Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Very Extended X-Ray and Hα Emission in M82: Implications for the Superwind Phenomenon

We discuss the properties and implications of the recently discovered 3. ′5 × 0. ′9 (3.7 × 0.9 kpc) region of spatially coincident X-ray and Hα emission about 11' (11.6 kpc) to the north of the prototypical starburst/superwind galaxy M82. The total Hα flux from this ridge of emission is 1.5 × 10-13 ergs s-1 cm -2, or about 0.3% of the total M82 Hα flux. The implied Hα luminosity of this region is 2.4 × 1038 ergs s-1. Diffuse soft X-ray emission is seen over the same region by the ROSAT PSPC and HRI. The PSPC X-ray spectrum is fitted by thermal plasma absorbed by only the Galactic foreground column density (NH = 3.7 × 1020 cm-2) and having a temperature of kT = 0.80 ± 0.17 keV. The total unabsorbed flux from the ridge is 1.4 × 10-13 ergs cm-2 s-1 (~2.2 × 1038 ergs s-1), comprising about 0.7% of the total X-ray emission from M82. We evaluate the relationship of the X-ray/Hα ridge to the M82 superwind. The Hα emission could be excited by ionizing radiation from the starburst that propagates into the galactic halo along the cavity carved by the superwind. However, the main properties of the X-ray emission can all be explained as being due to shock heating driven as the superwind encounters a massive ionized cloud in the halo of M82 (possibly related to the tidal debris seen in H I in the interacting M81/M82/NGC 3077 system). This encounter drives a slow shock into the cloud, which contributes to the excitation of the observed Hα emission. At the same time, a fast bow shock develops in the superwind just upstream of the cloud, and this produces the observed X-ray emission. This interpretation would imply that the superwind has an outflow speed of roughly 800 km s-1, consistent with indirect estimates based on its general X-ray properties and the kinematics of the inner kiloparsec-scale region of Hα filaments. The alternative, in which a much faster and more tenuous wind drives a fast radiative shock into a cloud that then produces both the X-ray and Hα emission, is ruled out by the long radiative cooling times and the relatively quiescent Hα kinematics in this region. We suggest that wind-cloud interactions may be an important mechanism for generating X-ray and optical line emission in the halos of starbursts. Such interactions can establish that the wind has propagated out to substantially greater radii than could otherwise be surmised. This has potentially interesting implications for the fate of the outflowing metal-enriched material, and bears on the role of superwinds in the metal enrichment and heating of galactic halos and the intergalactic medium. In particular, the gas in the M82 ridge is roughly 2 orders of magnitude hotter than the minimum "escape temperature" at this radius, so this gas will not be retained by M82.
Light field compressive sensing in camera arrays

This paper presents a novel approach to capture light field in camera arrays based on the compressive sensing framework. Light fields are captured by a linear array of cameras with overlapping field of view. In this work, we design a redundant dictionary to exploit cross-cameras correlated structures to sparsely represent cameras image. Our main contributions are threefold. First, we exploit the correlations between the set of views by making use of a specially designed redundant dictionary. We show experimentally that the projection of complex scenes onto this dictionary yields very sparse coefficients. Second, we propose an efficient compressive encoding scheme based on the random convolution framework [1]. Finally, we develop a joint sparse recovery algorithm for decoding the compressed measurements and show a marked improvement over independent decoding of CS measurements.
Phenotypic Variability in Canalized Developmental Systems

The evolution of nervous systems has been relatively conservative despite a large diversity of behavior. Novel behaviors appear to be produced during evolution by changing synaptic connectivity (Edwards and Palka 1991, Shaw and Meinertzhagen 1986, and Nishikawa et al. 1992). Due to a process of canalization, in which the development of organisms becomes buffered against genetic and environmental changes, phenotypic variation is reduced (Waddington 1942). Therefore, we explore phenotypic variability in simulations of neural development in which the developmental pathways have become canalized. Variation is determined under point mutations and gene knockouts. Although a genetic regulatory network utilizing activation and controlling a single process of neural development is evolvable and can become canalized, large genetic perturbations do not result in increased phenotypic variability as expected from related work (Bergman and Siegal 2003).
Incommensurable Worldviews? Is Public Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines Incompatible with Support for Science and Conventional Medicine?

Proponents of controversial Complementary and Alternative Medicines, such as homeopathy, argue that these treatments can be used with great effect in addition to, and sometimes instead of, ‘conventional’ medicine. In doing so, they accept the idea that the scientific approach to the evaluation of treatment does not undermine use of and support for some of the more controversial CAM treatments. For those adhering to the scientific canon, however, such efficacy claims lack the requisite evidential basis from randomised controlled trials. It is not clear, however, whether such opposition characterises the views of the general public. In this paper we use data from the 2009 Wellcome Monitor survey to investigate public use of and beliefs about the efficacy of a prominent and controversial CAM within the United Kingdom, homeopathy. We proceed by using Latent Class Analysis to assess whether it is possible to identify a sub-group of the population who are at ease in combining support for science and conventional medicine with use of CAM treatments, and belief in the efficacy of homeopathy. Our results suggest that over 40% of the British public maintain positive evaluations of both homeopathy and conventional medicine simultaneously. Explanatory analyses reveal that simultaneous support for a controversial CAM treatment and conventional medicine is, in part, explained by a lack of scientific knowledge as well as concerns about the regulation of medical research.
Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment

BACKGROUND: In recent years, puberty suppression by means of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs has become accepted in clinical management of adolescents who have gender dysphoria (GD). The current study is the first longer-term longitudinal evaluation of the effectiveness of this approach. METHODS: A total of 55 young transgender adults (22 transwomen and 33 transmen) who had received puberty suppression during adolescence were assessed 3 times: before the start of puberty suppression (mean age, 13.6 years), when cross-sex hormones were introduced (mean age, 16.7 years), and at least 1 year after gender reassignment surgery (mean age, 20.7 years). Psychological functioning (GD, body image, global functioning, depression, anxiety, emotional and behavioral problems) and objective (social and educational/professional functioning) and subjective (quality of life, satisfaction with life and happiness) well-being were investigated. RESULTS: After gender reassignment, in young adulthood, the GD was alleviated and psychological functioning had steadily improved. Well-being was similar to or better than same-age young adults from the general population. Improvements in psychological functioning were positively correlated with postsurgical subjective well-being. CONCLUSIONS: A clinical protocol of a multidisciplinary team with mental health professionals, physicians, and surgeons, including puberty suppression, followed by cross-sex hormones and gender reassignment surgery, provides gender dysphoric youth who seek gender reassignment from early puberty on, the opportunity to develop into well-functioning young adults.
Hematoxylin Staining Reveals a Decrease in Nucleolar Diameter of Pig Oocytes Before Germinal Vesicle Breakdown

During oocyte growth, the morphology of the nucleolus changes into a compact and homogenous structure. The compact nucleoli in full-grown oocytes are not stained by aceto-orcein staining or immunofluorescence staining. In this study, we developed a hematoxylin staining method for pig oocytes in whole-mount preparations to visualize the nucleoli. Nucleoli of growing and full-grown oocytes were stained blue with hematoxylin. Using this staining method, the changes in the oocyte nucleolus during maturation were examined. The nucleolar diameter gradually decreased in maturing oocytes (10.7 ± 0.1 μm to 9.0 ± 0.7 μm, P<0.05) before germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). The results suggest that the nucleolar volume of oocytes decreases before GVBD.
Development- and differentiation-dependent reorganization of intermediate filaments in fiber cells.

PURPOSE To define the remodeling of lens fiber cell intermediate filaments (IF) that occurs with both development and differentiation. METHODS Prenatal and postnatal mice were probed for the IF proteins phakosin, filensin, and vimentin, using light microscope immunocytochemical methodology. RESULTS The pattern of vimentin accumulation in elongating fiber cells changed with development. Early in development vimentin first emerged predominantly as focal accumulations in the basal region of both epithelial and primary fiber cells. A light diffuse cytoplasmic staining was also noted. Later in embryonic development, and through maturity, vimentin in fiber cells was predominantly associated with the plasma membrane with no anterior-posterior polarity. Phakosin and filensin were first detected in the very latest stages of primary fiber elongation and continued to accumulate well after cells had completed elongation. Initially, these proteins accumulated in the anterior half of the fiber cells and were cytoplasmic in distribution. After P13, the pattern of initial distribution in differentiating fiber cells changed to a predominantly plasma membrane localization. Neither beaded filament protein showed focal basal accumulations. In mature lenses, all three proteins ultimately disappeared from the nuclear fiber cells. CONCLUSIONS Beaded filament protein accumulation lags significantly behind both primary and secondary fiber cell elongation, suggesting a functional role subsequent to elongation. The subcellular distribution of vimentin and the beaded filament proteins showed marked differences within the cell, with differentiation, and with development. The differences in time of initial synthesis and in distribution of these IF proteins may bear on hypotheses about the role of IFs in fiber cell elongation and in structural-functional polarity of the fiber cell.
Proposal for an Experiment to Test a Theory of High Temperature Superconductors

A theory for the phenomena observed in Copper-Oxide based high temperature superconducting materials derives an elusive time-reversal and rotational symmetry breaking order parameter for the observed pseudogap phase ending at a quantum-critical point near the composition for the highest $T_c$. An experiment is proposed to observe such a symmetry breaking. It is shown that Angle-resolved Photoemission yields a current density which is different for left and right circularly polarized photons. The magnitude of the effect and its momentum dependence is estimated. Barring the presence of domains of the predicted phase an asymmetry of about 0.1 is predicted at low temperatures in moderately underdoped samples.
Notes on Chebyshev Series and Computer Algebra

A typical computer algebra system (CAS) represents formulas by (what amounts to) trees. By approximating a more general function as a univariate polynomial, it can be represented as an array of coefficients. Another common representation is as a set of values of the function at specified points. In either case, one can compute in this realm of “functions” further by combining such arrays. By taking advantage of the special properties of Chebyshev series, a number of facilities may be programmed especially neatly. These have been nicely pursued by the Chebfun project at Oxford University. Combining these ideas and reimplementing with computer algebra systems, we gain additional facilities.
Debugging in Parallel or Sequential: An Empirical Study

Faults need to be identified, localized, and removed from programs. Empirical studies show that coverage-based faults localizations effectively target bugs, even in the presence of multiple faults. Debugging is a time-consuming activity and thus it is beneficial to accelerate the process by employing appropriate techniques. The need for speeding up the debugging process is even more immense when the program under test contains multiple faults. A program with multiple faults can be debugged in parallel where each sub-process specifically targets localizing one of the bugs. The immediate research question that arises here is that how significant is the improvement and performance achieved when debugging is performed in parallel compared to the sequential fault localization strategy. This paper investigates and compares the performance of parallel and sequential debugging in effectively localizing faults where the performance is measured according to fault localization cost required by each strategy. Based on the experimental study of several open source Java programs conducted in this paper, we observe that debugging when is performed in parallel outperforms sequential strategy in terms of the total cost.
Torque ripple minimization in bldc motor using dc-dc sepic converter

Torque ripple in Brushless dc motors is generally undesirable. Torque ripple causes increased acoustic noise and undesirable speed ripple preventing BLDC motor from achieving high performance. This article presents the method of reducing torque ripple in BLDC motor. This study presents an approach to reduce torque ripples by controlling the voltage while maintaining speed. To get the desired dc link voltage, a single- ended primary inductor converter (SEPIC) circuit is used to control the input of the commutation circuit. Streszczenie. W artykule analizuje sie mozliwości minimalizacji zafalowan momentu napedowego w silniku bezszczotkowym. Zmniejszenie tetnien uzyskuje sie przez sterowanie napiecia utrzymującego predkośc. W celu utrzymania poządanego napiecia dc wykorzystano niesymetryczny przeksztaltnik typu DSEPIC. Minimalizacja tetnien momentu w silniku bezszczotkowym przy wykorzystaniu przeksztaltnika dc typu SEPIC
Molecular authentication of three Italian melon accessions by ARMS-PCR and ITS1 (internal transcribed spacer 1) secondary structure prediction

Genetic assessment was carried out on three Italian melon accessions by sequence and structural analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) from three populations belonging to two Cucumis melo L. varieties (madras and tendral). Alignment of the 18S-5.8S-26S sequences from three melon accessions showed that there were three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and one short insertion-deletion (indel) at the 5'end ITS1. An amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR-based analysis was successfully applied to the SNP markers of the ITS1 sequences for the fingerprinting analysis of three melon populations. Secondary structure models for each ITS1 were derived. The prediction of ITS1 RNA secondary structure from each accession was improved by detecting key functional elements shared by all sequences in the alignments. Our results demonstrated that the ITS1secondary structure models can be used to improve the preliminary genetic assessment of the three melon accessions, suggesting a new tool in plant fingerprinting analysis.
Culture Warriors Go To Court: The Supreme Court and the Battle for the "Soul" of America

Title of Dissertation: CULTURE WARRIORS GO TO COURT: THE SUPREME COURT AND THE BATTLE FOR THE “SOUL” OF AMERICA Michael Odell Spivey, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation Directed by: Professor Wayne McIntosh Department of Government and Politics The notion of a “culture war” has become a fixture in the academic writing about current American politics, in the popular press and in the cultural zeitgeist. Theorists have suggested that there is a cultural fault line dividing cultural progressives and religious traditionalists. This fault line, it is argued, stems from a basic epistemological disagreement as to whether there is transcendent “truth. ” According to James Davidson Hunter, these different worldviews lead to policy polarization and cultural warfare. Hunter goes on to suggest that courts (and especially the Supreme Court) are focal points for this conflict. This work analyzes the nature and scope of battles over culture war issues in the United Supreme Court. It relies on a popular description of key culture war issues: God, guns and gays. The Supreme Court’s treatment of each of these issues is analyzed in turn. In addition, the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence is also examined. With respect to each issue, key Supreme Court cases are identified. The briefs filed by the parties are then summarized and coded, identifying key “modalities” of arguments and specific arguments themselves. All amicus briefs are similarly analyzed and coded. The key Supreme Court decisions are then analyzed in light of arguments raised by parties and amici. Based upon this analysis, it appears that there is not one culture war but rather an interrelated set of cultural battles. Relatedly, there has been an evolution of cultural warfare over time. Some issues have become largely settled (at least within the Court’s jurisprudence); others are on their way to being settled and still others present continuing opportunities for cultural clashes. The work concludes by suggesting that the sexual revolution lies at the heart of cultural warfare. Moreover, cultural battles are over the “meaning” of America, that is, what social values will be protected under law. CULTURE WARRIORS GO TO COURT: THE SUPREME COURT AND THE BATTLE FOR THE “SOUL” OF AMERICA by Michael Odell Spivey Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Wayne McIntosh, Chair Professor Karen Kaufmann Professor Frances Lee Professor Irwin Morris Professor Susan Dwyer ©Copyright by Michael Odell Spivey 2015
Reduced density matrix and internal dynamics for multicomponent regions

We find the density matrix corresponding to the vacuum state of a massless Dirac field in two dimensions reduced to a region of the space formed by several disjoint intervals. We calculate explicitly its spectral decomposition. The imaginary power of the density matrix is a unitary operator implementing an internal time flow (the modular flow). We show that in the case of more than one interval, this evolution is non-local, producing both advance in the causal structure and ‘teleportation’ between the disjoint intervals. However, it only mixes the fields on a finite number of trajectories, one for each interval. As an application of these results we compute the entanglement entropy for the massive multi-interval case in the small mass limit.
Is Pesticide Use Related to Parkinson Disease? Some Clues to Heterogeneity in Study Results

Background: Previous systematic reviews have indicated that pesticide exposure is possibly associated with Parkinson disease (PD). However, considerable heterogeneity has been observed in study results. Objective: We aimed at providing an update of the literature published on PD and exposure to pesticides by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. In addition, we investigated whether methodological differences between studies could explain the heterogeneity in study results. Methods: We identified studies through a systematic literature search. We calculated summary risk ratios (sRRs) for pesticide exposure and subcategories using random effects meta-analyses and investigated sources of heterogeneity by meta-regression and stratified analyses. Results: Thirty-nine case–control studies, four cohort studies, and three cross-sectional studies were identified. An sRR of 1.62 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.40, 1.88] for pesticide exposure (ever vs. never) was found. Summary estimates for subclasses of pesticides indicated a positive association with herbicides and insecticides, but not with fungicides. Heterogeneity in individual study results was not related to study design, source of control population, adjustment of results for potential confounders, or geographical area. However, results were suggestive for heterogeneity related to differences in the exposure assessment. Job title–based exposure assignment resulted in a higher sRR (2.5; 95% CI: 1.5, 4.1) than did assignment based on self-reported exposure (e.g., for self-reported ever/never exposure, sRR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.3, 1.8). Conclusions: This review affirms the evidence that exposure to herbicides and insecticides increase the risk of PD. Future studies should focus on more objective and improved methods of pesticide exposure assessment.
Effect of Biodiversity Changes in Disease Risk: Exploring Disease Emergence in a Plant-Virus System

The effect of biodiversity on the ability of parasites to infect their host and cause disease (i.e. disease risk) is a major question in pathology, which is central to understand the emergence of infectious diseases, and to develop strategies for their management. Two hypotheses, which can be considered as extremes of a continuum, relate biodiversity to disease risk: One states that biodiversity is positively correlated with disease risk (Amplification Effect), and the second predicts a negative correlation between biodiversity and disease risk (Dilution Effect). Which of them applies better to different host-parasite systems is still a source of debate, due to limited experimental or empirical data. This is especially the case for viral diseases of plants. To address this subject, we have monitored for three years the prevalence of several viruses, and virus-associated symptoms, in populations of wild pepper (chiltepin) under different levels of human management. For each population, we also measured the habitat species diversity, host plant genetic diversity and host plant density. Results indicate that disease and infection risk increased with the level of human management, which was associated with decreased species diversity and host genetic diversity, and with increased host plant density. Importantly, species diversity of the habitat was the primary predictor of disease risk for wild chiltepin populations. This changed in managed populations where host genetic diversity was the primary predictor. Host density was generally a poorer predictor of disease and infection risk. These results support the dilution effect hypothesis, and underline the relevance of different ecological factors in determining disease/infection risk in host plant populations under different levels of anthropic influence. These results are relevant for managing plant diseases and for establishing conservation policies for endangered plant species.
Codes for Multiple Localized Burst Error Correction

A new construction method for codes correcting multiple localized burst errors is proposed. The codes obtained by this method improve upon codes presented by Larsson (1995) in size, while keeping the encoding and decoding complexity low. Like the Larsson codes, the proposed codes are asymptotically optimal when the number of bursts to he corrected is fixed and the correctable burst length grows linearly with the codelength. Unlike the Larsson codes, the proposed codes are also asymptotically optimal when the number of bursts to be corrected and the correctable burst length are both fixed.