Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deep Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam Observations of Milky Way Satellites Columba I and Triangulum II

We present deep, wide-field Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam photometry of two recently discovered satellites of the Milky Way (MW): Columba I (Col I) and Triangulum II (Tri II). The color–magnitude diagrams of both objects point to exclusively old and metal-poor stellar populations. We re-derive structural parameters and luminosities of these satellites, and find for Col I and for Tri II, with corresponding half-light radii of pc and pc. The properties of both systems are consistent with observed scaling relations for MW dwarf galaxies. Based on archival data, we derive upper limits on the neutral gas content of these dwarfs, and find that they lack H i, as do the majority of observed satellites within the MW virial radius. Neither satellite shows evidence of tidal stripping in the form of extensions or distortions in matched-filter stellar density maps or surface-density profiles. However, the smaller Tri II system is relatively metal-rich for its luminosity (compared to other MW satellites), possibly because it has been tidally stripped. Through a suite of orbit simulations, we show that Tri II is approaching pericenter of its eccentric orbit, a stage at which tidal debris is unlikely to be seen. In addition, we find that Tri II may be on its first infall into the MW, which helps explain its unique properties among MW dwarfs. Further evidence that Tri II is likely an ultra-faint dwarf comes from its stellar mass function, which is similar to those of other MW dwarfs.
Recent developments in predictive uncertainty assessment based on the model conditional processor approach

Abstract. The work aims at discussing the role of predictive uncertainty in flood forecasting and flood emergency management, its relevance to improve the decision making process and the techniques to be used for its assessment. Real time flood forecasting requires taking into account predictive uncertainty for a number of reasons. Deterministic hydrological/hydraulic forecasts give useful information about real future events, but their predictions, as usually done in practice, cannot be taken and used as real future occurrences but rather used as pseudo-measurements of future occurrences in order to reduce the uncertainty of decision makers. Predictive Uncertainty (PU) is in fact defined as the probability of occurrence of a future value of a predictand (such as water level, discharge or water volume) conditional upon prior observations and knowledge as well as on all the information we can obtain on that specific future value from model forecasts. When dealing with commensurable quantities, as in the case of floods, PU must be quantified in terms of a probability distribution function which will be used by the emergency managers in their decision process in order to improve the quality and reliability of their decisions. After introducing the concept of PU, the presently available processors are introduced and discussed in terms of their benefits and limitations. In this work the Model Conditional Processor (MCP) has been extended to the possibility of using two joint Truncated Normal Distributions (TNDs), in order to improve adaptation to low and high flows. The paper concludes by showing the results of the application of the MCP on two case studies, the Po river in Italy and the Baron Fork river, OK, USA. In the Po river case the data provided by the Civil Protection of the Emilia Romagna region have been used to implement an operational example, where the predicted variable is the observed water level. In the Baron Fork River example, the data set provided by the NOAA's National Weather Service, within the DMIP 2 Project, allowed two physically based models, the TOPKAPI model and TETIS model, to be calibrated and a data driven model to be implemented using the Artificial Neural Network. The three model forecasts have been combined with the aim of reducing the PU and improving the probabilistic forecast taking advantage of the different capabilities of each model approach.
Lobbying at the Local Level: Social Assets in Russian Firms

In the planned economy firms were made responsible for providing their workers with social services, such as housing, day care and medical care. In the transforming Russia of the 1990s, social assets were to be transferred from industrial enterprises to the public sector. The law on divestment provided little more than general principles. Thus, for a period of several years, property rights concerning a major part of social assets, most notably housing, were not properly defined, as transfer decisions were largely left to the local level players. Strikingly, the time when assets were divested varied considerably across firms. In this paper we utilize recent survey data from 404 medium and large industrial enterprises in 40 Russian regions and apply survival data analysis to explore the determinants of divestiture timing. Our results show that in municipalities with higher shares of own revenues in their budget and thus weaker fiscal incentives, firms used their social assets as leverage to extract budget assistance and other forms of preferential treatment from local authorities. We also find evidence that less competitive firms were using social assets to cushion themselves from product market competition. At the same time, we do not find any role for local labor market conditions in the divestment process.
Characteristics of Children Who Are Unresponsive to Early Literacy Intervention

This article reviews the research literature that describes children who are unresponsive to generally effective early literacy interventions. Studies were selected in which (a) children ranged from preschoolers to third graders and were at risk for reading disabilities, (b) treatments targeted early literacy, (c) outcomes reflected reading development, and (d) students' unresponsiveness to intervention was described. The literature review included a computer search of several databases, an ancestral search of relevant articles and books, and a manual search of 11 journals. Twenty-three studies were identified, 8 of which were designed primarily to identify characteristics of unresponsive students; the remaining 15 studies focused on treatment effectiveness but also identified and described unresponsive students. A majority of unresponsive students had phonological awareness deficits. Additional characteristics included phonological retrieval or encoding deficits, low verbal ability, behavior problems, and developmental delays. Finally, methodological issues are discussed that complicate comparisons of nonresponders across studies, and implications for future research are described.
STUDY OF ROW PHASE DEPENDENT SKEW QUADRUPOLE FIELDS IN APPLE-II TYPE EPUs AT THE ALS ∗

Since about 5 years, Apple-II type Elliptically Polarizing Undulators (EPU) have been used very successfully at the ALS to generate high brightness photon beams with arbitrary polarization. However, both EPUs installed so far cause significant changes of the vertical beamsize, especially when the row phase is changed to change the polarization of the photons emitted. Detailed measurements indicate this is caused by a row phase dependent skew quadrupole term in the EPUs. Magnetic measurements revealed the same effect for the third EPU to be installed later this year. All measurements to identify and quantify the effect with beam will be presented, as well as some results of magnetic bench measurements and numeric field simulations.
Imaging Spectroscopy of Type U and J Solar Radio Bursts with LOFAR

Radio U-bursts and J-bursts are signatures of electron beams propagating along magnetic loops confined to the corona. The more commonly observed type III radio bursts are signatures of electron beams propagating along magnetic loops that extend into interplanetary space. Given the prevalence of solar magnetic flux to be closed in the corona, it is an outstanding question why type III bursts are more frequently observed than U-bursts or J-bursts. We use LOFAR imaging spectroscopy between 30-80 MHz of low-frequency U-bursts and J-bursts, for the first time, to understand why electron beams travelling along coronal loops produce radio emission less often. The different radio source positions were used to model the spatial structure of the guiding magnetic flux tube and then deduce the energy range of the exciting electron beams without the assumption of a standard density model. The radio sources infer a magnetic loop 1 solar radius in altitude, with the highest frequency sources starting around 0.6 solar radii. Electron velocities were found between 0.13 c and 0.24 c, with the front of the electron beam travelling faster than the back of the electron beam. The velocities correspond to energy ranges within the beam from 0.7-11 keV to 0.7-43 keV. The density along the loop is higher than typical coronal density models and the density gradient is smaller. We found that a more restrictive range of accelerated beam and background plasma parameters can result in U-bursts or J-bursts, causing type III bursts to be more frequently observed. The large instability distances required before Langmuir waves are produced by some electron beams, and the small magnitude of the background density gradients make closed loops less facilitating for radio emission than loops that extend into interplanetary space.
A BIOENGINEERED SEQUENTIALLY LAYERED IN VITRO CORNEAL CONSTRUCT

Tissue engineering intends to develop three dimensional living substitutes to restore, maintain and improve tissue functions. In addition, these biological substitutes also find application in in- vitro toxicity studies. Cell sheet technology enables the development of scaffold free tissue constructs from thermoresponsive culture surfaces. In this study we demonstrate the feasibility of spin coated copolymer, N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-Glycidyl methacrylate (NGMA-SC) as a thermoresponsive substrate to create an over layered construct from native corneal cell types. The corneal cells were independently cultured and characterized by immunostaining. The multi- layered cornea was developed by sequential culture technique. Rabbit corneal endothelial cell monolayer on NGMA-SC was overlayered with corneal stromal fibroblasts. Corneal epithelial cell sheet was transferred on the endothelial-fibroblast bilayer to get three dimensional culture systems. The positive expression of characteristic genes such as Na + K + ATPase, CK12 and vimentin in the construct confirmed the presence of functionally active corneal endothelial, epithelial and fibroblast cells respectively. The layered three dimensional culture system was retrieved from NGMA-SC as an intact tissue construct by modulating thermal stimuli. We propose the sequential cell seeding and layering technique as a potential approach to develop in vitro corneal constructs.
Investigating the Impact of Learning Organization on Implementing Total Quality Management in Karaj Telecommunication Company

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of learning organization on implementing Total Quality Management (TQM). For this purpose, 110 people out of the statistical population of 1210 employees of Karaj Telecommunication Company have been selected using classified probable sampling to respond to the questionnaire of this survey. The tools used in this survey include (Marsick and Watkins, 2003) standard questionnaire of learning organization dimensions and Zhang's justified questionnaire related to TQM. The validity and reliability of utilized tools have been approved. In order to analyze the results, the SPSS software has been used. Correlation and multi regression analysis have been utilized for data analysis. Major findings imply that there is a positive and significant correlation between learning organization dimensions and seven dimensions considered for TQM, indicating that learning organization significantly impacts on TQM.
VISUAL CUES AS DETERMINANTS OF PERCEPTUAL RANGE IN ROOT VOLES MICROTUS OECONOMUS

We tested whether the perceptual range of male root voles Microtus oeconomus (Pallas, 1776) could be determined by visual objects in the landscape. This was done by giving single males the choice between three different sized visual cardboard patches randomly arranged around the perimeter of a circle located in agricultural fields. Effects of distance were tested by varying the diameter of the circle. The root voles were able to orient towards patches, but did not choose patches relative to their size. The ability to orient towards patches decreased with increasing distance between the release point and the patches.
Innocent Suspects Lying by Omission

When, and under what conditions, do innocent people lie to investigators? This research was inspired by two cases where innocent suspects omitted the truth and came under suspicion. In a simulation of a theft from a faculty break room, participants were either told (1) not to take anything (no transgression innocent, NTI); (2) to commit a minor social transgression (social transgression innocent, STI ) or (3) to remove a wallet (guilty participants). Student investigators were presented with a photo suggesting guilt and were asked to interview each participant about her or his actions. Seven of 30 in the STI group chose to omit the transgression during the investigation (STIO). Those in the STI-O group appeared as guilty to investigators as the Guilty group, and guiltier than the STI and NTI groups. This omission fits with self-presentational concerns of innocent people to create a favorable impression and avoid suspicion. This behavior can impact police investigations and influence false confessions.
Corpus Similarity and Homogeneity via Word Frequency

A m e a s u r e o f c o r p u s s imi lar i ty w o u l d b e v e r y use fu l for l e x i c o g r a p h y . W o r d f r e q u e n c y l i s t s are c h e a p and easy to g e n e r a t e s o a m e a s u r e b a s e d o n t h e m c a n b e u s e d w h e r e a d e t a i l e d c o m p a r i s o n o f the t w o c o r p o r a is no t v i a b l e , for e x a m p l e , t o j u d g e h o w a n e w c o r p u s relates to a l r e a d y f a m i l i a r o n e s . W e s h o w that c o r p u s s imi lar i ty c a n o n l y b e interpreted in the l ight o f c o r p u s h o m o g e n e i t y , and present a m e a s u r e , b a s e d o n the ch i square stat ist ic , for m e a s u r i n g b o t h c o r p u s s imi lar i ty and c o r p u s h o m o g e n e i t y .
Stale Prices and the Performance Evaluation of Mutual Funds

Abstract Staleness in measured prices imparts a positive statistical bias and a negative dilution effect on mutual fund performance. First, evaluating performance with nonsynchronous data generates a spurious component of alpha. Second, stale prices create arbitrage opportunities for high-frequency traders whose trades dilute the portfolio returns and hence fund performance. This paper introduces a model that evaluates fund performance while controlling directly for these biases. Empirical tests of the model show that alpha net of these biases is on average positive although not significant and about 40 basis points higher than alpha measured without controlling for the impacts of stale pricing. The difference between the net alpha and the measured alpha consists of 3 components: a statistical bias, the dilution effect of long-term fund flows, and the dilution effect of arbitrage flows. Whereas the former 2 components are small, the latter is large and widespread in the fund industry.
THE STRATEGIC PROCESS OF DEVELOPING SOCIAL ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH THE VISION REFLECTION IN BUSINESS EDUCATION

Empowering students in the higher education environment as a challenging pedagogical trend represents one of the key social aspects of sustainability. In this article we discuss the students’ visions, their future development preferences and focus on the study and further achievements of the business students by analyzing the content of students’ self-reflected dialogues. The traditional pedagogical approach is upgraded through the introduction of the conceptual model – The strategic process of developing social aspects of sustainability through business education. It emphasizes vision development, gender issues awareness, work-life balance, widening horizons and nurturing proactiveness, and aims to highlight the importance of attitude-related content besides knowledge-related content. We advise the pedagogues to encourage personal development of their students in order to be able to identify different developmental types and individualize the study process, accordingly. The paper also provides practical implications for the incorporation into the syllabuses of the business school programs. Based on the analysis of up-to-date affective tutoring systems, authors’ long-term experience and in order to determine most efficient versions of business education the Affective Tutoring System for Business Education (ARTSY) was developed.
Increased Stiffness in Aged Skeletal Muscle Impairs Muscle Progenitor Cell Proliferative Activity

Background Skeletal muscle aging is associated with a decreased regenerative potential due to the loss of function of endogenous stem cells or myogenic progenitor cells (MPCs). Aged skeletal muscle is characterized by the deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), which in turn influences the biomechanical properties of myofibers by increasing their stiffness. Since the stiffness of the MPC microenvironment directly impacts MPC function, we hypothesized that the increase in muscle stiffness that occurs with aging impairs the behavior of MPCs, ultimately leading to a decrease in regenerative potential. Results We showed that freshly isolated individual myofibers from aged mouse muscles contain fewer MPCs overall than myofibers from adult muscles, with fewer quiescent MPCs and more proliferative and differentiating MPCs. We observed alterations in cultured MPC behavior in aged animals, where the proliferation and differentiation of MPCs were lower and higher, respectively. These alterations were not linked to the intrinsic properties of aged myofibers, as shown by the similar values for the cumulative population-doubling values and fusion indexes. However, atomic force microscopy (AFM) indentation experiments revealed a nearly 4-fold increase in the stiffness of the MPC microenvironment. We further showed that the increase in stiffness is associated with alterations to muscle ECM, including the accumulation of collagen, which was correlated with higher hydroxyproline and advanced glycation end-product content. Lastly, we recapitulated the impaired MPC behavior observed in aging using a hydrogel substrate that mimics the stiffness of myofibers. Conclusions These findings provide novel evidence that the low regenerative potential of aged skeletal muscle is independent of intrinsic MPC properties but is related to the increase in the stiffness of the MPC microenvironment.
The Use of COCA to Promote Writing Idiomaticity among Advanced Iranian EFL Learners

The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) has never been examined in an Iranian English as a Foreign language (EFL) classroom to develop students writing skills. However, it might allow learners to explore collocational competence by giving them access to the most frequent lexical bundles in written context. Mastery of idiomaticity of language is pivotal in the training of advanced level students who are preparing for IELTS writing tasks. To determine how far the COCA can contribute to increase this awareness, a series of task-based activities involving writing was drawn up and carried out in an EFL class. They were first introduced to this corpus analysis tool and encouraged to explore it further. Later on, in order to complete a writing task, they were prompted to resort to a series of strategies to collect information, to analyse and interpret data, and to draw conclusions about the most appropriate 25 word lexical bundles of language interaction that can be used in their relevant setting. This paper provides (a) a brief literature review on this topic (b) a description of task-based activities, and implementation process, the students’ strategies, the evaluation and self-reflection procedures, and (c) a critical reflection on this study that may open the path for further developments in this area and (d) an explanation of Implicit Instruction and the significant desire for future research. Finally, the questionnaire elicits students’ opinions about the new tools’ implementation, and the outcomes are discussed in detail.
Analysis and Comparison of Popular Models for Current-Mode Control of Switch Mode Power Supplies

Kotecha, Ramchandra. M.S.Egr. , Department of Electrical Engineering, Wright State University, 2010. Analysis and Comparison of Popular Models for Current-Mode Control of SMPS Current-mode control is the most popular scheme used for the operation of SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supplies). Current-mode control, also known as current-programmed mode or current-injected control is a multi-loop control scheme that has an inner loop and an outer voltage loop. The current loop controls the inductor peak current while the voltage loop controls the output voltage. The inner loop follows a set program by the outer loop. Some of the most popular small-signal models that predict the small-signal characteristics of current-mode control scheme have been analyzed and compared in this thesis. A PWM dc-dc buck converter in CCM(Continuous Conduction Mode) has been chosen to explain the phenomenon of current-mode control in all these models. Small-signal characteristics are generated in MATLAB using the simplified analytical transfer functions. Some of the important small-signal characteristics include the current loop gain, control-to-output gain with the current-loop closed and outer loop open, audio susceptibility, and output impedance. The two most important models in consideration are: 1) Continuous-Time Model and 2) Peak Current-Mode control Model. Despite the fact that both these models predict the instability of current-mode control at a duty ratio of 0.5, these models differ significantly in deriving the expression for the sampling gain. As a result, their small-signal characteristics differ over a wide frequency range. Also, a very less explored average currentmode control is compared with the peak-current mode control based on the similar small-signal characteristics.
Learning to Learn Online: Using Locus of Control to Help Students Become Successful Online Learners

In this study, approximately 600 online high school students were asked to take Rotter’s locus of control questionnaire and then reflect on the results, with the goal of helping them think about their ability to regulate their learning in this new environment. In addition, it was hoped that the results could provide a diagnostic for teachers who wish to identify students who might be at risk of poor performance. In analyzing the results, we found that total scores were not useful and that gender had to be taken into account. In addition, factor analysis identified different factors that best described female and male responses, with some factors more important than others in terms of their relationship with final grades. The student reflections showed that they were thinking about the need for self-regulation in online learning. Finally, we offer some suggestions for others who would like to use the concept of locus of control to help students learn to learn online.