Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Imaging brain microstructure with diffusion MRI: practicality and applications

This article gives an overview of microstructure imaging of the brain with diffusion MRI and reviews the state of the art. The microstructure‐imaging paradigm aims to estimate and map microscopic properties of tissue using a model that links these properties to the voxel scale MR signal. Imaging techniques of this type are just starting to make the transition from the technical research domain to wide application in biomedical studies. We focus here on the practicalities of both implementing such techniques and using them in applications. Specifically, the article summarizes the relevant aspects of brain microanatomy and the range of diffusion‐weighted MR measurements that provide sensitivity to them. It then reviews the evolution of mathematical and computational models that relate the diffusion MR signal to brain tissue microstructure, as well as the expanding areas of application. Next we focus on practicalities of designing a working microstructure imaging technique: model selection, experiment design, parameter estimation, validation, and the pipeline of development of this class of technique. The article concludes with some future perspectives on opportunities in this topic and expectations on how the field will evolve in the short‐to‐medium term.
Normative Multi-Agent Systems

As research in Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) has been expanding its focus from from the individual, cognitive focussed, agent models to models of socially situated agents, MAS researchers have been showing rising interest in social theories. Particular attention has been given to normative concepts because it is expected that norms could play as key a role in articulating agent interactions as the one norms play in human social intelligence. Thus, the label of ? normative multi-agent system? has been attached to systems where individual and collective behaviour is affected by norms. This book is not a state of the art of normative multi-agent systems, nor a systematic description of the key concepts, or a compendium of the most salient challenges. However, the reader will find in its chapters something of each of these three contents because ? Normative Multi-Agent Systems? is an effort to clarify the ideas behind the label and to put in perspective the work that is being done in this area. URL http://www.dagstuhl. de/dagpub/978-3-939897-51-4 [5] Source URL: https://www.iiia. csic.es/en/node/54232 Links [1] https://www.iiia. csic.es/en/bibliography? f[author]=256 [2] https://www.iiia. csic.es/en/bibliography? f[author]=394 [3] https://www.iiia. csic.es/en/staff/pablo-noriega [4] https://www.iiia. csic.es/en/bibliography? f[author]=395 [5] http://www.dagstuhl. de/dagpub/978-3-939897-51-4
Amplitude-Saturated Nonlinear Output Feedback Antiswing Control for Underactuated Cranes With Double-Pendulum Cargo Dynamics

When modeling cranes, the hook and the suspended cargo are usually regarded roughly as one mass point for simplicity, i.e., the cargo swing is modeled as that of a single pendulum. However, in practice, when the hook mass is nonnegligible or the cargo has a large size, the crane always exhibits double-pendulum swing dynamics, which is much more complicated and makes most existing control methods unapplicable. In addition, all existing closed-loop controllers for (double-pendulum) cranes require full state feedback, while velocities are unavailable in most cases. Moreover, they need to linearize the nonlinear crane model and cannot respect the actuator's practical saturation constraint, which may probably lead to actuator saturation and badly degrade the control performance (even unstable). In response to these practical issues, we suggest a novel amplitude-saturated output feedback (OFB) control approach for underactuated crane systems exhibiting double-pendulum effects. We provide explicit Lyapunov-based analysis to rigorously prove that the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system is almost globally asymptotically stable, without any approximation to the original nonlinear dynamics. As far as we know, this paper presents the first closed-loop control method that can achieve control for an underactuated double-pendulum crane with merely OFB and theoretically-guaranteed saturated control efforts. Hardware experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach over existing methods and its strong robustness as well.
An Adaptive State Assignment Mechanism Based on Joint Data Detection and Channel Estimation on Fading Meteor Channel

Integrating adaptive modulation and coding techniques into time-varying meteor burst channels with joint data detection and channel estimation at the receiver can greatly increase the average throughput of a meteor burst communication system (MBCS). Although the per-survivor processing algorithm (PSPA) based on joint data and channel estimation provides superior performance and robustness for MBCS, it is very difficult to implement it into practice due to the extremely high computational complexity. An adaptive state reduction scheme using a dimension-down PSPA (ADPSP) with few states in the trellis diagram is proposed based on the slow-fading characteristic of the meteor burst channel. It has the advantages of the dimension-down PSPA (D-PSPA) and the adaptive state reduction scheme based on PSPA proposed in our previous work. The scheme is proposed to reduce the computation complexity and memory size for exponentially decaying meteor burst channels and make the maximum likelihood sequence detection available for adaptive data transmission. Based on the estimation of parameters of the meteor burst channel, the adaptive threshold is obtained in order to decrease the computation compleixty of PSPA, where the states close to the correct one in the trellis is selected. Simulation results are presented to validate the theoretical analysis. It is shown that the proposed adaptive state reduction scheme using a D-PSPA can obtain a good tradeoff between the achievable performance and its dynamically computation complexity, as well as provide reliable data transmission for MBCS using adaptive coding and modulation.
Religious Attitudes and Home Bias

Home bias affects trade in goods, services and financial assets. It is mostly generated by "natural" trade barriers. Among these dividers we may list many behavioral and sociological factors, such as status quo biases and a few kind of ‘embeddedness’. Unfortunately these factors are difficult to measure. An important part of ‘embeddedness’ may be related to religious attitudes. Is there any relation between economic home bias and religious attitudes at the individual tier? Our aim is to provide a first answer to this question, by going through the econometric analysis of data from a survey conducted among in 11 European universities.
Intestinal efflux transport kinetics of green tea catechins in Caco‐2 monolayer model

The bioavailability of green tea catechins (GTCs), including epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigal‐locatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epicatechin (EC) is low in both animals and humans. The contribution of intestinal efflux to this low bioavailability has been suggested by previous studies. The objective of the present study was to investigate the kinetics of efflux transport of the four major GTCs in Caco‐2 cell lines, to provide comparison on the efflux transport between each GTC. The basal‐to‐apical transport of each GTC at concentrations ranging from 15 to 265 μM was examined using the Caco‐2 cell monolayer model. Transported amount of GTC was measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Kinetic parameters, Vmax, Km and Vmax/Km were determined and compared among the four studied GTCs. The extent of basal‐to‐apical transport was, in descending order, EC > EGC > ECG ≅ EGCG. Kinetic studies indicated that active and saturable efflux transport of EC took place in Caco‐2 cells, with a Km of 131 μM, a Vmax of 0.0249 nmol min cm−2 and an intrinsic clearance (Vmax/Km) of 0.19 μL min cm−2. No saturation could be observed for the efflux transport of EGC, ECG and EGCG even at concentrations up to about 200 μM, which may be due to their low affinity towards the transporters at the concentration range studied. In conclusion, the extent of efflux transport of GTCs in Caco‐2 cells was, in descending order, EC > EGC > ECG ≅ EGCG, which may reflect the order of elimination occurring in the intestine. The kinetic studies showed the importance of efflux transporters in basal‐to‐apical transport of EC and suggests their role in the limited oral bioavailability of EC.
A self-learning multiple-class classifier using multi-dimensional quasi-Gaussian analog circuits

A hardware-implementation-friendly classifier architecture having self-learning function has been developed for multiple-class classification. The similarity between two vectors is evaluated using a quasi Gaussian function which has been implemented by the summation of output currents from simple bump circuits. Binary weights are assigned to sample vectors and their values are determined by iteration similar to the SVM learning but in much simpler a way. Only one classifier is sufficient for N-class classification in contrast to N(N-l)/2 classifiers necessary in the SVM. The performances of the algorithm and circuits have been verified by software and SPICE simulations.
A Governance-Based Typology of Family Foundations

This article brings together research on philanthropy, family business, and governance to examine patterns of giving by U.S. family versus nonfamily independent foundations. The authors use a sample comprising the 200 largest U.S. independent foundations in 2007 to show that family foundations are more focused in their grantmaking than nonfamily foundations. Board size moderates this relationship. They also offer a new typology of family foundations to show that the generation stage of the family and the foundation board’s composition are associated with different levels of grantmaking diversity in family foundations but in dissimilar ways. Scholarly and practical implications are discussed.
Introduction: New directions in agrarian political economy

For four decades, The Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS) has served as a principal arena for the formation and dissemination of cutting-edge research and theory. It is globally renowned as a key site for documenting and analyzing variegated trajectories of agrarian change across space and time. Over the years, authors have taken new angles as they reinvigorated classic questions and debates about agrarian transition, resource access and rural livelihoods. This introductory essay highlights the four classic themes represented in Volume 1 of the JPS anniversary collection: land and resource dispossession, the financialization of food and agriculture, vulnerability and marginalization, and the blurring of the rural-urban relations through hybrid livelihoods. Contributors show both how new iterations of long-evident processes continue to catch peasants and smallholders in the crosshairs of crises and how many manage to face these challenges, developing new sources and sites of livelihood production.
Comparative Economic Impact Analyses: Differences Across Cities, Events, and Demographics

Numerous amateur sporting events have grown significantly in stature and interest in the past several years. Moreover, these events have realized significant economic benefits for their respective communities. In an attempt to identify the key determinants of economic impact, this article offers numerous comparative economic impact data for amateur sporting events. The comparisons are across various categories, including the same event in different cities, the same city but different events, women’s versus men’s events, and events involving junior athletes compared to those involving senior athletes. Collectively, these comparisons demonstrate that the number and origin of nonlocal visitors, the proximity of teams involved, visitor spending patterns, length of stay, and operational and organizational expenditures by nonlocal entities affiliated with events are the largest determinants of economic impact for a given event.
Sanctions Beyond Borders: Multinational Corporations and U.S. Economic Statecraft

Part 1 Extraterritorial Sanctions from the Early Cold War Era through the Pipeline Sanctions Chapter 2 Extraterritorial Sanctions: Policy Rationales and Legal Controversies Chapter 3 Sanctions at Bay? The Rise and Partial Decline of Extraterritorial Sanctions Chapter 4 Sanctions Defiant? The Reagan Administration, Extraterritorial Sanctions and the Lessons of the Pipeline Case Part 5 Contemporary Case Studies Chapter 6 The Decline and Partial Return of Foreign Subsidiary Sanctions Chapter 7 Direct Investors: Instruments of Coercion or Hostages of the Target State? Chapter 8 Targeting Foreign Corporations: Helms-Burton and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act Chapter 9 Think Globally, Sanction Locally: Grassroots Campaigns Against Multinationals in South Africa, Burma and Nigeria
Roles of Social Media in Open Data Environments: A Case Study of the 2014 Indonesian Presidential Election Voting Results

Open data initiatives are critical to open government policies which promote transparency, citizen engagement and collaboration. However, they face challenges in realizing their potential benefits through citizens’ active engagement. Despite the sharp rise of social media use by governments or quasi-governmental organizations to engage citizens in transforming public service quality and offers, very little has been written on enabling roles of social media in influencing the outcome of open data initiatives. This research examines the potential enabling roles of social media in motivating and having citizens’ engagement easier in open data environments. Specifically, we present social media use in supporting citizen-sourcing initiatives in response to an open data initiative. We examined the 2014 Indonesian presidential voting results by the Indonesia General Election Commission as the case study context. Our study proposes two complementary roles of social media in enabling the realization of the benefits from opening election voting results transparent.
Criminal Deterrence, Geographic Spillovers, and the Right to Carry Concealed Handguns

Increased law enforcement or penalties may deter crime, but they may also cause criminals to move to other crimes or other areas. This paper examines whether the adopting a shall issue concealed weapons law in one state alters crime in neighboring areas. The benefits that a county obtains from it's state passing a shall issue concealed handgun law are generally stronger than those found in previous work. Spillover effects on neighboring areas are almost always deleterious. Criminals tend to move across communities more readily in response to changes in concealed handgun laws than in response to changes in arrest rates. The spillover effects are surprisingly large, especially for property crimes, thus questioning existing research which ignores these considerations. The spillovers are immediate and increase over time (with the exception of assaults and auto theft). Except for rapes, the negative effects of a neighbor's law are mitigated by having one's own state adopting the law. Taken together these results imply that concealed handguns deter criminals and that the largest reductions in violent crime will be obtained when all the states adopt these laws. We find little evidence that increased arrest rates create similar spillovers.
AN INVENTORY MODEL FOR DETERIORATING ITEMS WITH STOCK-DEPENDENT DEMAND UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF INFLATION AND TIME-VALUE OF MONEY

ABSTRACT In this paper, we incorporate the effects of inflation and time-value of money in inventory decision making when demand, at each time moment rather than being constant, is considered to be dependent upon current stock level. In addition, the shortages are neither completely backlogged nor completely lost assuming the backlogging rate to be linearly dependent on the amount of demand backlogged. We shall be concerned with finding the optimal number of replenishments and service rate to minimize the total relevant costs over a finite planning horizon. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the proposed models.
Financial structure and economic growth: evidence from time series analyses

This article examines whether financial structure influences economic growth. Recent empirical studies examine this issue by utilizing panel and cross-section approaches. We use time series data and methods, along with the dynamic heterogeneous panel approach in a sample of six low and middle income countries. We find that cross country data cannot be pooled and that financial structure significantly affects real per capita output. We also find that panel estimates, in most cases, do not correspond to country specific estimates, and hence may proffer incorrect inferences for several countries of the panel.
Estimating a Household Production Function: Heterogeneity, the Demand for Health Inputs, and Their Effects on Birth Weight

The household production literature emphasizes that technical or biological processes condition input selection by households in their production activities, along with prices and income. Exogenous variations in health, to the extent that they are perceived by individuals (heterogeneity), lead to correlations between inputs and health outcomes that cannot be used to derive causal conclusions. Therefore, estimates of health technology must be obtained from a behavioral model in which health inputs are themselves choices. Consistent estimates are reported of the effect of endogenous inputs, such as medical care, smoking, and fertility, on birth weight and fetal growth in the presence of health heterogeneity.
Arthrodesis of Distal Interphalangeal Joints in the Hand with Interosseous Wiring and Intramedullary K-wire Fixation

Background To evaluate the efficacy of intramedullary K-wire fixation and interosseous wiring in the arthrodesis of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint with description of surgical procedure. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 9 cases (7 women and 2 men) of DIP joint arthrodesis. The average age of patients was 44.2 years (range, 21 to 71 years) and the mean follow-up period was 19.6 months. Joint union was evaluated on the follow-up radiographs together with postoperative complications. Results All cases achieved radiologic union of the arthrodesis site. There was no surgical complication except for one case of skin irritation by the interosseous wire knot which was removed during the follow-up period. Conclusions Intramedullary K-wire fixation and interosseous wiring could be an alternative procedure of arthrodesis in the DIP joint.
CLEARANCE OF INSOLUBLE DUST FROM THE LOWER RESPIRATORY TRACT.

AbstractStudies of the clearance of dusts of low solubility from the lower respiratory tracts of dogs utilizing in vivo counting, revealed that for a given aerosolized substance there was a consistent clearance pattern, but among different substances, e.g. ferric oxide, manganic oxide, mercuric oxid
A scalable optimizer for automatically generated manipulator motions

Starting from a collision-free robot path-given by an automatic motion planner or by a human programmer-the proposed method shortens and smoothes this path by using iteratively a few local, elementary geometric operations. The fast path-optimization process is interruptable at any time, thus always getting the best result obtainable within a certain amount of time. This property is especially useful in interactive or autonomous applications where the computation time is much more important than the traverse time and the quality of the robot motion. Some example environments including obstacle-constraint tightness and a bulky payload show the performance and usefulness of the new algorithm. <<ETX>>
Labor and Transnational Relations

Since World War II national trade union organizations have become involved in the internal political affairs of other countries, usually through the labor organizations in these countries. Soviet trade unions, a precursor and model in this respect, supported Soviet foreign policy through their international trade union contacts. United States unions played an important role in promoting the Marshall Plan, winning trade union support for it in Western Europe, and countering the opposition of communist-oriented trade unions in France and Italy. British and French unions were active in the colonial territories of their countries and often continued their influence after these territories achieved independence. United States unions have been active in Latin America and in the less developed areas of the Caribbean and Africa.
Fail-safety in core-based system design

As scaling of nanoelectronics may deteriorate dependability, fail-safe design techniques gain attention. We apply the concept of fail-safety to IP core-based system design, making the first step towards dependability-aware reuse methodologies. We introduce a methodology for dependability characterization, which uses informal techniques to identify hazards and employs formal methods to check if the hazards occur. The proposed hazard metrics provide qualitative and quantitative insight into possible core misbehavior. Experimental results on two IP cores show that the approach enables early comparative dependability studies.
Bioaccumulation of copper and zinc by the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera

This study examined the bioaccumulation of the heavy metals copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) by the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, by exposing meristematic kelp tissue to elevated metal concentrations in seawater within laboratory aquaria. Specifically, we carried out two different experiments. The first examined metal uptake under a single, ecologically-relevant elevation of each metal (30 ppb Cu and 100 ppb Zn), and the second examined the relationships between varying levels of the metals (i.e., 15, 39, 60, 120, 240, and 480 ppb Cu, and 50, 100, 200, 300, 500, and 600 ppb Zn). Both experiments were designed to contrast the uptake of the metals in isolation (i.e., when only one metal concentration was elevated) and in combination (i.e., when both metals` concentrations were elevated). Following three days of exposure to the elevated metal concentrations, we collected and analyzed the M. pyrifera tissues using inductively coupled plasma atomic emissions spectroscopy. Our results indicated that M. pyrifera bioaccumulated Cu in all treatments where Cu concentrations in the seawater were elevated, regardless of whether Zn concentrations were also elevated. Similarly, M. pyrifera bioaccumulated Zn in treatments where seawater Zn concentrations were elevated, but this occurred only when we increased Zn alone, and not when we simultaneously increased Cu concentrations. This suggests that elevated Cu concentrations inhibit Zn uptake, but not vice versa. Following this, our second experiment examined the relationships among varying seawater Cu and Zn concentrations and their bioaccumulation by M. pyrifera. Here, our results indicated that, as their concentrations in the seawater rise, Cu and Zn uptake by M. pyrifera tissue also rises. As with the first experiment, the presence of elevated Zn in the water did not appear to affect Cu uptake at any concentration examined. However, although it was not statistically significant, we observed that the presence of elevated Cu in seawater appeared to trend toward inhibiting Zn uptake, especially at higher levels of the metals. This study suggests that M. pyrifera may be useful as a bio-indicator species for monitoring heavy metal pollution in coastal environments.