Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technology and the Dream: Reflections on the Black Experience at MIT, 1941-1999

This book grew out of the Blacks at MIT History Project, whose mission is to document the black presence at MIT. The main body of the text consists of transcripts of more than seventy-five oral history interviews, in which the interviewees assess their MIT experience and reflect on the role of blacks at MIT and beyond. Although most of the interviewees are present or former students, black faculty, administrators, and staff are also represented, as are nonblack faculty and administrators who have had an impact on blacks at MIT. The interviewees were selected with an eye to presenting the broadest range of issues and personalities, as well as a representative cross section by time period and category. Each interviewee was asked to discuss family background; education; role models and mentors; experiences of racism and race-related issues; choice of field and career; goals; adjustment to the MIT environment; best and worst MIT experiences; experience with MIT support services; relationships with MIT students, faculty, and staff; advice to present or potential MIT students; and advice to the MIT administration. A recurrent theme is that MIT's rigorous teaching instills the confidence to deal with just about any hurdle in professional life, and that an MIT degree opens many doors and supplies instant credibility. Each interview includes biographical notes and pictures. The book also includes a general introduction, a glossary, and appendixes describing the project's methodology.
The origin and movement of nephrogenic cells in the chick embryo as determined by radiographic mapping.

SUMMARY The origin of the presumptive nephrogenic cells in the epiblast of the chick embryo was traced by radioautographic analysis of the movements of tritiated thymidine-labelled grafts excised from medium-streak to 5-somite stage embryos and transplanted to epiblast, streak, and the endoderm-mesoderm layer of similarly staged recipient embryos. The nephrogenic cells originate near the area pellucida margin of the medium-streak-stage embryo, migrate toward the streak, and are invaginated about one-third to one-half the distance from the anterior to the posterior end of the streak, between the definitive-streak and I-to 4-somite stages. Their route into mesoderm is along a relatively narrow pathway between the cells migrating to the paraxial or presomite mesoderm on one side, and those destined for the proximal limbs of the lateral plate on the other. The cells which will form the anterior part of the intermediate mesoderm are the most medially placed cells in epiblast, reach the streak at an earlier stage of development, and are the first nephrogenic cells to migrate into mesoderm. After about the 17-to 19-somite stage, cells from this group which have formed the pronephric cord or duct begin to move posteriorly in relation to the rest of the intermediate mesoderm, toward the future cloaca. The last nephrogenic cells to leave epiblast and enter the streak and mesoderm are those destined for the posterior end of the intermediate mesoderm. This group of cells surrounds the posteriorly migrating pronephric (Wolffian) duct and differentiates into mesonephros.
A Budget-Based Cost-Effective Incentive Model

Incentives play an important role in BitTorrent-like P2P networks, motivating users to contribute to others to achieve faster average download time for all peers. Recent related studies reveal that two problems remain unresolved in most popular incentive mechanisms for BitTorrent-like systems: 1) incompleteness: contributions are not entirely considered, and 2) unfairness: accumulated contributions are not considered. To solve these two problems, a budget-based incentive mechanism is here proposed. First, the lifetime of a peer is divided into three phases, and a peer's workload model is defined by analyzing the peer's behavior in different phases. Second, based on the entire contributions derived from workload, the peer's profit model is defined. Third, a method is proposed which enables users to create profit budgets empirically. Finally, a new budget-based priority unchoking algorithm is presented which considers the entirety of peers' past, current, and future contributions. It is demonstrated here that the budget-based incentive mechanism leads the system to market equilibrium. To test the effectiveness of the mechanism, a BitTorrent client coupled with TCP protocol analysis tools was run to collect real data and empirically parameterize the profit model. Then a modification to the BitTorrent protocol was implemented and evaluated, in which peers reward one another with profits from contributions. Simulations demonstrate that this incentive mechanism yields faster average download times and higher mean download rates compared with the tit-for-tat mechanism.
Robust linear dimensionality reduction for hypothesis testing with application to sensor selection

This paper addresses robust linear dimensionality reduction (RLDR) for binary Gaussian hypothesis testing. The goal is to find a linear map from the high dimensional space where the data vector lives to a low dimensional space where the hypothesis test is carried out. The linear map is designed to maximize the detector performance. This translates into maximizing the Kullback-Leibler (KL) distance between the two projected distributions. In practice, the distribution parameters are estimated from training data, thus subject to uncertainty. This is modeled by allowing the distribution parameters to drift within some confidence regions. We address the case where only the mean values of the Gaussian distributions, m0 and m1, are uncertain with confidence ellipsoids defined by the corresponding covariance matrices, S0 and S1. Under this setup, we find the linear map that maximizes the KL distance for the worst case drift of the mean values. We solve the problem globally for the case of linear mapping to one dimension, reducing it to a grid search over a finite interval. Our solution shows superior performance compared to robust linear discriminant analysis techniques recently proposed in the literature. In addition, we use our RLDR solution as a building block to derive a sensor selection algorithm for robust event detection, in the context of sensor networks. Our sensor selection algorithm shows quasi-optimal performance: worst-case KL distance for suboptimal sensor selection is at most 15% smaller than worst-case KL distance for the optimal sensor selection obtained by exhaustive search.
From Individual Behavior to Metapopulation Dynamics: Unifying the Patchy Population and Classic Metapopulation Models

Spatially structured populations in patchy habitats show much variation in migration rate, from patchy populations in which individuals move repeatedly among habitat patches to classic metapopulations with infrequent migration among discrete populations. To establish a common framework for population dynamics in patchy habitats, we describe an individual‐based model (IBM) involving a diffusion approximation of correlated random walk of individual movements. As an example, we apply the model to the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) inhabiting a highly fragmented landscape. We derive stochastic patch occupancy model (SPOM) approximations for the IBMs assuming pure demographic stochasticity, uncorrelated environmental stochasticity, or completely correlated environmental stochasticity in local dynamics. Using realistic parameter values for the Glanville fritillary, we show that the SPOMs mimic the behavior of the IBMs well. The SPOMs derived from IBMs have parameters that relate directly to the life history and behavior of individuals, which is an advantage for model interpretation and parameter estimation. The modeling approach that we describe here provides a unified framework for patchy populations with much movements among habitat patches and classic metapopulations with infrequent movements.
A novel method for video tracking performance evaluation

This paper presents a methodology for evaluating the performance of video surveillance tracking systems. We introduce a novel framework for performance evaluation using pseudo-synthetic video, which employs data captured online and stored in a surveillance database. Tracks are automatically selected from the surveillance database and then used to generate ground truthed video sequences with a controlled level of perceptual complexity that can be used to quantitatively characterise the quality of the tracking algorithms.
Load adaptive control of single-link flexible arms based on a new modeling technique

A new method for controlling single-link flexible manipulators is proposed. The objective is to control the tip position of a flexible manipulator in the presence of changes in its payload. Particularly, a new adaptive control system has been designed. The proposed control system requires calculating only one parameter, the tip load, instead of all the transfer functions as in conventional adaptive control methods. The tip load identification algorithm is based on the equivalence existing between a manipulator with payload and a manipulator submitted to the action of external forces. Moreover, this equivalence provides a new technique for modeling these systems which simplifies the methods usually applied. This results in a simple control law that needs minimal computing effort and, thus, can be used for real-time control of flexible arms.
Seven recommendations for creating sustainability education at the university level: A guide for change agents

Purpose – This paper describes a set of recommendations that will aid universities planning to create sustainability education programs. These recommendations are not specific to curriculum or programs but are instead recommendations for academic institutions considering a shift towards “sustainability education” in the broadest sense. The purpose of this research was to consider the possible directions for the future of sustainability education at the university level.Design/methodology/approach – Through a series of workshops using a “value focused thinking” framework, a small team of researchers engaged a large number of stakeholders in a dialogue about sustainability education at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. Recommendations were compiled from workshop data as well as data from 30 interviews of participants connected with decision‐making and sustainability at UBC.Findings – The recommendations include infusing sustainability into all university decisions, promoting and p.
The Evolution of C 2 ” The Coordination and Collaboration Process within Committees in the Information Age * *

In today’s information age teams reside in multi-participant problem solving processes that operate within both the physical and virtual environment (Gibson & Cohen, 2003). Teams in order to collaborate form their own “space of constraints” whether they act in the physical, the virtual environment or in both (Bordetsky, 1996). Scholars have examined teams that operate in the physical space (such as cliques by Poran & Sabastien, 1998; and teams in general by Salas et. al., 1992) or in the virtual space (Gibson & Cohen, 2003; Yoo, 2001) and examined coordination and collaboration within committees using the majority rule (Bordetsky, 1996; Miller & Page, 2007). In addition, teams’ decomposition applies when complex problems arise (e.g. swarm groups as proposed by Arquilla, J. & Ronfeldt, D, 2000). Hence, a literature gap exists in addressing the dynamic, in terms of time, collaboration process that exists within committees with fluidic participation which operate in both the virtual and physical environment. In order to address this issue, the research design is presented which is divided into three mutual interdependent steps. As an initial step a theoretical System Dynamics model of collaboration is generated based on literature. The second step involves field experimentation which will be conducted within the Tactical Network Topology (TNT) experimentations to obtain the coordination process and the factors that affect coordination. Furthermore, the multivariate nature of this problem is examined with the Parameter Space Investigation (PSI) method of multi-criteria optimization (Statnikov, 2002) in order to identify the temporal equilibrium states of the coordination process using the data from the field experiments. The combination and repetition of these three steps can be used to examine the process of collaboration of a committee that operates both on the physical and virtual space on the basis of a time path.
Farrow structured variable fractional delay lagrange filters with improved midpoint response

This paper describes improvements in the Farrow structured variable fractional delay (FD) Lagrange interpolation. The main idea is to replace the first sub-filter of the Farrow structure by a sinc-interpolation filter of half a sample period to achieve a superior FD approximation in the vicinity of half a sample period. Its primary advantages over classical Farrow structured FD Lagrange interpolators are the lower level of mean-square-error (MSE) over the whole FD range and the reduced implementation cost. Design examples are included, illustrating an MSE reduction of 50% compared to a classical Farrow structured interpolator while the implementation cost is halved.
Modelos e técnicas para simulação de sistemas UHF de identificação por rádio frequência (RFID)

Este trabalho apresenta a tecnologia de Identificacao por Radio Frequencia (RFID), e tem como principal objetivo a definicao de modelos que permitam a simulacao de ambientes que utilizem esta tecnologia. Para o desenvolvimento destes modelos de simulacao, sao extensamente abordados alguns dos principais desafios enfrentados por sistemas RFID: (i) a colisao dos sinais provenientes das etiquetas; (ii) interferencias tipicas de sinais de radio frequencia (RF) de acordo com cada tipo de ambiente de uso de sistemas RFID; (iii) o relacionamento entre o problema das interferencias de RF com a potencia minima necessaria para a ativacao e comunicacao das etiquetas e dos equipamentos leitores (as distâncias maximas possiveis entre etiquetas e antenas dos leitores); (iv) o relacionamento entre o tempo necessario para os protocolos padronizados resolverem o problema das colisoes e as interferencias de RF de acordo com as caracteristicas fisicas dos ambientes onde os sistemas estarao instalados. Muitos modelos para predicao de sistemas tradicionais baseados em RF ja foram desenvolvidos, mas nenhum que considere as caracteristicas e variaveis especificas de sistemas RFID aqui abordadas. Devido ao fato de cada sistema de RF a ser instalado possuir caracteristicas proprias de ambiente, e inviavel a definicao de uma unica equacao matematica ou modelo que defina todos os sistemas de RF. Sendo assim, existem diferentes modelos para diferentes tipos de comunicacao de radio em diferentes condicoes. A contribuicao principal desta tese e a apresentacao de tecnicas para a definicao de modelos que permitam a estimacao sobre o funcionamento de sistemas RFID, considerando os problemas (i), (ii), (iii) e (iv) citados. Uma ferramenta de simulacao de ambientes RFID que utiliza os modelos desenvolvidos e apresentada. Os resultados de validacao sao promissores, e foram obtidos atraves da comparacao das simulacoes com ensaios praticos, bem como atraves de comparacoes com resultados disponiveis na literatura
Correlation of carotid plaque neovascularization detected by using contrast-enhanced US with clinical symptoms.

PURPOSE To determine the correlation between the degree of plaque enhancement with contrast agent microbubbles and clinical symptoms in patients with carotid atherosclerotic plaque. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was approved by the hospital ethical committee, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. One hundred four patients (83 men: mean age, 64 years +/- 9 [standard deviation]; 21 women: mean age, 61 years +/- 10) with carotid plaques were studied with standard and contrast material-enhanced ultrasonography (US). Contrast enhancement in the plaque was evaluated with visual interpretation and quantitative analysis. RESULTS Among the 104 patients, 35 (34%) had transient ischemic attack and/or cerebrovascular ischemic stroke. Plaque enhancement was found in 28 (80%) of 35 symptomatic patients and in 21 (30%) of 69 asymptomatic patients (P < .001). Enhanced intensity in the plaque (13.9 dB +/- 6.4) and the ratio of enhanced intensity in the plaque to that in the lumen of the carotid artery (0.54 +/- 0.23) in symptomatic patients were significantly greater than those in asymptomatic patients (8.8 dB +/- 5.2 [P < .001] and 0.33 +/- 0.19 [P < .001], respectively). Sensitivity and specificity were 74% and 62%, respectively, for enhanced intensity in the plaque (cutoff value, 10.0 dB) and 74% and 75%, respectively, for ratio of enhanced intensity in the plaque to that in the lumen of the carotid artery (cutoff value, 0.46). CONCLUSION Symptomatic patients had more intense contrast agent enhancement in the plaque than asymptomatic patients, suggesting that contrast-enhanced carotid US may be used for plaque risk stratification.
Localization of a vasoactive intestinal peptide-producing tumor with selective venous sampling.

A case of vasoactive intestinal peptide-producing adenoma of the tail of the pancreas (VIP) successfully managed by surgical resection is presented. Peripheral venous VIP levels correlated with the severity of the diarrhea. Intraoperatively, the VIP levels in the splenic and portal veins were 485 and 100 pg. /ml. , respectively. These data suggest that preoperative selective transhepatic venous catheterization for VIP sampling might be used to establish the site of VIP production and, thereby, direct surgical management. This technic requires further evaluation regarding its role in this clinical setting.
Characterization of a porcine model of post‐operative pain

Management of acute pain related to surgical intervention, termed post‐operative pain or POP, continues to be a major healthcare challenge. While the rat plantar incision model provides valuable data to researchers about the mechanisms mediating POP, the development of topical and localized treatments in small animal models is limited. To help address these issues, we describe here the characterization of a large animal model of incisional pain.
O estado atual de pesquisas sobre competitividade turística no Brasil

The theme tourism competitiveness has become an area of great interest, because the success of a destination is determined by their relative competitiveness against other competitors. Factors of management, suport and qualification were includes in the studies, and they define the difference between the studies of competitiveness and tourism image studies. Develop tools for measuring competitiveness is of great importance for public policy and management of tourism enterprises. With objective of verify the current status of research on tourism competitiveness in Brazil, this article make a bibliometric analysis based on the studies about tourism competitiveness in Brasil presented in annual congress of ANPTUR (National Association of Graduate in Tourism) in the last six years. Thus, were verified the characteristics of these studies, theoretical and methodological foundations. It also presents a comparison with studies of tourism competitiveness in the last ten years at international level. It was verified that this area of research is still incipient in the Brazilian studies, which focus a determinant of competitiveness, but no destination competitiveness with muldimensional focus. Whereas the theoretical foundations Brazilian studies follow the same trends in international studies.
Beyond maximum speed—a novel two-stimulus paradigm for brain–computer interfaces based on event-related potentials (P300-BCI)

Objective. The speed of brain–computer interfaces (BCI), based on event-related potentials (ERP), is inherently limited by the commonly used one-stimulus paradigm. In this paper, we introduce a novel paradigm that can increase the spelling speed by a factor of 2, thereby extending the one-stimulus paradigm to a two-stimulus paradigm. Two different stimuli (a face and a symbol) are presented at the same time, superimposed on different characters and ERPs are classified using a multi-class classifier. Here, we present the proof-of-principle that is achieved with healthy participants. Approach. Eight participants were confronted with the novel two-stimulus paradigm and, for comparison, with two one-stimulus paradigms that used either one of the stimuli. Classification accuracies (percentage of correctly predicted letters) and elicited ERPs from the three paradigms were compared in a comprehensive offline analysis. Main results. The accuracies slightly decreased with the novel system compared to the established one-stimulus face paradigm. However, the use of two stimuli allowed for spelling at twice the maximum speed of the one-stimulus paradigms, and participants still achieved an average accuracy of 81.25%. This study introduced an alternative way of increasing the spelling speed in ERP-BCIs and illustrated that ERP-BCIs may not yet have reached their speed limit. Future research is needed in order to improve the reliability of the novel approach, as some participants displayed reduced accuracies. Furthermore, a comparison to the most recent BCI systems with individually adjusted, rapid stimulus timing is needed to draw conclusions about the practical relevance of the proposed paradigm. Significance. We introduced a novel two-stimulus paradigm that might be of high value for users who have reached the speed limit with the current one-stimulus ERP-BCI systems.
Low-power design of variable block-size LDPC decoder using nanometer technology

This paper presents a low-power, variable block-size and irregular LDPC decoding. Our proposed LDPC decoder uses nanometer technology running the well-known TDMP and SMSA decoding algorithm. We further improved the design with pipeline structure, parallel computation and without any memory unit. Therefore, we can utilize only one routing network to route three different block-size data. The prototype architecture is being implemented on 90 nm VLSI technology. Because this VLSI technology has multi-Vth layers, we can make the design more effective. Compared to recent state-of-the-art architectures, the proposed variable block-size LDPC decoder has 450 MHz clock frequency, 349.48 K gate counts, 168 mW power dissipation, and 1.215 Gbps throughput.
A new role for kinesin-directed transport of Bik1p (CLIP-170) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Bik1p is the budding yeast counterpart of the CLIP-170 family of microtubule plus-end tracking proteins, which are required for dynein localization at plus ends and dynein-dependent spindle positioning. CLIP-170 proteins make up a CAP-Gly microtubule-binding domain, which sustains their microtubule plus-end tracking behaviour. However, in yeast, Bik1p travels towards plus ends as a cargo of the plus-end-directed kinesin Kip2p. Additionally, Kip2p behaves as a plus-end-tracking protein; hence, it has been proposed that Bik1p might track plus ends principally as a cargo of Kip2p. Here, we examined Bik1p localization in yeast strains expressing mutant tubulin lacking the C-terminal amino acid (Glu tubulin; lacking Phe), the interaction of which with Bik1p is severely impaired compared with wild type. In Glu-tubulin strains, despite the presence of robust Kip2p comets at microtubule plus ends, Bik1p failed to track plus ends. Despite Bik1p depletion at plus ends, dynein positioning at the same plus ends was unperturbed. Video microscopy and genetic evidence indicated that dynein was transported at plus ends in a Kip2p-Bik1p-dependent manner, and was then capable of tracking Bik1p-depleted plus ends. These results indicate that Bik1p interactions with tubulin are important for Bik1p plus-end tracking, and suggest alternative pathways for Bik1p-Kip2p-dependent dynein localization at plus ends.