Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
1 OPTICAL CLASSIFICATION OF NORTHWEST ATLANTIC WATER TYPES BASED ON SATELLITE OCEAN COLOUR DATA

Satellite ocean colour imagery provides a synoptic view of the optical properties of broad regions of the ocean, and sophisticated data analysis techniques are required for the interpretation of this data. We are developing optical water type classification approaches based on remotely-sensed water leaving radiance, with application to the study of spatial and temporal dynamics of ecologically and biogeochemically important properties of the upper ocean. For CZCS and SeaWiFS imagery of the northwest Atlantic region, pixels from several locations in the Georges Bank/Gulf of Maine area projected into distinct clusters in single-band feature space, suggesting that these waters can be easily distinguished using a few spectral bands of ocean colour data. Two different classification techniques have been developed. The Euclidean Classifier minimises the raw distance between each pixel and the centroid of the class to which it is assigned, whereas the Eigenvector Classifier is based on normalising the raw distances by the variance of each class, taking the shape of each class in feature space into account. These classifiers were applied to ocean colour images of the northwest Atlantic to elucidate the geographical location and extent of each water type. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The availability of remotely-sensed ocean colour data from satellite sensors such as SeaWiFS and CZCS has opened up new opportunities to study the spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton distributions. Although remote sensing of ocean colour has significantly expanded our ability to study spatial and temporal variability in phytoplankton abundance and distribution, full exploitation of ocean colour imagery requires both developments in modelling of upper ocean optical properties (and their relationships with biological, physical, and chemical properties) and more sophisticated data analysis techniques. Optical water type classification approaches based on remotelysensed water leaving radiance have great potential to contribute to the study of spatial and temporal dynamics of ecologically and biogeochemically important properties in the upper ocean. Particularly in coastal waters, both inherent and apparent optical properties are influenced by a wide array of physical, biological and chemical processes. These processes can lead to large sources of optical variability that may be independent of the abundance of phytoplankton pigments. In addition to these pigments, constituents such as dissolved organic matter (DOM) of both marine and terrigeneous origin, heterotrophic organisms, biological detritus, and inorganic particulate material can affect both the magnitude and spectral quality of reflected light. This complexity may interfere with accurate estimation of phytoplankton distributions based on optical signatures; however, it also presents the potential for deriving information about other water properties from space.
Metabotropic glutamate receptor 4‐immunopositive terminals of medium‐sized spiny neurons selectively form synapses with cholinergic interneurons in the rat neostriatum

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 (mGluR4) is localized mainly to presynaptic membranes in the brain. Rat neostriatum has been reported to contain two types of mGluR4‐immunoreactive axon varicosities: small, weakly immunoreactive varicosities that were distributed randomly (type 1) and large, intensely immunoreactive ones that were often aligned linearly (type 2). In the present study, most type 1 terminals formed asymmetric synapses on dendritic spines, whereas type 2 terminals made symmetric synapses on dendritic shafts, showing immunoreactivity for GABAergic markers. After depletion of neostriatal neurons, type 2 but not type 1 varicosities were largely decreased in the damaged region. When medium‐sized spiny neurons (MSNs) were labeled with Sindbis virus expressing membrane‐targeted green fluorescent protein, mGluR4 immunoreactivity was observed on some varicosities of their axon collaterals in immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopies. Furthermore, type 2 varicosities were often positive for substance P but mostly negative for striatal interneuron markers and preproenkephalin. Thus, striatonigral/striato‐entopeduncular MSNs are likely to be the largest source of type 2 mGluR4‐immunopositive axon terminals in the neostriatum. Next, in the double‐immunofluorescence study, almost all choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)‐immunopositive and 41% of NK1 receptor‐positive dendrites were heavily associated with type 2 mGluR4‐immunoreactive varicosities. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)‐positive dendrites, in contrast, seemed associated with only a few type 2 varicosities. Conversely, almost all type 2 varicosities were closely apposed to NK1 receptor‐positive dendrites that were known to be derived from cholinergic and nNOS‐producing interneurons. These findings indicate that the mGluR4‐positive terminals of MSN axon collaterals selectively form synapses with neostriatal cholinergic interneurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 500:908–922, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Acoustic modem performance assessment via stochastic replay of at sea recorded underwater acoustic communication channels

To fully capitalize sea experiments, a channel model driven by real data is presented. This model relies on the assumption that a channel recorded at sea is a single observation of an underlying random process. From this single observation, the channel statistical properties are estimated to then drive a stochastic simulator that generates multiple realizations of the underlying process. Such an approach offers the ability to test underwater communication systems under controlled and reproducible laboratory conditions while guaranteeing a realistic simulation environment. To be as close as possible to the true ocean statistical properties, the often invoked wide-sense stationary uncorrelated scattering (WSSUS)assumption is relaxed. The analyzed channels are shown to be trend stationary and the scatterers are assumed to be potentially correlated.
Awakening The Potential of Positive Computing: A Transversal, Heliotropic Design Paradigm for Human Flourishing

Positive Computing literature does not consider the complex implications stemming from the evidence of computing technologies’ harmful effects. Moreover, present approaches to integrating well-being science into the design of interactive systems are built on deficit-oriented models. In response, a transversal, social constructionist paradigm of Positive Computing sensitive to the social complex and views technology as a part ofcivilization as a living, human construction is explored as a means of advancing the Positive Computing domain. The work argues the well-being of civilization needs to be routinely re-secured through the development of a metacognitive, affirmative competency that recognizessocial systems as capable of creating their own realities. To effectuate the change, adoption of an integral awareness of the socio-technical complex and a new, positively oriented model of design for interactive computing technologies are proposed.
Cache-Based Scalable Deep Packet Inspection with Predictive Automaton

Regular expression (Regex) becomes the standard signature language for security and application detection. Deterministic finite automata (DFAs) are widely used to perform regex matching in linear time. Previously researches mostly focus on how to compress DFA to reduce memory requirements in recent years. However, memory requirement is not the only problem caused by DFA explosion when implementation DFA matching system. In this paper, we propose a new issue in DFA matching procedure. We notice that the DFA produced from regex never considers the physical locality of logical neighbor, which results in a low cache hit rate when using cache as matching accelerator. This problem becomes severe for current increasingly complex security regex which producing huge DFA with nearly no locality in physical location. We propose to solve this problem through reordering the state number of existing DFA and further put forward two methods on reordering DFA from different viewpoints. In our algorithms, we achieve more than twice cache hit rate compared with traditional method. Moreover, our methods will not affect the existing matching system. Hence, all the cache hit rate improvement is achieved without any cost in wire speed matching.
Sovereignty of the Apps: There's more to Relevance than Downloads

The value of mobile apps is traditionally measured by metrics such as the number of downloads, installations, or user ratings. A problem with these measures is that they reflect actual usage at most indirectly. Indeed, analytic companies have suggested that retention rates, i.e., the number of days users continue to interact with an installed app are low. We conduct the first independent and large-scale study of retention rates and usage behavior trends in the wild. We study their impact on a large-scale database of app-usage data from a community of 339,842 users and more than 213,667 apps. Our analysis shows that, on average, applications lose 70% of their users in the first week, while very popular applications (top 100) lose only 45%. It also reveals, however, that many applications have more complex usage behavior patterns due to seasonality, marketing, or other factors. To capture such effects, we develop a novel app-usage behavior trend measure which provides instantaneous information about the "hotness" of an application. We identify typical trends in app popularity and classify applications into archetypes. From these, we can distinguish, for instance, trendsetters from copycat apps. In our results, roughly 40% of all apps never gain more than a handful of users. Less than 0.4% of the remaining 60% are constantly popular, 1% flop after an initial steep rise, and 7% continuously rise in popularity. We conclude by demonstrating that usage behavior trend information can be used to develop better mobile app recommendations. With the proposed usage-based measures (retention and trend), we are able to shift sovereignty in app recommendations back to where it really matters: actual usage statistics, in contrast to download count and user ratings which are prone to manipulation by people.
Challenges and techniques on the road to dynamically compose web services

One of the great challenges to be faced in order to enable the success of future Web-based applications is to find effective ways to handle with the interoperability demands. In this context, Service-Oriented Architectures and Web Services technology are being considered as the most affordable solution topromote interoperability, by applying strategies like Service Composition. Nevertheless, most composition approaches applied nowadays in real world contexts lack dynamism. In fact, there is not yet a consensus regarding what would really be a dynamic composition. In this paper we propose some criteriato identify the levels of dynamism and automatization in service compositions. Furthermore, taking into account a model driven approach, we propose a strategy where different techniques can be used to make compositions more dynamic and automatic. This strategy is then exemplified and discussed considering an e-Government composition scenario.
Hardwiring weak ties: individual and institutional issues in computer mediated communication

Recent accounts of computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems in organizations are mixed about the success of CMC. While some organizations eagerly embrace CMC systems for their employees, and support systems with thousands of users and multlple uses, other organizations have refused their employees access to CMC systems, or removed such systems after they have become established in use. Why the wide disparity in organizational support of CMC? We show the importance of differences in institutional dependencies on CMC support of individuals ‘ “weak-tie” relationships for explaining differences in willingness to support CMC infrastructure. We then examine the downstream implications of maintenance of weak ties via CMC infrastructure for individuals and institutions.
Centre De Referència En Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Working Paper Nº 34 Electoral Platforms, Implemented Policies, and Abstention Electoral Platforms, Implemented Policies, and Abstention Barcelona Economics Wp N

Recent studies of American politics evidence that political polarization of both the electorate and the political elite have moved " almost in tandem for the past half century " (McCarty et al., 2003, p.2), and that party polarization has steadily increased since the 1970s. On the other hand, the empirical literature on party platforms and implemented policies has consistently found an imperfect but non-negligible correlation between electoral platforms and governmental outcomes: while platforms tend to be polarized, policies are moderate or centrist. However, existing theoretical models of political competition are not manifestly compatible with these observations. This paper distinguishes between electoral platforms and implemented policies by incorporating a non-trivial policy-setting process. It follows that voters may care not only about the implemented policy but also about the platform they support with their vote. We find that while parties tend to polarize their positions, the risk of alienating their constituency prevents them from radicalizing. The analysis evidences that the distribution of the electorate, and not only the (expected) location of a pivotal voter, matters in determining political outcomes. Our results are consistent with the observation of polarized platforms and moderate policies, and the alienation and indifference components of abstention.
Evaluating Chinese Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge of Integrating Technology in Teaching

This study investigates the profile of Chinese pre-service mathematics teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) through a sample of 106 people. An adapted scale was developed and validated in the survey. From the data collected from the scale, the findings reveal that Chinese pre-service mathematics teachers rated themselves as most competent in the factor of Content Knowledge (CK) and least competent in the term of TPACK. The survey also suggests that the scores of tech-related factors are generally lower than non-tech-related factors, which indicate that Chinese pre-service mathematics teachers are more familiar with traditional ways of thinking and teaching mathematics. In addition, implications of the current survey in terms of Chinese mathematics pre-service teachers’ professional development are discussed.
Effects of the Quantitative Easing Policy: A Survey of Empirical Analyses

This paper surveys the empirical analyses that examine the effects of the Bank of Japan (BOJ)'s quantitative easing policy (QEP), which was implemented from March 2001 through March 2006. The survey confirms a clear effect whereby the commitment to maintain the QEP fostered the expectations that the zero interest rate would continue into the future, thereby lowering the yield curve centering on the short- to medium-term range. There were also phases in which an increase in the current account balances (CABs) held by financial institutions at the BOJ bolstered this expectation. While the results were mixed as to whether expansion of the monetary base and altering the composition of the BOJ's balance sheet led to portfolio rebalancing, generally this effect, if any, was smaller than that stemming from the commitment. When viewing the QEP's impact on Japan's economy through various transmission channels, many of the analyses suggest that the QEP created an accommodative environment in terms of corporate financing. In particular, the QEP contained financial institutions' funding costs from the market and staved off financial institutions' funding uncertainties. The QEP's effect on raising aggregate demand and prices was often limited, due largely to the then progressing corporate balance sheet adjustment, as well as the zero bound constraint on interest rates.
Infrared Observations of the Helix Planetary Nebula

We have mapped the Helix (NGC 7293) planetary nebula (PN) with the IRAC instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Helix is one of the closest bright PNs and therefore provides an opportunity to resolve the small-scale structure in the nebula. The emission from this PN in the 5.8 and 8 μm IRAC bands is dominated by the pure rotational lines of molecular hydrogen, with a smaller contribution from forbidden line emission such as [Ar III] in the ionized region. The IRAC images resolve the "cometary knots," which have been previously studied in this PN. The "tails" of the knots and the radial rays extending into the outer regions of the PN are seen in emission in the IRAC bands. IRS spectra on the main ring and the emission in the IRAC bands are consistent with shock-excited H2 models, with a small (~10%) component from photodissociation regions. In the northeast arc, the H2 emission is located in a shell outside the Hα emission.
Optimizing the use of a sensor resource for opponent polarization coding

Flies use specialized photoreceptors R7 and R8 in the dorsal rim area (DRA) to detect skylight polarization. R7 and R8 form a tiered waveguide (central rhabdomere pair, CRP) with R7 on top, filtering light delivered to R8. We examine how the division of a given resource, CRP length, between R7 and R8 affects their ability to code polarization angle. We model optical absorption to show how the length fractions allotted to R7 and R8 determine the rates at which they transduce photons, and correct these rates for transduction unit saturation. The rates give polarization signal and photon noise in R7, and in R8. Their signals are combined in an opponent unit, intrinsic noise added, and the unit’s output analysed to extract two measures of coding ability, number of discriminable polarization angles and mutual information. A very long R7 maximizes opponent signal amplitude, but codes inefficiently due to photon noise in the very short R8. Discriminability and mutual information are optimized by maximizing signal to noise ratio, SNR. At lower light levels approximately equal lengths of R7 and R8 are optimal because photon noise dominates. At higher light levels intrinsic noise comes to dominate and a shorter R8 is optimum. The optimum R8 length fractions falls to one third. This intensity dependent range of optimal length fractions corresponds to the range observed in different fly species and is not affected by transduction unit saturation. We conclude that a limited resource, rhabdom length, can be divided between two polarization sensors, R7 and R8, to optimize opponent coding. We also find that coding ability increases sub-linearly with total rhabdom length, according to the law of diminishing returns. Consequently, the specialized shorter central rhabdom in the DRA codes polarization twice as efficiently with respect to rhabdom length than the longer rhabdom used in the rest of the eye.
Multi-Document Text Summarization using Mutual Reinforcement and Relevance Propagation Models Added with Query and Features Profile

Text summarization is the process of abridging the larger text into a shorter version preserving its information content and meaning. Using text summarizer user gets sense of the full-text, or able to know its information content without reading all sentences within the larger text. Text summarization reduces the text by removing less useful data which helps user to find the required information quickly without wasting time in reading the whole text. Lot of work has been done for automatic text summarization. In this approach the technique based on the multi-document summarization using mutual reinforcement and relevance propagation models is modified by adding features profile to it. This enables us to group the document set into several topic themes and then these are clustered according to the query. Further proposed work identify the salient sentences from each cluster by applying feature profile and then these are ranked according to their weights of importance. Finally, the mutual reinforcement between the ranking of sentence set and ranking of the cluster set is found out using reinforcement after relevance propagation (RARP) algorithm
Plane Detection with Feature Point Tracking from Monocular Images on a Mobile Robot for Indoor Environments

In this paper we propose a methodology for robust plane recovering from monocular images. The method is mainly based on the tracking interest points taken from a mobile robot's camera. An efficient methodology for interest point detection, tracking and recovering has been implemented. The method proposed works in real time, and it is robust enough to deal with different undesired camera motions as the presented with legged robots. Two mobile robotic platforms were used to validate results a wheeled differential robot and a humanoid robot (with legs).
Design and implementation of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm for a standalone PV system

A B ST R A C T Maximum power point trackers (MPPTs) play a vital role in photovoltaic (PV) systems because they increase the efficiency of the solar photovoltaic system by increasing the power output. MPPT algorithms are necessary because PV arrays have a non linear voltage-current characteristic with a unique point where the power produced is maximum. The output power from the solar panel varies with solar irradiance, temperature and so on. To increase the power extracted from the solar panel, it is necessary to operate the photovoltaic (PV) system at the maximum power point (MPP). This paper presents the Matlab/simulink arrangement of perturb & observe (P&O) and incremental conductance (INC) MPPT algorithm which is responsible for driving the dc-dc boost converter to track maximum power point (MPP). This paper also presents the theoretical analysis of variable step size (VSS) of INC MPPT which can effectively improve the tracking speed and accuracy of maximum power.
A localization algorithm extension for the evolvable sensor network

A localization algorithm is an important component in a wireless sensor network. The requirements for such an algorithm include high estimated node position accuracy and low communication overhead. In an evolvable sensor network, where some running sensor nodes exhaust after a working period and some new nodes are added to maintain the proper operation of the network, a localization algorithm used to find position of new added nodes should also satisfy the requirements about accuracy and overhead. Moreover, the algorithm should be able to exploit information of nodes which are in the old network. This paper proposes an extension of a localization algorithm so that it can work in an evolvable sensor network. The simulation results show that the extension obviously meets the requirements. Especially, under certain conditions, the estimated positions of the new added nodes are more accurate than that of the old nodes since the extension can exploit the information of the old network.