Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ophiuchus: an optical view of a very massive cluster of galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way

The Ophiuchus cluster, at a redshift z=0.0296, is known from X-rays to be one of the most massive nearby clusters, but due to its very low Galactic latitude its optical properties have not been investigated in detail. We discuss the optical properties of the galaxies in the Ophiuchus cluster, in particular with the aim of understanding better its dynamical properties. We have obtained deep optical imaging in several bands with various telescopes, and applied a sophisticated method to model and subtract the contributions of stars in order to measure galaxy magnitudes as accurately as possible. The colour-magnitude relations obtained show that there are hardly any blue galaxies in Ophiuchus (at least brighter than r'<=19.5), and this is confirmed by the fact that we only detect two galaxies in Halpha. We also obtained a number of spectra with ESO-FORS2, that we combined with previously available redshifts. Altogether, we have 152 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the 0.02<=z<=0.04 range, and 89 galaxies with both a redshift within the cluster redshift range and a measured r' band magnitude (limited to the Megacam 1x1 deg^2 field). A complete dynamical analysis based on the galaxy redshifts available shows that the overall cluster is relaxed and has a mass of 1.1x10^15 solar masses. The Sernal-Gerbal method detects a main structure and a much smaller substructure that are not separated in projection. From its dynamical properties derived from optical data, the Ophiuchus cluster seems to be overall a relaxed structure, or at most a minor merger, though in X-rays the central region (radius ~ 150 kpc) may show evidence for merging effects.
Norman, Jane E. and Reynolds, Rebecca M. 2015. Maternal Obesity During Pregnancy Associates With Premature Mortality and Major Cardiovascular Events in Later LifeNovelty and Significance

One in five pregnant women is obese but the impact on later health is unknown. We aimed to determine whether maternal obesity during pregnancy associates with i ncreased premature mortality and later life major cardiovascular events. Mate rnity records of women who gave birth to their first child between 1950 and 1976 (n=18,873) from the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal databank were linked to the National Regist er of Deaths, Scotland and Scottish Morbidity Record. The effect of materna l obesity at first antenatal visit on death and hospital admissions for cardiovascular events was tested using time to event analysis with Cox proportional hazard regression to compare outcomes of mothers in underweight, overweight, or obese BMI categories compare d to normal BMI. Median follow-up was at 73 years. All-cause mortality was in creased in women who were obese during pregnancy (BMI>30kg/m ) compared with normal BMI after adjustment for socioeconomic status, smoking, gestation at BMI mea surement, preeclampsia and low birthweight (hazard ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.77 ). In adjusted models, overweight and obese mothers had increased risk of hospital admission for a cardiovascular event (1. 16, 1.06 to 1.27 and 1. 26, 1.01 to 1.57) compared to normal BMI mothers. Adjustment for parity ncreased largely unchanged the hazard ratios (mortality: 1.43, 1.09 to 1.88; cardiovascular events overweight 1.17, 1.07 to 1.29 and obese 1.30, 1.04 to 1.62). In conclusion, maternal obesity is associated with increased risk of premature death and cardiovascular disease. P regnancy and early post-partum could represent an opportunity for interventions to identify obesity and reduce its adverse
SEASONAL VARIATION OF SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE OVER TWO SAHELIAN SURFACES

The seasonal variation of the surface energy balance (SEB) (net radiation, soil heat flux, and sensible and latent heat fluxes) for a savanna and an open natural forest (tiger-bush) located in the Sahel is presented. Daily averages of these four fluxes were obtained using standard micrometeorological instruments/methods (radiometry, soil heat flux plates and the eddy correlation technique). Because sensible and latent heat flux data were not available during the dry season (and occasionally missing during the wet season), estimates from a simple linear equation, which relates sensible heat flux to the difference between surface and air temperature, were used instead. This produced a practically continuous time series of the surface energy balance for a period of over 1 year. Net radiation over both surfaces appeared to be very similar, varying roughly between 75 W m (dry winter months) and 175 W m (wet summer months) on a daily basis. During the winter months, soil heat flux had maximum values of about −8 W m, while maximum values during the summer were approximately +8 W m. Sensible heat flux varied between approximately 20 W m (wet season) and 100 W m (end of dry season) with generally slightly higher values for the savanna than for the tiger-bush, especially during the dry autumn and winter months. During the wet season, evaporation reached values of 100–150 W m. Both surfaces were predicted to exhibit some evaporation during the dry season; approximately 5–10 W m for the savanna and approximately 20 W m for the tiger-bush. The course of these fluxes is supported by secondary observations such as rooting depth and greenness of the vegetation, indicating that this method may be a useful tool if gaps in long-term time series exist. The information presented will be useful as verification data for climate modelling and can be used as ground truth data for remote sensing. Copyright © 1999 Royal Meteorological Society.
Damping Reduction Factors for Crustal, Inslab, and Interface Earthquakes Characterizing Seismic Hazard in Southwestern British Columbia, Canada

High-damping displacement spectra and corresponding damping reduction factors (η) are important ingredients in seismic design and analysis of structures equipped with seismic protection systems, as well as in displacement-based design methodologies. In this study, we investigated η factors for three types of earthquake characterizing seismic hazard in southwestern British Columbia, Canada: shallow crustal, deep inslab, and interface subduction. We used a large and comprehensive database including records from recent relevant earthquakes, such as the 2011 Tohoku event. Our key observations were as follows: (1) there is negligible dependence of η on soil class; (2) there is significant dependence of η on the frequency content and duration of ground motions that characterize the different record types, and (3) η is dependent on period, particularly for inslab events. Period-dependent equations were proposed to predict η for damping ratios between 5% and 30% corresponding to the three event types.
ROBUST CATALYTIC GAS SENSING USING A SILICON CARBIDE MICROHEATER

This paper reports the first use of a silicon carbide (SiC) microheater for stable low-power catalytic gas sensing. Catalytic combustion of hydrocarbon gases often requires high operating temperatures, which leads to instability in a previously developed low-power polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) microheater. A silicon carbide microheater has been developed with low power consumption (20 mW to reach 500 °C) and improved stability, exhibiting an order of magnitude lower resistance drift than the polysilicon microheater after 100 hrs of continuous heating at 500 °C and during temperature increases up to 650 °C. When loaded with a high performance catalytic nanomaterial, the SiC microheater-based catalytic gas sensor exhibits fast response and recovery time (<1 s) and improved long-term stability for propane detection. The results show that a simple change of material from polysilicon to polySiC leads to a significant performance improvement of the microheater and the resulting sensor element.
Modelling the Role of Angiogenesis and Vasculogenesis in Solid Tumour Growth

Recent experimental evidence suggests that vasculogenesis may play an important role in tumour vascularisation. While angiogenesis involves the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells (ECs) in pre-existing vessels, vasculogenesis involves the mobilisation of bone-marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) into the bloodstream. Once blood-borne, EPCs home in on the tumour site, where subsequently they may differentiate into ECs and form vascular structures. In this paper, we develop a mathematical model, formulated as a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which describes vascular tumour growth with both angiogenesis and vasculogenesis contributing to vessel formation. Submodels describing exclusively angiogenic and exclusively vasculogenic tumours are shown to exhibit similar growth dynamics. In each case, there are three possible scenarios: the tumour remains in an avascular steady state, the tumour evolves to a vascular equilibrium, or unbounded vascular growth occurs. Analysis of the full model reveals that these three behaviours persist when angiogenesis and vasculogenesis act simultaneously. However, when both vascularisation mechanisms are active, the tumour growth rate may increase, causing the tumour to evolve to a larger equilibrium size or to expand uncontrollably. Alternatively, the growth rate may be left unaffected, which occurs if either vascularisation process alone is able to keep pace with the demands of the growing tumour. To clarify further the effects of vasculogenesis, the full model is also used to compare possible treatment strategies, including chemotherapy and antiangiogenic therapies aimed at suppressing vascularisation. This investigation highlights how, dependent on model parameter values, targeting both ECs and EPCs may be necessary in order to effectively reduce tumour vasculature and inhibit tumour growth.
Sustaining Aquatic Ecosystems in Boreal Regions

Few boreal waters are managed in a sustainable manner, because cumulative effects of a variety of human activities are not considered. Fisheries and water quality have declined in most large water bodies of the southern boreal zone. Some of the reasons are direct, including overexploitation of fisheries, alteration of flow patterns, introductions of non-native species, and discharge of eutrophying nutrients and persistent contaminants. However, improper management of watersheds and airsheds also causes degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Clear-cut logging, climatic warming, acid precipitation, and stratospheric ozone depletion are among the more important of these indirect stressors. There are important interactions among these stressors, requiring that they not be treated in isolation. Ecological sustainability of boreal waters would require that exploitation of all parts of the boreal landscape be much lower than it is at present. Unfortunately, management for sustainability is lagging far behind scientific understanding in most countries.
Achieving Compliance in Mechanisms: A Comparison between Mechanical Compliance and Compliant Actuators

This article intents to compare the applicability of mechanical compliance and the use of Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) as actuators to achieve compliance in robot arms. PAMs were developed by using biological inspiration from human triceps and biceps in an effort to produce a manipulator with characteristics of a human arm. On the mechanical compliance, this article focuses on how material parameters can be adjusted to achieve mechanical compliance. Furthermore a comparison in applicability of either method will show that the two will function more effectively to achieve compliance if they are used together.
Speech Input for Live Performance An Impromptu Dialogue Between the Computer and the Artist

Real time speech recognition can fuel artistic creation by providing a medium for arranging a show while it is being performed, and by forcing the artist to improvise when the ASR fails. We propose a software suite designed to integrate speech transcripts and spoken commands into a live performance. We adapt the Kaldi ASR toolkit to show conditions and build a user interface for describing and running a performance. The software is deployed by the Pulso dance company to run its Homeostatsis show.
The Drivers of Intellectual Sustainability in a Regional Agriculture , Cattle and Forest

Intellectual capital drivers emerge in the national and regional economies as a key source of integrated sustainability. The company under analysis is the largest Portuguese agriculture, cattle and forest farmstead, covering several marshlands. Located in the region of Lisbon and Tagus valley, the diversity of their activities (forest exploration; hunting; agriculture; wines and olive oil production; and tourism) requires an integrated research towards the identification and disclosure of drivers that best contribute for company reputation. Through a descriptive and exploratory case study approach, the intellectual capital drivers were mapped and structured. Thus, a set of sustainability drivers were identified, all of them aggregated in five categories (Certification; Brands and Trademarks; Awards; Alliances and Networks; and Biodiversity Reputation). Whilst a regional source of economic development, evidence also provides new insights towards the design of an intellectual sustainability scoreboard applicable to similar organizations worldwide.
Bridging the Gap Between Optical Spectroscopic Experiments and Computer Simulations for Fast Protein Folding Dynamics

Fast folding techniques use optical spectroscopic tools to monitor protein folding or unfolding dynamics after a fast triggering such as the laser induced temperature jump. These techniques have greatly improved time resolution of experiments and provide new opportunities for comparison between theory and simulations. However, the direct comparison is still difficult due to two main challenges: a gap between folding relevant timescales (microseconds or above) and length of molecular dynamics simulations (typically tens to hundreds of nanoseconds), and difficulty in directly calculating spectroscopic observables from simulation configurations. This review is focused on recent advances in addressing these two challenges. We describe new methodology that allows simulating folding timescales with an emphasis on Markov State Models. We also review progress on modeling infrared, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopic signals from protein conformations. At last, we discuss a few studies that directly simulate time-resolved spectroscopy of temperature jump induced unfolding dynamics for a few small proteins. These studies not only provide direct validation of theoretical models, but also greatly improve our understanding of protein folding mechanisms by connecting ensemble averaged spectroscopic observables with atomistic protein conformations.
D E V E L O P M E N T OF A S T A N D A R D I Z E D M E A S U R E TO PREDICT EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

The London House Employment Productivity Index (EPI-3) is a broad-based personality-oriented measure designed to predict successful employees. This paper focuses on the development and validation of the EPI-3 Dependability, Drug Avoidance, Interpersonal Cooperation, Safety, Validity, and overall Productivity scales. Three validation studies are reviewed. The first is a predictive study using 1,236 subjects from the retail industry. The second predictive study involved 167 subjects from a large discount retail chain. The final concurrent study involved 247 college students employed in various companies. All studies documented the validity of the EPI-3 as a pre-employment selection instrument. This paper also reviews adverse impact research, utility of the instrument for selection and ethical concerns when implementing this type of selection instrument.
A Prescriptive Machine-Learning Framework to the Price-Setting Newsvendor Problem

The approach to data-driven optimization described in this paper was developed when the authors were part of an IBM project team working with the U.S. Department of Energy, Pacific National Laboratory, and various energy utility partners on an initiative to develop a smart energy distribution infrastructure. Within this broader scope and based on the data collected in some initial controlled experiments, the paper specifically addresses the design and optimization of real-time price incentives to consumers to manage their electricity demand and determine the energy capacity to be provisioned by the utility. This latter problem fits into the well-known price-setting newsvendor problem framework, and our goal was to replace the simplistic methods in the literature by more realistic data-driven methods to take into account the data-collection capabilities and the modeling complexity of real-world applications. Our aspirations for the paper are (1) to introduce data-driven, distribution-free approaches to decision-making problems and (2) to motivate scalable conditional value-at-risk regression-based approaches for these problems.
DETECTION OF PERSON IN A GROUP OF PEOPLE USING 3-D BASED MODEL

In this paper, the problem of human detection in crowded scenes is formulated as a maximum a posteriori problem, in which, given a set of candidates, predefined 3-D human shape models are matched with image evidence, provided by foreground extraction and probability of boundary, to estimate the human configuration. The optimal solution is obtained by decomposing the mutually related candidates into unoccluded and occluded ones in each iteration according to a graph description of the candidate relations and then only matching models for the unoccluded candidates. A candidate validation and rejection process based on minimum description length and local occlusion reasoning is carried out after each iteration of model matching. The advantage of the proposed optimization procedure is that its computational cost is much smaller than that of global optimization methods, while its performance is comparable to them. The proposed method achieves a detection rate of about 2% higher on a subset of images of the Caviar data set than the best result reported by previous works. We also demonstrate the performance of the proposed method using another challenging data set.
Parallel magnetic particle imaging: compressed sensing of field free line excitations

We developed a speed versus quality improvement of the currently most promising imaging modality that images superparamagnetic nanoparticles that are injected into a body: Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI). We design a more informative hardware setup, that uses multiple receive channels similar to the setup in parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). To process the simulated data from these parallel coils, we use convex optimization reconstruction algorithms that can combine the extra information to find either the same image quality at shorter scan time, or improve image quality at the same scan time. To get the speed improvement, we decrease the number of projections in field free line MPI, so that Fourier space is undersampled. The idea for this was inspired by results from Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and the Fourier Slice Theorem. This motivated us to be the first to prove that the concept of parallel imaging can be applied to MPI.
Genetic structure of populations of several endangered and endemic Dianthus species revealed by microsatellite markers

Abstract In order to develop a proper conservation programme for several endangered, rare or endemic species of Dianhtus from Romania, molecular characterization by simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers has been accomplished. Amplification of SSR loci in individuals belonging to different populations of D. callizonus, D. glacialis ssp. gelidus, D. henteri, D. nardiformis and D. tenuifolius revealed 23 polymorphic alleles. D. callizonus and D. tenuifolius showed particular sets of SSR alleles. D. glacialis ssp. gelidus, D. henteri and D. nardiformis proved to share almost the same alleles in most of the loci. The highest genetic diversity was observed in D. glacialis ssp. gelidus and D. tenuifolius in locus MS-DINMADSBOX. Allelic patterns across Dianthus species indicate that the mean number of different alleles was highest in D. glacialis ssp. gelidus, while the number of effective alleles was highest in D. tenuifolius. There are no particular differences in individuals belonging to the same species. Genetic diversity is generally low, ranging from 0.18 (D. callizonus) to 0.44 (D. henteri). Regarding the genetic diversity within populations of the same species, no differences were revealed by the use of the SSR markers tested in the present study.
DETECTION OF HISTORICAL PIPELINE LEAK PLUMES USING NON-INTRUSIVE, SURFACE-BASED GEOPHYSICAL TECHNIQUES AT THE HANFORD NUCLEAR SITE, WASHINGTON, USA

Historical records from the Department of Energy Hanford Nuclear Reservation (in eastern WA) indicate that ruptures in buried waste transfer pipelines were common between the 1940s and 1980s, which resulted in unplanned releases (UPRs) of tank waste at numerous locations. A number of methods are commercially available for the detection of active or recent leaks, however, there are no methods available for the detection of leaks that occurred many years ago. Over the decades, leaks from the Hanford pipelines were detected by visual observation of fluid on the surface, mass balance calculations (where flow volumes were monitored), and incidental encounters with waste during excavation or drilling. Since these detection methods for historic leaks are so limited in resolution and effectiveness, it is likely that a significant number of pipeline leaks have not been detected. Therefore, a technology was needed to detect the specific location of unknown pipeline leaks so that characterization technologies can be used to identify any risks to groundwater caused by waste released into the vadose zone. A proof-of-concept electromagnetic geophysical survey was conducted at an UPR in order to image a historical leak from a waste transfer pipeline. The survey was designed to test an innovative electromagnetic geophysical technique that could be used to rapidly map the extent of historical leaks from pipelines within the Hanford Site complex. This proof-of-concept test included comprehensive testing and analysis of the transient electromagnetic method (TEM) and made use of supporting and confirmatory geophysical methods including ground penetrating radar, magnetics, and electrical resistivity characterization (ERC). The results for this initial proof-of-concept test were successful and greatly exceeded the expectations of the project team by providing excellent discrimination of soils contaminated with leaked waste despite the interference from an electrically conductive pipe.