Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The reconstruction of a plane surface from two perspective projections

This paper addresses the mathematical problem of reconstructing a visually textured plane surface from a pair of photographs taken from finitely separated camera positions of unknown relative orientation, lying on the same side or on opposite sides of the visible plane. If the surface lies at infinity, or perpendicularly bisects the line joining the centres of projection O and O', the reconstruction fails; otherwise the two images permit either one or two three-dimensional interpretations, obtainable by diagonalizing a 3 x 3 matrix. If all the visible texture elements lie nearer to one viewpoint than to the other, then there are two interpretations, which coincide if the line OO' is perpendicular to the visible plane. Otherwise, only the veridical interpretation survives. The relevance of these results to human and computer vision is briefly discussed.
Where are the Women: An Analysis of Gender Disparity in Congress

Despite progress in many workplaces, only 20% of the current United States Congress is female. In order to understand why there are not more women in Congress, I will explore sexism in the workplace as experienced by the staffers on Capitol Hill. My study concludes that one of the reasons there are so few women in Congress is because of the perceptions of gender dynamics among the staffers who work for them. This study uses data from the gender makeup of staff positions and interviews with current and former U.S. staffers to analyze how women are deterred from seeking higher office and impacting the legislative process. Document Type Thesis Distinguished Thesis Yes Degree Name Bachelor of Arts (BA) Department or Program Politics Second Department or Program Sociology and Anthropology First Advisor Todd Beer Second Advisor Evan Oxman Third Advisor Holly Swyers Fourth Advisor Michael Hartney Subject Categories American Politics This thesis is available at Lake Forest College Publications: http://publications.lakeforest. edu/seniortheses/83 Lake Forest College Archives Your thesis will be deposited in the Lake Forest College Archives and the College’s online digital repository, Lake Forest College Publications. This agreement grants Lake Forest College the non-exclusive right to distribute your thesis to researchers and over the Internet and make it part of the Lake Forest College Publications site. You warrant: • that you have the full power and authority to make this agreement; • that you retain literary property rights (the copyright) to your work. Current U.S. law stipulates that you will retain these rights for your lifetime plus 70 years, at which point your thesis will enter common domain; • that for as long you as you retain literary property rights, no one may sell your thesis without your permission; • that the College will catalog, preserve, and provide access to your thesis; • that the thesis does not infringe any copyright, nor violate any proprietary rights, nor contain any libelous matter, nor invade the privacy of any person or third party; • If you request that your thesis be placed under embargo, approval from your thesis chairperson is required. By signing below, you indicate that you have read, understand, and agree to the statements above. Printed Name: Chelsea McDonald Thesis Title: Where are the Women: An Analysis of Gender Disparity in Congress This thesis is available at Lake Forest College Publications: http://publications.lakeforest. edu/seniortheses/83
On the Graph Laplacian for Spectral Image Segmentation and Energy Minimization on Graphs

Image segmentation is an indispensable tool to enhance the ability of computer systems to perform elementary cognitive tasks such as recognition and tracking . In particular, graph-based algorithms have gained a lot of attention lately, specially due to their good performance in clustering complex images and easy usability. However, most traditional approaches rely on sophisticated mathematical tools whose effectiveness strongly depends on how good the boundaries reflect the partitions of the image. In fact, sharp adherence to the contours of image segments, uniqueness of solution, high computational burden, and extensive user intervention are some of the weaknesses of most representative techniques. In this work we proposed two novel graph-based image segmentation techniques that sort out the issues discussed above. The proposed methods rely on Laplace operators, spectral graph theory, and optimization approaches towards enabling highly accurate segmentation tools which demand a small amount of user involvement while still being mathematically easy-to-handle and computationally efficient. The effectiveness of our segmentation algorithms is attested by a comprehensive set of comparisons against state-of-the-art methods. As additional contribution, we have also proposed two new techniques for image inpainting and photo colorization, both of which rely on the accuracy of our segmentation apparatus.
Computational characterization of magneto‐electric composites: the role of ferroelectric pre‐polarization

The interaction between electric and magnetic fields enables smart devices which can find applications in sensor technology and data storage. Materials showing magneto‐electric (ME) coupling combine different ferroic characteristics. In the present contribution we focus on composites, which combine ferroelectric and ferromagnetic phases due to strain couplings, such that they generate a strain‐induced ME coupling. We derive a two‐scale homogenization approach for the determination of effective properties in consideration of microscopic morphologies. Furthermore, we demonstrate the strong influence of ferroelectric polarization states on the ME‐coefficient by modeling the switching of remanent polarizations on the microscale. (© 2015 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Importance of damage caused by bugs and caterpillars on flowers and other cotton fructiferous organs in a three-level program of phytosanitary protection in Togo

Bugs (Heteroptera), secondary devastators in comparison to caterpillars before 1980, constitute nowadays an important entomologic factor in the shedding of buds and new bolls. An evaluation of their damage and that of the caterpillars on shed organs was realized in an apparatus corresponding to a three method of protection. Statistical analyses (ANOVA) of results have shown in the first mode (NT) that the average of bugs’ damage on buds (49.25 ± 3.94) and new bolls (101.5 ± 6.65) is significantly higher than that of caterpillars (36.75 ± 3.25) and (51.75 ± 7.43) respectively. Treatments realized in the second mode (ST) allowed the reduction of the average of bugs’ damage by 31.50 ± 5.12 on buds and by 61.25 ± 2.75 on new bolls and that of caterpillars by 24.25 ± 2.62 and by 29.00 ± 4.43 respectively on buds and on bolls. The treatment of the third mode (PP) also led to a reduction of bugs’ damage by 24.25 ± 2.65 on buds and by 56.25 ± 7.20 on new bolls and respectively 16.25 ± 1.93 and 29.75 ± 3.06 the damage of caterpillars.
MINIMIZING RISKS OF CASCADE TRIPPING A SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS OF COMPONENT PROTECTION

SUMMARY According to Brazilian experience, many large disturbances would have been restricted to limited events if too sensitive, non-unit (grading), protection relays did not trip as a consequence of power flow increase, damped oscillations or loss of synchronism. In general, the protection of the component itself has dictated such sensitivity, without any considerations for system-wide consequences. Preventing cascade tripping is necessarily related to not depending on remote back up, as clearly stated during the SC B5 Session during the 40th CIGRE Paris Session. Indeed, this is a major factor, but many disturbances that occurred in Brazil show that a lot more can be done, through a more comprehensive analysis of the component protection. This paper presents the Brazilian experience in preventing cascade tripping that could evolve to system wide disturbances through simple but very powerful initiatives on component and substation protection. As discussed in the paper, the analysis and revision of power substations layouts from system security point of view have proved to be effective to avoid cascade tripping during planned component outages. Also discussed is the importance of protection requirements established in the Brazilian Grid Code, as they may allow a uniform protection philosophy for the whole system, mainly in an open access environment. In many cases, an adequate regulatory framework is seen as essential to send commands or economic signals strong enough to motivate the Transmission Operators to enhance component protection or to allow a more efficient component usage.
What Drives Long-term Oil Market Volatility? Fundamentals versus Speculation

Abstract This paper explores the role of speculation and economy fundamentals in the oil market using a two-component GARCH-MIDAS model. Specifically, the authors highlight the different roles played by the changing oil shocks with respect to the short-term and long-term components regarding oil market volatility. The results indicate that a global demand shock is the only factor found not only to be positive but to also significantly increase long- and short-term oil volatility in the full sample. This is consistent with a classic host of research that advocates that global demand dominates the oil market. However, since 2004, impacts of other oil shocks have been significantly weakened or even reversed. For example, the speculative demand shock has helped to stabilize long-term oil volatility during the post-2004 period. The results also suggest the existence of asymmetric impacts on short-term oil volatility, particularly for shocks from oil supply, oil-specific demand and oil speculative demand.
Impacts of ocean acidification on survival, growth, and swimming behaviours differ between larval urchins and brittlestars

Kit Yu Karen Chan1,2*, Daniel Grunbaum2, Maj Arnberg3, and Sam Dupont4 Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA IRIS-International Research Institute of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, The Sven Loven Centre for Marine Sciences Kristineberg, Fiskebackskil, Sweden
A modeling study of the role of tonic vs. phasic dopamine input to the prefrontal cortex

This work presents a computational model of dopamine (DA) influence on long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in the prefrontal cortex. Distinct properties of the model are a DAconcentration-dependent switch from depression to potentiation during induction of plasticity, and an inverted-U-shaped dependence of protein synthesis threshold on the level of background DA. Protein synthesis is responsible for maintenance and late phase of LTP/LTD in the model. Our simulations suggest that in order to comply with in vitro experimental data, prefrontal synapses must contain a protein that is slowly (on the timescale of minutes) activated in the presence of DA in a concentration-dependent manner. The activation value determines the direction of plasticity during induction, while it also modulates the magnitude of plasticity during maintenance. More generally, our results support the hypothesis that phasic release of endogenous DA is necessary for the induction of longterm changes in synaptic efficacy, while the concentration of tonic DA determines the direction and magnitude of these changes in the PFC.
Understanding and Analysing Resistance to Management Ideas

This chapter presents three approaches towards analysing workplace resistance to management ideas. The first (industrial relations) has primarily focused on union resistance. The second (labour process theory) considers individual and collective resistance in a context of antagonism between labour and capital. The third (post-structuralism) has sought to introduce subjectivity and identity into the analysis. The chapter gives a brief contextual sketch of resistance to management ideas before presenting the three approaches. It then considers ‘productive’ resistance, which suggests that resistance can facilitate organizational change, and examines whether this position can be considered to constitute a fourth approach. The authors conclude that it would be premature to do so because (1) it is under-explored, (2) it contains different strands, and (3) it shares similarities with previous approaches. Nevertheless, it helps to open up promising avenues for future research and some of these research directions in resistance to management ideas are considered.
Active rain gauge concept for moderate to heavy precipitation using W-band and S-band Doppler radars

Previous research studies have used multifrequency radar Doppler spectra to study different aspects of precipitation, and have demonstrated its utility as an accurate profiling raingauge method (Firda, 1999). Recently this concept have been used to retrieve the drop size distribution (DSD) and vertical air motion in rain using a dual-frequency cloud profiling radar system, operating at 33GHz (Ka-band) and 95GHz (W-band), will provide measurements over a wider dynamic range of rain conditions, extending the active rain-gauge concept to heavier rain rates. The use of the W-bandsignal will provide accurate measurement of the vertical air motion in rain. Considering the conditions of heavy rain in which case large nonspherical raindrops exist, the actual drop's shapes will be corrected. Data will be processed as suggested by Firda et al., 1999. This research's goal is to develop software to retrieve several cloud characterization parameters, such as drop size distribution and vertical air motion from collected data during November 2001 at the Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site in Lamont, Oklahoma. Rain rate estimates, drop size distribution and the vertical air motion retrieval used to study the inner processes of rain will be presented.
Decision Support System Development for the Treatment of Maladaptive Behaviors.

The Mental Retardation-EXpert (MR-E) is a microcomputer based expert decision support system that provides practitioners with state of the art assistance in the treatment of aggressive, self injurious, and destructive behaviors displayed by individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities. This system, based on human experts and the current scientific literature, leads the practitioner through a functioual assessment of the problem behaviors. Based on that analysis, the clinician is provided a variety of treatment suggestions, emphasizing the development of adaptive skills, which may be incorporated into the individualized treatment protocol. This paper focuses on the collection of decision support rules from human experts and on the assemblage of additional information, from the current behavioral treatment literature, to bolster and enhance those rules. (15 references) (Author) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ***********************************************************************
Spatial fluctuations in an optical parametric oscillator below threshold with an intracavity photonic crystal

We acknowledge financial support from the MICINN (Spain) and FEDER (EU) through projects FIS2007-60327 (FISICOS) and FIS2011-23526 (TIQS), from CSIC through project CoQuSys (200450E566) and from the Govern Balear through project AAEE0113/09. MAGM acknowledges sup- port from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (MEC) and the US Fulbright Commission
Fabrication of Magnetically Driven Microvalve Arrays Using a Photosensitive Composite

Microvalves play an important role in fluid control in micro total analysis systems (µTAS). Previous studies have reported complex fabrication processes for making microvalve elements in a channel. Hence, there is a need for a simpler microvalve fabrication method for achieving throughput improvement and cost reduction in µTAS. In this study, we propose a simple fabrication method for a magnetically driven microvalve array using a photosensitive composite. The composite was prepared by mixing a photoresist and magnetic particles of pure iron. The simple fabrication process was performed by using a laminating layer composed of a sacrificial part and the composite in a channel. The microvalve elements were fabricated by one-step photolithography using the processability of the sacrificial layer and composite. Further, we demonstrated the magnetic driving property of the fabricated microvalve array device. Compared to devices containing non-driving microvalves, the flow rate was decreased by 50%, and the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet increased by up to 4 kPa with increase in driving microvalve elements. These results imply that our proposed device could be useful for practical µTAS applications.
Cost-share Effectiveness in the Adoption of Cover Crops in Iowa

Motivated by the importance of the adoption of cover crops in Iowa and the availability of cost-share funding for this practice in 2013, we use matching methods combined with regression analysis to study the effectiveness of cost-share funding in the adoption of cover crops in Iowa in 2013 using the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll. After matching treatment and control groups, we use a Tobit model to estimate the effect of cost-share funding on cover crops acres and on the proportion of cover crops planted relative to total farm land. We find that receiving cost-share funding has a positive and statistically significant effect on cover crops acres and on the proportion of cover crops planted. Furthermore, we find that the mean marginal effect on the proportion of cover crops acres is around 15% among adopters and non-adopters and 14% among adopters. Consequently, having cost-share funding increases the proportion of cover crops acres planted by 15% among all farmers and by 14% among adopters on average. Furthermore, we find that cost-share funding increases cover crops acres on average, but the size of its marginal effect varies with different matched data sets.
Seasonal Stability Tests in gretl. An Application to International Tourism Data

The seasonal stability tests of Canova & Hansen (1995) (CH) provide a method complementary to that of Hylleberg et al. (1990) for testing for seasonal unit roots. But the distribution of the CH tests are unknown in small samples. We present a method to numerically compute critical values and P-values for the CH tests for any sample size and any seasonal periodicity. In fact this method is applicable to the types of seasonality which are commonly in use, but also to any other.
Unraveling User Type Characteristics: Towards a Taxonomy for Charging Infrastructure

Many European cities with air quality concerns struggle how to further roll out charging infrastructure in the coming years in a cost effective manner. Typical concerns include charging point under-capacity (scarcity of charging points due to high demand) as well as over-capacity (placement of charging points in less prevalent locations). Being able to predict future utilization of charging stations would provide a great deal to policy makers in order to achieve more optimized infrastructure planning and roll out. This paper argues that in order to make solid predictions on the future use of charging stations one needs to acknowledge significant differences in charging behavior amongst user types, be it residents, commuters, city visitors or users of electric car sharing schemes. This paper sets out to unravel the particular charging patterns of different user types in terms of timing, charging amount and location preferences. By combining the specific user patterns with probabilities on which locations these users are likely to charge, the user-based charging patterns provide a powerful starting point to make predictions how charging points are likely to be used, as well as provide policy makers tools to make strategic decisions how to optimize the roll out of new charging infrastructure.
Investment Option in Gold – A Study on Price Discovery of Gold Futures in India

The paper aims to examine the price discovery process in the Indian Gold Futures market, for the period 2009 – 2014, in the Multi Commodity Exchange of India. The study has employed Johansen cointegration and Johansen’s Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) for the analysis. The findings of the study show that there is a feedback relationship between the spot and futures market of Gold in India. It shows that both markets are efficient.
Optimal control of microgrid by decentralized controller

The Microgrid is modern small range of centralized electricity system. It achieves specific local goal such as reliability, carbon emission reduction, diversification of energy sources, and cost reduction. Microgrids are an ideal way to integrate renewable sources. The Microgrid is motivated by many factors such that , the need to integrate more renewable power to mitigate the global warming. , increasing interest in connecting more Distribution Generation as a way to postpone large investment in transmission and bulk generation and the need to increase the reliability of the power system overall to minimize distribution losses. In microgrid the power generation is mainly depends on renewable energy sources. The renewable sources are unpredictable, so to maintain the system stability in uncertain environment is very difficult. During the changes in microgrids, it is to satisfy the demand with minimum tracking time and to stabilize the system. In order minimize the tracking time for attaining the system stability, robust PID control method is proposed. The simulation has been done in MATLAB/Simulink with required formulation.
Does Player Performance Increase During the Postseason? A Look at Professional Basketball

This study examines the game logs of professional basketball players to determine whether they exhibit elevated performance during the postseason. In a survey of 10 players who were awarded the Most Valuable Player Award during the NBA Finals for the seasons 2001-02 thru 201011, performance was found to be stable throughout the entire season. Implications for why player performance remains stable and why it believed that player performance increases during the postseason are discussed. This shorter papers and communications is available in Undergraduate Economic Review: http://digitalcommons.iwu. edu/uer/vol9/ iss1/2
New Software Performance with Balanced Score Card Assessment: Case Study at LPGI Jakarta

Implementation of information technology (IT), especially new software applications, needs to be evaluated for its impact to organization’s business performance related to its strategic goal. The measurement and evaluation of a new software implementation impact in LPGI Jakarta uses Balanced Scorecard (BSC) analysis by making comparison of three-year data. The analysis involves four perspectives of BSC: (1) Financial aspect with the growth of gross premium written (GPW), net premium written (NPW), underwriting profit; (2) internal business aspect: the frequency of policy issued and the average production per policy; (3) people or learning and growth which consists of human error and system error; (4) customer aspect with external endorsement and renewal ratio. This research measures and evaluates for the impact of the implementation of a new software application to the new business performance as Marginal and Fair contribution. At the end of this paper the writer suggests LPGI Jakarta to increase the sales activities to reach the target which is related directly to financial aspect and internal business process aspect