Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discrete radon transform

This paper describes the discrete Radon transform (DRT) and the exact inversion algorithm for it. Similar to the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), the DRT is defined for periodic vector-sequences and studied as a transform in its own right. Casting the forward transform as a matrix-vector multiplication, the key observation is that the matrix-although very large-has a block-circulant structure. This observation allows construction of fast direct and inverse transforms. Moreover, we show that the DRT can be used to compute various generalizations of the classical Radon transform (RT) and, in particular, the generalization where straight lines are replaced by curves and weight functions are introduced into the integrals along these curves. In fact, we describe not a single transform, but a class of transforms, representatives of which correspond in one way or another to discrete versions of the RT and its generalizations. An interesting observation is that the exact inversion algorithm cannot be obtained directly from Radon's inversion formula. Given the fact that the RT has no nontrivial one-dimensional analog, exact invertibility makes the DRT a useful tool geared specifically for multidimensional digital signal processing. Exact invertibility of the DRT, flexibility in its definition, and fast computational algorithm affect present applications and open possibilities for new ones. Some of these applications are discussed in the paper.
Eclipsing Binaries in the Young Large Magellanic Cloud Cluster NGC 1850

I present light curves for two detached eclipsing binary stars in the region of the LMC cluster NGC 1850, which is possibly a young globular cluster still in formation. One, a likely O‐type star, is a newly detected eclipsing binary in the region of the very young subcluster NGC 1850A. This binary is among a small number of highly massive O‐type stars in binary systems found in LMC clusters. These two eclipsing binaries are the first to be discovered in the well‐studied NGC 1850, and the O‐type star is the first eclipsing binary found in NGC 1850A. Light curves for two Cepheid variables in the NGC 1850 region are also shown. The discovery of two eclipsing binaries in the young globular‐like cluster NGC 1850 is discussed in terms of the importance of the binary fraction to globular cluster evolution.
Factors Influencing Adult Learners' Decision to Drop Out or Persist in Online Learning

The number of adult learners who participate in online learning has rapidly grown in the last two decades due to online learning’s many advantages. In spite of the growth, the high dropout rate in online learning has been of concern to many higher education institutions and organizations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether persistent learners and dropouts are different in individual characteristics (i.e., age, gender, and educational level), external factors (i.e., family and organizational supports), and internal factors (i.e., satisfaction and relevance as sub-dimensions of motivation). Quantitative data were collected from 147 learners who had dropped out of or finished one of the online courses offered from a large Midwestern university. Dropouts and persistent learners showed statistical differences in perceptions of family and organizational support, and satisfaction and relevance. It was also shown that the theoretical framework, which includes family support, organizational support, satisfaction, and relevance in addition to individual characteristics, is able to predict learners’ decision to drop out or persist. Organizational support and relevance were shown to be particularly predictive. The results imply that lower dropout rates can be achieved if online program developers or instructors find ways to enhance the relevance of the course. It also implies that adult learners need to be supported by their organizations in order for them to finish online courses that they register for.
Evaluation of a leadership program for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Youth: Stories of positive youth development and community engagement

ABSTRACT First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) youth experience many health disparities in comparison with their mainstream Canadian peers. Researchers have recommended that interventions developed to enhance health and well-being for FNMI youth apply a strengths-based approach that acknowledges contextual challenges. This article uses a qualitative approach to examine the perceived impacts of a program designed to enhance positive development and leadership in FNMI youth. Semistructured interviews were conducted with front-line staff and participants. A thematic data analysis resulted in three major themes that describe the perceived program effects at the participant, staff, and community levels. Findings are discussed in relation to current research and theory, and recommendations are provided for programming and future research. Leadership programming for FNMI youth may be an effective way to promote development across many levels of stakeholders.
Feature-Based Tagger of Approximations of Functional Arabic Morphology

The field of morphological disambiguation of Arabic has recently witnessed significant achievements (Habash and Rambow [15], Smith et al. [28]). Through them, the Penn Arabic Treebank (PATB, Maamouri et al. [24]) is being confirmed as a standard for development and evaluation of systems for automatic morphological processing of Arabic, and the Buckwalter Arabic Morphological Analyzer (Buckwalter [6, 7]) is becoming the most respected lexical resource of its kind. The context for understanding the current paper has evolved since our work on it started, yet, the motivation for it is unchanged and the conclusions are valid and up-to-date. We would like to open some issues concerning the very description of Arabic morphology and point out that in this domain, one should carefully distinguish individual problems, theories, resources, and solutions for their frequent idiosyncrasies and incompatibilities. In this contribution, we reference Functional Arabic Morphology (Smrž [29]) and take the Buckwalter Morphology as the departure point for approximating this novel model by (a) restoring the true syntactic units (b) seeking their functional, rather than structural, morphological categories. We then present five versions of a feature-based morphological tagger depending on that approximation, which were built on all the currently available Parts of PATB, as well as on the MorphoTrees annotations of the Prague Arabic Dependency Treebank (PADT, Hajič et al. [18]).
Regulation of hematopoiesis by gap junction‐mediated intercellular communication

Gap junctions are intercellular channels formed by individual structural units known as connexins (Cx) that allow the intercellular exchange of small molecules between cells. The presence of Cx protein in bone marrow and thymic stromal cells and the demonstration that these cells are functionally coupled have led to the hypothesis that groups of stromal cells in the bone marrow and thymus form a functional syncytium through which their hematopoietic support capacity is coordinated. The validity of this hypothesis was recently tested in a newly developed strain of mice in which the gene encoding Cx43, the principal Cx expressed in hematopoietic tissues, was disrupted. Studies of myelopoiesis and lymphopoiesis in these Cx43‐deficient mice revealed that expression of Cx43 in the bone marrow and thymus is critically important during periods of active hematopoiesis, such as during embryogenesis and after recovery from cytoablative treatments. The clinical implications of these observations, as well as issues that remain to be addressed to understand the mechanism(s) by which gap junctions regulate hematopoiesis, are addressed.
Distribution and trafficking of JHM coronavirus structural proteins and virions in primary neurons and the OBL-21 neuronal cell line

The neurotropic murine coronavirus JHM is capable of inducing various forms of neurologic diseases, including demyelination. Neurons have been shown to act as a repository site at the early stages of the disease process (O. Sorensen and S. Dales, J. Virol. 56:434-438, 1985). JHM virus (JHMV) replication and trafficking of viral proteins and virions in cultured rat hippocampal neurons and a neuronal cell line, OBL-21, were examined, with an emphasis placed on the role of the microtubular network. We show here that JHMV spread within the central nervous system occurs transneuronally and that virus protein trafficking was dependent upon microtubules. Viral trafficking occurred asymmetrically, involving both the somatodendritic and the axonal domains. Thus coronavirus can be disseminated from neurons at either the basolateral or the apical domains. A specific interaction between antibodies derived against the microtubule-associated protein tau and JHMV nucleocapsid protein (N) was observed, which can presumably be explained by an overall amino acid similarity of 44% and an identity of 20% between proteins N and tau, with optimal alignment at the microtubule binding domain of tau. Collectively, our data suggest an important role of the microtubule network in viral protein trafficking and distribution. They also draw attention to protein sequence mimicry of a cell component by this coronavirus as one strategy for making use of the host's functions on behalf of the virus.
Energetic Impact of Jet-Inflated Cocoons in Relaxed Galaxy Clusters

Jets from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the cores of galaxy clusters have the potential to be a major contributor to the energy budget of the intracluster medium (ICM). To study the dependence of the interaction between the AGN jets and the ICM on the parameters of the jets themselves, we present a parameter survey of two-dimensional (axisymmetric) ideal hydrodynamic models of back-to-back jets injected into a cluster atmosphere (with varying Mach numbers and kinetic luminosities). We follow the passive evolution of the resulting structures for several times longer than the active lifetime of the jet. The simulations fall into roughly two classes, cocoon-bounded and non-cocoon bounded sources. We suggest a correspondence between these two classes and the Faranoff-Riley types. We find that the cocoon-bounded sources inject significantly more entropy into the core regions of the ICM atmosphere, even though the efficiency with which energy is thermalized is independent of the morphological class. In all cases, a large fraction (50%-80%) of the energy injected by the jet ends up as gravitational potential energy due to the expansion of the atmosphere.
Protection motivation theory and social distancing behaviour in response to a simulated infectious disease epidemic

Epidemics of respiratory infectious disease remain one of the most serious health risks facing the population. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. hand-washing or wearing face masks) can have a significant impact on the course of an infectious disease epidemic. The current study investigated whether protection motivation theory (PMT) is a useful framework for understanding social distancing behaviour (i.e. the tendency to reduce social contacts) in response to a simulated infectious disease epidemic. There were 230 participants (109 males, 121 females, mean age 32.4 years) from the general population who completed self-report measures assessing the components of PMT. In addition, participants completed a computer game which simulated an infectious disease epidemic in order to provide a measure of social distancing behaviour. The regression analyses revealed that none of the PMT variables were significant predictors of social distancing behaviour during the simulation task. However, fear (β = .218, p < .001), response efficacy (β = .175, p < .01) and self-efficacy (β = .251, p < .001) were all significant predictors of intention to engage in social distancing behaviour. Overall, the PMT variables (and demographic factors) explain 21.2% of the variance in intention. The findings demonstrated that PMT was a useful framework for understanding intention to engage in social distancing behaviour, but not actual behaviour during the simulated epidemic. These findings may reflect an intention-behaviour gap in relation to social distancing behaviour.
Generation of a Monoclonal Antibody Specifically Reacting with Neuron-specific TATA-Box Binding Protein-Associated Factor 1 (N-TAF1)

TATA-box binding protein-associated factor 1 (TAF1), the largest subunit of the transcription factor IID complex, plays an important role in the RNA polymerase II-mediated gene transcription pathway regulating the transcription of a large number of genes related to cell division. The neuron-specific isoform of the TAF1 gene (N-TAF1) may have an essential role in neurons through transcriptional regulation of many neuron-specific genes. The present study reports the preparation and properties of a monoclonal antibody directed against N-TAF1. The monoclonal antibody, 3A-11F, specifically recognized N-TAF1 protein with no reactivity to TAF1 protein, as evidenced by immunocytochemistry and immunoprecipitation using cultured cells expressing recombinant N-TAF1 or TAF1 protein. Immunohistochemistry using 3A-11F showed that N-TAF1-imunoreactivity was detected in the nuclear region of neurons in the rat brain. The 3A-11F monoclonal antibody promises to be a useful tool for determining the expression pattern and biological function of N-TAF1 in the brain.
Prefiguring the State

Merging means and ends, prefigurative politics perform life as it is wished-for, both to experience better practice and to advance change. This paper contributes to prefigurative thinking in three ways. It explores what it might mean to prefigure the state as a concept; takes its inspiration from a historical episode rather than imagined time ahead; and addresses what, if anything, prefigurative conceptions can do when practiced. Central to my discussion is the plural state—taking shape as micro, city, regional, national and global formations. Plural state thinking makes room for divergent kinds of states but does not necessarily foreground progressive ones. Thus, to explore in more detail a transformative left conception of the state, discussion turns to 1980s British municipal radicalism. Taking up this adventurous episode in governing as a “thinking tool”, an imaginary of the state as horizontal, everyday, activist and stewardly emerges.
A cardiac signature of emotionality

Human personality has brain correlates that exert manifold influences on biological processes. This study investigates relations between emotional personality and heart activity. Our data demonstrate that emotional personality is related to a specific cardiac amplitude signature in the resting electrocardiogram (ECG). Two experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging show that this signature correlates with brain activity in the amygdala and the hippocampus during the processing of musical stimuli with emotional valence. Additionally, this cardiac signature correlates with subjective indices of emotionality (as measured by the Revised Toronto Alexithymia Scale), and with both time and frequency domain measures of the heart rate variability. The results demonstrate intricate connections between emotional personality and the heart by showing that ECG amplitude patterns provide considerably more information about an individual's emotionality than previously believed. The finding of a cardiac signature of emotional personality opens new perspectives for the investigation of relations between emotional dysbalance and cardiovascular disease.
Not just about “the science”: science education and attitudes to genetically modified foods among women in Australia

Previous studies investigating attitudes to genetically modified (GM) foods suggest a correlation between negative attitudes and low levels of science education, both of which are associated with women. In a qualitative focus group study of Australian women with diverse levels of education, we found attitudes to GM foods were part of a complex process of making “good” food decisions, which included other factors such as locally produced, fresh/natural, healthy and nutritious, and convenient. Women involved in GM crop development and those with health science training differed in how they used evidence to categorize GM foods. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how GM food, and the role of science and technology in food production and consumption more broadly, is understood and discussed amongst diverse “publics” and across different “sciences,” and to research related to deepening public engagement at the intersection of science and values.
Statistics of 3D Object Locations in Images

The structural design of buildings and streets in man-made outdoor environments determine the possible locations of other objects like cars or people. Cars drive or park on the streets, and people walk on the sidewalks. Their space of interaction is limited and aligned to these man-made structures. In this report, we describe how 3D locations of objects can be estimated in a single view image. We gather statistics to analyze the locations of cars and people and show how their alignment to man-made structures creates regularities, which can be used to predict their locations. We show which prior knowledge of the analyzed scene is necessary for different ways of statistical prediction of object locations and evaluate the prediction performance on a data set with urban outdoor scenes.
A comparative study to measure the condylar guidance by the radiographic and clinical methods

PURPOSE The study was conducted to compare the radiographic and clinical methods of measuring the horizontal condylar guidance (HCG) values. MATERIALS AND METHODS The condylar guidance was measured using the radiographic (CT scan) and three clinical methods i.e. the wax protrusive records, Lucia jig record and intraoral central bearing device in 12 patients aged between 20-40 years irrespective of sex. The records were taken and transferred on the semi-adjustable articulator to record the HCG values. The CT scan was taken for 3D reconstruction of the mid facial region. Frankfort horizontal plane (FHP) and a line extending from the superior anterior most point on the glenoid fossa to the most convex point on the apex of articular eminence (AE) was marked on the CT scan. An angle between these two lines was measured on both right and left sides to obtain condylar inclination angle. Three interocclusal protrusive wax and jig records were taken and transferred to the semi adjustable articulator. Three readings were recorded on each side. Similarly the records were taken and transferred to the same articulator using the intra oral central bearing device to record the readings. RESULTS The statistical analysis showed insignificant differences in the HCG values between the right and left sides [(P=.589 (CT), P=. 928 (wax), P=. 625 (jig), P=. 886 (tracer)]. The clinical methods provided low Pearsons correlation values [(R = 0.423 (wax), R = 0.354 (jig), R = 0.265 (tracer)] for the right as well as the left sides when compared with the CT values. Among the clinical methods, jig and wax method showed strong level of association which is statistically significant while the intra-oral tracer showed weak association with the other two methods. CONCLUSION The right and left HCG values were almost similar. The CT scan showed higher HCG values than the clinical methods and among the clinical methods, values obtained from all the methods were comparable.
Data-in-Place: Thinking through the Relations Between Data and Community

We present findings from a year-long engagement with a street and its community. The work explores how the production and use of data is bound up with place, both in terms of physical and social geography. We detail three strands of the project. First, we consider how residents have sought to curate existing data about the street in the form of an archive with physical and digital components. Second, we report endeavours to capture data about the street's environment, especially of vehicle traffic. Third, we draw on the possibilities afforded by technologies for polling opinion. We reflect on how these engagements have: materialised distinctive relations between the community and their data; surfaced flows and contours of data, and spatial, temporal and social boundaries; and enacted a multiplicity of 'small worlds'. We consider how such a conceptualisation of data-in-place is relevant to the design of technology.
Performance Analysis for Coefficient Tracking Synchronization Algorithm of OFDM Based Vehicle Communication System in Intelligent Transportation System Environment

In this paper the Coefficient Tracking Synchronization Algorithm is proposed for the compensation and the suitability of the fast channel fluctuation OFDM in the WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) system. The in progress of standardization WAVE process, IEEE802.11's physical layer is considered on the coexistence of fading and Frequency offset of OFDM channel to find the system performance ability and the comparing examination which is taken on the proposed method of Coefficient Tracking Synchronization Algorithm and the performance efficiency. Through the simulation result we also can see that the proposed system improves the channel estimation ability and offers an extra efficiency if compared to the existing method.
Damsels in Distress: A Textual Analysis of Gender roles in Disney Princess Films

Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today‟s society. Gender represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female. Media is the most important resource through which people develop their identities and thereby come to understand the role that gender plays in the actual world. This article is designed to study the gender identity and gender roles in Disney movies and to see how identity is transformed through long term virtues and ideals that are set forth by the Disney movies. It is generally regarded that the Disney movies is unhealthy for children, especially the young girls to watch for the physical, social and behavioral attributes they suggest, conform to the values supporting male dominance. Disney movies are often criticized for their negative, stereotypical portrayal of female characters that are often unrealistically painted. In the context of Disney movies, the word „woman‟ has become synonymous with „victim‟ in a patriarchal society. The Disney Corporation films such as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty et al are in the list of favorite Disney heroines for young girls for the last fifty years. These movies have certain themes in common—the female protagonist in each of these films is shown as a “Disney Princess” but the traits of these princesses, featured through these films are submissiveness and servitude. Though they possess divine beauty, these princesses only seem to be capable of suffering in silence, and it is because of this, they are finally given the ultimate reward: salvation through the handsome Prince Charming. This negative portrayals of women and girls in Disney movies gain force through the way in which similar messages are consistently circulated and reproduced in varying degrees in many of the Disney movies even till today. Though both the male and the female roles have changed over time in the Disney princess line, yet the female characters actually exhibits less change in their gender role portrayals and there is no doubt that Disney Corporation is reaching their target audience and their message is continuously being made available to the young children (especially the young girls) around the world.