Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relation between Seasonally Detrended Shortwave Infrared Reflectance Data and Land Surface Moisture in Semi-Arid Sahel

In the Sudano-Sahelian areas of Africa droughts can have serious impacts on natural resources, and therefore land surface moisture is an important factor. Insufficient conventional sites for monitoring land surface moisture make the use of Earth Observation data for this purpose a key issue. In this study we explored the potential of using reflectance data in the Red, Near Infrared (NIR), and Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) spectral regions for detecting short term variations in land surface moisture in the Sahel, by analyzing data from three test sites and observations from the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. We focused on responses in surface reflectance to soil- and surface moisture for bare soil and early to mid- growing season. A method for implementing detrended time series of the Shortwave Infrared Water Stress Index (SIWSI) is examined for detecting variations in vegetation moisture status, and is compared to detrended time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). It was found that when plant available water is low, the SIWSI anomalies increase over time, while the NDVI anomalies decrease over time, but less systematically. Therefore SIWSI may carry important complementary information to NDVI in terms of vegetation water status, and can provide this information with the unique combination of temporal and spatial resolution from optical geostationary observations over Sahel. However, the relation between SIWSI anomalies and periods of water stress were not found to be sufficiently robust to be used for water stress detection.
Physical and Psychosocial Characteristics of Older Adults Who Participate in a Community-Based Exercise Program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a community-based exercise program for adults 60 years and older. Specifically, the authors sought to examine selected physical and psychosocial indicators of health among low-, moderate-, and high-frequency participants. Data on selected physical-fitness variables from baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments were available for 196 members. In addition, 265 current members completed a mailed questionnaire regarding frequency of program participation, health, demographics, and psychosocial outcomes. Significant improvements in endurance and flexibility were documented for the group at large over 6 months, and the low-participation group showed a significant increase in flexibility. Self-efficacy was higher for those in both the low- and high-frequency groups than for those in the moderate-participation group. Exercise-based social support was reported to be higher among the low- and high-participation groups than among the moderate-participation group. Results s.
Predictors of Employee Willingness to Relocate for the Firm

Abstract A heuristic framework for understanding employees' willingness to relocate was developed and predictions related to the framework were tested. Data from 74 organizations, consisting of a matched sample of 872 employees and spouses, indicated that Background Factors, Employee Perceptions and Attitudes, and Spouse Attitudes each predicted employee willingness to relocate. Spouse Attitudes were particularly strong predictors, highlighting the need for multisource data in future relocation research. Implications for future research, theory building, and applied practice are discussed.
Mexican American and Anglo Single Mothers: The Influence of Ethnicity, Generation, and Socioeconomic Status on Social Support Networks

Differences between Mexican Americans and Anglos on four measures of network morphology were studied using a sample of single mothers in San Jose, California After adjustment for socioeconomic status (SES), ethnic differences remained significant for the total size of the networkandforthedensityofthefriendnetworkbutnotforproportion of kin in the network. Within the MexicanAmerican subsample, after adjustmentfor SES, generation was associated with significant and nonlinear differences in the proportion of kin and the size of the friend network Implications are discussedfor understanding discrepant results in the body of research on ethnic differences in network morphology and for methodological requirements forfurther inquiry in this area.
The EF‐1α promoter maintains high‐level transgene expression from episomal vectors in transfected CHO‐K1 cells

In our previous study, we demonstrated that episomal vectors based on the characteristic sequence of matrix attachment regions (MARs) and containing the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter allow transgenes to be maintained episomally in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. However, the transgene expression was unstable and the number of copies was low. In this study, we focused on enhancers, various promoters and promoter variants that could improve the transgene expression stability, expression magnitude (level) and the copy number of a MAR‐based episomal vector in CHO‐K1 cells. In comparison with the CMV promoter, the eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 α (EF‐1α, gene symbol EEF1A1) promoter increased the transfection efficiency, the transgene expression, the proportion of expression‐positive clones and the copy number of the episomal vector in long‐term culture. By contrast, no significant positive effects were observed with an enhancer, CMV promoter variants or CAG promoter in the episomal vector in long‐term culture. Moreover, the high‐expression clones harbouring the EF‐1α promoter tended to be more stable in long‐term culture, even in the absence of selection pressure. According to these findings, we concluded that the EF‐1α promoter is a potent regulatory sequence for episomal vectors because it maintains high transgene expression, transgene stability and copy number. These results provide valuable information on improvement of transgene stability and the copy number of episomal vectors.
Free Surface Lattice-Boltzmann fluid simulations with and without level sets

We present two variants of free surface LatticeBoltzmann fluid simulations for the animation of liquids in computer graphics. The LatticeBoltzmann method is an attractive alternative to conventional fluid solvers, due to its simplicity and flexibility, especially for changing geometries and topologies. While our first method directly calculates the mass fluxes between the cells of the computational grid, another variant of the method is explained, that uses level sets to track the fluid surface. This has advantages for the smoothness of the fluid surface and improves the representation of details in the free surface, but makes the conservation of mass more difficult. Several examples will be shown to highlight the differences between the two methods. Figure 1: A simulation of six bubbles rising in a container with fluid.
Attitudes toward Statistics: An Evaluation of Multiple Measures

The two subscales of the Attitude Toward Statistics scale (Wise, 1985), Attitude Toward the Field and Attitude Toward Course, were administered on the first and last day of class, and the Statistics Attitude Survey (Roberts and Bilderback, 1980) on the last day of class to 302 students in ten sections of an undergraduate introductory statistics course. The scales were reliable measures of students' attitudes toward statistics, were essentially unrelated to sex of respondent and year in college, and on last class administration correlated with course grade. The two subscales of the Attitude Toward Statistics scale were highly correlated with the Statistics Attitude Survey.
A new room decoration assistance system based on 3D reconstruction and integrated service

This paper introduces a room decoration assistance system that delivers a new interactive 3D service to mobile customers. First we analyze the requirements of room decoration system. Then an intelligent solution base on an efficient 3D reconstruction algorithm and integrated network are provided. The new approach makes use of the mobility property of the wireless service and the computing power of the home multimedia terminal. Visual results on real images are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new 3D reconstruction algorithm. This new system brings new richly interactive 3D experience to customers and takes advantage of the intergraded network such as three screen services to deliver the service.
An essential role for Fgfs in endodermal pouch formation influences later craniofacial skeletal patterning

Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) proteins are important regulators of pharyngeal arch development. Analyses of Fgf8 function in chick and mouse and Fgf3 function in zebrafish have demonstrated a role for Fgfs in the differentiation and survival of postmigratory neural crest cells (NCC) that give rise to the pharyngeal skeleton. Here we describe, in zebrafish, an earlier, essential function for Fgf8 and Fgf3 in regulating the segmentation of the pharyngeal endoderm into pouches. Using time-lapse microscopy, we show that pharyngeal pouches form by the directed lateral migration of discrete clusters of endodermal cells. In animals doubly reduced for Fgf8 and Fgf3, the migration of pharyngeal endodermal cells is disorganized and pouches fail to form. Transplantation and pharmacological experiments show that Fgf8 and Fgf3 are required in the neural keel and cranial mesoderm during early somite stages to promote first pouch formation. In addition, we show that animals doubly reduced for Fgf8 and Fgf3 have severe reductions in hyoid cartilages and the more posterior branchial cartilages. By examining early pouch and later cartilage phenotypes in individual animals hypomorphic for Fgf function, we find that alterations in pouch structure correlate with later cartilage defects. We present a model in which Fgf signaling in the mesoderm and segmented hindbrain organizes the segmentation of the pharyngeal endoderm into pouches. Moreover, we argue that the Fgf-dependent morphogenesis of the pharyngeal endoderm into pouches is critical for the later patterning of pharyngeal cartilages.
Involvement of Subcortical Structures in the Preparation of Self-Paced Movement

Abstract Although it has long been suggested that the basal ganglia and thalamus are involved in movement planning and preparation, there was little direct evidence in humans to support this hypothesis. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment for movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, tremor, and dystonia. In patients undergoing DBS surgery, we recorded simultaneously from scalp contacts and from electrodes surgically implanted in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) of 13 patients with Parkinson's disease and in the “cerebellar” thalamus of 5 patients with tremor. The aim of our studies was to assess the role of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop through the STN and the cerebello-thalamocortical circuit through the “cerebellar” thalamus in movement preparation. The patients were asked to perform self-paced wrist extension movements. All subjects showed a cortical readiness potential (RP) with onset ranging between 1.5 to 2s before the onset of movement. Subcortical RPs .
A Lossy Compression Tolerant Data Hiding Method Based on JPEG and VQ

A lossy compression tolerant data hiding method is proposed in this paper. The image which hides data is named a stego-image. Most of data hiding methods will lose some hidden data when the stego-image is compressed by iossy compression process. However, there are few people will transmit image without lossy compression in the public internet. By the proposed method, the stego-image can be compressed by lossy compression method to reduce the image size. The receiver extracts complete data correctly from the lossy compressed image. Our hiding technique is based on the Vector Quantization (VQ) and the lossy compression technique of JPEG. The human visual system is difficult to detect there are unusual pixels in the stego-image. Because the proposed method is tolerant of lossy compression, it speeds up the transmission of stego-image and coincides with the transmitting image on the internet.
Adaptive Quality Estimation for Machine Translation

The automatic estimation of machine translation (MT) output quality is a hard task in which the selection of the appropriate algorithm and the most predictive features over reasonably sized training sets plays a crucial role. When moving from controlled lab evaluations to real-life scenarios the task becomes even harder. For current MT quality estimation (QE) systems, additional complexity comes from the difficulty to model user and domain changes. Indeed, the instability of the systems with respect to data coming from different distributions calls for adaptive solutions that react to new operating conditions. To tackle this issue we propose an online framework for adaptive QE that targets reactivity and robustness to user and domain changes. Contrastive experiments in different testing conditions involving user and domain changes demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Memory's grip on attention: The influence of item memory on the allocation of attention

Many studies have investigated the capture of attention to physically and emotionally salient events in the environment. Much less is known, however, about the influence of memory on the allocation of attention, both in terms of the attraction towards a previously seen item and the holding of attention on that item. In the present study, participants viewed scenes while eyetracking was used to explore whether item memory influences the allocation of attention. The results revealed that “old items” (presented in an earlier encoding phase) were fixated sooner and held attention longer (as indexed by more and longer duration fixations) than novel comparison items. These results did not differ between participants given different task instructions or between participants reporting different intended strategies, suggesting the effects on attentional allocation were unintentional. These results provide evidence that item memory affects the allocation of attention, influencing both the guidance of attention and subsequent dwell time.
The Development of Gaze Following

—Gaze following is a fundamental component of object-focused social interaction that researchers have studied as a manifestation of early psychological understanding. This article reviews recent research on manipulations of gaze cues, target salience, spatial layout, and social-interactive context. The development of gaze following through infancy is a dynamic system that should be studied using a combination of empirical and modeling approaches.
Reading Comprehension and Autism in the Primary General Education Classroom.

Reading comprehension is a critical building block for effective early literacy development. Many students with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate difficulties in reading comprehension. These difficulties may be attributed to deficits in Theory of Mind, Weak Central Coherence, and Executive Functioning. Given the rise in the number of students with this disability participating in the general education setting, practitioners need to acquire the background knowledge on how to effectively teach this population. The purpose of this article is to introduce practitioners to a step-by-step guide for teaching reading comprehension, the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder that may impede students from acquiring reading comprehension, and evidenced-based practices that can be used to improve their comprehension abilities.
Playing at being skilled men: Factory culture and pride in work skills among Coventry car workers

The concept of skill has been fundamental to European culture for centuries. The word 'skill' entered the English language from Old Norse, and already in its medieval usage had the double sense of mental reasoning and discrimination with practical ability. It retains that powerful ambivalence today: above all, when applied to work. This old, small, potent word is also unusual in being important to both intellectuals and workers. Economists and historians, from Adam Smith in the eighteenth century to David Landes today, have again and again described the rise of the west as built on the development of specialized, skilled labour. Social critics, from Marx, Ruskin and Morris in the mid-nineteenth century to the contemporary sociologist Braverman, have with equal certainty fastened on the contradictions inherent in this specialization, and its consequent destructive, if ultimately progressive power as an engine of social change. For the logic of this division of labour under capitalism, unless challenged, will be a form of work eventually so narrowed, so 'deskilled', that it will smother human creativity until finally, as machines take over from people, labour itself becomes redundant. ' These same beliefs, and fears, have also been shared for at least Io years in Britain by a labour movement which was built upon the demarfd for a just reward for skilled work. The defence of skill has been a fundamental part of its strategy throughout. And there has been a long-standing historical debate which can be traced back to Engels himself as to whether the successful creation of a skilled working-class elite, or 'labour aristocracy', was a key factor in preventing the emergence of the revolutionary working class in Britain which Marx and Engels had anticipated or, alternatively, in providing effective leadership of what has remained until today the most strongly organized trade union movement in the world.2 There have been a number of persistent difficulties in these discussions. The most surprising is the inadequacy of their long-term perspective. Adam Smith and Marx
Graph Clustering using Effective Resistance

We design a polynomial time algorithm that for any weighted undirected graph G=(V,E,w) and sufficiently large δ>1, partitions V into subsets V1,…,Vh for some h≥1, such that ∙ at most δ−1 fraction of the weights are between clusters, i.e. w(E−∪hi=1E(Vi))≲w(E)δ; ∙ the effective resistance diameter of each of the induced subgraphs G[Vi] is at most δ3 times the average weighted degree, i.e. maxu,v∈Vi𝖱𝖾𝖿𝖿G[Vi](u,v)≲δ3⋅|V|w(E) for all i=1,…,h. In particular, it is possible to remove one percent of weight of edges of any given graph such that each of the resulting connected components has effective resistance diameter at most the inverse of the average weighted degree. Our proof is based on a new connection between effective resistance and low conductance sets. We show that if the effective resistance between two vertices u and v is large, then there must be a low conductance cut separating u from v. This implies that very mildly expanding graphs have constant effective resistance diameter. We believe that this connection could be of independent interest in algorithm design.
Signatures of links and finite type invariants of cyclic branched covers

Recently, Mullins calculated the Casson-Walker invariant of the 2-fold cyclic branched cover of an oriented link in S^3 in terms of its Jones polynomial and its signature, under the assumption that the 2-fold branched cover is a rational homology 3-sphere. Using elementary principles, we provide a similar calculation for the general case. In addition, we calculate the LMO invariant of the p-fold branched cover of twisted knots in S^3 in terms of the Kontsevich integral of the knot.
Fast hash functions and convolution product

Abstract. We propose a new simple and efficient family of hash functions based on matrix-vector multiplications with a competitive software implementation. The hash design combines a hard mathematical problem based on solving a system of linear equations with special-random requirements and the fast computation of the convolution product algorithm. Such a mixing was often unrealizable. For security, the one-way and collision resistant criteria are based on the fact that inverting the compression function for random values is infeasible in reasonable time. In a subsequent result, we conjecture a general framework for producing secure matrix multiplication hash functions.
Coping with Young Delinquents in Naples: an Approach in Clinical Sociology (between Foucault and Marcuse)

Young delinquents in Italy are seldom convicted in jail: in the most cases they stay within little communities (less than ten guests) where social workers give them some educational opportunities. The paper is concerned with some experiences made with such boys, aiming to put them in a situation where they could try a different relation with rules: they usually come indeed from a social marginal environment, where rules (namely the ones accepted in central society and enforced by law) are generally refused; here two experiences are examined: a regular job within a big manufactory (electrical household appliances), as well as a practical sailing course with participation to a big final regatta, where the boys have had a positive relation with rules, namely the ones necessary to achieve the goals connected with the experience. From a theoretical point of view, such experiences could give a new perspective on the classical concept of "discipline" proposed by Foucault, putting it in relation with the Marcuse's theory of "necessary/additional repression".
Total Quality Management and Inequality: The Triple Helix in Global Historical Perspective:

The development and international diffusion of total quality management (TQM) as a normative theory are examined. It is shown that the main concepts associated with TQM contain an implicit Darwinist view of society made up only of institutions struggling to survive against increasingly ruthless competition. It is also shown that their development was the result of a process in which universities, large corporations, and government interacted to develop a response to the increasingly serious economic challenge that Japan presented to the United States from the 1960s to the mid-1980s. The TQM paradigm was taken up by U.S. multinational corporations and the leading business and management schools of the United States and disseminated throughout the world. It is concluded that TQM has an ideological dimension designed to help diffuse to private and public service institutions throughout the world the dominant U.S. view of society and economy at the end of the twentieth century.
Leadership for Researcher Development: What Research Leaders Need to Know and Understand

Research leadership, a much neglected area of educational leadership and management, is disadvantaged by having an underdeveloped and inadequate knowledge base. This article represents a contribution to this knowledge base through a conceptual analysis. It presents as propositional knowledge an original theoretical model of the componential structure of researcher development, as interpreted and defined stipulatively by the author. Three key components are identified: behavioural development; attitudinal development; and intellectual development. Each of these is further deconstructed to reveal its sub-components, of which 11 in total are identified, including: processual change; perceptual change; analytical change; and comprehensive change. Drawing upon examples of qualitative data found in the literature, the author demonstrates the model’s potential as an analytical framework for enhancing our understanding of what researcher development is and how it occurs. This, she argues, represents knowledge that is invaluable to university-based research leaders. In particular, it is important that research leaders recognize the width, multidimensionality and complexity of researcher development: that it is much more than changing observable behaviour and increasing productivity and output; it also involves changing viewpoints, mindsets and perceptions and increasing intellectual capacity.