Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Image enhancement using integer sequences based windows

Image enhancement techniques using spatial and frequency domain filters are concerned with general improvement of images for human observers. Of the two, frequency domain filters can be designed using a number of techniques, of which, windowing technique is the simplest technique to obtain such realizable frequency domain filters. In this work, we discuss the effect of applying the filter coefficients generated using integer window sequences and the compare the effect of using filters designed using integer sequences as windows over conventional classical window based filters for smoothening and sharpening of the images. The mean square error plot for low pass filtered image shows that over a certain range of threshold values the filter designed based on integer sequences outperforms the filters designed using classical (real numbers) windows. High pass filters designed using integer windows are found to sharpen the images much better than the filters designed using classical windows.
Energy Intake, Kleptoparasitism Risk, and Prey Choice by Glaucous-Winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens) Foraging on Sea Stars

ABSTRACT. Energy gain is thought to play a central role in prey selection by most foragers, but it may conflict with food theft avoidance and be constrained by undeveloped foraging skills. We investigated predation by the Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) on the ecologically important Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus). We tested the hypothesis that Pisaster size selection by gulls was based on energetic profitability, defined as energy provided per unit handling time. We then examined the degree to which profitability interacts with intraspecific kleptoparasitism risk and age-related foraging efficiency (i.e., energy intake rate, prey capture success) to produce the patterns of prey choice observed in a natural setting. Behavioral observations of free-living gulls revealed moderate to high (32.5–91.6%) occurrences of Pisaster in gull diets. We used handling time data and bomb calorimetry to determine the relationship between Pisaster size and energetic profitability, which informed prey offer experiments that allowed us to test hypotheses regarding gull prey choice. We found that gulls readily distinguished between Pisaster sizes on the basis of energetic profitability, selecting the most profitable individual in 60% of trials. Prey discrimination ability did not differ between gull age classes and thus did not contribute to the reported reduced foraging efficiency of juveniles. However, gulls exhibited a significant nonlinear decrease in preference for highly profitable Pisaster with increasing kleptoparasitism risk.
THE EXCITATION OF WATER IN THE S140 PHOTON DOMINATED REGION. D. R. Poelman

We consider the excitation of water in the Photon Dominated Region (PDR) S140. With the use of a three-dimensional escape probability method we compute the level populations of ortho- and para-H(2)O up to similar to 350 K ( i. e., 8 levels), as well as line intensities for various transitions. Homogeneous and inhomogeneous models are presented with densities of 10(4)-10(5) cm(-3) and the differences between the resulting intensities are displayed. Density, temperature, and abundance distributions inside the cloud are computed with the use of a self-consistent physi-chemical (in) homogeneous model in order to reproduce the line intensities observed with SWAS, and to make predictions for various lines that HIFI will probe in the future. Line intensities vary from similar to 10(-13) erg cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) to a few times 10(-6) erg cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1). We can reproduce the intensity for the 1(10) -> 1(01) line observed by the SWAS satellite. It is found that the 2(12) -> 1(01) line is the strongest, whereas the 3(12) -> 2(21) line is the weakest, in all the models. It is found that the 1(10) -> 1(01) line probes the total column, while higher excitation lines probe the higher density gas ( e. g., clumps).
Reappraisal of criticality for two-layer flows and its role in the generation of internal solitary waves

A geometric view of criticality for two-layer flows is presented. Uniform flows are classified by diagrams in the momentum-massflux space for fixed Bernoulli energy, and cuspoidal curves on these diagrams correspond to critical uniform flows. Restriction of these surfaces to critical flow leads to new subsurfaces in energy-massflux space. While the connection between criticality and the generation of solitary waves is well known, we find that the nonlinear properties of these bifurcating solitary waves are also determined by the properties of the criticality surfaces. To be specific, the case of two layers with a rigid lid is considered, and application of the theory to other multilayer flows is sketched.
A review of faults detectable by gas-in-oil analysis in transformers

IEC Publication 60599 provides a coded list of faults detectable by dissolved gas analysis (DGA): PD = partial discharges; D1 = discharges of low energy; D2 = discharges of high energy; T1 = thermal faults of temperature 700/spl deg/C. The IEC TC10 databases of DGA results corresponding to faults identified by visual inspection of faulty transformers in service have been presented in a previous paper (see IEEE Elec. Insulation Mag., vol. 17, no. 2, p.31-41, 2001). The present paper reviews these DGA results in a more user-friendly graphical form. It also reviews the DGA results of laboratory models attempting to simulate these faults, as published in the scientific literature or technical reports. The specific case of on-load tap changers (OLTC) is reviewed much more extensively, and separately, since DGA interpretation in this case must take into account the large background of residual gases resulting from the normal current-breaking operation of the OLTC. Particular attention is also given to DGA results related to PDs and low-temperature thermal faults.
Cognitive impairments in patients with low grade gliomas and high grade gliomas.

OBJECTIVE The relationship between brain tumors and cognitive deficits is well established in the literature. However, studies investigating the cognitive status in low and high-grade gliomas patients are scarce, particularly in patients with average or lower educational level. This study aimed at investigating the cognitive functioning in a sample of patients with low and high-grade gliomas before surgical intervention. METHOD The low-grade (G1, n=19) and high-grade glioma (G2, n=8) patients underwent a detailed neuropsychological assessment of memory, executive functions, visuo-perceptive and visuo-spatial abilities, intellectual level and language. RESULTS There was a significant impairment on verbal and visual episodic memory, executive functions including mental flexibility, nominal and categorical verbal fluency and speed of information processing in G2. G1 showed only specific deficits on verbal and visual memory recall, mental flexibility and processing speed. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrated different levels of impairments in the executive and memory domains in patients with low and high grade gliomas.
The internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity among 8- to 11-year-old students in Wales

ABSTRACT The Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity was designed in the mid-1970s to assess individual differences in attitude through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood from the age of 8 years upwards. This study examines the internal consistency reliability, factor structure, and construct validity of the instrument 40 years later among 1511 year 4 students (8–9 years), 1544 year 5 students (9–10 years), and 1526 year 6 students (10–11 years) in Wales attending Church in Wales voluntary aided and voluntary controlled primary schools. The data support the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the instrument among the age range and commend the instrument for continued use in research.
Patterns in the stream: exploring the interaction of polarity, topic, and discourse in a large opinion corpus

A qualitative examination of review texts suggests that there are consistent patterns to how topic and polarity are expressed in discourse. These patterns are visible in the text and paragraph structure, topic depth, and polarity flow. In this paper, we employ sentence-level sentiment classifiers and a hand-built tree ontology to investigate whether these patterns can be quantitatively identified in a large corpus of video game reviews. Our results indicate that the beginning and the end of major textual units (e.g. paragraphs) stand out in the flow of texts, showing a concentration of reliable opinion and key topic aspects, and that there are other important regularities in the expression of opinion and topic relevant to their ordering and the discourse markers with which they appear.
Patients’ Experiences of LIving with CANcer-associated thrombosis: the PELICAN study

Introduction Thrombosis remains the most common preventable cause of mortality in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Whilst the prophylaxis and treatment of this condition is well understood, the patient experience and subsequent behavioral factors are not. Methods Patients receiving treatment for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) were interviewed about their experiences of CAT within the context of their cancer journey. Twenty interviews were transcribed and analyzed using framework analysis. Results Chemotherapy patients were well informed about the risks of febrile neutropenia, how to recognize it, and when to seek medical attention. However, they had limited knowledge about CAT and received no information about the condition. Red flag symptoms suggestive of CAT were attributed to chemotherapy or the underlying cancer, resulting in delayed presentation to hospital, and diagnosis. The CAT journey was considered a distressing one, with limited support or information, in complete juxtaposition with the treatment they received for their cancer. Patients felt there was little ownership for the management of CAT, which further added to their distress. Conclusion CAT is a common occurrence and patients view their experiences of it within the context of their overall cancer journey. However, patients receive little information to help recognize CAT and access timely treatment on the development of symptoms. Whilst other cancer complications have clear treatment pathways, thrombosis does not appear to have been afforded the same priority. A proactive approach to increase patient awareness, coupled with established CAT pathways is likely to reduce mortality, morbidity, and long-term psychological distress.
A new set of H(curl)-conforming hierarchical basis functions for tetrahedral meshes

A new set of H(curl)-conforming hierarchical basis functions for tetrahedral meshes is presented. Contrary to previous bases, this one is designed such that higher order basis functions vanish when they are projected onto a lower order finite-element space using the interpolation operator defined by Nedelec. Consequently, to increase the polynomial order and improve the accuracy of the interpolated field, only additional degrees of freedom (DOFs) of higher order are added, whereas the original DOFs (the coefficients for the basis functions) remain unchanged. This makes this basis very well suited for use with efficient multilevel solvers and goal-oriented hierarchical error estimators, which is demonstrated through numerical examples
How volunteer person-centered counselors feel they have been affected by not finding work

ABSTRACT Many person-centered therapists provide their services on a voluntary basis wishing to enrich and expand their experiences as individuals and counselors. However, while rewarding, volunteers may also be affected by the difficulties of long-term unemployment. In this study, nine volunteer person-centered counselors in Greece aged 22–65, holding a Diploma in person-centered counseling, were interviewed. Participants were asked about how their experiences of not finding paid work might be affecting both themselves and their client work. The results indicated that long-term unemployment substantially reduces the counselors’ belief in their knowledge, skills, and counseling abilities while at the same time introducing doubts about their choice of profession, and even the very nature of the person-centered counseling process.
Positive solutions of quasilinear elliptic equations

(1.2) { −∆pu = λa(x)|u|p−2u, u ∈ D 0 (Ω), has the least eigenvalue λ1 > 0 with a positive eigenfunction e1 and λ1 is the only eigenvalue having this property (cf. Proposition 3.1). This gives us a possibility to study the existence of an unbounded branch of positive solutions bifurcating from (λ1, 0). When Ω is bounded, the result is well-known, we refer to the survey article of Amann [2] and the paper of Ambrosetti and Hess [4] for the case p = 2,
Influence of Musical Engagement on Symptoms of Tourette’s Disorder

Dedication This research is dedicated to all those affected by Tourette's and especially to my new friend, Jim Couchenour, whose musicianship, spirituality and encouraging speech about his dealings with this disorder inspired the study. I am especially grateful to all of those people within my life who made an impact educationally in my development not only as a musician but as a researcher. I'm particularly thankful for my father, Bill Brown, who not only provided continued financial support through many difficult days but always exemplified character in spite of adverse conditions. He has also served as a role-model as a father, spiritual leader, friend and musician.
Deliberation for intuition: a framework for energy-efficient trip detection on cellular phones

Trip detection is a fundamental issue in many context-sensitive information services on mobile devices. It aims to automatically recognize significant places and trips between them. The key challenge is how to minimize energy consumption while maintaining high accuracy. Previous works that use GPS/WiFi sampling are accurate but energy efficiency is low and does not improve over time. Learning from the human decision making process, we propose an energy-efficient trip detection framework that consists of two modes: The deliberation mode learns cell-id patterns using GPS/WiFi based localization methods; the intuition mode only uses cell-ids and learned patterns for trip detection; transition between the two modes is controlled by parameters that are also learned. We evaluated our framework using real-life traces of six people over five months. Our experiments demonstrate that its energy consumption decreases rapidly as users' activities manifest regularity over time.
Dilatation and Dysfunction of the Right Ventricle Immediately After Ultraendurance Exercise: Exploratory Insights From Conventional Two-Dimensional and Speckle Tracking Echocardiography

Background— Running an ultramarathon has been shown to have a transient negative effect on right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) function. Additionally, recent findings suggested that ultraendurance athletes may be more at risk of developing a RV cardiomyopathy. The standard echocardiographic assessment of RV function is problematic; however, the introduction of ultrasonic speckle tracking technology has the potential to yield a comprehensive evaluation of RV longitudinal function, providing new insights into this phenomenon. Thus, the primary aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate comprehensively RV structure and function after a 161-km ultramarathon and establish whether changes in the RV are associated with alterations in LV function. Methods and Results— Myocardial speckle tracking echocardiograms of the RV and LV were obtained before and immediately after a 161-km ultramarathon in 16 healthy adults. Standard echocardiography was used to determine RV size and function and LV eccentricity index. Speckle tracking was used to determine the temporal evaluation of indices of RV and LV function. RV size was significantly increased postrace (RV outflow, 32 to 35 mm, P=0.002; RV inflow, 42 to 45 mm, P=0.027) with an increase in LV eccentricity index (1.03 to 1.13, P=0.006). RV strain (&egr;) was significantly reduced postrace (−27% to −24%, P=0.004), but there was no change in the rates of &egr;. Peak &egr; in all planes of LV motion were reduced postrace (longitudinal, −18.3 to −16.3%, P=0.012; circumferential, −20.2% to −15.7%, P=0.001; radial, 53.4% to 40.3%, P=0.009). Changes in RV size and function correlated with diastolic strain rates in the LV. Conclusions— This exploratory study demonstrates RV dilatation and reduction in function after an ultramarathon. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for these findings. It is not clear what clinical impact might result from consecutive bouts of postexercise RV dysfunction.
Novel Agent-Based Management for Fault-Tolerance in Network-on-Chip

We introduce a novel agent-based reconfiguring concept for futures network-on-chip (NoC) systems. The necessary properties to increase architecture level fault tolerance are introduced. The system control is modeled as multi-level agent hierarchy that is able to increase application fault-tolerance and performance with autonomous reactions of agents. The agent technology adds a system level intelligence level to the traditional NoC system design. The architecture and functions of this system are described on conceptual level. Communication and reconfiguring data flows are presented as study cases. Principles of reconfiguration of a NoC on faulty environment are demonstrated and simulated. Probability of reconfiguration success is measured with different latency requirements and amount of redundancy by Monte Carlo simulations. The effect of network topology in reconfiguration of a faulty mesh was also under research in the simulations.
Question and Answering Made Interactive: An Exploration of Interactions in Social Q&A

With the advancement of Web 2.0 techniques, social question and answering has become a new venue for individuals to seek for information online. Although it has been investigated by a number of works lately, so far still little has been known about how people interact with each other in order to satisfy their information needs in social Q&A. With the aim to understand the patterns of user interactions in the social Q&A context, as well as factors that may affect such kind of back-and-forth communications, in this work we collect over 1,000 question and answering dialogues from Sina Weibo. Statistical analyses including ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, linear regression and independent t-test are performed in order to answer our proposed research questions. Our results demonstrate the importance of studying the interactions in social Q&A given that about half of our collected question-answer pairs are of interactive nature. From the quantity perspective, we observe that questions within more complicated topics, such as "Healthcare" and "Education" generate more interactions. Significantly positive correlation is also noticed between social tie strength and the number of interactions. By manually annotating all interactive answers, we also indicate the importance of weak ties in providing high quality answers and interactions. Based on our results, we proposed potential implications for future design and implementations.
The weapon of a new generation?—Swedish Civil Society Organizations’ use of social media to influence politics

ABSTRACT The article examines the extent of and factors behind Civil Society Organizations’ (CSOs’) use of social media to influence politics compared with nondigital political strategies, that is, using the traditional media and demonstrations. Taking stock of previous research on information and communication technologies, social media, and political influence, the relevance of four sets of factors is tested: resources, resource dependency, geographic level of activity, and age of the organization. Based on survey data on 907 Swedish CSOs, the results show that social media is used alongside other strategies with no trade-off between them. Furthermore, the use of social media is highly resource-demanding both in terms of membership base and staff employed. Although it is not affected by public resource dependency, it is useful when trying to influence both the local and national level. Younger generations of CSOs are also more likely to make use of social media. The results suggest that the rise of the Internet as a channel for political communication might strengthen an elite of organizations that already has access to other channels for influencing policy. Digital politics might, however, also help bring forth new actors and perhaps new voices in the political debate, as long as they are able to mobilize enough resources.
Still Doing Fine? the Interplay of Negative Life Events and Self–Esteem during Young Adulthood

This longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional relationship between negative life events and self–esteem during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood (N = 2272). Drawing on theories of human development over the lifespan and just–world theory, we analyzed age–graded changes in self–esteem and their interplay with negative life events at three measurement points over a 12–year period. We addressed both the short–term and the longer term effects of single as well as multiple negative life events on changes in self–esteem (socialization effects). We further investigated whether the pre–event level of self–esteem affected the likelihood of negative life events occurring (selection effects) and, finally, whether it had protective effects in terms of helping people adjust to negative events. Latent change models yielded four main findings: (i) self–esteem increased during young adulthood; (ii) socialization effects were observed over shorter and longer timespans, but (iii) selection effects were only found for multiple negative life events, with low self–esteem predicting a high number of negative life events; (iv) high pre–event self–esteem acted as a protective factor, attenuating declines in self–esteem after experience of multiple negative life events. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology
Approaching Bayes-optimalilty using Monte-Carlo tree search

Bayes-optimal behavior, while well-defined, is often difficult to achieve. Recent advances in the use of Monte-Carlo tree search (MCTS) have shown that it is possible to act nearoptimally in Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) with very large or infinite state spaces. Bayes-optimal behavior in an unknown MDP is equivalent to optimal behavior in the known belief-space MDP, although the size of this belief-space MDP grows exponentially with the amount of history retained, and is potentially infinite. We show how an agent can use one particular MCTS algorithm, Forward Search Sparse Sampling (FSSS), in an efficient way to approach Bayes-optimality.