Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scattered-Light Echoes from the Historical Galactic Supernovae Cassiopeia A and Tycho (SN 1572)

We report the discovery of an extensive system of scattered-light echo arclets associated with the recent supernovae in the local neighborhood of the Milky Way: Tycho (SN 1572) and Cassiopeia A. Existing work suggests that the Tycho SN was a thermonuclear explosion while the Cas A supernova was a core-collapse explosion. Precise classifications according to modern nomenclature require spectra of the outburst light. In the case of ancient SNe, this can only be done with spectroscopy of their light echo, where the discovery of the light echoes from the outburst light is the first step. Adjacent light echo positions suggest that Cas A and Tycho may share common scattering dust structures. If so, it is possible to measure precise distances between historical Galactic supernovae. Ongoing surveys that alert on the development of bright scattered-light echo features have the potential to reveal detailed spectroscopic information for many recent Galactic supernovae, both directly visible and obscured by dust in the Galactic plane.
Parallel power processing topology for solar PV applications

A high efficiency converter topology for extracting maximum power from a photovoltaic (PV) module to charge standalone storage devices is presented in this paper. A reversed buck-boost converter enabling parallel power processing with a power switch referenced to the common return is the main core of the charging system. Small signal analysis of the proposed charging system is carried out to facilitate the design of a compensator for the maximum power point (MPP) tracking. The simulation and experimental results confirmed the validity of the model, and verified the high efficiency system operation with MPP tracking. The use of the PPP with the split loads is also presented, which would improve the size, efficiency and step down duty ratio of the converters.
Does development zone have spillover effect in China?

We construct a new database of spatial relations between industrial firms and development zones using the Application Programming Interface addressing and document the development zones' spillover effect on firms' total factor productivity (TFP). Development zones significantly improve the TFP of surrounding firms, which attenuates with the distance from a development zone, and increases with the density of development zones in a given area. The spillover effect of national development zones decays more sharply than that of provincial ones. The rectification project improves firms' TFP and the spillover effect of development zones. The establishment of development zones affects surrounding firms' TFP, where TFP of newly entered firms decreases in the short term but soon rises rapidly.
Estimating rock porosity and fluid saturation using only seismic velocities

Evaluation of the fluid content in deep earth reservoirs or fluid contaminants in shallow earth environments has required the use of geophysical imaging methods such as seismic reflection prospecting. Interpretation of seismic velocities and amplitudes is based on theories of fluid‐saturated and partially saturated rocks that have been available since the 1950s. Here we present a new synthesis of the same physical concepts that uses compressional‐wave velocities together with shear‐wave velocities in a scheme that is much simpler to understand and apply yet yields detailed information about porosity and fluid saturation magnitudes and spatial distribution. The key idea revolves around the fact that the density and the Lame elastic parameter λ are the only two parameters determining seismic velocities that also contain information about fluid saturation. At low enough frequencies, Gassmann's well‐known equations show that the shear modulus is independent of the fluid saturation level. We use these facts to.
The Implications of Firms' Investment Opportunities for the Valuation of Cash Flows from Investing Activities

This paper examines the market valuation of cash flows from investing (CFI) activities in the presence of investment opportunities. The market valuation of investing cash flows is hypothesized to be larger when a firm possesses a relatively larger amount of positive net present value investment opportunities. Using a dichotomous growth classification, the investing cash flows of high-growth firms are found to have significant explanatory power for unexpected security returns while the investing cash flows of low-growth firms are valued consistent with "overinvestments" by firms' managers. Additional tests suggest that the return-CFI relation is affected by the level of investment opportunities.
The Moderating Effects of Parenting Styles in the Association Between Behavioral Inhibition and Parent-Reported Guilt and Empathy in Preschool Children

This study investigated interactions between children's temperament and parenting styles in their association with measures of guilt and empathy. Participants were 87 predominantly Caucasian, middle-class mothers and their children between the ages of 3 and 5 (M = 4.39, SD = .51). Children nominated by their preschool teachers as being behaviorally inhibited showed higher levels of parent-rated guilt and empathy than uninhibited children, irrespective of the type and quality of parenting they experienced. However, for uninhibited children, greater inconsistent discipline was associated with lower levels of guilt and lower levels of empathy, whereas higher levels of authoritarian parenting were associated with higher levels of guilt. These results support the presence of important interactions between temperament and parenting in explaining two critical dimensions of callous-unemotional traits.
Acute and Subchronic Toxic Effects of the Fruits of Physalis peruviana L.

The fruit of Physalis peruviana L. (PPL) has been traditionally used as antispasmodic, diuretic, antiseptic, sedative, and analgesic all over the world. We aimed to perform qualitative content analysis of the fruits of PPL and to clarify the in vitro genotoxicity and in vivo acute and subchronic toxicity of the fruit. Lyophilized fruit juice does not induce genetic damage. In the acute toxicity studies, LD50 value of the fruit was found to be more than 5000 mg kg−1 for both sexes. According to the subchronic toxicity studies, hepatic, renal, and hematological toxic effects were not induced in both sexes. Plasma troponin I (only in the group treated with 5000 mg kg−1 of lyophilized fruit juice) and troponin T levels were significantly increased in male groups treated with lyophilized fruit juice compared to the control group. Furthermore, potassium level was significantly increased in the male group treated with 5000 mg kg−1 of lyophilized fruit juice. These findings were considered to indicate the myocardial damage particularly in the male group treated with 5000 mg kg−1 of lyophilized fruit juice. In conclusion, lyophilized fruit juice of PPL is shown to induce cardiac toxicity only at high doses and in male gender.
Cogset: a high performance MapReduce engine

Cogset is a generic and efficient engine for reliable storage and parallel processing of distributed data sets. It supports a number of high‐level programming interfaces, including a MapReduce interface compatible with Hadoop. In this paper, we present Cogset's architecture and evaluate its performance as a MapReduce engine, comparing it with Hadoop. Our results show that Cogset generally outperforms Hadoop by a significant margin. We investigate the underlying causes of this difference in performance and demonstrate some relatively minor modifications that markedly improve Hadoop's performance, closing some of the gap. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Block-Based Connected-Component Labeling Algorithm Using Binary Decision Trees

In this paper, we propose a fast labeling algorithm based on block-based concepts. Because the number of memory access points directly affects the time consumption of the labeling algorithms, the aim of the proposed algorithm is to minimize neighborhood operations. Our algorithm utilizes a block-based view and correlates a raster scan to select the necessary pixels generated by a block-based scan mask. We analyze the advantages of a sequential raster scan for the block-based scan mask, and integrate the block-connected relationships using two different procedures with binary decision trees to reduce unnecessary memory access. This greatly simplifies the pixel locations of the block-based scan mask. Furthermore, our algorithm significantly reduces the number of leaf nodes and depth levels required in the binary decision tree. We analyze the labeling performance of the proposed algorithm alongside that of other labeling algorithms using high-resolution images and foreground images. The experimental results from synthetic and real image datasets demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is faster than other methods.
Changes in the Frequency of Airway Infections in Smokers Who Switched To Vaping: Results of an Online Survey

Background and aim: Cell and animal studies suggested that use of e-cigarettes may increase vulnerability to respiratory infection, though the available studies have serious limitations. Limited data are available on respiratory health of vapers. Methods: An on-line survey assessed subjective changes in respiratory symptoms in smokers who switched to vaping for at least two months. Results: Among 941 responders, 29% reported no change in respiratory symptoms, 5% reported worsening, and 66% reported an improvement. Among qualitative comments, 232 elaborated on positive and 15 on negative experiences. Conclusion: The switch from smoking to vaping was associated with a reduced incidence of self-reported respiratory infections. Further studies using objective measures in samples that are not self-selected are needed.
Environmental Safety of the Use of Major Surfactant Classes in North America

This paper brings together over 250 published and unpublished studies on the environmental properties, fate, and toxicity of the four major, high-volume surfactant classes and relevant feedstocks. The surfactants and feedstocks covered include alcohol sulfate or alcohol sulfate (AS), alcohol ethoxysulfate (AES), linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), alcohol ethoxylate (AE), and long-chain alcohol (LCOH). These chemicals are used in a wide range of personal care and cleaning products. To date, this is the most comprehensive report on these substance's chemical structures, use, and volume information, physical/chemical properties, environmental fate properties such as biodegradation and sorption, monitoring studies through sewers, wastewater treatment plants and eventual release to the environment, aquatic and sediment toxicity, and bioaccumulation information. These data are used to illustrate the process for conducting both prospective and retrospective risk assessments for large-volume chemicals and categories of chemicals with wide dispersive use. Prospective risk assessments of AS, AES, AE, LAS, and LCOH demonstrate that these substances, although used in very high volume and widely released to the aquatic environment, have no adverse impact on the aquatic or sediment environments at current levels of use. The retrospective risk assessments of these same substances have clearly demonstrated that the conclusions of the prospective risk assessments are valid and confirm that these substances do not pose a risk to the aquatic or sediment environments. This paper also highlights the many years of research that the surfactant and cleaning products industry has supported, as part of their environmental sustainability commitment, to improve environmental tools, approaches, and develop innovative methods appropriate to address environmental properties of personal care and cleaning product chemicals, many of which have become approved international standard methods.
Structural and temporal changes in the housing market and hedonic housing price indices

Purpose – An economic indicator faces two requirements. It should be reported in a timely manner and should not be significantly altered afterward to avoid erroneous messages. At the same time, it should reflect changing market conditions constantly and appropriately. These requirements are particularly challenging for housing price indices, since housing markets are subject to large temporal/seasonal changes and occasional structural changes. The purpose of this paper is to estimate a hedonic price index of condominiums of Tokyo, taking account of seasonal sample selection biases and structural changes in a way it enables us to report the index in a manner which is timely and not subject to change after reporting.Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes an overlapping‐period hedonic model (OPHM), in which a hedonic price index is calculated every month based on data in the “window” of a year ending this month (this month and previous 11 months). It also estimates standard hedonic housing price in.
Mexican hats and pinwheels in visual cortex

Many models of cortical function assume that local lateral connections are specific with respect to the preferred features of the interacting cells and that they are organized in a Mexican-hat pattern with strong “center” excitation flanked by strong “surround” inhibition. However, anatomical data on primary visual cortex indicate that the local connections are isotropic and that inhibition has a shorter range than excitation. We address this issue in an analytical study of a neuronal network model of the local cortical circuit in primary visual cortex. In the model, the orientation columns specified by the convergent lateral geniculate nucleus inputs are arranged in a pinwheel architecture, whereas cortical connections are isotropic. We obtain a trade-off between the spatial range of inhibition and its time constant. If inhibition is fast, the network can operate in a Mexican-hat pattern with isotropic connections even with a spatially narrow inhibition. If inhibition is not fast, Mexican-hat operation requires a spatially broad inhibition. The Mexican-hat operation can generate a sharp orientation tuning, which is largely independent of the distance of the cell from the pinwheel center.
Toxoplasma gondii Exposure and the Risk of Schizophrenia

Background: Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder with a deeply destructive pathophysiology. There are evidences to indicate that infectious agents such as Toxoplasma gondii may play some roles in etiology of the disorder. Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the association between T. gondii exposure and the risk of schizophrenia. Materials and Methods: T. gondii IgG antibodies of 100 patients with schizophrenia as well as 200 healthy volunteers were assessed. The subjects also completed demographic questionnaires. Data was analyzed using the chi-square and Fisher exact tests. Results: The analyses confirmed the significant differences between healthy women and ones with schizophrenia (P = 0.001) as well as between males and females with schizophrenia (P = 0.009) in IgG positivity. Conclusions: The present study supported the contamination with T. gondii as a risk factor for schizophrenia just in women.
THE SIZE EVOLUTION OF PASSIVE GALAXIES: OBSERVATIONS FROM THE WIDE-FIELD CAMERA 3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE PROGRAM

We present the size evolution of passively evolving galaxies at z ∼ 2 identified in Wide-Field Camera 3 imaging from the Early Release Science program. Our sample was constructed using an analog to the passive BzK galaxy selection criterion, which isolates galaxies with little or no ongoing star formation at z ≳ 1.5. We identify 30 galaxies in ∼40 arcmin2 to H < 25 mag. By fitting the 10-band Hubble Space Telescope photometry from 0.22 μm ≲ λobs ≲ 1.6 μm with stellar population synthesis models, we simultaneously determine photometric redshift, stellar mass, and a bevy of other population parameters. Based on the six galaxies with published spectroscopic redshifts, we estimate a typical redshift uncertainty of ∼0.033(1 + z). We determine effective radii from Sérsic profile fits to the H-band image using an empirical point-spread function. By supplementing our data with published samples, we propose a mass-dependent size evolution model for passively evolving galaxies, where the most massive galaxies (M* ∼ 1011 M☉) undergo the strongest evolution from z ∼ 2 to the present. Parameterizing the size evolution as (1 + z)−α, we find a tentative scaling of α ≈ (− 0.6 ± 0.7) + (0.9 ± 0.4)log (M*/109 M☉), where the relatively large uncertainties reflect the poor sampling in stellar mass due to the low numbers of high-redshift systems. We discuss the implications of this result for the redshift evolution of the M*–Re relation for red galaxies.
When News Norms Collide, Follow the Lead: New Evidence for Press Independence

The literature on media independence shows that the public statements of government officials can simultaneously stimulate news coverage and regulate the discursive parameters of that coverage. This study investigates two sources of uncertainty in that literature which have limited the ability of researchers to draw firm conclusions about the nature of media independence: how critical the news actually is, and how journalists put the indexing norm into practice. I examine policy discourse appearing in evening news broadcasts during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf crisis, and find that sources outside the institutions of American government produced far more discourse critical of American involvement in the Gulf crisis than was produced by the "official" debate among domestic political leaders. Moreover, changes in the amount of governmental criticism coming from official circles did not tend to produce parallel changes in the amount of critical news coverage. This suggests that criticism of government in evening news discourse was not triggered by or closely tied to patterns of gatekeeping among elected officials. Television news coverage did not merely toe the "line in the sand" drawn by the Bush administration. Instead, the evidence from this case suggests that journalists exercised considerable discretion in locating and airing oppositional voices.
Australian evidence on the accuracy of analysts' expectations: The value of consensus and timeliness prior to the earnings announcement

Purpose - This paper aims to use Australian analysts' forecast data to compare the relative accuracy of consensus and the most recent forecast in the month before the earnings announcement. Design/methodology/approach - Cross-sectional regression is used on a sample of 4,358 company-year observations of annual analyst forecasts to examine whether the number of analysts following and the timeliness of an individual analyst's forecast is more strongly associated with the superior forecast measure. Findings - The results suggest that whilst in the late 1980s the most recent forecast was more accurate than the consensus, since the early 1990s the accuracy of the consensus forecast has outperformed the most recent forecast in 15 out of 17 years, and the differences are significant for nine out of 15 years. The forecasting superiority of the consensus can be attributed to the aggregating value of the consensus outweighing the small timing advantage of the most recent forecast over the short forecast horizon examined in this paper. Research limitations/implications - Given the consistent use of analysts' forecasts as proxies for expected earnings in Australian research, this paper provides insights to what extent the expected level of forecast accuracy is realised and the reasons for the greater accuracy in the superior forecast measure. Practical implications - The findings confirm market practitioners' views that the consensus forecast is a better measure of the market's earnings expectations. Originality/value - This paper provides direct evidence of the accuracy of alternative forecast measures and the importance of diversifying idiosyncratic individual error across analyst forecasts.
Clinical Severity of Clostridium difficile PCR Ribotype 027: A Case-Case Study

Background Clostridium difficile is a leading infectious cause of health care associated diarrhoea. Several industrialised countries have reported increased C. difficile infections and outbreaks, which have been attributed to the emergent PCR ribotype 027 strain. Methods and Findings We conducted a case-case study to compare severity of C. difficile disease for patients with 027 versus non-027 ribotypes. We retrospectively collected clinical information about 123/136 patients with C. difficile infections admitted to hospitals in the East of England region in 2006 and from whom stool isolates were cultured and ribotyped as part of an earlier national survey. We defined severe C. difficile disease as having one or more of shock, paralytic ileus, pseudo membranous colitis or toxic megacolon. Patient median age was 83 years old (range 3 to 98, interquartile range 75 to 89), 86% were prescribed antibiotics in the eight weeks before illness onset, 41% had ribotype 027 and 30-day all cause mortality during hospital admission was 21%. Severe disease occurred in 24% (95%CI 13% to 37%) and 17% (95%CI 9% to 27%) of patients with PCR ribotype 027 and non-027 ribotypes respectively. In a multivariable model, ribotype 027 was not associated with severe disease after adjusting for sex, discharge from hospital prior to 60 days of current admission, gastroenteritis on admission, number of initiator antibiotics for C. difficile disease, and hospital where the patient was admitted. Conclusions Our study found no evidence to support previous assertions that ribotype 027 is more virulent than other PCR ribotypes. This finding raises questions about the contribution of this strain to the recent increase in C. difficile disease throughout North America and Europe.
Maternal parenting style and adjustment in adolescents with type I diabetes.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the cross-sectional relationship between maternal parenting style and indicators of well-being among adolescents with diabetes. METHODS Seventy-eight adolescents (ages 11.58-17.42 years, M = 14.21) with type 1 diabetes and their mothers separately reported perceptions of maternal parenting style. Adolescents reported their own depressed mood, self-efficacy for managing diabetes, and diabetes regimen adherence. RESULTS Adolescents' perceptions of maternal psychological control were associated with greater depressed mood regardless of age and gender. Firm control was strongly associated with greater depressed mood and poorer self-efficacy among older adolescents, less strongly among younger adolescents. Adolescents' perceptions of maternal acceptance were associated with less depressed mood, particularly for girls and with better self-efficacy for diabetes management, particularly for older adolescents and girls. Maternal reports of acceptance were associated only with adherence. CONCLUSIONS Maternal parenting style is associated with well-being in adolescents with diabetes, but this association is complex and moderated by age and gender.