Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Atomic Hydrogen and Star Formation in the Bridge/Ring Interacting Galaxy Pair NGC 7714/7715 (Arp 284)

We present high spatial resolution 21 cm H I maps of the interacting galaxy pair NGC 7714/7715. We detect a massive (2 × 109 M☉) H I bridge connecting the galaxies that is parallel to but offset from the stellar bridge. A chain of H II regions traces the gaseous bridge, with Hα peaks near but not on the H I maxima. An H I tidal tail is also detected to the east of the smaller galaxy NGC 7715, similarly offset from a stellar tail. The strong partial stellar ring on the east side of NGC 7714 has no H I counterpart, but on the opposite side of NGC 7714 there is a 109 M☉ H I loop ~11 kpc in radius. Within the NGC 7714 disk, clumpy H I gas is observed associated with star formation regions. Redshifted H I absorption is detected toward the strong starburst nucleus. We compare the observed morphology and gas kinematics with gas dynamical models in which a low-mass companion has an off-center prograde collision with the outer disk of a larger galaxy. These simulations suggest that the bridge in NGC 7714/7715 is a hybrid between the tidal bridges seen in systems like M51 and the purely gaseous “splash” bridges found in ring galaxies like the Cartwheel. The offset between the stars and gas in the bridge may be due to dissipative cloud-cloud collisions occurring during the impact of the two gaseous disks.
Estimating Intrinsic Camera Parameters from the Fundamental Matrix Using an Evolutionary Approach

Calibration is the process of computing the intrinsic (internal) camera parameters from a series of images. Normally calibration is done by placing predefined targets in the scene or by having special camera motions, such as rotations. If these two restrictions do not hold, then this calibration process is called autocalibration because it is done automatically, without user intervention. Using autocalibration, it is possible to create 3D reconstructions from a sequence of uncalibrated images without having to rely on a formal camera calibration process. The fundamental matrix describes the epipolar geometry between a pair of images, and it can be calculated directly from 2D image correspondences. We show that autocalibration from a set of fundamental matrices can simply be transformed into a global minimization problem utilizing a cost function. We use a stochastic optimization approach taken from the field of evolutionary computing to solve this problem. A number of experiments are performed on published and standardized data sets that show the effectiveness of the approach. The basic assumption of this method is that the internal (intrinsic) camera parameters remain constant throughout the image sequence, that is, the images are taken from the same camera without varying such quantities as the focal length. We show that for the autocalibration of the focal length and aspect ratio, the evolutionary method achieves results comparable to published methods but is simpler to implement and is efficient enough to handle larger image sequences.
The outlier process: unifying line processes and robust statistics

This paper unifies "line-process" approaches for regularization with discontinuities and robust estimation techniques. We generalize the notion of a "line process" to that of an analog "outlier process" and show that a problem formulated in terms of outlier processes can be viewed in terms of robust statistics. We also characterize a class of robust statistical problems for which an equivalent outlier-process formulation exists and give a straightforward method for converting a robust estimation problem into an outlier-process formulation. This outlier-processes approach provides a general framework which subsumes the traditional line-process approaches as well as a wide class of robust estimation problems. Examples in image reconstruction and optical flow are used to illustrate the approach. <<ETX>>
Effect of Hypoglycemia on Brain Structure in People With Type 2 Diabetes: Epidemiological Analysis of the ACCORD-MIND MRI Trial

OBJECTIVE The effect of hypoglycemia related to treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on brain structure remains unclear. We aimed to assess whether symptomatic severe hypoglycemia is associated with brain atrophy and/or white matter abnormalities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We included T2DM participants with brain MRI from the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes-Memory in Diabetes (ACCORD-MIND) trial. Symptomatic severe hypoglycemia was defined as blood glucose <2.8 mmol/L or symptoms resolved with treatments that required the assistance of another person or medical assistance (hypoglycemia requiring assistance [HA]). Standardized brain MRI was performed at baseline and at 40 months. Total brain volume (TBV) and abnormal white matter (AWM) volume were calculated using an automated computer algorithm. Brain MRI scans of hypoglycemic participants were also reviewed for local disease. RESULTS Of the 503 T2DM participants (mean age, 62 years) with successful baseline and 40-month brain MRI, 28 had at least one HA episode during the 40-month follow-up. Compared with participants without HA, those with HA had marginally significant less atrophy (less decrease in TBV) from baseline to 40 months (−9.55 [95% CI −15.21, −3.90] vs. −15.38 [95% CI −16.64, −14.12], P = 0.051), and no significant increase of AWM volume (2.06 [95% CI 1.71, 2.49] vs. 1.84 [95% CI 1.76, 1.91], P = 0.247). In addition, no unexpected local signal changes or volume loss were seen on hypoglycemic participants’ brain MRI scans. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that hypoglycemia related to T2DM treatment may not accentuate brain pathology, specifically brain atrophy or white matter abnormalities.
UND: Unite-and-Divide Method in Fourier and Radon Domains for Line Segment Detection

In this paper, we extend our previously proposed line detection method to line segmentation using a so-called unite-and-divide (UND) approach. The methodology includes two phases, namely the union of spectra in the frequency domain, and the division of the sinogram in Radon space. In the union phase, given an image, its sinogram is obtained by parallel 2D multilayer Fourier transforms, Cartesian-to-polar mapping and 1D inverse Fourier transform. In the division phase, the edges of butterfly wings in the neighborhood of every sinogram peak are firstly specified, with each neighborhood area corresponding to a window in image space. By applying the separated sinogram of each such windowed image, we can extract the line segments. The division Phase identifies the edges of butterfly wings in the neighborhood of every sinogram peak such that each neighborhood area corresponds to a window in image space. Line segments are extracted by applying the separated sinogram of each windowed image. Our experiments are conducted on benchmark images and the results reveal that the UND method yields higher accuracy, has lower computational cost and is more robust to noise, compared to existing state-of-the-art methods.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Value Maximization: Evidence from Mergers

Using a large sample of mergers in the US, we examine whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) creates value for acquiring firms' shareholders. We find that compared with low CSR acquirers, high CSR acquirers realize higher merger announcement returns, higher announcement returns on the value-weighted portfolio of the acquirer and the target, and larger increases in post-merger long-term operating performance. They also realize positive long-term stock returns, suggesting that the market does not fully value the benefits of CSR immediately. In addition, we find that mergers by high CSR acquirers take less time to complete and are less likely to fail than mergers by low CSR acquirers. These results suggest that acquirers' social performance is an important determinant of merger performance and the probability of its completion, and they support the stakeholder value maximization view of stakeholder theory.
Protostellar evolution during time-dependent anisotropic collapse

The formation and collapse of a protostar involves the simultaneous infall and outflow of material in the presence of magnetic fields, self-gravity and rotation. We use self-similar techniques to self-consistently model the anisotropic collapse and outflow by using a set of angle-separated self-similar equations. The outflow is quite strong in our model, with the velocity increasing in proportion to radius, and material formally escaping to infinity in the finite time is required for the central singularity to develop. Analytically tractable collapse models have been limited mainly to spherically symmetric collapse, with neither magnetic field nor rotation. Other analyses usually employ extensive numerical simulations, or either perturbative or quasistatic techniques. Our model is unique as an exact solution to the non-stationary equations of self-gravitating magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which features co-existing regions of infall and outflow. The velocity and magnetic topology of our model is quadrupolar, although dipolar solutions may also exist. We provide a qualitative model for the origin and subsequent evolution of such a state. However, a central singularity forms at late times, and we expect the late-time behaviour to be dominated by the singularity, rather than depend on the details of its initial state. Our solution may, therefore, have the character of an attractor among a much more general class of self-similarity.
The Response of Household Saving to the Large Shock of German Reunification

German reunification was a large, unexpected shock for East Germans, with different economic consequences for different birth cohorts. Exploiting German reunification as a natural experiment, I analyze the validity of the life-cycle consumption model. In the empirical part, I derive three stylized features concerning the saving behavior of East vs. West Germans in the 1990s: (i) East Germans have higher saving rates than West Germans after reunification, (ii) this East-West gap in saving rates is increasing in the age of the birth cohort, and (iii) for every cohort, this gap is declining over time. The theoretical part investigates whether a comprehensive life cycle model can predict these three features. I find strong evidence in favor of rational, forward looking saving behavior. The precautionary saving motive is essential in replicating the features from the data.
Personality, Life Events, and Three Components of Subsequent Subjective Well-Being in Female University Students

The study investigated the effect of personality traits (wave 1), change in personality traits over a one-year time period (from wave 1 to wave 2), and life events over the past year (wave 2 reports) on three components of female university students’ (N = 280; mean age 20.2 years) subsequent (wave 2) subjective well-being, i.e. emotional (EWB), psychological (PWB), and social (SoWB). We applied the Big Five Inventory to evaluate personality, the Scale of Significant Life Events in Emerging Adulthood to assess the number of life events and student-perceived influence of these events on their lives, and the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form to measure EWB, PWB, and SoWB. Each of the Big Five traits played a significant and somewhat different role in predicting subsequent levels of the components of well-being, over and beyond background variables. Baseline levels of Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and positive life events were associated with both EWB and PWB. Whereas an increase in Extraversion and a decrease in Neuroticism predicted EWB, an increase in Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness contributed to PWB. Baseline levels of Extraversion and an increase in Agreeableness were also predictive of SoWB. In support to the validity of the three-component model of well-being, the findings suggest the Big Five as a significant force in shaping different aspects of female students’ well-being differentially, whereas the important but not extremely adverse or favourable life events within the past year show little influence above the effects of personality.
Why Japan needs English

Abstract This paper argues that Japan needs English, and better English than just knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. English is the main language of globalisation, and there are clear advantages to being proficient in it. For a long time, English has been taught through the grammar-translation method at Japanese schools and universities, which is inadequate to say the least. This has resulted in the inability to work in the English language at the workplace. With a rapidly aging and declining population, the Japanese need to be able to work with foreign co-workers. Being proficient in English would also help the Japanese form alliances and partnerships with foreign establishments in business, research, higher education, and science and technology. This paper also argues that stronger English language skills would help improve attitudes towards foreigners, since recent research has shown that Japanese individuals with stronger English conversation ability have more positive attitudes towards immigration. It would also mitigate discrimination against foreigners if the Japanese could communicate, interact and empathise with them.
Presenting the causal model of psychological variable ( Computer experience , Subjective norm , Computer anxiety and Computer self efficacy ) on actual use of information technology on the basis of Davis ’ s model

Accepting and proper using of technology is as important as the technology and having knowledge about the influential factors on information technology enables us to predict the amount of using technological tools. One of the causes of the low rate of using technology is the lack of adequate research in this field. Based on this factor, the present study investigate the effect of psychological variables (computer experience, computer anxiety and computer self-efficacy) on the actual use of information and communication technology (ICT). The population of this study consists of virtual university students in Iran. 561 students are chosen by Krejcie and Morgan formula. After collecting data by standard questionnaires, to assess the relationship between variables, path analysis used as the statistical procedure and this is done by AMOS software. Finally, the proposed model is fitted with the data and the results show that all the variables have a meaningful and direct effect on each other except the impact of computer anxiety on the actual use which is inverted (negative). [Saeed Talebi, Hossien Zare, Mohammad Reza Sarmadi, Bahman Saeedipour. Presenting the causal model of psychological variable (Computer experience, Subjective norm, Computer anxiety and Computer self efficacy) on actual use of information technology on the basis of Davis’s model. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):3263-3266] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 481
Effect of treatment frequency on haemodialysis dose: comparison of EKR and stdKt/V.

BACKGROUND Haemodialysis outcome cannot be improved by increasing the dialysis session dose above the current standard in conventional schedules. Promising results have been reported from daily dialysis, but the optimal dose has not been established. METHODS Weekly eKt/V, equivalent renal clearance (EKR) and stdKt/V were compared retrospectively in 588 complete urea kinetic modelling sessions of 35 haemodialysis patients. Equivalent values of EKR and stdKt/V corresponding to the standard and high doses of the HEMO study were defined by computer simulation. The effect of frequency on the dose measures was demonstrated by simulating different schedules. RESULTS EKR and stdKt/V take into consideration both frequency and RRF, but appreciate them differently. The values of EKRc (EKR in millilitres per minute, normalized to distribution volume 40 l), stdEKR (EKR in litres per week divided by urea distribution volume in litres) and stdKt/V corresponding to eKt/V 1.20-close to the standard dose in the HEMO study-were 13.2 ml/min/40 l, 3.34/wk and 2.23/wk, respectively. stdKt/V appreciates frequency more than EKR. A spreadsheet was created to compute the dialysis session time to achieve the EKR or stdKt/V target when the basic urea kinetic variables are known. CONCLUSIONS Haemodialysis efficiency can be increased by increasing frequency. EKR and stdKt/V are more appropriate than weekly eKt/V as measures of dialysis dose in different schedules. With increasing frequency, stdKt/V as the dosing target results in shorter treatment times and higher concentrations than EKR.
Learning a Language and Studying Content in an Additional Language: Student Opinions

This study aims to understand the opinions of middle school and high school students about language learning and studying other content in an additional language in the school settings where English is used as the medium of instruction to teach more than 50% of the curriculum. For this end, 261 students from three different schools were administered a questionnaire. Results indicate students generally have very positive opinions about learning languages and studying content in their non-native language. There is no statistically significant difference between the students’ opinion and their school level, and the years that they have been learning a language and studying content in an additional language. However, the students who have a negative opinion about the school have negative opinions about learning languages and studying content in an additional language. The possible reasons for these were evaluated from the perspective of language learning context but further study would be needed to establish causality.
Perceptual-Motor Contributions to Static and Dynamic Balance Control in Children

Abstract The authors addressed balance control in children from the perspective of skill development and examined the relationship between specific perceptual and motor skills and static and dynamic balance performance. Fifty 11- to 13-year-old children performed a series of 1-legged balance tasks while standing on a force platform. Postural control was reflected in the maximum displacement of the center of mass in anterior-posterior and mediolateral directions. Simple visual, discrimination, and choice reaction times; sustained attention; visuomotor coordination; kinesthesis; and depth perception were also assessed in a series of perceptual and motor tests. The correlation analysis revealed that balancing under static conditions was strongly associated with the ability to perceive and process visual information, which is important for feedback-based control of balance. On the other hand, when greater task demands were imposed on the system under dynamic balancing conditions, the ability to respond to the destabilizing hip abductions-adductions in order to maintain equilibrium was associated with motor response speed, suggesting the use of a descending, feedforward control strategy. Therefore, like adults, 11- to 13-year-old children have the ability to select varying balance strategies (feedback, feedforward, or both), depending on the constraints of a particular task.
Comparing human perceptions of post-editing effort with post-editing operations

Post-editing performed by translators is an increasingly common use of machine translated texts. While high quality MT may increase productivity, post-editing poor translations can be a frustrating task which requires more effort than translating from scratch. For this reason, estimating whether machine translations are of sufficient quality to be used for post-editing and finding means to reduce post-editing effort are an important field of study. Post-editing effort consists of different aspects, of which temporal effort, or the time spent on post-editing, is the most visible and involves not only the technical effort needed to perform the editing, but also the cognitive effort required to detect and plan necessary corrections. Cognitive effort is difficult to examine directly, but ways to reduce the cognitive effort in particular may prove valuable in reducing the frustration associated with post-editing work. In this paper, we describe an experiment aimed at studying the relationship between technical post-editing effort and cognitive post-editing effort by comparing cases where the edit distance and a manual score reflecting perceived effort differ. We present results of an error analysis performed on such sentences and discuss the clues they may provide about edits requiring great cognitive effort compared to the technical effort, on one hand, or little cognitive effort, on the other.
Real-Time Communication in 802.11 Networks: The Virtual Token Passing VTP-CSMA Approach

Currently there is a trend for the implementation of industrial communication systems on top of wireless communications. However, keeping up with the timing constraints of real-time traffic in open medium environments is a hard task. The main source for complexity is that, if the set of communicating devices is not previously agreed, the timing constraints imposed by such devices cannot be predicted at the system setup time, nor can be effectively controlled at the system run-time. In this paper, we propose the VTP-CSMA architecture to deal with this problem. This architecture allows the coexistence of default IEEE 802.11e devices with real-time devices sharing the same communication medium, enabling the prioritization of real-time traffic. The proposed solution is based on the control of the medium access rights by means of a virtual token passing procedure (VTP), complemented by an underlying traffic separation mechanism that prioritizes realtime traffic over the traffic from default IEEE 802.11 stations. The simulation analysis shows that the VTP-CSMA architecture guarantees values for both the throughput and the average access delay that significantly improves the results obtained for default IEEE 802.11e stations operating under EDCA mode
What Are We Teaching in Diversity and Social Justice Courses? A Qualitative Content Analysis of MSW Syllabi

ABSTRACT Diversity and social justice are central to social work and related curricular content is mandated by accreditation standards. However, research regarding diversity and social justice courses remains limited. This study aimed to better understand how these courses are conceptualized through a qualitative content analysis of course descriptions and objectives from 27 MSW course syllabi. Findings were organized into themes related to knowledge, skills, and values-based content areas. Emergent themes highlighted that these courses center knowledge acquisition, are linked to professional socialization, and have self-awareness as a primary goal. Implications for social work education are discussed.
Evaluación de la competencia digital docente en la Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón

This paper describes and analyzes the level of digital competence in high school teachers in the autonomous community of Aragon (Spain). It takes the standards set by international organizations and the Spanish Ministry of Education as a basis to define the dimensions of digital competence and the two aspects studied: technical knowledge and educational application. Data was collected through a purpose-built questionnaire. The results show that teachers recognize the contribution that ITC can make to the teaching-learning process, but that, despite an average level of performance for personal use (searching for information, using the most common tools), teachers’ application of ICT to education is poor. The results highlight the need to strengthen teachers’ initial training and promote continuing education programs to develop competence.