Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parent Perceptions of the Integration Transition Process: Overcoming Artificial Barriers

The parents of 14 students with disabilities participated in interviews to evaluate the support they received during their child's transition to an integrated educational placement, to explore their concerns, and to discuss the effects of integration. Although parents identified areas of concern, they consistently expressed satisfaction regarding the outcomes of integrating their child, including professional and personal support. Responses emphasized the importance of commitment from local school districts and professionals, an individualized approach to parent involvement, and ongoing communication with parents.
On Improving TCP Performance over Mobile Data Networks

Mobile data networks such as 3G and LTE exhibit properties that are fundamentally different from those of fixed networks. These differences result in severe performance bottlenecks in current Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) implementations, which are the foundation for most of today's mobile applications. This work addresses this challenge by developing a transparent protocol optimization device to perform on-the-fly protocol optimization to improve TCP's throughput performance while maintaining full compatibility with current end-host TCP implementations. The proposed protocol optimizations can achieve near optimal bandwidth utilization. This was verified and confirmed in production 3G and LTE networks using a prototype implementation. Compared to current TCP implementations, the proposed protocol optimization device can raise throughput by 48 to 163 percent. In contrast to inventing a new transport protocol or modifying an existing TCP implementation, the proposed approach does not require any modification to the existing TCP implementation at the client/server hosts, does not require any reconfiguration of the server or client, and hence can be readily deployed in today's 3G and 4G mobile networks, raising the throughput performance of all existing network applications running atop TCP.
From dispositional affect to academic goal attainment: the mediating role of coping

Abstract The purpose of this research was to examine a mediation model in which coping was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between positive and negative dispositional affect and academic goal attainment. At Time 1, a sample of 217 undergraduate students completed measures of dispositional affect and set a personal academic goal. At Time 2, 4 weeks later, they completed a follow-up questionnaire assessing their coping strategies and degree of goal attainment. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that task-oriented coping significantly mediated the relationship between dispositional positive affect and goal attainment. Results also supported disengagement-oriented coping as a mediator in the relationship between dispositional negative affect and goal attainment. These findings highlight the role of coping as an important process in the relationship between dispositional affect and goal attainment.
Location of Special Areas on Palmprint

Offline palmprint plays an important role in personal recognition, especially in the area of criminal investigation. Location of Special Areas is significant to offline palmprint classification and orientation field. This paper proposes an efficient algorithm to locate the Special Areas on offline palmprint, which can be divided into two stages. The first stage is to locate the coarse-level Special Areas based on the topology of four adjacent blocks. And then a dynamic clustering algorithm is adopted to segment the orientation fields of the coarse-level Special Areas according to well-suited optimality criteria. The singular points can be detected based on the information of segmented orientation field. Based on the singular points, the final Special Areas are located. In experimental section, the final location results are not only displayed from the aspect of human inspection, the quantitative results are also provided to compare our location results with official ones and our former algorithm.
A chunk-based slicer for cooperative 3D printing

Purpose The purpose of this research is to develop a new slicing scheme for the emerging cooperative three-dimensional (3D) printing platform that has multiple mobile 3D printers working together on one print job. Design/methodology/approach Because the traditional lay-based slicing scheme does not work for cooperative 3D printing, a chunk-based slicing scheme is proposed to split the print job into chunks so that different mobile printers can print different chunks simultaneously without interfering with each other. Findings A chunk-based slicer is developed for two mobile 3D printers to work together cooperatively. A simulator environment is developed to validate the developed slicer, which shows the chunk-based slicer working effectively, and demonstrates the promise of cooperative 3D printing. Research limitations/implications For simplicity, this research only considered the case of two mobile 3D printers working together. Future research is needed for a slicing and scheduling scheme that can work with thousands of mobile 3D printers. Practical implications The research findings in this work demonstrate a new approach to 3D printing. By enabling multiple mobile 3D printers working together, the printing speed can be significantly increased and the printing capability (for multiple materials and multiple components) can be greatly enhanced. Social implications The chunk-based slicing algorithm is critical to the success of cooperative 3D printing, which may enable an autonomous factory equipped with a swarm of autonomous mobile 3D printers and mobile robots for autonomous manufacturing and assembly. Originality/value This work presents a new approach to 3D printing. Instead of printing layer by layer, each mobile 3D printer will print one chunk at a time, which provides the much-needed scalability for 3D printing to print large-sized object and increase the printing speed. The chunk-based approach keeps the 3D printing local and avoids the large temperature gradient and associated internal stress as the size of the print increases.
Effect of Moisture Content on Strength Properties of Okra Pod (Cv Kirenf) Necessary for Machine Design

In this study, compression tests were carried out on okra pods (cv Kirenf)to investigate the effect of moisture content on seven mechanical parameters (failure force, failure energy, failure strain, maximum compressive force, rupture force, rupture energy and deformation at the point of rupture). The tests were carried out at a deformation rate of 25 mm/min and five moisture content levels of 37.04, 44.20, 50.18, 56.19, and 61.06% (w.b), using the Testometric Universal Testing Machine (Testometric model, series 500-532). The results show that moisture content had significant (P≤ 0.05) effects on all the measured mechanical parameters. Failure force, failure energy, maximum compressive force, rupture force and rupture energy decreased while failure strain and deformation at rupture increased with increases in moisture content. Force and energy required to initiate the okra pod failure decreased by 58.52 and 61.57% respectively; the maximum compressive force decreased by 61.47%; while force and energy and deformation required to initiate the okra pod rupture decreased by 61.37and 66.37% respectively; whereas, failure strain and deformation at rupture increased by 28.72 and 40.57% respectively.The results provide useful data to be used by engineers in the design and development of suitable okra pod thresher and slicer.
Natural Hematite and Siderite as Heterogeneous Catalysts for an Effective Degradation of 4-Chlorophenol via Photo-Fenton Process

This paper describes a simple and low-cost process for the degradation of 4-Chlorophenol (4-CP) from aqueous solution, using natural Tunisian Hematite (M1) and Siderite (M2). Two natural samples were collected in the outcroppings of the Djerissa mining site (Kef district, northwestern Tunisia). Both Hematite and Siderite ferrous samples were characterized using several techniques, including X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Nitrogen Physisorption (BET), Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), H2-Temperature Programmed Reduction (H2-TPR), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) linked with Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDS) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). Textural, structural and chemical characterization confirmed the presence of Hematite and Siderite phases with a high amount of iron on the both surface materials. Their activity was evaluated in the oxidation of 4-CP in aqueous medium under heterogeneous photo-Fenton process. Siderite exhibited higher photocatalytic oxidation activity than Hematite at pH 3. The experimental results also showed that 100% conversion of 4-CP and 54% TOC removal can be achieved using Siderite as catalyst. Negligible metal leaching and catalyst reutilization without any loss of activity point towards an excellent catalytic stability for both natural catalysts.
Subhaloes in scale-free cosmologies

ABSTRACT We explore the dependence of the subhalo mass function on the spectral index nof the lin-ear matter power spectrum using scale-free Einstein-de Sitter simulations with n= 1 andn= 2:5. We carefully consider ﬁnite volume effects that may call into question previoussimulations of n< 2 power spectra. Subhaloes are found using a 6D friends-of-friends al-gorithm in all haloes originating from high-˙peaks. For n= 1, we ﬁnd that the cumulativesubhalo mass function is independent of the parameters used in the subhalo ﬁnding algorithmand is consistent with the subhalo mass function found in CDM simulations. In particular,the subhalo mass function is well ﬁt by a power-law with an index of = 0:9, that is themass function has roughly equal mass in subhaloes per logarithmic interval in subhalo mass.Conversely, for n= 2:5, the algorithm parameters affect the subhalo mass function sincesubhaloes are more triaxial with less well deﬁned boundaries. We ﬁnd that the index isgenerally larger with & 0:75. We infer that although the subhalo mass function appearsto be independent of nso long as n& 2, it begins to ﬂatten as n! 3. Thus, the commonpractice of using ˇ 1:0 may greatly overestimate the number of subhaloes at the smallestscales in the CDM hierarchy.Key words: methods: N-body simulations – methods: numerical – galaxies: haloes – galax-ies: subhaloes – dark matter
Towards teleoperation with human-like dynamics: Human use of elastic tools

Variable stiffness actuators undergo lower peak force in contacts compared to their rigid counterparts, and are thus safer for human-robot interaction. Furthermore, they can store energy in their elastic element and can release it later to achieve human-like dynamic movements. However, it is not clear how to integrate them in teleoperator systems so that they can be controlled intuitively by a human. We performed an experiment to study human use of elastic tools to determine how a teleoperator system with an elastic slave would need to be designed. For this, we had 13 untrained participants hammer with an elastic tool under different stiffness conditions, asking them to try to find the best timing for a backward-forward swing motion in order to achieve the strongest impact. We found that the participants generally executed the task efficiently after a few trials and they converged to very similar solutions. The stiffness influenced the performance slightly, a stiffness between 2.3 Nm/rad and 4.1 Nm/rad showing the best results. We conclude that humans intuitively know how to efficiently use elastic tools for hammering type tasks. This could facilitate the control of teleoperator systems with elastic slave manipulators for tasks requiring explosive movements like hammering.
Using the Set-Valued Bouncing Ball for Bounding Zeno Solutions of Lagrangian Hybrid Systems

Abstract In this paper, we study Zeno behavior in Lagrangian hybrid systems, which are mechanical systems with unilateral constraints that are undergoing impacts. Zeno solutions involve an infinite number of impacts occurring in a finite amount of time (the Zeno time). In such systems, one is typically not able to explicitly compute the Zeno time and Zeno limit point, and even not to detect a Zeno solution from its initial condition. We address these problems by replacing the nonlinear dynamics with a simple hybrid system whose dynamics is a set-valued version of the bouncing ball. We utilize optimal control analysis to derive conditions for the Zenoness of all solutions and compute bounds on their Zeno time and Zeno limit point, which also apply to solutions of the original Lagrangian hybrid system. Application of the results is demonstrated on a Lagrangian hybrid system with two degrees of freedom.
A different approach to galaxy evolution

The consequences are explored of an observationally established relationship of the star formation rate (SFR) of star-forming galaxies with their stellar mass (M) and cosmic time (t), such that SFR ∝M t−2.5. It is shown that small systematic differences in SFR dramatically amplify in the course of time: galaxies with above-average SFR run into quasi-exponential mass and SFR growth, while galaxies with below-average SFR avoid such exponential growth and evolve with moderate mass increase. It is argued that galaxies following the first path would enormously overgrow if they keep forming stars all the way to the present, hence should quench star formation and turn passive. By the same token, those instead avoiding the quasi-exponential growth may keep forming stars up to the present. Thus, it is conjectured that this divergent behaviour can help us to understand the origin of the dichotomy between passive, spheroidal galaxies and star-forming, disc galaxies.
Supervoxels for human and clothes in RGB-D image

In order to reconstruct human body and remodel clothes in virtual try on and size-fitting scenario, we preprocess the input point cloud into supervoxels through over-segmentation. Over-segmentation of an image into superpixels is a widely used preprocessing approach in image segmentation. Recently, over-segmentation algorithm, which clusters points with similar feature into a small group, known as supervoxel here, has been used on RGB-D image or the combination of observations from several calibrated RGB-D cameras to reduce occurrence of clusters crossing object boundaries. This method makes use of both color information and the 3D geometric relationships to describe features and segmented regions. We apply this method to RGB-D images of human body and clothes, so that largely reduce the number of regions that must be considered in following remodel process. Experiments were taken on point clouds captured by Kinect. Because the final goal is to predict object boundaries that represent different part of human and clothes, we further compare the recall with SLIC method for boundaries we have marked previously, and give a suggestion on choosing a better seeding radius in our scenario.
Electron microscope heteroduplex studies of sequence relations among bacterial plasmids: identification and mapping of the insertion sequences IS1 and IS2 in F and R plasmids

Heteroduplex experiments between the plasmid R6 and one strand of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of a lambda phage carrying the insertion sequence IS1 show that IS1 occurs on R6 at the two previously mapped junctions of resistance transfer factor (RTF) DNA with R-determinant DNA. From previous heteroduplex experiments, it then follows that IS1 occurs at the same junctions in R6-5, R100-1, and R1 plasmids. Heteroduplex experiments with the DNA from a lambda phage carrying the insertion sequence IS2 show that one copy of IS2 occurs in R6, R6-5, and R100-1 (but not R1) at a point within the RTF with coordinates 67.5 TO 68.9 kilobase units (kb). In an accompanying paper, Ptashne and Cohen (1975) show that the insertion sequence IS3 occurs on R6 and R6-5. R100-25, a traC mutant, differs from its parent R100-1 only in that it contains an additional copy of IS1 inserted within the tra gene region of 82.1 kb. R100-31, atraX, TC-s mutant of R100-1, is deleted in R100-1 sequences starting at one of the IS3 termini (46.9 kb) and extending with RTF to 61.0 kb. Heteroduplex studies of F plasmids with the DNA of a lambda phage bearing insertion sequence IS2 show that the sequence of F with coordinates 16.3-17.6F is IS2. The occurrence of IS1 at the two junctions of R-determinant DNA and RTF DNA in R plasmids provides a structural basis to explain the mechanism of the previously observed formation of molecules containing one RTF unit and several tandem copies of the R-determinant unit, when R plasmids in Proteus mirabilis are grown in the presence of antibiotics, and the segregation of an R plasmid into an RTF unit and an R-determinant unit. In general, correlation of our results with previous studies shows that insertion sequences play a role in a variety of F- and R-related intra- and intermolecular recombination phenomena.
When a Buyback Isn't a Buyback: Open Market Repurchases and Employee Options

This paper examines how stock options have affected the decision to repurchase shares, the amount repurchased, and the market reaction to the repurchase announcement. I find that firms announce repurchases when executives have large numbers of options outstanding and when employees have large numbers of options currently exercisable. Once the decision to repurchase is made, the amount repurchased is positively related to total options exercisable by all employees, but independent of managerial options. These results are consistent with managers repurchasing both to maximize their own wealth and to fund employee stock option exercises. The market appears to recognize this motive, however, and reacts less positively to repurchases announced by firms with high levels of non-managerial options outstanding.
Laboratory Diagnosis of Tick-Borne African Relapsing Fevers: Latest Developments

In Africa, relapsing fevers caused by ectoparasite-borne Borrelia species are transmitted by ticks, with the exception of Borrelia recurrentis, which is a louse-borne spirochete. These tropical diseases are responsible for mild to deadly spirochetemia. Cultured Borrelia crocidurae, Borrelia duttonii, and Borrelia hispanica circulate alongside at least six species that have not yet been cultured in vectors. Direct diagnosis is hindered by the use of non-specific laboratory tools. Indeed, microscopic observation of Borrelia spirochaeta in smears of peripheral blood taken from febrile patients lacks sensitivity and specificity. Although best visualized using dark-field microscopy, the organisms can also be detected using Wright–Giemsa or acridine orange stains. PCR-based detection of specific sequences in total DNA extracted from a specimen can be used to discriminate different relapsing fever Borreliae. In our laboratory, we developed a multiplex real-time PCR assay for the specific detection of B. duttonii/recurrentis and B. crocidurae: multispacer sequence typing accurately identified cultured relapsing fever borreliae and revealed diversity among them. Other molecular typing techniques, such as multilocus sequence analysis of tick-borne relapsing fever borreliae, showed the potential risk of human infection in Africa. Recent efforts to culture and sequence relapsing fever borreliae have provided new information for reassessment of the diversity of these bacteria. Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry has been reported as a means of identifying cultured borreliae and of identifying both vectors and vectorized pathogens such as detecting relapsing fever borreliae directly in ticks. The lack of a rapid diagnosis test restricts the management of such diseases. We produced monoclonal antibodies against B. crocidurae in order to develop cheap assays for the rapid detection of relapsing fever borreliae. In this paper, we review point-of-care diagnosis and confirmatory methods.
The variability of tropical ice cloud properties as a function of the large-scale context from ground-based radar-lidar observations over Darwin, Australia

Abstract. The high complexity of cloud parameterizations now held in models puts more pressure on observational studies to provide useful means to evaluate them. One approach to the problem put forth in the modelling community is to evaluate under what atmospheric conditions the parameterizations fail to simulate the cloud properties and under what conditions they do a good job. It is the ambition of this paper to characterize the variability of the statistical properties of tropical ice clouds in different tropical "regimes" recently identified in the literature to aid the development of better process-oriented parameterizations in models. For this purpose, the statistical properties of non-precipitating tropical ice clouds over Darwin, Australia are characterized using ground-based radar-lidar observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program. The ice cloud properties analysed are the frequency of ice cloud occurrence, the morphological properties (cloud top height and thickness), and the microphysical and radiative properties (ice water content, visible extinction, effective radius, and total concentration). The variability of these tropical ice cloud properties is then studied as a function of the large-scale cloud regimes derived from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), the amplitude and phase of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), and the large-scale atmospheric regime as derived from a long-term record of radiosonde observations over Darwin. The vertical variability of ice cloud occurrence and microphysical properties is largest in all regimes (1.5 order of magnitude for ice water content and extinction, a factor 3 in effective radius, and three orders of magnitude in concentration, typically). 98 % of ice clouds in our dataset are characterized by either a small cloud fraction (smaller than 0.3) or a very large cloud fraction (larger than 0.9). In the ice part of the troposphere three distinct layers characterized by different statistically-dominant microphysical processes are identified. The variability of the ice cloud properties as a function of the large-scale atmospheric regime, cloud regime, and MJO phase is large, producing mean differences of up to a factor 8 in the frequency of ice cloud occurrence between large-scale atmospheric regimes and mean differences of a factor 2 typically in all microphysical properties. Finally, the diurnal cycle of the frequency of occurrence of ice clouds is also very different between regimes and MJO phases, with diurnal amplitudes of the vertically-integrated frequency of ice cloud occurrence ranging from as low as 0.2 (weak diurnal amplitude) to values in excess of 2.0 (very large diurnal amplitude). Modellers should now use these results to check if their model cloud parameterizations are capable of translating a given atmospheric forcing into the correct statistical ice cloud properties.