Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An improved method for eigenvalue assignment of LTI multivariable systems by state feedback

This paper presents an improved method for eigenvalue assignment of the LTI multivariable systems by state feedback. In this method, vector companion form of the system representation is used. The proposed method, in addition to the controllable multivariable systems, can be applied to the stabilizable ones. Moreover, by this method, both types of numerical and parametric state feedback gain matrices can be achieved. The numerical state feedback gain matrix is unique; however, the parameters in the parametric one are determined in order to achieve a gain matrix with minimum Frobenius norm. The numerical examples show the performance and software implementation capability of the proposed technique.
Neutrophil-derived leukotriene B4 is required for inflammatory arthritis

Neutrophils serve as a vanguard of the acute innate immune response to invading pathogens. Neutrophils are also abundant at sites of autoimmune inflammation, such as the rheumatoid joint, although their pathophysiologic role is incompletely defined and relevant effector functions remain obscure. Using genetic and pharmacologic approaches in the K/BxN serum transfer model of arthritis, we find that autoantibody-driven erosive synovitis is critically reliant on the generation of leukotrienes, and more specifically on leukotriene B4 (LTB4), for disease induction as well as perpetuation. Pursuing the cellular source for this mediator, we find via reconstitution experiments that mast cells are a dispensable source of leukotrienes, whereas arthritis susceptibility can be restored to leukotriene-deficient mice by intravenous administration of wild-type neutrophils. These experiments demonstrate a nonredundant role for LTB4 in inflammatory arthritis and define a neutrophil mediator involved in orchestrating the synovial eruption.
Individual profiles as predictors of expatriate effectiveness

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the relationship between expatriate personality and effectiveness on overseas assignments.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 118 expatriates who were currently on assignments overseas or had been on an assignment in the past.Findings – Results of multiple regression analysis show expatriate personality traits to be significant predictors of two of the effectiveness measured used. Extraversion, emotional stability, and openness have a significant, positive impact on expatriate adjustment, and agreeableness is significant and positively associate with expatriate job performance.Practical implications – Organizations may be well‐served to consider expatriate personality as an important criterion for selection for overseas assignments, as successful assignments reflect on the organization in a number of ways and thus contribute to the company's global competitiveness.Originality/value – Extant research on the connection between expatriate personal.
Secretion signal of the filamentous haemagglutinin, a model two‐partner secretion substrate

The sorting of proteins to their proper subcellular compartment requires specific addressing signals that mediate interactions with ad hoc transport machineries. In Gram‐negative bacteria, the widespread two‐partner secretion (TPS) pathway is dedicated to the secretion of large, mostly virulence‐related proteins. The secreted TpsA proteins carry a characteristic 250‐residue‐long N‐terminal ‘TPS domain’ essential for secretion, while their TpsB transporters are pore‐forming proteins that specifically recognize their respective TpsA partners and mediate their translocation across the outer membrane. However, the nature of the secretion signal has not been elucidated yet. The whooping cough agent Bordetella pertussis secretes its major adhesin filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA) via the TpsB transporter FhaC. In this work, we show specific interactions between an N‐terminal fragment of FHA containing the TPS domain and FhaC by using two different techniques, an overlay assay and a pull‐down of the complex. FhaC recognizes only non‐native conformations of the TPS domain, corroborating the model that in vivo, periplasmic FHA is not yet folded. By generating single amino acid substitutions, we have identified interaction determinants forming the secretion signal. They are found unexpectedly far into the TPS domain and include both conserved and variable residues, which most likely explains the specificity of the TpsA–TpsB interaction. The N‐terminal domain of FhaC is involved in the FHA–FhaC interaction, in agreement with its proposed function and periplasmic localization.
Non-Deterministic Oracles for Unrestricted Non-Projective Transition-Based Dependency Parsing

We study non-deterministic oracles for training non-projective beam search parsers with swap transitions. We map out the spurious ambiguities of the transition system and present two non-deterministic oracles as well as a static oracle that minimizes the number of swaps. An evaluation on 10 treebanks reveals that the difference between static and non-deterministic oracles is generally insignificant for beam search parsers but that non-deterministic oracles can improve the accuracy of greedy parsers that use swap transitions.
Are Empathy and Compassion Bad for the Professional Social Worker

Recent studies have shown that social workers and other professional helpers who work with traumatized individuals run a risk of developing compassion fatigue or secondary traumatic stress. Some researchers have hypothesized that helpers do this as a result of feeling too much empathy or too much compassion for their clients, thereby implying that empathy and compassion may be bad for the professional social worker. This paper investigates these hypotheses. Based on a review of current research about empathy and compassion it is argued that these states are not the causes of compassion fatigue. Hence, it is argued that empathy and compassion are not bad for the professional social worker in the sense that too much of one or the other will lead to compassion fatigue.
Hormonal regulation of glucose clearance in lactating northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris)

SUMMARY Northern elephant seals exhibit the rare strategy of fasting and lactating concomitantly. We investigated hormonal regulation of glucose clearance in northern elephant seals using glucose tolerance tests (GTT) performed early in lactation and again just prior to weaning. For comparison, identical measurements were made on separate females late in the molt fast. Serial blood samples were used to assess glucose clearance and hormone responses for 3 h post glucose injection. Plasma glucose remained elevated at the end of the sampling period in all groups. Glucose clearance rates were not significantly different among test groups. A significant insulin response was observed in early lactation, no significant response was observed late in lactation and an intermediate response was observed late in the molt fast. The insulin response to a glucose load decreased with adipose tissue proportions. Plasma glucagon decreased significantly following GTT in early and late lactation, although the magnitude of the depression was small in comparison to other species. Hypoinsulemia may be critical to facilitate net lipolysis late in lactation. Consistently low glucose clearance among test groups suggests insulin insensitivity within peripheral tissues. Glucagon suppression independent of insulin release suggests modification of the typical insulin–glucagon counter-regulation. These findings suggest that metabolic features of diabetic-like conditions may be adaptive in the context of long-term fasting.
Social justice and psychology: What is, and what should be

This article proposes that all psychologists-and all psychologies-are innately concerned with justice, and yet there is no consensually defined discipline of psychology, and no consensual understanding of social justice. Adopting an intergroup and identitybased model of what is and what should be, we will describe the mechanisms whereby identities and perceptions of justice are formed, contested, and changed over time. We will argue that psychological research and practice have implications for social justice even where-and perhaps especially when-these are not made explicit. Psychology is considered as the product of diverse groups with distinct and evolving identities, and with differential access to resources and power, which dynamically contest different normative perceptions of justice.
Interactive EC Control of Synthesized Timbre

Perhaps the biggest limitation of interactive EC is the fitness evaluation bottleneck, caused by slow user evaluation and leading to small populations and user fatigue. In this study these problems are addressed through the proposal of new user interface techniques for interactive EC, which allow faster evaluation of large numbers of individuals and the combination of interactive with noninteractive evaluation. For the first time in the interactive EC literature a set of rigorous usability experiments compares these techniques with existing interactive EC and non-EC interfaces, for the application domain of sound synthesis. The results show that a new user interface for interactive EC improves performance, and further experiments lead to refinement of its design. The experimental protocol shows, again for the first time, that formal usability experiments are useful in the interactive EC setting. Statistically significant results are obtained on clearly-defined performance metrics, and the protocol is general enough to be of potential interest to all interactive EC researchers.
Modeling the incorporation of corn ( Zea mays L . ) carbon from roots and rhizodeposition into soil organic matter

Experimental data reported in the literature over the last decennium indicate that roots and rhizodeposition are important sources of carbon for the synthesis of soil organic carbon. Our objective was to verify the capability of the simulation model NCSWAP to reproduce the general conclusions from the experimental literature, and to gain some insight about the processes that control the incorporation of corn belowground production into the soil organic matter. The model was calibrated against the experimental data gathered from a long-term ®eld experiment located near St. Paul, Minnesota. The simulation model updated daily the soil conditions to reproduce over a 13 year period the measured kinetics of seven variables: above-ground corn production, and the total soil organic matter, soil d value, and the soil organic matter derived from corn in the 0±15 and 15±30 cm depth. The simulation gave a root-plus-rhizodeposition 1.8 times larger than stalks plus leaves. The translocation ef®ciency of corn-C into soil organic C at the 0±15 cm depth gradually decreased to 0.19 of the below-ground deposition. The sensitivity of below-ground photosynthate incorporation into the soil organic matter was analyzed relative to variations in the parameters that control the formation and decay of roots and rhizodeposition. Roots had a greater effect than rhizodeposition on the soil organic matter, though more photosynthates were translocated to rhizodeposition than to roots. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Does Government Health Insurance Reduce Job Lock and Job Push?

I study job lock and job push, the twin phenomena believed to be caused by employment-contingent health insurance (ECHI). Using variation in Medicaid eligibility among household members of male workers as a proxy for shifts in workers’ dependence on employment for health insurance, I estimate large job lock and job push effects. For married workers, Medicaid eligibility for one household member results in an increase in the likelihood of a voluntary job exit over a four-month period by approximately 34%. For job push, the transition rate into jobs with ECHI among all workers falls on average by 26%.
Transplantation in End-Stage Pulmonary Hypertension (Third International Right Heart Failure Summit, Part 3)

The Third International Right Heart Summit was organized for the purpose of bringing an interdisciplinary group of expert physician-scientists together to promote dialogue involving emerging concepts in the unique pathophysiology, clinical manifestation, and therapies of pulmonary vascular disease (PVD) and right heart failure (RHF). This review summarizes key ideas addressed in the section of the seminar entitled “Transplantation in End-Stage Pulmonary Hypertension. ” The first segment focused on paradigms of recovery for the failing right ventricle (RV) within the context of lung-alone versus dual-organ heart-lung transplantation. The subsequent 2-part section was devoted to emerging concepts in RV salvage therapy. A presentation of evolving cell-based therapy for the reparation of diseased tissue was followed by a contemporary perspective on the role of mechanical circulatory support in the setting of RV failure. The final talk highlighted cutting-edge research models utilizing stem cell biology to repair diseased tissue in end-stage lung disease—a conceptual framework within which new therapies for PVD have potential to evolve. Together, these provocative talks provided a novel outlook on how the treatment of PVD and RHF can be approached.
Biotemplate Synthesis of 3-nm Nickel and Cobalt Nanowires

Large biomolecules are attractive templates for the synthesis of metal1-7 and inorganic8-10 compound nanostructures. The well-defined chemical and structural heterogeneity of the biotemplates can be exploited for the precise control of the size and shape of the formed nanostructures. Here, we demonstrate that the central channel of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) can be used as a template to synthesize nickel and cobalt nanowires only a few atoms in diameter, with lengths up to the micrometer range.
Low-Latency Handoff for Cellular Data Networks

In this dissertation, we examine the problem of performing handoff quickly in cellular data net-works. We define handoff as the process of reconfiguring the mobile host, wireless network and backbone wired network to support communication after a user enters a different cell of the wire-less network. In order to support applications and protocols used on wired networks, the handoff processing must not significantly affect the typical end-to-end loss or delay of any communications. This dissertation concentrates on two specific areas of handoff processing: routing updates and state distribution. The techniques we use to solve these problems are: (1) Multicast to set up routing in advance of handoff. (2) Hints, based on information from the cellular wireless system, to predict handoff. (3) Intelligent buffering, enabled by the multicast of data, to prevent data loss without the use of complicated forwarding. (4) State replication, enabled by the multicast, to avoid explicit state transfers during the handoff processing. This dissertation describes the design, implementation and evaluation of these techniques in a variety of networking and computing environments. We have shown that any necessary routing updates and state transfers can be performed in a few milliseconds. For example, our implementation in an IP-based testbed completes typical handoffs in 5-15 msec. In addition, the handoff processing introduces no additional packet delays or data loss. The primary cost of our algorithms to improve handoff latency is the use of excess bandwidth on the wired backbone networks. However we have introduced base station layout algorithms that reduce this cost. In current systems, the performance improvement provided by these techniques easily outweigh the resources consumed. Since wired backbone networks will continue to have much greater available bandwidth than their wireless counterparts, this trade-off between handoff performance and network resources will continue to be advantageous in the future.
The Identification of Key Issues in the Development of Sustainable e-Learning and Virtual Campus Initiatives

This paper explores a number of key issues that have been identified as being important in the identification and evaluation of best practice within the context of e-learning and virtual campuses. The ‘Promoting Best Practice in Virtual Campuses’ (PBP-VC) project is a two year European Commission Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) co-financed project that is aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the key issues and success factors underlying the implementation and sustainability of virtual campuses. The PBP-VC project team have been working with stakeholders from a number of large virtual campus projects across Europe in identifying and exploring key issues relating to best practice and sustainability. The importance of developing a practical framework for identifying, evaluating and promoting best practice in virtual campuses and e-learning can be demonstrated by the significant number of high profile e-learning and virtual campus failures both within Europe and globally. In many cases their failure has been quite spectacular with millions of dollars being wasted as a result some quite basic errors in overlooking key best practice issues that have occurred across several large-scale projects. This paper will provide a description of the different issues relating to models for best practice and sustainability that has been developed by the PBP-VC project.
Tréplica - reimaginar a pós-graduação: resgatando o elo perdido

A experiencia de redigir uma treplica e mais dificil do que parece, especialmente quando as replicas vem de autores com legitimidade academica no sentido mais amplo. Vou me valer do recurso usado nas replicas para dizer que concordo em grande parte com os argumentos apresentados, especialmente porque confirmam o pressuposto de que a percepcao que temos de nossas praticas de ensino tem variacoes sutis. Posicoes aparentemente muito proximas, com principios comuns de valorizacao de qualidade, rigor e relevância ocultam a diversidade que caracteriza uma area que e um conglomerado de disciplinas, paradigmas, instituicoes e comunidades de interesses muito plurais. Nao e de surpreender que o mestrado profissional seja hoje um fator de turbulencia em um sistema de avaliacao que foi construido a partir da producao decorrente da pesquisa. O desconforto em torno dele, as imprecisoes em torno dos conceitos de cursos academicos e profissionais, os dilemas referentes aos componentes estruturais e sobre a natureza de uns e de outros afiguram-se bem mais como sintomas de como a area de Administracao enfrenta com dificuldades a comparacao com areas monodisciplinares de maior tradicao academica e maior influencia nos sistemas de avaliacao, bem como tem de gerenciar os residuos das importacoes de modelos de ensino de outros paises e realidades universitarias, como os MBAs o que estimulou muito mais a conformidade a padroes e modelos do que a experimentacao inovadora e controlada. Premia-se o semelhante e desconfia-se do diferente. Porem, se esta conduta funcionou ate agora como preventivo e alibi, as mudancas contextuais sinalizam novas direcoes. A universidade muda no mundo e no Brasil, em plena reforma do ensino superior. A tecnologia quebra, radicalmente, paradigmas de ensino. Com a difusao da graduacao tecnologica, estudantes avaliados como excepcionais poderao ingressar diretamente em doutorados. As universidades ja podem, legalmente, reconhecer o saber pratico e conferir titulos, agregando a competencia aferida por praticantes os requisitos academicos que ampliam estas competencias. Os cursos de especializacao desaparecem do sistema de Pos-Graduacao e a educacao continuada pode integrar tanto cursos curtos presenciais e a distância quanto de media e longa duracao. Enfim, o sistema de ensino construido ate agora deve ser repensado. Os dilemas apontados pelas replicas ao primeiro texto tratam dos embates entre: a) rigor e relevância de uma area de ciencias socialmente aplicaveis; b) da Administracao como uma area em disputa; c) das novas configuracoes curriculares possiveis da pos-graduacao, sendo o mestrado profissional um componente provocativo destes novos desenhos. Na qualidade de coordenadora de um mestrado interdisciplinar e profissional que nao e avaliado na area de Administracao, o que me possibilita maior conforto relativo, defendo uma posicao favoravel ao mestrado profissional como inovacao em processo, que necessita ser objeto de pesquisa nao so de modelos e praticas, como
Some Effects of Fibrinogen Degradation Products (FDP) on Blood Platelets

Summary “Early” fibrinogen degradation products are more potent inhibitors of thrombin-induced clotting than “late” products and also interfere with the ability of thrombin to release serotonin from platelets. “Early” and “intermediate” FDP cause moderate inhibition of platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate or connective tissue particles. Serotonin release by connective tissue particles is probably not inhibited by FDP.
Gastrointestinal leukocytoclastic vasculitis: An adverse effect of sirolimus

Abstract: An 18‐yr‐old Hispanic female with end‐stage renal disease secondary to chronic glomerulonephritis of unknown etiology underwent cadaveric renal transplantation. She was placed on a steroid‐free protocol with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for maintenance immunosuppression. Approximately 8 months post‐transplantation, MMF was replaced by sirolimus (SRL) because of persistent leukopenia. Four months after the initiation of SRL, the patient began to experience chronic, constant periumbilical abdominal pain in the absence of vomiting, diarrhea or melena. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and CT scans revealed significant diffuse mucosal thickening of the antrum, duodenum, and jejunum; leukocytoclastic vasculitis was identified on antral biopsy. A repeat biopsy after reduction of sirolimus dose by 50% over 6 months showed mild chronic inflammation of stomach and duodenum with some improvement in abdominal pain. Discontinuation of SRL and replacement with low dose MMF resulted in complete resolution of pain and normalization of gastrointestinal anatomy by imaging studies within 2 months. In light of this report, drug‐induced leukocytoclastic vasculitis caused by SRL should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic abdominal pain in a patient with organ transplantation.
Site-directed mutagenesis of the χ subunit of DNA polymerase III and single-stranded DNA-binding protein of E. coli reveals key residues for their interaction

During DNA replication in Escherichia coli, single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) protects single-stranded DNA from nuclease action and hairpin formation. It is known that the highly conserved C-terminus of SSB contacts the χ subunit of DNA polymerase III. However, there only exists a theoretical model in which the 11 C-terminal amino acids of SSB have been docked onto the surface of χ. In order to refine this model of SSB/χ interaction, we exchanged amino acids in χ and SSB by site-directed mutagenesis that are predicted to be of key importance. Detailed characterization of the interaction of these mutants by analytical ultracentrifugation shows that the interaction area is correctly predicted by the model; however, the SSB C-terminus binds in a different orientation to the χ surface. We show that evolutionary conserved residues of χ form a hydrophobic pocket to accommodate the ultimate two amino acids of SSB, P176 and F177. This pocket is surrounded by conserved basic residues, important for the SSB/χ interaction. Mass spectrometric analysis of χ protein cross-linked to a C-terminal peptide of SSB reveals that K132 of χ and D172 of SSB are in close contact. The proposed SSB-binding site resembles those described for RecQ and exonuclease I.