Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Astrophysics Program at South Carolina State University

The September 2005 issue of "Physics Today" highlighted the progress of developing space science programs at a number of minority institutions. South Carolina State University (SCSU), an Historically Black College/ University, was one of the featured schools. Here we present an in-depth review of the astrophysics program at SCSU in the areas of faculty and student research, curriculum development and outreach. We include a discussion of such activities as our Undergraduate Research Institute in Astrophysics, a "pre-REU" summer internship program operating since 1998 in which a total of nearly 50 underrepresented minority students have participated. Successful partnerships with NASA research centers, KPNO, Lawrence Livermore National Lab and others are described as well as our outreach to the K-12 community including the NASA Explorer Schools. Support for these programs includes funding from NASA/MUCERPI (NNG04GD62G), NASA/MU-SPIN (NNG04GC40A), NASA/URC (NCCW-0085) and the NASA Broker/Facilitator program SERCH (NCC 5-607) http://physics.scsu. edu/ The astronomy faculty at SCSU has grown from a lone planetarium director in 1994 to currently include two Ph.D. astronomers, a planetarium director and four additional physics and chemistry faculty members involved in student research, curriculum development and outreach in astronomy and astrobiology. Recent work in includes: ♦Narrow-band Imagery with the Robotically Controlled Telescope (Walter, D. K. et. al. 2004) ♦Modeling the accretion stream in polars (Cash, J.L. 2004, 2003) ♦IR spectroscopy of comets (Walter, D.K. in development) ♦Student projects on Large Scale Structure results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Smith, D.M. 2004) ♦3-D stellar modeling using massively parallel processing (Cash, in development) ♦Student projects in radio astronomy (Payne, J.E., et. al. 2003) ♦Extensive outreach to K-12 community through standards-correlated, inquiry-based workshops and other activities (Walter, D.K., Payne. L.L., & Watts, S. 2004) ♦Member of the Robotically Controlled Telescope (RCT) Consortium FACULTY 671.7 nm 673.1 nm RCT Images of NGC 6543 STUDENTS The Undergraduate Research Institute in Astrophysics (URIA) is a two-tier summer internship program. ♦Level I is an 8-week summer internship for underrepresented minority students from around the country ♦Level I is a “pre-REU” program held in residence at SCSU from 1998-2005. ♦Level II is for qualified students who spend a second summer in an REU or “REU-like” program working with researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (5 students) Kitt Peak National Observatory (4 students) Goddard Space Flight Center (3 students) Applied Physics Lab (2 students) Planetary Science Institute (1 student) University of South Carolina (1 student) Caltech (1 student) University of Chicago (1 student)
Exploring non-clinical inattention in adults : prevalence, and links to working memory and self-regulation

Inattention is a symptom related to several mental health disorders, most notably ADHD. Recent work has suggested that a) inattention is a symptom worth studying in it’s own right regardless of co-occurring pathology, b) it persists beyond childhood and may be more relevant to adults than the other ADHD symptoms (hyperactivity and impulsivity), and c) it is dimensional so investigation of it should consider the full spectrum of symptom expression. The approach of this thesis is based on these points. A preliminary study addressed the prevalence of inattention. Findings validated the approach of the thesis and suggested that inattention is highly prevalent in a general population sample of adults (over 30% when broadly defined), more so than hyperactivity-impulsivity. Across four further studies we used behavioural and pupillometry measures to investigate the cognitive underpinnings of inattention with a view to differentiating it from hyperactivity and impulsivity. Research suggests a role for executive functions (EFs) and self-regulatory processes in ADHD, although there is conflicting theory on what aspects of these relate to which symptoms. Various EF and self-regulatory components, with consideration for “hot” and “cool” cognitive distinctions, were tested in relation to ADHD symptoms using a model based on an interpretation of the literature. Findings across studies were mixed, but make several notable contributions to literature in this area. Firstly we demonstrated a unique and robust relationship between inattention and working memory. Secondly, we show strong evidence against a relationship between inattention and norepinephrine activity as indexed by changes in pupil diameter. There were also notable distinctions between inattention and the other symptoms of ADHD across the research. We discuss how these findings relate to theory on “hot” and “cool” cognition, along with their application to both general population and clinical groups.
Peculiar Velocity Limits from Measurements of the Spectrum of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect in Six Clusters of Galaxies

We have made measurements of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect in six galaxy clusters at z > 0.2 using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Infrared Experiment (SuZIE II) in three frequency bands between 150 and 350 GHz. Simultaneous multifrequency measurements have been used to distinguish between thermal and kinematic components of the SZ effect and to significantly reduce the effects of variations in atmospheric emission that can otherwise dominate the noise. We have set limits to the peculiar velocities of each cluster with respect to the Hubble flow and have used the cluster sample to set a 95% confidence limit of less than 1420 km s-1 to the bulk flow of the intermediate-redshift universe in the direction of the cosmic microwave background dipole. This is the first time that SZ measurements have been used to constrain bulk flows. We show that systematic uncertainties in peculiar velocity determinations from the SZ effect are likely to be dominated by submillimeter point sources, and we discuss the level of this contamination.
Real-time noise-aware tone mapping

Real-time high quality video tone mapping is needed for many applications, such as digital viewfinders in cameras, display algorithms which adapt to ambient light, in-camera processing, rendering engines for video games and video post-processing. We propose a viable solution for these applications by designing a video tone-mapping operator that controls the visibility of the noise, adapts to display and viewing environment, minimizes contrast distortions, preserves or enhances image details, and can be run in real-time on an incoming sequence without any preprocessing. To our knowledge, no existing solution offers all these features. Our novel contributions are: a fast procedure for computing local display-adaptive tone-curves which minimize contrast distortions, a fast method for detail enhancement free from ringing artifacts, and an integrated video tone-mapping solution combining all the above features.
A new Fourier shape descriptor using smallest rectangle distance

Shape is one of the main features in content-based image retrieval (CBIR). This paper proposes a novel CBIR technique based on shape feature. This technique uses the distances between the boundary points of a shape and the smallest rectangle that covers it. The proposed technique is a Fourier based technique and it is invariant to translation, scaling and rotation. The retrieval performance between some commonly used Fourier based signatures and our Smallest Rectangle Distance (SRD) signature has been tested using MPEG-7 database. Experimental results are shown that the SRD signature has better performance compared with many of those signatures.
myTunes: Semantically Linked and User-Centric Fine-Grained Privacy Control on Android

Smartphone operating systems provide designated databases and services for user’s private information (e.g., contacts data and SMS or location) that can be conveniently accessed by 3rd party apps through clearly defined APIs. The popular Android OS deploys a permission framework and a reference monitor to protect the interfaces of these security and privacy sensitive components. However, Android’s default permissions are too coarse-grained and inflexible to provide sufficient protection of users’ privacy as recent privacy violation incidents show. Recently several privacy-protection solutions on Android have been proposed. However, all of these solutions regulate access to sensitive information on a binary all-or-nothing basis. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a user-centric fine-grained privacy control on Android’s system ContentProviders and Services. Our solution tackles the challenge of providing a per-data and per-app access control to private information. This allows the user to intuitively adjust his privacy settings (by means of a Privacy Control App) with respect to both his need to share and protect private information. Moreover, a particular contribution of our work is establishing semantic links between the access control rules in different system components to prevent inferring of sensitive information from deputy databases or services. We successfully evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our solution based on popular social networking apps.
Geometric distortion of schematic network maps

The famous London Underground map shows the Thames and named metro stations with railway tracks as straight line segments. Strictly speaking, it is not a map that aims at a metrically accurate depiction of the network, but it is rather a diagram that accentuates the topological relations of Underground stations. Henry “Harry” C. Beck produced the first sketch for the famous diagram in 1931. His first submission was rejected, probably because the schematic 45and 90-degree design was considered as being too revolutionary. His second submission, however, was published in January 1933 after a few graphical improvements (Garland, 1998). The public quickly adopted Beck’s innovative diagram and appreciated its effective information design. Indeed, very soon additional printings had to follow the initial 750,000 copies. Probably one of the main reasons why the public so openly embraced Beck’s diagram, was that it brought order into London’s intricate geography. Garland 1998:7-8 writes: “Above any consideration of the Diagram as a navigation aid was the optimistic vision it offered of a city that was not chaotic, in spite of appearances to the contrary, that knew what it was about and wanted its visitors to know it, too. Its bright, clean and colourful design exuded confidence in every line. ”
On Control for "Blind Touching" by Human-Like Thumb Robots

Human can pinch or grasp and manipulate an object stably and dexterously. Accomplishment of such tasks is contributed from human hand's configuration, called "fingers-thumb opposability". This opposability of the thumb against other digits is specific and granted to only human among primates. When we use a cell phone, or change a TV's channel using a remote controller, we grasp it by a palm and digits other than the thumb, and push buttons using the thumb quickly, without looking the buttons. These kinds of thumb's movement seem to be one of the most intelligent movements in a human. Therefore, execution of such touching tasks without visual or tactile sensing is called in this paper "blind touching". The goal of this research is to realize humanlike "blind touching" by means of a 5 D.O. F. thumb robot model with soft and hemispherical finger-tip. To do this, we formulate a simultaneous contact position and touching force control by using 3-dimensional rolling contact with the task plane. First, dynamics of the 5 D.O. F. thumb robot model with hemispherical soft finger-tip under rolling constraints is derived. Then, a sensory-motor control law without vision, force or tactile sensing is proposed. Some numerical simulations show that the desired contact position and touching force can be attained by the proposed control scheme. A theoretical proof of convergence to the desired state is also presented.
ThÃ¼nensche Ringe der Biogaserzeugung â€“ der Einfluss der TransportwÃ¼rdigkeit nachwachsender Rohstoffe auf die Rohstoffwahl von Biogasanlagen

Dieser Beitrag befasst sich mit dem Einfluss der TransportwA¼rdigkeit nachwachsender Rohstoffe auf die Rohstoffwahl von Biogasanlagen. Dabei wird die Rohstoffversorgung in AbhA¤ngigkeit der Transportentfernung der Rohstoffe optimiert. HierfA¼r wird dasModell der ThA¼nenschen Ringe in einigen Punkten angepasst und auf die Rohstoffversorgung von Biogasanlagen angewendet. Neben den Mengen- und EnergieertrA¤gen der nachwachsenden Rohstoffe sowie deren Bereitstellungskosten spielt hierbei auch die Wirtschaftlichkeit der Anlage eine Rolle. Es zeigt sich, dass Silomais auch bei mittleren Transportentfernungen der vorteilhafteste nachwachsende Rohstoff ist. Bei hA¶heren Transportentfernungen ist dagegen der transportwA¼rdigere Winterweizen besser geeignet. Eine Untersuchung der BeschaffungsgebietsgrA¶AŸe der Rohstoffe zeigt, dass auch deutlich grA¶AŸere Biogasanlagen als der heutige Stand der Technik ausschlieAŸlich auf Silomais als nachwachsenden Rohstoff zurA¼ckgreifen wA¼rden. This paper discusses how differences in transport costs of energy crops affect the choice of feedstock used in biogas production. This is done by optimizing feedstock demand subject to transportation distances of the different crops. For this a von Thuenen type model is applied to the feedstock demand of biogas plants. In addition to yields in terms of quantity and energy concerning the different crops and the costs of having them available, the profitability of the fermentation plant must be considered. It is shown that silage maize is the most profitable crop for medium distances, but gives way to winter wheat as distances increase. Our analysis suggests that even bigger plants than today can be sustained exclusively with silage maize.
Modeling bispecific monoclonal antibody interaction with two cell membrane targets indicates the importance of surface diffusion

ABSTRACT We have developed a mathematical framework for describing a bispecific monoclonal antibody interaction with two independent membrane-bound targets that are expressed on the same cell surface. The bispecific antibody in solution binds either of the two targets first, and then cross-links with the second one while on the cell surface, subject to rate-limiting lateral diffusion step within the lifetime of the monovalently engaged antibody-antigen complex. At experimental densities, only a small fraction of the free targets is expected to lie within the reach of the antibody binding sites at any time. Using ordinary differential equation and Monte Carlo simulation-based models, we validated this approach against an independently published anti-CD4/CD70 DuetMab experimental data set. As a result of dimensional reduction, the cell surface reaction is expected to be so rapid that, in agreement with the experimental data, no monovalently bound bispecific antibody binary complexes accumulate until cross-linking is complete. The dissociation of the bispecific antibody from the ternary cross-linked complex is expected to be significantly slower than that from either of the monovalently bound variants. We estimate that the effective affinity of the bivalently bound bispecific antibody is enhanced for about 4 orders of magnitude over that of the monovalently bound species. This avidity enhancement allows for the highly specific binding of anti-CD4/CD70 DuetMab to the cells that are positive for both target antigens over those that express only one or the other We suggest that the lateral diffusion of target antigens in the cell membrane also plays a key role in the avidity effect of natural antibodies and other bivalent ligands in their interactions with their respective cell surface receptors.
An Integrated Multi-document Summarization Approach based on Word Hierarchical Representation

This paper introduces a novel hierarchical summarization approach for automatic multi-document summarization. By creating a hierarchical representation of the words in the input document set, the proposed approach is able to incorporate various objectives of multi-document summarization through an integrated framework. The evaluation is conducted on the DUC 2007 data set.
Discrimination of normal and abnormal heart sounds using probability assessment

Aims: According to the “2016 Physionet/CinC Challenge”, we propose an automated method identifying normal or abnormal phonocardiogram recordings. Method: Invalid data segments are detected (saturation, blank and noise tests). The record is transformed into amplitude envelopes in five frequency bands. Systole duration and RR estimations are computed; 15–90 Hz amplitude envelope and systole/RR estimations are used for detection of the first and second heart sound (S1 and S2). Features from accumulated areas surrounding S1 and S2 as well as features from the whole recordings were extracted and used for training. During the training process, we collected probability and weight values of each feature in multiple ranges. For feature selection and optimization tasks, we developed C# application PROBAfind, able to generate the resultant Matlab code. Results: The method was trained with 3153 Physionet Challenge recordings (length 8–60 seconds; 6 databases). The results of the training set show the sensitivity, specificity and score of 0.93, 0.97 and 0.95, respectively. The method was evaluated on a hidden Challenge dataset with sensitivity and specificity of 0.77 and 0.91, respectively. These results led to an overall score of 0.84.
An Automatic Bayesian Classification System for File Format Selection

This paper presents an approach for the classification of an unstructured format description for identification of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support file format selection with just the unstructured text description that comprises the most important format features for a particular organisation. Subsequently, the file format indentification method employs file format classifier and associated configurations to support digital preservation experts with an estimation of required file format. Our goal is to make use of a format specification knowledge base aggregated from a different Web sources in order to select file format for a particular institution. Using the naive Bayes method, the decision support system recommends to an expert, the file format for his institution. The proposed methods facilitate the selection of file format and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is meant to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and specifications of file formats. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the file formats is presented as a file format vocabulary that comprises most common terms that are characteristic for all researched formats. The goal is to suggest a particular file format based on this vocabulary for analysis by an expert. The sample file format calculation and the calculation results including probabilities are presented in the evaluation section. Keywords—data mining, digital libraries, digital preservation, file format.
Onecut1 Is Essential for Horizontal Cell Genesis and Retinal Integrity

Horizontal cells are interneurons that synapse with photoreceptors in the outer retina. Their genesis during development is subject to regulation by transcription factors in a hierarchical manner. Previously, we showed that Onecut 1 (Oc1), an atypical homeodomain transcription factor, is expressed in developing horizontal cells (HCs) and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the mouse retina. Herein, by knocking out Oc1 specifically in the developing retina, we show that the majority (∼80%) of HCs fail to form during early retinal development, implying that Oc1 is essential for HC genesis. However, no other retinal cell types, including RGCs, were affected in the Oc1 knock-out. Analysis of the genetic relationship between Oc1 and other transcription factor genes required for HC development revealed that Oc1 functions downstream of FoxN4, in parallel with Ptf1a, but upstream of Lim1 and Prox1. By in utero electroporation, we found that Oc1 and Ptf1a together are not only essential, but also sufficient for determination of HC fate. In addition, the synaptic connections in the outer plexiform layer are defective in Oc1-null mice, and photoreceptors undergo age-dependent degeneration, indicating that HCs are not only an integral part of the retinal circuitry, but also are essential for the survival of photoreceptors. In sum, these results demonstrate that Oc1 is a critical determinant of HC fate, and reveal that HCs are essential for photoreceptor viability, retinal integrity, and normal visual function.
Formation of AAV Single Stranded DNA Genome from a Circular Plasmid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors are promising tools for targeted transfer in gene therapy studies. Many efforts have been accomplished to improve production and purification methods. We thought to develop a simple eukaryotic system allowing AAV replication which could provide an excellent opportunity for studying AAV biology and, more importantly, for AAV vector production. It has been shown that yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is able to replicate and form the capsid of many viruses. We investigated the ability of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to carry out the replication of a recombinant AAV (rAAV). When a plasmid containing a rAAV genome in which the cap gene was replaced with the S. cerevisiae URA3 gene, was co-transformed in yeast with a plasmid expressing Rep68, a significant number of URA3+ clones were scored (more than 30-fold over controls). Molecular analysis of low molecular weight DNA by Southern blotting revealed that single stranded DNA is formed and that the plasmid is entirely replicated. The ssDNA contains the ITRs, URA3 gene and also vector sequences suggesting the presence of two distinct molecules. Its formation was dependent on Rep68 expression and ITR. These data indicate that DNA is not obtained by the canonical AAV replication pathway.