Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Snow Surface Metamorphism on Aquarius L-Band Radiometer Observations at Dome C, Antarctica

The Antarctic Plateau presents ideal characteristics to study the relationship between microwave observations and snow/ice properties. It is also a promising target for radiometer calibration and sensor intercalibration, which are critical for applications requiring subkelvin accuracy, such as sea surface salinity retrievals. This paper presents the spaceborne Aquarius L-band radiometric observations collected since August 2011 over the Antarctic Plateau, and it focuses on their temporal evolutions at Dome C (75.1° S, 123.35° E). Aquarius operates three radiometers with a sensitivity of 0.15 K (over the oceans), allowing us to analyze small variations in brightness temperature (TB) and changes with incidence angles. Over the Antarctic Plateau, Aquarius TBs have a relatively low annual standard deviation (0.2-0.9 K) where melting never occurs. However, the analysis of the TB time series at Dome C revealed significant variations (up to 2.5 K) in summer. First, these variations are compared with a remote sensing grain index (GI) based on high-frequency (89 and 150 GHz) shallow-penetration TB channels. Variations in the ratio of TBs observed at horizontal and vertical polarizations are synchronous with GI changes. Second, Aquarius TB variations are compared with the presence of hoar crystals on the surface identified using surface-based near-infrared photographs. The largest and longest changes in TBs correspond to periods with hoar crystals on the surface. Therefore, in spite of the deep penetration of the L-band radiation, evolutions of the snow properties near the surface, which usually change rapidly and irregularly, do influence L-band observations. Collection of accurate snow surface measurements and thorough analyses of the L-band observations are thus needed to use the Antarctic Plateau as a calibration/inter-calibration target.
Resolving queries in a heterogeneous context rich environment

The vision of ubiquitous computing[1] is that of many computing devices interacting in a natural way with humans in the real world. The software running on these devices is currently limited in how it can provide for users’ needs by the amount and quality of the information it can retrieve about the environment in which it is operating. This context information must be provided in a form each software component can understand, which is a difficult problem given the wide array of heterogeneous information sources involved in any ubiquitous computing scenario such as computers, embedded sensors and information appliances.
Construction and applications of discrete-time smoothing error models

We present a unified perspective on techniques for constructing both forward and backward markovian realizations of the error process associated with discrete-time fixed-interval smoothing. Several alternative approaches are presented, each of which provides additional insight and connections with other results in linear estimation theory. In addition, two applications of such models are described. The first is a problem in the validation of an error model for a measurement system, while the second concerns the problems of updating and combining smoothed estimates. We also present an example of the use of our updating solution for the mapping of random fields based on several sets of data tracks.
Modelling Software Quality Through Organisational Position and Software Role : A Pilot Study

Over the last 30 years, many software quality models have been defined. Because there has been little empirical validation of these models, we are left with a number of unanswered questions. How do managers, developers, and users really perceive software quality? Is there an overarching view of quality that colours their view of software quality attributes? Does their role with a particular software product make a difference to their view of software quality? Does their major job function also colour their attitude? In short, we want to better understand what is meant by the term "software quality" and to analyse perceptions of what constitutes software quality from the perspective of different groups of professionals involved with both software development and software use. In order to investigate these aspects of quality we conducted a survey of 300 professionals asking them to rank the importance of 17 software quality attributes. The results of our study show different patterns for our respondent groupings. Although our respondents may discuss the same quality attributes, they appear to have different views of the importance of these attributes. While some of the software quality attributes appear to be important to all professionals regardless of their job function or software role, there are differences in software quality priorities for different professional and user groupings. Analysis of our results shows that the overarching view of software quality taken by most of our respondents is a “user view”.
EFL Prospective Teacher Educators’ Beliefs towards the Use of WhatsApp in English Learning and Teaching

This study was aimed to investigate the beliefs of EFL prospective teacher educators towards the use of WhatsApp in English learning and teaching. This study used survey research design and the samples were 44 master students of Applied Linguistics Department who had academic degree of B.Ed in TEFL in one of state universities in Yogyakarta. This study found that EFL prospective teacher educators had favorable beliefs towards WhatsApp integration in English learning and teaching. They perceived true that the use of WhatsApp was sine qua non of increasing the learners’ English learning proficiency, motivation, autonomy, and language attitude and creating fun and enjoyable English learning atmosphere. Consequently, present English teachers should integrate WhatsApp smartphone application in English learning and teaching.
Membranous nephropathy with monoclonal IgG4 deposits and associated IgG4-related lung disease

A 62-year-old woman was admitted for nephrotic syndrome and lung tumor. A renal biopsy showed membranous features of the glomeruli. Immunofluorescence studies revealed granular IgG4-κ deposits along with the glomerular basement membrane. Electron microscopy revealed granular electron-dense deposits. Further study denied multiple myeloma. Light microscopy of the resected lung tumor revealed IgG4-related lung disease with no malignancy. Steroid therapy induced a remission of the nephrotic syndrome, with no recurrence of the lung tumor. We consider that this is the first case of a proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal IgG deposits of IgG4 subclass, and a rare concurrence with IgG4-related disease.
Development of 2D Modeling Techniques for the Thermal Fatigue Analysis of Solder Joints of a Module Mounted in a 3D Cavity on a Printed Circuit Board

Unlike the common types of SMT packages such as BGA and QFP, the component under investigation is a module mounted in a cavity on a PCB with their lead- fingers hanged over the edges of the cavity. This PCB assembly has a 3D configuration in nature such that regular 2D modeling is not capable to solve the problem. However, it is impractical to perform a 3D thermal fatigue analysis for this structure due to the very limited time to market requirement in the industry. In order to solve this problem, a 2D finite element modeling methodology with the use of artificial elements (effective block) to supplement the necessary boundary conditions is proposed. The focus of this paper is put on the calculation of the material properties of the effective block, and also on the application of it to solve the current 3D thermal fatigue problem. The good matching between the 2D modeling results and those from experiments suggests that the proposed methodology is an effective one, in addition to its high efficiency inborn. As 3D modeling comprises larger complexity and requires much heavier computational effort, it is usual to perform 2D modeling before any 3D simulation work for preliminary results. Yet, the 3D condition can be largely degenerated when it comes down to the 2D level. The present study demonstrates that the use of effective blocks is a way of enhancing the applicability of 2D models for solving more complicated problems.
Some Applications of Item Response Theory to Testing

A test score that is obtained through the number-correct score is often used as estimate of an examinee's proficiency. A problem with this approach is that it does not take into account the characteristic of the item, such as the item difficulty, when estimating the proficiency. Furthermore, when test scores are used to evaluate the performance of a school, the presence of examinees who do not respond according to their true ability (e.g., guessing and copying), could yield estimates of a school performance that is lower than its actual performance. In this study, it was shown that the problem is circumvented using an approach based on the item response theory (IRT). Simulation studies were conducted to illustrate the points.
Management Styles and Organizational Effectiveness: An Appraisal of Private Enterprises in Northern Nigeria

The study investigated Management styles and Organizational effectiveness of private enterprises in Kano State of Nigeria. A survey design was adopted in this study. The population of the study consisted of top, middle and lower levels of managers of private enterprises across the eight industrial sectors of Kano State. A sample of one hundred and twenty nine (129) managers was drawn from the three levels of management of private enterprises from the eight industrial groups. Proportionate Stratified random sampling method was used in the selection of the respondents to ensure fair representation from the three levels of management. The main instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire designed in a 5-point Likert scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree and excellent to poor. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation statistic. The study found that participative and paternalistic management styles were the predominant management styles in practice, the effectiveness of private enterprises were well above average, there was a relationship between management styles and organizational effectiveness. It was concluded that different management styles were adopted in the running of private enterprises depending on the characteristics inherent such firms. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that private enterprises should adopt management styles in tandem with the achievement of set goals, cultural values and organizational peculiarities as there was no one best management style.
Duality in the Th17-Treg developmental decision

Each of the effector CD4 T-cell lineages - Th1, Th2, and the more recently identified Th17 - arises from pluripotent naïve precursors whose developmental fate is largely controlled by cytokines that act in concert with antigenic signals. Remarkably, development of the Th17 lineage has been linked to that of regulatory T cells, which obviate or downregulate Th17 responses to preserve immune homeostasis, through a shared requirement for the cytokine transforming growth factor-beta. Several new studies offer insights into the mechanism whereby the precursors of these subsets are directed into distinct lineages.
Ribonucleoprotein staining of centrioles and kinetochores in newt lung cell spindles

The distribution of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) within the mitotic spindle of newt lung epithelial cells was studied with the high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) using Bernhard's uranyl-EDTA-lead staining of thick sections in conjunction with the ribonuclease digestion of fixed cells. The results indicate that aside from ribosomes, the major RNP-containing components of the spindle are the kinetochores and centrioles, both of which stain electron-opaque after EDTA treatment. In both cases, the electron-opaque material associated with these microtubule organizing centers (MTOC's) can be removed by RNAse digestion and cold perchloric acid (PCA) extraction under conditions which leave the spindle microtubules (Mts) centrioles, and kinetochores intact. The staining reaction is not abolished by cold PCA extraction alone or by substituting other positively charged proteins (i.e., cytochrome c or lysozyme) for RNAse. The RNP component of the kinetochore is closely associated with the bases of the kinetochore microtubules. The RNP component of the centriole can be seen to surround the microtubules of the triplet blades. No evidence was found to indicate the presence of RNP in the pericentriolar material. The possible function of both kinetochore and centriolar RNP is discussed.
Cortical motor overactivation in parkinsonian patients with L-dopa-induced peak-dose dyskinesia.

We have studied the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes induced by the execution of a finger-to-thumb opposition motor task in the supplementary and primary motor cortex of two groups of parkinsonian patients on L-dopa medication, the first one without L-dopa induced dyskinesia (n = 23) and the other with moderate peak-dose dyskinesia (n = 15), and of a group of 14 normal subjects. Single photon emission tomography with i.v. 133Xe was used to measure the rCBF changes. The dyskinetic parkinsonian patients exhibited a pattern of response which was markedly different from those of the normal subjects and non-dyskinetic parkinsonian patients, with a significant overactivation in the supplementary motor area and the ipsi- and contralateral primary motor areas. These results are compatible with the hypothesis that an hyperkinetic abnormal involuntary movement, like L-dopa-induced peak dose dyskinesia, is due to a disinhibition of the primary and associated motor cortex secondary to an excessive outflow of the pallidothalamocortical motor loop.
Trajectory Optimization of Space Manipulators with Flexible Links Using a New Approach

In this paper, the problem of trajectory optimization of flexible space robots is considered and an efficient approach is proposed for solving it. The space robots are considered as mechanical manipulators having rigid and flexible links. The main duty of these robots is to translate a payload mass between two specified points. To derive dynamic model of these manipulators, their flexible links are assumed as a set of rigid links connected together. By adding strain potential energy to Lagrange equations, the flexible behaviour of flexible links is modeled with good accuracy. In present paper, the problem of trajectory optimization of space manipulators is defined based on minimum joint torque (minimum control effort) objective function. A new approach, that is a developed form of direct collocation method, is used for solving this problem. This new approach is based on simultaneous using of differential flatness to decrease dimensional space of the problem and B-spline curves to approximate trajectories. In this approach, state equations and path constraints are applied at specified time nodes and control points of B-spline curves are considered as optimization variables. In this approach, the problem of trajectory optimization is converted to a nonlinear programming problem and exactly solved by nonlinear programming methods. By using this approach, the numbers of optimization variables and constraints are significantly decreased and the possibility of online trajectory optimization is provided.
Node-Grained Incremental Community Detection for Streaming Networks

Community detection has been one of the key research topics in the analysis of networked data, which is a powerful tool for understanding organizational structures of complex networks. One major challenge in community detection is to analyze community structures for streaming networks in real-time in which changes arrive sequentially and frequently. The existing incremental algorithms are often designed for edge-grained sequential changes, which are sensitive to the processing sequence of edges. However, there exist many real-world net-works that changes occur on node-grained, i.e., node with its connecting edges is added into network simultaneously and all edges arrive at the same time. In this paper, we propose a novel incremental community detection method based on modularity optimization for node-grained streaming networks. This method takes one vertex and its connecting edges as a processing unit, and equally treats edges involved by same node. Our algorithm is evaluated on a set of real-world networks, and is compared with several representative incremental and non-incremental algorithms. The experimental results show that our method is highly effective for discovering communities in an incremental way. In addition, our algorithm even got better results than Louvain method (the famous modularity optimization algorithm using global information) in some test networks, e.g., citation networks, which are more likely to be node-grained. This may further indicate the significance of the node-grained incremental algorithms.
High Tech versus Low Tech Training

The United States Marine Corps has some of the most advanced weapons systems and training in the world, yet they make extensive use of “low tech” training tools. Sand table exercises and tactical decision games are used by Marines all over the world, at sea and on land. Although the U.S. Department of Defense has a nearly $18 billion annual training budget, the Marines choose to teach decision making and tactics to entry level officers through the use of low tech methodologies. There may be a lesson here for wildland fire agencies with far smaller training budgets wishing to teach similar skills. In recent years, the wildland fire community in the U.S. has seen an increase in use of technological resources from advanced fire behavior prediction models to fire simulations. This trend towards increased reliance on emerging technologies combined with perceived discarding of traditional training, leadership, and decision making assessments has created concern for many in wildland fire management. Large amounts of money are being spent searching for the newest technological widget. Yet a phrase coined in the business community may ring true for us as well: “better, faster, cheaper: you can have any two out of the three, but not all three at the same time. You choose”. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent developing computer-based wildland fire simulations. These applications promise to add exciting new dimensions to wildland fire training. However, there are disadvantages associated with this type of training tool. First, it requires several computers with high-end video cards installed. Second, it requires someone with Information Technology skills to run it. Third, it requires some level of effort to integrate this technology into existing training courses. Fourth, software development is very expensive. Sand table exercises, on the other hand, require only an 8' x 4' box of sand with some toy figures of people and fire engines, material that looks like vegetation and smoke (e.g., cotton), and chalk to mark fire perimeters and roads. Sand tables can be used in remote locations. The only limitation to sand table exercises is the trainer’s imagination; an infinite number of scenarios can be created to stimulate learning. Individuals can be placed in situations where they have to make decisions and communicate them to subordinates. Investigation reports for tragedy fires have often pointed to indecisiveness and poor communication as causal factors in accidents. Low tech training versus high tech training – how to decide? How much money is available to a training department? What level of “fidelity” is needed: does training have to be absolutely “realistic” or does it just have to produce the desired learning outcome? How much technology is needed to provoke firefighters into making decisions in a training environment where no firefighters are at risk? Do young people from today’s video game generation expect high tech computer-based training? The selection of training tools should be a process similar to that of selecting tools with which to fight a fire: choose the right tool for the job.
Bis Working Papers Determinants of House Prices in Nine Asia-pacific Economies Monetary and Economic Department Determinants of House Prices in Nine Asia-pacific Economies

BIS Working Papers are written by members of the Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank for International Settlements, and from time to time by other economists, and are published by the Bank. The views expressed in them are those of their authors and not necessarily the views of the BIS. Limited extracts may be reproduced or translated provided the source is stated. Abstract The paper investigates the characteristics of house price dynamics and the role of institutional features in nine Asia-Pacific economies during 1993-2006. On average, house prices tend to be more volatile in markets with lower supply elasticity and a more flexible business environment. At the national level, the current run-up in house prices mainly reflects adjustment to improved fundamentals rather than speculative housing bubbles. However, evidence of bubbles does exist in some market segments. Society annual conference for helpful comments. Gert Schnabel provides valuable support for data compilation. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the authors' affiliated institutions.
The multisensory base of bodily coupling in face-to-face social interactions: Contrasting the case of autism with the Möbius syndrome

ABSTRACT The perennial question of how we understand others’ emotions and mental states has undertaken an “interactive turn,” emphasizing the crucial role of low-level bodily coupling and second-personal engagements with others as opposed to the individualistic procedure of mental state attribution or “mindreading. ” This raises the important question of what counts as foundational for socio-emotional understanding: high-level mentalistic abilities, low-level bodily coupling, or an integrative combination of both? Recent findings on face-based emotion-recognition in individuals with Möbius syndrome (MS) – a rare form of congenital facial paralysis which prevents facial mimicry – cast doubt on the idea that bodily coupling is the foundational component for socio-emotional understanding. Here we argue that the MS case does not pose a threat to the idea that low-level bodily coupling processes are foundational for social cognition. Rather, despite their lack of automatic facial mirroring, MS patients might benefit from spared multisensory integration processing which allows them to establish alternative channels of bodily coupling via different sensory modalities. We contrast MS- and autistic persons’ lack of automatic facial mimicry and argue that this comparison might help us to shed light on the constitutive and foundational role of low-level bodily coupling for socio-emotional understanding.
Insert-friendly XML containment labeling scheme

The labeling scheme is designed to label the XML nodes so that both ordered and un-ordered queries can be processed without accessing the original XML file. When XML data become dynamic, it is important to design a labeling scheme that can facilitate updates and support query processing efficiently. In this paper, we propose a novel containment labeling scheme called DXCL (Dynamic XML Containment Labeling) to effectively process updating in dynamic XML data. Compared with the existing dynamic labeling schemes, a distinguishing feature of DXCL is that DXCL is compact and efficient regardless of whether the documents are updated or not. DXCL uses fixed length integer numbers to label initial XML documents and hence yields compact label size and high query performance. When updates take place, DXCL also has high performance on both label updates and query processing especially in the case of skewed insertions. Experimental results conform the benefits of our approach over the previous dynamic schemes.