Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First On-Sky High-Contrast Imaging with an Apodizing Phase Plate

We present the first astronomical observations obtained with an apodizing phase plate (APP). The plate is designed to suppress the stellar diffraction pattern by 5 mag from 2 - 9λ/D over a 180° region. Stellar images were obtained in the M′ band (λc = 4.85 μm) at the MMTO 6.5 m telescope, with adaptive wave-front correction made with a deformable secondary mirror designed for low thermal background observations. The measured point-spread function (PSF) shows a halo intensity of 0.1% of the stellar peak at 2λ/D (0.36''), tapering off as r-5/3 out to radius 9λ/D. Such a profile is consistent with residual errors predicted for servo lag in the AO system. We project a 5 σ contrast limit, set by residual atmospheric fluctuations, of 10.2 mag at 0.36'' separation for a 1 hr exposure. This can be realized if static and quasi-static aberrations are removed by differential imaging, and is close to the sensitivity level set by thermal background photon noise for target stars with M′ > 3. The advantage of using the phase plate is the removal of speckle noise caused by the residuals in the diffraction pattern that remain after PSF subtraction. The APP gives higher sensitivity over the range (2-5) λ/D than direct imaging techniques.
Application of Virtual Starry Night Teaching Technology in Aesthetics Teaching

Given the trend of societal informatization, modern education technologies represented by computer technology and network technology have been applied in class practice to enrich teaching content, fully improve students’ learning interest, and achieve teaching reform and innovation. This study proposes the use of virtual Starry Night teaching technology, establishes its connotation and education value, analyzes its supporting technology, and designs and implements a virtual Starry Night teaching environment. Virtual Starry Night teaching technology is a combined multimedia technology that is applied in the practice course Principles of Aesthetics. A teaching control experiment is then conducted. Results show that the virtual starry teaching technology can significantly boost students’ learning motivation and improve teaching effect. This approach is a teaching method that is worthy of promotion and attention.
A Memetic Algorithm for the Car Renter Salesman Problem

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a classic Combinatorial Optimization problem. Given a graph G=(N,M), where N={1,. ,n} is the set of nodes and M={1,. ,m} is the set of edges, and costs, cij, associated with each edge connecting vertices i and j, the problem consists in finding the minimum length Hamiltonian cycle. The TSP is NP-hard (Garey & Johnson, 1979) and one of the combinatorial optimization problems more intensively investigated. The size of the larger non trivial TSP instance solved by an exact method evolved from 318 cities in the 80’s (Crowder & Padberg, 1980), to 7397 cities in the 90’s (Applegate et al., 1994) and 24978 cities in 2004. The best mark was reached in 2006 with the solution of an instance with 85900 cities (Applegate et al., 2006). The TSP has several important practical applications and a number of variants (Gutin & Punnen, 2002). Some of these variants are classic such as the Peripatetic Salesman (Krarup, 1975) and the M-tour TSP (Russel, 1977), other variants are more recent such as the Colorful TSP (Xiong et al., 2007) and the Robust TSP (Montemanni et al., 2007), among others. A new TSP variant is introduced in this chapter named The Car Renter Salesman Problem (CaRS). It models important applications in tourism and transportation areas and represents a complex variant that challenges the state of the art. In this paper the new problem and some variations are presented, its complexity is analyzed and some related problems are briefly overviewed. A memetic algorithm is proposed for the problem and it is compared to a hybrid GRASP/VND algorithm. CaRS Problem is introduced in Section 2, where several conditions under which this variant can be presented are introduced. Section 3 presents two metaheuristic methods for the investigated problem. In order to compare the performance of the proposed approaches, a set of instances introduced for the new problem, named CaRSLib. This set contains Euclidean and non-Euclidean symmetric instances with number of cities ranging from 14 to 300 and number of cars between 2 and 5. A set of 40 instances is used in the computational experiments. The heuristics proposed in Section 3 establish the first upper limits for solutions of CaRSLib of instances. The results of computational experiments comparing the performance of the proposed approaches are presented in Section 4. Statistical tests are applied to support conclusions on the behavior of the proposed algorithms. According to
A new method for ISOCAM data reduction – II. Mid‐infrared extragalactic source counts in the ELAIS Southern field

We present the 15-µm extragalactic source counts from the Final Analysis Catalogue of the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) Southern hemisphere field S1, extracted using the Lari method. The large number of extragalactic sources (∼350) detected over this area between about 0.5 and 100 mJy guarantee a high statistical significance of the source counts in the previously poorly covered flux density range between IRAS and the Deep ISOCAM Surveys. The bright counts in S1 (S15µm 2 mJy) are significantly lower than other published ISOCAM counts in the same flux range and are consistent with a flat, Euclidean slope, suggesting the dominance of a non-evolving population. In contrast, at fainter fluxes (S15µm 2 mJy) our counts show a strong departure from no-evolution models, with a very steep super-Euclidean slope down to our flux limit (∼0.5 mJy). Strong luminosity and density evolutions of the order of, respectively, L ∝ (1 + z) 3.0 and ρ ∝ (1 + z) 3.5 are needed at least for the population of starforming galaxies in order to fit the counts and the redshift distributions observed at different
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Background: To validate a questionnaire to assess the activity impairment associated with uncomplicated urinary tract infection (uUTI). Methods: The Activity Impairment Assessment (AIA) assesses the amount of time an individual's work or regular activities have been impaired as a result of their UTI. The measure was completed by 276 women with uUTI who had participated in a prospective, open-label, non-comparative multi-centre clinical trial of CIPRO® XR (extended-release ciprofloxacin). Baseline scores on the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and clinical symptom evaluations were collected for validation purposes. Results: An exploratory factor analysis showed that all items loaded >0.84 on a single component. This uni-dimensional structure was supported by Rasch analysis. The AIA was found to have excellent levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93), convergent validity (all rs >.70) and divergent validity (rs = .078). The AIA displayed excellent discriminant validity in relation to clinical evaluations, and was found to be responsive to change across all clinical evaluations. Conclusion: The unidimensional AIA shows high levels of internal reliability, convergent and divergent validity, discriminant validity and responsiveness. It is an excellent tool for measuring activity impairment in UTI. Background Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common conditions seen by general practitioners, representing a significant healthcare cost burden [1]. In the USA alone there are an estimated seven million physician visits and one million emergency department visits each year specifically for UTIs [2,3]. Although it has been reported that half of all women experience at least one UTI in their lifetime [2,3], the incidence of UTI is difficult to assess accurately because UTI is not well reported. UTIs may be either 'uncomplicated' or 'complicated'. Complicated UTIs are associated with metabolic, functional, or anatomic abnormalities. An acute Published: 15 July 2005 Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2005, 3:42 doi:10.1186/1477-7525-342 Received: 23 March 2005 Accepted: 15 July 2005 This article is available from: http://www.hqlo. com/content/3/1/42 © 2005 Wild et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Geographic literacy perception scale (GLPS) validity and reliability study

Accepted: 17.12. 2013 Geographic literacy could be defined as the competence of turning understanding and comprehension of geographical knowledge into a skill because literacy consists of solving problems, reasoning, critical and creative thinking processes. Today, in order to impart literacy skills to individuals, teachers should first have these skills. It is important that teacher candidates should attain these skills before graduation. When these conditions are established, it will be easier for teacher candidates to be aware of their geographic literacy skills, bring these competences to a conscious level and contribute to students’ geographic literacy skills and processes in their professional lives. The main purpose of this study is to develop an attitude scale in order to specify teacher candidates’ geographic literacy perception levels. The study group of the research consisted of 473 teacher candidates. In order to detect the validity of the scale, exploratory factor analyses, item factor total correlations and item discriminations were conducted. In order to assess the reliability of the scale, the level of internal consistency and stability levels were calculated. The analyses provided evidence that the Geographic Literacy Perception Scale (GLPS) is a valid and reliable scale that can be used in order to determine geographic literacy levels.
Quasi-long-range order in the 2D XY model with random phase shifts

We study the square-lattice XY model in the presence of random phase shifts. We consider two different disorder distributions with zero average shift and investigate the low-temperature quasi-long-range order phase which occurs for sufficiently low disorder. By means of Monte Carlo simulations we determine several universal quantities, which are then compared with the analytic predictions of the random spin-wave theory. We observe a very good agreement which indicates that the universal long-distance behaviour in the whole low-disorder low-temperature phase is fully described by the random spin-wave theory.
Detection of antibody to pseudorabies virus in swine sera by indirect immunoperoxidase plaque staining

A new method for the detection of pseudorabies antibody in swine sera was developed by use of the indirect immunoperoxidase plaque staining test. The indirect immunoperoxidase plaque staining test demonstrated serologic responses in pigs that were subcutaneously infected with pseudorabies virus. The test had a sensitivity and a specificity comparable to those of the complement-dependent neutralization test and appeared to be somewhat more sensitive than the neutralization test and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The test was simple to perform, and the results could be read with the unaided eye under ordinary light, making the test particularly suitable for the routine testing of large numbers of serum samples.
Support of politicians for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

The purpose of this research was to explore and describe politicians’ evaluations of the work done by the government, perceptions of legacy and support for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. The literature has argued that organisers must know in advance the opinion of main stakeholders in order to plan, organise and stage sport mega-events which are going to leave important legacy to the hosts. Considering politicians have privileged information about costs and benefits of sport mega-events, they are more likely than any other group of stakeholders to be able to make rational choices about social exchanges related to such events. Social exchange theory provided the theoretical background to test a structural model, where evaluations of the work done and perceptions of legacy were antecedents of support. Out of 715 politicians, 13 senators, 40 congressmen, six Rio state representatives and five Rio city councillors took part into a survey responding a questionnaire. Controlling for political affiliation of respondents, the tourism legacy was evaluated as the most likely to happen, while the environmental legacy was evaluated as the least likely to stay after the games. Political affiliation affected the evaluation of the work of the government, but not perceptions about positive legacies and support. Overall, politicians’ support depends on evaluations of the work of the government and perceptions of legacy.
Ultrathin Ferroelectric Films: Growth, Characterization, Physics and Applications

Ultrathin ferroelectric films are of increasing interests these years, owing to the need of device miniaturization and their wide spectrum of appealing properties. Recent advanced deposition methods and characterization techniques have largely broadened the scope of experimental researches of ultrathin ferroelectric films, pushing intensive property study and promising device applications. This review aims to cover state-of-the-art experimental works of ultrathin ferroelectric films, with a comprehensive survey of growth methods, characterization techniques, important phenomena and properties, as well as device applications. The strongest emphasis is on those aspects intimately related to the unique phenomena and physics of ultrathin ferroelectric films. Prospects and challenges of this field also have been highlighted.
Species Displacements are Common to Two Invasive Species of Leafminer Fly in China, Japan, and the United States

ABSTRACT Under field conditions, species displacements have occurred in different directions between the same invasive species of leafminers (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Liriomyza sativae (Blanchard) was displaced by L. trifolii (Burgess) in the western United States, with evidence suggesting that lower insecticide susceptibility of L. trifolii is a factor. However, in Japan, the opposite has occurred, as L. trifolii was recently displaced by L. sativae. This displacement is probably because of the higher fecundity of L. sativae and differential effects of parasitoids on the two leafminer species. Here, we carried out long-term surveys of these same two invasive leafminer species during January through March in 1999,2007, and 2011, as well as June through July in 2011, in eight locations (Sanya, Dongfang, Haikou, Leidong, Lingshui, Wuzhisan, Qionghai, and Danzhou) across Hainan Island of southern China. Our results indicate that, between 2007 and 2011, L. trifolii rapidly replaced L. sativae as the predominant leafminer of vegetables on Hainan Island, similar to the situation in the western United States. Further surveys of growers revealed that avermectins and cyromazine are the two most frequently used insecticides against leafminers on Hainan Island. Dose-mortality tests showed that L. trifolii populations from Hainan Island are less susceptible to avermectins and cyromazine compared with L. sativae populations. This lower insecticide susceptibility of L. trifolii may be associated with the displacement of L. sativae by L. trifolii, although additional ecological or environmental factors cannot be ruled out.
A process of students and their instructor developing a final closed-book mathematics exam

ABSTRACT This article describes a study, from a Canadian technical institute's upgrading mathematics course, where students played a role in developing the final closed-book exam that they sat. The study involved a process where students developed practice exams and solutions keys, students sat each other's practice exams, students evaluated classmates' solutions to the practice exams, and finally the instructor used questions from the practice exams to develop the ‘live’ final exam. Phenomenography is used to analyse interview data and report students' experiences. Through the results, claims are made that students experienced deep approaches to learning and worked as partners in learning, teaching and assessment during the process of developing the final exam with their instructor.
Comparison of iris recognition algorithms

In this paper, we have studied various well known algorithms for iris recognition. Four algorithms due to Sanchez-Avila et al. (2001), Li Ma et al. (2002), Tisse et al. (2002) and Daugman (2001) are implemented and compared on the CASIA iris image database. The results show that the Daugman's algorithm gave the highest accuracy of 99.9%.
Interaction-based Authoring for Scalable Co-creative Agents

This article presents a novel approach to authoring cocreative systems - called interaction-based authoring that combines ideas from case-based learning and imitative learning, while emphasizing its use in open-ended co-creative application domains. This work suggests an alternative to manually authoring knowledge for computationally creative agents that relies on user interaction “in the wild” as opposed to high-effort manual authoring beforehand. The Viewpoints AI installation is described as an instantiation of the interaction-based authoring approach. Finally, the interaction-based authoring approach is evaluated within the Viewpoints AI installation and the results are discussed guiding development and further evaluation in the future.
Recombinant Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Secreted From Tissue-Engineered Bioartificial Muscles Promotes Localized Angiogenesis

Background—Therapeutic angiogenesis by the administration of recombinant vascular endothelial growth factor (rVEGF) is a novel strategy for the treatment of ischemic disorders. rVEGF has been delivered as a protein, by plasmid DNA, and by genetically engineered cells with different pharmacokinetic and physiological properties. In the present study, we examined a new method for delivery of rVEGF using implantable bioartificial muscle (BAM) tissues made from genetically modified primary skeletal myoblasts. Our goal was to determine whether the rVEGF delivered by this technique promoted controlled angiogenesis in nonischemic and/or ischemic adult mouse tissue. Methods and Results—Primary adult mouse myoblasts were retrovirally transduced to secrete human or mouse rVEGF and tissue-engineered into implantable 1×10 to 15-mm BAMs containing parallel arrays of postmitotic myofibers. In vitro, they secreted 290 to 511 ng of bioactive mouse or human VEGF/BAM per day. rVEGF BAMs implanted subcutaneously into syngeneic mice caused a 30-fold increase in the number of CD31-positive capillary cells within the BAM by 1 week compared with control BAMs. Implantation of rVEGF-secreting BAMs into ischemic hindlimbs resulted in a 2- to 3-fold increase in capillary density of neighboring host muscle by 1 week and out to 4 weeks with no evidence of hemangioma formation. Conclusions—Local delivery of rVEGF from BAMs rapidly increases capillary density both within the BAM itself and in adjacent ischemic muscle tissue. Genetically engineered muscle tissue provides a method for therapeutic protein delivery in a dose-regulated fashion.
A Novel Method to Reduce Phase Noise in LC VCO Using a New Tail-Switching Technique

In this paper, a new method to improve the phase noise performance of LC oscillators is presented. This improvement is achieved by using a novel switched tail stage to improve the loaded quality factor of the circuit effectively with a novel method to minimize phase noise. The results show about 12 dB reduction in phase noise in comparison with recent good works.
Modified UKF for integrated orbit and attitude determination based on gyro and magnetometer

A new method for orbit and attitude determination of satellite simultaneously based on three-axis-magnetometer (TAM) and gyro data is presented, which is a breakthrough in traditional pattern of treating orbit and attitude of satellite separately. Considering of the nonlinear system, a modified unscented Kalman filter is developed. The magnetic field components are used to update as measurement and the gyro data are used to propagate the state vector. Because of the constraint of the quaternion, an error vector update approach is proposed. Numerical simulations are given at last, and the algorithm is confirmed to be feasible and effective.
2D-ONPP: Two Dimensional Extension of Orthogonal Neighborhood Preserving Projections for Face Recognition

This paper considers the problem of orthogonal neighborhood preserving projections (ONPP) in two-dimensional sense. Recently, ONPP was proposed as a projection based dimensionality reduction technique, attempting to preserve both the intrinsic neighborhood geometry of the data samples and the global geometry. Concerned with two dimensional data, such as face images, often vectorized for ONPP algorithm to find the intrinsic manifold structure. However, ONPP can't be implemented effectively due to the high dimensionality. Therefore, a novel method, two-dimensional orthogonal neighborhood preserving projections (2D-ONPP), directly based on 2D image matrices instead of ID vectors, is proposed for face recognition society. It finds an embedding that preserves neighborhood geometrical features and detects the intrinsic image manifold structure. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with existing 2D-PCA and ONPP methods on ORL and Yale B databases. Experimental results show the efficient computation performance and the competitive average recognition rate of our 2D algorithm.
Towards a New Execution Model for HPC Clouds

The application of emergent Clouds to the domain of high performance computing is considered by examining the various operational modalities comprising the ﬁeld of supercomputing and by analyzing their suitability to Clouds based on underlying factors of performance degradation. It is found that while throughput computing may be readily supported for such HPC workﬂows as parameter sweeps, capability computing and even weak scaled “cooperative” computing may not be well served using conventional practices. But the possible advance of revolutionary methods to manage asynchrony, exploit message-driven computing techniques and declarative synchronization semantic constructs such as found in the experimental ParalleX execution model may provide an alternative paradigm for bringing Clouds more closely aligned to Science, Technology, Engineering
ILP Formulations for -Cycle Design Without Candidate Cycle Enumeration

The concept of -cycle (preconfigured protection cycle) allows fast and efficient span protection in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) mesh networks. To design -cycles for a given network, conventional algorithms need to enumerate cycles in the network to form a candidate set, and then use an integer linear program (ILP) to find a set of -cycles from the candidate set. Because the size of the candidate set increases exponentially with the network size, candidate cycle enumeration introduces a huge number of ILP variables and slows down the optimization process. In this paper, we focus on -cycle design without candidate cycle enumeration. Three ILPs for solving the problem of spare capacity placement (SCP) are first formulated. They are based on recursion, flow conservation, and cycle exclusion, respectively. We show that the number of ILP variables/constraints in our cycle exclusion approach only increases linearly with the network size. Then, based on cycle exclusion, we formulate an ILP for solving the joint capacity placement (JCP) problem. Numerical results show that our ILPs are very efficient in generating -cycle solutions.