Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stereo Vision as a Sensor for EKF SLAM

Simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) is vital for autonomous robot navigation. The robot must build a map of its environment while tracking its own motion through that map. Although many solutions to this intricate problem have been proposed, one of the most prominent issues that still needs to be resolved is to accurately measure and track landmarks over time. In this paper we explain how stereo vision can be used for this purpose. We employ SIFT for the detection and tracking of image features, and triangulate matching features with stereo geometry, to obtain our set of landmark locations. We derive and linearise a measure of uncertainty in each of these locations, for use in our adaptation of the extended Kalman filter (EKF) approach for performing SLAM. Experimental results indicate that stereo vision is a viable option to be used as a sensor in a SLAM system, and worthy of further development.
Exoplanet recycling in massive white-dwarf debris discs

RvL, QK, MCW, and AS acknowledge support from the European Union through ERC grant number 279973. RvL is also supported by the DISCSIM project, grant agreement 341137 funded by the European Research Council under ERC-2013-ADG. QK acknowledges funding from STFC via the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge Consolidated Grant. AS is partially supported by funding from the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds. The Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds is supported by the Pennsylvania State University, the Eberly College of Science, and the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium.
Moisture and temperature equilibration: behaviour and practical significance in photographic film preservation

This is a tutorial paper which gives updated information on the factors affecting the moisture and thermal equilibration rates of photographic films. The effect of enclosures in buffering daily humidity cycling and long-term humidity changes was investigated primarily for film but results on book materials are also reported. The effect of temperature on moisture equilibration rates and on the moisture content-RH relationship for photographic material is also reported. The practical significance for cold storage is discussed.
Analytic structure of the multichannel Jost matrix for potentials with Coulombic tails

A quantum system is considered that can move in N two-body channels with the potentials that may include the Coulomb interaction. For this system, the Jost matrix is constructed in such a way that all its dependencies on the channel momenta and Sommerfeld parameters are factorized in the form of explicit analytic expressions. It is shown that the two remaining unknown matrices are single-valued analytic functions of the energy and therefore can be expanded in the Taylor series near an arbitrary point within the domain of their analyticity. It is derived a system of first-order differential equations whose solutions determine the expansion coefficients of these series. Alternatively, the unknown expansion coefficients can be used as fitting parameters for parametrizing experimental data similarly to the effective-range expansion. Such a parametrization has the advantage of preserving proper analytic structure of the Jost matrix and can be done not only near the threshold energies, but around any collision or even complex energy. As soon as the parameters are obtained, the Jost matrix (and therefore the S-matrix) is known analytically on all sheets of the Riemann surface, and thus enables one to locate possible resonances.
Contribution of Educational Factors in the Capacity to Overcome Adversity

The objective of this study was to identify factors that predict resilience and social mobility in persons living in extreme poverty in Mexico by analyzing an extensive set of school-related variables. A total of 913 adults were surveyed, with 65.2% women and an average age of 43.71 years. Significant correlations were found between the seven educational variables measured and resilience, and only one of them was correlated with social mobility. Regression analysis identifies achievement motivation and a reflexive learning style as predictors of resilience. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for this segment of the population.
The impact of statutory audit and corporate reporting directives on compliance costs, risk-taking and reporting quality of the EU banks

The paper examines the effects of recently introduced Statutory Audit and Corporate Reporting Directives (SACORD) on compliance costs and risk taking of the EU banks. Using data of 80 EU banks and 71 non-EU banks for the period 2004 to 2013, we estimate the effects of SACORD regulation compliance costs, risk taking and quality of reporting. Our results show that the economic effects of SACORD on audit fees are approximately 19 to 33 percent higher relative to the non-EU banks. We also find robust evidence of significant increase in in total compliance costs. The findings are consistent with those reported in the previous literature mainly for the US banks that regulation increases compliance costs. Further, we find that post SACORD, there is a significant increase in risk-taking and a decline in reporting quality. Findings suggest that the SACORD regulation does not appear to have the desired effects of constraining risk-taking by banks.
Guanxi and evolving ownership structures in Chinese private enterprises

This paper develops a theoretical model to study features of the evolving ownership structures of private enterprises in Zhejiang Province, China. The model predicts that in a developing economy where the market environment is immature or unstable, the ownership structure of a typical private enterprise involves a cooperative arrangement between a party with management skills and another party with Guanxi (connections). As the market environment becomes more stable, the ownership share of the party with management skills increases. This result is confirmed by empirical evidence of 296 surveyed firms in Ningbo city of China, showing that the perceived importance of both government and family Guanxi declined with perceived improvements in market stability.
Genetic diversity and determination of the optimum number of RAPD markers in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

Twenty lettuce accessions from the UENF Germplasm Collection were assessed for genetic diversity using RAPD markers. Multivariate statistical techniques were used, such as grouping analyses, using the Tocher and Single Linkage methods. Analysis of 55 polymorphic markers, obtained with 25 primers, showed that there was sufficient variability in the material studied to be exploited in future breeding programs. The ‘BGH 4060’ and ‘Grand Rapids’ accessions were the most dissimilar, while ‘BGH 4325’ and ‘BGH 4326' were the most similar. There was high agreement between ecogeographic origin and molecular similarity. It was further found by the stress statistic (Kruskal, 1964) and by the correlation between number of markers and increase in ideal formation of groups that 50 polymorphic markers is the optimum number for genetic diversity study in the assessed accessions.
Effects of reproductive mode on habitat-related differences in the population structure of eight Caribbean coral species

We compared the population structure of 8 common coral species in 2 contrasting habi- tats, the oceanic fringing reefs and the inland bays in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Inland bays are only partially connected to the open ocean and are characterized by a natural suite of environmental factors thought to be detrimental to coral community development. Compared with the inland bays, coral cover and coral colony density were higher on the fringing reefs (7.6 and 11.7 times, respec- tively). Coral species that release gametes in the water column ('broadcast spawners') showed a much greater difference in population structure and density between inland bay and reef habitats compared to brooding species. Our results show that (1) 'marginal' habitats are not equally marginal to all species, (2) differential susceptibility to partial mortality plays a central role in restricting colony growth in inland bay habitats, and (3) most likely, post-settlement mortality rather than larval supply plays a key role in causing differences in habitat-scale size-frequency distributions. Broadcasting species reached larger mean and maximum colony size on the fringing reefs, whereas brooders did not show this pattern. The overrepresentation of large colonies in communities that had degraded in response to anthropogenic disturbance was not observed among coral populations in inland bays. Such characteristics deserve critical attention, as they can be used to distinguish between naturally and anthropogenically stressed Caribbean coral communities.
Dividend Announcement and Share Price Behaviour: A Study of selected Companies in India

Dividend policies of companies and their impact on market share prices have been important topic for debate worldwide. The announcements of dividend amount and time of payment by Indian companies is done at different dates by different companies. The opinions and views of financial experts and researchers regarding the effect of dividend announcements on the market share prices vary from each other. According to some studies, dividend announcements by companies do lead to fluctuation in their share prices, while others are of view that dividend payout policy does not affect market share price and company value, leading to hypothesis that dividend policy is irrelevant. This study makes an attempt to understand the impact of dividend announcements on the share prices, number of trades, number of shares, and total turnover of the top BSE index companies by highest market capitalization. The findings of the study based on t-test showed a mixed result, measuring the changes of share prices before and after the dividend declaration of the selected companies. The findings of the study with the help of event study methodology reveals that the dividend announcements by the sample companies have significance influence on the market Share Prices, Number of Shares, Number of Trades and Total Turnover; which can give valuable information to the investing community and the organizations.
A ROUNDABOUT CASE STUDY COMPARING CAPACITY ESTIMATES FROM ALTERNATIVE ANALYTICAL MODELS

There has been some controversy about capacity estimates from the gap-acceptance based Australian and Highway Capacity Manual methods and the linear-regression based UK (empirical) method. This paper presents a single-lane roundabout case study from the United States to compare capacity estimates from these analytical models. Some contradictory results that can be obtained from these models are highlighted and reasons for differences are discussed. Such systematic differences have important design implications. The paper discusses the UK roundabout research, and explains why the UK Linear Regression model will underestimate capacity for low circulating flows and overestimate capacity for high circulating flows. The UK model appears to have been derived with a relatively small number of data points with low circulating flows, and it reflects peculiar effects of the geometric designs of UK roundabouts included in the database used for its development. These highly-flared roundabouts possibly encouraged merging and caused priority reversal at high circulating flows. The aaSIDRA model reflects the more uniform style of modern roundabout designs used in Australia and the USA. Another factor is lack of sensitivity to demand flow patterns in the UK Linear Regression and other models. The case study displays an unbalanced flow pattern which contributes to significant differences between the aaSIDRA and other models. Capacity is increased when heavy approach traffic enters against low circulating flow. Dominant circulating flows, originating mostly from a single approach, reduce the entry capacity as evident from the use of metering signals in Australia and the UK to help low-capacity roundabout approaches.
Nitrogen Mineralization in Chernozemic Soils Amended with Manure from Cattle Fed Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 82:167–175 doi:10.2136/sssaj2017.08. 0282 Received 17 Aug. 2017. Accepted 3 Nov. 2017. *Corresponding author (francis.zvomuya@umanitoba.ca). © Soil Science Society of America. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Nitrogen Mineralization in Chernozemic Soils Amended with Manure from Cattle Fed Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles Soil Fertility & Plant Nutrition
Seasonal variations of carbohydrates in Pueraria lobata related to growth and phenology

The seasonal changes of non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs), water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) and starch concentrations were examined in Pueraria lobata throughout its life cycle in order to elucidate the potential points in the seasonal growth and phenological cycles for its improved control. The study was carried out at two different habitat zones with distinct soil conditions in the riparian zone of the Tama River, Tokyo, Japan. One zone, with sandy soil, had lower levels of available nitrogen and phosphorous, while the second zone contained high levels of organic matter and nutrients. The highest and lowest concentrations of the NSC pools in the roots of P. lobata were observed in December and August, respectively, at both study sites. The lowest NSC reserves were attained at the end of the vegetative stage, with the highest NSC reserves found at the end of the reproductive stage. The WSCs gradually decreased from April to August in the roots and then increased until February. The starch concentrations of all the plant organs followed the same pattern as for the WSCs. The stems and leaves did not show the same pattern as did the roots. The total carbohydrate concentrations and pools did not show significant variation between the two sites, suggesting that the soil conditions had very little effect on carbohydrate production in the different organs of the plant. The study suggests that to control P. lobata effectively, the above-ground biomass should be removed at any date between the end of August and early September.
Irrigation Scheduling Using Predawn Leaf Water Potential Improves Water Productivity in Drip‐Irrigated Cotton

To address the effectiveness of predawn leaf water potential in plant-based irrigation scheduling, Gossypium hirsutum L. plants were grown under fully irrigated and dryland conditions and under three predawn water potential (YPD) thresholds (−0.5, −0.7, and −0.9 MPa). Measurements included YPD, plant height, mainstem node number, lint yield, water productivity, and continuous crop canopy temperature. We found that YPD produced similar yields to current practices, while decreasing overall water use from 7 to 31%, depending on rainfall levels and the treatment utilized. When considered across both years of the study (2013 and 2014), using a −0.5-MPa YPD irrigation threshold consistently resulted in less irrigation applied than the checkbook method and maximum water productivity and lint yield. Using a well-watered baseline developed in 2013 for canopy temperature versus vapor pressure deficit, we calculated a crop water stress index (CWSI) that exhibited a very strong, nonlinear relationship with season average YPD values between approximately −0.4 and −0.7 MPa (r2 = 0.81). A strong, nonlinear relationship was also seen between CWSI and lint yield (r2 = 0.81). Predawn water potential appears to be an effective means of determining the need for irrigation in cotton, and in the current study, yield and water productivity were maximized at a season-long average YPD threshold of −0.5 MPa. Furthermore, when calibrated using YPD– based irrigation triggers, canopy-temperature derived CWSI appears to be a promising tool for future automated plant-based irrigation scheduling in the southeastern United States. D.R. Chastain, Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State Univ., PO Box 197, Stoneville, MS 38776; J.L. Snider, J. Whitaker, and W.M. Porter, Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Georgia, 115 Coastal Way, Tifton, GA 31794; G.D. Collins, Dep. of Crop Science, North Carolina State Univ., Upper Coastal Plains Research Station, 2811 Nobles Mill Pond Road, Rocky Mount, NC 27801; C.D. Perry, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Georgia, 8207 Georgia 37, Camilla, GA 31730; S.A. Byrd, Dep. of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M Univ., Lubbock, TX 79403; D.M. Oosterhius, Dep. of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Arkansas, 1366 West Altheimer Drive, Fayetteville, AR 72704. Received 9 Jan. 2016. Accepted 25 July 2016. *Corresponding author ( jlsnider@uga. edu). Assigned to Editor Shawn Kaeppler. Abbreviations: CWSI, crop water stress index; TC, average canopy temperature; VPD, vapor pressure deficit; WP, water productivity. Published in Crop Sci. 56:3185–3195 (2016). doi: 10.2135/cropsci2016.01. 0009 © Crop Science Society of America | 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. Published September 22, 2016
Children with autism update their behaviour in response to a volatile environment

Typical adults can track reward probabilities across trials to estimate the volatility of the environment and use this information to modify their learning rate (Behrens et al., 2007). In a stable environment, it is advantageous to take account of outcomes over many trials, whereas in a volatile environment, recent experience should be more strongly weighted than distant experience. Recent predictive coding accounts of autism propose that autistic individuals will demonstrate atypical updating of their behaviour in response to the statistics of the reward environment. To rigorously test this hypothesis, we administered a developmentally appropriate version of Behrens et al.’s (2007) task to 34 cognitively able children on the autism spectrum aged between 6 and 14 years, 32 ageand ability-matched typically developing children and 19 typical adults. Participants were required to choose between a green and a blue pirate chest, each associated with a randomly determined reward value between 0 and 100 points, with a combined total of 100 points. On each trial, the reward was given for one stimulus only. In the stable condition, the ratio of the blue or green response being rewarded was fixed at 75:25. In the volatile condition, the ratio alternated between 80:20 and 20:80 every 20 trials. We estimated the learning rate for each participant by fitting a delta rule model and compared this rate across conditions and groups. All groups increased their learning rate in the volatile condition compared to the stable condition. Unexpectedly, there was no effect of group and no interaction between group and condition. Thus, autistic children used information about the statistics of the reward environment to guide their decisions to a similar extent as typically developing children and adults. These results help constrain predictive coding accounts of autism by demonstrating that autism is not characterized by uniform differences in the weighting of prediction error.
CAUSES OF JUVENILE INSTABILITY OF PINUS RADIATA IN NEW ZEALAND

The effects of root configuration and soil cultivation on stability of juvenile Pinus radiata D. Don were studied in New Zealand plantations. Roots of toppled and stable trees were excavated, and morphological features of the two sets were assessed and analysed in pairs. It was concluded that straight-grained taproots and sinker roots reduced the likelihood of toppling. The amounts of toppling in seven cultivation trials were assessed between ages 1 and 5. Cultiva­ tion varied in its effect on toppling frequency, because of differences in tree
Mapping the public agenda with topic modeling: The case of the Russian livejournal

This article describes agendas as “packages” of topics of varying salience, set by the Russian Internet users on Russia’s leading blog platform LiveJournal. The research involved modeling LiveJournal’s topic structure, viewed as an important component of what is termed here selfgenerated public opinion. Topic modeling was performed automatically with the LDA algorithm, and complemented with hand labeling of topics. Data were collected by software created by the authors to generate a relational database storing all posts by the top 2,000 LiveJournal users from three one-month periods: two during the Russian parliamentary and presidential elections 2011–2012, and one control period. We find that LiveJournal top users share their attention evenly between “social/political” and “private/recreational” issues, the proportion being very stable. However, the substitution of diverse public affairs issues by the topics related to national street protests in the politicized periods compared to the control period was found both automatically and manually. The group of topics centered around social issues demonstrates the biggest volatility in terms of its composition and may serve as the foundation for monitoring self-generated public opinion by further application of sentiment/opinion mining methods to these topics.
Operational activity of the central bank

The paper presents the results of the investigation of central bank’s operations from theoretical and practical point of view. Theoretical aspects of the open market operations were analyzed. The definition of the open market operations was formulated. The principles was formed, the typology and the classification of the open market operations was developed. The features, main advantages and disadvantages of such transactions was defined. The issues of the interdependence of the three levels of monetary policy’s aims and its relationship with operational tools of the central bank were considered.
An Integrated Approach to Ownership Choices of MNEs in China: A Case Study of Wuxi 1978-2004

This paper investigates the choice of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) between investing through wholly owned subsidiaries (WOSs) and equity joint ventures (EJVs) in Wuxi, P.R. China. With the new data set covering 3087 foreign entries from 66 countries and regions between 1978 and 2004 in Wuxi, this study centralizes the empirical assessment of the impact of physical distance and cultural distance on ownership choices, along with other institutionaland subsidiary-related factors to identify the drivers of the increasingly important role of WOS.