Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polarimetric Interferometric Eigenvalue Similarity Parameter and Its Application in Target Detection

Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (PolInSAR) combines SAR polarimetry and SAR interferometry and is much more sensitive to the distribution of orientated scatterers compared with polarimetric or interferometric data alone. The polarimetric similarity parameter is an efficient parameter to analyze target characteristics using the similarity between a target and the canonical target. In this letter, the polarimetric interferometric eigenvalue similarity parameter (PIESP) is proposed based on the similarity between two polarimetric SAR images obtained by two interferometric antennas. The PIESP is defined by the eigenvalues of two polarimetric coherence matrices in the PolInSAR system, and the eigenvalues of polarimetric coherence matrix are independent on the target orientation angle; therefore, the PIESP is rotation invariant. PolInSAR systems use two antennas to measure the same ground area with slightly different image geometry. Thus, the PIESP can be used to distinguish the target based on coherence and similarity. Then, the target detection method using the PIESP is implemented with the DLR experimental SAR L-band full polarized image of the Oberpfaffenhofen test site of Germany obtained on September 30, 2000. The results confirmed that the proposed model is accurate and effective for the detection and the analysis of buildings in urban areas.
Designing a pilot sequential multiple assignment randomized trial for developing an adaptive treatment strategy

There is growing interest in how best to adapt and readapt treatments to individuals to maximize clinical benefit. In response, adaptive treatment strategies (ATS), which operationalize adaptive, sequential clinical decision making, have been developed. From a patient's perspective an ATS is a sequence of treatments, each individualized to the patient's evolving health status. From a clinician's perspective, an ATS is a sequence of decision rules that input the patient's current health status and output the next recommended treatment. Sequential multiple assignment randomized trials (SMART) have been developed to address the sequencing questions that arise in the development of ATSs, but SMARTs are relatively new in clinical research. This article provides an introduction to ATSs and SMART designs. This article also discusses the design of SMART pilot studies to address feasibility concerns, and to prepare investigators for a full‐scale SMART. We consider an example SMART for the development of an ATS in the treatment of pediatric generalized anxiety disorders. Using the example SMART, we identify and discuss design issues unique to SMARTs that are best addressed in an external pilot study prior to the full‐scale SMART. We also address the question of how many participants are needed in a SMART pilot study. A properly executed pilot study can be used to effectively address concerns about acceptability and feasibility in preparation for (that is, prior to) executing a full‐scale SMART. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cortisol Reactivity and Observed Parenting among Mothers of Children with and without ADHD

Objective: Neurobiological models suggest links between maternal cortisol reactivity and parenting; however, no studies have examined cortisol reactivity and parenting in mothers of school-age children with ADHD. Method: We examined the relationship between observed parenting and maternal cortisol reactivity in two laboratory contexts: the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and parenting-child interaction (PCI). Mothers of children with (N = 24) and without (N = 36) ADHD participated. Results: During the TSST, greater cortisol output and increase were associated with decreased positive and increased negative parenting. However, during the PCI, cortisol output was associated with increased self-reported and observed positive parenting, and decreased observed negative parenting. Cortisol change during the PCI was associated with decreased observed positive parenting and increased self-reported negative parenting. Among mothers of children with ADHD, cortisol output during the PCI was negatively associated with negative, inconsistent parenting. Change in cortisol predicted more inconsistent discipline and corporal punishment. Conclusion: Findings contribute to an integrative biological, psychological, and cognitive process model of parenting in families of children with ADHD.
Mirror symmetry and exact solution of 4D $N = 2$ gauge theories: I

Using geometric engineering in the context of type II strings, we obtain exact solutions for the moduli space of the Coulomb branch of all N=2 gauge theories in four dimensions involving products of SU gauge groups with arbitrary number of bi-fundamental matter for chosen pairs, as well as an arbitrary number of fundamental matter for each factor. Asymptotic freedom restricts the possibilities to SU groups with bi-fundamental matter chosen according to ADE or affine ADE Dynkin diagrams. Many of the results can be derived in an elementary way using the self-mirror property of K3. We find that in certain cases the solution of the Coulomb branch for N=2 gauge theories is given in terms of a three dimensional complex manifold rather than a Riemann surface. We also study new stringy strong coupling fixed points arising from the compactification of higher dimensional theories with tensionless strings and consider applications to three dimensional N=4 theories.
Parents' Perception of Their Involvement in Schooling Activities: A Case Study from Rural Secondary Schools in Bangladesh

The primary purpose of this study was to explore parents’ perceptions of their involvement in their children’s education. This study was conducted in secondary schools in a rural area of Bangladesh. People from this area mostly have low literacy and income rates. A qualitative case study research design was used. Five parents from five different schools in the rural context were interviewed. The findings from this study show that parents are not comfortable approaching the school and many parents do not consider their role as encompassing parental involvement in their children’s education. The study concluded that parental attitudes and beliefs about involvement are the result of a lack of information about how they could be involved. This study recommends that policymakers and school administrators address parents’ perceptions and not only make them aware of how they can become involved in schooling, but also create opportunities for them to do so.
How, if at all, is therapeutic alliance experienced by individuals attending the STEPPS group programme?

Abstract Objectives. The aim of this study was to gain service users’ perspectives on whether therapeutic alliance, if at all, featured as part of their experience of the Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) group programme. Design. A qualitative, semi-structured interview-based study to explore service users experiences of therapeutic alliance within their treatment. Methods. Seven individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), who were attending STEPPS groups, were interviewed as part of the study. Results. Three themes were identified from the data using thematic analysis: ‘A process of identification and feeling understood, ‘Building camaraderie’ and ‘Recognising positive change’, processes that map directly onto the concept of therapeutic alliance. Group members sought out opportunities to relate to one another, a process which was facilitated by the content and structure of the treatment. Therapeutic bonds were built within the group, and these positive relationships appeared to increase mutual engagement and commitment to see the treatment through. As part of this experience, participants noticed positive changes within themselves, which they attributed to attending the STEPPS programme. Conclusion. Service users experiences outlined within this study suggest that therapeutic alliance featured in the STEPPS treatment. Whilst STEPPS focuses on being a skills based programme, the relationships formed between all group members emerged as an important mechanism from which change was made possible. Further research is required to build on these findings and investigate the extent to which therapeutic alliance affects treatment outcome and drop out within this treatment package for individuals with BPD.
COMpliant huMANoid COMAN: Optimal joint stiffness tuning for modal frequency control

The incorporation of passive compliance in robotic systems could improve their performance during interactions and impacts, for energy storage and efficiency, and for general safety for both the robots and humans. This paper presents the recently developed COMpliant huMANoid COMAN. COMAN is actuated by passive compliance actuators based on the series elastic actuation principle (SEA). The design and implementation of the overall body of the robot is discussed including the realization of the different body segments and the tuning of the joint distributed passive elasticity. This joint stiffness tuning is a critical parameter in the performance of compliant systems. A novel systematic method to optimally tune the joint elasticity of multi-dof SEA robots based on resonance analysis and energy storage maximization criteria forms one of the key contributions of this work. The paper will show this method being applied to the selection of the passive elasticity of COMAN legs. The first completed robot prototype is presented accompanied by experimental walking trials to demonstrate its operation.
English Proficiency, Identity, Anxiety, and Intergroup Attitudes: US Americans’ Perceptions of Chinese

Abstract Guided by the Common Ingroup Identity Model and Berry’s acculturation framework, this study examined the roles that perceptions of language proficiency, cultural identity, and communication anxiety had on intergroup attitudes and stereotypes in the American–Chinese contact context. Serial mediation analyses with 10,000 bootstrap samples revealed that perceived English proficiency of a Chinese contact had significant indirect effects on affective and behavioral attitudes toward Chinese through American participants’ perceptions of their contact’s host and home culture identification and communication anxiety. Perceived English proficiency had an indirect effect only on positive stereotypes through the Chinese contact’s perceived identification with home culture.
Effect of Sludge Amendment on Remediation of Metal Contaminated Soils

Column-leaching and pilot-scale experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of biosolids (sewage sludges) to control the mobilization of metals from contaminated soils with smelting slags. The pilot-scale experiments using amended soils showed that Cu, Pb and Sb were retained, decreasing their concentrations from 250 mg/L, 80 mg/L and 6 mg/L, respectively in the leachates of contaminated soils, to <20 mg/L, 40 mg/L and 4 mg/L, respectively, in the amended material. Hydrogeochemical modeling of the leachates using Minteq revealed that the degree of complexation of Cu rose 56.3% and 57.6% in leachates of amended soils. Moreover, Cu may be immobilized by biosolids, possibly via adsorption by oxyhydroxides of Fe or sorption by organic matter. The partial retention of Pb coincides with the possible precipitation of chloropyromorphite, which is the most stable mineral phase in the pH-Eh conditions of the leachates from the amended material. The retention of Sb may be associated with the precipitation of Sb2O3, which is the most stable mineral phase in the experimental conditions. The organic amendments used in this study increased some metal and metalloid concentrations in the leachates (Fe, Mn, Ni, As and Se), which suggests that the organic amendments could be used with caution to remediate metal contaminated areas.
Characteristics of Alcohol-related Injuries in Adolescents Visiting the Emergency Department

Alcohol is frequently a factor affecting emergency department patients, and alcohol consumption is more common among those who are injured. In Korea, the socioeconomic impact of alcohol has been enormous because of traditional permissive attitudes toward alcohol. Juvenile drinking has increased recently; consequently, an increase in alcohol-related injuries is likely in this population. Therefore, we compared the characteristics and severity of alcohol-related injuries in adolescents and adults. All injured patients seen at six EDs throughout 2007 were included. We obtained data from the 'Development of a model for an in-depth injury surveillance system based on the emergency department' surveillance. The proportion of adolescents who drank was 5.0%. No significant alcohol-related difference in injuries was found between male and female adolescents (P = 0.14), whereas in adults, being male was strongly related to alcohol consumption (P < 0.001). Among traffic accidents, motorcycle-related injuries were strongly associated with alcohol use in adolescents (odds ratio [OR] 2.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-5.83). Results also indicated that alcohol-related injuries in adolescents showed poor outcomes (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.47-3.81) as compared with those in adults (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.26-1.59). Preventive strategy on alcohol-related injuries in adolescents should focus on reducing motorcycle accidents.
Japanese Encephalitis Virus Disrupts Cell-Cell Junctions and Affects the Epithelial Permeability Barrier Functions

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a neurotropic flavivirus, which causes viral encephalitis leading to death in about 20–30% of severely-infected people. Although JEV is known to be a neurotropic virus its replication in non-neuronal cells in peripheral tissues is likely to play a key role in viral dissemination and pathogenesis. We have investigated the effect of JEV infection on cellular junctions in a number of non-neuronal cells. We show that JEV affects the permeability barrier functions in polarized epithelial cells at later stages of infection. The levels of some of the tight and adherens junction proteins were reduced in epithelial and endothelial cells and also in hepatocytes. Despite the induction of antiviral response, barrier disruption was not mediated by secreted factors from the infected cells. Localization of tight junction protein claudin-1 was severely perturbed in JEV-infected cells and claudin-1 partially colocalized with JEV in intracellular compartments and targeted for lysosomal degradation. Expression of JEV-capsid alone significantly affected the permeability barrier functions in these cells. Our results suggest that JEV infection modulates cellular junctions in non-neuronal cells and compromises the permeability barrier of epithelial and endothelial cells which may play a role in viral dissemination in peripheral tissues.
Processing capacity for natural scenes and objects in the human visual system

When a visual scene containing many discrete objects is presented to our retinae, only a subset of these objects will be explicitly represented in visual awareness. The number of objects accessing short-term visual memory might be even smaller. Finally, it is not known to what extent “ignored” objects (those that do not enter visual awareness) will be processed –or recognized. By combining free recall, forced-choice recognition and visual priming paradigms for the same natural visual scenes and subjects, we were able to estimate these numbers, and provide insights as to the fate of objects that are not explicitly recognized in a single fixation. When presented for 250 ms with a scene containing 10 distinct objects, human observers can remember up to 4 objects with full confidence. If forced to guess a further number of objects, they can reliably report between 2 and 3 more objects above chance level. These numbers depend on various factors such as target objects size, eccentricity or familiarity. Finally, even the objects that the subjects consistently failed to report elicited a significant negative priming effect when presented in a subsequent task, suggesting that their identity was represented in high-level cortical areas of the visual system, before the corresponding neural activity was suppressed during attentional selection.
Balancing batteries, power, and performance: system issues in cpu speed-setting for mobile computing

This thesis studies the problem of balancing power and performance in mobile computers, specifically, trading off power for performance by CPU speed-setting. The traditional approach to power-performance trade-offs assumes that batteries and memory bandwidth are ideal and focuses on lowering the energy per operation. This research, however, shows that non-ideal battery and performance behavior must be considered to properly balance power and performance, and that computations per battery life is a better metric for powerperformance trade-offs than energy per operation. The thesis begins with a description of non-ideal battery properties that can affect powerperformance trade-offs and then presents models for those properties. The models delineate regions where batteries can be treated ideally and where their non-ideal behavior must be considered. Furthermore, the models show that peak power rather than average power determines the available battery capacity. Thus, the first major result is that decreasing a mobile computer’s active power will increase the battery life more than decreasing its idle power, even if both reduce the average power by the same amount. The thesis then shows that the memory system also has an impact on CPU speed-setting. Because of limits in memory bandwidth, code performance will not scale with CPU speed when there are a considerable number of accesses to main memory. The second major result is to show that, because of non-ideal memory performance and non-ideal battery capacity, the results of some experiments are nearly a factor of four less for a real system than what would be expected using the ideal assumptions. For those experiments, the computations per discharge is expected to increase by 230%, but instead the measured results show a 37% decrease. Consequently, a system-level approach to CPU speed-setting should account for the nonidealities of both the memory and the battery. The final major result is an outline of a realistic method for CPU speed-setting, one that accounts for non-ideal memory and battery behavior by using performance-monitoring registers and battery “gas gauge” integrated circuits.
Governance Mechanisms and Equity Prices 1

We investigate whether the market for corporate control (external governance) and shareholder monitoring (internal governance) are substitutes or complements for effective corporate governance. Looking at equity prices from 1990 to 2001, we find that these mechanisms are strong complements. A portfolio that is long in firms with ‘high’ external governance and is short in firms with ‘low’ external governance generates an annualized abnormal return of 10 15% only when internal governance can be classified as ‘high’ as well. A similar portfolio created to mimic the importance of internal governance generates annualized abnormal returns of 8%, though only in the presence of ‘high’ external governance. Internal governance is measured using data on blockholders and public pension fund holdings. External governance is measured using data on firm specific takeover defenses in place. Governance Mechanisms and Equity Prices . 1
Modeling of Radiofrequency Nerve Lesioning in Inhomogeneous Media

— Radiofrequency (RF) lesioning of nerves have been commonly used to alleviate chronic pain, where RF current preventing transmission of pain signals through the nerve by heating the nerve causing the pain. There are some factors that affect the temperature distribution and the nerve lesion size, one of these factors is the inhomogeneities in the tissue medium. Our objective is to calculate the temperature distribution and the nerve lesion size in an inhomogeneous medium surrounding the RF electrode. A two 3-D finite element models are used to compare the temperature distribution in the homogeneous and inhomogeneous medium. Also the effect of temperature-dependent electric conductivity on maximum temperature and lesion size is observed. Results show that the presence of an inhomogeneous medium around the RF electrode has a valuable effect on the temperature distribution and lesion size. The dependency of electric conductivity on tissue temperature increased lesion size.
Effects of Seller-Supplied Prices on Buyers' Product Evaluations: Reference Prices in an Internet Auction Context

A field experiment investigated the impact of two external reference points under the seller's control on the final price of an auction. When an item's seller specified a high external reference price (a reserve price), the final bid was greater than when the seller specified a low external reference price (a minimum bid). When the seller provided both high and low reference prices, the reserve influenced the final bid more. The low reference price led to a lower outcome compared to when the seller did not communicate any reference price. The number of bidders influenced outcomes in the absence of seller-supplied reference prices. Copyright 2004 by the University of Chicago.
Multiculturalism, political parties, and the conflicting pressures of ethnic minorities and far-right parties

Multiculturalism is an increasingly salient election issue. The growing size of many countries’ ethnic minority populations pushes parties to support multiculturalism, whereas the emergence of far-right parties in many countries pressures them to oppose it. This article examines parties’ positions on multiculturalism in a comparative context. It looks at 19 countries including most of Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. It argues that the influence of ethnic minorities over parties depends on electoral systems, and the strategies mainstream parties adopt in response to the far-right. The article finds that increases in ethnic minorities’ electoral strength lead parties to increase their support of multiculturalism to a greater degree in single-member district electoral systems than in proportional ones. Further, parties co-opt the anti-multicultural positions of far-right parties, and right parties do so more than left parties.
Is Regulation to Blame for the Decline in American Entrepreneurship?

Mounting evidence suggests that economic dynamism and entrepreneurial activity are declining in the United States. Over the past 30 years, the annual number of new business startups and the pace of job reallocation have declined significantly. We ask whether this decline in dynamism can be explained by federal regulation. We combine measures of dynamism with RegData, a novel dataset leveraging the text of the Code of Federal Regulations to create annual measures of the total quantity of regulation by industry. We find that rising federal regulation cannot explain secular trends in economic dynamism.