Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Flux calibration of medium-resolution spectra from 300 nm to 2500 nm: Model reference spectra and telluric correction

While the near-infrared wavelength regime is becoming more and more important for astrophysics there is a marked lack of spectrophotometric standard star data that would allow the flux calibration of such data. Furthermore, flux calibrating medium- to high-resolution \'echelle spectroscopy data is challenging even in the optical wavelength range, because the available flux standard data are often too coarsely sampled. We will provide standard star reference data that allow users to derive response curves from 300nm to 2500nm for spectroscopic data of medium to high resolution, including those taken with \'echelle spectrographs. In addition we describe a method to correct for moderate telluric absorption without the need of observing telluric standard stars. As reference data for the flux standard stars we use theoretical spectra derived from stellar model atmospheres. We verify that they provide an appropriate description of the observed standard star spectra by checking for residuals in line cores and line overlap regions in the ratios of observed (X-shooter) spectra to model spectra. The finally selected model spectra are then corrected for remaining mismatches and photometrically calibrated using independent observations. The correction of telluric absorption is performed with the help of telluric model spectra.We provide new, finely sampled reference spectra without telluric absorption for six southern flux standard stars that allow the users to flux calibrate their data from 300 nm to 2500 nm, and a method to correct for telluric absorption using atmospheric models.
Experimental and numerical investigation of low velocity impacts of fibre-metal laminates

In this work, an experimental and numerical investigation into the impact behaviour of fibremetal laminates (FMLs) subject to low velocity impact is conducted. The study investigates the damage initiation and progression of FMLs in order to characterise and represent the complex damage responses and deformation that lead to strength and stiffness loss. Low velocity impact tests were experimentally conducted using a drop-test impact rig. Numerical analysis was conducted using Abaqus/Explicit, with damage models incorporated to represent in-plane composite damage, delamination, elastic-plastic behaviour of the metal layers at high strain rates, and failure in the adhesive layers. In addition to plastic deformation of the aluminium layers, matrix cracking, fibre failure and delamination of the composite glass-epoxy prepreg were observed as critical damage modes. The numerical simulations exhibited good correlation with experimental impact tests in terms of kinematic response and damage development.
Dynamic visual attention: competitive versus motion priority scheme

Deflned as attentive process in presence of visual sequences, dynamic visual attention responds to static and motion features as well. For a computer model, a straightforward way to integrate these features is to combine all features in a competitive scheme: the saliency map contains a contribution of each feature, static and motion. Another way of integration is to combine the features in a motion priority scheme: in presence of motion, the saliency map is computed as the motion map, and in absence of motion, as the static map. In this paper, four models are considered: two models based on a competitive scheme and two models based on a motion priority scheme. The models are evaluated experimen- tally by comparing them with respect to the eye movement patterns of human subjects, while viewing a set of video sequences. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations, performed in the context of simple synthetic video sequences, show the highest performance of the motion priority scheme, compared to the competitive scheme.
OpenScrum: Scrum methodology to improve shared understanding in an open-source community

While we continue to see rise in the adoption of agile methods for software development, there has been a call to study the appropriateness of agile methods in opensource and other emerging contexts. This paper examines Scrum methodology adopted by a large, globally distributed team which builds an open-source electronic medical records platform called OpenMRS. The research uses a mixed method approach, by doing quantitative analysis of source-code, issue tracker as well as community activity (IRC logs, Mailing lists, wiki) in pre and post Scrum adoption, covering a period of 4 years. Later we conducted semi-structured interviews with core developers and followed it up with group discussions to discuss the analysis of the quantitative data and get their views on our findings. Since the project is "domain heavy", contributors (developers and implementers) need to have certain health informatics understanding before making significant contributions. This puts knowledge-sharing and "bus factor" as critical points of management for the community. The paper presents ideas about a tailored Scrum methodology that might better suited for open-source communities to improve knowledge-sharing and community participation, instead of just agility
Like That Lah: Malaysian Undergraduates’ Attitudes Towards Localised English

Native-like English use is often considered the standard to be achieved, in contrast to non-native English use. Nonetheless, localised English varieties abound in many societies and the growth or decline of any language variety commonly depends on how it is perceived; for instance, as a mere tool for functionality or as a prized cultural badge, and only its users can offer us insights into this. The thrust of the present study falls in line with the concept of language vitality, which is basically concerned with the sustainability of non-global languages. This paper first explores the subject of localisation and English varieties, and then examines the attitudes of Malaysian undergraduates towards their English pronunciation and accent, as well as their perceptions of Malaysian English. A 26-item questionnaire created by the researchers was utilised to collect data. It was also tested for reliability, with returned values indicating good internal consistency for all constructs, making the instrument a reliable option for use in future studies. A total of 253 undergraduates from a public university responded to the questionnaire and results revealed that overall, the participants valued their local-accented English and the functionality of Malaysian English, but regarded this form of the language as substandard. They also considered it important for Malaysians to achieve native-like English use, particularly for the attainment of better educational and economic prospects. These findings provide direction for educational policy-planning as well as English language teaching, and are of relevance to research on English varieties, including the preservation of linguistic heritage.
Repeatability and application of tethered swimming tests for recreational swimmers

Tethered swimming tests are applied to evaluate propulsive forces in crawl stroke and may also be used to evaluate force applied by the movement of lower (leg kicking) and upper limbs (arm stroke). Considering the large number of recreational swimmers, this tool may be useful for coaches to evaluate the technique and force production by swimmers. As little attention has been paid to the application of these tests with recreational swimmers, the aims of this study were to verify the repeatability of the tethered swimming test for arm stroke, leg kicking and crawl stroke and to verify the relationship between performance in a 50-m test and in the tethered test with recreational swimmers. In this case, repeatability was defined as the agreement between the results of two successive evaluations. Ten male swimmers performed two 30-s maximal intensity tethered swimming tests with leg kicking, arm stroke and crawl stroke and three 50-m crawl stroke tests. Repeatability was found for mean force of all tests and for impulse evaluated in crawl stroke. Inverse relationship of the time to complete 50 m with the maximum and mean forces and with the impulse in the crawl stroke and an inverse relationship between time to complete 50 m and the mean force in the leg kicking were observed. Therefore, results from full tethered swimming tests applied with recreational swimmers may help swimming coaches.
LOCALLY FUNCTION CHAINABLE SETS IN TOPOLOGICAL SPACES

The concept of function chainable sets has been introduced in [7]. In this paper, the function chainability between sets in topological spaces have been defined in locally terms. It is shown, that under some restrictions, that concept of function chainability between sets is partially hereditary and partially topological. We use the terminology and preliminary definitions from [4], [7], and [8]. AMS Subject Classification: 54A99
Les objets de Parure associés au dépôt funéraire mésolithique de Gro&Bgr;e Ofnet : implications pour la compréhension de l'organisation sociale des dernières sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs du Jura Souabe

Abstract Personal ornaments from the sepulchral cave of Gro&bgr;e Ofnet (Germany): implications for the social organisation of the last Swabian Mesolithic societies. The Gro&bgr;e Ofnet head burials have been interpreted as evidence of interpersonal violence within the last Mesolithic societies of Western Europe. This study aims to characterize mobility and territoriality of the last hunter -gatherers in order to understand their social organization. We submit the personal ornaments associated with the head burial to taphonomic, archaeozoological, technological, morphometric, and functional analyses in the aim to document the variability in raw material procurement, bead manufacture, length of use, and mortuary practices. Our results indicate complex acquisition patterns of the ornaments, including multidirectional exchange networks. Homogeneity in the bead manufacture suggests contacts between contemporaneous groups that shared the same technical traditions. Distributions of ornaments associated with each skull and use-wear patterns indicate an intergenerational transmission of the beads. We conclude that the last Swabian Mesolithic groups maintained active networks by perpetuating exchanges across large areas. Previous works have interpreted hostile intergroup relationship as evidence of a decrease in their mobility. Our results highlight that, in the case of Ofnet, such a reduction in mobility can be largely counterbalanced by the perpetuation of large scale exchange networks.
On the IP-based Services Distribution over Cable Television Networks

The peculiarities of transmitting IP-based services over DOCSIS-based CATV/HFC networks are presented. The way DOCSIS protocol acts in data transmission and in collisions solving is discussed in details. The TCP effectiveness is evaluated for CATV / HFC networks that are asymmetrical in terms of channel capacity in the upstream and the downstream direction. Architectures for the upstream and the downstream segmentation are suggested that implement switches to improve the quality of the subscriber services provided. The minimum bit rate is determined that makes it possible for the VoIP service with silence suppression (UGS-AD according to the DOCSIS standard) to be provided to the cable television network subscribers. Ill. 5, bibl. 7 (in English; summaries in English, Russian and Lithuanian).
Evaluation of a new Power Quality index, based in Higher Order Statistics

The present works deals with the presentation and test of a novel Power Quality index, based in Higher-Order cumulants. Synthetics are used for test different start point, amplitude and length for the most common Power Grid disturbances (DIP, Oscillatory Transient, Harmonic Temporal Distortion and Impulsive Transient), obtaining a high accuracy (over 99% in some disturbances). Then real signals are used for confirm synthetics results. Finally, the Power Quality index presented, is confirmed with real signals as a good tool for detect imperfections in the power waveform.
How Text Mining Approach can be Used to Understand Automobile Purchase

Word of mouth has long been recognized to be an influential variable in marketing. With the growth of Internet applications, traditional word of mouth has evolved into the online form where individuals spread their perceptions via the written word. With the rapid growth of comments by consumers over the Internet, in-depth purchasing related information is available to markers. In this paper we try to extract the essence of consumers’ attitudes from the online reviews posted on kbb.com through text-mining approach, which is the most popular and highly visited website in automobile industry. Thus we can identify the key features that are related to the prediction of positive/negative overall attitudes of online users. Then with the diagnostic of these identified key features through Gini indexing, they can be used to help to marketers in designing their keyword choices for more effective application of search engine marketing strategies for positive associated key features while identification of the negative associated key words will lead to discovery of problematic areas.
Dealing with difference in the divided educational context: balancing freedom of expression and non-discrimination in Northern Ireland and Israel

Abstract It has long been established that an effective citizenship education in a multicultural society must incorporate some exposure to a variety of views on different topics. However, the ability and willingness to deal with difference relating to controversial matters of national identity, narrative and conflict vary. This is not least the case in the ethno-nationally divided and conflict-affected jurisdictions of Northern Ireland and Israel. This article relates qualitative research conducted among students, teachers and policy-makers in these two jurisdictions that explores the area of dealing with difference within citizenship education. Using the starting point of a framework based on international law on education, the article goes on to consider how freedom of expression and non-discrimination are variously interpreted and balanced when exploring controversial issues in the classroom of a divided society.
A Survey of Pathogenic Avian Mycoplasma Involvement in Multicausal Respiratory Disease in Broiler Flocks

BACKGROUND: Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) are the most important and pathogenic mycoplasma in chicken production. The tendency of avian mycoplasma for interaction with other pathogen is well-known. Interaction within several disease-producing factors in respiratory tract exacerbate the disease and known as multicausal respiratory disease. OBJECTIVES: In recent years, high prevalence of multicausal respiratory disease in broiler flocks cause economic loss in Iran. The aim of the current study was to find the role of avian mycoplasma in recent outbreaks of respiratory diseases in broiler flocks. METHODS: Four hundred fifty tracheal or choanal cleft swabs were collected from 30 broiler farms with sever respiratory disease. The samples subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers for MG and MS. RESULTS: One flock (3.3%) and three flocks (10%) of broiler found to be positive for MG and MS, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that mycoplasma (MG and MS) are not the major part of recent respiratory diseases and anti-mycoplasma drugs administration needs precise test to evaluated mycoplasma statues.
Mitochondrial abundance in glia after exposure to methylmercury.

Methylmercury (CH3Hg or MeHg) is an industrial pollutant of the environment that primarily affects the nervous system. Symptoms of methylmercury poisoning include paraesthesia, ataxia, dysarthria, and hearing loss. Humans and animals convert methylmercury to inorganic mercury in their bodies. (IPCS 1990) There mercury acts as a neurotoxin by inhibiting the action of enzymes containing selenium, although much of mercury’s activity in the body is not well understood. (Carvalho et al., 2008) This neurotoxin has been especially problematic in communities affected on a large scale by exposure, such as the thousands of people poisoned by the disposal of methylmercury-containing waste in Minamata Bay in Japan during the 1950s and 1960s. In that case, patients continued to be affected by the toxin decades after it ceased to be released in the bay. Several large-scale poisonings have happened around the world since. (Harada, 1995).
CABRI'S ROLE IN THE TASK OF PROVING WITHIN THE ACTIVITY OF BUILDING PART OF AN AXIOMATIC SYSTEM

We want to show how we use the software Cabri, in a Geometry class for preservice mathematics teachers, in the process of building part of an axiomatic system of Euclidean Geometry. We will illustrate the type of tasks that engage students to discover the relationship between the steps of a geometric construction and the steps of a formal justification of the related geometric fact to understand the logical development of a proof; understand dependency relationships between properties; generate ideas that can be useful for a proof; produce conjectures that correspond to theorems of the system; and participate in the deductive organization of a set of statements obtained as solution to open-ended problems.
Naming, Migration, and Replication for NFSv4

In this paper, we discuss a global name space for NFSv4 and mechanisms for transparent migration and replication. By convention, any file or directory name beginning with /nfs on an NFS client is part of this shared global name space. Our system supports file system migration and replication through DNS resolution, provides directory migration and replication using builtin NFSv4 mechanisms, and supports read/write replication with precise consistency guarantees, small performance penalty, and good scaling. We implement these features with small extensions to the published NFSv4 protocol, and demonstrate a practical way to enhance network transparency and administerability of NFSv4 in wide area networks.
Contribution ULTRASOUND-BASED VESSEL WALL TRACKING : AN AUTOCORRELATION TECHNIQUE WITH RF CENTER FREQUENCY ESTIMATION

Vessel diameter is related to the distending blood pressure, and is used in estimations of vessel stiffness parameters. The vessel walls can be tracked by integrating wall velocities estimated by ultrasound (US) Doppler techniques. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the performance of the modified autocorrelation estimator when applied on vessel wall motion. As opposed to the conventional autocorrelation method that only estimates the mean Doppler frequency, the modified autocorrelation method estimates both the mean Doppler frequency and the radiofrequency (RF) center frequency. To make a systematic evaluation of the estimator, we performed computer simulations of vessel wall motion, where pulse bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-toreverberation ratio, packet size and sample volume were varied. As reference, we also analyzed the conventional autocorrelation method and the cross-correlation method with parabolic interpolation. Under the simulation conditions considered here, the modified autocorrelation method had the lowest bias and variance of the estimators. When integrating velocity estimates over several cardiac cycles, the resulting tissue displacement curves might drift. This drift is directly related to the magnitude of the estimator bias and variance. Hence, the modified autocorrelation method should be the preferred choice of method. (E-mail: s.i.rabben@klinmed.uio.no) © 2002 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.
Finite element analysis of deep underground salt caverns

In this paper, the process of finite element analysis of deep underground salt caverns was described with geometry and material properties related to caverns in the salt mine Tetima-Tuzla, B&H. The 3D model was built based on ultrasound measurement and CAD modelling of planar geometry data. Nonlinear finite element analysis was performed resulting in stresses and deformations data necessary for assessment of cavern stability and time dependent behaviour.
Common disputes related to public work projects in Thailand

The construction industry is one of the key players in driving the economy, generating both employment and wealth. However, disputes have frequently been claimed to proliferate in the construction industry. Disputes often result in drawbacks and disharmonizations in the completion of the construction projects with considerable cost. The objectives of this research were to identify and evaluate the common dispute factors in public work projects. The paper reported on a questionnaire-based research investigation targeting main contractors with a focus on critical dispute problems during the project construction phase. Identified dispute factors have been evaluated for severity index by selected samples of 390 various construction practitioners consisting of owners, consultants, and main contractors. The paper presented survey results and main findings, which indicated that violating the conditions of the contract, insufficient work drawing details, delays in the progress payments by the owner, poor evaluation of completed works, inaccurate bill of quantities and unrealistic contract durations were all critical dispute problems during the project construction phase. These findings can be helpful to construction practitioners in understanding the dispute problems in public work projects. This can minimize the risk of cost overruns associated with disputes and conflicts.
Semiglobal Matching Results on the ISPRS Stereo Matching Benchmark

Abstract. Digital surface models can be efficiently generated with automatic image matching from optical stereo images. The Working Group 4 of Commission I on "Geometric and Radiometric Modelling of Optical Spaceborne Sensors" provides a matching benchmark dataset with several stereo data sets from high and very high resolution space borne stereo sensors at http://www.commission1. isprs.org/wg4/ . The selected regions are in Catalonia, Spain, and include three test areas, covering city areas, rural areas and forests in flat and medium undulated terrain as well as steep mountainous terrain. In this paper, digital surface models (DSM) are derived from the Cartosat-1 and Worldview-1 datasets using Semiglobal Matching. The resulting DSM are evaluated against the first pulse returns of the LIDAR reference dataset provided by the Institut Cartogr`afic de Catalunya (ICC), using robust accuracy measures.