Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marine vehicles' line following controller tuning through self-oscillation experiments

This paper demonstrates the use of self-oscillation identification experiments for tuning line following controllers for marine vehicles. Two approaches are described: first, when the controller output is yaw rate and second when controller output is reference heading. In the first case, low level controller is yaw rate while in the second it is heading controller. The identification by use of self-oscillations (IS-O) has been applied to identify the steering equation (for the case of the first controller) and it was used to identify the heading closed loop (for the case of the second controller). The second controller has been tested on different inner loop structures in order to prove the functionality of the method. The IS-O method has been chosen because of its simplicity and applicability in the field (effects of external disturbances are minimized). The methodology was applied to autonomous catamaran Charlie. The results are presented in the paper and demonstrate that the proposed method for identification as well as the developed algorithms give satisfactory performance. All algorithms and results presented here are a result of a joint work of researchers at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Genova and the University of Zagreb.
Comparison of five diagnostic methods for Helicobacter pylori

Background and Objectives Invasive and non-invasive techniques are used to diagnose H. pylori infection. Some factors influence the choice of a diagnostic test, such as the sensitivity and specificity of the tests, the clinical circumstances and the cost-effectiveness of the testing strategy. The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship between different H. pylori infection diagnosis methods, and clarify the application scope of each diagnosis method. Materials and Methods patients were included in the study, and specimens including biopsies, blood and stool were taken. Biopsies were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin, and Giemsa staining. A sequence of 294 bp in the ureC (glmM) gene was amplified. The rapid urease test (RUT) was performed using a non-commercial validated test. Stool samples were analyzed using a polyclonal ELISA stool antigen test. A serological assay for IgG antibodies was performed by a commercial Helicobacter pylori IgG ELISA kit. Results According to the predefined criteria, a total of 46 (50.5%) patients tested were positive by at least 2 of the 3 biopsy-based methods. The best sensitivity (95.6%) belonged to histology and RUT. The sensitivities of other tests including PCR, serology and stool antigen test were 93.5%, 91.3% and 73.9%, respectively. RUT showed the best specificity (100%), and the specificities of the other tests, including PCR, stool antigen test, histology and serology, were 95.6%, 86.7%, 77.8% and 55.6%, respectively. Conclusion In view of the better results obtained for invasive vs non-invasive tests, for a more accurate diagnosis, it is advisable not to solely rely on non-invasive methods of H. Pylori diagnosis.
Towards autonomous habitat classification using Gaussian Mixture Models

Robotic agents that can explore and sample in a completely unsupervised fashion could greatly increase the amount of scientific data gathered in dangerous and inaccessible environments. Our application is imaging the benthos using an autonomous underwater vehicle with limited communication to surface craft. Robotic exploration of this nature demands in situ data analysis. To this end, this paper presents results of using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) filter, an Infinite Gaussian Mixture Model (IGMM) and a Variation Dirichlet Process model (VDP) for the classification of benthic habitats. All of the models are trained using unsupervised methods. Furthermore, the IGMM and VDP are trained without knowing the the number of classes in the dataset. It was found that the sequential information the HMM filter provides to the classification process adds lag to the habitat boundary estimates, reducing the classification accuracy. The VDP proved to be the most accurate classifier of the four tested, and also one of the fastest to train. We conclude that the VDP is a powerful model for entirely autonomous labelling of benthic datasets.
Are long gamma-ray bursts biased tracers of star formation? Clues from the host galaxies of the Swift/BAT6 complete sample of LGRBs I. Stellar mass at z < 1 ?

Aims. Long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are associated with massive stars and are therefore linked to star formation. However, the conditions needed for the progenitor stars to produce LGRBs can affect the relation between the LGRB rate and star formation. By using the power of a complete LGRB sample, our long-term aim is to understand whether such a bias exists and, if it does, what its origin is. Methods. To reach our goal we use the Swift/BAT6 complete sample of LGRBs. In this first paper, we build the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the 14 z < 1 host galaxies of the BAT6 LGRB sample and determine their stellar masses (M⋆) from SED fitting. To investigate the presence of a bias in the LGRB-star formation relation we compare the stellar mass distribution of the LGRB host galaxies (i) with star-forming galaxies observed in deep surveys (UltraVISTA) within the same redshift limit; (ii) with semi-analytical models of the z < 1 star-forming galaxy population; and (iii) with dedicated numerical simulations of LGRB hosts having different metallicity thresholds for the progenitor star environment. Results. We find that at z < 1, LGRBs tend to avoid massive galaxies and are very powerful for selecting a population of faint low-mass star-forming galaxies, partly below the completeness limits of galaxy surveys. The stellar mass distribution of the hosts is not consistent with that of the UltraVISTA star-forming galaxies weighted by their star formation rate (SFR). This implies that, at least at z < 1, LGRBs are not unbiased tracers of star formation. To make the two distributions consistent, a much steeper faint end of the mass function would be required or a very shallow SFR-mass relation for the low-mass galaxy population. The comparison with the GRB host galaxy simulations indicates that, to reproduce the stellar mass distribution, a metallicity threshold of the order of Zth = 0.3−0.5Z⊙ is necessary to form a LGRB. Models without a metallicity threshold or with an extreme threshold of Zth = 0.1 Z⊙ are excluded at z < 1. Under a very basic assumption, we estimate that the LGRB rate can directly trace the SFR starting from z ~ 4 and above. Conclusions. GRB hosts at z < 1 have lower luminosities and stellar masses than expected if LGRBs were unbiased star formation tracers. The use of the Swift/BAT6 complete sample keeps this result from being affected by possible biases that could have influenced past results based on incomplete samples. The preference for low metallicities (Z ≲ 0.5 Z⊙) inferred by the comparison with the simulations can be a consequence of the particular conditions needed for the progenitor star to produce a GRB.
Cardiothoracic ratio and relative heart volume as predictors of coronary heart disease mortality. The Whitehall study 25 year follow-up.

AIM To examine the association of radiographic measures of heart size with mortality from coronary heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS One thousand, one hundred and ninety-one male civil servants aged 40-69 years were followed-up for mortality over 25 years in relation to cardiothoracic ratio and relative heart volume. A high cardiothoracic ratio and relative heart volume predicted coronary (n = 196 deaths) and all-cause mortality, but not respiratory or malignant mortality. After adjustment for age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the highest (> or = 0.47) compared to the lowest quintile of the cardiothoracic ratio (< 0.40) was associated with a rate ratio of 1.84 (95% CI 1.14-2.97) for the effect on coronary heart disease mortality. Further adjustment for heart rate, smoking, cholesterol, angina and ECG ischaemia had little effect, reducing the rate ratio to 1.65 (95% CI 1.01-2.70). Similar rate ratios were observed for relative heart volume. CONCLUSIONS Cardiothoracic ratio within the range considered 'normal' in clinical practice predicted coronary heart disease mortality independent of established coronary heart disease risk factors. The relative heart volume, which uses measurements from the lateral as well as the posteroanterior chest X-ray, did not predict coronary heart disease any better than the cardiothoracic ratio. The extent to which left ventricular mass and systolic dysfunction-- pathophysiological correlates of the cardiothoracic ratio and relative heart volume--are independent risk factors for coronary heart disease should be further investigated.
THE DISRUPTION OF GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUDS BY RADIATION PRESSURE & THE EFFICIENCY OF STAR FORMATION IN GALAXIES

Star formation is slow in the sense that the gas consumption time is much longer than the dynamical time. It is also inefficient; star formation in local galaxies takes place in giant molecular clouds (GMCs), but the fraction of a GMC converted to stars is very small, ϵGMC ∼ 5%. In luminous starbursts, the GMC lifetime is shorter than the main-sequence lifetime of even the most massive stars, so that supernovae can play no role in GMC disruption. We investigate the disruption of GMCs across a wide range of galaxies from normal spirals to the densest starbursts; we take into account the effects of H ii gas pressure, shocked stellar winds, protostellar jets, and radiation pressure produced by the absorption and scattering of starlight on dust grains. In the Milky Way, a combination of three mechanisms—jets, H ii gas pressure, and radiation pressure—disrupts the clouds. In more rapidly star-forming galaxies such as “clump” galaxies at high-redshift, ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), and submillimeter galaxies, radiation pressure dominates natal cloud disruption. We predict the presence of ∼10–20 clusters with masses ∼107 M☉ in local ULIRGs such as Arp 220 and a similar number of clusters with M* ∼ 108 M☉ in high redshift clump galaxies; submillimeter galaxies will have even more massive clusters. We find that ϵGMC = πGΣGMCc/(2(L/M*)) for GMCs that are optically thin to far-infrared radiation, where ΣGMC is the GMC gas surface density. The efficiency in optically thick systems continues to increase with ΣGMC, but more slowly, reaching ∼35% in the most luminous starbursts. The disruption of bubbles by radiation pressure stirs the interstellar medium (ISM) to velocities of ∼10 km s−1 in normal galaxies and to ∼100 km s−1 in ULIRGs like Arp 220, consistent with observations. Thus, radiation pressure may play a dominant dynamical role in the ISM of star-forming galaxies.
The Exploitation of Spatial Information in Narrative Discourse

We present the results of several machine learning tasks that exploit explicit spatial language to classify rhetorical relations and the spatial information of narrative events. Three corpora are annotated with figure and ground (granularity) relationships, mereotopologically classified verbs and prepositions, and frames of reference. For rhetorical relations, Naive Bayesian models achieve 84.90% and 57.87% accuracy in classifying NARRATION and BACKGROUND/ELABORATION relations respectively (16% and 23% above baseline). For the spatial information of narrative events, K* models achieve 55.68% average accuracy (12% above baseline) for all spatial information types. This result is boosted to 71.85% (28% above baseline) when inertial spatial reference and text sequence information are considered. Overall, spatial information is shown to be central to narrative discourse structure and prediction tasks.
Moral concerns and consumer choice of fresh and processed organic foods

This study used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine the impact of moral concerns on intention to buy organic apples and organic pizza. Initially, beliefs were elicited from a group of 30 people using a combination of the traditional TPB elicitation technique supplemented by direct questioning about emotions associated with the behavior. The questionnaire-which included measures of behavioral beliefs, attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and measures of moral norms (worded both positively and negatively)-was completed by 281 people. Multiple regressions showed that for both foods, the positive moral component added significantly to the prediction of intention, while negative ones did not. Also, affective attitude was a strong predictor of intention for both foods.
Students' Academic Self-Efficacy in International Master's Degree Programs in Finnish Universities.

This study analyzes students’ academic self-efficacy while studying in international master’s degree programs in Finland. The primary aim is to determine if students’ self-efficacy varies depending on their field of study and nationality. This study contributes to the research on students’ self-efficacy in an international academic context with a special focus on social and course performance tasks. The results indicate some variations in students’ self-efficacy, particularly in students from different fields of study. Recommendations for activities supporting students’ self-efficacy are provided based on the results of the analysis. Implications for future research, as well as limitations of the study, are discussed.
Genome-Wide Distribution of Transposed Dissociation Elements in Maize[W][OA]

Inherited transpositions of the endogenous Ds create stable insertion lines, a resource for targeting gene knockouts and examining mechanisms of transposition. Ds preferentially inserts into genes, at target sites within 16-bpair segments of DNA with specific structural properties. These results suggest approaches to predict insertion sites in transposon mutagenesis experiments. The maize (Zea mays) transposable element Dissociation (Ds) was mobilized for large-scale genome mutagenesis and to study its endogenous biology. Starting from a single donor locus on chromosome 10, over 1500 elements were distributed throughout the genome and positioned on the maize physical map. Genetic strategies to enrich for both local and unlinked insertions were used to distribute Ds insertions. Global, regional, and local insertion site trends were examined. We show that Ds transposed to both linked and unlinked sites and displayed a nonuniform distribution on the genetic map around the donor r1-sc:m3 locus. Comparison of Ds and Mutator insertions reveals distinct target preferences, which provide functional complementarity of the two elements for gene tagging in maize. In particular, Ds displays a stronger preference for insertions within exons and introns, whereas Mutator insertions are more enriched in promoters and 5′-untranslated regions. Ds has no strong target site consensus sequence, but we identified properties of the DNA molecule inherent to its local structure that may influence Ds target site selection. We discuss the utility of Ds for forward and reverse genetics in maize and provide evidence that genes within a 2- to 3-centimorgan region flanking Ds insertions will serve as optimal targets for regional mutagenesis.
On the Higher Learning in America: Some Comments.

TE MOST fundamental misconception of many leading institutions of higher learning is that they are primarily institutions of higher learning. Money talks in academia as elsewhere, and what that money says on most campuses is "do research. " Johns Hopkins University, for example, has about 3,000 undergraduates. They pay about $14,000 a year in tuition. If every undergraduate at Johns Hopkins paid full tuition, accepting no financial aid, that would add up to $42 million-approximately one-tenth of what Johns Hopkins receives in federal research grants alone. There are more than a dozen university campuses that receive more than $100 million each from the federal government for research. These include, obviously, public as well as so-called private universities. It would be naive to expect teaching, and especially the teaching of undergraduates, to be the primary concern of institutions whose money and renown come primarily from research.
EFL STUDENTS’ VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES OF CULTURE LEARNING: ARE THEY WORTHY TO FOSTER INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE?

Abstract: In the light of globalization, intercultural competence is crucially demanded by the language learners to be successful speakers and mediators in international interaction and communication. This study aims at investigating how the Indonesian EFL students view and undertake the culture learning in their classrooms. This study was a survey research carried out in October and December 2016 in two state universities: 1) University of Riau (UR) located in Riau Province and 2) Brawijaya University (UB) in Malang-East Java. There were a total of 80 participants involved by using random sampling. The student questionnaire (adopted and adapted from HST. Kiet, 2011) consisting of six statements was used. To answer the research question, descriptive statistics analysis (Sum of score, Mean and Standard Deviation) was used to analyse the completed student questionnaire. The findings reveal that the students showed positive attitudes in culture learning purposes; they mainly learned cultural facts oriented to target culture exploration as the dominant cultural learning in the classroom; they used media such as internet, TV and literature as the most dominant cultural learning sources outside the classroom; they found that culture learning benefited them to their EFL learning; and finally they agreed that the target culture should be taught together with the target language in EFL classes. Therefore, it is suggested that future researchers do such an in-depth study pertaining to students’ ICC learning and development in the environment of classroom interactions.
A Low‐Complexity 128‐Point Mixed‐Radix FFT Processor for MB‐OFDM UWB Systems

In this paper, we present a fast Fourier transform (FFT) processor with four parallel data paths for multiband orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing ultra‐wideband systems. The proposed 128‐point FFT processor employs both a modified radix‐24 algorithm and a radix‐23 algorithm to significantly reduce the numbers of complex constant multipliers and complex booth multipliers. It also employs substructure‐sharing multiplication units instead of constant multipliers to efficiently conduct multiplication operations with only addition and shift operations. The proposed FFT processor is implemented and tested using 0.18 µm CMOS technology with a supply voltage of 1.8 V. The hardware‐ efficient 128‐point FFT processor with four data streams can support a data processing rate of up to 1 Gsample/s while consuming 112 mW. The implementation results show that the proposed 128‐point mixed‐radix FFT architecture significantly reduces the hardware cost and power consumption in comparison to existing 128‐point FFT architectures.
Mapping clinical phenotype data elements to standardized metadata repositories and controlled terminologies: the eMERGE Network experience

BACKGROUND Systematic study of clinical phenotypes is important for a better understanding of the genetic basis of human diseases and more effective gene-based disease management. A key aspect in facilitating such studies requires standardized representation of the phenotype data using common data elements (CDEs) and controlled biomedical vocabularies. In this study, the authors analyzed how a limited subset of phenotypic data is amenable to common definition and standardized collection, as well as how their adoption in large-scale epidemiological and genome-wide studies can significantly facilitate cross-study analysis. METHODS The authors mapped phenotype data dictionaries from five different eMERGE (Electronic Medical Records and Genomics) Network sites studying multiple diseases such as peripheral arterial disease and type 2 diabetes. For mapping, standardized terminological and metadata repository resources, such as the caDSR (Cancer Data Standards Registry and Repository) and SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine), were used. The mapping process comprised both lexical (via searching for relevant pre-coordinated concepts and data elements) and semantic (via post-coordination) techniques. Where feasible, new data elements were curated to enhance the coverage during mapping. A web-based application was also developed to uniformly represent and query the mapped data elements from different eMERGE studies. RESULTS Approximately 60% of the target data elements (95 out of 157) could be mapped using simple lexical analysis techniques on pre-coordinated terms and concepts before any additional curation of terminology and metadata resources was initiated by eMERGE investigators. After curation of 54 new caDSR CDEs and nine new NCI thesaurus concepts and using post-coordination, the authors were able to map the remaining 40% of data elements to caDSR and SNOMED CT. A web-based tool was also implemented to assist in semi-automatic mapping of data elements. CONCLUSION This study emphasizes the requirement for standardized representation of clinical research data using existing metadata and terminology resources and provides simple techniques and software for data element mapping using experiences from the eMERGE Network.
The Effects of Visual Merchandising on Purchase Decision and the Role of Emotional States as Mediating Variable (A Study on IKEA Indonesia)

Daya tarik Merchandising Visual telah secara luas dan ekstensif di terapkan di dalam industri mode dan gaya hidup, sementara penerapan di dalam industri ritel furnitur mulai dan turut berkembang secara pesat. Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk menganalisa pengaruh serta hubungan antar konsep merchandising visual, keadaan emosional, dan keputusan pembelian dalam lingkungan ritel IKEA. Penelitian ini mengamati orang-orang di dalam wilayah Tangerang, dimana dipilih bedasarkan letak toko ritel IKEA. Kuesioner dipergunakan sebagai instrumen pengumpulan data dari 300 sample, yang dipilih melalui metode non-probability sampling. Data yang diperoleh, di proses lebih lanjut dengan pendekatan analisa Pemodelan Persamaan Struktural (SEM). Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Merchandising Visual dan Keadaan Emosional memiliki pengaruh positif yang signifikan terhadap Keputusan Pembelian, baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung. Oleh karena itu, menunjukkan bahwa customer IKEA yang diamati, mengindikasikan bahwa komposisi merchandising visual IKEA memiliki pengaruh yang baik dan signifikan terhadap keadaan emosional yang dirasakan, dimana pengaruh tersebut memiliki dampak yang positif terhadap evaluasi keputusan pembelian mereka. Kata kunci: merchandising visual IKEA, keadaan emosional, keputusan pembelian