Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bilayer Segmentation of Consistent Scene Images by Propagation of Multi-level Cues with Adaptive Confidence

So far, many methods for segmenting single images or video have been proposed, but few methods have dealt with multiple images with analogous content. These images, which we term consistent scene images, include concurrent images of a scene and gathered images of a similar foreground, and may be collectively utilized to describe a scene or as input images for multi-view stereo. In this paper, we present a method to segment these images with minimum user input, specifically, manual segmentation of one image, by iteratively propagating information via multi-level cues with adaptive confidence depending on the nature of the images. Propagated cues are used as the bases to compute multi-level potentials in an MRF framework, and segmentation is done by energy minimization. Both cues and potentials are classified as low-, mid-, and high- levels based on whether they pertain to pixels, patches, and shapes. A major aspect of our approach is utilizing mid-level cues to compute low- and mid- level potentials, and high-level cues to compute low-, mid-, and high- level potentials, thereby making use of inherent information. Through this process, the proposed method attempts to maximize the amount of both extracted and utilized information in order to maximize the consistency of the segmentation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on several sets of consistent scene images and provide a comparison with results based only on mid-level cues [1].
Some Empirical Aspects regarding the Relationship between Inflation and Economic Growth in Romania – the Speed Limit Effect

This study briefly presents theoretical aspects related to the relationship between inflation and economic growth and provides an empirical study for the Romanian economy, for the period 2000 – 2011. The econometric methodology used is that of vector auto-regressions. The results showed that a sudden increase in the change of the output gap (i.e. a shock to the growth rate of the output gap) does not determine an increase in CPI. Hence, the hypothesis of the existence of a speed limit effect in Romania is rejected. In concrete terms, this means that the monetary authorities should not fear for eventual inflationary pressures when sudden increases of demand arise, if the output gap is negative (the potential output is higher that the effective output). The National Bank of Romania may avoid, therefore, taking some monetary policy decisions meant to temper the rise in inflation (as would have been the case if a speed limit effect was present) but which would have induced unnecessary volatility into the output. However, the study indicates that National Bank of Romania should communicate to the public the state of the economy in order to timely anchor the inflation expectations. This is a very important aspect, since the inflation expectations firmly react to a shock into the growth rate of the output gap, i.e. to a strong increase in the effective output. The study also showed a positive response of the growth rate of the output gap to a positive shock in inflation, with a maximum effect after three quarters. This shows that the inflation was mainly driven by demand factors in the analysed period, with the consumers increasing current consumption in order to avoid the future higher prices and with the economic agents increasing the supply such as to maximise the unitary profits. Also, this result shows a rather inelastic demand or a possible captivity of consumers in the face of producers.
Software para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de algoritmos estructurados

Currently there are several software tools that serve as a teaching resource in the teaching and learning of structured algorithms at a higher level. However, the vast majority only emphasizes the design and testing of algorithms. In this paper we propose new software, based on problem-solving heuristics of Polya, which supports the phases of analysis and problem statement, besides the complete design and test trace. Qualitative analysis is performed between the proposed software and three other widely used tools at a higher level. The structure and function of the proposed software helps students acquire, practice and exercise the ability to solve problems methodically through structured algorithmic solutions
The effect of explicit, implicit instructions and learning styles on students’ sentence structure achievement

The objectives of this study are to investigate whether Explicit Instruction and Implicit Instructions techniques significantly affect the students’ sentence structure achievement, to find out whether the students’ learning styles affect students’ sentence structure achievement and to find out whether there is an interaction between explicit and Implicit instructions and learning styles to students’ sentence structure achievement. An experimental research with factorial design 2x2 was used in this research. There were 120 students from 2008 Academic year of English Department State University of Medan taken as sample of this research. The post test was given to both groups. The data were analyzed by applying Two-Way ANOVA. The result of testing the first hypothesis showed that that explicit and Implicit instructions significantly affect students’ sentence structure achievement. The result of the testing the second hypothesis showed that students’ learning style do not significantly affect students’ sentence structure achievement. The result of the testing the third hypothesis showed that there is interaction between instructions techniques and learning styles on students’ sentence structure achievement. After the Scheffe test was applied, it showed that students who have Field Independent learning style got higher result if they were taught by Explicit instruction and students who have Field Dependent learning style got higher result if they were taught by Implicit instruction. Key Words: explicit instruction; implicit instruction; learning styles
The effects of dropping in‐situation safety behaviors in the treatment of social phobia

Over the past years, important advances in the cognitive–behavioral treatment of social phobia have taken place. There is wide evidence that demonstrates exposure is an effective treatment for social phobia. However, some research has noticed that exposure has limitations in treating this disorder. In clinical practice we find patients who do not achieve marked reductions in anxiety using this technique. One of the mechanisms that can be involved is the use of in-situation safety behaviors, which patients use to prevent the feared consequences in social situations. The aim of this study is to present a single case study where we compare the improvement achieved using exposure alone versus exposure dropping in-situation safety behaviors. The social phobic patient improved significantly when exposure was combined with the drop of in-situation safety behaviors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hope Building and Surviving Domestic Violence: Childhood Experiences

Research suggests that hope is an important element in the development of resilience. Although adversity and trauma can have a devastating effect on people and their world views by diminishing hope, these are also the situations that give birth to hope. This paper seeks to gain an understanding of the role of eco-systems in building hope in the context of children surviving domestic violence (DV). In order to gain insight into this phenomenon, the personal accounts of coping and resilience of eight adults with childhood exposure to domestic violence were examined. The study used a qualitative/phenomenological approach. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted by using a semi-structured question schedule. The contents of the interview transcripts were inspected to identify common themes and specific experiences of each participant, focusing on the systems in the individual’s life including other individuals, family members, peers, friends and community groups and the aspirations and events that facilitated change and contributed to the development of hope and resilience. Thus, this study proffers the importance of eco-systems in a person’s life in building hope and resilience and reiterates the importance of an eco-systems framework that social workers could use to develop resilience research and practice to help those affected with DV in childhood.
The Gaia-ESO Survey: the chemical structure of the Galactic discs from the first internal data release ?;??

Aims. Until recently, most high-resolution spectroscopic studies of the Galactic thin and thick discs were mostly confined to objects in the solar vicinity. Here we aim at enlarging the volume in which individual chemical abundances are used to characterise the thin and thick discs, using the first internal data release of the Gaia-ESO survey (GES iDR1). Methods. We used the spectra of around 2000 FGK dwarfs and giants from the GES iDR1, obtained at resolutions of up to R similar to 20 000 with the FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph. We derive and discuss the abundances of eight elements (Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Fe, Cr, Ni, and Y). Results. We show that the trends of these elemental abundances with iron are very similar to those in the solar neighbourhood. We find a natural division between alpha-rich and alpha-poor stars, best seen in the bimodality of the [Mg/M] distributions in bins of metallicity, which we attribute to thick-and thin-disc sequences, respectively. This separation is visible for most alpha-elements and for aluminium. With the possible exception of Al, the observed dispersion around the trends is well described by the expected errors, leaving little room for astrophysical dispersion. Using previously derived distances from the first paper from this series for our sample, we further find that the thick-disc is more extended vertically and is more centrally concentrated towards the inner Galaxy than the thin-disc, which indicates a shorter scale-length. We derive the radial (4 to 12 kpc) and vertical (0 to 3.5 kpc) gradients in metallicity, iron, four alpha-element abundances, and aluminium for the two populations, taking into account the identified correlation between R-GC and vertical bar Z vertical bar. Similarly to other works, a radial metallicity gradient is found in the thin disc. The positive radial individual [alpha/M] gradients found are at variance from the gradients observed in the RAVE survey. The thin disc also hosts a negative vertical metallicity gradient in the solar cylinder, accompanied by positive individual [alpha/M] and [Al/M] gradients. The thick-disc, on the other hand, presents no radial metallicity gradient, a shallower vertical metallicity gradient than the thin-disc, an alpha-elements-to-iron radial gradient in the opposite sense than that of the thin disc, and positive vertical individual [alpha/M] and [Al/M] gradients. We examine several thick-disc formation scenarii in the light of these radial and vertical trends.
The Bright but Right View? New Evidence on Entrepreneurial Optimism

Existing empirical evidence suggest that entrepreneurs are optimists, a finding researchers often interpret as evidence of a behavioral bias in entrepreneurial decision-making. We revisit this claim by analyzing an unusually large survey dataset (180,814 responses) that allows us to create a good measure of entrepreneurial optimism. Our measure is based on the individual’s beliefs about nationwide future economic conditions. These beliefs form a good measure of optimism because they, unlike an individual’s beliefs about her own future economic conditions, are completely uncorrelated with the individual’s own life or work situation (which is not optimism). Our data highlight the importance of measuring optimism correctly. About half of the survey respondents differ in their beliefs about nationwide and own conditions. In addition to its conceptual and empirical relevance, our measure of optimism makes it possible to relate an individual’s beliefs to actual outcomes. We can thereby test, in a novel way, whether entrepreneurial optimism is a behavioral bias or not. We first show that entrepreneurs have more favorable beliefs about nationwide conditions. We then show that these entrepreneurs’ beliefs are relatively good predictors of the future. We conclude from these two findings that entrepreneurs are less biased towards optimism than non-entrepreneurs are biased towards pessimism. Additional evidence pertaining to education, which arguably correlates positively with rational decision-making, supports this conclusion. We show that entrepreneurs are more educated and their beliefs about the future are more similar to educated peoples’ beliefs. In summary, our paper documents that entrepreneurial optimism is an important real-world phenomenon, yet, it may not be a behavioral bias that gives rise to irrational decision-making.
Estimation of Plateau Stress of Porous Aluminum Based on Mean Stress on Maximum-Porosity Cross Section

Porous aluminum with high porosity is very lightweight and has high energy absorptivity. Plateau stress is an important mechanical property that is closely related to the energy absorptivity of porous aluminum. In this study, we attempt to estimate the plateau stress of porous aluminum by simply assuming that when the mean true compressive stress on a maximum-porosity cross section perpendicular to the direction of compressive loading reaches the critical value, a locally deformed layer appears and the nominal compressive stress becomes equal to the plateau stress. Through the comparison of compressive test results with the estimated results obtained according to this assumption, it was shown that the plateau stress can be evaluated approximately when the proof stress is used as the critical value. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2013069]
SPERM UBIQUITINATION CORRELATION WITH HUMAN SEMEN QUALITY

Background: Ubiquitin, an 8.5 kDa peptide that marks other proteins for proteasomal degradation, tags defective sperm during epididymal passage. Thus, sperm ubiquitination is a universal marker for sperm defects and can be used as a sperm function test. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationships between sperm ubiquitination and clinical semen parameters, using simplified immunofluorescence assays in order to establish ubiquitin as a biomarker of male infertility. Methods: Semen samples from 100 couples attending Avicenna Infertility Clinic, Tehran, Iran, were collected and analyzed according to WHO criteria. Each sample was washed and adjusted at 10 6 sperm/ml concentration. Sperm were coated on slides, using cytospin centrifugation and were fixed in buffered formaldehyde. Subsequently ubiquitinated spermatozoa were evaluated by direct immunofluorescence microscopy using FITC-labeled anti-ubiquitin antibodies. After counting at least 200 sperm per sample, while employing light microscopy, the percentage of ubiquitinated spermatozoa was recorded on the same fields through epifluorescence microscopy. Results: Negative correlations were obtained between sperm ubiquitination and sperm count (r=-0.278, P< 0.001), sperm concentration (r=-0.37, P< 0.001), viability (r=-0.407, P< 0.001), sperm morphology (r=-0.509, P< 0.001), rapid progressive motility (a) (r=-0.246, P< 0.001) and slow progressive motility (b) (r=-0.474, P< 0.001). There was a positive correlation between ubiquitinated sperm and the percentage of immotile spermatozoa (r=0.486, P< 0.000). Conclusion: Increased sperm ubiquitination is inversely associated with good semen quality parameters, supporting the use of ubiquitin as a biomarker for evaluation of human sperm quality.
How Small Business Advisory Program Delivery Methods (Collective Learning, Tailored, and Practice‐Based Approaches) Affect Learning and Innovation

Past studies relate small business advisory program effectiveness to advisory characteristics such as advisory intensity and scope. We contribute to existing literature by seeking to identify the impact of different advisory program methods of delivery on learning and subsequent firm innovation behavior. Our research is based on a survey of 257 ustralian firms completing small business advisory programs in the three years preceding the research. We explore the range of small business advisory program delivery methods in which our surveyed firms participated and, with reference to the literature on organizational learning and innovation, we analyze predictors of firms' learning ability and innovativeness based on the identified delivery methods. First, we found that business advisory programs that involved high levels of collective learning and tailored approaches enhanced firms' perceptions of their learning of critical skills or capabilities. We also found that small business advisory programs that were delivered by using practice‐based approaches enhanced firms' subsequent organizational innovation. We verified this finding by testing whether firms that have participated in small business advisory services subsequently demonstrate improved behavior in terms of organizational innovativeness, when compared with matched firms that have not participated in an advisory program.
Smart Windows with Dynamic Spectral Selectivity – A Scoping Study

Windows with the ability to selectively and dynamically control the transmission of (i) visible light, (ii) near-infrared sunlight, and/or (iii) longwave infrared radiation generate promising opportunities for low-energy building operation with high indoor environmental quality. This paper presents a simulation-based scoping study that analyzes the performance of switchable glazing with different spectral properties in four climates, for three orientations and three window sizes. Integrated daylight and thermal predictions with dynamic fenestration properties were carried out in a cosimulation approach that couples the Radiance threephase method to ESP-r. Results are used to map the various smart window types to their most promising application area.
Vehicle Collision with Bridge Piers

Inelastic transient finite element simulations are used to investigate the demands generated during collisions between vehicles and bridge piers. Such collisions have occurred in the past, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. Two different types of trucks and two different bridge/pier systems are used in the simulations. The approach speeds for the trucks range from 55 to 135 kph. Various quantities of interest are extracted from the finite element results and used to develop a better understanding of the vehicle/pier crash process and to critique current specifications addressing such events. Although physical vehicle-pier impact tests were not carried out as part of this research, a variety of exercises are conducted to provide confidence in the analysis results. The simulations show that current collision design provisions could be unconservative and that there may be a population of bridge piers that are vulnerable to accidental or malicious impact by heavy trucks.
Soil Firming May Improve Range Seeding Operations

Drought and improper seed coverage are generally considered to be the two most common causes of poor results or failure in range reseeding. In past years seeding trials have been undertaken with the objective of finding planting procedures which will reduce those risks of failure. More precisely, the work has evaluated soil firming by rolling. Soil firming has long been a common practice among agronomists, but is essentially an unknown practice in range reseeding. Nevertheless, range reseeding literature generally specifies that a firm seedbed is essential. The definition of “essential” qualities has not been offered. A little rain on light textured range soils can make a plowed seedbed feel solid under-foot. Is that enough firmness? A true perspective is needed regarding the technical and practical need (whether small or large) of artificial firming in range seeding operations. The results discussed in this paper offer some consideration of both the technical and practical suitability of rolling in range reseeding. In general, the paper offers a discussion of subject-matter areas, with data drawn from various experiments for illustration.
Sensors 4.0 – smart sensors and measurement technology enable Industry 4.0

Abstract. “Industrie 4.0” or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are two terms for the current (r)evolution seen in industrial automation and control. Everything is getting smarter and data generated at all levels of the production process are used to improve product quality, flexibility, and productivity. This would not be possible without smart sensors, which generate the data and allow further functionality from self-monitoring and self-configuration to condition monitoring of complex processes. In analogy to Industry 4.0, the development of sensors has undergone distinctive stages culminating in today's smart sensors or “Sensor 4.0”. This paper briefly reviews the development of sensor technology over the last 2 centuries, highlights some of the potential that can be achieved with smart sensors and data evaluation, and discusses success requirements for future developments. In addition to magnetic sensor technologies which allow self-test and self-calibration and can contribute to many applications due to their wide spectrum of measured quantities, the paper discusses condition monitoring as a primary paradigm for introducing smart sensors and data analysis in manufacturing processes based on two projects performed in our group.
Tuberculosis and Vitamin D Status Among the Contacts of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

Background: Serum vitamin D (VitD) status is associated with active tuberculosis (TB) and TB infection conversion (TBIC). Objectives: The objective of the present study was to quantify the risks of TB (latent, conversion, disease) in accordance with VitD status and other variables among the contacts of pulmonary TB patients. Methods: From 2009 to 2012, a cohort of the contacts of pulmonary TB patients was studied to rule out and prevent TB in Castellon (Spain). The exams performed included a tuberculin skin test (TST), a QuantiFERON Gold in-tube test® (QFTGIT), blood and radiographic tests, and an initial measurement of serum VitD status. Contacts who were initially without active TB were followed up through 2015. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) analyses were carried out. Results: From a total of 572 contacts of pulmonary TB patients with VitD status measurement, 523 completed the follow-up (participation rate 91.4%). Among them, five groups could be established: 3 new cases of pulmonary TB (0.6%), 27 cases of TBIC (5.2%), 116 cases of latent TB infection (LTBI) (22.2%), 125 uninfected TB contacts with only one TST or QFTGIT measurement (23.9%), and 252 uninfected TB contacts with two TST or QFTGIT measurements (48.2%). The comparison of these five groups revealed several significant differences, including age, whether they were foreign-born, place of residence, social class, high exposure to an index case with sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB), and VitD status. The MLR analysis for all groups, with the group of uninfected TB contacts with two TST or QFTGIT measurements as a reference, estimated that only two of these factors were significantly associated with TB in three or more groups; these factors were VitD status and high exposure and a sputum AFB-positive index case. VitD status was a protector against pulmonary TB with a relative risk (RR) of 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74 - 0.99) and against TBIC (R = 0.95; 95% CI 0.91 - 0.99), while it was not associated with LTBI (RR = 0.99; 95% CI 0.97-1.01). Only 34.0% of the contacts had sufficient VitD levels (≥ 30 ng/mL). Conclusions: Our results suggest that a sufficient VitD level could be a protective factor against TBIC and active TB.