Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-cost wavefront coding using coma and a denoising-based deconvolution

Wavefront coding (WFC) is a powerful hybrid optical-numerical technique for increasing the depth of focus of imaging systems. It is based on two components: (1) an optical phase element that codifies the wavefront, and (2) a numerical deconvolution algorithm that reconstructs the image. Traditionally, some sophisticated optical WFC designs have been used to obtain approximate focus-invariant point spread functions (PSFs). Instead, we present a simple and low cost solution, implemented on infrared (IR) cameras, which uses a decentred lens inducing coma as an adjustable and removable phase element. We have used an advanced deconvolution algorithm for the image reconstruction, which is very robust against high noise levels. These features allow its application to low cost imaging systems. We show encouraging preliminary results based on realistic simulations using optical PSFs and noise power spectral density (PSD) laboratory models of two IR imaging systems. Without induced optical phase, the reconstruction algorithm improves the image quality in all cases, but it performs poorly when there are both in and out-of-focus objects in the scene. When using our coding/decoding scheme with low-noise detectors, the proposed solution provides high quality and robust recovery even for severe defocus. As sensor noise increases, the image suffers a graceful degradation, its quality being still acceptable even when using highly noisy sensors, such as microbolometers. We have experienced that the amount of induced coma is a key design parameter: while it only slightly affects the in-focus image quality, it is determinant for the final depth of focus.
Biometric Identification and Authentication Using Time Series Classification for Mouse and Eye Movements

Security plays a very important role in modern world where almost everything is done with the computer. It is agreed that biometric recognition systems require the combined analysis of multiple behavioral traits or physiological characteristics. In addition, those systems are considered to be the most flexible and effective mode of identifying and authenticating individuals as the person does not need to remember any password, or carry smart cards. The human body can remember the movement of mouse and the gaze if that action is practiced a lot, which mean when the user want to be authenticated in to computer so he will not forget the mouse and eye actions. So, this actions can be utilized in way of password authentication system, in which if the user implement the right movements can be considered as an authenticated user. Otherwise the system will reject the user. So for experimenting the authentication system, Different time series datasets consisting of mouse movements and gaze positions were analyzed and an authentication model was developed. It is shown that the users can be authenticated by proving their claimed identities using the developed model. This thesis investigates mouse and eye coordinates for user recognition scheme that introduce a random forest classification model for Mouse and eye movements to recognize these movements. The focus of this thesis is on the classification methods of time series, including similarity measures and random forest . Features are extracted from the mouse and eye movements raw data and implementing 1.Nearest Neighbor and Random forest to classify users. The accuracy of the identification varies with the variety of features used The experimental results were competing with our proposed biometric authentication model. The accuracy achieved by 1.Nearest neighbor was not sufficient in predicting users identities by mouse and eye tracking . On the other hand the maximum accuracy from implementing random forest model was 60 % which quietly good in terms of biometric but it is still need development to have perfect biometric model with higher accuracy.
Governing processes for reactive nitrogen compounds in the European atmosphere

Abstract. Reactive nitrogen (Nr) compounds have different fates in the atmosphere due to differences in the governing processes of physical transport, deposition and chemical transformation. Nr compounds addressed here include reduced nitrogen (NHx: ammonia (NH3) and its reaction product ammonium (NH4p)), oxidized nitrogen (NOy: nitrogen monoxide (NO) p nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and their reaction products) as well as organic nitrogen compounds (organic N). Pollution abatement strategies need to take into account the differences in the governing processes of these compounds when assessing their impact on ecosystem services, biodiversity, human health and climate. NOx (NO p NO2) emitted from traffic affects human health in urban areas where the presence of buildings increases the residence time in streets. In urban areas this leads to enhanced exposure of the population to NOx concentrations. NOx emissions generally have little impact on nearby ecosystems because of the small dry deposition rates of NOx. These compounds need to be converted into nitric acid (HNO3) before removal through deposition is efficient. HNO3 sticks quickly to any surface and is thereby either dry deposited or incorporated into aerosols as nitrate (NO3−). In contrast to NOx compounds, NH3 has potentially high impacts on ecosystems near the main agricultural sources of NH3 because of its large ground-level concentrations along with large dry deposition rates. Aerosol phase NH4p and NO3− contribute significantly to background PM2.5 and PM10 (mass of aerosols with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 and 10 μm, respectively) with an impact on radiation balance as well as potentially on human health. Little is known quantitatively and qualitatively about organic N in the atmosphere, other than that it contributes a significant fraction of wet-deposited N, and is present in both gaseous and particulate forms. Further studies are needed to characterise the sources, air chemistry and removal rates of organic N emissions.
Design of Biomimetic Robofish System

In this paper, the mechanism of fish movement propelled by carangiform and lunular tailfins was analyzed. A one-dimensional steady-state swimming model was established according to the three turning forms and five up-and-down locomotion patterns of robot fishes. Through the analysis of the drag forces and thrusts acted on oscillating fishes, we constructed a kinetic equation of robofishes, and determined itsbasic kinematic parameters. With a steering engine as the component of driving units, we designed a three–joint biomimetic robofish (consisting of the head, the body and the fin sections) to simulate its internal structure. The microcontroller system was employed to build up an infrared-obstacle-avoidance-sensor-based control system, in which CPG control model was used wirelessly to perform remote control on the robot fish.
Productivity Gains from R&D Investment: Are High-Tech Sectors Still Ahead?

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between a firm's RD to this end, we use a large unique longitudinal database consisting of 1,809 US and European manufacturing and service firms over the period 1990-2008, for a total of 16,079 observations. Our main findings can be summarised as follows: knowledge stock has a significant positive impact on a firm's productivity, with an overall elasticity of about 0.10; this general result is largely consistent with findings presented in previous literature in terms of the sign, the significance and the estimated magnitude of the relevant coefficient. More interestingly, the coefficient turns out to be significantly larger in the service and high-tech sectors than in the non-high-tech manufacturing sectors. These outcomes suggest that firms in high-tech sectors are still ahead in terms of the impact on productivity of their RD moreover, a shift in favour of the service sectors seems to emerge.
Biomechanical simulation of chest-falsetto transitions and the influence of vocal tract resonators

Biomechanical modeling is carried out to study register transitions of the human voice. Registers and their transitions play an important role not only in the singing voice but also in the expressive speech. Our model has a bodycover structure, which is composed of fourth masses. A smooth geometry is realized by introducing a polygon shape to the vocal fold model. The simulation study shows that the model can reproduce many complex phenomena such as register jumps, hysteresis, subharmonics, and chaos, observed in excised larynx experiment as well as in vocalization of untrained singers. Influence of the subglottal and supraglottal resonances on the transition point of the registers is also investigated in detail.
The Relationship between Brand Club Personalities, Trust and Brand Loyalty in Fans of Persepolis FC

Fan loyalty is imperative for sports clubs. In fact, fans have more trust in their favorite team will remain loyal to the team. Team managers and sports clubs must win the trust of their fans. Club brand personality is one of the variables that can be used to enhance the trust of the fans. Due to this issue, in this study, the relationship between club brand personality, trust and loyalty of fans have been investigated. The population of this research consists of Persepolis FC fans and 384 persons were evaluated as the statistical sample. To collect the data, the brand personality questionnaire by Tsiotso (2012), the modified questionnaire by Chowdhury and Holbrook (2001), the attitudinal loyalty questionnaire by Gladden and Funk (2003) and the behavioral loyalty questionnaire by Fink et al. (2001) were used. Descriptive and inferential statistics (regression coefficient and Structural Equation Modeling) were used for statistical analysis. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that club brand personality influences on brand trust and it influences behavioral and attitudinal loyalty of the fans. The managers of Persepolis FC can use a brand trust to increase the loyalty of their fans and implement brand personality to gain their trust.
IMPARTIALITY AND CORRUPTION IN SWEDEN

This paper presents data on corruption and impartiality from a unique survey with local politicians in Sweden, which includes answers from about 78 percent of the 13 361 politicians active in the 290 Swedish municipalities. On the basis of a number of questions related to impartiality and corruption, and after checking for respondent perception bias, we construct three indices: one bribery index, one partiality index and one recruitment index. The paper also assesses the external validity of these indices, using previous surveys, crime statistics and media reports on corruption. Our main conclusion after these analyses is that the indices hold water, and thus that it is worthwhile to include them in future, more explanatory studies on both causes and consequences of corruption and impartiality in Sweden. Carl Dahlstrom The Quality of Government Institute Department of Political Science University of Gothenburg Carl.dahlstrom@pol.gu. se Anders Sundell The Quality of Government Institute Department of Political Science University of Gothenburg Anders.sundell@pol.gu. se
Customer service improvement strategies at CFC Stanbic Bank Kenya Limited

With the increasing competition that companies are facing today, rewards will accrue to those who can read precisely what consumers wants by continuously scanning the environment and delivering the greatest value to customers. This study sought to establish the customer service improvement strategies at CfCStanbic Bank Kenya Limited. The Bank had faced many service delivery challenges following the merger of CFC Bank and Stanbic Bank of Kenya Limited. They two banks had a different setting, management and organization culture. The study applied case study research design where information was only collected from the senior management team since they are involved in strategy formulation and implementation. The study used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using interview guide while secondary data was collected using desk research from publications at the Bank. The study used content analysis and presented the findings in prose format. From the research findings, customer improvement strategies used by the Bank to satisfy and retain customers included harmonization of operating systems and bank account systems; harmonization of ATM networks and by becoming more proactive and sensitive to customer issues which enabled it respond to customer needs on time thus attracting more and increasing the satisfaction level of the existing ones. The Bank engaged in intense research and development which led to the development of new banking services with features a customized to certain market segment to appreciate the status of customers. The Bank used market segmentation and targeting strategies to improve customer service and satisfaction. The bank invested in employee capacity building and culture management to build a service culture among its employees. The study concluded that the merger of CFC Bank and Stanbic bank to form CFCStanbic Bank presented several service challenges to the Bank. To help deliver services efficiently to customers, the Bank invested in Customer improvement to boost its customer satisfaction and loyalty. The Bank faced employee culture and orientation, system compatibility and change agents inadequacy.
Measuring Happiness in Portuguese Adults: Validation of the CHQ - Covilha Happiness Questionnaire

This paper focuses on the study of happiness from two perspectives that have accompanied the historical evolution of its scientific study: its conceptual definition as a construct and its measurement. We aimed to integrate and analyze the development and validation of a new measure, adapted to the reality and socio-cultural specificities of Portugal, which struggles with particular socio-economic contingencies that have emerged contemporaneously. We also aimed to develop methodologies to obtain valid and updated data on psychosocial indicators of happiness and subjective well-being among the Portuguese population. This article thus explores the problem of measuring happiness within the complex conceptual context of (in) definition and operating (un)measurability. The article assumes the instrumental and descriptive objectives and attempts to contribute to the development and validation of a new instrument for assessing happiness. These objectives are founded on a multifactorial theoretical conception that incorporates personal, social and environmental dimensions, and which allows for the provision of specific indicators of happiness and an overall aggregated indicator. Method: This study was a cross-sectional survey of 645 Portuguese people. The Covilha’s Happiness Questionnaire (CHQ) uses 41 items to measure a person’s happiness. Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed a well-fitting 5-dimensional factor structure (KMO = 0.914), with strong factor loadings and excellent internal reliability (Cronbach’sα = 0.921). The CHQ assessed the following dimensions: positive emotions, socially gratifying interactions, self-caring, participation in meaningful activities, and socio-economic structure engagement. Conclusion: The CHQ has good face validity and sound psychometric properties. It is a culturally adapted measure, thus user-friendly for researchers and others utilizing the scale.
Trophic ecology of the European hake in the Gulf of Lions, northwestern Mediterranean Sea

The European hake, Merluccius merluccius , is an important resource for Mediterranean fisheries. This study focuses on juvenile and adult hake feeding ecology in the Gulf of Lions, using information from scientific surveys carried out during two seasons and three years (2004-2006). Stomach content and stable isotope (δ 15 N, δ 13 C) analyses were performed, and the main factors explaining variations in δ 15 N were investigated using GLMs. In the Gulf of Lions, hake mostly fed on crustaceans and fish and a dominant piscivorous regime was reached at 15 cm total length. Pelagic fish (sardine, anchovy and small blue whiting) were the main source of prey (40%-80%) and cannibalism was low (< 5%). The results confirmed that hake is an opportunistic feeder and also showed that the size and diversity of prey vary among hake size classes, probably as a result of the different spatial distribution and/or foraging migrations. The present study finally postulates that the unbalanced sex ratio (80% female against 20% male) observed at the adult stage could be related to the combination of growth pattern differences, diet and exploitation rate on the continental shelf, where the males spend a longer period of time.
Media Mapping: Using Georeferenced Images and Audio to provide supporting information for the Analysis of Environmental Sensor Datasets

Field based environmental monitoring projects often fail to gather supporting temporal information on the surroundings, yet these external factors may play a significant part in understanding variations in the collected datasets. For example when sampling air quality the values may change as a result of a bus passing the sampling point, yet this temporal local information is difficult to capture at a consistently high resolution over extended time periods. Here we develop an application which runs on a mobile phone able to capture visual and audio data with corresponding time and location details. We also develop a desktop analysis tool which synchronises the display of this dataset with those captured from environmental sensors. The result is a tool able to assist researchers in understanding local changes in environmental datasets as a result of changes in the nearby surrounding environment.
Design and Optimization of Log Periodic Toothed Antenna for UWB Applications

The aim of this paper is to design and optimize the performance of log periodic toothed antenna for Ultra Wideband (UWB) Applications. The operating frequency of the antenna is 4-10GHz. The proposed method focuses to optimize the performance of the antenna by achieving the gain of 4.5dB, VSWR<2 and directivity of 5.1dB by using FR4 substrate of relative permittivity 4.4 and dissipation factor 0.013. The substrate dimension is taken as 41.9x41. 9x1.6 mm. Further, aperture band rejection technique is used to improve the antenna parameters like radiation pattern, directivity and gain. This antenna is simulated using ANSOFT-HFSS and the results are presented.
Pools ‘on the rocks’: freshwater rock pools as model system in ecological and evolutionary research

Pools 'on the rocks': freshwater rock pools as model system in ecological and evolutionary research Rock pools inarguably exhibit a number of characteristics which make them attractive as a model system in ecological and evolutionary research. They are usually small, pristine, clearly delineated and structurally simple systems that occur on a global scale. They facilitate the quantication of important population and community structuring processes which are often hard or impossible to quantify in larger more complex systems. Basic properties and spatial conguration of rock pools also closely resemble theoretical metapopulation and metacommunity models. Due to the simple morphometry of rock pool basins and the lack of any groundwater interactions, rock pool hydrologies are simple allowing to reliably reconstruct the disturbance regime against which patterns of variation in life histories, population genetics, species diversity and community structure can be interpreted.
Parametrization of 2-thiouracil and 4-thiouracil in CHARMM all-atom empirical force field

A new set of force field parameters complementing the CHARMM27 all atom empirical force field for nucleic acids was developed for 2-thiouracil and 4-thiouracil, two naturally modified RNA bases. The new parameters allow for molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulations of RNA containing 2-thiouracil and 4-thiouracil.
Multicomponent wave separation using HOSVD/unimodal-ICA subspace method

Multicomponent sensor arrays now are commonly used in seismic acquisition to record polarized waves. In this article, we use a three-mode model polarization mode, distance mode, and temporal mode to take into account the specific structure of signals that are recorded with these arrays, providing a data-structure-preserving processing. With the suggested model, we propose a multilinear decomposition named higher-order singular value decomposition and unimodal independent component analysis HOSVD/unimodal ICA to split the recorded threemode data into two orthogonal subspaces: the signal and noise subspaces.This decomposition allows the separation and identification of polarized waves with infinite apparent horizontal propagation velocity.The HOSVD leads to a definition of a subspace method that is the counterpart of the well-known subspace method for matrices that is driven by singular value decompositionSVD,aclassictoolinmonocomponentarrayprocessing. The proposed three-mode subspace decomposition provides a multicomponentwave-separationalgorithm.Toenhancetheseparation result, when the signal-to-noise ratio is low or when orthogonality constraints are not well adapted to the recorded waves, a unimodal-ICA step is included on the temporal mode. Doingthisreplacestheclassicorthogonalityconstraintsbetween estimated waves with independence constraints that might allow better recovery of recorded seismic waves.Asimulation on realistic two-component 2C geophysical data shows qualitative and quantitative improvements for the wavefield-separation results. The relative-mean-square errors between the original and estimated signal subspaces are, respectively, 52% for SVD applied on each component separately, 27.4% for HOSVD-based technique applied to the whole three-mode dataset, and 7.3% for HOSVD/unimodal-ICA technique. The efficiency of the threemodesubspacedecompositionsalsoisshownonrealthree-component 3C geophysical data. These results emphasize the potentialoftheHOSVD/unimodal-ICAsubspacemethodformulticomponentseismic-waveseparation.
The Effect of an Introductory Training Program on Teachers' Efficacy Beliefs

Greek teachers who are appointed for the first time in public schools on a permanent basis have to attend an introductory training program. The present study investigated the effect of this program on teacher's self-efficacy beliefs. Participants were 237 teachers from various disciplines employed in primary and secondary education. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES, Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) was used to measure three dimensions of teachers' competence beliefs, efficacy for instructional strategies, for classroom management and for student engagement. The TSES was administered twice, once before the beginning of the training program and once after the completion of the first phase. Doubly repeated measures analysis showed a significant and a meaningful increase in efficacy for classroom management and a tendency for positive shift in efficacy for student engagement. It was concluded that the first phase of the training program enhanced teachers' beliefs in their capabilities.