασκευαστεί και μια νευροασαφής διάταξη ελέγχου για την πιστοποίηση του μοντέλου. Τα δεδομένα εκπαίδευσης θα προέρχονται από πραγματικά ανώνυμα ασφαλιστήρια συμβόλαια πιστώσεων. Όπου απαιτείται θα χρησιμοποιηθούν αλγόριθμοι και τεχνικές βελτιστοποίησης εμπνευσμένες από τη φύση, όπως για παράδειγμα ο γενετικός αλγόριθμος.
Mutual information harvested by uniformly accelerated particle detectors
Creators: name: Naeem, Manar
name: Gallock-Yoshimura, Kensuke
name: Mann, Robert B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate the mutual information harvesting protocol for two uniformly accelerated particle detectors. We numerically show that, while a single detector responds as if it is immersed in a thermal bath, the quantum mutual information between two accelerating detectors behaves differently than that of two inertial detectors in a thermal bath. This is due to the fact that while the Wightman function along the trajectory of a single uniformly accelerating detector is the same as that of as a detector in a thermal bath, a pair of detectors in the same respective cases will have different Wightman functions.
description: 10 pages, 4 figures; fixed typos (v2)
Kinetic Study of the CO2 Capture using Calcium-Based Sorbents and its Application for Hydrogen Production in Gasification Process
Creators: name: Sedghkerdar, Mohammad Hashem
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Engineering--Chemical
subject: Reaction Engineering
subject: CO2 Capture Technologies
subject: Steam Gasification

description: Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and sequestration (CCS) from flue gas obtained from fossil fuel power plants appears to be essential to decrease CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Calcium-looping cycle represents a promising technology for CO2 capture. The intrinsic kinetics of the carbonation reaction for the calcines from two types of limestone (Havelock and Cadomin) was studied. The order of the carbonation reaction changed from first order to zero order when the CO2 partial pressure exceeded ~ 0.7 atm for both types of limestone. The rate of carbonation reaction increased with increasing temperature up to 675°C and decreased with further increases. The obtained intrinsic kinetic parameters (e.g., order of reaction, activation energy, and per-exponential factor), were applied in global kinetic study of the carbonation reaction. The global kinetic study performed using the grain model and the changing grain size (CGS) model. In the CGS model, the physical structure of the sorbent particle changes during the reaction. The overall sorbent conversion obtained with the CGS model showed better agreement with the experimental data than the results obtained using the grain model. The presence of sawdust as a biomass during calcination step decreased the negative effects of calcium-based sorbent sintering by enhancement of calcium dioxide (CaO) surface area, which resulted in an improvement in the carbonation initial rate. Four CO2 carriers included one calcined natural limestone (Cadomin) and three modified calcium-based sorbents; Cadomin-calcium aluminate cement pellets (CD-CA-14), Cadomin-silica-sol pellets (CD-Si), and Cadomin-mesostructred silica core/shell pellets (CD-CS), were examined through 31 carbonation–calcination cycles. The presence of the Mayenite phase (Ca12Al14O33) in the CD-CA-14 pellets led to slower decay in sorbent activity with increased numbers of cycles. The CD-CS pellets showed the best performance in the retention of CO2 uptake activity with only 46% activity loss. Finally, CO2 capture sorbents were integrated with steam gasification of coal to capture CO2, which consequently produced high purity hydrogen. The experimental results showed that the presence of sorbent in the steam gasification of coal enhanced the molar fraction of H2 to more than 80%, with almost all CO2 fixed into the sorbent structure. The steam gasification of coal integrated with CO2 capture exhibited an optimal condition at 675°C.
Thermal Control System to Easily Cool the GAPS Balloon-borne Instrument on the Ground
Creators: name: Fuke, Hideyuki
name: Okazaki, Shun
name: Kawachi, Akiko
name: Kobayashi, Shohei
name: Kozai, Masayoshi
name: Ogawa, Hiroyuki
name: Saijo, Masaru
name: Takeuchi, Shuto
name: Tokunaga, Kakeru
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: This study developed a novel thermal control system to cool detectors of the General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) before its flights. GAPS is a balloon-borne cosmic-ray observation experiment. In its payload, GAPS contains over 1000 silicon detectors that must be cooled below $-40^{\circ}\mbox{C}$. All detectors are thermally coupled to a unique heat-pipe system (HPS) that transfers heat from the detectors to a radiator. The radiator is designed to be cooled below $-50^{\circ}\mbox{C}$ during the flight by exposure to space. The pre-flight state of the detectors is checked on the ground at 1 atm and ambient room temperature, but the radiator cannot be similarly cooled. The authors have developed a ground cooling system (GCS) to chill the detectors for ground testing. The GCS consists of a cold plate, a chiller, and insulating foam. The cold plate is designed to be attached to the radiator and cooled by a coolant pumped by the chiller. The payload configuration, including the HPS, can be the same as that of the flight. The GCS design was validated by thermal tests using a scale model. The GCS design is simple and provides a practical guideline, including a simple estimation of appropriate thermal insulation thickness, which can be easily adapted to other applications.
description: 8 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables
Performance of GPS and Partially Deployed BeiDou for Real-Time Kinematic Positioning in Western Canada
Creators: name: Dou, Jingjing
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Geotechnology
subject: BeiDou
subject: RTK
subject: Ambiguity Resolution

description: China has completed the development of the first phase of its BeiDou satellite navigation system, which contains fourteen operational satellites at of the end of 2012. This thesis implements the Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning using the integrated GPS and BeiDou system in comparison to the GPS-only system to evaluate whether current BeiDou, which is designed to provide regional coverage in the Asia-Pacific region, can augment the GPS system in North America. Three types of measurements, L1-only, L1 and L2, and Wide-lane combination, were tested over short (10 m), medium (20 km), and long (40 km) baselines to give a comprehensive performance analysis in terms of RTK positioning. The signal quality and measurement precision of BeiDou are presented and compared with those of GPS. The availability and geometry, float and fixed positioning accuracy, convergence time of float ambiguities, Time To First-Fix (TTFF) the ambiguities, and the actual success rate of the ambiguities for the GPS/BeiDou system and the GPS-only system are compared to analyze the improvements brought by the current BeiDou system. Results reveal that BeiDou measurements have the same level of precision as GPS. Adding BeiDou improves the float positioning accuracy and accelerates the convergence time of the ambiguities over three different baselines. The actual success rates are improved and the TTFFs are reduced by inducing BeiDou in the L1-only and L1 and L2 cases. The use of the wide-lane combination brings great improvements in the ambiguity resolution particularly over longer baselines. With the additional BeiDou measurements, the actual success rates do not improve since they all maintain at 100%, but the TTFFs are reduced greatly over the three baselines.
Interleukin-10 inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha production in activated macrophages requires SHIP1 and Btk
Creators: name: Golds, Gary Brandhorst
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: Inflammation is a physiological process required for defense against pathogens and the repair of damaged tissues. However, excessive or improper inflammation can be detrimental and results in a number of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. To prevent the negative effects of inflammation, the inflammatory response is tightly regulated by the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). The main target of IL-10 are activated macrophages whose exposure to IL-10 results in the anti-inflammatory response (AIR) characterized by depressed antigen presentation and the inhibited secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα). To induce the AIR in macrophages, IL-10 binds to cell surface receptors which activate the transcription factor STAT3 leading to the transcription of gene products responsible for carrying out the AIR. However, we hypothesized that IL-10 also uses a STAT3-independent mechanism to induce the AIR. Here we demonstrate that IL-10 utilizes the lipid phosphatase SHIP1 to inhibit TNFα production in activated macrophages. SHIP1 is responsible for dissociating TNFα mRNA from polysomes leading to inhibited translation of TNFα mRNA during the AIR. This effect of SHIP1 occurs early in the AIR and helps to immediately halt TNFα production. We also demonstrate that the tyrosine kinase Btk, a reported positive regulator of TNFα production in macrophages, is also utilized by IL-10 in the early AIR to inhibit TNFα production. However, Btk is not required for IL-10 to dissociate TNFα mRNA from polysomes suggesting that Btk and SHIP1 are involved in distinct IL-10 signalling pathways. Finally we show that TIA-1, a RNA binding protein that silences TNFα mRNA translation is not involved in the IL-10 AIR. These results clearly demonstrate the existence of non-STAT3 signalling pathways in the IL-10 AIR and suggest that SHIP1 and Btk activators could be used as potential therapeutics in the treatment of inflammatory disorders.
Structural and electronic properties of Pb1-xCdxTe and Pb1-xMnxTe ternary alloys
Creators: name: Bukala, Malgorzata
name: Sankowski, Piotr
name: Buczko, Ryszard
name: Kacman, Perla
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A systematic theoretical study of two PbTe-based ternary alloys, Pb1-xCdxTe and Pb1-xMnxTe, is reported. First, using ab initio methods we study the stability of the crystal structure of CdTe - PbTe solid solutions, to predict the composition for which rock-salt structure of PbTe changes into zinc-blende structure of CdTe. The dependence of the lattice parameter on Cd (Mn) content x in the mixed crystals is studied by the same methods. The obtained decrease of the lattice constant with x agrees with what is observed in both alloys. The band structures of PbTe-based ternary compounds are calculated within a tight-binding approach. To describe correctly the constituent materials new tight-binding parameterizations for PbTe and MnTe bulk crystals as well as a tight-binding description of rock-salt CdTe are proposed. For both studied ternary alloys, the calculated band gap in the L point increases with x, in qualitative agreement with photoluminescence measurements in the infrared. The results show also that in p-type Pb1-xCdxTe and Pb1-xMnxTe mixed crystals an enhancement of thermoelectrical power can be expected.
description: 10 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physical Review B
Downslope Characterization of Channel Fill and Stratigraphic Architecture along an Ancient Basin Margin, Tres Pasos Formation, southern Chile
Creators: name: Daniels, Benjamin
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Geology
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Cretaceous
subject: Tres Pasos Formation
subject: Slope channel deposits
subject: Turbidites
subject: Chile

description: Slope channel deposits of the Cretaceous Tres Pasos Formation, exposed in southern Chile, record the interplay of formative sedimentary processes along an ancient basin margin. An 8 km-long outcrop belt, known as Alvarez Ridge, provides the opportunity to characterize and interpret processes along depositional dip. Twenty distinct channel fills are identified at Alvarez Ridge; sedimentary observations are investigated using traditional sedimentological techniques, GPS methods, and 3-D architectural modeling. Notable changes in channel fill architecture are not observed along depositional dip, although this is expected, given the estimated length of the slope system (>40 km). The dimensions of the entire channel system (up to 288 m thick) vary along depositional dip; this is attributed to changes in differential compaction and autogenic channel migration patterns along the paleoslope. Documentation of these deposits also informs sandstone body connectivity at multiple scales, which can aid with reservoir prediction in analogous, petroliferous systems.
Many universality classes in an interface model restricted to non-negative heights
Creators: name: Grassberger, Peter
name: Dhar, Deepak
name: Mohanty, P. K.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present a simple one dimensional stochastic model with three control parameters and a surprisingly rich zoo of phase transitions. At each (discrete) site $x$ and time $t$, an integer $n(x,t)$ satisfies a linear interface equation with added random noise. Depending on the control parameters, this noise may or may not satisfy the detailed balance condition, so that the growing interfaces are in the Edwards-Wilkinson (EW) or in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. In addition, there is also a constraint $n(x,t) \geq 0$. Points $x$ where $n>0$ on one side and $n=0$ on the other are called ``fronts". These fronts can be ``pushed" or ``pulled", depending on the control parameters. For pulled fronts, the lateral spreading is in the directed percolation (DP) universality class, while it is of a novel type for pushed fronts, with yet another novel behavior in between. In the DP case, the activity at each active site can in general be arbitrarily large, in contrast to previous realizations of DP. Finally, we find two different types of transitions when the interface detaches from the line $n=0$ (with $\langle n(x,t)\rangle \to$ const on one side, and $\to \infty$ on the other), again with new universality classes. We also discuss a mapping of this model to the avalanche propagation in a directed Oslo rice pile model in specially prepared backgrounds.
description: 15 pages, 17 figures ( use pdf latex)
S2S-WTV: Seismic Data Noise Attenuation Using Weighted Total Variation Regularized Self-Supervised Learning
Creators: name: Xu, Zitai
name: Luo, Yisi
name: Wu, Bangyu
name: Meng, Deyu
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Signal Processing (eess.SP)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Seismic data often undergoes severe noise due to environmental factors, which seriously affects subsequent applications. Traditional hand-crafted denoisers such as filters and regularizations utilize interpretable domain knowledge to design generalizable denoising techniques, while their representation capacities may be inferior to deep learning denoisers, which can learn complex and representative denoising mappings from abundant training pairs. However, due to the scarcity of high-quality training pairs, deep learning denoisers may sustain some generalization issues over various scenarios. In this work, we propose a self-supervised method that combines the capacities of deep denoiser and the generalization abilities of hand-crafted regularization for seismic data random noise attenuation. Specifically, we leverage the Self2Self (S2S) learning framework with a trace-wise masking strategy for seismic data denoising by solely using the observed noisy data. Parallelly, we suggest the weighted total variation (WTV) to further capture the horizontal local smooth structure of seismic data. Our method, dubbed as S2S-WTV, enjoys both high representation abilities brought from the self-supervised deep network and good generalization abilities of the hand-crafted WTV regularizer and the self-supervised nature. Therefore, our method can more effectively and stably remove the random noise and preserve the details and edges of the clean signal. To tackle the S2S-WTV optimization model, we introduce an alternating direction multiplier method (ADMM)-based algorithm. Extensive experiments on synthetic and field noisy seismic data demonstrate the effectiveness of our method as compared with state-of-the-art traditional and deep learning-based seismic data denoising methods.
Radiation-induced dynamical formation of Floquet-Bloch bands in Dirac Hamiltonians
Creators: name: Baba, Yuriko
name: Junk, Vanessa
name: Hogger, Wolfgang
name: Domínguez-Adame, Francisco
name: Molina, Rafael A.
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: 530 Physik

description: Recent experiments, combing ultrafast strong-field irradiation of surfaces with time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, allow for monitoring the time-dependent charge carrier dynamics and the build-up of transient sidebands due to the radiation pulses. While these structures are reminiscent of Floquet-Bloch bands, standard Floquet theory is not applicable since it requires a strictly time-periodic driving field. To study the emergence and formation of such sidebands, i.e. to provide a link between common Floquet physics and dynamical mechanisms underlying short driving pulses, we consider a generalization of Floquet theory, the so-called t − t′ formalism. This approach naturally extents Floquet theory to driving field amplitudes with a superimposed envelope shape. Motivated by experiments we study 2D Dirac Hamiltonians subject to linearly and
circularly polarised light waves with a Gaussian field envelope of a few cycles. For these Floquet-Bloch Hamiltonians we study the evolution of their Floquet-Bloch spectra, accompanied by a systematic analysis of the time-dependent (sideband) transitions. We show that sideband occupation requires circularly polarized light for linear Dirac systems such as graphene, while for Dirac models with trigonal warping, describing surface states of topological insulators such as Bi2Se3, both linearly and circularly polarised pulses induce sideband excitations.
The search for habitable worlds: 1. The viability of a starshade mission
Creators: name: Turnbull, Margaret C.
name: Glassman, Tiffany
name: Roberge, Aki
name: Cash, Webster
name: Noecker, Charley
name: Lo, Amy
name: Mason, Brian
name: Oakley, Phil
name: Bally, John
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: As part of NASA's mission to explore habitable planets orbiting nearby stars, this paper explores the detection and characterization capabilities of a 4-m space telescope plus 50-m starshade located at the Earth-Sun L2 point, a.k.a. the New Worlds Observer (NWO). Our calculations include the true spectral types and distribution of stars on the sky, an iterative target selection protocol designed to maximize efficiency based on prior detections, and realistic mission constraints. We carry out both analytical calculations and simulated observing runs for a wide range in exozodiacal background levels (ε = 1 - 100 times the local zodi brightness) and overall prevalence of Earth-like terrestrial planets (η\oplus = 0.1 - 1). We find that even without any return visits, the NWO baseline architecture (IWA = 65 mas, limiting FPB = 4\times10-11) can achieve a 95% probability of detecting and spectrally characterizing at least one habitable Earth-like planet, and an expectation value of ~3 planets found, within the mission lifetime and ΔV budgets, even in the worst-case scenario (η\oplus = 0.1 and ε = 100 zodis for every target). This achievement requires about one year of integration time spread over the 5 year mission, leaving the remainder of the telescope time for UV-NIR General Astrophysics. Cost and technical feasibility considerations point to a "sweet spot" in starshade design near a 50-m starshade effective diameter, with 12 or 16 petals, at a distance of 70,000-100,000 km from the telescope.
description: Refereed and accepted to PASP, scheduled for publication in the May 2012 issue (Vol. 124, No. 915)
Studies on IT, Logistics, and the Structure of Production
Creators: name: Gong, Fengmei
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Business Administration--Management
subject: Information Technology
subject: Inout-Output Tables
subject: Logistics
subject: The Structure of Production
subject: Production Theory
subject: Production Interdependence

description: Information Technology (IT) has changed how firms and industries run their businesses and how they organize production. This thesis examines the relationships between IT and three important aspects of production organization: the usage of logistics outsourcing, the interde-dependence with upstream suppliers for intermediate inputs, and the structure of production in an economy. The first essay examines whether the advent of the Internet coincided with a move to the market in one of the most connected industries in the economy: logistics. We find that the effects of IT on outsourced logistics have changed with the advent of the Internet. The second essay examines the impact of an industry’s IT investment on its production interdependence with upstream suppliers, where we measure interdependence as direct backward linkage (DBL), and examines the relationship among DBL, total factor productivity (TFP), and value-added. We find that an industry’s IT investment reduces its production interdependence with suppliers and leads to greater value-added. The third essay explores the relationship between IT and the structure of production in an economy. We take a unique perspective, network analysis, to generate a variety of measures of the structure of production which we categorize as connectivity among industries in an ego-centric network and concentration in an ego industry’s supplying market. It is found that an industry’s IT investment is associated with an increase in the connectivity within its supplying network and a decrease in concentration in the supplying market.
title: Pharmacy students’ understanding and perceived development of professional identity and professionalism: a mixed-methods study
Creators: name: Chand, Sonia
Publisher: name: University of Central Lancashire
Year: 2023

description: Background: Professionalism and professional identity as concepts have been researched in many disciplines, but research in relation to pharmacy students in the United Kingdom (UK) is limited. This research, therefore, aimed to investigate pharmacy students’ understanding and perceived development of professional identity and professionalism. Methods: A triangulation mixed-methods study design was adopted using both surveys and interviews. Phase one of the research was to develop instruments for pharmacy students to self-evaluate their understanding and development of professional identity and professionalism. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to establish the reliability and construct validity of the instruments. A survey containing the instruments was disseminated each year for four years to the same cohort of pharmacy students on the 2012 MPharm intake. Phase two involved conducting interviews with pharmacy educators and pharmacy students in years three and four of the MPharm course. The data was analysed using the framework method. Eight schools of pharmacy (SOP) took part in the study. Results: A total of 699 responses were received over the four years of the study, with a response rate of 16%. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the professionalism instrument identified four factors labelled Altruism, Excellence, Respect for Others, and Accountability. Each factor accounted for more than 58% of the total variance. The instrument showed high construct validity and reliable internal consistency (α=0.95). Across the four years, a statistically significant increase was observed in their self-evaluated level of professionalism. The professional identity instrument showed reliable internal consistency of α=0.92 however, professional identity formation was not observed over the four years. The interviews conducted revealed seven themes for how students defined both professional identity and professionalism. These were attributes, perception, communication, regulation, self-development, sense of belonging and the code of conduct. The pharmacy course and role models were identified as common factors for professionalism development, while placements and work experience were identified as common factors for professional identity development. 4 Conclusion: The professionalism instrument is the first quantitative measure to assess the understanding of professionalism by pharmacy students in the UK. Factor analyses confirmed the presence of a four-factor component model. Additionally, this study offers a valuable insight into how students perceive and develop professional identity and professionalism and the role educational institutes can play in engendering these concepts in students.
Generalized frustration in the multidimensional Kuramoto model
Creators: name: de Aguiar, Marcus A. M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Kuramoto model was recently extended to arbitrary dimensions by reinterpreting the oscillators as particles moving on the surface of unit spheres in a D-dimensional space. Each particle is then represented by a D-dimensional unit vector. For $D=2$ the particles move on the unit circle and the vectors can be described by a single phase, recovering the original Kuramoto model. This multidimensional description can be further extended by promoting the coupling constant between the particles to a matrix that acts on the unit vectors, representing a type of generalized frustration. In a recent paper we have analyzed in detail the role of the coupling matrix for $D=2$. Here we extend this analysis to arbitrary dimensions, presenting a study of synchronous states and their stability. We show that when the natural frequencies of the particles are set to zero, the system converges either to a stationary synchronized state with well defined phase, or to an effective two-dimensional dynamics, where the synchronized particles rotate on the sphere. The stability of these states depend on the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the coupling matrix. When the natural frequencies are not zero, synchronization depends on whether $D$ is even or odd. In even dimensions the transition to synchronization is continuous and rotating states are replaced by active states, where the order parameter rotates while its module oscillates. If $D$ is odd the phase transition is discontinuous and active states are suppressed, occurring only for a restricted class of coupling matrices.
description: 23 pages, 3 figures
Wolf at Harp
Creators: name: Hope, Cat
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 190406 Music Composition
subject: FOS: Arts (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music)

description: WOLF AT HARPFor four drum kits (jazz, metal, indie and classical percussion).

Commissioned by Mona Foma 2010.
To perform this work, you need the Decibel ScorePlayer (see below)

PROGRAM NOTE
Wolf at Harp is a work that examines stylistic difference in improvisation using a graphic score to guide performers ideas. Four different styles of drummer (indie rock, jazz/swing, classical percussion and heavy/death metal) read the score whilst freely allowing their own style to permeate the piece. The work was commissioned by the MONA FOMA Festival, where it was premiered.

"a beautiful and textural piece that brings together four drummers - disciples of differing drumming worlds - swing, indie, classical and technical metal. Cat created a notation that allowed for improvisation and breadth"  Josh Santospirito, Drive West Today, 2010.

NOTE TO PERFORMERS
The majority of my compositions use scores that are read on an iPad tablet computer, using the Decibel ScorePlayer, an application available on the App Store . Any fixed media is embedded in the score, and some feature automated functions. In the case of ensemble works, multiple iPads can be networked on a LAN or over the Internet so parts can be read in a synchronised way. You should upload the score file (ending with.dsz) to your iPad from your computer via AirDrop on an Apple, or cable from a PC. Instructions on how to do this and using the Decibel ScorePlayer, more generally are included in the Application, which ships with five other scores. Thus my works have different versions of the score, as you may see above. A PDF/PNG file of the score ‘image’, a DSZ file to upload onto the iPad for performance, and for some less complex scores, a video version. Hardcopies are also available from my publisher. You can find out more about the Decibel ScorePlayer, and how to make your own scores for it, here.

PERFORMANCESPremier Mona Foma, Hobart, Tasmania, January 15, 2010. Alf Properjohn (Drumkit -- jazz), Henry Nichol (drumkit - indie), Sam Dalsen (drumkit - death metal), Tracey Patten (percussion).
Selected Shorts, WAAPA, March 2010 with Charles Chase (drumkit - metal), CallumMoncreiff (percussion), Pete Guazzelli (drum kit - indie) and Garo Tanzi (drumkit - jazz).
The Make It Up Club, July 17, 2012 with Nat Grant (percussion), Gareth Thomspon (drumkit - metal), Ian Wadley (drum kit - indie) and Dan Crow (drumkit - jazz).
Cylindrical and Polygonal Object Modelling and its use in LiDAR Calibration and Point Cloud Registration
Creators: name: Chan, Ting On
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Remote Sensing
subject: Optics
subject: Engineering--Civil
subject: LiDAR
subject: Point Cloud
subject: Calibration
subject: Registration
subject: Cylinder
subject: Polygon
subject: Modelling
subject: Geometric
subject: Least-squares

description: LiDAR systems are optical metrological instruments that capture surfaces of objects as highly redundant sets of discrete points (known as point clouds) in a 3D coordinate system from which spatial information can be extracted to support many applications. The accuracy of the LiDAR measurements can be improved by performing appropriate calibration. In this thesis, two novel cylinder-based calibration methods are presented for recovering interior systematic errors of different types of the LiDAR systems. The first method is a cylinder-based self-calibration technique which primarily uses point clouds of vertical cylindrical features captured from several static scan locations. The method is suitable for LiDAR systems with time-invariant errors. The second calibration method is for multi-beam spinning LiDAR systems. It allows frequent, repeated calibrations to be performed in either static or kinematic scanning mode for recovering the time-varying interior errors. For the calibration in kinematic mode, roadside power and lamp poles are used as the calibration references. In addition to these, a new geometric model of octagonal lamp poles along with a new model-driven point cloud registration method is proposed. The new geometric model uses the rotational symmetry property of the polygon to overcome the challenges of modelling the polygonal periphery using a single equation instead of piecewise functions. The proposed registration method is based on the model and requires only point clouds of a single octagonal lamp pole as registration primitives, and no actual overlap between the point clouds of the pole captured at different scan locations is needed. Each proposed method was individually verified with several real datasets, and most of them were also tested with some simulated datasets. The results suggest that all the proposed methods are practical and also offer improvements compared to the existing methods. The main contribution of this work is that many cylindrical and polygonal objects already exist in the built environment can now be used for sensor calibration, point cloud registration, and some other potential new applications as discussed in the last chapter of this thesis.
Astrophysical analysis of the measurement of (alpha,gamma) and (alpha,n) cross sections of 169Tm
Creators: name: Rauscher, T.
name: Kiss, G. G.
name: Scücs, T.
name: Fülöp, Zs.
name: Fröhlich, C.
name: Gyürky, Gy.
name: Halász, Z.
name: Kertész, Zs.
name: Somorjai, E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Reaction cross sections of 169Tm(alpha,gamma)173Lu and 169Tm(alpha,n)172Lu have been measured in the energy range 12.6<=E_alpha<=17.5 MeV and 11.5<=E_alpha<=17.5 MeV, respectively, using the recently introduced method of combining activation with X-ray counting. Improved shielding allowed to measure the (alpha,gamma) to lower energy than previously possible. The combination of (alpha,gamma) and (alpha,n) data made it possible to study the energy dependence of the alpha width. While absolute value and energy dependence are perfectly reproduced by theory at energies above 14 MeV, the observed change in energy dependence at energies below 14 MeV requires a modification of the predicted alpha width. Using an effective, energy-dependent, local optical alpha+nucleus potential it is possible to reproduce the data but the astrophysical rate is still not well constrained at gamma-process temperatures. The additional uncertainty stemming from a possible modification of the compound formation cross section is discussed. Including the remaining uncertainties, the recommended range of astrophysical reaction rate values at 2 GK is higher than the previously used values by factors of 2-37.
description: 8 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C
Measuring Liquidity in Agricultural Land Markets
Creators: name: Kionka, Marlene
name: Odening, Martin
name: Plogmann, Jana
name: Ritter, Matthias
Publisher: name: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Agricultural land markets
subject: liquidity indicators
subject: panel vector autoregressive model
subject: Granger causality
subject: 630 Landwirtschaft und verwandte Bereiche

description: This paper contributes to the sparse empirical literature on measuring liquidity in agricultural land markets. Using data from Lower Saxony (Germany), we inspect the spatial and temporal variability of various liquidity indicators. We apply a panel vector autoregression (VAR) and Granger causality tests to examine the relationship between liquidity and prices and to identify further determinants of land market liquidity, such as supply shocks and clientele effects. Unlike in housing markets, no positive relationship between prices and market liquidity exists. We conclude that in agricultural land markets, a high demand from expanding farms absorbs supply shocks regardless of prevailing prices.