Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An MDP Approach for Agent Self Monitoring

An emerging trend in multiagent system research is the use of decentralized control models (notably the decentralized MDP formalism) as the basis for decision theoretic studies of multiagent problem solving. Research often focuses on the development of solution algorithms for some special classes of decentralized MDPs. While these studies will no doubt enhance our understanding of the formal foundations for multiagent system, they have a long way to go toward the actual making and deployment of decision-theoretic agents. This leads to the need for some new thinkings toward the role of MDPs in multiagent research. Since MDP policies define the mapping between an agent’s knowledge (information states) and its actions, they can be viewed as abstractions to, or be regarded as an external view of, the internal agent reasoning processes. As such, we propose the use of MDPs as a tool for agents to establish meta-level capabilities such as selfmonitoring and self-control. These capabilities are essential for agents to learn organizational knowledge. Furthermore, we also propose to apply this MDP formalism to the group level, to represent the group control and coordination knowl-
Development of automatic retinal vessel segmentation method in fundus images via convolutional neural networks

The analysis of fundus photograph is one of useful diagnosis tools for diverse retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and hypertensive retinopathy. Specifically, the morphology of retinal vessels in patients is used as a measure of classification in retinal diseases and the automatic processing of fundus image has been investigated widely for diagnostic efficiency. The automatic segmentation of retinal vessels is essential and needs to precede computer-aided diagnosis system. In this study, we propose the method which implements patch-based pixel-wise segmentation with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in fundus images for automatic retinal vessel segmentation. We construct the network composed of several modules which include convolutional layers and upsampling layers. Feature maps are made by modules and concatenated into a single feature map to capture coarse and fine structures of vessel simultaneously. The concatenated feature map is followed by a convolutional layer for performing a pixel-wise prediction. The performance of the proposed method is measured on DRIVE dataset. We show that our method is comparable to the results of other state-of-the-art algorithms.
Investigations into the upgrading of existing HVAC power transmission circuits for higher power transfers using HVDC technology

Cost effective higher current rated power electronic technology makes possible the conversion of high voltage alternating current circuits for high voltage direct current employment. This strategy is promoted so as to yield greater power transfers by using the same physical power line and installed conductor cross sectional area. This idea was shared and discussed by study committee B4 at the 2004 proceedings of Cigre in Paris, France. Here study committee working group members reported on the tri-pole proposal of using one phase of the conventional AC line as the positive pole, another phase as the negative pole and the remaining third phase to be periodically swapped between positive and negative poles; yielding almost 2,5 times the power transfer capability of the HVAC line. Along a similar path, the paper reports on Eskom's initial investigation into recycling two of the existing 400 kV lines emanating from Matimba power station. Additional 1800 MW thermal generation is planned alongside the existing 3600 MW power station. A known constraint is the acquisition of additional power line servitudes to evacuate the increased power generation. The real estate area surrounding Matimba power station is emerging as prime investment for environmentally sensitive international investors
Rake Performance after Channel Shortening by Decay Factor Optimization in UWB Channels

In this paper, we present a novel channel shortening algorithm developed in particular for ultra wideband (UWB) communication systems. This algorithm makes use of exponentially decaying characteristics of the UWB channel models. It optimizes the channel decaying factor within a desired temporal window in the effective channel while keeping the channel decaying factor constrained elsewhere. The presence of the proposed channel shortening equalizer before rake reception greatly simplifies the rake receiver architecture by significantly reducing the number of channel taps. We compare its performance with all, selective and partial rakes in terms of captured channel energy, rake combining delay and bit error rate (BER). Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm improves the performance of the Rake receiver in dense multipath UWB channels and considerably reduces its structure complexity.
Culture, conflict resolution, peacekeeper training and the D mediator

Peacekeeper training originally concentrated on technical skills, with less attention given to background historical and cultural elements relevant to specific conflicts. This study highlights the related topics of culture, conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation. Various concepts and interrelated topics, if applied in training, provide peacekeepers with a basic ‘tool kit’. From this starting point they develop their own strategies at the micro‐level when interacting with other participants in their mission or members of the host culture. Comparisons are made between the A‐C mediator profiles and the D mediator. The latter specializes, notably but not exclusively, in intractable conflicts and contributes to the overall effectiveness of a multifunctional peace support operation.
Healing Requires Recognition

Race-based traumatic stress has been studied in the literature under various names including but not limited to insidious trauma, intergenerational trauma, racist incident-based trauma, psychological trauma, and racism. This article reviews and analyzes R. T. Carter’s article in this issue. The author underscores and reacts to the trauma of racism as discussed in Carter’s article, and also highlights efforts that should be directed to racist incident-based trauma counseling. Counselors have to be trained to effectively conduct assessment and interventions with clients who have been victimized by race-based traumas. In addition, counselors should be aware that intersecting identities can result in multiple traumas or forms of oppression, such as 1 client experiencing racism, sexism, poverty, and heterosexism. While it is important to study the dynamics of race-based traumatic stress within the United States, as Carter comprehensively does, it is also essential for counselors to examine and respond to race-based traumatic stress internationally.
A novel chimeric natriuretic peptide reduces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through the NHE-1-calcineurin pathway.

AIMS Natriuretic peptides (NPs) inhibit cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through a cyclic GMP (cGMP)-dependent process, although these effects are associated with substantial vasodilatation. In this study, we used CU-NP, a non-vasodilatating novel NP synthesized from the ring structure of human C-type NP (CNP) and both C- and N-termini of urodilatin, and investigated whether it can directly modulate cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. METHODS AND RESULTS Experiments were carried out in cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes exposed to phenylephrine, angiotensin II, or endothelin-1 in the absence or presence of CU-NP. CU-NP produced a concentration- and time-dependent increase in intracellular cGMP levels. The hypertrophic responses to all agonists were abrogated by 10 nM CU-NP. CU-NP treatment also prevented increased activity, gene and protein expression of sodium-hydrogen exchanger-1 (NHE-1) as well as elevations in intracellular Na(+) concentrations caused by hypertrophic agents. In addition, these effects were associated with a more than two-fold increase in activity of the Ca(2+)-dependent protein phosphatase calcineurin that peaked 6 h after addition of hypertrophic stimuli. Early (1-3 h) calcineurin activation was unaffected by CU-NP, although activation at 6 and 24 h was prevented by CU-NP as was the resultant translocation of the transcriptional factor NFAT into nuclei. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrates a direct anti-hypertrophic effect of the chimeric peptide CU-NP via NHE-1 inhibition, thereby preventing calcineurin activation and NFAT nuclear import. Thus, CU-NP represents a novel fusion peptide of CNP and urodilatin that has the potential to be developed into a therapeutic agent to treat cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.
Summarizing text documents: sentence selection and evaluation metrics

Human-quality text summarization systems are di cult to design, and even more di cult to evaluate, in part because documents can di er along several dimensions, such as length, writing style and lexical usage. Nevertheless, certain cues can often help suggest the selection of sentences for inclusion in a summary. This paper presents our analysis of news-article summaries generated by sentence selection. Sentences are ranked for potential inclusion in the summary using a weighted combination of statistical and linguistic features. The statistical features were adapted from standard IR methods. The potential linguistic ones were derived from an analysis of news-wire summaries. To evaluate these features we use a normalized version of precision-recall curves, with a baseline of random sentence selection, as well as analyze the properties of such a baseline. We illustrate our discussions with empirical results showing the importance of corpus-dependent baseline summarization standards, compression ratios and carefully crafted long queries.
Regional differences in overweight: an effect of people or place?

Objective: To examine UK country and English regional differences in childhood overweight (including obesity) at 3 years and determine whether any differences persist after adjustment for individual risk factors. Design: Nationally representative prospective study. Setting: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Participants: 13 194 singleton children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study with height and weight data at age 3 years. Main outcome measure: Overweight (including obesity) was defined according to the International Obesity TaskForce cut-offs for body mass index, which are age and sex specific. Results: At 3 years of age, 23% (3102) of children were overweight or obese. In univariable analyses, children from Northern Ireland (odds ratio 1.30, 95% confidence interval 1.14 to 1.48) and Wales (1.26, 1.11 to 1.44) were more likely to be overweight than children from England. There were no differences in overweight between children from Scotland and England. Within England, children from the East (0.71, 0.57 to 0.88) and South East regions (0.82, 0.68 to 0.99) were less likely to be overweight than children from London. There were no differences in overweight between children from other English regions and children from London. These differences were maintained after adjustment for individual socio-demographic characteristics and other risk factors for overweight. Conclusions: UK country and English regional differences in early childhood overweight are independent of individual risk factors. This suggests a role for policies to support environmental changes that remove barriers to physical activity or healthy eating in young children.
A thermal model for the top layer of 3D integrated circuits considering through silicon vias

Based on the analytical thermal model for the top layer of three-dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) without through silicon vias (TSVs), the corresponding analytical thermal model taking TSVs into account is proposed. TSVs density ρ and effective thermal conductivity is introduced in this paper. The simulation results show that, the temperature increases sharply with the decrease of ρ for more layers and smaller ρ, and the best range of TSVs density ρ is 0.5% to 1% for an 8-layer 3D IC. These results can be effectively used as design guidelines in 3D IC thermal management studies.
Schedulability analysis of Ethernet AVB switches

Ethernet AVB is being actively considered by the automotive industry as a candidate for in-vehicle communication backbone. However, several questions pertaining to schedulability of hard real-time messages transmitted via such a switch remain unanswered. In this paper, we attempt to fill this void. We derive equations to perform worst-case response time analysis on Ethernet AVB switches by considering its credit-based shaping algorithm. Also, we propose several approaches to reduce the pessimism in the analysis to provide tighter bounds.
Mobilizing the Latino Youth Vote: Some Experimental Results

The objectives of this article are to test whether Latino canvassers are more effective than non-Latino canvassers at increasing voter turnout among young Latinos, and to test whether young Latinos are more receptive to a mobilization message that stresses ethnic group solidarity or one that emphasizes civic duty. Copyright (c) 2006 Southwestern Social Science Association.
EU Accession of Central and Eastern European Countries: Democracy and Integration as Conflicting Logics

Although the European Union (EU) has in many ways supported democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, it has also imposed new constraints on the functioning of democracy. The article explores the indirect impact of EU integration on the Eastern applicant countries by exposing the underlying logic of enlargement and analyzing the implications of that logic for democratic politics. The empirical analysis focuses on the preaccession process of one of the new member states, Estonia, but it also examines the overall EU policy toward Eastern candidates, pointing to the limits of enlargement as a form of democracy promotion. It highlights that the principles and norms that dominated enlargement—most notably inevitability, speed, efficiency, and expertise—constrained democratic politics in the applicant countries and limited their EU accession to a narrow sphere of elites and experts. The author links the findings with the democratic deficit in the EU and draws some conclusions concerning future prospects of democracy in and democracy promotion by the enlarged EU.
Transport Risk Index of Physiologic Stability, Version II (TRIPS-II): A Simple and Practical Neonatal Illness Severity Score

Abstract Objective Derive and validate a practical assessment of infant illness severity at admission to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Study Design Prospective study involving 17,075 infants admitted to 15 NICUs in 2006 to 2008. Logistic regression was used to derive a prediction model for mortality comprising four empirically weighted items (temperature, blood pressure, respiratory status, response to noxious stimuli). This Transport Risk Index of Physiologic Stability, version II (TRIPS-II) was then validated for prediction of 7-day and total NICU mortality. Results TRIPS-II discriminated 7-day (receiver operating curve [ROC] area, 0.90) and total NICU mortality (ROC area, 0.87) from survival. Furthermore, there was a direct association between changes in TRIPS-II at 12 and 24 hours and mortality. There was good calibration across the full range of TRIPS-II scores and the gestational age at birth, and addition of TRIPS-II improved performance of prediction models that use gestational age and baseline population risk variables. Conclusion TRIPS-II is a validated benchmarking tool for assessing infant illness severity at admission and for up to 24 hours after.
The relationship between perceived employability and subsequent health

Abstract Being capable of getting new employment may enable an employee to cope with turbulent situations or deteriorating job conditions. Individuals who have higher perceived employability are likely to appraise a situation at work more favourably, and consequently experience better health and well-being. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between perceived employability and subsequent health, while controlling for baseline health, background factors, and work environment exposures. The study is based on 53 items in the National Working Life Cohort in Sweden from two data collections (2004 and 2005), comprising 1918 individuals. Forced entry hierarchical regression analysis showed that, after controlling for demographics, psychological demands, control, and ergonomic exposures, perceived employability was positively associated with global health and mental well-being, but unrelated to physical complaints. When baseline health status was added, perceived employability was still a significant predictor of two out of three outcome variables. Individuals with higher perceived employability had a tendency to report better health and well-being a year later. It is concluded that how an employee perceives his or her possibilities in regard to acquiring new employment is relevant for well-being at a later stage. Perceived employability, which has been little studied before, is therefore a useful concept in health promotion, both at the individual and at the organizational level.
Testosterone, Physical Aggression, Dominance, and Physical Development in Early Adolescence

The associations among testosterone, physical development, social dominance, and antisocial behaviour during early adolescence were assessed in a sample of boys followed from 6 to 13 years. Saliva testosterone level was positively correlated with height, and uncorrelated with measures of fatness, including the body mass index. Physical aggression and social dominance were not significantly correlated. Regression analyses revealed that testosterone level and body mass additively predicted social dominance, whereas only body mass predicted physical aggression. Thus, early adolescents with high levels of testosterone were more likely to be socially dominant, especially if they had a large body mass. Those who had a large body mass were more likely to be physically aggressive, independently of their testosterone level. The observed pattern of correlations between testosterone, body mass, dominance, and physical aggression offers an interesting example of the complex hormone-physique-behaviour relations at puberty. They support the hypothesis that testosterone level and social dominance are related, and that the association between testosterone level and physical aggression is probably observed in contexts where physical aggression leads to social dominance.
Bacterial Degradation of Aromatic Compounds

Aromatic compounds are among the most prevalent and persistent pollutants in the environment. Petroleum-contaminated soil and sediment commonly contain a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic aromatics. Aromatics derived from industrial activities often have functional groups such as alkyls, halogens and nitro groups. Biodegradation is a major mechanism of removal of organic pollutants from a contaminated site. This review focuses on bacterial degradation pathways of selected aromatic compounds. Catabolic pathways of naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene are described in detail. Bacterial catabolism of the heterocycles dibenzofuran, carbazole, dibenzothiophene, and dibenzodioxin is discussed. Bacterial catabolism of alkylated PAHs is summarized, followed by a brief discussion of proteomics and metabolomics as powerful tools for elucidation of biodegradation mechanisms.
NORTHERN CITIES MEXICAN AMERICAN ENGLISH: VOWEL PRODUCTION AND PERCEPTION

This article investigates the influence of the Northern Cities Shift (NCS) on the production and perception of english vowels by Mexican Americans in Lansing, Michigan. Findings indicate full accommodation to local mainstream norms with respect to all NCS vowels except /a/, which displays unique patterning both prenasally and in other environments. The evidence also reveals that young women in Lansing, both Anglo and Mexican American, have adopted more advanced stages of the NCS than men in their pronunciations of the vowels /I/, /E/, and prenasal /a/. Perception results match production results such that, among the six vowels examined, only /a/ differs significantly between groups. These findings suggest that, although constant exposure to and interaction with the local matrix group appear to have led to nearly total accommodation to local NCS features in the english of Mexican Americans in Lansing, pronunciation of the vowel /a/, in particular, reflects unique patterns of history and identity. The vowel system of one individual can express a complex array of social affiliations and linguistic influences (e.g., eckert 1988). With respect to ethnic identity, in particular, previous research on vowel production has found patterns of both divergence and convergence—sometimes within the same individual—with regard to accommodation to local matrix group speech norms by members of ethnic minority group speech communities. Although social segregation can sometimes explain divergence, resistance to assimilation has also been found in situations where minority group speakers are in frequent contact with members of the dominant ethnic group (e.g., Henderson 1995; Dubois and Horvath 1998; Fought 1999). The current study contributes to this growing body of work by investigating the english lax vowel subsystem of Mexican Americans in Lansing, Michigan, a group whose language setting (Santa Ana 1993) includes nonlocal varieties, but whose members are also well integrated into the local mainstream community and are exposed to local mainstream speech on a daily basis. The Mexican American participants are all native english speakers, born and raised in Lansing, and they are compared to young, local Anglos with respect to both perception and production of the Northern Cities Shifted (NCS) vowels.
Planning motions of rolling surfaces

Rolling between rigid surfaces in space is a well-known nonholonomic system, whose mathematical model has some interesting features that make it a paradigm for the study of some very general systems. It also turns out that the nonholonomic features of this system can be exploited in practical devices with some appeal for engineers. However, in order to achieve all potential benefits, a greater understanding of these rather complex systems and more practical algorithms for planning and controlling their motions are necessary. In this paper, we will consider some geometric and control aspects of the problem of arbitrarily displacing and reorienting a body which rolls without slipping among other bodies.
Applicability of General Power-Control Theory to Prosocial and Antisocial Risk-Taking Behaviors Among Women in South Korea

Grasmick and colleagues expanded general power-control theory to include both pro-and antisocial risky behaviors more than 10 years ago; however, to date, there have been no empirical tests of their theoretical modifications. The current study tested the comprehensive model of general power-control theory using three different samples from South Korea: women who enter traditionally male-dominated occupations, female prison inmates, and women incarcerated for intimate partner killing. Results related to women’s patriarchal attitudes and preference for general risks supported our expectations and confirmed the tenets of general power-control theory that focus on both pro- and antisocial risky behaviors. In addition, the ones related to patriarchy of the family of origin supported Hagan’s original power-control theory focusing on only antisocial risky behaviors.