Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drawing-Based Simulation for Primary School Science Education: An Experimental Study of the GearSketch Learning Environment

Touch screen computers are rapidly becoming available to millions of students. These devices make the implementation of drawing-based simulation environments like Gear Sketch possible. This study shows that primary school students who received simulation-based support in a drawing-based learning environment performed better than students who did not receive this support. Furthermore, the students who received this support did better on both direct and delayed posttests. These findings indicate that touch screen devices can be effectively used with drawing-based simulation environments to improve drawing-based primary school science education.
Molecular Cloning and Yeast Expression of Cinnamate 4-Hydroxylase from Ornithogalum saundersiae Baker

OSW-1, isolated from the bulbs of Ornithogalum saundersiae Baker, is a steroidal saponin endowed with considerable antitumor properties. Biosynthesis of the 4-methoxybenzoyl group on the disaccharide moiety of OSW-1 is known to take place biochemically via the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway, but molecular biological characterization of the related genes has been insufficient. Cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase (C4H, EC 1.14.13.11), catalyzing the hydroxylation of trans-cinnamic acid to p-coumaric acid, plays a key role in the ability of phenylpropanoid metabolism to channel carbon to produce the 4-methoxybenzoyl group on the disaccharide moiety of OSW-1. Molecular isolation and functional characterization of the C4H genes, therefore, is an important step for pathway characterization of 4-methoxybenzoyl group biosynthesis. In this study, a gene coding for C4H, designated as OsaC4H, was isolated according to the transcriptome sequencing results of Ornithogalum saundersiae. The full-length OsaC4H cDNA is 1,608-bp long, with a 1,518-bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 505 amino acids, a 55-bp 5′ non-coding region and a 35-bp 3'-untranslated region. OsaC4H was functionally characterized by expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and shown to catalyze the oxidation of trans-cinnamic acid to p-coumaric acid, which was identified by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD), HPLC-MS and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. The identification of the OsaC4H gene was expected to open the way to clarification of the biosynthetic pathway of OSW-1.
CAV 2009 – Paper No . # # SHOCK PROPAGATION IN POLYDISPERSE BUBBLY FLOWS

The effect of distributed bubble size on shock propagation in homogeneous bubbly liquids is computed using a continuum two-phase model. An ensemble-averaging technique is employed to derive the statistically averaged equations and a finitevolume method is used to solve the model equations. The bubble dynamics are incorporated using a Rayleigh-Plesset-type equation which includes the effects of heat transfer, liquid viscosity and compressibility. For the case of monodisperse bubbles, it is known that relaxation oscillations occur behind the shock due to the bubble dynamics. The present computations for the case of polydisperse bubbles show that bubble size distributions lead to additional damping of the shock dynamics. If the distribution is sufficiently broad, the statistical effect dominates over the physical damping associated with the single bubble dynamics. This smooths out the oscillatory shock structure. INTRODUCTION A fundamental understanding of the dynamics of bubbly flows is of great importance in engineering (e.g. underwater explosions, turbomachinery, hydraulic equipment). Shock dynamics in bubbly flows have been extensively studied for many years [1–8]. Most of the previous studies have focused on shock propagation in monodisperse bubbly liquids (i.e. all the bubbles initially have the same size.). However, in flows of practical interest, the nuclei size is broadly distributed; thus the size distributions need to be included for more realistic modeling. We treat Address all correspondence to this author. the liquid and disperse phases as a continuum mixture and solve statistically averaged equations to determine the shock structure. First, we present the model assumptions, closure conditions and bubble-dynamic modeling. Then, we solve one-dimensional shock propagation in dilute bubbly liquids with bubble size distributions and describe the effects of the size distributions upon the shock dynamics.
Target tracking with regularized variable rate particle filters

Recently introduced variable rate particle filters (VRPF), utilizing semi-Markov models for maneuvering target tracking obtained superior performance compared to the standard Markov models [1]. However, degeneracy problem commonly encountered in particle filtering also arises in VRPF algorithm. In this work, regularization technique used in standard particle filtering [2] is integrated to VRPF modelling and regularized variable rate particle filters (R-VRPF) are introduced as a solution to degeneracy problem. Performance of proposed R-VRPF algorithm is investigated in a bearing only target tracking problem and it is shown that RMS position error is reduced due to the better approximation to the posterior distribution representing target position.
RADIUS DETERMINATION OF SOLAR-TYPE STARS USING ASTEROSEISMOLOGY: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE KEPLER MISSION

For distant stars, as observed by the NASA Kepler satellite, parallax information is currently of fairly low quality and is not complete. This limits the precision with which the absolute sizes of the stars and their potential transiting planets can be determined by traditional methods. Asteroseismology will be used to aid the radius determination of stars observed during NASA's Kepler mission. We report on the recent asteroFLAG hare-and-hounds Exercise#2, where a group of “hares” simulated data of F–K main-sequence stars that a group of “hounds” sought to analyze, aimed at determining the stellar radii. We investigated stars in the range 9 < V < 15, both with and without parallaxes. We further test different uncertainties in Teff, and compare results with and without using asteroseismic constraints. Based on the asteroseismic large frequency spacing, obtained from simulations of 4 yr time series data from the Kepler mission, we demonstrate that the stellar radii can be correctly and precisely determined, when combined with traditional stellar parameters from the Kepler Input Catalogue. The radii found by the various methods used by each independent hound generally agree with the true values of the artificial stars to within 3%, when the large frequency spacing is used. This is 5–10 times better than the results where seismology is not applied. These results give strong confidence that radius estimation can be performed to better than 3% for solar-like stars using automatic pipeline reduction. Even when the stellar distance and luminosity are unknown we can obtain the same level of agreement. Given the uncertainties used for this exercise we find that the input log g and parallax do not help to constrain the radius, and that Teff and metallicity are the only parameters we need in addition to the large frequency spacing. It is the uncertainty in the metallicity that dominates the uncertainty in the radius.
Estimates of moments and tails of Gaussian chaoses

We derive two-sided estimates on moments and tails of Gaussian chaoses, that is, random variables of the form ∑ai1,…,idgi1⋯gid, where gi are i.i. d. ${\mathcal{N}}(0,1)$ r.v. ’s. Estimates are exact up to constants depending on d only.
On Maneuvering Target Tracking with Online Observed Colored Glint Noise Parameter Estimation

— In this paper a comprehensive algorithm is presented to alleviate the undesired simultaneous effects of target maneuvering, observed glint noise distribution, and colored noise spectrum using online colored glint noise parameter estimation. The simulation results illustrate a significant reduction in the root mean square error (RMSE) produced by the proposed algorithm compared to the algorithms that do not compensate all the above effects simultaneously.
Strong Inapproximability Results on Balanced Rainbow-Colorable Hypergraphs

Consider a K-uniform hypergraph H = (V, E). A coloring c: V → {1, 2, …, k} with k colors is rainbow if every hyperedge e contains at least one vertex from each color, and is called perfectly balanced when each color appears the same number of times. A simple polynomial-time algorithmnds a 2-coloring if H admits a perfectly balanced rainbow k-coloring. For a hypergraph that admits an almost balanced rainbow coloring, we prove that it is NP-hard to find an independent set of size ϵ, for any ϵ > 0. Consequently, we cannot weakly color (avoiding monochromatic hyperedges) it with O(1) colors. With k=2, it implies strong hardness for discrepancy minimization of systems of bounded set-size.One of our main technical tools is based on reverse hypercontractivity. Roughly, it says the noise operator increases q-norm of a function when q < 1, which is enough for some special cases of our results. To prove the full results, we generalize the reverse hypercontractivity to more general operators, which might be of independent interest. Together with the generalized reverse hypercontractivity and recent developments in inapproximability based on invariance principles for correlated spaces, we give a recipe for converting a promising test distribution and a suitable choice of an outer PCP to hardness of nding an independent set in the presence of highly-structured colorings. We use this recipe to prove additional results almost in a black-box manner, including: (1) the rst analytic proof of (K − 1 − ϵ)-hardness of K-Hypergraph Vertex Cover with more structure in completeness, and (2) hardness of (2Q+1)-SAT when the input clause is promised to have an assignment where every clause has at least Q true literals.
Simultaneously driven linear and nonlinear spatial encoding fields in MRI

Spatial encoding in MRI is conventionally achieved by the application of switchable linear encoding fields. The general concept of the recently introduced PatLoc (Parallel Imaging Technique using Localized Gradients) encoding is to use nonlinear fields to achieve spatial encoding. Relaxing the requirement that the encoding fields must be linear may lead to improved gradient performance or reduced peripheral nerve stimulation. In this work, a custom‐built insert coil capable of generating two independent quadratic encoding fields was driven with high‐performance amplifiers within a clinical MR system. In combination with the three linear encoding fields, the combined hardware is capable of independently manipulating five spatial encoding fields. With the linear z‐gradient used for slice‐selection, there remain four separate channels to encode a 2D‐image. To compare trajectories of such multidimensional encoding, the concept of a local k‐space is developed. Through simulations, reconstructions using six gradient‐encoding strategies were compared, including Cartesian encoding separately or simultaneously on both PatLoc and linear gradients as well as two versions of a radial‐based in/out trajectory. Corresponding experiments confirmed that such multidimensional encoding is practically achievable and demonstrated that the new radial‐based trajectory offers the PatLoc property of variable spatial resolution while maintaining finite resolution across the entire field‐of‐view. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Audio-video summarization of TV news using speech recognition and shot change detection

This paper presents an approach to audio-video summarization of TV news to provide concise information about the content while preserves the essential message of the original. In this study, anchor speech and field report videos are considered separately. First, speech signal is automatically recognized as transcripts and a confidence measure considering syntactic and semantic relations is used to estimate the reliability of words. For video skimming, RGB color histogram difference is adopted to segment video shots and evaluate the smoothness of images concatenation. As a result, the extracted anchor speech and the field report image sequence of TV news are aggregated into a summarization output. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach effectively extracts important speech segments and gives a concise video sequence.
Multi-option, multi-class path scheduling methods for advance reservation systems

This work advances the state-of-art in path scheduling and route selection by considering multiple call classes and allowing users to provide multiple start-time options in their requests for bandwidth in advance-reservation systems. Our system model supports two call classes: User-Specified Start Times (USST) and Earliest-Start Time (EST). The USST class is suitable for applications such as remote visualization or 4K immersive video-conferencing, while the EST class is suitable for high-speed large file transfers. Two path-selection algorithms, Earliest Available Path (EAP) and Shortest Available Path (SAP), are considered. Given that most core network links are operated at low utilization to support failure-recovery, we focus our simulation study on low-load operation. At low loads, there is no significant difference in call-blocking rates between EAP and SAP, and therefore, we recommend choosing EAP to lower mean waiting time. Since file-transfers, unlike audio-video calls, do not have an intrinsic rate requirement, we studied the question of what rate to choose for EST calls, and found that if EST calls were assigned the full link capacity, call blocking rates and mean waiting times were higher than if EST calls were assigned half the link capacity. Finally, we studied inter-class effects, and recommend design choices that mitigate these effects.
Data Correlation Aware Serial Encoding for Low Switching Power On-Chip Communication

Achieving lightning fast speed data communication in Chip Multi Processor (CMP) based systems as well as Networkon Chips (NoCs) is always desired for target performance. Data communication links inside the communication fabric of CMP or NoC architectures have strong impact on their performance and power dissipation. Several approaches exist to reduce power dissipation of parallel link on-chip interconnects, a very few techniques are reported for power reduction in serial links. The existing serial-link power reduction techniques don't necessarily account correlation exhibited in the data and hence are limited in terms of accuracy. In this paper, a novel data encoding scheme isproposed for serial links to decrease the number of self transitions to reduce the power in data transmission. The proposed scheme accounts the correlations in the data and hence is more effective for real-life applications. The system architecture as well as the encoding and decoding schemes have been implemented to explore the proposed algorithm applicable for any CMP or NoC architectures. The proposed encoding scheme has been analyzed with various types of real-life data streams. Experimental resultsshow that up to 27% reduction in power dissipation is possible in NoC links by the proposed scheme.
Development and evaluation of walking path estimation system using sensors of Android device and vector map matching

In this paper, we propose a new system for estimating walking paths, and people's indoor location (e.g., a floor or a room where user is staying) for life-logging. Our proposed system utilizes an acceleration sensor and an orientation sensor of an Android device, and the map matching with the preplotted vector map. Particularly emphasized new techniques in this paper are methods to estimate locations where walking directions are changed, to specify whether an elevator is used to move to another floor, and to estimate the walking path with the vector map matching. Through the experiment and evaluation, we have clarified that the proposed method has successfully estimated a walking path with accuracy of more than 80[%] in all routes, and 92[%] if an elevator is not included.
Wavelet menus: a stacking metaphor for adapting marking menus to mobile devices

Exploration and navigation in multimedia data hierarchies (e.g., photos, music) are frequent tasks on mobile devices. However, visualization and interaction are impoverished due to the limited size of the screen and the lack of precise input devices. As a result, menus on mobile devices do not provide efficient navigation as compared to many innovative menu techniques proposed for Desktop platforms. In this paper, we present Wavelet, the adaptation of the Wave menu for the navigation in multimedia data on iPhone. Its layout, based on an inverted representation of the hierarchy, is particularly well adapted to mobile devices. Indeed, it guarantees that submenus are always displayed on the screen and it supports efficient navigation by providing previsualization of the submenus.
CONJUGATE HARD X-RAY FOOTPOINTS IN THE 2003 OCTOBER 29 X10 FLARE: UNSHEARING MOTIONS, CORRELATIONS, AND ASYMMETRIES

We present a detailed imaging and spectroscopic study of the conjugate hard X-ray (HXR) footpoints (FPs) observed with the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) in the 2003 October 29 X10 flare. The double FPs first move toward and then away from each other, mainly parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic neutral line, respectively. The transition of these two phases of FP unshearing motions coincides with the direction reversal of the motion of the loop-top (LT) source, and with the minima of the estimated loop length and LT height. We find temporal correlations between the HXR flux, spectral index, and magnetic field strength of each FP. The HXR flux exponentially correlates with the magnetic field strength, which also anticorrelates with the spectral index before the second HXR peak's maximum, suggesting that particle acceleration sensitively depends on the magnetic field strength and/or reconnection rate. Asymmetries are observed between the FPs: on average, the eastern FP is 2.2 times brighter in HXR flux and 1.8 times weaker in magnetic field strength, and moves 2.8 times faster away from the neutral line than the western FP; the estimated coronal column density to the eastern FP from the LT source is 1.7 times smaller. The two FPs have marginally different spectral indices. The eastern-to-western FP HXR flux ratio and magnetic field strength ratio are anticorrelated only before the second HXR peak's maximum. Neither magnetic mirroring nor column density alone can explain the totality of these observations, but their combination, together with other transport effects, might provide a full explanation. We have also developed novel techniques to remove particle contamination from HXR counts and to estimate effects of pulse pileup in imaging spectroscopy, which can be applied to other RHESSI flares in similar circumstances.
Complete genome sequence of Acinetobacter baumannii MDR-TJ and insights into its mechanism of antibiotic resistance.

OBJECTIVES To determine the genome sequence of Acinetobacter baumannii strain MDR-TJ and characterize the mechanisms of multidrug resistance in this strain. METHODS The whole-genome sequence was determined using Roche 454 GS FLX Titanium. Subsequently, the gaps were closed by sequencing PCR products. The genome of strain MDR-TJ was annotated using IMG ER, the RAST annotation server and the BASys bacterial annotation system. The comM gene of MDR-TJ was examined to identify a possible antibiotic resistance island. Based on the results of multilocus sequence typing, we investigated seven multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains belonging to global clone 2 (GC2) isolated from Asia, Australia and Europe to determine the backbone shared by resistance islands of GC2 isolates. RESULTS The A. baumannii strain MDR-TJ genome consists of a circular chromosome and a plasmid, pABTJ1. Strain MDR-TJ was assigned to sequence type ST2. Strain MDR-TJ harbours a 41.6 kb resistance island designated RI(MDR-TJ), which can be derived from the backbone of Tn6167 through the insertion of a Tn6022 into the 3'-end of the tetA(B) gene. Comparative analysis showed that transposon Tn6022 and its truncated forms prevailed in the antibiotic resistance islands of GC2 isolates. The carbapenem resistance gene bla(OXA-23) carried by transposon Tn2009 is located on a putatively conjugative plasmid, pABTJ1. CONCLUSIONS A. baumannii strain MDR-TJ belongs to GC2 and is resistant to multiple antibiotics. A. baumannii MDR-TJ harbours a genomic resistance island that interrupts the comM gene. The carbapenem resistance of MDR-TJ is mediated by a putatively conjugative plasmid, pABTJ1.
On Peak versus Average Interference Power Constraints for Spectrum Sharing in Cognitive Radio Networks

This paper considers spectrum sharing for wireless communication between a cognitive radio (CR) and a primary radio (PR). An effective means known in the literature for the CR to protect the PR is by applying the so-called interference-temperature constraint, under which the CR is allowed to transmit regardless of the PR's on/off status provided that the resultant interference power level at the PR receiver is kept below some predefined threshold. For the fading PR and CR channels, the interference-power constraint at the PR receiver is usually one of the following two types: One is to regulate the average interference power (AIP) over all the fading states, while the other is to limit the peak interference power (PIP) at each fading state. From the CR's perspective, given the same average and peak power-constraint threshold, the AIP constraint is more favorable than the PIP counterpart because of its more flexibility for dynamically allocating the CR's transmit powers over the fading states. On the contrary, from the perspective of protecting the PR, the more restrictive PIP constraint appears at a first glance to be a better option. Some surprisingly, this paper proves that in terms of the achievable ergodic capacity of the PR fading channel, the AIP constraint is indeed superior over the PIP. This proof is based upon an interesting interference diversity phenomenon: Randomized interference powers over the fading states in the AIP case are more advantageous over deterministic ones in the PIP case for minimizing the resultant PR capacity loss. Therefore, the AIP constraint results in larger ergodic capacities than the PIP for both the CR and PR.
Chapter 1 Network Coding Techniques for Wireless and Sensor Networks

Network coding is a technique where relay nodes mix packets using mathematical operations, which reduces the number of transmitted packets. Network coding was first proposed for wired networks to solve the bottleneck problem and to increase the throughput. However, the broadcast nature of wireless networks and the diversity of the links make network coding more attractive in wireless networks. Network coding can be classified as either inter or intra-session. Inter-session network coding allows the packets from different sessions (sources) to be mixed to solve the bottleneck problem. In contrast, intra-session network coding, which can be used to address the packet loss problem, uses the diversity of the wireless links and mixes packets from the same sessions. In this chapter, we survey the recent works on network coding in both general wireless networks and wireless sensor networks. We present various network coding techniques, their assumptions, applications, as well as an overview of the proposed methods.