Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HST/COS Far-ultraviolet Spectroscopic Analysis of U Geminorum Following a Wide Outburst

We used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to obtain a series of four far-ultraviolet (FUV; 915–2148 Å) spectroscopic observations of the prototypical dwarf nova U Geminorum during its cooling following a two-week outburst. Our FUV spectral analysis of the data indicates that the white dwarf (WD) cools from a temperature of ∼41,500 K, 15 days after the peak of the outburst, to ∼36,250 K, 56 days after the peak of the outburst, assuming a massive WD (log(g) = 8.8) and a distance of 100.4 ± 3.7 pc. These results are self-consistent with a ∼1.1 M⊙ WD with a 5000 ± 200 km radius. The spectra show absorption lines of H i, He ii, C ii iii iv, N iii iv, O vi, S iv, Si ii iii iv, Al iii, Ar iii, and Fe ii, but no emission features. We find suprasolar abundances of nitrogen, confirming the anomalous high N/C ratio. The FUV light curve reveals a ±5% modulation with the orbital phase, showing dips near phases 0.25 and ∼0.75, where the spectra exhibit an increase in the depth of some absorption lines and in particular strong absorption lines from Si ii, Al iii, and Ar iii. The phase dependence we observe is consistent with material overflowing the disk rim at the hot spot, reaching a maximum elevation near phase 0.75, falling back at smaller radii near phase 0.5 where it bounces off the disk surface, and again rising above the disk near phase ∼0.25. There is a large scatter in the absorption lines’ velocities, especially for the silicon lines, while the carbon lines seem to match more closely the orbital velocity of the WD. This indicates that many absorption lines are affected by—or form in—the overflowing stream material veiling the WD, making the analysis of the WD spectra more difficult.
Cost Minimized PSO based Workflow Scheduling Plan for Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a collection of heterogeneous virtualized resources that can be accessed on-demand to service applications. Scheduling large and complex workflows becomes a challenging issue in cloud computing with a requirement that the execution time as well as cost incurred by using a set of heterogeneous cloud resources should be minimizes simultaneously. In this paper, we have extended our previously proposed Bi-Criteria Priority based Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) algorithm to schedule workflow tasks over the available cloud resources under given the deadline and budget constraints while considering the confirmed reservation of the resources. The extended heuristic is simulated and comparison is done with state-of-art algorithms. The simulation results show that extended BPSO algorithm also decreases the execution cost of schedule as compared to state-of-art algorithms under the same deadline and budget constraint while considering the exiting load of the resources too.
Induced Boredom Suppresses the Recall of Positively Valenced Information: A Preliminary Study

The mood-congruence memory (MCM) effect in the case of depressed mood is typically evidenced by enhanced recall of negatively valenced information and/or a corresponding reduction in the recall of positive information. However, the impact of the related affect of boredom on memory has been overlooked. A sample of undergraduate and graduate students (n = 28) were asked to either read an interesting story (Low Boredom condition) or complete a tedious vowel-counting task (High Boredom condition) after studying a list of neutral, negative, and positive words. Following the experimental manipulation, the participants were asked to recall as many words from the list as they could remember. The participants in the low boredom (LB) group reported (i.e., recalled words + misremembered words) significantly more positive words than participants in the high boredom (HB) condition. However, no differences were found between groups in terms of the total number words reported, total number of positive, neutral or negative words recalled, or the overall accuracy of recall. Boredom appears to inhibit the reporting and recall of positively valenced information, but seems to have less influence on the recall and reporting of emotionally negative information than what is typically reported in studies with depressed mood. This finding is consistent with a conception of boredom as an affect state that is more closely tied to the perceived depletion of potential positive reinforcement (e.g., novelty, enjoyment, meaningfulness) than the depletion of negative reinforcement (e.g., escape from suffering, loss, failure). Larger implications of the findings are discussed.
The Problem of Intransigently Biased Agents

In recent years the social nature of scientific inquiry has generated considerable interest. We examine the effect of an epistemically impure agent on a community of honest truth seekers. Extending a formal model of network epistemology pioneered by Zollman, we conclude that an intransigently biased agent prevents the community from ever converging to the truth. We explore two solutions to this problem, including a novel procedure for endogenous network formation in which agents choose whom to trust. We contend that our model nicely captures aspects of current problems in medical research and gesture at some morals for medical epistemology more generally.
REDUCING CODE LENGTH AND COMPUTATION TIME OF QC-LDPC DECODERS

Low density parity-check (LDPC) codes were invented by Robert Gallager but had been ignored for years until Mackay rediscovered them . They have attracted much attention recently because they can achieve excellent error correcting performance based on the belief propagation (BP)decoding algorithm. However, the BP decoding algorithm requires intensive computations. For applications like optical communication which requires BERs down to 10−15, using CPU-based programs to simulatethe LDPC decoder is impractical. Fortunately, the decoding algorithm possesses a high data-parallelismfeature, i.e., the data used in the decoding process are manipulated in a very similar manner and can be processed separately from one another.
Moodle as Builder of Motivation and Autonomy in English Courses

Moodle is one of the mostly used open source learning management systems. It may create an encouraging, informative and always renewable language education environment. It is both motivating and autonomy building in particularly English language courses. In this paper, focus of the research is to survey on Moodle’s position to motivate and create autonomous e-learning in English language courses. Distinctive features of this study were that language learners who were participants of the study did not experience English preparatory class at university level and never used a particular learning management system (LMS) to learn English before. They had weekly four hours of English language classes in each term for four years of their bachelor education. The students used Moodle to learn and improve their English with asynchronous applications as an extension to face-to-face sessions of the courses. At the end of almost four months of study, averages of their exam scores and a satisfaction questionnaire were used to evaluate the effectiveness of Moodle on students’ motivations and autonomous learning. As a consequence of the study, it was observed that Moodle considerably contributed to the levels of their motivation and autonomy to improve their English language skills.
The Aviation Industry And The Competency Of Cabin Crew In Dealing With Premature Delivery On-Board: A Survey And Literature Review

Background: To assess the awareness and competency of cabin crew in following recommended safety measures when managing unexpected premature delivery during flight, and to assess the availability of medical kits and their contents on-board. Methods: An online survey using a questionnaire and Internet search of different airlines and aviation authorities operating within Europe and worldwide. Results: The online questionnaire was sent twice to 15 different airlines, but a poor response rate was obtained (13%). Therefore, the relevant information was sought through direct communication with the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Joint Aviation Authorities of Europe. It was found that there is a lack of adequate training and on-board equipment availability when it comes to resuscitating a neonate. This makes air travel risky for pregnant women. Discussion: Commercial airlines do not have a published, universally agreed-upon protocol in terms of training cabin crew to resuscitate prematurely born neonates on-board. In addition, on-board emergency medical kits are deficient in equipment essential for neonatal resuscitation and should be optimised.
The Peruvian teacher in-service training program and its effects on student achievement

This paper assesses the impact of the Peruvian Ministry of Education teacher in-service training program (henceforth the program) on student achievement. Given the importance the Ministry attaches to interventions to strengthen teaching practices since 2008, it is relevant to know whether its impact supports a wider application to public schools nationwide. Using annual data from the Student Evaluation Census-ECEand from other official datasets for 2014, and a matching technique (Propensity Score Matching) to control for differences between beneficiaries, we estimate the impact of the program on students Math & Reading comprehension both for full-grade and multigrade schools. Results show that there is a positive and significant effect of the teacher training program on both Math and Reading achievement, but the magnitude of the effect differs. We find larger effects on Reading comprehension than on Math and in both topics larger effects for full-grade schools than for multigrade ones (the last are mostly found in rural areas). This might be related to the characteristics of the training in Reading comprehension: it is focused on learning pedagogical techniques (e.g. how to develop the curriculum within the classroom, how to motivate students, etc) instead of content knowledge, more focused on explaining mathematical problems. A sensitivity analysis complements and supports the results. This paper also assesses whether the program is cost-effective. Comparisons with different programs, all of them related with the educational sector in Peru make us believe that it is worth implementing the program at a national level.
An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Stakeholders Loyalty: Perceptions of Malaysian Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder loyalty to the Malaysian organisations. Stakeholder satisfaction was used to measure the mediating effects between CSR and stakeholder loyalty. A developed CSR items were used to measure the CSR of an organisation The research was conducted using online survey to reach 377 organisations that have CSR’s initiatives. Results showed that Malaysian stakeholders were loyal with organisations that have CSR. Stakeholder satisfaction also found to fully mediate the relationship between CSR and stakeholder loyalty. Furthermore, a constructive CSR dimension(s) would be better to measure the stakeholders’ relationship. Importantly, the study shows the importance of CSR towards stakeholder loyalty. Once the needs are more clearly identified and understood, organisation will be in a better position to also anticipate stakeholders’ satisfaction in order to gain loyalty from the stakeholders.
Motion Control of a Wheeled Millirobot

This paper presents a new closed-loop control system for a novel wheeled millirobot, mROBerTO, developed at the University of Toronto. The proposed system was verified via vision-based robot-pose tracking, a centralized computer for directing movement, and a firmware PID controller. Further modification to the original robot structure, via the addition of stabilizing arms, was made to improve tracking performance. Numerous motion-control experiments were performed to evaluate the performance and robustness of the controller on the millirobot. The system presented is simple, requires little knowledge of robot’s motion characteristics, and consumes limited processing capabilities. Furthermore, experimental results show that the system can provide accurate motion control for various trajectories despite the limitations that result from the small footprint of mROBerTO, 16×16×32 mm.
An Insecure Wild Web:A Large-Scale Study of Effectiveness of Web Security Mechanisms

This research work presents a large-scale study of the problems in real-world web applications and widely-used mobile browsers. Through a large-scale experiment, we find inconsistencies in Secure Socket Layer (SSL) warnings among popular mobile web browsers (over a billion users download). The majority of popular mobile browsers on the Google Play Store either provide incomplete information in SSL warnings shown to users or failed to provide SSL warnings in the presence of security certificate errors, thus making it a difficult task even for a security savvy user to make an informed decision. In addition, we find that 28% of websites are using mixed content. Mixed content means a secure website (https) loads a sub resource using insecure HTTP protocol. The mixed content weakens the security of entire website and vulnerable to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. Furthermore, we inspected the default behavior of mobile web browsers and report that majority of mobile web browsers allow execution of mixed content in web applications, which implies billions of mobile browser users are vulnerable to eavesdropping and MITM attacks. Based on our findings, we make recommendations for website developers, users and browser vendors.
Rethinking about Determinants of Inflation in Ghana: Which Econometric Model Tell the True Story

This study examines the factors that influence inflation in Ghana over the sample period of 1965-2012, using the Bayesian Model Selection (BMS) techniques to address issues of model uncertainty. Using data from the world development indictors, the study found real output growth, population growth rate, broad money, exchange rate, lending rate and budget deficit as some of the key factors contributing to Ghana’s inflation. The study recommends among others Bank of Ghana to adopt a low official interest rate as it has a transmission mechanism. JEL Code : E32, E37 Keywords : Bayesian Model Selection, Ghana, Inflation
The Relationships between Behavioural Categories and Social Influences in the Gregarious Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Behavioural plasticity is a critical component of natural selection leading to evolution. However, a surge of studies in the last two decades has discovered a distinct limit to behavioural plasticity, commonly referred to as behaviour types and behavioural syndromes. We set out to understand the relationships across behavioural categories in wild-caught adult, female big brown bats and how they compare between social and solitary behaviours. Using bats sampled from four different maternity colonies, we ran a series of behavioural assays to create a behavioural profile for each individual. The behavioural profile encompassed exploratory, learning, competitive and aggressive categories. We found that Big brown bats exhibit a mean profile relatively unique to other well-documented species, where aggression was linked to increased competitive ability but not to boldness. Our results indicate that the solitary and socially directed behaviours of individuals are not necessarily related and that behaviours pertaining to social interactions are linked most closely to learning abilities. Furthermore, we found evidence that poor body condition may be a predictor of increased social interactions and that behaviours exhibited in the presence of conspecifics are unrelated to those exhibited in solitude. These findings indicate importance of social affiliations on individual behaviours in this species and their uniqueness relative to other well-studied taxa.
Characterising Computer Experience and Anxieties Differences Between Middle Eastern and Western Students in eLearning

Computer anxiety especially in first-year university students is common and continues to be a significant issue as it manifests itself in a number of negative emotions with significant detrimental impact to students. This is especially true in the context where students use computers for course work – online learning. Research work addressing the effect of computer/Internet experience on anxiety as it differs across cultures is relatively scarce. In this study, we investigate online learning anxiety and how it is impacted by computer and the internet experience, across two cultures – Middle Eastern and Westen. A survey methodology approach was used for the capture of data and analysis. We found that Anxiety using computers for learning still exists in today’s time across both cultures, however the type of anxiety differs between them. At the same time computer/Internet experience was found to impact anxiety in English student group while amount of computer usage was found to influence anxiety in the ME group. Conclusions, limitations and recommendations for future research are provided.
Cross Validating a New Preschool Screening Test

A new preschool screening battery, consisting of five brief cognitive tasks, was presented to a sample of four- and five-year-old children with, and without mild learning problems. The sample included 177 normally achieving children and 21 children classified as either learning disabled (n 7) or developmentally delayed (n 14). Cross-sample test validation was demonstrated when 81% of both educational groups were correctly classified. The White/nonHispanic group achieved significantly higher screening scores than an omnibus minority group even when controlling for testing language. However, Hispanic children tested in English had a significantly higher screening score than Hispanic children tested in Spanish or both English and Spanish, and this impacted the race/ethnicity comparisons. Using percentage of exact matches, the interrater agreement was 80% or greater for all but one of the tasks. It was greater than 90% for all five tasks when the criterion for an agreement between raters was achieving scores within 1 point of each other.
Comparative study of ultrasound and maceration techniques for the extraction of polyphenols from cocoa beans (Theobroma cacao L.)

Los polifenoles han ganado un interes significativo en anos recientes debido a su capacidad antioxidante y a su papel importante en la prevencion de enfermedades. En este trabajo, el contenido fenolico y las propiedades antioxidantes de extractos de cacao preparados por maceracion y extraccion asistida por ultrasonido, fueron estudiados. El contenido de polifenoles fue determinado empleando el reactivo de Folin-Ciocalteu y la actividad antioxidante fue estimada por las tecnicas de DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) y FRAP (Ferric reducing/antioxidant power). La identificacion y cuantificacion de (+)-catequina y (-)-epicatequina fueron realizadas a traves de la cromatografia de liquidos de alta resolucion (HPLC). Los resultados mostraron que mediante el uso de radiacion ultrasonica, fue posible extraer un mayor contenido de polifenoles tanto para cascarilla como para cotiledon de cacao. Ademas, los extractos obtenidos por sonicacion presentaron la mayor actividad antioxidante, demostrando asi que esta actividad depende directamente del contenido fenolico total. Los contenidos de (+)-catequina y (-)-epicatequina fueron mayores en los exfractos obtenidos del cotiledon con respecto a aquellos obtenidos de la cascarilla
Fully Supramolecular Polyrotaxanes as Biphase Drug Delivery Systems

Pseudopolyrotaxanes (PPR) consisting of α-cyclodextrin rings and polyethylene glycol axes with end thymine groups have been synthesized and characterized successfully. Fluorescein (Fl) as a model drug was conjugated to the hydroxyl functional groups of cyclodextrin rings of PPR via ester bonds and PPR-Fl as the primary drug delivery system was obtained. Finally PPR-Fl was capped by hydrogen bonds between end thymine groups and a suitable complementary molecule such as polycitric acid, citric acid, or adenine. The aim of this work was to control the release of the fluorescein-cyclodextrin (Fl-CD) conjugates, as the secondary drug delivery systems, from PPR-Fl by controlling the noncovalent interactions between stoppers and thymine end groups. It was found that the rate of release of the Fl-CD from PPR-Fl could be controlled by pH and the ratio of citric acid or adenine to the PPR-Fl.
Evidence for AGN Feedback in Galaxy Clusters and Groups

The current generation of flagship X-ray missions, Chandra and XMM-Newton, has changed our understanding of the so-called “cool-core” galaxy clusters and groups. Instead of the initial idea that the thermal gas is cooling and flowing toward the center, the new picture envisages a complex dynamical evolution of the intracluster medium (ICM) regulated by the radiative cooling and the nongravitational heating from the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Understanding the physics of the hot gas and its interplay with the relativistic plasma ejected by the AGN is key for understanding the growth and evolution of galaxies and their central black holes, the history of star formation, and the formation of large-scale structures. It has thus become clear that the feedback from the central black hole must be taken into account in any model of galaxy evolution. In this paper, we draw a qualitative picture of the current knowledge of the effects of the AGN feedback on the ICM by summarizing the recent results in this field.
A meta-analytic study investigating the efficiency of socio-emotional learning programs on the development of children and adolescents

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs on different youth behavioral outcomes. The previous meta-analysis on school-based SEL programs reported a small but significant effect of SEL on the emotional and behavioral outcomes. We found 33 articles with 37 studies, with 32 742 subjects, comparing an intervention with a control group to assess the effect of SEL program. Results have shown a statistically significant effect size for programs delivering SEL (g = .31). Significant effect sizes were reported for specific outcomes involved in the analysis. Concluding, our meta-analysis supports the previous findings from the scientific literature regarding the impact of SEL programs. Practical implications are discussed.
A Robot Avatar: Easier Access to Education and Reduction in Isolation?

This paper presents a qualitative study of deployment and use of a robot as a sick child’s avatar at school. Many children and youth suffer from a range of chronic illnesses that make them, often for long stretches of time, deprived of normal education and social life. The participants in our study are adolescents who have been diagnosed with, and suffered from, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) for at least one year. They attend school typically between 1 – 3 hours per week, and the robot-avatar is intended as a way for them to extend the time spent in the classroom and to increase their social presence. The paper discusses tools made to help us understand these young people and their relation to technology (concerning their physical and mental condition) and their connectedness to others (friends, family, teachers and other relevant connections). Further, the paper reports on experiences with the use of robot-avatars by participants, their parents, and their schoolteachers.