Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dust Reddening in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasars

We explore the form of extragalactic reddening toward quasars using a sample of 9566 quasars with redshifts 0 < z < 2.2 and accurate optical colors from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We confirm that dust reddening is the primary explanation for the red "tail" of the color distribution of SDSS quasars. Our fitting to five-band photometry normalized by the modal quasar color as a function of redshift shows that this tail is well described by SMC-like reddening but not by reddening that is LMC-like, Galactic, or as recently described by Gaskell and coworkers. Extension to longer wavelengths using a subset of 1886 SDSS–Two Micron All Sky Survey matches confirms these results at high significance. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations that match the observed distribution of quasar spectral energy distributions using a Lorentzian dust-reddening distribution; 2% of quasars selected by the main SDSS targeting algorithm (i.e., that are not extincted out of the sample) have EB-V > 0.1, and less than 1% have EB-V > 0.2, where the extinction is relative to quasars with modal colors. Reddening is uncorrelated with the presence of intervening narrow-line absorption systems, but reddened quasars are much more likely to show narrow absorption at the redshift of the quasar than are unreddened quasars. Thus the reddening toward quasars is dominated by SMC-like dust at the quasar redshift.
TSVD-EM channel estimation for transmit diversity in LTE systems

In this paper, the truncated singular value decomposition expectation-maximization (TSVD-EM) based channel estimation on single transmit antenna transmission is extended to transmit diversity transmission. Particular attention is given to Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems. In order to obtain the received symbols for each transmit antenna, an approximation is proposed by using the soft symbols and channel estimates from the previous iteration. We prove that the mean square error (MSE) of TSVD-EM on transmit diversity transmission has almost the same constant value at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as on single transmitter antenna case. Simulation results show that the proposed TSVD-EM channel estimation improves system performances remarkably and approaches the performance with perfect channel state information. Even without pilot boosting used in LTE systems, the TSVD-EM achieves the same performances as with pilot boosting.
A formally verified deadlock-free routing function in a fault-tolerant NoC architecture

A novel fault-tolerant adaptive wormhole routing function for Networks-on-Chips (NoCs) is presented. The routing function guarantees absence of deadlocks and livelocks up to two faulty channels. The routing logic does not require reconfiguration when a fault occurs. The routes themselves are dynamic. Based on the faults in the network, alternative routes are used to reroute packets. Routing decisions are based only on local knowledge, which allows for fast switching. Our approach does not use any costly virtual channels. As we do not prohibit cyclic dependencies, the routing function provides minimal routing from source to destination even in the presence of faults. We have implemented the architecture design using synthesizable HDL. To ensure deadlock freedom, we have extended a formally verified deadlock detection algorithm to deal with fault tolerant designs. For a 20×20 mesh, we have formally proven deadlock freedom of our design in all of the 2,878,800 configurations in which two channels are faulty. We supply experimental results showing the performance of our architecture.
An Introduction to Box Particle Filtering [Lecture Notes]

Resulting from the synergy between the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) method [1] and interval analysis [2], box particle filtering is an approach that has recently emerged [3] and is aimed at solving a general class of nonlinear filtering problems. This approach is particularly appealing in practical situations involving imprecise stochastic measurements that result in very broad posterior densities. It relies on the concept of a box particle that occupies a small and controllable rectangular region having a nonzero volume in the state space. Key advantages of the box particle filter (box-PF) against the standard particle filter (PF) are its reduced computational complexity and its suitability for distributed filtering. Indeed, in some applications where the sampling importance resampling (SIR) PF may require thousands of particles to achieve accurate and reliable performance, the box-PF can reach the same level of accuracy with just a few dozen box particles. Recent developments [4] also show that a box-PF can be interpreted as a Bayes? filter approximation allowing the application of box-PF to challenging target tracking problems [5].
The Automorphism Group of an Arithmetically Saturated Model of Peano Arithmetic

One of the main goals in the study of the automorphism group Aut {Jt) of a countable, recursively saturated model Jt of Peano Arithmetic is to determine to what extent (the isomorphism type of) Jt is recoverable from (the isomorphism type of) Aut(^). A countable, recursively saturated model Jt of PA is characterized up to isomorphism by two invariants: its first-order theory Th(^ ) and its standard system SSy {Jt). At present, there seems to be no indication of how to recover any information about Th {Jt) from Aut {Jt) with the exception of whether or not Th {Jt) is True Arithmetic. We define the notion of arithmetically saturated in Definition 1.7; however, a model Jt of PA is arithmetically saturated if and only if it is recursively saturated and the standard cut is a strong cut. The following is our main theorem.
Single-feed Compact Ring Slot Patch Antenna for S-band Applications

The single-feed design of compact microstrip patch antenna with a rectangular ring slot has been demonstrated and results are presented. Simply by inserting a narrow slot of proper length and width on the patch surface, a bandwidth of 330 MHz (9.04 %) with a gain of 2.93 dB is achieved. Results also indicate that, at fixed operating frequency, the proposed design has good omni-directional radiation characteristics by the use of single probe feed technique with a reduced antenna size of about 10 % compared to simple microstrip patch antenna.
Construction and Initial Validation of the Inventory of Study Skills and Attitudes (ISSA) for Filipino Students

This study describes the development and initial validation of the instrument, Inventory of Study Skills and Attitudes (ISSA) designed to assess the study skills of Filipino college students. The development of the ISSA consisted of three phases. In the first phase, items were constructed based on cognitive, meta-cognitive, and motivation theories. The ISSA underwent three revisions before its final version. The initial and second versions of the ISSA were administered to a small group of freshman college students in the three universities in Naga City. Using item-total correlation and reliability analyses to assess the psychometric quality, the first version of 279 items was reduced to 171 in the second version and 84 in the third. Exploratory factor analysis of the third version administered to a large sample revealed that the ISSA is a multi-dimensional instrument consisting of three constructs: Meaningful Learning, Self-Regulation, and Planning & Organization. The final inventory consisting of 28 items has an excellent internal consistency of . 90, while each of its subscales shows alpha coecient values of . 86, . 79, and . 81, respectively. Implications of the findings of this study in teaching freshman college students how to develop appropriate study skills and attitudes for academic success are discussed.
Analysing DBD plasma lamp intensity versus power consumption using a push-pull pulsed power supply

In this paper characteristic of a DBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharge) plasma lamp is investigated based on the lamp intensity and power consumption. A pulsed power supply with controllable parameters based on a push-pull converter is developed for lamp excitation at different voltage levels and repetition rate. The experimentations were conducted for 28 different operating points with the frequency range of 2 kHz to 15 kHz at output voltage levels of between 7.4 kVpp up to 13 kVpp. The obtained results show the feasibility of finding an optimum operation point due to nonlinear behaviour of the DBD lamp.
Data-organization Before Learning Multi-Entity Bayesian Networks Structure

The objective of our work is to develop a new approach for discovering knowledge from a large mass of data, the result of applying this approach will be an expert system that will serve as diagnostic tools of a phenomenon related to a huge information system. We first recall the general problem of learning Bayesian network structure from data and suggest a solution for optimizing the complexity by using organizational and optimization methods of data. Afterward we proposed a new heuristic of learning a Multi-Entities Bayesian Networks structures. We have applied our approach to biological facts concerning hereditary complex illnesses where the literatures in biology identify the responsible variables for those diseases. Finally we conclude on the limits arched by this work. Keywords―Data-organization, data-optimization, automatic knowledge discovery, Multi-Entities Bayesian Networks, score merging
Beyond stigma? A case of a disabled female entrepreneur from the Bamilike ethnic group of West Cameroon

This work was carried out among the Bamileke in the Menoua Division in the West Region of Cameroon. It presents my main informant, Kenfack Tsopmo Cecile, a handicapped woman of 44 years who uses entrepreneurship as a means to break the social rejection that many people face because of their handicap. Despite her handicap, Cecile is very active and present on various social arenas. She is engaged in many different entrepreneurial activities. Thanks to her lifestyle she is well integrated in her society and regarded by many people around her as a courageous and hard worker. However, in spite of her capacity to progress in business, Cecile still finds it difficult to be taken as spouse, because of her physical appearance. While working with Cecile I learned not only about her particular case, but also about many issues that she shares with other handicapped women in Bamilike society. Many handicapped women in the Menoua Division have common traits like their cultural background and their handicap condition. Their cultural background makes them capable of undertaking business. But marriage is generally a serious problem for handicapped women, because in Menoua community, there are people who consider woman’s physical appearance as the sole proof of her beauty. As a result of such opinions, handicapped women are widely excluded from the marriage social field. As victims of social exclusion, some of these handicapped women have established an association to support one another and fight for their rights. My decision to research on the issues of handicapped women among the Bamilike stems from a belief that the handicapped women are important actors of social, economic and cultural development, who have much to give to the society. Keys words: social stigma, disability, entrepreneurship, Bamileke, Cameroon, gender, woman.
Synthetic soft error rate simulation considering neutron-induced single event transient from transistor to LSI-chip level

Soft error phenomena induced by the Sea-level cosmic neutron have been investigated by using a simulation system that covers from an individual MOSFET device level to an LSI-chip level. This system consists of the several kinds of simulation codes/tools, such as a mixed-mode 3D device simulator, SPICE circuit simulator, and analyzing tools of gate-level net-lists. A comprehensive practical simulation flow is demonstrated in this paper on commercial 90 nm generation logic devices and standard-cells.
Verification of ZG controllers for cart path tracking of general IPC model with nonzero link mass

The general inverted pendulum on a cart (termed IPC) model with nonzero link mass is investigated and analyzed for the tracking-control problem solving due to its concise and representative structure. According to the numbers of times of using Zhang dynamics (ZD) and gradient dynamics (GD) methods, novel controllers are designed and analyzed for the tracking control of the IPC model with nonzero link mass, which are thus termed ZG (Zhang gradient) controllers. Note that the ZG controllers are of z2g0 and z2g1 types in the paper. More importantly, the efficacy and superiority of ZG controllers are further verified via plenty of computer simulations for the cart path tracking of the general IPC model with nonzero link mass.
Clipping detection of audio signals based on kernel Fisher discriminant

In this paper, a kind of clipping detection method for audio signal is proposed based on kernel Fisher discriminant (KFD) in MDCT domain. The kernel method and the Fisher linear discriminant analysis (FLDA) are introduced to the proposed method. First, the clipping and non-clipping feature parameters are extracted using MDCT coefficients of audio signals. Next, the optimal projection vector and the classification threshold are obtained by training KFD based on the extracted feature parameters. Finally, the decision rule of KFD is employed to detect the clipping distortion. The test results indicate that the proposed algorithm yields good clipping detection result, the performance is better than the reference method.
Simulating star formation in molecular cloud cores. IV. The role of turbulence and thermodynamics

Context. Observations suggest that low-mass stars condense out of dense, relatively isolated, molecular cloud cores, with each core spawning a small-N cluster of stars. Aims. Our aim is to identify the physical processes shaping the collapse and fragmentation of a 5.4 Mcore, and to understand how these processes influence the mass distribution, kinematics, and binary statistics of the resulting stars. Methods. We perform SPH simulations of the collapse and fragmentation of cores having different initial levels of turbulence (αTURB = 0.05, 0.10, 0.25). We use a new treatment of the energy equation that captures (i) excitation of the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom of H2, dissociation of H2, ionisation of H and He; and (ii) the transport of cooling radiation against opacity due to both dust and gas (including the effects of dust sublimation, molecules, and H − ions). We also perform comparison simulations using a standard barotropic equation of state. Results. We find that - when compared with the barotropic equation of state - our more realistic treatment of the energy equation results in more protostellar objects being formed, and a higher proportion of brown dwarfs; the multiplicity frequency is essentially unchanged, but the multiple systems tend to have shorter periods (by a factor ∼3), higher eccentricities, and higher mass ratios. The reason for this is that small fragments are able to cool more effectively with the new treatment, as compared with the barotropic equation of state. We also note that in our simulations the process of fragmentation is often bimodal, in the following sense. The first protostar to form is usually, at the end, the most massive, i.e. the primary. However, frequently a disc-like structure subsequently forms round this primary, and then, once it has accumulated sufficient mass, quickly fragments to produce several secondaries. Conclusions. We believe that this delayed fragmentation of a disc-like structure is likely to be an important source of very low-mass stars in nature (both low-mass hydrogen-burning stars and brown dwarf stars); hence it may be fundamental to understanding the way in which the statistical properties of stars change - continuously but monotonically - with decreasing mass. However, in our simulations the individual cores probably produce too many stars, and hence too many single stars. We list the physical and numerical features that still need to be included in our simulations to make them more realistic; in particular, radiative and mechanical feedback, non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamic effects, and a more sophisticated implementation of sink particles.
A Ka-band MMIC Oscillator Using a Miniaturized CPW 1-D PBG Structure

A Ka-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) oscillator was implemented by using a coplanar waveguide photonic bandgap (PBG) resonator and a 0.1mum GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (p-HEMT). A coplanar labyrinthine one-dimensional PBG resonator was used for reduction in MMIC size. The fabricated MMIC oscillator had an output power of 6.5 dBm at 30.3 GHz and a free-running phase noise of -80dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset
PointCloudXplore: A Visualization Tool for 3D Gene Expression Data

PointCloudXplore: A Visualization Tool for 3D Gene Expression Data Oliver R¨ bel ∗,1,2 , Gunther H. Weber 2,3 , Soile V.E. Ker¨ nen 3 , Charless C. Fowlkes 4 , u a Cris L. Luengo Hendriks 3 , Lisa Simirenko 3 , Nameeta Y. Shah 2 , Michael B. Eisen 3 , Mark D. Biggin 3 , Hans Hagen 1 , Damir Sudar 3 , Jitendra Malik 4 , David W. Knowles 3 , and Bernd Hamann 1,2 International Research Training Group “Visualization of Large and Unstructured Data Sets,” University of Kaiserslautern, Germany Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization, University of California, Davis, CA, USA Life Sciences and Genomics Divisions, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Abstract: The Berkeley Drosophila Transcription Network Project (BDTNP) has de- veloped a suite of methods that support quantitative, computational analysis of three- dimensional (3D) gene expression patterns with cellular resolution in early Drosophila embryos, aiming at a more in-depth understanding of gene regulatory networks. We describe a new tool, called PointCloudXplore (PCX), that supports effective 3D gene expression data exploration. PCX is a visualization tool that uses the established visualization techniques of multiple views, brushing, and linking to support the analysis of high-dimensional datasets that describe many genes’ expression. Each of the views in PointCloudXplore shows a different gene expression data property. Brushing is used to select and em- phasize data associated with deﬁned subsets of embryo cells within a view. Linking is used to show in additional views the expression data for a group of cells that have ﬁrst been highlighted as a brush in a single view, allowing further data subset properties to be determined. In PCX, physical views of the data are linked to abstract data displays such as parallel coordinates. Physical views show the spatial relationships between different genes’ expression patterns within an embryo. Abstract gene expression data displays on the other hand allow for an analysis of relationships between different genes directly in the gene expression space. We discuss on parallel coordinates as one example abstract data view currently available in PCX. We have developed several ex- tensions to standard parallel coordinates to facilitate brushing and the visualization of 3D gene expression data. ∗ oliverruebel@web.de
Drought-induced trans-generational tradeoff between stress tolerance and defence: consequences for range limits?

In the study of geographic range boundary development, the focus has been on leading rather than on trailing edge dynamics. This is an important caveat as trailing edge dynamics will be critical for an understanding population level persistence. Our study begins to fill this knowledge gap and extends the conceptual framework of the field by focusing on trans-generational environmental effects. We found that while these effects may overcome some constraints on stress tolerance evolution and range expansion, other constraints may be created to limit range.
The Home Console Dispositive: Digital Games and Gaming as Socio-Technical Arrangements

This chapter focuses on the home console dispositive of the SONY Playstation in relation to digital games. The concept of the “dispositive” functions as a basis for the conceptualization of video games as an actor-network or a socio-technical arrangement respectively. This allows for an analysis and a description of various actors and their reciprocal relationships as well as the mutual process of fabrication of these actors in such video game networks. The historical development of the SONY Playstation system will serve as the primary example for these heterogenuous ensembles, whereby the main focus will be placed on one single-player game series, Grand Theft Auto, and one multiplayer game series, the soccer simulations of the FIFA series.
Modeling Intercellular Communication as a Survival Strategy of Cancer Cells: An In Silico Approach on a Flexible Bioinformatics Framework

Intercellular communication is very important for cell development and allows a group of cells to survive as a population. Cancer cells have a similar behavior, presenting the same mechanisms and characteristics of tissue formation. In this article, we model and simulate the formation of different communication channels that allow an interaction between two cells. This is a first step in order to simulate in the future processes that occur in healthy tissue when normal cells surround a cancer cell and to interrupt the communication, thus preventing the spread of malignancy into these cells. The purpose of this study is to propose key molecules, which can be targeted to allow us to break the communication between cancer cells and surrounding normal cells. The simulation is carried out using a flexible bioinformatics platform that we developed, which is itself based on the metaphor chemistry-based model.
A service architecture for sensor data provisioning for context-aware mobile applications

One of the main issues that inhibit the development of context-aware mobile applications is the lack of systematic methods for sensor data acquisition. This lack, however, is a result of the diversity of sensor data and its acquisition devices. In face of this, there is a need for general engineering solutions in order to address the common sensor data acquisition concerns. This paper presents a service-oriented architecture that allows the rapid prototyping of sensor data provisioning systems. This architecture is then applied to the Healthcare domain for providing cardiac signals in the scope of a context-aware telemonitoring system. The architecture is defined by entity and behavior models through a service-oriented design (SOD) language that has tool support.
The Relation of Codon Bias to Tissue-Specific Gene Expression in Arabidopsis thaliana

The codon composition of coding sequences plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression. Herein, we report systematic differences in the usage of synonymous codons among Arabidopsis thaliana genes that are expressed specifically in distinct tissues. Although we observed that both regionally and transcriptionally associated mutational biases were associated significantly with codon bias, they could not explain the observed differences fully. Similarly, given that transcript abundances did not account for the differences in codon usage, it is unlikely that selection for translational efficiency can account exclusively for the observed codon bias. Thus, we considered the possible evolution of codon bias as an adaptive response to the different abundances of tRNAs in different tissues. Our analysis demonstrated that in some cases, codon usage in genes that were expressed in a broad range of tissues was influenced primarily by the tissue in which the gene was expressed maximally. On the basis of this finding we propose that genes that are expressed in certain tissues might show a tissue-specific compositional signature in relation to codon usage. These findings might have implications for the design of transgenes in relation to optimizing their expression.