Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Galaxy properties in low X‐ray luminosity clusters at z=0.25

We present the first spectroscopic survey of intrinsically low X-ray luminosity clusters at z≫ 0, with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2 imaging and spectroscopy from Calar Alto and WHT-LDSS2. We study 172 confirmed cluster members in a sample of ten clusters at 0.23 < z < 0.3, with LX≲ 4 × 1043h−2 erg s−1[0.1–2.4 keV] (Ωm= 0.3, Λ= 0.7). The core of each cluster is imaged with WFPC2 in the F702W filter, and the spectroscopic sample is statistically complete to Mr∼−19.0 + 5 log h, within an 11 arcmin (∼1.8 h−1 Mpc) field. The clusters are dynamically well-separated from the surrounding field and most have velocity distributions consistent with Gaussians. The velocity dispersions range from ∼350–850 km s−1, consistent with the local LX–σ correlation. All 10 clusters host a bright, giant elliptical galaxy without emission lines, near the centre of the X-ray emission. We measure the equivalent width of two nebular emission lines, [O ii] and Hα, and the Hδ absorption line to classify the cluster members spectrally. Galaxy morphologies are measured from the HST images, using the two-dimensional surface-brightness fitting software gim2d. Emission-line galaxies in these clusters are relatively rare, comprising only 22 ± 4 per cent of the sample. There is no evidence that these emission-line galaxies are dynamically distinct from the majority of the cluster population, though our sample is too small to rule out the ∼30 per cent difference that has been observed in more massive clusters. We find 11 galaxies, comprising 6 per cent of the cluster members, that are disc-dominated but show no sign of emission in their spectrum. Most of these are relatively isolated, spiral galaxies with smooth discs. We find no cluster members with a starburst or post-starburst spectrum. The striking similarity between the spectral and morphological properties of galaxies in these clusters and those of galaxies in more massive systems at similar redshifts implies that the physical processes responsible for truncating star formation in galaxies are not restricted to the rare, rich cluster environment, but are viable in much more common environments. In particular, we conclude that ram pressure stripping or cluster-induced starbursts cannot be solely responsible for the low star formation rates in these systems.
Hidden conditional random field for lung nodule detection

Lung nodule detection in thin section computerized tomography (CT) images is a useful but challenging task in the development of computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system for lung cancer. In order to improve sensitivity and reduce false positive, we consider a 3D nodule as a 2D region of interest (ROI) sequence and utilize a discriminative sequence model called hidden conditional random field to capture the correlations and transitions of a nodule's ROIs on several consecutive slices. First, we use region growing and thresholding to segment lung parenchyma. Second, selective enhancement filter is employed on 2D images to get 2D ROIs and after that, we match these ROIs on consecutive images based on a simple but effective criteria to get 2D ROI sequence(3D candidate) of a nodule. Third, given these ROI sequences, hidden conditional random field is devised to classify whether some 3D candidates are nodules or not based on these sequences. The proposed system is validated on 24 patients' scans which contain 59 nodules in total from Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach achieves high sensitivity and reduces false positive significantly.
Fiscal incidence of social spending in South Africa, 2006

This paper presents the findings of a study undertaken for the South African National Treasury regarding the expenditure incidence of social spending in South Africa in 2006, and also regarding changes in incidence in the period following democratisation. Concentration ratios and concentration curves show that there have been considerable shifts in social spending incidence in the period 1995 (the year after democracy) and 2006, the most recent observation. In particular, social spending grants have become a major tool of targeting resources to the poor. Although the poor now get considerably more of social spending than their population share, the very skew underlying income distribution means that the post-fiscal situation still is one with great inequality. Moreover, evidence is presented that spending efficiency for social spending is low, thus there is only a tenuous link between social spending and social outcomes. Thus great shifts in social spending have had a limited impact on poverty and inequality in South Africa.
Adaptation of the diaphragm and the vastus lateralis in mild-to-moderate COPD

The chronology of diaphragm and vastus lateralis adaptation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been studied. The hypothesis of this study was that muscle changes would occur earlier in the diaphragm than in the vastus lateralis in COPD, a finding that would suggest that local factors would be more important than systemic factors in determining the muscle phenotypic expression, at least in mild-to-moderate disease. The adaptation of the vastus lateralis and diaphragm muscles was evaluated in patients with mild-to-moderate COPD and in subjects with normal pulmonary function. In both groups, the oxidative potential and the number of lipofuscin inclusions were higher in the diaphragm than in the vastus lateralis. Compared to control, the diaphragm in COPD had a higher oxidative capacity and a higher proportion of type I fibres, with a reciprocal decrease in type IIA fibres, while there was no difference in diaphragmatic cross sectional areas, capillarisation and lipofuscin inclusions. No significant differences were found in the vastus lateralis from both groups. In conclusion, these data indicate that the diaphragm in controls and in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has a higher oxidative potential than the vastus lateralis, and that muscle adaptation occurs earlier in the diaphragm than in the vastus lateralis in mild-to-moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The Control of Single-Celled Cotton Fiber Elongation by Developmentally Reversible Gating of Plasmodesmata and Coordinated Expression of Sucrose and K+ Transporters and Expansin

Each cotton fiber is a single cell that elongates to 2.5 to 3.0 cm from the seed coat epidermis within ∼16 days after anthesis (DAA). To elucidate the mechanisms controlling this rapid elongation, we studied the gating of fiber plasmodesmata and the expression of the cell wall–loosening gene expansin and plasma membrane transporters for sucrose and K+, the major osmotic solutes imported into fibers. Confocal imaging of the membrane-impermeant fluorescent solute carboxyfluorescein (CF) revealed that the fiber plasmodesmata were initially permeable to CF (0 to 9 DAA), but closed at ∼10 DAA and re-opened at 16 DAA. A developmental switch from simple to branched plasmodesmata was also observed in fibers at 10 DAA. Coincident with the transient closure of the plasmodesmata, the sucrose and K+ transporter genes were expressed maximally in fibers at 10 DAA with sucrose transporter proteins predominately localized at the fiber base. Consequently, fiber osmotic and turgor potentials were elevated, driving the rapid phase of elongation. The level of expansin mRNA, however, was high at the early phase of elongation (6 to 8 DAA) and decreased rapidly afterwards. The fiber turgor was similar to the underlying seed coat cells at 6 to 10 DAA and after 16 DAA. These results suggest that fiber elongation is initially achieved largely by cell wall loosening and finally terminated by increased wall rigidity and loss of higher turgor. To our knowledge, this study provides an unprecedented demonstration that the gating of plasmodesmata in a given cell is developmentally reversible and is coordinated with the expression of solute transporters and the cell wall–loosening gene. This integration of plasmodesmatal gating and gene expression appears to control fiber cell elongation.
Reference data for the American English acoustic vowel space

Reference data for the acoustic vowel space area (VSA) in children and adolescents do not currently appear to be available in a form suitable for normative comparisons. In the current study, individual speaker formant data for the four corner vowels of American English (/i, u, æ, ɑ/) were used to compute individual speaker VSAs. The sample included 300 children aged 5–18 years and 38 adults aged 25–50 years. Age trends and sex differences were examined and reference data for clinical application were developed. Findings indicated significant declines in VSA with age; sex differences were not fully apparent until late adolescence and adulthood. Implications are discussed.
Randomized Matrix Computations

Random matrices tend to be well conditioned, and we employ this well known property to advance matrix computations. We prove that our algorithms employing Gaussian random matrices are efficient, but in our tests the algorithms have consistently remained as powerful where we used sparse and structured random matrices, defined by much fewer random parameters. We numerically stabilize Gaussian elimination with no pivoting as well as block Gaussian elimination, precondition an ill conditioned linear system of equations, compute numerical rank of a matrix without orthogonalization and pivoting, approximate the singular spaces of an ill conditioned matrix associated with its largest and smallest singular values, and approximate this matrix with low-rank matrices, with applications to its 2-by-2 block triangulation and to tensor decomposition. Some of our results and techniques can be of independent interest, e.g., our estimates for the condition numbers of random Toeplitz and circulant matrices and our variations of the Sherman--Morrison--Woodbury formula.
Playing with words: investigating the use of language play in the persuasive writing of 9–11-year-olds

ABSTRACT There has been little research into how children use language play in writing. The unprompted language play of 36 children was investigated through their writing of a short advertisement. The sample comprised three attainment sub-groups from a larger repeat-design study of persuasive writing in the 9–11 age-range. The writing was analysed using qualitative methods derived from relevant linguistic literature. Extensive use of language play was evident, as well as stylistic differences between the sub-groups. The findings indicate how teaching and learning might be enhanced from more conscious use of children’s propensity for manipulating the forms, meanings and uses of language.
HYBRID FIXED POINT THEORY IN PARTIALLY ORDERED NORMED LINEAR SPACES AND APPLICATIONS TO FRACTIONAL INTEGRAL EQUATIONS

In this paper, some basic hybrid fixed point theorems of Banach and Schauder type and some hybrid fixed point theorems of Krasnoselskii type involving the sum of two operators are proved in a partially ordered normed linear spaces which are further applied to nonlinear Volterra fractional integral equations for proving the existence of solutions under certain mono- tonic conditions blending with the existence of either a lower or an upper solution type function. This research is dedicated in the loving memory of my late father and mother who imbibed in me the honesty, hard-work and services for all.
Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 is a useful prognostic marker in esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma

The incidence rate of esophagogastric junction (EGJ) adenocarcinoma has been rapidly increasing worldwide. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19‐9 (CA19‐9) are major serum tumor markers in gastrointestinal cancers. However, the role of these markers in EGJ adenocarcinoma has not been thoroughly investigated. A total of 211 patients with EGJ adenocarcinoma who underwent surgery or endoscopic submucosal dissection at two academic institutions, Kumamoto University Hospital or Kyushu University Hospital between January 1996 and March 2014, were eligible for this study. Serum CEA and CA19‐9 were examined within 1 month before resection. The cut‐off values for CEA and CA19‐9 were set at 5.0 ng/mL and 37 U/mL, respectively. The clinicopathological features and prognostic roles of the markers were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. The positive ratios for preoperative CEA (>5.0 ng/mL) and CA19‐9 (>37 U/mL) were 20.3% and 12.9%, respectively. The positive ratio of CEA and CA19‐9 was significantly higher in patients with tumors invading muscular or deeper layers (P = 0.002 and <0.001, respectively). Cox proportional hazards model revealed that CA19‐9 positivity, but not CEA positivity, was an independent prognostic factor in patients with EGJ adenocarcinoma for cancer‐specific survival (multivariate hazard ratio [HR] = 3.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41–10.33; P = 0.010) and overall survival (multivariate HR = 2.43, 95% CI 1.03–5.35; P = 0.043). Preoperative serum CA19‐9 is a useful prognostic marker in patients with EGJ adenocarcinoma.
A Flipped Voltage Follower based low-dropout regulator with composite power transistor

This paper presents an improved design for the low-dropout regulator (LDO) based on the Flipped Voltage Follower (FVF) structure. A FVF based LDO regulator with composite power transistor (CPT) is proposed. It reduces the minimum biasing current requirement of the power transistor in Single-Transistor-Control (STC) LDO regulator whilst enhancing the loop gain as well as bandwidth performance. The proposed LDO regulator has been validated using GLOBALFOUNDRIES 0.18-μm CMOS process. Using the FVF STC structure as the benchmark, the simulation results have shown that the proposed CPT LDO regulator has a better load transient and accuracy than that of the STC and Buffered Flipped Voltage Follower (BFVF) counterpart whilst maintaining low voltage operation.
"New" and "Old" Social Risks: Life Cycle and Social Class Perspectives on Social Exclusion in Ireland

The life cycle concept has come to have considerable prominence in Irish social policy debate. However, this has occurred without any systematic effort to link its usage to the broader literature relating to a concept. Nor has there been any detailed consideration of how we should set about operationalising the concept. In this paper we make use of Irish EU-SILC 2005 data in developing a life cycle schema and considering its relationship to a range of indicators of social exclusion. At the European level renewed interest in the life cycle concept is associated with the increasing emphasis on the distinction between ? new? and ? old? social risks and the notion that the former are more ? individualised? An important variant of the individualisation argument considers globalisation to be associated with increased but much more widely diffused levels of risk. Inequality and poverty rather than being differentially distributed between social classes are thought to vary between phases in the average work life. This position contrasts sharply with the emphasis on cumulative disadvantage over the life course. Our findings suggest that both the ? death of social class? and cumulative disadvantage over the life cycle theses are greatly over blown. A more accurate appreciation of the importance of new and old social risks and the manner in which they are both shaped by and influenced by welfare state strategies requires that we systematically investigate the manner in which factors such as the social class and the life cycle interact. Our evidence suggests that such an approach rather than leading us to jettison our concern with social class is likely, as Atkinson (2007) argues, to leave us more impressed by the degree to which the "slayers" of class are themselves ? riddled with class processes?
Towards Optimal Worker Assistance -- A Framework for Adaptive Selection and Presentation of Assembly Instructions

Traditional systems for digital assistance in manual assembly, e.g. optical displays at the work place, are inherently suboptimal for providing efficient and ergonomically feasible worker guidance. The display of sequential instructions does not offer an increase in productivity beyond a certain degree. Little situational support and the resulting deterministic guidance lead to a reduced acceptance by the worker. A solution to this discrepancy is seen in an adaptive and cognitive system for worker guidance. Information from an adaptive process model and findings from experiments about human cognition are facilitated to provide the worker with assistive information, adapted to the situation and cognitive state of the worker. I.
Fluoride Varnish Effect on Preventing Dental Caries in a Sample of 3-6 Years Old Children

Background: Early childhood caries is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases of children that affect their life and their family in different aspects. Using different types of fluoride is one of the most effective ways for preventing the disease. Fluoride varnish is a topical fluoride product which could use in the community even by non-professional. This study aimed to assess the effect of fluoride varnish on dental caries in a group of children aged 3-6 years old in Kerman kindergarten during 6 month’s period. Materials and Methods: This community interventional study recruited a sample of volunteer children from 12 kindergartens through a cluster sampling. Kindergarten randomly allocated to test and control group after matching. Dental examination was performed in three phases of the study by a trained dentist using criteria of Intentional Caries Detection and Assessment System. Fluoride varnish was applied for test group in the first phase after dental examination and also 3 and 6 months after this phase. Control group has received varnish product just after 3 and 6 months after the first dental exam. Mean decayed, missed and filled teeth (dmft) were compared between and within groups using T-test. Results: From 476 children who participated in the study 55% were boys and the 6 years group was the most frequent group with 35% (166). Mean dmft difference was significant between Phase 1 and 2 (P = 0.05) in the test group but there was no significant difference between Phase 2 and 3 (P = 0.07). The difference was not significant between Phase 1 and 2 (P = 0.09) but it was significant between Phase 1 and 3 (P = 0.03) in the control group. Conclusion: The study results showed a decrease in mean dmft after applying the fluoride varnish which confirms previous studies.
PDFS: Partially Dedupped File System for Primary Workloads

Primary storage dedup is difficult to be accomplished because of challenges to achieve low IO latency and high throughput while eliminating data redundancy effectively in the critical IO Path. In this paper, we design and implement the PDFS, a partially dedupped file system for primary workloads, which is built on a generalized framework using partial data lookup for efficient searching of redundant data in quickly chosen data subsets instead of the whole data. PDFS improves IO latency and throughput systematically by techniques including write path optimization, data dedup parallelization and write order preserving. Such design choices bring dedup to the masses for general primary workloads. Experimental results show that PDFS achieves 74-99 percent of the theoretical maximum dedup ratio with very small or even negative performance degradations compared with main stream file systems without dedup support. Discussions about varied configuring experiences of PDFS are also carried out.
Suitable Conditions for Mycelial Growth of Phellinus spp.

The fungus Phellinus is a mushroom that is widely used medicinally. The optimal conditions for mycelial growth of 13 strains of the fungus were investigated. Mycelial growth was optimal at 25°C and was uniformly minimal at 15°C and 35°C. Growth was optimal at pH 6~7. The mycelial phenotype was best promoted by growth using Potato Dextrose agar, Hamada, Glucose peptone, and Yeast-Malt media, whereas Czapek Dox, Hennerberg, and Lilly media were the most unfavorable for the mycelial growth of Phellinus spp. Glucose, sucrose, fructose, and dextrin were the most suitable carbon sources for mycelial growth, while lactose, maltose, and galactose were unsuitable. Among tested nitrogen sources, ammonium phosphate, potassium nitrate, and arginine best promoted mycelial growth, while alanine, urea, and histidine least promoted mycelial growth.
Identifying Associations between Vascular Risk Factors and Measures of Brain Health using Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Recent epidemiological evidence indicates that vascular risk factors (VRFs) play a significant role in cognitive decline that can contribute to the onset of dementia among older adults. The link between VRFs and dementia is supported by common neurological findings of structural deficits, cerebrovascular dysfunction and amyloid accumulation in both conditions. Despite the growing literature on VRFs and the brain, there are still many unanswered questions about their roles in pathoetiology and best imaging methods for detecting neurological effects of VRFs. The main goal of this thesis was to characterize the effect of increasing number of VRFs on brain health. Measures of structural brain integrity and cerebrovascular health were acquired using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The first study of this thesis identified regions of impaired vascular reactivity and thinning of the cortical
The Role of Middle Leaders in New Zealand Secondary Schools: Expectations and Challenges.

The role of middle leaders in New Zealand secondary schools is a complex one, fraught with many challenges. Educational reforms that began in the 1980s have increased pressure on top-level educational leaders, resulting in the delegation of responsibilities to other levels in the school hierarchy, with a considerable intensification of management work for middle leaders. As a result, the scope and volume of tasks they are now expected to carry out has led to an increasingly challenging role for these practitioners. This study set out to examine middle leadership development practices in New Zealand secondary schools. A qualitative questionnaire was administered to boards of trustees, senior leaders and middle leaders in five large urban secondary schools. Findings reveal strong agreement between Boards of Trustees, senior leaders and middle leaders regarding the expectations of the role of middle leaders and the challenges they face. Middle leaders have responsibility for a variety of leadership functions which significantly impact on student learning outcomes. However, the complexity of middle leaders’ role is overwhelming for many practitioners, they feel unprepared to cope with their increasing workload and associated challenges. It is concluded that middle leaders undertake a pivotal role in the centre of the school hierarchy, mediating between senior leaders and the staff within their departments. However, if middle leaders are to effectively fulfil their role as pedagogical leaders, it is imperative they are provided with the essential training and support to build their leadership capabilities.