Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementing Stereo Vision of GPU-Accelerated Scientific Simulations using Commodity Hardware

Stereo vision technology is becoming more and more commonplace in the movie and gaming industries. It has applications in many other fields as well, one of these is viewing scientific data. We develop a stereo vision system using commodity priced hardware and portable graphics software. Hardware and software details are described, as well as some resulting visualisations and performance issues. C++ and OpenGL are employed to create the stereo visualisation, using Nvidia 3D glasses and a professional GPU graphics card and driver. Key code fragments are presented, and we discuss some of the difficulties in setting up the stereo vision for scientific use. We also present some ideas for future development of scientific visualisation of voxel data in stereo.
Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior in Response to Climate Change and Tourist Experiences in Nature-Based Tourism

Nature-based tourism destinations—locations in which economic viability and environmental responsibility are sought—are sensitive to climate change and its effects on important environmental components of the tourism areas. To meet the dual roles, it is important for destination marketers and resources managers to provide quality experiences for tourists and to induce tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior in such destinations. This study documents the importance of perceptions toward climate change and tourist experiences in determining tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior while enjoying holidays at nature-based tourism destinations in Jeju Island, South Korea. Two hundred and eleven Korean and 204 Chinese tourists marked dominant tourist arrivals to the island, and responded to the survey questionnaire. Results showed that perceptions toward climate change and tourist experiences affect Korean tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior intentions, whereas tourist experiences—not perceptions toward climate change—only significantly affect Chinese tourists’ behavior intention. In a nature-based tourism context under the pressure of climate change and adverse environmental effects as consequences of tourism activities, resources managers and destination marketers need to develop environmental campaigns or informative tourist programs to formulate environmentally responsible behavior as well as to increase tourist quality experiences among domestic and international tourists.
A solution for identifying the root cause of problems in IT change management

The reuse of knowledge acquired by operators to diagnose failures in Information Technology (IT) infrastructures has potential to decrease the recurrence of failures and, consequently, reduce possible losses and maintenance costs. Nevertheless, existing solutions to support failure diagnosis lack of flexibility to adapt to a constantly changing IT environment. As a result, diagnostic is performed in an ad hoc and static fashion, which hampers the reuse of knowledge to solve similar failures affecting different elements of an IT infrastructure. To bridge this gap, in this paper we propose an extension of Common Information Model (CIM), supported by a conceptual solution for the identification of the root causes of problems, adaptable to changes in the target infrastructure and applicable to similar failures. Experiments carried out considering typical failures during the deployment of IT changes provide evidence about the efficacy of the proposed solution1.
Epidemiology and Clinical Features of Cryptosporidium Infection in Immunocompromised Patients

SUMMARY Cryptosporidium spp. are a major cause of diarrheal disease in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient individuals. They also cause waterborne disease in both the United States and United Kingdom. Studies on the mechanisms of immunity to cryptosporidiosis indicate the importance of the T-cell response. The spectrum and severity of disease in immunocompromised individuals with cryptosporidiosis reflect this importance since the most severe disease is seen in individuals with defects in the T-cell response. The most commonly studied group is that of patients with AIDS. These patients suffer from more severe and prolonged gastrointestinal disease that can be fatal; in addition, body systems other than the gastrointestinal tract may be affected. The widespread use of antiretroviral therapy does appear to be having a beneficial effect on recovery from cryptosporidiosis and on the frequency of infection in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients. Other diseases that are associated with increased risk of severe cryptosporidiosis, such as primary immunodeficiencies, most notably severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome, are also predominantly associated with T-cell defects. Of the remaining groups, children with acute leukemia seem to be most at risk from cryptosporidiosis. There is less evidence of severe complications in patients with other malignant diseases or in those receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy.
Emergent Conventions and the Structure of Multi--Agent Systems

This paper examines the emergence of conventions through \co-learning" in a model multi-agent system. Agents interact through a two-player game, receiving feedback according to the game's payoo matrix. The agent model speciies how agents use this feedback to choose a strategy from the possible strategies for the game. A global structure, represented as a graph, restricts which agents may interact with one another. Results are presented from experiments with two diierent games and a range of global structures. We nd that for a given game, the choice of global structure has a profound eeect on the evolution of the system. We give some preliminary analytical results and intuitive arguments to explain why the systems behave as they do and suggest directions of further study. Finally, we brieey discuss the relationship of these systems to work in computer science, economics, and other elds.
Using projection and loop for segmentation of touching Thai typewritten

This paper proposes a segmentation technique for touching Thai typewritten characters. Thai characters vary in size and position when they are in a sentence. A Thai word is composed of consonants, vowels and tones. Touching characters can occur both in horizontal and vertical directions. The proposed technique uses structural characteristics to detect suitable segmentation points in both directions. The segmentation process consists of four steps. First the height and then the position of characters are used to identify character zones. Next, size and both horizontal and vertical projections are used to classify the types of touching. Lastly, touching characters are segmented using directions and positions identified by the previous steps. The edge of touching characters is used to identify the edge of two isolated characters. The proposed segmentation technique is tested with both electronic typewriters and manual portable typewriters. Segmentation accuracy of 95.4% has been obtained for two hundred sentences of typewritten thesis documents.
Structural and Functional Analysis of Rv3214 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a Protein with Conflicting Functional Annotations, Leads to Its Characterization as a Phosphatase

ABSTRACT The availability of complete genome sequences has highlighted the problems of functional annotation of the many gene products that have only limited sequence similarity with proteins of known function. The predicted protein encoded by open reading frame Rv3214 from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv genome was originally annotated as EntD through sequence similarity with the Escherichia coli EntD, a 4′-phosphopantetheinyl transferase implicated in siderophore biosynthesis. An alternative annotation, based on slightly higher sequence identity, grouped Rv3214 with proteins of the cofactor-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase (dPGM) family. The crystal structure of this protein has been solved by single-wavelength anomalous dispersion methods and refined at 2.07-Å resolution (R = 0.229; Rfree = 0.245). The protein is dimeric, with a monomer fold corresponding to the classical dPGM α/β structure, albeit with some variations. Closer comparisons of structure and sequence indicate that it most closely corresponds with a broad-spectrum phosphatase subfamily within the dPGM superfamily. This functional annotation has been confirmed by biochemical assays which show negligible mutase activity but acid phosphatase activity with a pH optimum of 5.4 and suggests that Rv3214 may be important for mycobacterial phosphate metabolism in vivo. Despite its weak sequence similarity with the 4′-phosphopantetheinyl transferases (EntD homologues), there is little evidence to support this function.
AN ADAPTIVE FEEDFORWARD CONTROLLER FOR REJECTION OF PERIODIC DISTURBANCES

The issue of rejecting periodic disturbances arises in various applications dealing with rotating machinery. A novel adaptive feedforward controller (AFC) design method for rejecting periodic disturbance is proposed. It can be added to an existing feedback control system without altering the original closed loop characteristics, such as the stability margin and transfer functions. An adaptive algorithm derived for the proposed controller based on the steepest gradient descent method turns out to be identical to the popular delayed-x LMS algorithm. A number of computer simulations were carried out to demonstrate the salient features of the proposed AFC compared to the conventional one. The proposed method can be useful for control engineers in designing an adaptive feedforward controller for the rejection of the periodic disturbances. 7 1997 Academic Press Limited
Discretionary-based disclosure: evidence from the Brazilian market

The primary objective of this paper is to identify the factors that explain Brazilian companies’ level of voluntary disclosure. Underpinning this work is the Discretionary-based Disclosure theory. The sample is composed of the top 100 largest non-financial companies listed in the Bolsa de Valores de Sao Paulo (Brazilian Securities, Commodities, and Futures exchange - BOVESPA). Information was gathered from Financial Statements for the years ending in 2006, 2007, and 2008, with the use of content analysis. A disclosure framework based on 27 studies from these years was created, with a total of 92 voluntary items divided into two dimensions: economic (43) and socio-environmental (49). Based on the existing literature, a total of 12 hypotheses were elaborated and tested using a panel data approach. Results evidence that: (a) Sector and Origin of Control are statistically significant in all three models tested: economic, socio-environmental, and total; (b) ‘Profitability’ is relevant in the economic model and in the total model; (c) Tobin’s Q is relevant in the socio-environmental model and in the total disclosure model; (d) Leverage and Auditing Firm are only relevant in the economic disclosure model; (e) Size, Governance, Stock Issuing, Growth Opportunities and Concentration of Control are not statistically significant in any of the three models.
Olfar, orbiting low frequency antennas for radio astronomy

New interesting astronomical science drivers for very low frequency radio astronomy have emerged, ranging from studies of the astronomical dark ages, the epoch of reionization, exoplanets, to ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Huge efforts are currently made to establish low frequency Earthbound instruments, since today’s technology is able to support this. However, astronomical observations with Earth-bound radio telescopes at very low frequencies are hampered by the ionospheric plasma, which scatters impinging celestial radio waves. This effect is larger at lower frequencies. Below about 5 MHz at night or about 10 MHz during daytime, the ionosphere is even opaque for radio waves. That means that Earth-bound radio astronomy observations in those bands would be severely limited in sensitivity and spatial resolution, or would be entirely impossible. A radio telescope in space would not be hampered by the Earths ionosphere, but up to now such a telescope was technologically and financially not feasible. However, extrapolation of current technological advancements in signal processing and small satellite systems imply that distributed low frequency radio telescopes in space could be feasible. We propose an autonomous distributed sensor system in space to explore this new low-frequency band for radio astronomy. The array will have identical elements (satellites), and ideally no central processing system. An advantage of such a system is that it is highly scalable and, due to the distributed nature, virtually insensitive to failure or non-availability of a fraction of its components. In this paper we present this novel concept of OLFAR, the orbiting low frequency antennas for radio astronomy in space.
VALIDATING JAVASCRIPT GUIDELINES ACROSS MULTIPLE WEB

Nowadays, JavaScript is the language for developing dynamic websites. Previously, several guidelines were published about how to write efficient JavaScript code. Our research focuses on whether programmers should still adhere to these guidelines or can they rely on the state-of-the-art JavaScript execution engines to achieve good performance results. In this paper, we present the experiments where we validate programming guidelines for JavaScript execution performance across multiple state-of-the-art web browsers. We present our observations, and conclude that the importance of guidelines does not decrease with the introduction of JIT technology. ACM CCS
Any trait or trait-related allele can confer drought tolerance: just design the right drought scenario.

Most traits associated with drought tolerance have a dual effect, positive in very severe scenarios and negative in milder scenarios, or the opposite trend. Their effects also depend on other climatic conditions such as evaporative demand or light, and on management practices. This is the case for processes associated with cell protection and with avoidance, but also for the maintenance of growth or photosynthesis, high water use efficiency, large root systems or reduced abortion rate under water deficit. Therefore, spectacular results obtained in one drought scenario may have a limited interest for improving food security in other geographical areas with water scarcity. The most relevant questions on drought tolerance are probably, 'Does a given allele confer a positive effect on yield in an appreciable proportion of years/scenarios in a given area or target population of environment (TPE)? '; 'In a given site or TPE, what is the trade-off between risk avoidance and maintained performance? '; and 'Will a given allele or trait have an increasingly positive effect with climate change? ' Considerable progress has already occurred in drought tolerance. Nevertheless, explicitly associating traits for tolerance to drought scenarios may have profound consequences on the genetic strategies, with a necessary involvement of modelling.
STARS Is Essential to Maintain Cardiac Development and Function In Vivo via a SRF Pathway

Background STARS (STriated muscle Activator of Rho Signaling) is a sarcomeric protein expressed early in cardiac development that acts as an acute stress sensor for pathological remodeling. However the role of STARS in cardiac development and function is incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the role of STARS in heart development and function in the zebrafish model and in vitro. Methodology and Principal Findings Expression of zebrafish STARS (zSTARS) first occurs in the somites by the 16 somite stage [17 hours post fertilization (hpf)]. zSTARS is expressed in both chambers of the heart by 48 hpf, and also in the developing brain, jaw structures and pectoral fins. Morpholino-induced knockdown of zSTARS alters atrial and ventricular dimensions and decreases ventricular fractional shortening (measured by high-speed video microscopy), with pericardial edema and decreased or absent circulation [abnormal cardiac phenotypes in 126/164 (77%) of morpholino-injected embryos vs. 0/152 (0%) of control morpholino embryos]. Co-injection of zsrf (serum response factor) mRNA rescues the cardiac phenotype of zSTARS knockdown, resulting in improved fractional shortening and ventricular end-diastolic dimensions. Ectopic over-expression of STARS in vitro activates the STARS proximal promoter, which contains a conserved SRF site. Chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrates that SRF binds to this site in vivo and the SRF inhibitor CCG-1423 completely blocks STARS proximal reporter activity in H9c2 cells. Conclusions/Significance This study demonstrates for the first time that STARS deficiency severely disrupts cardiac development and function in vivo and revealed a novel STARS-SRF feed-forward autoregulatory loop that could play an essential role in STARS regulation and cardiac function.
Conjecturing Hidden Entities by Means of Simplicityand Conservation Laws : Machine Discovery in ChemistryRa

We show that combinatorial search, constrained by experimental evidence, domain knowledge, and simplicity, is suucient to discover credible explanatory hypotheses in a scientiic task of current importance. The MECHEM system automates the scientiic task of determining the pathway of steps underlying a chemical reaction. MECHEM carries out a systematic search for pathway hypotheses that satisfy constraints and explain the available evidence. During its search, the system conjectures unseen entities as needed to formulate hypotheses, but only after determining by experimentation or other means that all simpler hypotheses are inadequate. The generality of MECHEM's methods is established by pointing out similarities to other scientiic tasks and programs.
Reconstituting the Curriculum

This inspiring work presents a truly knowledge-based approach to education as an alternative to the current curriculum that is based on consolidating pre-conceived ideas. It demonstrates the advantages of the new curriculum, both in terms of acquiring knowledge and preventing current problems such as technological disasters, global injustice, and environmental destruction. It also shows how it can eliminate plagiarism, low retention in classrooms, non-representative grading, and other common problems. Examples are given from various disciplines, ranging from science and engineering to philosophy and law.
The Design and Development of an Integrated Multi-Functional Microwave Antenna Structure for Biological Applications

A new multi-functional microwave antenna structure for use in biological applications in described. The antenna structure allows efficient propagation of Ku -band energy into biological tissue to perform in situ tissue characterization (measurement) and ablation or coagulation (treatment) of solid cancerous tumors and surrounding tissue. A calibration method that allows tissue characterization has been developed. The structure also supports a separate channel to allow material to be transported inside the structure without affecting the electromagnetic field propagation within the structure and the radiation pattern produced at the distal end. The structure is rigid and of small enough diameter to enable it to be introduced percutaneously into the human body under local anaesthesia.
Foreigners On The Inside : The Cyborg as Loss and Violence

This paper examines the element central to the notion of the cyborg as a figure of postmodern resistance – the cyborg's celebrated politics of irony, ambiguity, hybridity and effacement. The paper contends that actual constructions of cyborgism in social practice today are emerging in forms which offer far less empowerment than postmodern narratives might hope for. In the examples looked at, the enactment of cyborg space requires a continuous return to colonial or Enlightenment frameworks in order to claim appearances of 'resistance'. This constructs the cyborg as a constant and perpetual other as well as marks it through depletion and non-status. The discussion suggests that a more vigorous cyborg constitution might be generated by re-working the concept of its returns as 'emergent properties' or 'niche mappings' within the cyborg ecologies that epitomise twenty-first century practice.
Measures of Selective Auditory Attention Before and After an Early Literacy Intervention Examining the Role of Attention and Instruction in At-Risk Kindergarteners : Electrophysiological

Several studies report that adults and adolescents with reading disabilities also experience difficulties with selective attention. In the present study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the neural mechanisms of selective attention in kindergarten children at risk for reading disabilities (AR group, n = 8) or on track in early literacy skills (OT group, n = 6) across the first semester of kindergarten. The AR group also received supplemental instruction with the Early Reading Intervention (ERI). Following ERI, the AR group demonstrated improved skills on standardized early literacy measures such that there were no significant differences between the AR and OT groups at posttest or winter follow-up. Analysis of the ERP data revealed that at the start of kindergarten, the AR group displayed reduced effects of attention on sensorineural processing compared to the OT group. Following intervention, this difference between groups disappeared, with the AR group only showing improvements in the effect of attention on sensorineural processing. These data indicate that the neural mechanisms of selective attention are atypical in kindergarten children at risk for reading failure but can be improved by effective reading interventions.
Validity of the Indicator Organism Paradigm for Pathogen Reduction in Reclaimed Water and Public Health Protection

ABSTRACT The validity of using indicator organisms (total and fecal coliforms, enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, and F-specific coliphages) to predict the presence or absence of pathogens (infectious enteric viruses, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia) was tested at six wastewater reclamation facilities. Multiple samplings conducted at each facility over a 1-year period. Larger sample volumes for indicators (0.2 to 0.4 liters) and pathogens (30 to 100 liters) resulted in more sensitive detection limits than are typical of routine monitoring. Microorganisms were detected in disinfected effluent samples at the following frequencies: total coliforms, 63%; fecal coliforms, 27%; enterococci, 27%; C. perfringens, 61%; F-specific coliphages, ∼40%; and enteric viruses, 31%. Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts were detected in 70% and 80%, respectively, of reclaimed water samples. Viable Cryptosporidium, based on cell culture infectivity assays, was detected in 20% of the reclaimed water samples. No strong correlation was found for any indicator-pathogen combination. When data for all indicators were tested using discriminant analysis, the presence/absence patterns for Giardia cysts, Cryptosporidium oocysts, infectious Cryptosporidium, and infectious enteric viruses were predicted for over 71% of disinfected effluents. The failure of measurements of single indicator organism to correlate with pathogens suggests that public health is not adequately protected by simple monitoring schemes based on detection of a single indicator, particularly at the detection limits routinely employed. Monitoring a suite of indicator organisms in reclaimed effluent is more likely to be predictive of the presence of certain pathogens, and a need for additional pathogen monitoring in reclaimed water in order to protect public health is suggested by this study.