Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sharpness-Based Autofocusing for Stripmap SAR Using an Adaptive-Order Polynomial Model

A novel autofocusing technique is developed for image from stripmap-mode synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The approach is based on maximizing the image sharpness function that induces the solution to maximum-posterior estimation. In this letter, closed-form expressions are derived for the gradients of the sharpness function with respect to the coefficients of the polynomial expansion, which makes the use of conjugate gradient algorithm available. Additionally, we also design a modified adaptive-order searching strategy, and it helps to remarkably reduce the computational load while maintaining the accuracy. Real airborne SAR data experiments and comparisons demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Typesafe Modeling in Text Mining

Based on the concept of annotation-based agents, this report introduces tools and a formal notation for defining and running text mining experiments using a statically typed domain-specific language embedded in Scala. Using machine learning for classification as an example, the framework is used to develop and document text mining experiments, and to show how the concept of generic, typesafe annotation corresponds to a general information model that goes beyond text processing.
Growth of carbon nanostructures on carbonized electrospun nanofibers with palladium nanoparticles

This paper studies the mechanism of the formation of carbon nanostructures on carbon nanofibers with Pd nanoparticles by using different carbon sources. The carbon nanofibers with Pd nanoparticles were produced by carbonizing electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers including Pd(Ac)2. Such PAN-based carbon nanofibers were then used as substrates to grow hierarchical carbon nanostructures. Toluene, pyridine and chlorobenzine were employed as carbon sources for the carbon nanostructures. With the Pd nanoparticles embedded in the carbonized PAN nanofibers acting as catalysts, molecules of toluene, pyridine or chlorobenzine were decomposed into carbon species which were dissolved into the Pd nanoparticles and consequently grew into straight carbon nanotubes, Y-shaped carbon nanotubes or carbon nano-ribbons on the carbon nanofiber substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were utilized to capture the mechanism of formation of Pd nanoparticles, regular carbon nanotubes, Y-shaped carbon nanotubes and carbon nano-ribbons. It was observed that the Y-shaped carbon nanotubes and carbon nano-ribbons were formed on carbonized PAN nanofibers containing Pd-nanoparticle catalyst, and the carbon sources played a crucial role in the formation of different hierarchical carbon nanostructures.
Using Gamification to Decrease Anonymity in Larger Learning Environments

Anonymity in large classrooms can lead to incivilities. One goal of teachers should therefore be to decrease anonymity in the classroombyusing immediacy, like talking to students and knowing their names. However, this is not always feasible if the class size is significantly larger than regular classes. Our approach tries to get the participants to install our developed artifact called C4mpUs on their personal devices, in order to create a gamified learning environment that enables a playful opportunity to connect with other peers. This way anonymity is broken down by students themselves rather than by the instructor. Our findings show that students tend to approach other participants they haven’t met before, rather than only connect with familiar peers. However, more research will need to be done to determine on further extending the level of participation when it comes to diminishing anonymity as well as on how to integrate pedagogy.
Animism, Rinri , Modernization; the Base of Japanese Robotics

— Japan is accelerating to create a novel industry called Robot-Technology. It is supported by a social affirmativeness for the new technology. This paper explains how such a social acceptance is made, with the explanation of Japanese Animism, “ Rinri (in English, the Ethics)”, and its modernization. These are conditioning Japanese Robotics. In Japan, the traditional rituals are remained strongly in the ordinary life despite of its advanced technology. Paradoxically, it contributes to advance Japanese Robotics.
False and veridical collaborative recognition

Participants studied DRM words lists (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) and then completed a recognition test individually or in a collaborative pair, trio, or quartet. The collaborative groups’ responses were compared to those of equivalent sized nominal groups. Non-studied critical lure and studied word recognition increased with group size and these increases were greatest for the collaborative groups. The collaborative groups’ critical lure and studied word recognition rates were facilitated as they lowered their response criterion thresholds towards all test words semantically related to those in the DRM lists. Prior collaboration also enhanced later individual critical lure and studied word recognition. The group members believed the critical lures and studied words recognised during collaboration were studied, and they therefore repeated these judgements when tested alone.
IR radiative properties modeling and feature extraction method on ballistic target

Due to physical structures and motion attitudes, the IR radiative properties of ballistic targets are different during their flights. However, such differences cannot be easily detected by high-speed observing platform under the influence of detector noise, consequently causing difficulties with the classification and recognition of targets. This paper presents a modeling and simulation of the IR radiative properties of ballistic targets, provides a discussion on the variations in the IR radiative properties among different targets, and proposes a method for a parametric expression of the grayscale time series of the targets under noise. The experimental result indicates that by constructing a hybrid model of tendency, period and noise, an effective feature of the time series can be extracted using de-noising, curve-fitting, and frequency transformation, which ultimately contributes to the classification of targets.
Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among US infants: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Phase II, 1991-1994).

Because of the recognized benefits of exclusive breastfeeding,1–7 the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization strongly encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life.7,8 Unfortunately, national goals for exclusive breastfeeding in the United States are not yet established, at least in part because of a lack of data. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) sample is nationally representative and particularly valuable in providing data on exclusive breastfeeding. We used NHANES III data to examine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among US infants to obtain baseline data for program evaluation and public health policymaking.
The Relationship Between Lifestyle Regularity and Subjective Sleep Quality

In previous work we have developed a diary instrument—the Social Rhythm Metric (SRM), which allows the assessment of lifestyle regularity—and a questionnaire instrument—the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), which allows the assessment of subjective sleep quality. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between lifestyle regularity and subjective sleep quality. Lifestyle regularity was assessed by both standard (SRM-17) and shortened (SRM-5) metrics; subjective sleep quality was assessed by the PSQI. We hypothesized that high lifestyle regularity would be conducive to better sleep. Both instruments were given to a sample of 100 healthy subjects who were studied as part of a variety of different experiments spanning a 9-yr time frame. Ages ranged from 19 to 49 yr (mean age: 31.2 yr, s.d.: 7.8 yr); there were 48 women and 52 men. SRM scores were derived from a two-week diary. The hypothesis was confirmed. There was a significant (rho=−0.4, p<0.001) correlation between SRM (both metrics) and PSQI, indicating that subjects with higher levels of lifestyle regularity reported fewer sleep problems. This relationship was also supported by a categorical analysis, where the proportion of “poor sleepers” was doubled in the “irregular types” group as compared with the “non-irregular types” group. Thus, there appears to be an association between lifestyle regularity and good sleep, though the direction of causality remains to be tested.
Association of loneliness with all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis

Introduction Loneliness has social and health implications. The aim of this article is to evaluate the association of loneliness with all-cause mortality. Methods Pubmed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Scopus databases were searched through June 2016 for published articles that measured loneliness and mortality. The main characteristics and the effect size values of each article were extracted. Moreover, an evaluation of the quality of the articles included was also carried out. A meta-analysis was performed firstly with all the included articles and secondly separating by gender, using a random effects model. Results A total of 35 articles involving 77220 participants were included in the systematic review. Loneliness is a risk factor for all-cause mortality [pooled HR = 1.22, 95% CI = (1.10, 1.35), p < 0.001] for both genders together, and for women [pooled HR = 1.26, 95% CI = (1.07, 1.48); p = 0.005] and men [pooled HR = 1.44; 95% CI = (1.19, 1.76); p < 0.001] separately. Conclusions Loneliness shows a harmful effect for all-cause mortality and this effect is slightly stronger in men than in women. Moreover, the impact of loneliness was independent from the quality evaluation of each article and the effect of depression.
Stability of the Glycoprotein Gene of Avian Metapneumovirus (Canada Goose Isolate 15a/01) After Serial Passages in Cell Cultures

Abstract The glycoprotein (G) gene sequences of avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) subtypes A, B, C, and D are variable in size and number of nucleotides. The G gene of early U.S. turkey isolates of aMPV-C have been reported to be 1798 nucleotides (nt) (585 aa) in length, whereas the G genes of more recent turkey isolates have been reported to be 783 nucleotides. In some studies, the G gene of aMPV-C turkey isolates was found to be truncated to a smaller G gene of 783 nt (261 aa) upon serial passages in Vero cells. This is believed to be due to the deletion of 1015 nt near the end of the open reading frame. The purpose of this study was to determine variation, if any, in the G gene of an aMPV-C isolated from a wild bird (Canada goose [Branta canadensis]) following serial passages in Vero cells. No size variation was observed for up to 50 passages, except for a few amino acid changes in the extracellular domain at the 50th passage level. The G gene of this wild bird isolate appears to be unique from subtype C metapneumoviruses of turkeys.
Parameterized evaluation of macromolecules and lipids in proton MR spectroscopy of brain diseases

Short echo time (TE) proton MR spectra of the brain include signals of several metabolites as well as macromolecules. In various pathologies, such as brain tumors and multiple sclerosis (MS), the presence of mobile lipids or pathologically altered macromolecules may provide useful additional diagnostic information. A reliable quantitation of these resonances, however, is often not possible due to the lack of adequate prior knowledge. Furthermore, even if advanced fitting procedures are used, a reliable evaluation of metabolites in the presence of pathological lipids or macromolecules often fails if the latter are omitted in the spectral evaluation. In this study, a method is presented for the simultaneous evaluation of all visible components, including metabolites, lipids, and macromolecules, by the use of the fitting procedure LCModel. A standard basis set of brain metabolites was extended by inclusion of parameterized components for macromolecules and lipids that were derived from metabolite‐nulled in vivo spectra of normal brain and high‐grade gliomas, respectively. The improved spectral quantitation is demonstrated in glial brain tumors and MS lesions as well as in normal brain. It is pointed out that both macromolecules and lipids must be included to provide a proper spectral evaluation. Magn Reson Med 49:19–28, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ZeGo: Development and Validation of a Short Questionnaire to Measure User Satisfaction with e-Government Portals

In recent years, electronic services delivered via the World Wide Web have become increasingly important to governments. Substantial investments have been made to provide crucial services and information to citizens, businesses, and governmental institutions. This paper presents the development of a short questionnaire to measure user satisfaction with e-Governmental portals. After two validations of the instrument with federal e-Governmental portals in Switzerland, a final set of 15 items remained that were tested with 2498 participants. The final version showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's α) of . 91, good item difficulties (.51 to .82), and discriminatory power coefficients (.49 to .81), as well as a moderate average homogeneity of . 47. The survey was translated into five languages.
Chloride concentration in sweat; its individual, regional, seasonal and some other variations, and interrelations between them.

Methods employing various types of capsules for the measurement of sweat volume and for the collection of sample sweat were studied; the filter paper method was found to be the most reliable and easiest to use among the methods examined. Using the filter paper method, sweat volume as well as sweat chloride content from a small skin area were measured during the sweating response to a high environment temperature. The following results obtained:(1) Individually reproducible response patterns were observed both for sweat volume and sweat chloride content, suggesting a classification of the patterns into four types. Type I: Large sweat volume with high chloride content. Type II: Large sweat volume with low chloride content. Type III: Small sweat volume with high chloride content. Type IV: Small sweat volume with low chloride content. (2) Determinations on various parts of body revealed that regional variations exist in sweat chloride content. In general, sweat chloride content declines according to the following order: head and neck, middle line on the chest, pectoral region on the chest, forearm (flexor and extensor side) and back of hand; this sequence is the same for most subjects. (3) Year around experiments have demonstrated clear seasonal fluctuations in sweat chloride content. In all 12 subjects (5 males, 3 females and 4 children), sweat chloride was much higher in winter than in summer. It generally began to rise in early September, (in some subjects during end August) toward high winter levels, and fell toward low summer levels from May on. Sweat chloride content were much higher in all adult males, especially in the winter, than in females and children. This resulted in wider seasonal fluctuations in sweat chloride in men than in women and children. (4) These seasonal fluctuations in sweat chloride content were observed to follow the same pattern in the various regions of the body. (5) The parallel relation between sweat rate and sweat chloride content was exhibited less markedly in subjects who secrete sweat of dilute concentration, and vice versa. This relationship could also be applied to seasonal changes in sweat chloride excretion. (6) It was demonstrated that the sweat chloride level is correlated negatively to the degree of vascular responsiveness as measured by a vascular reaction test to cold.The findings obtained are thought to support strongly the idea that the chloride excretion in sweat is controlled mainly by the systemic effect of climatic conditions through its influence upon salt reabsorption activity of the gland. It was also suggested that the ability of sweat glands to excrete chloride may be closely related to the other thermoregulatory functions.
Feasibility of using total purines as a marker for ruminal bacteria.

A procedure for measuring total purine content of mixed ruminal bacteria was adapted for use in the determination of purines in pure cultures of ruminal bacteria. Recovery of adenine and guanine, alone or in mixture, was quite variable. The problem was traced to solubility of the silver salt of adenine in the acid wash solution. When the precipitating solution was used as the wash, recovery of the purines was over 97%. Recovery of a 1:1 mixture of adenine and guanine added to yeast RNA was 100.6+/-3.2%. Purine, protein, and bacterial concentrations were determined for 10 pure cultures of ruminal bacteria: Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, D16f, H10b, and H17c; Fibrobacter succinogenes B21a; Lachnospira multiparus D25e; Lactobacillus lactis ARD26e; Prevotella ruminicola H15a; Ruminococcus albus 7; Ruminococcus flavefaciens B34b; and Streptococcus bovis ARD5d. The CV for the most-probable-number (MPN) assay (bacterial concentrations), purine analysis, and protein analysis were 55.86, 5.25 and 6.52%, respectively. Considerable variation was found among bacterial species and strains when purine and protein concentrations were compared as the amount per individual cell. More consistent values were obtained when these components were expressed on a dry matter basis. Purine:protein ratios for the 10 pure cultures ranged from . 023 to . 1299, with a mean value of . 0883. For samples of mixed bacteria separated from ruminal fluid, this ratio was found to average . 0306, which is approximately one-third of the value for the pure cultures. The value determined for the mixed bacterial sample is similar to previously reported values. Based on the ratio obtained with the pure cultures, the microbial protein flow out of the rumen has probably been overestimated in most previous reports. Limited studies suggest that the samples of mixed ruminal bacteria used as a standard are probably contaminated with feed particles containing protein, which results in lower purine:protein ratios.
Commentary: Social determinants, social discrimination, social justice, and social responsibility.

important lesson from Michael Marmot. But this lesson also extends to other research fields and other social problems. The challenges linked to climate change, globalization, migration and inequalities more generally, both between and within countries, are complex. Scientific contributions are needed to handle these problems, but those contributions must grasp the complexity of the problems. A key future issue, then, is how we best encourage, support and value such more general and interconnecting research. Science certainly needs people who go into detail and dig deeper, but it also needs people able to bring the pieces together to form a coherent, large picture. In particular, for multidisciplinary fields like social epidemiology, there is an urgent need for both types of research workers. I fear, however, that we are getting more of the former and fewer of the latter. Without those ‘general specialists’, we will face a 10 000-piece jigsaw puzzle without knowing the pattern. Most crucially, we must put enough effort into training and encouraging younger researchers to become ‘general specialists’. Otherwise, where will the next Marmot come from?
Incompressible Limit of Viscous Liquid-Gas Two-Phase Flow Model

We investigate the incompressible limit of the viscous liquid-gas two-phase flow model with periodic boundary conditions. It is shown that the local classical solution of the two-phase flow model converges to the local classical solution of the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations, as $\epsilon\rightarrow \infty$, which builds up the relationship between the two-phase flow model and the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations. In addition, we give the convergence rate estimates in some norms.
The effects of channel width tapering on the power dissipation of serially connected MOSFETs

Transistor channel width tapering in serial MOSFET chains is shown to decrease the propagation delay, power dissipation, and physical area of VLSI circuits. Tapering is the process of decreasing the size of each MOSFET transistor width along a serial chain such that the largest transistor is connected to the power supply and the smallest is connected to the output node. It is demonstrated that, in many cases, tapering decreases delay and changes the shape of the output waveform such that the time during which a load inverter is conducting short-circuit current is reduced. This decrease in short-circuit current also occurs in many cases where tapering does not offer a speed advantage. Dynamic CV/sup 2/f power dissipation of the serial chain is reduced. This behavior permits a designer to trade-off speed for a reduction in short-circuit and dynamic power dissipation, a trade-off not normally available with untapered chains. <<ETX>>
Measuring pain and analgesic response.

Pain is a complex phenomenon, defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. This definition is widely accepted and has led to many advances in pain medicine, but it has shortcomings and has been challenged. The definition of pain underlies the complexity of its measurement. Pain is individual and subjective, modulated by physiological, psychological and environmental factors such as previous events, culture, prognosis, coping strategies, fear and anxiety. Multiple attempts to quantify and analyse the pain experience have been published, with most based on self-reporting. Self-report measures have weaknesses and may be influenced by mood, sleep disturbance and medication. Attempting to ‘objectify the subjective’ can be hazardous because of response biases, situational influences and the context in which pain is reported.
Evidence of Progressive Delay of Motor Development in Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Concurrent Vestibular Dysfunction

Gross motor development, and the effect of age, sex and vestibular function on it, was examined in 39 24- to 83-mo. -old children with sensorineural hearing impairment. Repeated testing was completed on 18 children. Delayed gross motor development was evident regardless of age, but only children Jess than 5 years of age had developmental balance deficits on initial testing. Both gross motor and balance development scores were lower on repeated testing. Furthermore, vestibular function scores facilitated identification of those children with a deficit in balance development as well as those with a progressive delay in motor or balance development. Implications for practice are discussed.