Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motion analysis of a multi-joint system with holonomic constraints using Riemannian distance

ABSTRACT Multi-joint movement is realized by controlling the nonlinear dynamics induced by the mass of each link. Collaborative link-inertia action towards a goal achieves energy-efficient motion, such as inertial movement. Inertial movement-based motion analysis is beneficial but challenging when walking is considered, owing to the alterations in the nonlinear equations of motion, which correspond to the holonomic constraints between the foot and ground. In this study, we clarified that the shortest curve between two points on holonomically constrained Riemannian manifolds corresponds to the constrained inertial movement of a multi-joint system, and that every constrained inertial movement can be consistently considered by the shortest-curve lengths (Riemannian distances). Accordingly, by comparing the curve length of the measured motion with the Riemannian distance, we developed a quantitative analysis method for measuring the proximity of a measured walk to the inertial movement. This was applied to healthy persons walking under different inertial cadences and load conditions. The results indicate the proximity to the inertial movement during the swing phase under all conditions, including the similarity between the proximity profiles in normal and high-inertia walks. These findings validate the introduction of a Riemannian distance-based evaluation quantity in the motion analysis and control of multi-joint systems. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Mapping the needs and challenges of SMEs: A focus on the city of Johannesburg entrepreneurship ecosystem

Abstract Entrepreneurship ecosystems have increased in popularity to foster more entrepreneurial activity and, hence, spurring economic growth and employment creation. To explore the state of the City of Johannesburg’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and identify the gaps and weaknesses that cause the ecosystem not to function optimally. This is through the lens of the challenges and needs of entrepreneurs in the city This research was a propagation of this phenomenon within the context of Africa and focusing more specifically on the City of Johannesburg in South Africa. This was a cross-sectional, quantitative study with a sample of 1099 entrepreneurs. Data analysis included aggregating and analysing the data through descriptive statistics, simple observation, comparison, and pattern recognition. The study’s findings showed a map of the City of Johannesburg’s entrepreneurship ecosystem’s issues and how entrepreneurs across different regions are not affected differently by the geographic region. The key challenges were access to markets, equipment, and suppliers, and the critical needs identified were investors, suppliers, and entrepreneurship education. After mapping the challenges and needs of entrepreneurs to the ecosystem framework, it was evident that the three entrepreneurship ecosystem domains which represent the most significant barrier for entrepreneurs in the City of Johannesburg were access to markets, finance, and human capital. It is also found that the spatial divide effect in the city lowers access to markets for entrepreneurs. The study recommends that COJ need to support entrepreneurs in a more structured way taking an integrated approach, so support is not fragmented as it is evident that all is linked within the ecosystem and they all affect each other in tandem, i.e. access to markets, finance and human capital.
Fighting Fires Together: Essays on Alliances among Fire Departments

Fighting Fires Together: Essays on Alliances Among Fire Departments Jay Robert Horwitz Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Management University of Toronto 2011 Organizations enter into strategic alliances for economic value that cannot be achieved by working alone. Despite the potential benefits many alliances fail to meet their goals, destroy value, and end in termination. Success within alliances is neither automatic nor assured. The ways that organizations arrange their alliances to contend with impediments to success is of great practical and theoretical importance. This thesis studies how formal and informal arrangements arise over time and influence the performance of U.S. fire departments. The first study empirically describes how formal contracting influences performance of the alliance and its members. I analyze a sample of responses by US fire departments to fires over 11 years, and I describe how contracting affects four dimensions of performance: arrival minutes, resolution minutes, property damage, and casualties. I find (i) the effect of contracts varies across qualitatively different outcomes, (ii) that contracts deliver separate costs and benefits at the level of the alliance and the organization, and (iii) that estimates are sensitive to matching on pre-contracting covariates including social context. The second study examines the role played by social context in contracting. Looking at the hazard of contracting between pairs of alliance partners I examine the effects of increased embeddedness in (i) focal relationships and in (ii) networks of outside relationships. I find that qualitative differences in prior interactions partly explain the decision
Effect of Pre-Processing Storage Condition of Cell Culture-Conditioned Medium on Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Human Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

EVs can be isolated from a conditioned medium derived from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), yet the effect of the pre-processing storage condition of the cell culture-conditioned medium prior to EV isolation is not well-understood. Since MSCs are already in clinical trials, the GMP-grade of the medium which is derived from their manufacturing might have the utility for preclinical testing, and perhaps, for clinical translation, so the impact of pre-processing storage condition on EV isolation is a barrier for utilization of this MSC manufacturing by-product. To address this problem, the effects of the pre-processing storage conditions on EV isolation, characterization, and function were assessed using a conditioned medium (CM) derived from human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (HUC-MSCs). Hypothesis: The comparison of three different pre-processing storage conditions of CM immediately processed for EV isolation would reveal differences in EVs, and thus, suggest an optimal pre-processing storage condition. The results showed that EVs derived from a CM stored at room temperature, 4 °C, −20 °C, and −80 °C for at least one week were not grossly different from EVs isolated from the CM immediately after collection. EVs derived from an in pre-processing −80 °C storage condition had a significantly reduced polydispersity index, and significantly enhanced dot blot staining, but their zeta potential, hydrodynamic size, morphology and size in transmission electron microscopy were not significantly different from EVs derived from the CM immediately processed for isolation. There was no impact of pre-processing storage condition on the proliferation of sarcoma cell lines exposed to EVs. These data suggest that the CM produced during GMP-manufacturing of MSCs for clinical applications might be stored at −80 °C prior to EV isolation, and this may enable production scale-up, and thus, and enable preclinical and clinical testing, and EV lot qualification.
Efficient Time-domain Modeling of Periodic-structure-related Microwave and Optical Geometries

Efficient Time-Domain Modeling of Periodic-Structure-Based Microwave and Optical Geometries Dongying Li Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Edward St. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Toronto 2011 A set of tools are proposed for the efficient modeling of several classes of problems related to periodic structures in microwave and optical regimes with Finite-Difference Time-Domain method. The first category of problems under study is the interaction of non-periodic sources and printed elements with infinitely periodic structures. Such problems would typically require a time-consuming simulation of a finite number of unit cells of the periodic structures, chosen to be large enough to achieve convergence. To alleviate computational cost, the sine-cosine method for the Finite-Difference Time-Domain based dispersion analysis of periodic structures is extended to incorporate the presence of nonperiodic, wideband sources, enabling the fast modeling of driven periodic structures via a small number of low cost simulations. The proposed method is then modified for the accelerated simulation of microwave circuit geometries printed on periodic substrates. The scheme employs periodic boundary conditions applied at the substrate, to dramatically reduce the computational domain and hence, the cost of such simulations. Emphasis is also given on radiation pattern calculation, and the consequences of the truncated computational domain of the proposed method on the computation of the electric and magnetic surface currents invoked in the near-to-far-field transformation. It has been further demonstrated that from the mesh truncation point of view, the scheme, which has a
Factors influencing Arctic brown bear annual home range sizes and limitations of home range analyses

Abstract: Home range size is a basic ecological index related to individual's realized niche. Its size can be influenced by body size, sex, maternal status, population density, habitat productivity, spatiotemporal variation of resources, climate, predation risk, and disturbance. Home range estimation can also be greatly affected by methodology and sampling regime. We used Global Positioning System collar data to assess what factors influenced the size of annual home ranges (space use during a single active season) of 28 female and 8 male brown bears (Ursus arctos) that denned in the Brooks Range of northcentral Alaska, USA, from 2014 to 2017. We used 2 methods to estimate annual home ranges, the Kernel Density Estimate (KDE) and the dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Model (dBBMM). Contrary to expectations, we did not find that larger bodied bears of the same sex had larger annual home ranges. Annual home ranges of male bears (mean [standard deviation]; 504 [312] km2 and 3,886 [4,279] km2, using dBBMM and KDE, respectively) were 3.7–9.4 times larger than that of females (135 [86] km2 and 411 [738] km2, respectively). We found that greater chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) consumption was associated with larger annual home ranges for both sexes. In contrast, coastal brown bear populations that consume high levels of salmon often have small annual home ranges. We suggest that the relatively long distance (up to 100 km) between salmon streams and another key resource, denning habitat, is a reason for the positive association between salmon consumption and annual home range size. Although age was not in our top model for annual home range size, younger bears tended to have larger annual home ranges. We documented the fact that individuals of both sexes had the largest annual home ranges of any we could find for brown bears worldwide, using a traditional measure of space use (KDE). However, very large annual home ranges were associated with nonlocalized movements and the alternative method (dBBMM) to delineate these ranges provided more realistic range estimates. We discuss options and limitations of estimating space use and recommend caution when comparing space use between studies. With large-scale industrial infrastructure approved for development in this previously undeveloped region, the size and drivers of bear annual home ranges have numerous management implications. Brown bears with large annual home ranges in northcentral Alaska, where primary productivity is relatively low and denning habitat often far from salmon-bearing streams, are likely to move outside conservation units and encounter more risks as they interact with human infrastructure.
Transport of Biologically Active Ultrashort Peptides Using POT and LAT Carriers

Ultrashort peptides (USPs), consisting of 2–7 amino-acid residues, are a group of signaling molecules that regulate gene expression and protein synthesis under normal conditions in various diseases and ageing. USPs serve as a basis for the development of drugs with a targeted mechanism of action. The purpose of this review is to systematize the available data on USP transport involving POT and LAT transporters in various organs and tissues under normal, pathological and ageing conditions. The carriers of the POT family (PEPT1, PEPT2, PHT1, PHT2) transport predominantly di- and tripeptides into the cell. Methods of molecular modeling and physicochemistry have demonstrated the ability of LAT1 to transfer not only amino acids but also some di- and tripeptides into the cell and out of it. LAT1 and 2 are involved in the regulation of the antioxidant, endocrine, immune and nervous systems’ functions. Analysis of the above data allows us to conclude that, depending on their structure, di- and tripeptides can be transported into the cells of various tissues by POT and LAT transporters. This mechanism is likely to underlie the tissue specificity of peptides, their geroprotective action and effectiveness in the case of neuroimmunoendocrine system disorders.
Diagnostic Value of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte, Platelet-to-Lymphocyte, and Monocyte-to-Lymphocyte Ratios for the Assessment of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Patients with Undifferentiated Inflammatory Arthritis

Background: To investigate the diagnostic performance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in subjects with undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis (UIA). Methods: This retrospective cohort study investigated 201 female patients with UIA (≥1 swollen joint) and 280 age-matched, healthy female controls. “Clinical RA” was defined based on the clinical judgment of a rheumatologist and “disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) RA” was defined as a case of initiating DMARDs treatment within 6 months after the first visit. “Classified RA” was defined as fulfilling the 2010 classification criteria for RA. Receiver operating characteristics were used to determine the optimal cut-off value. Results: UIA patients had a significantly higher NLR, PLR, and MLR than the controls. Among the 201 UIA patients, 65 (32.3%), 63 (31.3%), and 61 (30.3%) subjects were classified as clinical RA, DMARDs RA, and classified RA, respectively. At a cut-off of 0.24, MLR showed moderate accuracy for the diagnosis of DMARDs RA (sensitivity, 65.1%; specificity, 62.3%; area under the curve [AUC], 0.701; p < 0.001). However, the diagnostic accuracies of NLR and PLR were low. Conclusions: MLR may be used as a complementary diagnostic indicator for RA diagnosis in patients with UIA.
GROUP MODELING BUILDING: HOW ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE AND WORK CONDITIONS IMPACT ON THE PROCESS

The objective of this paper is to study the impact of culture and work conditions on the process of group modeling building. This process took place in an Israeli factory, in a country of mixture cultures and social backgrounds. The process of building a model involved many participants of different positions in the factory, composing a diverse group with varied inputs. Since the participants were chosen from various levels within the company, they were also from diverse backgrounds in terms of their cultural background, socio-economic status and their work position. These impact their way of thinking and their opinions on the problem. This research applied the existing techniques of group model building process in the Israeli factory, showing that the implementation of this process in real-life differs from theory and requires additional information and tools. This need rises mainly from the dissimilarity of the cultural and social backgrounds of the organization and the workers, differences in the educational level of the employees and their various occupational statuses. These distinct differences suggest revisions and additions to the way this process is performed, such as the need to improve communication skills between participants, the need to establish rules-of-conduct in large groups with diverse backgrounds, and the value of personal conversations in addition to the group process. It is therefore vital for research management teams to acknowledge these differences between group members in order to understand the contradictory information that may come up from different parts of the group during the model-building process, as well as improve the final outcome of the group model building process. Revealing this kind of cultural mixture allows a continuous improvement process of knowledge elicitation through this model building process, thus improving the work of research management teams.
‘Just accept each other, while the rest of the world doesn’t’ –teachers’ reflections on multilingual education

Abstract Research suggests that in linguistically and socially diverse classrooms, teachers should draw on their students’ multilingual repertoires. Although several approaches to use students’ home languages exist, the accessibility of this knowledge among teachers is still limited. Recently, a holistic approach has been put forward to address the needs of teachers in navigating the jungle of available knowledge. Within two projects in the Netherlands the approach was tested to develop multilingual approaches. Using data from vignettes applied after a two-year intervention period, this paper first explores knowledge, attitudes and skills developed by the participating teachers on implementing forms of multilingual education. Next, it analyses interaction data by applying a critical discourse analysis to filter out how othering strategies occur when teachers refer to their linguistically and culturally diverse students. The results show that the teachers mostly hold enhancing attitudes, particularly in terms of using the students’ home languages in class, while othering strategies towards multilingual students only rarely occur. This may highlight the importance of professional development for teachers-in-duty, and allows for valuable insights also for other schools who wish to engage in multilingual education.
Policy Threat, Partisanship, and the Case of the Affordable Care Act

How do political conditions influence whether public support develops for a new policy? Specifically, does the presence of partisan polarization and a viable threat to a policy’s continuation prevent the emergence of such support? We propose a theoretical framework that considers how policy feedback may be affected by the presence or absence of both policy threat and polarization. We argue that a threat is likely to increase policy salience and trigger loss aversion, expanding policy feedback even amid strong partisanship. We examine the threat to the Affordable Care Act after Republicans won control of Congress and the White House and stood poised to act on their long promise to repeal the law. Five waves of panel data permit analysis of how individuals’ responses to the law changed over time, affecting their support for it as well as their voting calculations. The results suggest that policy threat heightens the effect of policy feedback for some populations while depressing it for others, in some cases mitigating partisan polarization, and overall boosting program support.
Land Use Land/Cover Change Reduces Woody Plant Diversity and Carbon Stocks in a Lowland Coastal Forest Ecosystem, Tanzania

The East-African lowland coastal forest (LCF) is one of Africa’s centres of species endemism, representing an important biodiversity hotspot. However, deforestation and forest degradation due to the high demand for fuelwood has reduced forest cover and diversity, with unknown consequences for associated terrestrial carbon stocks in this LCF system. Our study assessed spatio-temporal land use and land cover changes (LULC) in 1998, 2008, 2018 in the LCF ecosystem, Tanzania. In addition, we conducted a forest inventory survey and calculated associated carbon storage for this LCF ecosystem. Using methods of land use change evaluation plug-in in QGIS based on historical land use data, we modelled carbon stock trends post-2018 in associated LULC for the future 30 years. We found that agriculture and grassland combined increased substantially by 21.5% between the year 1998 and 2018 while forest cover declined by 29%. Furthermore, forest above-ground live biomass carbon (AGC) was 2.4 times higher in forest than in the bushland, 5.8 times in the agriculture with scattered settlement and 14.8 times higher than in the grassland. The estimated average soil organic carbon (SOC) was 76.03 ± 6.26 t/ha across the entire study area. Our study helps to identify land use impacts on ecosystem services, supporting decision-makers in future land-use planning.
Halotolerant Bacillus altitudinis WR10 improves salt tolerance in wheat via a multi-level mechanism

Soil salinity is an important abiotic stress factor that seriously affects the crop growth and yield. Use of plant-derived microorganisms is a promising strategy to alleviate salt stress. In a previous study, the endophytic strain Bacillus altitudinis WR10 isolated from wheat roots showed high salt resistance. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of WR10 in improving the salt tolerance of wheat and its potential mechanisms using a hydroponic test. Under salt stress, WR10 inoculation significantly increased the lengths and dry weights of the roots and shoots, indicating that WR10 improves wheat salt tolerance at the seedling stage. WR10 inoculation significantly reduced Na+ accumulation and enhanced K+, P, and Ca2+ uptake in salt-stressed plants, which can be attributed to the upregulated gene expression of H+-ATPase as well as the P-solubilizing and biofilm-producing characteristics of WR10. At the transcriptional level, L-ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione (GSH) synthetase related to GSH biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis genes (CYP73A, 4CL, and CAD) were significantly upregulated, whereas those of GSH metabolism genes (glutathione S-transferase and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase) were significantly downregulated in WR10-applied wheat roots under salt stress. These changes increased the APX activity and GSH levels and resulted in a decrease in hydrogen peroxide levels. Additionally, a decrease in proline content was observed in WR10-inoculated plants under salt stress because of WR10-induced upregulation of proline dehydrogenase gene expression. These results provide supporting evidence that WR10 improves wheat salt tolerance via more than one mechanism and open a window of opportunity for WR10 application in salinized soil.