Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collective Multi-Objective Planning

Multi-objective multi-agent planning addresses the problem of resolving conflicts between individual agent interests and the group interests. In this paper, we address this problem using a vector-valued decentralized Markov decision process (2V-DEC-MDP). The formal framework of a vector-valued MDP considered uses the value function which returns a vector representing the individual and the group interests. Indeed, local decisions of each agent are guided by the local reward of the agent, the opportunity gain to the group and the opportunity cost of its nuisance. An optimal policy in such contexts is not clear but in this approach we develop a regret-based technique to find a good tradeoff between the group and individual interests. To do that, the approach we present uses Egalitarian social welfare orderings that allow an agent to consider during its local optimization the satisfaction of all criteria and reducing their differences. The obtained result is an equilibrium of individual and group satisfactions where the local policies can lead to more global satisfying behaviors in some settings. This result is illustrated in an example and compared to alternate local policies
f(R) gravity theories in the Palatini formalism constrained from strong lensing

f(R) gravity, capable of driving the late-time acceleration of the universe, is emerging as a promising alternative to dark energy. Various f(R) gravity models have been intensively tested against probes of the expansion history, including Type Ia supernovae (SNIa), the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). In this paper, we propose to use the statistical lens sample from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search Data Release 3 (SQLS DR3) to constrain f(R) gravity models. This sample can probe the expansion history up to z ∼ 2.2, higher than what probed by current SNIa and BAO data. We adopt a typical parametrization of the form f(R) = R - αH(-R/H 2 0 β with a and β constants. For β = 0 [A cold dark matter (ACDM)], we obtain the best-fitting value of the parameter a = -4.193, for which the 95 per cent confidence interval that is [-4.633, -3.754]. This best-fitting value of a corresponds to the matter density parameter Ω m0 = 0.301, consistent with constraints from other probes. Allowing β to be free, the best-fitting parameters are (a, β) = (-3.777,0.06195). Consequently, we give Ω m0 = 0.285 and the deceleration parameter q 0 = -0.544. At the 95 per cent confidence level, a and β are constrained to [-4.67, -2.89] and [-0.078, 0.202], respectively. Clearly, given the currently limited sample size, we can only constrain β within the accuracy of Δβ ∼ 0.1 and thus cannot distinguish between ACDM andf(R) gravity with high significance, and actually, the former lies in the 68 per cent confidence contour. We expect that the extension of the SQLS DR3 lens sample to the SDSS DR5 and SDSS-II will make constraints on the model more stringent.
Automated Markerless Analysis of Human Gait Motion for Recognition and Classification

We present a new method for an automated markerless system to describe, analyze, and classify human gait motion. The automated system consists of three stages: i) detection and extraction of the moving human body and its contour from image sequences, ii) extraction of gait figures by the joint angles and body points, and iii) analysis of motion parameters and feature extraction for classifying human gait. A sequential set of 2D stick figures is used to represent the human gait motion, and the features based on motion parameters are determined from the sequence of extracted gait figures. Then, a k‐nearest neighbor classifier is used to classify the gait patterns. In experiments, this provides an alternative estimate of biomechanical parameters on a large population of subjects, suggesting that the estimate of variance by marker‐based techniques appeared generous. This is a very effective and well‐defined representation method for analyzing the gait motion. As such, the markerless approach confirms uniqueness of the gait as earlier studies and encourages further development along these lines.
Diversity of Vibrio spp in Karstic Coastal Marshes in the Yucatan Peninsula

Coastal bodies of water formed by the combination of seawater, underground rivers and rainwater comprise the systems with the greatest solar energy flow and biomass production on the planet. These characteristics make them reservoirs for a large number species, mainly microorganisms. Bacteria of the genus Vibrio are natural inhabitants of these environments and their presence is determined by variations in the nutrient, temperature and salinity cycles generated by the seasonal hydrologic behavior of these lagoon systems. This study determined the diversity of the genus Vibrio in 4 coastal bodies of water on the Yucatan Peninsula (Celestun Lagoon, Chelem Lagoon, Rosada Lagoon and Sabancuy Estuary). Using the molecular technique of 454 pyrosequencing, DNA extracted from water samples was analyzed and 32,807 reads were obtained belonging to over 20 culturable species of the genus Vibrio and related genera. OTU (operational taxonomic unit) richness and Chao2 and Shannon Weaver diversity indices were obtained with the database from this technique. Physicochemical and environmental parameters were determined and correlated with Vibrio diversity measured in OTUs.
Improving High School–College Alignment: A Sociological Reform and New Challenges

Abstract This paper analyzes teacher responses to a distinctive reform that sought to implement alignment between high schools and colleges. A survey of 225 teachers is used to examine teachers’ perceptions of the reform’s effectiveness, further resources needed, and how perceptions changed over time. The reform was perceived as effective for college-bound students, but not for non-college-bound students, magnifying the discrepant needs of these groups. Steps to improve the program are suggested.
Social networks: Analysis for integrated social profiles

In recent years, the diffusion of online social networks has been facilitated by the introduction of Web 2.0 which, while enabling users to retrieve information on the web, also contributes to the creation of others. The great success obtained by some of them, has contributed to the dissemination of a large number of “content aggregators”, applications that enable users to see, in real-time, social updates coming from different social networks to which they are subscribed, providing them with the possibility to interact with others as if they were actually connected to the social website. Although there are many applications of this type, none of them can visualize integrated statistics related to a set of social profiles provided by the user. The main aims of this work are the study of the reputation problem within social networks, the definition of analysis metrics and models, and the creation of web applications through which registered users may not only view social updates in real-time, but also daily collected statistical data, related to all their social profiles. In particular, a page has been created containing a general overview related to the user selected, resuming all his/her quantitative information collected, as well as, providing “visibility” and “productivity” indicators, and the possibility of visualizing temporal diagrams about his/her social activity carried out on different social networks. This paper begins by providing a background of online social networks. It then goes on to outline the main contribution provided through the realization of the project, describing how the analysis of the data provided by the different social network APIs has been conduced, presenting also the key features of the web application created. Finally, it provides some conclusions about the project, evaluating the results obtained and suggesting some interesting developments that could be done in the future.
Stray inductance estimation with detailed model of the IGBT module

Stray inductances cause various problems in a power inverter and should be appraised and minimized at an early design stage to avoid later required countermeasures and redesign after the device prototype has been built. The stray inductances of the commutation loops of an Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) inverter are estimated in this paper. Detailed model of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) module is created to improve the accuracy of the stray inductance calculation. The influence of the coupling between the IGBT modules and between the IGBT modules and the busbars on the commutation loop inductance is considered. The partial inductances of the components of the commutation loops are estimated by AnSYS Q3D parasitic extractor to calculate the total stray inductance. It is found that the commutation loop inductances of the studied ANPC inverter are overestimated by neglecting the couplings between the IGBT modules and between the IGBT modules and the busbars.
Impact of Social Media on Interpersonal Communication

In the contemporary world one can hardly find someone left alone without a smart phone; where his fingers would be busy texting online with a person(s) on the other end. It has become a trend nowadays to disclose personal matters and whereabouts not only of the person concerned but whatever is happening around him on these social networking sites; thereby social media is turning to be a personal diary that is shared with thousands across the globe. Family dinner turns outdated and the moment of relaxing after a day’s tough work is met in front of our smart phones or personal computers. In this research, previous studies were analyzed and an online survey was conducted to determine the impact of social media on interpersonal communication among the youngsters in Kochi, India. The study was also conducted to check if social media is turning to be an addiction amongst the present generation and to know if it is creating any communication gap between older generation and the present ones.
Building a Bridge into the Future: Dynamic Connectionist Modeling as an Integrative Tool for Research on Intertemporal Choice

Temporal discounting denotes the fact that individuals prefer smaller rewards delivered sooner over larger rewards delivered later, often to a higher extent than suggested by normative economical theories. In this article, we identify three lines of research studying this phenomenon which aim (i) to describe temporal discounting mathematically, (ii) to explain observed choice behavior psychologically, and (iii) to predict the influence of specific factors on intertemporal decisions. We then opt for an approach integrating postulated mechanisms and empirical findings from these three lines of research. Our approach focuses on the dynamical properties of decision processes and is based on computational modeling. We present a dynamic connectionist model of intertemporal choice focusing on the role of self-control and time framing as two central factors determining choice behavior. Results of our simulations indicate that the two influences interact with each other, and we present experimental data supporting this prediction. We conclude that computational modeling of the decision process dynamics can advance the integration of different strands of research in intertemporal choice.
“Real” Slepian-Wolf codes

We provide a novel achievability proof of the Slepian-Wolf theorem for i.i. d. sources over finite alphabets. We demonstrate that random codes that are linear over the real field achieve the classical Slepian-Wolf rate region. For finite alphabets we show that decoding is equivalent to solving an integer program. The techniques used may be of independent interest for code design for a wide class of information theory problems, and for the field of compressed sensing.
A Nonlinear Primal-Dual Method for Total Variation-Based Image Restoration

We present a new method for solving total variation (TV) minimization problems in image restoration. The main idea is to remove some of the singularity caused by the nondifferentiability of the quantity $|\nabla u|$ in the definition of the TV-norm before we apply a linearization technique such as Newton's method. This is accomplished by introducing an additional variable for the flux quantity appearing in the gradient of the objective function, which can be interpreted as the normal vector to the level sets of the image u. Our method can be viewed as a primal-dual method as proposed by Conn and Overton [ A Primal-Dual Interior Point Method for Minimizing a Sum of Euclidean Norms, preprint, 1994] and Andersen [Ph. D. thesis, Odense University, Denmark, 1995] for the minimization of a sum of Euclidean norms. In addition to possessing local quadratic convergence, experimental results show that the new method seems to be globally convergent.
Independence and Functional Dependence Relations on Secrets

We study logical principles connecting two relations: independence, which is known as nondeducibility in the study of information flow, and functional dependence. Two different epistemic interpretations for these relations are discussed: semantics of secrets and probabilistic semantics. A logical system sound and complete with respect to both of these semantics is introduced and is shown to be decidable.
Degrees of severity and recovery in agrammatism: Climbing up the syntactic tree

Background : Agrammatic aphasia impairs syntactic abilities in production and comprehension. The Tree Pruning Hypothesis (TPH) suggests that the syntactic deficit in production can be described in terms of inability to access the high nodes of the syntactic tree. Aims : The current study explored patterns of individual differences between individuals with agrammatic aphasia, and suggested a characterisation for different degrees of agrammatic severity using the syntactic tree. A second aim was to test the path of spontaneous recovery in agrammatic aphasia. Methods & Procedures : The first experiment tested 18 individuals with agrammatism: 16 were Hebrew speakers, and 2 were speakers of Palestinian Arabic. The syntactic ability of the participants was assessed with respect to three levels of the syntactic tree. To test the ability at the Agreement Phrase (AgrP) level, a task of agreement completion was used. To test the ability at the Tense Phrase (TP) level, a task of tense inflection completion was used. The ability at the highest level of the tree, the Complementiser Phrase (CP), was tested using elicitation tasks for two structures: Wh-questions and relative clauses. The second experiment tested the recovery of these four abilities over time in SB, an individual with agrammatism, starting 4.5 months post her brain injury until 18 months post-onset. Outcomes & Results : The main findings were that the variation between the performance of different individuals with agrammatism and degrees of agrammatic severity could be accounted for by different sites of pruning on the syntactic tree. Severe agrammatism results from inability to access TP and the nodes above it, which impairs both tense inflection and CP-related abilities like the production of embedded sentences and Wh-questions. Milder agrammatism results from the inaccessibility of a higher node, CP, which causes a deficit to embedded sentences and Wh-questions, but leaves tense unimpaired. For both degrees of severity, agreement inflection was unimpaired. The second experiment showed that the spontaneous recovery of SB proceeded on the syntactic tree: the starting point was impairment in AgrP, TP, and CP, at the next stage AgrP recovered, and at the following stage TP recovered too. Conclusions : The results show that the syntactic tree is not only a useful tool for the characterisation of agrammatic aphasia at one point in time; it can also account for individual differences as well as for degrees of agrammatic severity, and can describe stages of spontaneous recovery. A milder impairment, or improvement in agrammatism, manifests itself in the ability to access higher nodes of the syntactic tree.
Antiulcer activity of gum arabic and its interaction with antiulcer effect of ranitidine in rats

Gum arabic is used throughout the world for various purposes including food additive and pharmaceutical excipient. The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of gum arabic on gastric ulcers in rats. The influence of gum arabic on the antiulcer activity of ranitidine, a known antiulcer drug was also evaluated. The antiulcer study was carried out in acetic acid induced chronic gastric, pylorus ligation induced gastric, ethanol induced gastric, stress induced gastric, and indomethacin induced gastric ulcers. Gum arabic was administered at two different doses of 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg orally. Gum arabic increased the healing of gastric ulcers at both the tested doses. It also produced a significant protection in the development of the gastric ulcers in other gastric ulcer models and also potentiated the antiulcer effect of ranitidine. It was concluded that gum arabic have beneficial effect in preventing and healing of gastric ulcers due to both gastric antisecretory and cytoprotective effects.
Humanizing Translation History

The structuralist principles of systems-based Translation Studies tend to conceal the social roles played by translators in mediating between cultures. Attention to slightly alternative principles might be able to initiate a progressive humanization of Translation Studies, possibly alerting scholars to phenomena previously overlooked. Two such principles are illustrated here on the basis of Hispanic translation history. First, if attention is paid to translators and only then to the texts they produce, the subjectivities thus revealed tend to display multidiscursive involvement (translators usually do more than translate), complex cultural allegiances (they are not always faithful or loyal to one side), and physical mobility (they tend not to not stay in just one place). The second idea is that translators can be seen as operating in professional intercultures, where their membership tends to be based on purely professional criteria (not birthright), they may adopt secondary positions with respect to cross-cultural communication (they tend not to initiate negotiations), and their institutions are often particularly transitory (based on contact-renewed networks rather than sovereign space). The application and exploration of these principles might ideally move Translation Studies toward the wider questions of Intercultural Studies.
Study engagement among UK university students: the role of positive emotions and the personal resources ego-resilience, hope and academic self-efficacy

This project investigated the relationship between positive emotions, the personal resources ego-resilience, hope and academic self-efficacy and study engagement. An online questionnaire was created using Qualtrics. Participants were recruited from the participation pool and social media. This study aimed to integrate the Broaden-and-Build theory (B&B) and the Conservation of Resources theory (COR) into a research model concerned with study engagement for UK university students (N=82). Twenty-four male and fifty-eight female participants took part. This study tested ego-resilience, an established measure of how successful a person is at adapting to life tasks because of its links to the B&B theory and because it had not been investigated in relation to study engagement before. Pearson’s correlation coefficients, a hierarchical regression analysis and a mediational analysis were carried out. The findings were consistent with previous research and with the B&B and COR theories’ assumptions. Positive emotions were positively related to study engagement and to the three personal resources. The three personal resources were positively related to study engagement. Positive emotions were found to be predictive of study engagement at stage 1 of the regression and hope and academic self-efficacy were predictive of study engagement at stage 2. Interestingly, it was found through the mediational analysis that hope and academic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between positive emotions and study engagement. Although ego-resilience had a significant correlation with study engagement, it was not predictive of it. The applications, future directions and limitations are discussed
Accuracy and precision of MR blood oximetry based on the long paramagnetic cylinder approximation of large vessels

An accurate noninvasive method to measure the hemoglobin oxygen saturation (%HbO2) of deep‐lying vessels without catheterization would have many clinical applications. Quantitative MRI may be the only imaging modality that can address this difficult and important problem. MR susceptometry–based oximetry for measuring blood oxygen saturation in large vessels models the vessel as a long paramagnetic cylinder immersed in an external field. The intravascular magnetic susceptibility relative to surrounding muscle tissue is a function of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and can be quantified with a field‐mapping pulse sequence. In this work, the method's accuracy and precision was investigated theoretically on the basis of an analytical expression for the arbitrarily oriented cylinder, as well as experimentally in phantoms and in vivo in the femoral artery and vein at 3T field strength. Errors resulting from vessel tilt, noncircularity of vessel cross‐section, and induced magnetic field gradients were evaluated and methods for correction were designed and implemented. Hemoglobin saturation was measured at successive vessel segments, differing in geometry, such as eccentricity and vessel tilt, but constant blood oxygen saturation levels, as a means to evaluate measurement consistency. The average standard error and coefficient of variation of measurements in phantoms were <2% with tilt correction alone, in agreement with theory, suggesting that high accuracy and reproducibility can be achieved while ignoring noncircularity for tilt angles up to about 30°. In vivo, repeated measurements of %HbO2 in the femoral vessels yielded a coefficient of variation of less than 5%. In conclusion, the data suggest that %HbO2 can be measured reproducibly in vivo in large vessels of the peripheral circulation on the basis of the paramagnetic cylinder approximation of the incremental field. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Space, Time, and Matter: Cosmological Parameters 2001

Over the past three years, our confidence in the inferred values of cosmological parameters has increased dramatically, confirming that the flat matter dominated Universe that dominated cosmological model building for the past 20 years does not correspond to the Universe in which we live. I review recent developments here and quote best fit current values for fundamental cosmological parameters.
Constructing Israeli and Palestinian Identity: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of World History Textbooks and Teacher Discourse

0 0 1 95 543 FHAO 4 1 637 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:. 0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} This research critically evaluates the depiction of Israelis and Palestinians in World History textbooks and World History teachers’ instructional discourse. Employing a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis methodology, offers a comparison between written narratives and spoken discourse in order to analyze the portrayals found in classrooms. This research found that Israelis and Palestinians are almost entirely depicted in relation to war and conflict. This establishes parameters for the ways either population can be characterized while obscuring substantive recognition of either community’s diversity and cultural identities.