Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Style and abstraction in portrait sketching

We use a data-driven approach to study both style and abstraction in sketching of a human face. We gather and analyze data from a number of artists as they sketch a human face from a reference photograph. To achieve different levels of abstraction in the sketches, decreasing time limits were imposed -- from four and a half minutes to fifteen seconds. We analyzed the data at two levels: strokes and geometric shape. In each, we create a model that captures both the style of the different artists and the process of abstraction. These models are then used for a portrait sketch synthesis application. Starting from a novel face photograph, we can synthesize a sketch in the various artistic styles and in different levels of abstraction.
Metric representations of networks

METRIC REPRESENTATIONS OF NETWORKS Santiago Segarra Alejandro Ribeiro The goal of this thesis is to analyze networks by first projecting them onto structured metric-like spaces – governed by a generalized triangle inequality – and then leveraging this structure to facilitate the analysis. Networks encode relationships between pairs of nodes, however, the relationship between two nodes can be independent of the other ones and need not be defined for every pair. This is not true for metric spaces, where the triangle inequality imposes conditions that must be satisfied by triads of distances and these must be defined for every pair of nodes. In general terms, this additional structure facilitates the analysis and algorithm design in metric spaces. In deriving metric projections for networks, an axiomatic approach is pursued where we encode as axioms intuitively desirable properties and then seek for admissible projections satisfying these axioms. Although small variations are introduced throughout the thesis, the axioms of projection – a network that already has the desired metric structure must remain unchanged – and transformation – when reducing dissimilarities in a network the projected distances cannot increase – shape all of the axiomatic constructions considered. Notwithstanding their apparent weakness, the aforementioned axioms serve as a solid foundation for the theory of metric representations of networks. We begin by focusing on hierarchical clustering of asymmetric networks, which can be framed as a network projection problem onto ultrametric spaces. We show that the set of admissible methods is infinite but bounded in a well-defined sense and state additional desirable properties to further winnow the admissibility landscape. Algorithms for the clustering methods developed are also derived and implemented. We then shift focus to projections onto generalized q-metric spaces, a parametric family containing among others the (regular) metric and ultrametric spaces. A uniqueness result is shown for the projection of symmetric networks whereas for asymmetric networks we prove that all admissible projections are contained between two extreme methods. Furthermore, projections are illustrated via their implementation for efficient search and data visualization. Lastly, our analysis is extended to encompass projections of dioid spaces, natural algebraic generalizations of weighted networks.
On the Evolution of Abelian-Higgs String Networks

We study the evolution of Abelian-Higgs string networks in large-scale numerical simulations in both a static and expanding background. We measure the properties of the network by tracing the motion of the string cores, for the first time estimating the rms velocity of the strings and the invariant string length, that is, the true network energy density. These results are compared with a velocity-dependent one scale model for cosmic string network evolution. This incorporates the contributions of loop production, massive radiation and friction to the energy loss processes that are required for scaling evolution. We use this analysis as a basis for discussing the relative importance of these mechanisms for the evolution of the network. We find that the loop distribution statistics in the simulations are consistent with the long-time scaling of the network being dominated by loop production. Making justifiable extrapolations to cosmological scales, these results appear to be consistent with the standard picture of local string network evolution in which loop production and gravitational radiation are the dominant decay mechanisms.
Windows of opportunity, learning strategies and the rise of China's handset makers

This paper examines the linkage among the industry and policy environment, firm-level resources and capabilities, and the success of learning strategies in China's handset makers. Within a particular context – characterised by a large domestic market, disintegrated technological regime, established foreign irms and supportive government policies – these firms were able to exploit their own specific advantages and were also able to acquire new resources and capabilities, quite rapidly emerging as serious competitors in the domestic market vis-a-vis global incumbents. These latecomers have tightly linked their product innovation efforts to the local market characteristics and have created competitive advantages through their distribution channels. Our findings have strategic implications for new entrants in other industry and national contexts, and also for research on the critical conditions and processes supporting successful technological learning.
Statistical Thermodynamics of Economic Systems

We formulate thermodynamics of economic systems in terms of an arbitrary probability distribution for a conserved economic quantity. As in statistical physics, thermodynamic macroeconomic variables emerge as the mean value of microeconomic variables and their determination is reduced to the computation of the partition function, starting from an arbitrary function. Explicit hypothetical examples are given which include linear and nonlinear economic systems, as well as multiplicative systems such as those dominated by a Pareto law distribution. We propose to use the formalism of phase transitions to study severe changes of macroeconomic variables.
Do Investors Capture the Value Premium?

Do investors realize higher returns by investing in value stocks instead of growth stocks? Examination of a sample of equity indexes, mutual funds, and large-cap stocks reveals no evidence that value firms have earned higher returns than growth firms. The value premium reported in the literature is historically strongest for small-capitalization firms, yet average annual returns for small-cap equity funds are 14.10% for value funds compared to 14.52% for growth funds. Despite dramatic increases in mutual fund expense ratios from 1965 to 2001, fee differences across style funds cannot explain the absence of a value premium.
TSC1 Promotes B Cell Maturation but Is Dispensable for Germinal Center Formation

Accumulating evidence indicates that the tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (TSC1), a tumor suppressor that acts by inhibiting mTOR signaling, plays an important role in the immune system. We report here that TSC1 differentially regulates mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTORC2/Akt signaling in B cells. TSC1 deficiency results in the accumulation of transitional-1 (T1) B cells and progressive losses of B cells as they mature beyond the T1 stage. Moreover, TSC1KO mice exhibit a mild defect in the serum antibody responses or rate of Ig class-switch recombination after immunization with a T-cell-dependent antigen. In contrast to a previous report, we demonstrate that both constitutive Peyer’s patch germinal centers (GCs) and immunization-induced splenic GCs are unimpaired in TSC1-deficient (TSC1KO) mice and that the ratio of GC B cells to total B cells is comparable in WT and TSC1KO mice. Together, our data demonstrate that TSC1 plays important roles for B cell development, but it is dispensable for GC formation and serum antibody responses.
Development and factor analysis of a questionnaire to measure patient satisfaction with injected and inhaled insulin for type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE To develop a self-administered questionnaire to address alternative delivery routes of insulin and to investigate aspects of patient satisfaction that may be useful for subsequent assessment and comparison of an inhaled insulin regimen and a subcutaneous insulin regimen. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Attributes of patient treatment satisfaction with both inhaled and injected insulin therapy were derived from five qualitative research studies to arrive at a 15-item questionnaire. Each item was analyzed on a five-point Likert scale so that higher item scores indicated a more favorable attitude. There were 69 subjects with type 1 diabetes previously taking injected insulin therapy who were enrolled in a phase II clinical trial. Their baseline responses on the questionnaire were evaluated and subjected to an exploratory factor analysis. Meaningful factors were retained and interpreted based on their psychometric properties. RESULTS Exploratory factor analysis suggested a two-factor solution accounting for 66 and 20% of the variance, respectively. The first factor contained 10 reliable items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89) relating to convenience and ease of use, and the second contained 5 reliable items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82) relating to social comfort. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with type 1 diabetes, this analysis highlighted and quantified two key factors contributing to patient satisfaction: convenience/ease of use and social comfort. The questionnaire underwent rigorous development, had reliable properties, and an interpretable and rich factor structure. This report is intended to help advance, in subsequent investigations, the understanding and measurement of treatment satisfaction with novel and existing forms of insulin delivery.
Peran Motivasi Belajar, Self-Efficacy, dan Dukungan Sosial Keluarga Terhadap Self-Regulated Learning pada Siswa

The purpose of this research is to know the role of learning motivation, self-efficacy and family support in self-regulated learning of the 11th grade of SMA N 2 Bantul’s Students. There were as many as 248 students in the population of the 11th grade of SMA Negeri 2 Bantul and 72 of them were selected as samples using cluster random sampling technique. The data were collected by using learning motivation scale, self-efficacy, family support and self-regulated learning. The data analysis technique made use of multiple regression analysis and partial correlation technique. The regression analysis indicated positive correlation between learning motivation, self-efficacy and family support, and self-regulated learning with F value of 37.345, p = 0.000 (p < 0.05). There was positive impact of learning motivation to Self-Regulated Learning with t = 2.767, p = 0.007 (p < 0.05). There was a positive role of Self-Efficacy to Self-Regulated Learning with t = 3.532 and p = 0.001 (p < 0.05), a positive role of Family Support to Self- Regulated Learning with t = 2.267 and p = 0.027 (p < 0.05). This research can be used as a reference in the field of guidance and counseling, psychological counseling, or school psychology program within which it was mainly related to the increase in motivation, self-efficacy, social support families and self-regulated learning in learning activities of the students.
Molecular pathology of schizophrenia: more than one disease process?

in Florence showed some symptomatic improvement with only minor side effects, but this requires confirmation in a controlled trial. Cyclosporin A does not cause bone marrow depression; but reports of the development of lymphoma in patients treated with the drug after transplantation,6 and indeed in patients treated with other immunosuppressive drugs,7 mean that immunosuppression should be used circumspectly. Another approach is based on the finding that suppressor lymphocyte activity is depressed during acute relapses in multiple sclerosis.8 This has raised the possibility of enhancing suppressor cell activity therapeutically, and is yet another potentially promising line of investigation.
Maximum Power Extraction Schemes & Power Control in Wind Energy Conversion System

Nowadays research focus is towards the Variable speed power generation in instead fixed speed power generation in wind energy conversion system. With variable speed, there will be 20-30% increase in the energy capture compared to the fixed-speed operation. For Variable speed wind energy conversion system the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is a very important requirement in order to maximize the efficiency. Every year a number of publications appear in various journals and conferences/seminars claiming to offer better and faster MPPT techniques for wind energy conversion system (WECS). On the other hand, wind turbines are designed to give maximum output at wind speeds around 15 m/s (30 knots or 33 mph). For stronger winds it is necessary to dissipate part of the excess energy of the wind to avoid damaging the wind turbine. So all wind turbines are designed with some power con trol mechanism. This paper provides the brief idea about the power control techniques on modern wind turbines and a comprehensive review and critical analysis of MPPT techniques, which is very helpful for present researcher and students working in this area.
Cortical Surface Area Correlates with STON2 Gene Ser307Pro Polymorphism in First-Episode Treatment-Naïve Patients with Schizophrenia

Background Evidence shows that STON2 gene is associated with synaptic function and schizophrenia. This study aims to explore the relationship between two functional polymorphisms (Ser307Pro and Ala851Ser) of STON2 gene and the cortical surface area in first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Methodology/Principal Findings Magnetic resonance imaging of the whole cortical surface area, which was computed by an automated surface-based technique (FreeSurfer), was obtained from 74 first-episode treatment-naïve patients with schizophrenia and 55 healthy controls. Multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the effect of genotype subgroups on the cortical surface area. A significant genotype-by-diagnosis effect on the cortical surface area was observed. Pro-allele carriers of Ser307Pro polymorphism had larger right inferior temporal surface area than Ser/Ser carriers in the patients with schizophrenia; however, no significant difference was found in the same area in the healthy controls. The Ala851Ser polymorphism of STON2 gene was not significantly associated with the cortical surface area in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Conclusions/Significance The present study demonstrated that the functional variant of the STON2 gene could alter cortical surface area on the right inferior temporal and contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.
Survivorship and relative risk of revision in computer-navigated versus conventional total knee replacement at 8-year follow-up

Background and purpose — The long-term effects of computer-assisted surgery in total knee replacement (CAS) compared to conventionally operated knee replacement (CON) are still not clear. We compared survivorship and relative risk of revision in CAS and CON based on data from the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register. Patients and methods — We assessed primary total knee replacements without patellar resurfacing reported to the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register from 2005 through 2014. The 5 most used implants and the 3 most common navigation systems were included. The groups (CAS, n = 3,665; CON, n = 20,019) were compared using a Cox regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, ASA category, prosthesis brand, fixation method, previous surgery, and diagnosis with the risk of revision for any reason as endpoint. Secondary outcomes were reasons for revision and effects of prosthesis brand, fixation method, age (± 65 years), and hospital volume. Results — Prosthesis survival and risk of revision were similar for CAS and CON. CAS had significantly fewer revisions due to malalignment. Otherwise, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups in analyses of secondary outcomes. Mean operating time was 13 minutes longer in CAS. Interpretation — At 8 years of follow-up, CAS and CON had similar rates of overall revision, but CAS had fewer revisions due to malalignment. According to our findings, the benefits of CAS at medium-term follow-up are limited. Further research may identify subgroups that benefit from CAS, and it should also emphasize patient-reported outcomes.
The axis of evil – a polarization perspective

We search for an unusual alignment of the preferred axes of the quadrupole and octopole, the so-called axis of evil, in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. We use the part of the polarization map which is uncorrelated with the temperature map as a statistically independent probe of the axis of evil, which helps to assess whether the latter has a cosmological origin or if it is a mere chance fluctuation in the temperature. Note, though, that for certain models creating a preferred axis in the temperature map, we would not expect to see the axis in the uncorrelated polarization map. We find that the axis of the quadrupole of the uncorrelated polarization map roughly aligns with the axis of evil within our measurement precision, whereas the axis of the octopole does not. However, with our measurement uncertainty, the probability of such a scenario to happen by chance in an isotropic universe is of the order of 50 per cent. We also find that the so-called cold spot present in the CMB temperature map is even colder in the part of the temperature map which is uncorrelated with the polarization, although there is still a large uncertainty in the latter. Therefore, our analysis of the axis of evil and a future analysis of the cold spot in the uncorrelated temperature data will strongly benefit from the polarization data expected from the Planck satellite.
Enabling less-infrastructure road communication networks for VANETs

Securing the inter-vehicle communication is a vital aspect for VANETs. Thus, authentication as a primary security function is required for the participant vehicles and their generated message. Mostly, symmetric authentication protocols which depend on the network infrastructure Road Side Units (RSUs) have low computation and communication overhead. In this work, a Central Push-based Replication Protocol (CPRP) is proposed to support the availability of symmetric authentication offered by the RSUs in cases of RSUs failures. A performance analysis for CPRP has been elaborated with different ratios of RSU failures in different realistic scenarios. The results showed that CPRP can significantly improve the authentication service availability in general and can enable less infrastructure VANETs.
Non-iterative, fast SE(3) path smoothing

In this paper, we present a fast, non-iterative approach to smooth a noisy input on the Special Euclidean Group, SE(3) manifold. The translational part can be smoothed by a simple Gaussian convolution. We then proposed a novel approach to rotation smoothing. Unlike existing rotation smoothing methods using either iterative optimization methods or stochastic filtering methods, our method allows direct computation of the smoothing result and allows parallelization of the computation. Furthermore, we have done a comparative study on Jia and Evans's method published in 2014, and shown that our method can better smooth an input rotation sequence, with shorter computational time. The smoothed camera path is then used for video stabilisation, which shows fluid and smooth camera motion.
Dementia and the Performance of Self

Scholars and activists within the fields of disability and age studies have fought hard to have disabled individuals of all ages recognized as people with disabilities, rather than a class of the disabled or the old. These two broad categories are peopled with individuals with life experiences and opinions, not just needs demanding attention. To better understand the experience of disability, scholars and activists call for the voices of the disabled, for their stories to be told and heard. But such a call also presents us with several challenges. How can the voices of the disabled be heard—particularly the voices of people with cognitive impairments or severe physical impairments? In what forms can and do their voices have meaning? Might certain forms of narrative and modes of performance actually support ideals of independence and selfhood that fuel fears of disability in the first place? What can the stories of the disabled tell us about the very meaning of the “self”? 1
Role of kainate receptor activation and desensitization on the [Ca2+]i changes in cultured rat hippocampal neurons

We investigated the role of kainate (KA) receptor activation and desensitization in inducing the increase in the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in individual cultured rat hippocampal neurons. The rat hippocampal neurons in the cultures were shown to express kainate receptor subunits, KA2 and GluR6/7, either by immunocytochemistry or by immunoblot analysis. The effect of LY303070, an α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐isoxazole‐4‐propionate (AMPA) receptor antagonist, on the alterations in the [Ca2+]i caused by kainate showed cell‐to‐cell variability. The [Ca2+]i increase caused by kainate was mostly mediated by the activation of AMPA receptors because LY303070 inhibited the response to kainate in a high percentage of neurons. The response to kainate was potentiated by concanavalin A (Con A), which inhibits kainate receptor desensitization, in 82.1% of the neurons, and this potentiation was not reversed by LY303070 in about 38% of the neurons. Also, upon stimulation of the cells with 4‐methylglutamate (MGA), a selective kainate receptor agonist, in the presence of Con A, it was possible to observe [Ca2+]i changes induced by kainate receptor activation, because LY303070 did not inhibit the response in all neurons analyzed. In toxicity studies, cultured rat hippocampal neurons were exposed to the drugs for 30 min, and the cell viability was evaluated at 24 hr using the 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The selective activation of kainate receptors with MGA, in the presence of Con A, induced a toxic effect, which was not prevented by LY303070, revealing a contribution of a small subpopulation of neurons expressing kainate receptors that independently mediate cytotoxicity. Taken together, these results indicate that cultured hippocampal neurons express not only AMPA receptors, but also kainate receptors, which can modulate the [Ca2+]i and toxicity. J. Neurosci. Res. 65:378–386, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.