pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Mealiness assessment in apples and peaches using MRI techniques

Mealiness (woolliness in peaches) is a negative attribute of sensory texture that combines the sensation of a desegregated tissue with the sensation of lack of juiciness. In this study, 24 apples cv. Top Red and 8 peaches cv. Maycrest, submitted to 3 and 2 different storage conditions respectively have been tested by mechanical and MRI techniques to assess mealiness. With this study, the results obtained on apples in a previous work have been validated using mathematical features from the histograms of the T2 maps: more skewed and the presence of a tail in mealy apples, similar to internal breakdown. In peaches, MRI techniques can also be used to identify woolly fruits. Not all the changes found in the histograms of woolly peaches are similar from those observed in mealy apples pointing to a different underlying physiological change in both disorder
Unveiling the intricate public-private interplay in next generation communications

For most of the last century, telephone services and telecommunication services more generally were provided by national companies operating as monopolies. The monopolist was in charge of deploying the networks, using criteria that were often more political than economic. The generalisation tends to hold internationally, although at certain times and in certain places, it has not been true. The United States is the most prominent exception.\ud
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In the mid-1980s, the first tentative efforts to reform the sector began. Once these efforts intensified and spread, they led to an extraordinary transformation process that in most cases included the privatisation of the monopolistic companies. Barely a decade after the first instances of privatisation, with markets being progressively liberalised and companies operating in competition, it seemed that the direct construction of networks by public bodies or companies under their control was definitely left behind.\ud
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However, almost at the same time as the privatisation process reached its zenith of activity, new policies of unquestionable influence on the industry emerged. The rise of what has been called the knowledge economy or new economy has reinforced the role of telecommunications as a strategic investment. The consensus regarding the importance of telecommunications has changed the reasoning at play. It no longer includes the existence of an adequate infrastructure as a factor affecting regional development. Instead, its absence is considered a sign of underdevelopment. As a result, governments pay particular attention to telecommunications. This renewed interest includes direct intervention in network deploymen
A 500-kW pv generator I-V curve

This paper presents the measurement of the I-V curve of a 500-kW PV generator by means of an own-made capacitive load. It is shown that I-V curve analysis can also be applied to big PV generators and that when measuring the operation conditions with reference modules and taking some precautions (especially regarding the operation cell temperature), it is still a useful tool for characterizing them and therefore can be incorporated into maintenance procedures. As far as we know, this is the largest I-V curve measured so far
On the influence of individual characteristics and personality traits on the user experience with multi-sensorial media: an experimental insight

Recent studies encourage the development of sensorially-enriched media to enhance the user experience by stimulating senses other than sight and hearing. Sensory effects as odor, wind, vibration and light effects, as well as an enhanced audio quality, have been found to favour media enjoyment and to have a positive influence on the sense of Presence and on the perceived quality, relevance and reality of a multimedia experience. In particular, sports is among the genres that could benefit the most from these solutions. Several works have demonstrated also the technical feasibility of implementing and deploying end-to-end solutions integrating sensory effects into a legacy system. Thus, multi-sensorial media emerges as a mean to deliver a new form of immersive experiences to the mass market in a non-disruptive manner. However, many questions remain concerning issues as the sensory effects that can better complement a given audiovisual content or the best way in which to integrate and combine them to enhance the user experience of a target audience segment. The work presented in this paper aims to gain insight into the impact of binaural audio and sensory (light and olfactory) effects on the sports media experience, both at the overall level (average effect) and as a function of users? characteristics (heterogeneous effects). To this aim, we conducted an experimental study exploring the influence of these immersive elements on the quality and Presence dimensions of the media experience. Along the quality dimension, we look for possible variations on the quality scores assigned to the overall media experience and to the media components content, image, audio and sensory effects. The potential impact on Presence is analyzed in terms of Spatial Presence and Engagement. The users? characteristics considered encompass specific personal affective, cognitive and behavioral attributes. We found that, on average, participants preferred binaural audio than standard stereo audio. The audio quality was found to have a heterogeneous impact on the quality of experience, on the perceived quality of content and image and on the levels of Spatial Presence and Engagement. Furthermore, the presence of sensory effects increased significantly the level of Spatial Presence. Additionally, highly conscious participants reported a significantly higher image quality when sensory effects were present in comparison to those conditions in which sensory effects were not administered. Personal characteristics explained most of the variation in the dependent variables, being individuals? preferences in relation to the content, knowledge of involved technologies, tendency to emotional involvement and conscientiousness among the user variables with the most generalized influence
Small Businesses Need Strong Mediators : Mitigating the Disadvantages of Peripheral Localization Through Alliance Formation

Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Planning Studies on 13/03/2014, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09654313.2013.876975.This paper investigates how small entrepreneurial firms in two peripheral regions developed by entering the oil and gas industry. The paper draws on previous studies related to the establishment of strategic alliances and emerging clusters and contributes to these research streams by examining the disadvantages of peripheral localization and small firm size. We use a longitudinal case study based on primary data consisting of 54 in-depth interviews conducted between 2007 and 2012 to illustrate that when large-scale oil and gas projects enter a peripheral region, oil companies can moderate local firms' disadvantages related to peripheral localization by actively facilitating relationships with established national firms. By facilitating such relationships and maintaining an active moderating role, strategic alliances and emerging cluster structures can arise. A cross-case analysis illustrates that the oil company had a decisive role in one of the two cases in two dimensions: its role as intermediary between local firms and national firms and its role in fostering the development of an emerging cluster structure by stimulating the establishment of new firms through the oil and gas project. In the second case, the oil company was unable to facilitate regional development
Isomerism and decoherence

In the present paper we address the problem of optical isomerism embodied in the socalled “Hund’s paradox”, which points to the difficulty to account for chirality by means of quantum mechanics. In particular, we explain the answer to the problem proposed by the theory of decoherence. The purpose to this article is to challenge this answer on the basis of a conceptual analysis of the phenomenon of decoherence, that reveals the limitations of the theory of decoherence to solve the difficulties posed by optical isomerism and, in general, by quantum measurement
Absolute ion detection efficiencies of microchannel plates and funnel microchannel plates for multi-coincidence detection

Modern momentum imaging techniques allow for the investigation of complex molecules in the gas phase by detection of several fragment ions in coincidence. For these studies, it is of great importance that the
single-particle detection efficiency e is as high as possible, as the overall efficiency scales with e over n, i.e. the power of the number of detected particles. Here we present measured absolute detection efficiencies for protons of several micro-channel plates (MCPs), including efficiency enhanced "funnel MCPs". Furthermore, the relative detection efficiency for two-, three-, four-, and five-body fragmentation of CHBrClF has been examined. The "funnel" MCPs exhibit an efficiency of approx. 90 percent, gaining a factor of 24 (as compared to "normal" MCPs) in case of a five-fold ion coincidence detection
Climate, Conflict and Forced Migration

Despite the lack of robust empirical evidence, a growing number of media reports attempt to link climate change\ud
to the ongoing violent conflicts in Syria and other parts of the world, as well as to the migration crisis in Europe.\ud
Exploiting bilateral data on asylum seeking applications for 157 countries over the period 2006-2015, we assess\ud
the determinants of refugee flows using a gravity model which accounts for endogenous selection in order to\ud
examine the causal link between climate, conflict and forced migration. Our results indicate that climatic\ud
conditions, by affecting drought severity and the likelihood of armed conflict, played a significant role as an \ud
explanatory factor for asylum seeking in the period 2011-2015. The effect of climate on conflict occurrence is\ud
particularly relevant for countries in Western Asia in the period 2010-2012 during when many countries were\ud
undergoing political transformation. This finding suggests that the impact of climate on conflict and asylum\ud
seeking flows is limited to specific time period and contexts
Multisensor Demining Robot

The paper describes an advanced multisensor demining robot. The robot transport system is based on a simple structure using pneumatic drive elements. The robot has robust design and can carry demining equipment up to 100 kg over rough terrains. Due to the adaptive possibilities of pedipulators to obstacles, the robot can adjust the working position of the demining sensors while searching for mines. The detection block consists of a metal detector, an infrared detector, and a chemical explosive sensor. The robot is controlled by means of an on-board processor and by an operator remote station in an interactive mode. Experimental results of the transport, control, and detection systems of the robot are presented.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10514-005-6840-
Distribution of endocrine disruptors in the Mondego River estuary, Portugal

Abstract  Recent studies in the Mondego River estuary demonstrated signs of pollution in the area, but the nature of the contamination remains unexplored. Because there seems to be any studies in that zone checking for the simultaneous presence of xenoestrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds, either of animal (estradiol and estrone), vegetal (daidzein, genistein and biochanin A), pharmaceutical (17a-ethynylestradiol) or industrial (bisphenol A, 4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol) origins, the main objective of this study was to investigate their presence, in every year season and at eight points along the estuarine gradient. For this propose, water samples (2 L) were collected in high and low tides, preconcentrated in the Oasis HLB cartridges and cleaned in silica cartridges before their analysis by HPLC-DAD and GC-MS. The current data showed the absence of contamination by animal or pharmaceutical estrogens and by alkylphenols, but demonstrated the presence of high levels of phytoestrogens (up to 1.1 µg/L) and of bisphenol A (up to 880.0 ng/L). Because these two chemicals existed in high environmental concentrations in the most upstream sampling station, and taking in account that these pollutants may additively contribute to endocrine disruption, namely on fish, it was concluded that at least this particularly area of the Mondego estuary deserves continuous monitoring programmes.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0192-
Strong convergence rates for the estimation of a covariance operator for associated samples

Abstract  Let X  n , n = 1, be a strictly stationary associated sequence of random variables, with common continuous distribution function F. Using histogram type estimators we consider the estimation of the two-dimensional distribution function of (X 1,X  k+1) as well as the estimation of the covariance function of the limit empirical process induced by the sequence X  n , n = 1. Assuming a convenient decrease rate of the covariances Cov(X 1,X  n+1), n = 1, we derive uniform strong convergence rates for these estimators. The condition on the covariance structure of the variables is satisfied either if Cov(X 1,X  n+1) decreases polynomially or if it decreases geometrically, but as we could expect, under the latter condition we are able to establish faster convergence rates. For the two-dimensional distribution function the rate of convergence derived under a geometrical decrease of the covariances is close to the optimal rate for independent samples.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11203-006-9007-
Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation approaches in ADS burn-up calculations

In activation calculations, there are several approaches to quantify uncertainties: deterministic by means of sensitivity analysis, and stochastic by means of Monte Carlo. Here, two different Monte Carlo approaches for nuclear data uncertainty are presented: the first one is the Total Monte Carlo (TMC). The second one is by means of a Monte Carlo sampling of the covariance information included in the nuclear data libraries to propagate these uncertainties throughout the activation calculations. This last approach is what we named Covariance Uncertainty Propagation, CUP.\ud
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This work presents both approaches and their differences. Also, they are compared by means of an activation calculation, where the cross-section uncertainties of 239Pu and 241Pu are propagated in an ADS activation calculation
Inclusive and pion production neutrino-nucleus cross sections

We analyze the experimental data on the inclusive double differential cross
section by neutrinos charged current, measured by T2K, with the same model
which was successful for the MiniBooNE quasielastic cross sections. As in our
previous analysis the multinucleon component is needed in order to reproduce
the data. For the total cross section our evaluation is smaller than the
SciBooNE data above 1 GeV. This indicates the opening of a new channel not
included in our evaluation, presumably the two pion emission channel. We also
check that our description holds for the exclusive single pion production
channel by confronting our evaluation with the MiniBooNE double differential
cross section for a single charged pion and the Q^2 distribution. Both are
compatible with data
A combined sensitivity analysis and kriging surrogate modeling for early validation of health indicators

To increase the dependability of complex systems, one solution is to assess their state of health continuously through the monitoring of variables sensitive to potential degradation modes. When computed in an operating environment, these variables, known as health indicators, are subject to many uncertainties. Hence, the stochastic nature of health assessment combined with the lack of data in design stages makes it difficult to evaluate the efficiency of a health indicator before the system enters into service. This paper introduces a method for early validation of health indicators during the design stages of a system development process. This method uses physics-based modeling and uncertainties propagation to create simulated stochastic data. However, because of the large number of parameters defining the model and its computation duration, the necessary runtime for uncertainties propagation is prohibitive. Thus, kriging is used to obtain low computation time estimations of the model outputs. Moreover, sensitivity analysis techniques are performed upstream to determine the hierarchization of the model parameters and to reduce the dimension of the input space. The validation is based on three types of numerical key performance indicators corresponding to the detection, identification and prognostic processes. After having introduced and formalized the framework of uncertain systems modeling and the different performance metrics, the issues of sensitivity analysis and surrogate modeling are addressed. The method is subsequently applied to the validation of a set of health indicators for the monitoring of an aircraft engine's pumping unit
Column Generation Algorithms for Nonlinear Optimization II: Numerical Investigations

García et al. present a class of column generation (CG) algorithms for nonlinear programs. Its main\ud
motivation from a theoretical viewpoint is that under some circumstances, finite convergence can be\ud
achieved, in much the same way as for the classic simplicial decomposition method; the main practical\ud
motivation is that within the class there are certain nonlinear column generation problems that can\ud
accelerate the convergence of a solution approach which generates a sequence of feasible points. This\ud
algorithm can, for example, accelerate simplicial decomposition schemes by making the subproblems\ud
nonlinear. This paper complements the theoretical study on the asymptotic and finite convergence of\ud
these methods given in\ud
[1]\ud
with an experimental study focused on their computational efficiency.\ud
Three types of numerical experiments are conducted. The first group of test problems has been\ud
designed to study the parameters involved in these methods. The second group has been designed to\ud
investigate the role and the computation of the prolongation of the generated columns to the relative\ud
boundary. The last one has been designed to carry out a more complete investigation of the difference\ud
in computational efficiency between linear and nonlinear column generation approaches.\ud
In order to carry out this investigation, we consider two types of test problems: the first one is the\ud
nonlinear, capacitated single-commodity network flow problem of which several large-scale instances\ud
with varied degrees of nonlinearity and total capacity are constructed and investigated, and the second\ud
one is a combined traffic assignment mode
Patient-rated outcomes of lumbar fusion in patients with degenerative disease of the lumbar spine: does age matter?

STUDY DESIGN: Single centre retrospective study of prospectively collected data, nested within the Eurospine Spine Tango data acquisition system.\ud
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the patient-rated outcome and complication rates associated with lumbar fusion procedures in three different age groups.\ud
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: There is a general reluctance to consider spinal fusion procedures in elderly patients due to the increased likelihood of complications.\ud
METHODS: Before and at 3, 12, and 24 months after surgery, patients completed the multidimensional Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI). At the 3-, 12-, and 24-month follow-ups they also rated the Global Treatment Outcome (GTO) and their satisfaction with care. Patients were divided into three age groups: younger (≥50y < 65y; n = 317), older (≥65y < 80y; n = 350), and geriatric (≥ 80y; n = 40).\ud
RESULTS: 707 consecutive patients were included. The preoperative comorbidity status differed significantly (p < 0.0001) between the age groups, with the highest scores in the geriatric group. Medical complications during surgery were lower in the younger age group (7%) than in the older (13.4%; p = 0.006) and geriatric groups (17.5%; p = 0.007); surgical complications tended to be higher in the elderly group (younger, 6.3%; older, 6.0%; geriatric, 15.0%; p = 0.09). There were no significant group differences (p > 0.05) for the scores on any of the COMI domains, GTO, or patient-rated satisfaction at either 3-, 12-, and 24-months follow-up.\ud
CONCLUSIONS: Despite greater comorbidity and complication rates in geriatric patients, the patient-rated outcome was as good in the elderly as it was in younger age groups up to two years after surgery. These data indicate that geriatric age needs careful consideration of associated risks but is not per se a contraindication for fusion for lumbar degenerative disease.\ud
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4
Kinetic instability of the dust acoustic mode in inhomogeneous, partially magnetized plasma with both positively and negatively charged grains

A purely kinetic instability of the dust acoustic mode in inhomogeneous plasmas is discussed. In the presence of a magnetic field, electrons and ions may be magnetized while at the same time dust grains may remain unmagnetized. Although the dynamics of the light species is strongly affected by the magnetic field, the dust acoustic mode may still propagate in practically any direction. The inhomogeneity implies a source of free energy for an instability that develops through the diamagnetic drift effects of the magnetized species. It is shown that this may be a powerful mechanism for the excitation of dust acoustic waves. The analysis presented in the work is also directly applicable to plasmas containing both positive and negative ions and electrons, provided that at least one of the two ion species is unmagnetized.status: publishe
Finite temperature holographic duals of 2-dimensional BCFTs

We consider holographic duals of 2-dimensional conformal field theories in the presence of a boundary, interface, defect and/or junction, referred to collectively as BCFTs. In general, the presence of a boundary reduces the SO(2, 2) conformal symmetry to SO(2, 1) and the dual geometry is realized as a warped product of the form Ad S 2 × ℳ $$ Ad{S}_2\times \mathrm{\mathcal{M}} $$ , where ℳ $$ \mathrm{\mathcal{M}} $$ is not compact. In particular, it will contain points where the warp factor of the AdS 2 space diverges, leading to asymptotically AdS 3 regions. We show that the AdS 2 space-time may always be replaced with an AdS 2 -“black-hole” space-time. We argue the resulting geometry describes the BCFT at finite temperature. To motivate this claim, we compute the entanglement entropy holographically for a segment centered around the defect or ending on the boundary and find agreement with a known universal formula
On the holographic width of flux tubes

We investigate the width of the flux tube between heavy static quark charges. Using the gauge/gravity duality, we find the properties of the minimal connected surface related to the width of the bound state. We show that in the confining phase, the logarithmic broadening predicted by the effective string description and observed in lattice simulations is a generic property of all confining backgrounds. We also study the transverse fluctuations of the string connecting two static quarks in curved backgrounds. Our formalism is applied to AdS space where we compute the expectation value of the square of transverse deviations of the string, a quantity related to the width