Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A survey of faint galaxy pairs

A sample of faint, V magnitude selected, galaxy pairs, having physical separations less than approximately 20\hkpc, is used to examine the rise in the merger rate with redshift and the statistical relations between close pairs and the field galaxy population. Redshifts have been obtained for 14 galaxies ($V \le 22.5$) that are in close ($\theta < 6\arcs$) pairs, along with a comparison sample of 38 field galaxies. Two color photometry is available for about 1000 galaxies in the same fields. The average redshift of the $V\le22.5$ field population is 0.36, statistically equal to the average redshift of 0.42 for the pairs. The similarity of the two redshift distributions, $\Delta z\le 0.1$, limits any differential luminosity enhancement of close pairs to less than half a magnitude. The pairs are somewhat bluer than the field and have nearly twice the average [O~II] detection rate of the field, but the differences are not statistically significant. The field population has an angular correlation at separations of $\theta\le$6\arcs\ higher than the inward extrapolation of $\omega(\theta)\propto \theta^{-0.8}$, which may be a population of ``companions'' not present at the current epoch, or, luminosity enhancement of intrinsically faint galaxies in pairs. Physical pairs comprise about 7\% of the faint galaxies in our survey fields. The same physical separation applied to local galaxies finds only 2.6\% in pairs. If the rise in close low relatively velocity pairs with redshift is parameterized as $(1+z)^m$, then $m=2.9\pm0.8$. If all pairs at low velocities and $r\le 20$\hkpc\ merge, then the
Scalable and Efficient Key Agreement Protocols for Secure Multicast Communication in MANETs

-In this paper protocols for group key distribution are compared and evaluated from the point of view of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs). A MANET is a collection of wireless mobile nodes, communicating among themselves over possibly multihop paths, without the help of any infrastructure such as base stations or access points. So the need to render those networks as autonomous and secure as possible, since no central authorization can be assumed at all times, becomes emergent. Key management is the service that ensures the security of communication among nodes, and the capability of their cooperation as a secure group. It consists of three important services: key generation, user authentication and key distribution. In this work we assume that the participating users have already been authenticated with some mechanism, and we are focused only on studying and comparing protocols for group key establishment in MANETs. We are addressing the issues of FaultTolerance and Efficiency for key distribution protocols for group communications in MANETs. Most key distribution protocols that exist today are primarily designed for wireline networks. These protocols either fail to work as intended or cannot work at all when they are applied to the demanding environment of MANETs. The main reasons for this are: frequent node failures, network partitions and merges, inefficient computational and communication capabilities of certain wireless nodes, network delay, bad quality of signal etc. We determine the framework under which protocols can efficiently work in MANETs, design new protocols or modify existing ones, so that they can be robust, scalable and applicable in this environment. We classify these protocols in two families, contributory and non-contributory. We evaluate them from the point of view of MANETs and compare their performance.
SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS JULY, 1976 OPTIMIZING SOIL MOISTURE CONSERVATION BY MULCH OF HYDROPHOBIC AGGREGATES USING SIMULATION AND NUMERICAL SEARCH PROCEDURES*

Reducing soil water losses due to evaporation, runoff or weeds, is a primary concern in the management of agriculture in arid and semiarid regions. A method has recently been proposed to promote infiltration and retard evaporation and weed infestation by waterproofing surface-zone clods with chemical agents to form a mulch of loose, dry clods [3, 4] . The effect of this treatment is to stabilize the clods against breakdown and consequent water and wind erosion. Rain or irrigation water can trickle off individual clods and flow downward through open spaces between them, thus penetrating directly into the deeper soil layers. In this way, the intake of water is enhanced and the hazard of runoff (entailing erosion) is reduced. The effect of clod hydrophobization becomes even more important during dry spells which generally follow rains in semiarid and arid regions. The evaporation phase normally begins when the soil top layer is in a state of near-saturation, so radiation and wind can cause the extraction of a considerable fraction of the moisture contributed by the preceding rain. However, when a top layer of waterproofed dry clods is present, upward capillary conduction of soil moisture is inhibited, and the dry mulch constitutes a barrier through which soil moisture can escape only by the relatively slow process of vapor diffusion. Hydrophobization of top-layer clods can also inhbit the germination of weeds, which might otherwise compete with crop plants for nutrients, space and light, as well as for soil moisture. Experimental evidence of these effects was reported by Hillel and Berliner [4]. Integrated physical effects of waterproofing surface clods on the field water regime have been analyzed theoretically by means of a computer-based mechanistic simulation model [6]. While results of waterproofing surface clods depend on a number of factors (including clod sizes, basic soil properties and climatic variables), once an optimal range of clod sizes is established, it is the depth of the mulch which constitutes the decisive controllable variable to be optimized for any specific set of conditions.
A discontinuous Galerkin method with nonoverlapping domain decomposition for the Stokes and Navier-Stokes problems

A family of discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods is formulated and analyzed for Stokes and Navier-Stokes problems. An inf-sup condition is established as well as optimal energy estimates for the velocity and L 2 estimates for the pressure. In addition, it is shown that the method can treat a finite number of nonoverlapping domains with nonmatching grids at interfaces.
Hierarchies of Inefficient Kernelizability

The framework of Bodlaender et al. (ICALP 2008) and Fortnow and Santhanam (STOC 2008) allows us to exclude the existence of polynomial kernels for a range of problems under reasonable complexity-theoretical assumptions. However, there are also some issues that are not addressed by this framework, including the existence of Turing kernels such as the "kernelization" of Leaf Out Branching(k) into a disjunction over n instances of size poly(k). Observing that Turing kernels are preserved by polynomial parametric transformations, we define a kernelization hardness hierarchy, akin to the M- and W-hierarchy of ordinary parameterized complexity, by the PPT-closure of problems that seem likely to be fundamentally hard for efficient Turing kernelization. We find that several previously considered problems are complete for our fundamental hardness class, including Min Ones d-SAT(k), Binary NDTM Halting(k), Connected Vertex Cover(k), and Clique(k log n), the clique problem parameterized by k log n.
Evidence of Stellar-driven Outflows from the Classical T Tauri Star RY Tau

RY Tau is a rapidly rotating classical T Tauri star observed close to edge-on. The combination of new HST/STIS observations obtained in 2001 with HST/GHRS archive data from 1993 has allowed us to get, for the first time, information on the thermal structure and velocity of the wind. The repeated observations of the Si III] and C III] lines show a lack of changes with time on the blue side of the profile (dominated by the wind contribution). Very high temperature plasma (log Te = 4.8) is detected at densities of 9.5 ≤ log ne(cm-3) ≤ 10.2 associated with the wind. The emitting volumes are ~(0.35 R☉)3, suggesting a stellar origin. The wind kinematics derived from the profiles (Si III], C III], and [O II]) does not satisfy the theoretical predictions of MHD centrifugally driven disk winds. The profiles' asymmetry, large velocity dispersions, and small variability as well as the small emitting volumes are best explained if the wind is produced by the contributions of several outflows from atmospheric open-field structures like those observed in the Sun.
State-Space Cointegration Modeling for the Analysis of Exogenous Shocks to Prices in Israeli-Palestinian Food Trade

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict constitutes a prominent example of a long-lasting political conflict which has major consequences for the livelihoods of the people on both sides. The agricultural sectors of the Palestinian and Israeli economies are tightly connected. However, various security measures occasionally implemented in consequence of the political conflict between Israelis and Palestinians strongly inhibit the movement of people and commodities. In order to obtain evidence on the impacts of such abrupt trade impediments on price dynamics, we estimate a vector error correction model in state space form employing the Kalman filter. The time-varying cointegration parameters suggest that the security measures indeed impacted price interdependencies on a short-term scale.
Approaches to describe uncertainty in current and future stock status

Approaches to describe uncertainty in current and future stock status Executive Summary This paper responds to the SC8 request for further development of a common approach to describe uncertainty in current and future stock status. In particular, consideration was given to defining a consistent approach that could be used to evaluate management risks (e.g., the risk of falling below limit reference points). We acknowledge that there are unavoidable tradeoffs between the degree of analytical rigor, computational demand, and time constraints that must be considered when choosing an approach that is practical, yet informative. In this paper we highlight the relative advantages and challenges associated with common approaches to incorporate uncertainty into fisheries management decision-making. We provide recommendations for describing uncertainty, options for selecting a representative subset of assessment model runs, and discussions on the use of model plausibility weights. Key considerations for this work are also discussed. Ultimately, the approach used to describe uncertainty will influence perceptions of management risks and the selection of a management strategy (including reference points and harvest control rules) to meet management objectives. In particular, this is critical for measuring the risk of exceeding limit reference points. The validity of using a single model to characterize uncertainty in stock status is questionable. An approach to incorporate uncertainty that takes into account model error (integrating across multiple assessment models) in addition to process and estimation error would be the most sensible while balancing the impracticalities associated with computing/resource time. With this in mind, the following are recommended guidelines for describing uncertainty in current and future stock status for the provision of management advice to the Commission. • Use of a hierarchical approach towards uncertainty estimation which involves:-selecting a representative subset of models from the structural uncertainty grid to capture the extent of model uncertainty and-using stochastic projections on the chosen subset of models from the grid to provide management advice that captures key sources of process uncertainty. • Stochastic projections should incorporate uncertainty in recruitment as a minimum, but preferably with respect to catchability (effort deviates) and the age structure in the 1 st year of the projection period as well. • Expert opinion be used by the SC to determine a representative subset of models from the grid (perhaps done by individual stock assessment working groups or at pre-assessment workshops) for describing model uncertainty, guided by the assessment document provided by stock assessment scientists. • …
Comparison of relative accuracy between a mechanical and an optical position tracker for image-guided neurosurgery.

An essential component in the execution of image-guided surgery is a hand-held probe whose spatial position is tracked during the procedure and displayed on a three-dimensional operative workstation. This paper describes an experiment performed in order to compare the accuracy of a mechanically linked pointing device (FARO surgical arm) and an optical position tracker (OPTOTRAK) against a "gold standard. "
Database Access and Integration

Digital data are now fundamental to all branches of science and engineering; they play a major role in medical research and diagnosis, and underpin business and governmental decision processes. Increasingly these data are organised as shared and structured collections, which are held in databases, in structured documents and in structured assemblies of binary files. The advent of ubiquitous Internet computing and the scale of modern challenges, such as deciphering the function of all the genes in a large number of species, from bacteria to crops, farm animals and humans, has led to widespread collaboration in the creation, curation, publication, management and exploitation of these structured collections. Although individual collections are typically specialised to hold data of interest to particular communities, substantial advances can be achieved by combining information from multiple data resources. For example, astronomers are building virtual observatories, where data collected at different frequencies, X-ray, radio, optical, infrared, etc., and at different times, can be conveniently combined to discover new properties of the universe. Similarly, functional genomics requires comparison between species, integration with protein biochemistry and crystallography databases, laboratory phenotypical data and population studies. Almost every application involves the execution of computational models or computationally demanding analyses using data from diverse sources.
Pornographic image recognition by strongly-supervised deep multiple instance learning

In this paper, we propose a principled framework for pornographic image recognition. Specifically, we present our definition of pornographic images, which characterizes the pornographic contents in images as the exposure of private body parts. As the private body parts often lie in local image regions, we model each image as a bag of local image patches (instances), and assume that for each pornographic image at least one instance accounts for the pornographic content within it. This treatment allows us to cast the model training as a Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) problem. Furthermore, we propose a strongly-supervised setting for MIL by identifying the most likely pornographic instances in positive bags, which effectively prevents the algorithm from getting trapped in a bad local optima. Last but not least, we formulate our strongly-supervised MIL under the deep CNN framework to learn deep representations; hence we call it Strongly-supervised Deep MIL (SD-MIL). We demonstrate that our SD-MIL based system produces remarkable accuracy with 97.01% TPR at 1% FPR, testing on 117K pornographic images and 117K normal images from our newly-collected large scale dataset.
A Multi Way Tree for Token Based Authentication

Tokens are popular in two factor authentication, where the first authentication credential is a fixed secret key s1 associated with the user and the second authentication credential is a dynamic secret key s2 generated by the token assigned to the user. Popular hardware tokens use a synchronized clock T along with a static secret key encoded into the token to generate a one time secret s2. The contribution of the paper is to eliminate this clock synchronization with the authentication server S and to detect unauthorized login attempts when an intruder is in possession of s1 or s2 but not both, with a high degree of certainty.
Cross-linguistic variation in the derivation of alternative questions: Japanese and beyond

In this paper, I submit two empirical claims regarding the cross-linguistic variation in alternative questions (AltQs). The first claim is that there are in principle two ways in which AltQs are derived: scope-shifting of the disjunction and disjoining PolQs. The other claim is that some languages, in particular Japanese, only allow the second option in forming an AltQ. With these empirical results, as a theoretical proposal, I posit three kinds of disjunctions that differ from each other in (i) their scope with respect to the Q-operator and (ii) whether they locally disjoin questions or non-questions. Under this theory, the cross-linguistic variations in the derivation of AltQs and the distribution of disjunction-markers are captured in terms of the lexicalization patterns of the three disjunctions. For example, Japanese is argued to be a language that does not have an item corresponding to the disjunction that out-scopes the Q-operator. I show that the theory is compatible with three kinds of question semantics, specifically, Karttunen-style semantics, the standard Hamblin semantics and Flexible Hamblin semantics.
Environmental accounting for the sustainable corporation : strategies and techniques

Preface Introduction Charting a Middle Course The Limitations of Traditional Accounting A Guide to Environmental Accounting Origins of the Concept of Sustainable Development An Industry Under Intense Public Scrutiny Negotiating with Today's Stakeholders Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Natural Forest Capital, Intergenerational Equity and Waste Minimization Transforming Natural Capital into Product Valuation of a Forest A Zero Impact Factory Applying Risk-Management Principles to Costing Natural Capital Reporting to the Board on the Stewardship of the Forest Reporting to Shareholders and Others Who Benefit from the Forest How Do I Apply This in My Work? Afterword References
An intelligent approach for construction domain ontology

In order to realize information integration and information sharing of technique preparation process, idea of ontology was applied in technique preparation process. The definition and structure of technique preparation domain ontology were put forward. Moreover, the framework of an intelligent approach for construction technique preparation domain ontology was proposed and similarity computing approach of domain ontology was presented. Furthermore, the similarity relation between concepts was elaborated and domain ontology merging rules were designed to resolve the problem of domain ontology consistency. Finally, an application case was illustrated and the approach was demonstrated efficient.
Robust adaptive beamforming using probability-constrained optimization

Recently, robust minimum variance (MV) beamforming which optimizes the worst-case performance has been proposed in S.A. Vorobyov et al. (2003), R.G. Lorenz and S.P. Boyd (2005). The worst-case approach, however, might be overly conservative in practical applications. In this paper, we propose a more flexible approach that formulates the robust adaptive beamforming problem as a probability-constrained optimization problem with homogeneous quadratic cost function. Unlike the general probability-constrained problem which can be nonconvex and NP-hard, our problem can be reformulated as a convex nonlinear programming (NLP) problem, and efficiently solved using interior-point methods. Simulation results show an improved robustness of the proposed beamformer as compared to the existing state-of-the-art robust adaptive beamforming techniques
Ribonuclease (RNase) Prolongs Survival of Grafts in Experimental Heart Transplantation

Background Cell damage, tissue and vascular injury are associated with the exposure and release of intracellular components such as RNA, which promote inflammatory reactions and thrombosis. Based on the counteracting anti‐inflammatory and cardioprotective functions of ribonuclease A (RNase A) in this context, its role in an experimental model of heart transplantation in rats was studied. Methods and Results Inbred BN/OrlRj rat cardiac allografts were heterotopically transplanted into inbred LEW/OrlRj rats. Recipients were intravenously treated every other day with saline or bovine pancreatic RNase A (50 μg/kg). Toxic side effects were not found (macroscopically and histologically). Heart tissue flow cytometry and quantitative morphological analyses of explanted hearts at postoperative day 1 or postoperative day 4 showed reduced leukocyte infiltration, edema, and thrombus formation in RNase A‐treated rats. In allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reactions, RNase A decreased the proliferation of effector T cells. RNase A treatment of rats resulted in prolonged median graft survival up to 10.5 days (interquartile range 1.8) compared to 6.5 days (interquartile range 1.0) in saline treatment (P=0.001). Treatment of rats with a new generated (recombinant) human pancreatic RNase 1 prolonged median graft survival similarly, unlike treatment with (recombinant) inactive human RNase 1 (each 50 μg/kg IV every other day, 11.0 days, interquartile range 0.3, versus 8.0 days, interquartile range 0.5, P=0.007). Conclusions Upon heart transplantation, RNase administration appears to present a promising and safe drug to counteract ischemia/reperfusion injury and graft rejection. Furthermore, RNase treatment may be considered in situations of critical reperfusion after percutaneous coronary interventions or in cardiac surgery using the heart–lung machine.
Can Family Socioeconomic Resources Account for Racial and Ethnic Test Score Gaps?

This article considers whether the disparate socioeconomic circumstances of families in which white, black, and Hispanic children grow up account for the racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness among American preschoolers. It first reviews why family socioeconomic resources might matter for children's school readiness. The authors concentrate on four key components of parent socioeconomic status that are particularly relevant for children's well-being—income, education, family structure, and neighborhood conditions. They survey a range of relevant policies and programs that might help to close socioeconomic gaps, for example, by increasing family incomes or maternal educational attainment, strengthening families, and improving poor neighborhoods. Their survey of links between socioeconomic resources and test score gaps indicates that resource differences account for about half of the standard deviation—about 8 points on a test with a standard deviation of 15—of the differences. Yet, the policy implications of this are far from clear. They note that although policies are designed to improve aspects of "socioeconomic status" (for example, income, education, family structure), no policy improves "socioeconomic status" directly. Second, they caution that good policy is based on an understanding of causal relationships between family background and children outcomes, as well as cost-effectiveness. They conclude that boosting the family incomes of preschool children may be a promising intervention to reduce racial and ethnic school readiness gaps. However, given the lack of successful large-scale interventions, the authors suggest giving only a modest role to programs that address parents' socioeconomic resources. They suggest that policies that directly target children may be the most efficient way to narrow school readiness gaps.