Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Effective Temperature Scale for Late-M and L Dwarfs, from Resonance Absorption Lines of Cs I and Rb I

We present Keck HIRES spectra of six late-M dwarfs and 11 L dwarfs. Our goal is to assign effective temperatures to the objects using detailed atmospheric models and fine analysis of the alkali resonance absorption lines of Cs I and Rb I. These yield mutually consistent results (±50 K) when we use "cleared-dust" models, which account for the removal of refractory species from the molecular states but do not include dust opacities. We find a tendency for the Rb I line to imply a slightly higher temperature, which we ascribe to an incomplete treatment of the overlying molecular opacities. The final Teff we adopt are based on the Cs I fits alone, though the Rb I fits support the Cs I temperature sequence. This work, in combination with results from the infrared, hints that dust in these atmospheres has settled out of the high atmosphere but is present in the deep photosphere. We also derive radial and rotational velocities for all the objects, finding that the previously discovered trend of rapid rotation for very low mass objects is quite pervasive. To improve on our analysis, there is a clear need for better molecular line lists and a more detailed understanding of dust formation and dynamics.
The Blandford-Znajek process as a gamma-ray burst central engine

We investigate the possibility that gamma-ray bursts are powered by a central engine consisting of a black hole with an external magnetic field supported by a surrounding disk or torus. The rotational energy of the black hole can be extracted electromagnetically as a Poynting flux, a mechanism proposed by Blandford and Znajek(1977). Recently observed magnetars indicate that some compact objects have very high magnetic fields, up to $10^{15}$ G, which is required to extract the energy within the duration of a GRB, i.e., in 1000 s or less. We demonstrate also that the Poynting flux need not be substantially dominated by the disk.
Glassy transition in the three-dimensional random-field Ising model.

AbstractThe high temperature phase of the three dimensional random ﬁeld Ising model is studiedusing replica symmetry breaking framework. It is found that, above the ferromagnetic transi-tion temperature T f , there appears a glassy phase at intermediate temperatures T f T b only. Correlation length at T b is com-puted and found to be compatible with previous numerical results. Although a great deal of work has been devoted to the understanding of the random ﬁeldIsing model (RFIM) [1], some aspects still need to be cleared up. It is now well-known that, indimension D = 3, long range order is present at suﬃciently low temperature and weak randomﬁelds with non trivial critical exponents [2], the upper critical dimension of the RFIM beingD = 6. Nevertheless, perturbation theory leads to dimensional reduction (critical exponentsare incorrectly predicted to be equal to those of the corresponding pure model in dimensionD−2) [3] and therefore does not succeed in describing the critical behaviour of the RFIM. Thereason of this failure presumably stems from the very complicated energy landscape due to thequenched disorder, and more precisely, from the existence of a huge number of local minimaof the free energy in the space of local magnetisations that usual perturbative expansions donot take into account [4]. Numerical simulations and resolutions of the mean-ﬁeld equations
Reflectivity, Ice Scattering, and Lightning Characteristics of Hurricane Eyewalls and Rainbands. Part I: Quantitative Description

Abstract Covering December 1997 through December 1998, 261 overpasses of 45 hurricanes by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite are used to document the observed radar reflectivity values, passive microwave ice scattering magnitudes, and total lightning (cloud to ground plus in cloud). These parameters are interpreted as describing convective vigor or intensity, with greater reflectivities (particularly aloft), greater ice scattering (lower 85- and 37-GHz brightness temperatures), and increased lightning frequency indicating more intense convection. For each parameter, the full distribution of values observed during the TRMM satellite's first year is presented for specific regions. Properties of three regions of the hurricane (eyewall, inner rainband, and outer rainband) are treated separately and compared to other tropical oceanic and tropical continental precipitation systems. Reflectivity profiles and ice scattering signatures are found to be fairly similar for both hurricane and non.
Mouse Ganglion-Cell Photoreceptors Are Driven by the Most Sensitive Rod Pathway and by Both Types of Cones

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are depolarized by light by two mechanisms: directly, through activation of their photopigment melanopsin; and indirectly through synaptic circuits driven by rods and cones. To learn more about the rod and cone circuits driving ipRGCs, we made multielectrode array (MEA) and patch-clamp recordings in wildtype and genetically modified mice. Rod-driven ON inputs to ipRGCs proved to be as sensitive as any reaching the conventional ganglion cells. These signals presumably pass in part through the primary rod pathway, involving rod bipolar cells and AII amacrine cells coupled to ON cone bipolar cells through gap junctions. Consistent with this interpretation, the sensitive rod ON input to ipRGCs was eliminated by pharmacological or genetic disruption of gap junctions, as previously reported for conventional ganglion cells. A presumptive cone input was also detectable as a brisk, synaptically mediated ON response that persisted after disruption of rod ON pathways. This was roughly three log units less sensitive than the rod input. Spectral analysis revealed that both types of cones, the M- and S-cones, contribute to this response and that both cone types drive ON responses. This contrasts with the blue-OFF, yellow-ON chromatic opponency reported in primate ipRGCs. The cone-mediated response was surprisingly persistent during steady illumination, echoing the tonic nature of both the rod input to ipRGCs and their intrinsic, melanopsin-based phototransduction. These synaptic inputs greatly expand the dynamic range and spectral bandpass of the non-image-forming visual functions for which ipRGCs provide the principal retinal input.
Multi-Modal Presentation of Work of Arts in Virtual Reality with Simulation of Mirror Reflection

The use of different media such as photography and virtual reality combined with different presentation modalities may provide a user with an extraordinary tool for exploration and appreciation of real work of art. This is especially important in case of time-spatial works-of-art where the problem of functionalities presentation becomes much more demanding. The possibility offered by latest graphics machines has attracted the interest of researchers to investigate this new area. The goal of the presented work is the creation of a multi-modal presentation of a piece of contemporary art, tightening the relation between computer graphics and arts. The focus is on an application that it is capable to cope in real-time with simulation of mirror reﬂections, including multi-reﬂections. The results were very encouraging which led to optimistic conclusions with a wide range of options for future works.
Influenza and cardiovascular disease: a new opportunity for prevention and the need for further studies.

In the United States, 12 400 000 people live with a history of heart attack, angina pectoris, or both. Of this population, an estimated 1 100 000 will suffer a new or recurrent coronary attack this year.1 According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease (CVD) will be the leading cause of death worldwide by 2020.2 Infectious agents have been implicated in the etiology of atherosclerosis and its complications since the early 1900s.3 Clinicians have long noticed that ≈30% of myocardial infarctions (MIs) are preceded by an upper respiratory infection.4,5 Agents implicated in atherosclerosis include cytomegalovirus (CMV), Chlamydia pneumoniae , Herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Helicobacter pylori , Mycoplasma pneumoniae , Porphyromonas gingivalis , and Enterovirus.6–13 Antibiotic therapy for C. pneumoniae in CVD patients has been tried with transient or no benefit to date.14,15 Ongoing studies may give a definitive answer by late 2003.16 Here, we review recent studies suggesting influenza may play a role in atherogenesis or atherothrombosis. In 2000, we reported a case-control study in patients with known coronary artery disease; influenza vaccination was associated with a 67% reduction (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.82, P =0.017) in risk of MI in the subsequent influenza season.17 In a simultaneous population-based case-control study, Siscovick et al18 found that after adjusting for demographic, clinical, and behavioral risk factors, influenza vaccination was associated with a 49% reduction (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.79) in risk of out-of-hospital primary cardiac arrest. Another case-control study reported a 50% risk reduction (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.94, P =0.033) in stroke risk in subjects vaccinated during the year of the study and a 48% (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.81, P =0.009) risk reduction in those vaccinated …
The role of the secondary cell wall in plant resistance to pathogens

Plant resistance to pathogens relies on a complex network of constitutive and inducible defensive barriers. The plant cell wall is one of the barriers that pathogens need to overcome to successfully colonize plant tissues. The traditional view of the plant cell wall as a passive barrier has evolved to a concept that considers the wall as a dynamic structure that regulates both constitutive and inducible defense mechanisms, and as a source of signaling molecules that trigger immune responses. The secondary cell walls of plants also represent a carbon-neutral feedstock (lignocellulosic biomass) for the production of biofuels and biomaterials. Therefore, engineering plants with improved secondary cell wall characteristics is an interesting strategy to ease the processing of lignocellulosic biomass in the biorefinery. However, modification of the integrity of the cell wall by impairment of proteins required for its biosynthesis or remodeling may impact the plants resistance to pathogens. This review summarizes our understanding of the role of the plant cell wall in pathogen resistance with a focus on the contribution of lignin to this biological process.
An Analytical Model of Requirements Selection Quality in Software Product Development

In market-driven requirements engineering a crucial decision is whether or not to select a requirement for implementation in the next software release. The selection process is part of the release planning process and can be viewed as a series of refinement steps resulting in either rejection or propagation to the next step. This paper presents an analytical model of the selection process which takes the quality of the decision-making into account. The model is a network of queues with multiclass jobs corresponding to requirements of different quality. The analytical model can act as a baseline for simulation of more realistic models where no analytical solution is possible. Further work includes empirical assessment of the model and further experiments using simulation. The long-term objective of the presented research is to provide means for practitioners to optimize the selection process in terms of minimizing wasted effort.
Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1–5937: Pulsed Flux Flares and Large Torque Variations

We report on continued monitoring of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 1048.1-5937 using the Rossi X-R ay Timing Explorer. We confirm that this pulsar has exhibited significant pulsed flux variability. The principal features of this variability are two pulsed X-ray flares. Both flares lasted several months and had well-resolved few-week-long rises. The long rise times of the flares are a phenomenon not previously reported for this class of object. The epochs of the flare peaks were MJD 52,218.8±4.5 and 52,444.4±7.0. Both flares had shorter rise than fall times. The flares had peak fluxes of 2.21 ± 0.16 and 3.00 ± 0.13 times the quiescent value. We estimate a total 2-10 keV energy release of ~2.7 × 1040 and ~2.8 × 1041 ergs for the flares, assuming a distance of 5 kpc. We also report large (factor of ~12) changes to the pulsar's spin-down rate on timescales of weeks to months, shorter than has been reported previously. We find marginal evidence for correlation between the flux and spin-down rate variability, with probability of nonrandom correlation 6%. We discuss the implications of our findings for AXP models.
Exposing Proprietary Virtual Reality Software to Nontraditional Displays

Nontraditional displays just started their triumph. In contrast to traditional displays, which are plane and rectangular, they do not only differ in design and architecture; they also implicate different semantics and pragmatics in the rendering pipeline. We strive for a generic solution that couples legacy applications with nontraditional displays. In this paper, we present an architecture and a respective experiment, which exposes a proprietary virtual reality software to a 360 degree virtual environment. Therefore we introduce a rigorous master-slave design. The proposed architecture requires discussion of the following details: how to access a proprietary application’s OpenGL stream; how to transmit the OpenGL stream efficiently in a clustered rendering setup; how to process the OpenGL stream for adaption to nontraditional display semantics; and how to deal with the arising code complexity, withal. Our design decisions are highly interdependent. The presented architecture overcomes limitations, which were implied by client-server design in earlier work. The proposed rigorous master-slave design is totally transparent to the client software, and reduces interdependencies between rendering software and rendering clusters. Thus, it inherently reduces network round trips and promotes the use of scalable multicast. Our architecture is tested in a reproducible experiment, which provides a qualitative proof of concept.
A randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavior therapy plus bright light therapy for adolescent delayed sleep phase disorder.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate cognitive-behavior therapy plus bright light therapy (CBT plus BLT) for adolescents diagnosed with delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD). DESIGN Randomized controlled trial of CBT plus BLT vs. waitlist (WL) control with comparisons at pre- and post-treatment. There was 6-month follow-up for the CBT plus BLT group only. SETTING Flinders University Child & Adolescent Sleep Clinic, Adelaide, South Australia. PATIENTS 49 adolescents (mean age 14.6 ± 1.0 y, 53% males) diagnosed with DSPD; mean chronicity 4 y 8 months; 16% not attending school. Eighteen percent of adolescents dropped out of the study (CBT plus BLT: N = 23 vs. WL: N = 17). INTERVENTIONS CBT plus BLT consisted of 6 individual sessions, including morning bright light therapy to advance adolescents' circadian rhythms, and cognitive restructuring and sleep education to target associated insomnia and sleep hygiene. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS DSPD diagnosis was performed via a clinical interview and 7-day sleep diary. Measurements at each time-point included online sleep diaries and scales measuring sleepiness, fatigue, and depression symptoms. Compared to WL, moderate-to-large improvements (d = 0.65-1.24) were found at post-treatment for CBT plus BLT adolescents, including reduced sleep latency, earlier sleep onset and rise times, total sleep time (school nights), wake after sleep onset, sleepiness, and fatigue. At 6-month follow-up (N = 15), small-to-large improvements (d = 0.24-1.53) continued for CBT plus BLT adolescents, with effects found for all measures. Significantly fewer adolescents receiving CBT plus BLT met DPSD criteria at post-treatment (WL = 82% vs. CBT plus BLT = 13%, P < 0.0001), yet 13% still met DSPD criteria at the 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS CBT plus BLT for adolescent DSPD is effective for improving multiple sleep and daytime impairments in the immediate and long-term. Studies evaluating the treatment effectiveness of each treatment component are needed. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION Australia-New Zealand Trials Registry Number: ACTRN12610001041044.
Solidarity and connection: manifestations of social capital among consumers of supportive housing

ABSTRACT Supportive housing provides free/reduced-rent and regular access to helping professionals for consumers experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. While extant research has explored aspects of consumer social networks, less research has explored consumer social networks derived through the actual housing experience. Through focus groups and in-depth interviews with 34 consumers of a robust housing program, this study attempted to answer the question, “What are the lived, relational experiences of supportive housing consumers, as derived through supportive housing itself? ” Directed content analysis and three domains of social capital (bonding, linking, and bridging) helped identify seven emergent themes (idyllic communities, mutual support, communities of circumstance, generalized distrust, independence, empowerment, and volunteerism). Implications include the following: (1) the need for policymakers to invest more resources into homelessness prevention for populations like foster care alumni and adults with serious mental illness, (2) the need for practitioners to respect supportive housing spaces and the roles that consumers play for each other, and (3) the need for future research to explore the long-term tangible and intangible outcomes of supportive housing.
Application of LCLP to lossy source coding

Linear code linear programming (LCLP) proposed by Feldman is one of the promising methods to implement the lossy source coding process efficiently. In the encoding and decoding of a lossy source code constructed by sparse matrices, we propose auxiliary methods to obtain approximate optimal values in the case where the output of LCLP takes non-integer values. In a simulation, the proposed method attains smaller average distortions than the time-sharing bound.
Visual domain adaptation using weighted subspace alignment

Domain Adaptation (DA) has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. DA aims at overcoming the covariate shift in dataset and aligning multiple existing but partially related data collections. In this paper, we propose a new DA algorithm which aligns the weighted subspaces generated from source samples and target samples. The weighted subspaces of source samples are generated using weighted Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Specifically, the source samples closer to the target domain are given higher weights during the construction of subspaces, which is definitely beneficial for building an adaptable classifier. Subsequently, the weighted subspaces of source samples and the subspaces of target samples are aligned to achieve domain adaptation. Experimental results on standard datasets demonstrate the advantages of our approach over state-of-the-art DA approaches.
Pedestrian detection using single box convergence with iterative DCT based haar cascade detector and skin color segmentation

Pedestrian detection under changing environment is very challenging, especially with pedestrians approaching suddenly. This paper proposes a novel pedestrian detection algorithm using a unique combination of Discrete Cosine Transform based Haar Cascade Detector (DHCD) along with Single bounding box convergence using Skin color segmentation, to detect a single pedestrian. Discrete Cosine Transform is used as a preprocessing technique for compressing and reducing the redundant features in the images which are used to train the Haar Cascade Detector. Human skin being a unique distinction in pedestrian images, extraction of these skin regions using Skin color segmentation helps to detect and confirm the existence of the pedestrian from the many bounding boxes obtained. Experiments on test images from customized Penn-Fudan database resulted in a detection rate of 94.28% using the proposed method.
Working Papers in Linguistics 8 ( 1996 ) Pro-active focus *

This paper applies a development of Sperber & Wilson's 1986 analysis of focus to interpretational as well as interface issues. It also introduces the idea that procedural meaning can be embodied in pro-active pro perties of a language. The paper takes a recent semantic approach to focus, that of Rooth (1992, 1995), and draws out what theories of this kind leave to pragmatics to explain. A pro-active analysis of focus couched in a relevance theoretic framework is shown to be able to explain judgements of unacceptab ility and falsehood contingent on the use of focus. It can explain why focus associates strongly with certain operators and why focus triggers other kinds of effects, e.g. contrast. An analysis of post-nuclear material gives rise to an important generalisation: Predictability. This condition is shown to provide an explanation of certain interface phenomena which is superior to that of Reinhart's interface strategy approach.
VEGFR2+PDGFRβ+ circulating precursor cells participate in capillary restoration after hyperoxia acute lung injury (HALI)

The in vivo morphology and phenotype of circulating cells that spontaneously contribute to new vessel formation in adults remain unclear. Here, we use high‐resolution imaging and flow cytometry to characterize the morphology and phenotype of a distinct population of circulating mononuclear cells contributing to spontaneous new vessel formation after hyperoxia acute lung injury (HALI). We identify a subpopulation of myeloid (CD11b/Mac1+) haematopoietic cells co‐expressing vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and platelet derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRβ). Moreover, we show that these CD11b+VEGFR2+PDGFRβ+ circulating precursor cells (CPCs) contribute structurally to the luminal surface of capillaries re‐forming 2 weeks post‐HALI. This indicates that these myeloid CPCs may function, at least transiently, as putative vascular precursors, and has important implications for capillary growth and repair in injury and in pathologies of the lung and other organs.
System Dynamics Modeling of Individual Transferable Quota Fisheries and Suggestions for Rebuilding Stocks

This paper develops a system dynamics model of Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) systems in order to differentiate ITQ from total allowable catch (TAC) effects and to identify areas where policy changes and management improvement may be most effective. ITQ systems provide incentives for long-term stewardship but when fisheries are managed ―at the edge,‖ the incentives are inadequate for stock rebuilding. The free-market design of ITQ systems means that fishermen may be in conflict with the long-run, public sustainability goals of fishery management. An adaptive control scheme with a contingent public/private transfer payment is proposed to improve long-term results for both the local community and the general public.
Real time services for future cloud computing enabled vehicle networks

Cloud computing technique is gaining more and more popularity recently. It can be applied to the vehicle applications to ensure real time performance as well as to improve accuracy and comfort degree for drivers. In this paper, we propose our novel vehicle cloud architecture which includes device level, communication level and service level. Each of these levels is explained in further detail with flow chart and taxonomy definition. Some innovative and real time vehicle cloud services are introduced to show the wide potential applications of vehicles and some discussion about research challenges, context classification is also provided.