Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some Problems on Random Intervals and Annihilating Particles

Particles perform independent random walks on the integers, and are annihilated if they cross paths or land at the same point. The problem is to determine whether the origin is hit infinitely often. The answer is shown to depend on the initial distribution of particles in accordance with a "log log law . " Several equivalent models are mentioned. 1. An annihilating particle model. Let us start with a particle at each integer point on the line except 0. Let the particles perform independent simple random walks, moving a unit step to the right or left with probability 2 at each unit of time. If two particles cross each other's paths, or if they are about to land at a common point they "annihilate" each other (i .e ., are removed from the game before landing). QUESTION 1. IS P{the origin is ever hit} = 1 ? We conjecture that the answer is yes, but do not have a proof. One can consider a number of variants of the above model. The particles can move to the left or right with probabilities p # 1 and 1-p. The walk can be one sided, with particles taking a step to the left with probability p and remaining in place with probability 1-p. In this case annihilation occurs if a particle moves toward an occupied point, in which case both the occupying and moving particle are removed prior to the landing. The initial distribution of particles can also be varied. The question 1 is open in all these cases, but the model suggests another problem about which we can say something. 2. Two types of particles. Suppose we start with two types of particles, say black and white (b and w), arranged on some subset of the integers according to some initial distribution so that the colors alternate. Everything is as in the previous model, but now the probabilities of movement of the b and w particles are different. Thus, for example, in the one sided case white (resp. black) particles would move independently one step to the left with probability p (resp. q), and remain in place with probability 1-p (resp. 1-q). Annihilation of particles occurs exactly as before, but observe that it always takes place btween
Telerobotic virtual control system

A project to develop a telerobotic `virtual control' capability, currently underway at the University of Toronto, is described. The project centers on a new mode of interactive telerobotic control based on the technology of combining computer generated stereographic images with remotely transmitted stereoscopic video images. A virtual measurement technique, in conjunction with a basic level of digital image processing, comprising zooming, parallax adjustment, edge enhancement, and edge detection has been developed to assist the human operator in visualization of the remote environment and in spatial reasoning. The aim is to maintain target recognition, tactical planning, and high-level control functions in the hands of the human operator with the computer performing low-level computation and control. Control commands initiated by the operator are implemented through manipulation of a virtual image of the robot system, merged with a live video image of the remote scene. This paper discusses the philosophy and objectives of the project, with emphasis on the underlying human factor considerations in the design, and reports the progress made to date in this effort.
Aubry-Mather theory for multidimensional maps

In this paper we study a discrete multi-dimensional version of Aubry-Mather theory. We set this problem as an infinite dimensional linear programming problem and study its relations to Monge-Kantorowich optimal transport. The dual problem turns out to be a discrete analog of the Hamilton-Jacobi equations. As in optimal transport, Monge-Ampére equations also play a role in this problem. We present some applications to discretizations of Lagrangian systems.
Gastrointestinal Disorder Associated with Olmesartan Mimics Autoimmune Enteropathy

Background and Objectives Anti-hypertensive treatment with the angiotensin II receptor antagonist olmesartan is a rare cause of severe Sprue-like enteropathy. To substantiate the hypothesis that olmesartan interferes with gut immune homeostasis, clinical, histopathological and immune features were compared in olmesartan-induced-enteropathy (OIE) and in autoimmune enteropathy (AIE). Methods Medical files of seven patients with OIE and 4 patients with AIE enrolled during the same period were retrospectively reviewed. Intestinal biopsies were collected for central histopathological review, T cell Receptor clonality and flow cytometric analysis of isolated intestinal lymphocytes. Results Among seven olmesartan-treated patients who developed villous atrophy refractory to a gluten free diet, three had extra-intestinal autoimmune diseases, two had antibodies reacting with the 75 kilodalton antigen characteristic of AIE and one had serum anti-goblet cell antibodies. Small intestinal lesions and signs of intestinal lymphocyte activation were thus reminiscent of the four cases of AIE diagnosed during the same period. Before olmesartan discontinuation, remission was induced in all patients (7/7) by immunosuppressive drugs. After interruption of both olmesartan and immunosuppressive drugs in six patients, remission was maintained in 4 but anti-TNF-α therapy was needed in two. Conclusion This case-series shows that olmesartan can induce intestinal damage mimicking AIE. OIE usually resolved after olmesartan interruption but immunosuppressive drugs may be necessary to achieve remission. Our data sustain the hypothesis that olmesartan interferes with intestinal immuno regulation in predisposed individuals.
The Costs of Shared Ownership: Evidence from International Joint Ventures

This paper analyzes the determinants of partial ownership of the foreign affiliates of U.S. multinational firms and, in particular, the marked decline in the use of joint ventures over the last 20 years. The evidence indicates that whole ownership is most common when firms coordinate integrated production activities across different locations, transfer technology, and benefit from worldwide tax planning. Because operations and ownership levels are jointly determined, it is helpful to use the liberalization of ownership restrictions by host countries and the imposition of joint venture tax penalties in the U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1986 as instruments for ownership levels to identify these effects. Firms responded to these regulatory and tax changes by using wholly owned affiliates instead of joint ventures and expanding intrafirm trade and technology transfer. The implied complementarity of whole ownership and intrafirm trade suggests that the reduced costs of engaging in integrated global operations contributed substantially to the sharply declining propensity of American firms to organize their foreign operations as joint ventures over the last two decades. Estimates imply that as much as one-fifth to three-fifths of the decline in the use of joint ventures by multinational firms is attributable to the increased importance of intrafirm transactions. The forces of globalization appear to have diminished rather than accelerated the use of shared ownership.
Identification of Transformational Leadership Qualities: An Examination of Potential Biases

A basic ingredient in transformational leadership development consists in identifying leadership qualities via distribution of the multifactor leadership questionnaire MLQ to followers of the target leaders. It is vital that the MLQ yields an accurate and unbiased assessment of leaders on the various leadership dimensions. This article focuses on two sources of bias which may occur in identifying leadership qualities. First, when followers assess the strengths and weaknesses of their leaders, they may have difficulty in differentiating between the various transformational and transactional leadership behaviours. It is found that this is only the case for the transformational leadership attributes because the four transformational leadership dimensions measured by the MLQ correlate highly and cluster into one factor. MLQ ratings on the three transactional leadership dimensions are found not to be interrelated and show evidence for three distinct factors: contingent reward, active management-by-exception an.
Absence of spontaneous action anticipation by false belief attribution in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract Recently, a series of studies demonstrated false belief understanding in young children through completely nonverbal measures. These studies have revealed that children younger than 3 years of age, who consistently fail the standard verbal false belief test, can anticipate others' actions based on their attributed false beliefs. The current study examined whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who are known to have difficulties in the verbal false belief test, may also show such action anticipation in a nonverbal false belief test. We presented video stimuli of an actor watching an object being hidden in a box. The object was then displaced while the actor was looking away. We recorded children's eye movements and coded whether they spontaneously anticipated the actor's subsequent behavior, which could only have been predicted if they had attributed a false belief to her. Although typically developing children correctly anticipated the action, children with ASD failed to show such action anticipation. The results suggest that children with ASD have an impairment in false belief attribution, which is independent of their verbal ability.
Ieee Copyright Notice Structure from Controlled Motion

Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. Abstract|This paper deals with the recovery of 3D information using a single mobile camera in the context of active vision. First, we propose a general revisited formulation of the structure-from-known-motion issue. Within the same formalism, we handle various kinds of 3D geometrical primitives such as points, lines, cylinders, spheres, etc. We also aim at minimizing eeects of the diierent measurement errors which are involved in such a process. More precisely, we mathematically determine optimal camera conngurations and motions which lead to a robust and accurate estimation of the 3D structure parameters. We apply the visual servoing approach to perform these camera motions using a control law in closed-loop with respect to visual data. Real-time experiments dealing with 3D structure estimation of points and cylinders are reported. They demonstrate that this active vision strategy can very signiicantly improve the estimation accuracy.
Polysaccharides from Enteromorpha prolifera Improve Glucose Metabolism in Diabetic Rats

This study investigated the effects of polysaccharides from Enteromorpha prolifera (PEP) on glucose metabolism in a rat model of diabetes mellitus (DM). PEP (0, 150, 300, and 600 mg/kg) was administered intragastrically to rats for four weeks. After treatment, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and insulin (INS) levels were measured, and the insulin sensitivity index (ISI) was calculated. The morphopathological changes in the pancreas were observed. Serum samples were collected to measure the oxidant-antioxidant status. The mRNA expression levels of glucokinase (GCK) and insulin receptor (InsR) in liver tissue and glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT-4) and adiponectin (APN) in adipose tissue were determined. Compared with the model group, the FBG and INS levels were lower, the ISI was higher, and the number of islet β-cells was significantly increased in all the PEP groups. In the medium- and high-dose PEP groups, MDA levels decreased, and the enzymatic activities of SOD and GSH-Px increased. The mRNA expression of InsR and GCK increased in all the PEP groups; APN mRNA expression increased in the high-dose PEP group, and GLUT-4 mRNA expression increased in adipose tissue. These findings suggest that PEP is a potential therapeutic agent that can be utilized to treat DM.
Tumour necrosis factor α enhances CCL2 and ICAM-1 expression in peripheral nerve microvascular endoneurial endothelial cells

Recruitment and trafficking of autoreactive leucocytes across the BNB (blood–nerve barrier) is an early pathological insult in GBS (Guillain-Barré syndrome), an aggressive autoimmune disorder of the PNS (peripheral nervous system). Whereas the aetiology and pathogenesis of GBS remain unclear, pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNFα (tumour necrosis factor α), are reported to be elevated early in the course of GBS and may initiate nerve injury by activating the BNB. Previously, we reported that disrupting leucocyte trafficking in vivo therapeutically attenuates the course of an established animal model of GBS. Here, PNMECs (peripheral nerve microvascular endothelial cells) that form the BNB were harvested from rat sciatic nerves, immortalized by SV40 (simian virus 40) large T antigen transduction and subsequently challenged with TNFα. Relative changes in CCL2 (chemokine ligand 2) and ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule 1) expression were determined. We report that TNFα elicits marked dose- and time-dependent increases in CCL2 and ICAM-1 mRNA and protein content and promotes secretion of functional CCL2 from immortalized and primary PNMEC cultures. TNFα-mediated secretion of CCL2 promotes, in vitro, the transendothelial migration of CCR2-expressing THP-1 monocytes. Increased CCL2 and ICAM-1 expression in response to TNFα may facilitate recruitment and trafficking of autoreactive leucocytes across the BNB in autoimmune disorders, including GBS.
An Electropalatographic and Acoustic Study of the Greek Rhotic in /Cr/ Clusters

Rhotic production has been reported to show variation in several languages as a function of factors such as context, position, and speech rate. The present study examines electropalatographic and acoustic data during the production of the Greek rhotic in /Cr/ clusters (C=/p, t, k, f, θ, x/). Data were recorded from five Greek speakers producing the rhotic in real words embedded in a carrier phrase. Results on the acoustic duration of the rhotic are reported. Articulatory analyses included examination of the place and degree of constriction of the rhotic as well as variability due to speaker and context. A significant influence of these factors on place and manner of articulation was found. The rhotic in /Cr/ clusters is frequently produced as an approximant while production varies from front anterior to retracted alveolar or postalveolar. Examination of coarticulatory effects shows that both the tongue tip/blade and dorsum adapt to the gestures of the neighbouring phonetic segments.
A Voice for the Voiceless: The Role of Community Radio in the Development of the Rural Poor

More than 850 million people in developing countries are excluded from a wide range of information and knowledge, with the rural poor in particular remaining isolated from both traditional media and new information and communication technologies, which would improve their livelihoods and development pattern (FAO, 2001). Considering the sociocultural and geographical structure of rural, remote people community radio has been found more effective and inclusive medium to provide equitable information and knowledge among the masses. The aim of this article is to analyze the contribution of community radio (henceforth CR) movement for conscientization and development of deprived rural people in various parts of world in general and south Asia (India) in particular. The analysis indicates that the community radio movement has created grassroots-level participation and horizontal circulation of ideas among the deprived rural communities, which are necessary pre-conditions to democratization of communication and redistribution of power.
Women in School Leadership Positions: What Are the Contraining Variables in Kibwezi Sub-County, Makueni County, Kenya?

This study sought to investigate factors influencing women access to school leadership and variables hindering their effective participation in school leadership. The study adopted the survey research design, guided by the reproduction labour theory. Stratified, purposive and simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 101 participants. The research instruments used to collect data were the questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis. The research instruments were tested for content validity and reliability. The reliability test using a Cronbach alpha yielded a coefficient 0.7 considered to be appropriate for the study. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences to generate descriptive statistics. Qualitative data from interview guidelines were analyzed using narrative and grounded theory and reported thematically. The study established that there were multifarious and intertwined variables such as family responsibilities, socio- cultural factors, fear to transfer to other schools and lack of role models, which hindered women from participating in school leadership. It is therefore recommended that strict enforcement of gender policy, gender responsive recruitment practices, and creation of more girls’ and mixed schools to facilitate rapid girl- child access to quality education. Key word s : School leadership, constraining variables, Kibwezi Sub-County, Kenya
Gradient domain salience-preserving color-to-gray conversion

In this paper an algorithm for gradient domain color-to-gray conversion is described. By enhancing the luminance gradient with the chromatic difference in CIELAB space, a gradient field is created to construct the resulting gray-scale image using a Poisson equation solver. In our algorithm, we develop a modulated luminance gradient enhancement to produce artifact-free and salience-preserving grayscale images. A gradient sign control function is defined for isoluminance color images to keep the correct color ordering.
The Power of Strangers: The Effect of Incidental Consumer Brand Encounters on Brand Choice

In the course of daily encounters with other consumers, an individual may be incidentally exposed to various brands. We refer to these situations as incidental consumer brand encounters (ICBEs). This research examines how ICBEs influence brand choice. Four studies provide evidence that repeated exposure to simulated ICBEs increases choice of the focal brand for people not aware of the brand exposure, that perceptual fluency underlies these effects, and that these effects are moderated by perceivers' automatic responses to the type of user observed with the brand. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.
Transportation self-efficacy and employment among individuals with visual impairments

BACKGROUND: Many people who are blind or visually impaired face difficulties with transportation due to their inability to drive. Accordingly, transportation is widely considered a barrier to employment for people who are blind or visually impaired, and transportation selfefficacy is a factor that may minimize the impact of this barrier. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine transportation self-efficacy and its association with employment among working-age adults with visual impairments who were nondrivers. METHOD: This study included data from 327 people who participated in a national transportation survey of individuals with visual impairments. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict full-time employment based on transportation self-efficacy and other factors. RESULTS: Factors predicting full-time employment included census region, severity of vision loss, and years of education. Interaction effects indicated that odds of employment generally increased as transportation self-efficacy increased; however, the effect of self-efficacy was dependent upon age and age at onset of visual impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Transportation self-efficacy was an important predictor of employment, particularly for younger people and for those who experienced significant vision loss more recently. Vocational rehabilitation counselors and other service providers can provide support to consumers to increase their transportation self-efficacy.
POU5F1 Enhances the Invasiveness of Cancer Stem-Like Cells in Lung Adenocarcinoma by Upregulation of MMP-2 Expression

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related human deaths. Exploration of the mechanisms underlying the metastasis of cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs) will open new avenues in lung cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, we demonstrated that CSLCs-derived from lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) cells displayed highly invasive and migratory capabilities via expressing high levels of POU5F1 and MMP-2. We found that POU5F1 directly regulated MMP-2 transcription via interaction with the promoter of MMP-2. POU5F1 knockdown in LACSLCs reduced MMP-2 protein abundance, leading to inhibition of the cell invasion, migration and tumorigenesis potentials of LAC cells. Clinically, aberrantly high expressions of POU5F1 and MMP-2 were inversely correlated with the survival of LAC patients, and the double-positive POU5F1 and MMP-2 showed the worst prediction for the patient’s poor survival. These results indicate that POU5F1 can bind to the MMP-2 promoter for the degradation of surrounding extracellular matrix, and therefore promote invasive and migratory capabilities of LACSLCs. Moreover, our data implicate that the pathological detection of the double-positive expressions for POU5F1 and MMP-2 will be useful as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in LAC to advance anti-metastasis therapy.
Komunikasi Interpersonal Kepemimpinan Kepala Sekolah dan Budaya Kerja Organisasi terhadap Motivasi Kerja Dan Dampaknya pada Kepuasan Kerja Guru Sekolah Menengah Pertama

Tujuan penelitia, menguji (1) kontribusi komunikasi interpersonal, kepemimpinan kepala sekolah, dan budaya kerja organisasi terhadap kepuasan kerja secara tidak langsung melalui motivasi kerja guru, (2) kontribusi komunikasi interpersonal, kepemimpinan kepala sekolah, dan budaya kerja organisasi terhadap motivasi kerja, dan (3) kontribusi motivasi kerja terhadap kepuasan kerja guru. Jenis penelitian kuantitatif korelasional. Pengambilan sampel menggunakan teknik simple random sampling. Sampel penelitian sebanyak 182 guru. Pengumpulan data menggunakan metode angket. Teknik analisis data dengan analisis jalur. Hasil penelitian, 1) Komunikasi interpersonal, kepemimpinan kepala sekolah dan budaya kerja organisasi mempunyai kontribusi secara simultan dan signifikan terhadap kepuasan kerja secara tidak langsung melalui motivasi kerja guru; 2) Komunikasi interpersonal, kepemimpinan kepala sekolah dan budaya kerja organisasi berkontribusi secara langsung terhadap motivasi kerja; dan 3) Motivasi kerja berkontribusi secara langsung terhadap kepuasan kerja guru.