Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bachelors Project Efficient Person Tracking based on Depth data

This paper introduces an alternative approach to following persons for robotic systems in a domestic environment; Flood Fill on Depth (FFOD) data. Other related work is shown: tracking using a Lucas Kanade tracker, tracking using OpenTLD (Tracking, Learning, Detecting) and tracking using a state of the art particle filter. These algorithms are all processing RGB images, while this paper suggests an alternative: image processing on depth data. The FFOD algorithm is evaluated by checking the introduced requirements and benchmarking using the Bonn Benchmark on Tracking (BoBoT). FFOD passed all critical requirements but lacks a detection system to regain a person when lost. The BoBoT benchmark resulted in a precision of 80.09%, which is almost 10% higher than a state of the art particle filter algorithm. Hereby proving that person following using depth data is an interesting approach and should be further researched.
Influence of low frequency noise on cognitive performance tasks

To study the influence of low frequency noise (LFN) on cognitive performance tasks, 96 subjects, categorised in terms of sensitivity to LFN, worked with four standardised psychological tests during exposure to LFN or broadband noise without dominant low frequency content (reference noise) at a level of 50 dB(A). It was found that the test results were influenced by exposure and/or noise sensitivity. Regardless of sensitivity to noise, poorer results in the LFN (compared to reference noise conditions) were noted in the Comparing of Names Test (a tendency to more erroneous responses). High-sensitive subjects achieved poorer results than others during exposure to LFN in the Stroop Colour-Word Test (a significant interaction between noise and noise sensitivity in case of reading interference) and in the Continuous Attention Test (a tendency to more erroneous reactions). These findings suggest that LFN at moderate levels could adversely influence cognitive performance tasks and subjects high-sensitive to LFN may be at highest risk.
Genre theory: A horn of plenty for EFL learners

The present article focuses on genre theory and its pedagogical use in the EFL classroom. The functional nature of language is discussed. The article emphasises that people use language to accomplish various communicative and social functions. By incorporating genres into the EFL classroom, learners become aware of how language works in context. Learners concentrate on texts as discourse rather than on their content. It is demonstrated how specific genres, job interviews in particular, can be identified through structural organisation and the various linguistic features within it.
ESTIMATION OF RESIDENTIAL IMPERVIOUS SURFACE USING GIS TECHNIQUE

Urban impervious surface in the form of rooftops, street pavement, parking lots, etc. is an important contributor to water pollution, urban heat island, flash floods and other environmental degradations. While studies on the extent of impervious surface are common in advanced countries, few have been carried out in developing countries. This paper discusses a study on the nature of impervious surface coverage in a southern city in Malaysia. The study focuses on impervious surface in several residential areas, looking at the relationship between impervious surface and housing density as well as the source of the surface. Remote sensing images combined with some GIS techniques were employed for this purpose. The percentage o[ impervious surface measured ranged from 40-95%, well above the values indicated from similar studies overseas. While density was a factor in the amount of impervious surface, it was not the only factor. Other factors such as policies on impervious surface control were also important as illustrated by comparison of the results of this study to similar studies reported in the USA. Based on these findings, the paper offersseveral steps towards reduction of impervious sw'face in residential areas.
Understanding the Use of The Vistorian: Complementing Logs with Context Mini-Questionnaires

The Vistorian is a web-based visual analytics tool including four different interactive visualizations. It allows digital humanists to analyze complex geolocated and temporal networks of individuals. A research prototype is now available to researchers. The challenge we try to address is: could we improve our understanding of how digital humanities research prototypes are being used " in the wild " ? Standard usage logs are insufficient since they do not capture users' intent or the reasons why they might struggle with a prototype. Here, we designed a novel lightweight combination of usage logs and mini-questionnaires attempting to consistently capture user intent and usage context. The paper first describes the Vistorian, then introduces our combined log and questionnaire methodology—with design principles and screen mockups. The technique will be pilot tested this summer, and deployed in the fall for evaluation with historians and their students.
Vectors of technical innovation delivery by small and medium Australian construction firms

Long-established Schumpeterian theory on innovation assumes that significant innovations are generated by large companies with ample spare resources. The allocation of time and money to speculative endeavours with unclear outcomes has often been regarded as beyond the scope of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a result, authorities sometimes advise SMEs to concentrate on the adoption of existing innovative products and processes rather than the generation of new creative ideas. Despite this traditional wisdom, some very capable individuals actively choose to participate in the SME sector because the relative absence of internal bureaucratic processes and the capacity for agile response to changing circumstances. Ten case studies of significant technical innovations generated within construction SMEs were examined in the light of common themes identified through a literature review. The case studies were classified according to existing taxonomies of innovation. Content analysis was used to map the identified themes against the published material about the innovations from patent applications, company websites, trade literature and industry magazines. The findings indicate that SME innovation stems from several distinct motivations. These drivers of innovation can be described vectors. They inspire innovative solutions but the generated innovations also drive development towards solutions for other, quite different problems.
Particle–wave discrimination in Poisson spot experiments

Matter–wave interferometry has been used extensively over the last few years to demonstrate the quantum-mechanical wave nature of increasingly larger and more massive particles. We have recently suggested the use of the historical Poisson spot setup to test the diffraction properties of larger objects. In this paper, we present the results of a classical particle van der Waals (vdW) force model for a Poisson spot experimental setup and compare these to Fresnel diffraction calculations with a vdW phase term. We include the effect of disc-edge roughness in both models. Calculations are performed with D2 and with C70 using realistic parameters. We find that the sensitivity of the on-axis interference/focus spot to disc-edge roughness is very different in the two cases. We conclude that by measuring the intensity on the optical axis as a function of disc-edge roughness, it can be determined whether the objects behave as de Broglie waves or classical particles. The scaling of the Poisson spot experiment to larger molecular masses is, however, not as favorable as in the case of near-field light-grating-based interferometers. Instead, we discuss the possibility of studying the Casimir–Polder potential using the Poisson spot setup.
A situated account of teacher agency and learning: Critical reflections on Professional Learning Communities

We propose a practice-based focus for professional learning communities in schools. We start with a brief historical review of the approaches that have deemed peer collaboration as crucial for school improvement and explore how teachers’ practices have been characterised in past reform initiatives. Second, we highlight the importance of teacher agency within professional learning communities. Third, we point out how a theory of situated cognition provides a robust epistemological framework for professional learning communities. Finally, we argue that a situated account of teachers’ agency and professional learning will improve our understanding of peer collaboration initiatives and educational reform in general.
Ground-state Destabilization by Phe-448 and Phe-449 Contributes to Tyrosine Phenol-lyase Catalysis

The role of transition-state stabilization in enzyme catalysis, as proposed by Pauling, has been clearly demonstrated by extensive studies. In contrast, ground-state destabilization can also contribute to enzyme catalysis, but experimental evidence has been more limited. In recent years, high-resolution X-ray crystal structures of enzyme–substrate complexes have been obtained which show evidence for ground-state strain. We found that Y71F and F448H mutant tyrosine phenol-lyase (TPL) form complexes with 3-fluoro-l-tyrosine, a substrate, which shows a bending of the substrate aromatic ring about 20° out of plane, and we suggested that this was evidence for ground-state destabilization in TPL catalysis. Here, we have now evaluated quantitatively the role of ground-state destabilization in TPL catalysis. Phe-448 and Phe-449 are in close contact with the bound substrate side chain, and by mutating these residues to alanine and leucine, the contribution they play via ground-state destabilization was investigate.
Formation of brown dwarfs and planets

Abstract Brown dwarfs and massive planets have similar structures, and there is probably an overlap in mass between the most massive planets and the lowest mass brown dwarfs. This raises questions as to what extent the structures of the most massive planets and lowest mass brown dwarfs differ, and what similarities (or not) there might be between their formation mechanisms. Here I discuss these issues on the background of recent numerical simulations of star formation, new evidence from cosmochemistry about the conditions in the early solar system, and recently discovered mechanisms that can expedite planetesimal and possibly planet formation greatly.
Information Criteria for Multivariate CARMA Processes

Multivariate continuous-time ARMA(p,q) (MCARMA(p,q)) processes are the continuous-time analog of the well-known vector ARMA(p,q) processes. They have attracted interest over the last years. Methods to estimate the parameters of an MCARMA process require an identifiable parametrization such as the Echelon form with a fixed Kronecker index, which is in the one-dimensional case the degree p of the autoregressive polynomial. Thus, the Kronecker index has to be known in advance before the parameter estimation is done. When this is not the case information criteria can be used to estimate the Kronecker index and the degrees (p,q), respectively. In this paper we investigate information criteria for MCARMA processes based on quasi maximum likelihood estimation. Therefore, we first derive the asymptotic properties of quasi maximum likelihood estimators for MCARMA processes in a misspecified parameter space. Then, we present necessary and sufficient conditions for information criteria to be strongly and weakly consistent, respectively. In particular, we study the well-known Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) as special cases.
Using 11 years of trace gas measurements made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory

[1] Using 11 years of trace gas measurements made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (43.66ıN, 79.40ıW) and Environment Canada’s Centre for Atmospheric Research Experiments (44.23ıN, 79.78ıW), along with derived meteorological products, we identify a number of polar intrusion events, which are excursions of the polar vortex or filaments from the polar vortex extending down to midlatitudes. These events are characterized by enhanced stratospheric columns (12–50 km) of hydrogen fluoride (HF), by diminished stratospheric columns of nitrous oxide (N2O), and by a scaled potential vorticity above 1.2 10–4s–1. The events comprise 16% of winter/spring (November to April inclusive) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements from January 2002 to March 2013, and we find at least two events per year. The events are corroborated by Modèle Isentrope du transport Méso-échelle de l’Ozone Stratosphérique par Advection, Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications potential vorticity maps, and Global Modeling Initiative N2O maps. During polar intrusion events, the stratospheric ozone (O3) columns over Toronto are usually greater than when there is no event. Our O3 measurements agree with the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imaging System satellite instrument and are further verified with the Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and Ozone Monitoring Instrument satellite observations. We find six cases out of 53 for which chemical O3 depletion within the polar vortex led to a reduction in stratospheric O3 columns over Toronto. We have thus identified a dynamical cause for most of the winter/spring variability of stratospheric trace gas columns observed at our midlatitude site. While there have been a number of prior polar intrusion studies, this is the first study to report in the context of 11 years of ground-based FTIR column measurements, providing insight into the frequency of midlatitude polar vortex intrusions and observations of upper stratospheric (25–50 km) intrusions. It is also the first to present HF measurements during multiple polar intrusions, which provided an excellent tracer for their identification.
The alternation of representations in case of cantor set

On a preconise que l'intuition ne pourrait percer le concept de l'infini. L'auteur du present article presente une comparaison entre deux sortes de concepts d'infini: un infini nombrable et un infini innombrable. L'utilisation de varietes de representations du 'SET' de Cantor et de la fonction 'STEP' permet d'exposer dans l'intuition la comparaison de ces deux ensembles cardinaux. L'auteur s'essaye a appliquer la theorie des representations dans une situation concrete d'etudes 'undergraduate' afin de demontrer la necessite de combiner les representations iconique et symbolique et par consequent d'apporter dans l'action intuitive des instruments manipules en vue d'une comprehension globale et critique.
Investigating the Students' Attitude towards Using Extracurricular Activities to Enhance their Motivation at the English Department at An-Najah University

In the quest for feasible solutions for the falling standard of the English majors at An-Najah National University, insufficient attention has been given to improving student motivation. Some measures have been taken to curb and reverse the tendency, such as introducing more courses and more exams. Such measures and assumptions ignore the basic psychological principles that assert that increasing the level of difficulty for students produces a corresponding degree of anxiety and despondency to the detriment of the learning process. Based on relevant studies and the responses to a learner-oriented questionnaire, this paper will explore strategies by which we can motivate students and instill in them a greater sense of autonomy and control over their own language learning abilities. The questionnaire was developed by the researcher, approved by three experts in the faculty of education at An-Najah University and administered among the third and fourth year English major students at the English department at An-Najah University. Data was collected and analyzed. The results revealed that the English Department at An-Najah University didn’t take into consideration the basic principle of motivation. As a solution to this problem the researcher suggests a number of things among which introducing variety of extracurricular activities which according to the students will help enhance their motivation and thus upgrade their standard in English.
Simulating Kinetic Processes in Time and Space on a Lattice

We have developed a chemical kinetics simulation that can be used as both an educational and research tool. The simulator is designed as an accessible, open-source project that can be run on a laptop with a student-friendly interface. The application can potentially be scaled to run in parallel for large simulations. The simulation has been successfully used in a classroom setting for teaching basic electrochemical properties. We have shown that this can be used for simulating fundamental molecular and chemical processes and even simplified models of predator–prey interactions. By giving the simulated entities spatial extent in the lattice, the particles do not interpenetrate, and clusters of particles can spatially exclude one another. Our simulation demonstrates that spatial inhomogeneity leads to different results than those that are obtained by using standard ordinary differential equation models, as previously reported.
RELATIONS AMONG THE FIRST VARIATION, THE CONVOLUTIONS AND THE GENERALIZED FOURIER-GAUSS TRANSFORMS

We first study the generalized Fourier-Gauss transforms of functionals defined on the complexification of an abstract Wiener space (, , ). Secondly, we introduce a new class of convolution products of functionals defined on and study several properties of the convolutions. Then we study various relations among the first variation the convolutions, and the generalized Fourier-Gauss transforms.
The computer in the classroom: a medium for enhancing social interaction with young people with autistic spectrum disorders?

Angela Jacklin is a senior lecturer in education and director of student support at the University of Sussex. William Farr is a teacher at a primary school in Sussex, and a former MA student at Sussex University. In the project reported in this article, they worked together to consider how valuable the computer may be as a medium to enhance social interaction with pupils with autistic spectrum disorders. The research took place in a special school for pupils with severe learning difficulties in the South East of England and involved 12 children from the school's unit for pupils with autism. From this initial group, three pupils were selected for more focused study. Using a mix of qualitative data gathering and analysis stragegies, the research highlighted the importance of social interaction a round the computer and indicated that the computer could be a useful tool for enhancing social interaction. This was found to relate in part to the adult's ability to follow the child's lead, as well as the complex intermingling of events known as ‘tricky mixes’. Where this happened, use of the computer appeared to result in more sustained and more positive interactions for young people with autistic spectrum disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Square Cylinder Large Eddy Simulation Based on Random Inlet Boundary Condition

Due to the geometrical similarity to many engineering structures, the flow characteristics around the square cylinder have been studied for some time using the experimental or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. However in the past research the inlet boundary is assumed to be steady for simplifying the simulation model, which is conflict with real flow field. To overcome such problem, in this paper, the time varying inlet boundary condition based on autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model is proposed, based on which this inlet boundary generation procedure is introduced. To study the flow characteristics around the square cylinder, a 2D large eddy simulation procedure numerical description is introduced, and different turbulence intensity will be considered at the inlet boundary. The general aerodynamic parameters such as lift coefficient and drag coefficient and velocity component time averaged values along the centre line of the computational domain are discussed. To study the aerodynamic parameters in the frequency domain, the velocity spectrum at different position around the square cylinder will be discussed.
A novel of derivative spectrophotometry as rapid and accurate method in application of simvastatin co-crystal assay

The objective of this study was to obtain a rapid and valid method of quantitative analysis for the determination simvastatin (SV) in combination with saccharin (SAC) and aspartame (ASP) in the co-crystal form using derivative spectrophotometric. Co-crystal preparation was conducted using solvent drops grinding (SGD). Samples of each co-crystal of ASP and SAC were dissolved in a solvent mixture of the methanol-water with a ratio (60:40); afterward it was derived using the zero crossing order for determining level of SV. The analytical method was validated based on validation parameter requirements, including, linearity, range, accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ). The derivate spectrometric method have exhibited the zero crossing order in the third order derivate at 251 nm, linearity studies showed the value r2=0.9998 in a concentration range 0.25-2μg/ml. The accuracy was presented by the %recovery = 98.69%- 103.74%, and precision (%RSD) =1.67% - 2.96%. LOD and LOQ results presented a value 0.096 and 0. 32μg/ml, respectively. Derivative spectrophotometric has been applied to the SV determination in co-crystal form and fulfilled all requirement of a method validation.
Error Concealment-Aware Encoding for Robust Video Transmission

In this paper an error concealment (EC)-aware encoding scheme is proposed to improve the quality of decoded video in broadcast environments subject to transmission errors and data loss. The proposed scheme is based on a scalable coding approach where the best EC methods to be used at the decoder are optimally determined at the encoder and signalled to the decoder through supplemental enhancement information messages. Such optimal EC modes are found by simulating transmission losses, followed by a Lagrangian optimization of the signalling rate—EC distortion cost. A generalized saliency-weighted distortion is used and the residue between coded frames and their EC substitutes is encoded using a rate-controlled enhancement layer. When data loss occurs the signalling information is used by the decoder to improve the reconstruction quality. The simulation results show that the proposed method achieves consistent quality gains in comparison with other reference methods and previous works. Using only the EC mode signalling, i.e., without any residue transmitted in the enhancement layer, an average PSNR gain up to 2.95 dB is achieved, while using the full EC-aware scheme, i.e., including residue encoded in the enhancement layer, the proposed scheme outperforms other comparable methods, with a PSNR gain up to 3.79 dB.
Learning About Technologies and Technological Progress

We present a model of financial development and technological progress based on imperfect information. In the model, entrepreneurs innovate more when financiers are better informed about their projects because they expect their successful projects to receive more funding. Conversely, financiers collect more information about projects when entrepreneurs innovate more because the opportunity cost of misinvesting, i.e. of funding unsuccessful projects, is higher. Thus, knowledge about technologies and technological knowledge are mutually reinforcing. The model is consistent with several empirical regularities. Empirical strategies for testing the model are discussed.