Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Re] Optimization of a free water elimination two-compartment model for diffusion tensor imaging

Typical diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is susceptible to partial volume effects: different types of tissue that reside in the same voxel are inextricably mixed. For instance, in regions near the cerebral ventricles or parenchyma, fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may be underestimated, due to partial volumes of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). Free-water can be suppressed by adding parameters to diffusion MRI models. For example, the DTI model can be extended to separately take into account the contributions of tissue and CSF, by representing the tissue compartment with an anisotropic diffusion tensor and the CSF compartment as an isotropic free water diffusion coefficient. Recently, two procedures were proposed to fit this two-compartment model to diffusion-weighted data acquired for at least two different non-zero diffusion MRI b-values. In this work, the first open-source reference implementation of these procedures is provided. In addition to presenting some methodological improvements that increase model fitting robustness, the free water DTI procedures are re-evaluated using Monte-Carlo multicompartmental simulations. Analogous to previous studies, our results show that the free water elimination DTI model is able to remove confounding effects of fast diffusion for typical FA values of brain white matter. In addition, this study confirms that for a fixed scanning time the fwDTI fitting procedures have better performance when data is acquired for diffusion gradient direction evenly distributed along two b-values of 500 and 1500 s/mm2.
Party Competition, Personal Votes, and Strategic Disloyalty in the U.S. States

Legislators will sometimes vote against their party’s position on roll-call votes to differentiate themselves from the party mainstream and to accrue a “personal vote. ” Research suggests that the use of rebellion to generate a personal vote is more common (1) among majority party members and (2) among ideological extremists. But these majority party extremists only have a strong incentive to rebel in situations where the accrual of a personal vote is electorally useful. In this manuscript, we evaluate variation in rebellion rates of state legislators in the United States conditional on ideological extremism and majority control. Using donation-based measures of ideology and roll call–based measures of party loyalty over a twenty-year period across more than 30,000 legislators, we find that when legislators have little incentive to differentiate themselves from their parties, this “strategic” party disloyalty among majority party ideological extremists is limited. However, when legislators have strong incentives to craft a personal vote, ideological extremists defect from their party more often than their moderate counterparts. In particular, we find greater evidence for this type of strategic party disloyalty in states with high intra-party competition and low inter-party competition and less evidence in states with high inter-party competition.
Design and evaluation of a new electrostatic precipitation-based portable low-cost sampler for bioaerosol monitoring

Abstract The importance of bioaerosols to human and ecosystem health is evident as we tackle the on-going coronavirus pandemic. Understanding the airborne migration of pathogens and the consequent transmission of diseases such as COVID-19 requires an ability to monitor bioaerosols at high spatio-temporal resolution. For such monitoring, there is an immediate need for bioaerosol samplers that are easy to deploy and optimized for downstream analysis. In this study, we introduce a small, inexpensive, low-power, and a low-pressure drop device, called TracB, that integrates low-cost aerosol sensing with bioaerosol sampling using electrostatic precipitation technique. The device was designed for an efficient collection of particles in the size range of 0.01–10 µm, making it suitable for a wide range of downstream microbial analysis. A low-cost particle charger has been integrated with the device to improve the collection efficiency of the sampled particles. The performance of the device was tested with Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurtsaki (Btk) as the biological test organism for different operating conditions. The ability of the device to efficiently collect bio-particles when the charger was oriented parallel to the particle flow was confirmed with computational fluid dynamics simulations. Over 50% of biological and nonbiological test particles were collected in the device when operated with an ionizer and a precipitation electric field of 8 kV/cm. Our results demonstrate the potential of the device to be used as an autonomous unit suitable for long-term air sampling at diverse indoor and outdoor locations. Copyright © 2020 American Association for Aerosol Research
Design and analysis of two layers RLC network of rectangular topology by wave concept iterative process method

The paper presents a theoretical study of a rectangular electrical network built on two layers. First, the auxiliary source notion is introduced for characterizing the potential difference over each electrical element, then the mathematical formalism of the Wave Concept Iterative Process method is developed and adopted to the studied circuit. The used method is based on the concept of the incident and reflected waves which are defined from the current and voltage at each branch of the circuit. Two relations connecting the waves are established into two definition domains: a spectral‐domain using the Kirchhoff laws and the auxiliary source connections and, another spatial defining the boundary conditions and the circuit design. Hence a two equations system is obtained and it is resolved by an iterative process, the transition between the two domains is ensured by the fast Fourier transform and its inverse. Moreover, the equivalent impedance between the feeding source and the nodes of the bottom layer has been calculated. Among the numerical simulation methods, this method has demonstrated its performances for analyzing various designs of the networks including RL, RC and RLC circuits excited by a lumped voltage source. The effect of the circuit parameters on the electrical currents and equivalent impedance has been studied.
An epigenome-wide association study of educational attainment (n = 10,767)

The epigenome has been shown to be influenced by biological factors, such as disease status, and environmental factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and body mass index. Although there is a widespread perception that environmental influences on the epigenome are pervasive and profound, there has been little evidence to date in humans with respect to environmental factors that are biologically distal. Here, we provide evidence on the associations between epigenetic modifications—in our case, CpG methylation—and educational attainment (EA), a biologically distal environmental factor that is arguably among of the most important life-shaping experiences for individuals. Specifically, we report the results of an epigenome-wide association study meta-analysis of EA based on data from 27 cohort studies with a total of 10,767 individuals. While we find that 9 CpG probes are significantly associated with EA, only two remain associated when we restrict the sample to never-smokers. These two are known to be strongly associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy, and thus their association with EA could be due to correlation between EA and maternal smoking. Moreover, their effect sizes on EA are far smaller than the known associations between CpG probes and biologically proximal environmental factors. Two analyses that combine the effects of many probes—polygenic methylation score and epigenetic-clock analyses—both suggest small associations with EA. If our findings regarding EA can be generalized to other biologically distal environmental factors, then they cast doubt on the hypothesis that such factors have large effects on the epigenome.
Natural language processing for analysis of student online sentiment in a postgraduate program

Higher education institutes are continually looking for new and better ways to support and understand the learning experience of their students. One possible option is to use sentiment analysis tools to investigate the attitudes and emotions of students when they are interacting on social media about their course experience. In this study, we analysed the social media posts, from a closed programme-based community, of more than 300 students in a single programme cohort by processing the dataset with the Google cloud-based Natural Language Processing API for sentiment analysis. The sentiment scores and magnitudes were then visualised to help explore the research question ‘How does a natural language processing tool help analyse student online sentiment in a postgraduate program? ’ The results have provided a better understanding of students’ online sentiment relating to the activities and assessments of the programme as well as the variation of that sentiment over the timeline of the programme.
A multi-attribute framework for the selection of high-performance work systems: the hybrid DEMATEL-MABAC model

Abstract Research in strategic human resource management indicates that high performance work systems (HPWS) have a positive impact on the overall performance of an organization as a result of better human resource (HR) outcomes. Regarding the multi-dimensional and complex nature of these factors, common statistical models are not useful for examining the performance of HPWS. Using the capabilities of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods to deal with various criteria that may be contradictory, this study proposes a MADM-based framework that provides the opportunity to prioritize HR practices. Based on this framework, high-performance HR practices and their related HR outcomes were identified after studying the theoretical literature and ascertaining the views of decision-makers and HR experts. Then, after looking at the interactions among HR outcomes, the weights of the criteria were calculated using the method of the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Then, the alternatives were ranked using the multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method. Finally, the designed framework was implemented in an organization active in the banking industry. This framework can be used to improve employees’ performance and, consequently, the performance of the organization. Accordingly, taking into account the resource constraints organizations face, the priorities presented can be helpful in budgeting human-resource-management (HRM) improvement projects and making an appropriate resource allocation for this.
Nutritional properties of donkey meat products

Nutritional properties of bresaola and salami from donkey meat were evaluated and compared with respective conventional products. In particular, chemical, fatty acids profile and aminoacids content were assessed at the end of ripening time. Donkey bresaola and salami showed higher content of protein and lower content of fat than beef bresaola and pork salami. Significant differences in the unsaturation level of fatty acids were found. Particularly, donkey meat products showed lower saturated fatty acids, higher polyunsatured fatty acids content and better nutritional indices than conventional beef bresaola and pork salami. Furthermore, donkey meat products, especially bresaola, showed the highest content of essential amino acids. These results showed that a clear potential exists to produce meat products using alternative meat to the traditional pork or beef
Legacy Network Integration with SDN-IP Implementation towards a Multi-Domain SoDIP6 Network Environment

The logical separation of the data plane and the control plane of the network device conceptually defined by software-defined networking (SDN) creates many opportunities to create smart networking with better efficiency for network management and operation. SDN implementation over telecommunications (Telcos) and Internet service provider (ISP) networks is a challenging issue due to the lack of a high maturity level of SDN-based standards and several other critical factors that are considered during the real-time migration of existing legacy IPv4 networks. Different migration approaches have been studied; however, none of them seem to be close to realizing implementation. This paper implements the SDN-IP and Open Network Operating System (ONOS) SDN controller to migrate legacy IPv4 networks to multi-domain software-defined IPv6 (SoDIP6) networks and experimentally evaluate the viability of joint network migration in the ISP networks. We present results using extensive simulations for the suitable placement of the master ONOS controller during network migration by considering minimum control path latency using optimal path routing and the breadth first router replacement (BFR) technique. Our empirical analysis and evaluations show that the identification of the median router to attach the master controller and router migration planning using BFR give better results for carrier-grade legacy networks’ migration to SoDIP6 networks.
Multiattribute approximate nearest neighbor search based on navigable small world graph

Approximate nearest neighbor search (ANNS) is widely employed to find the most similar data efficiently from a large‐scale dataset. The key of ANNS is to construct an effective index to prune the search space and retrieve the approximate data rather than the exact one in a very short time. Most of the existing ANNS methods only adopt the distance metric to build an index, which cannot support multiattribute ANNS. In this article, we present a novel approach for multiattribute ANNS based on navigable small world (NSW) graph, called MA‐NSW. Given a dataset, MA‐NSW (i) builds a proximity subgraph overlay for each multiattribute combination, and integrates all overlays to a hierarchical index, (ii) adopts a navigation tree to access related subgraph overlay and prune unrelated overlays, and (iii) gets nearest neighbor results from the related overlays by greedy search. MA‐NSW guarantees efficiency and it is defined in terms of arbitrary metric spaces (eg, Euclidean distance and cosine similarity). Performance evaluation has demonstrated that the proposed approach shows superior performance in multiattribute ANNS.
Polarisation, accountability, and interstate conflict

Voters constrain democratic leaders’ foreign policy decisions. Yet, studies show that elite polarisation restricts the choices available to voters, limiting their ability to punish or reward incumbent governments. Building on a comparative elections and accountability perspective, we hypothesise that the governing context moderates the effectiveness of domestic punishment and reward. The rise of elite polarisation in many democracies undermines voters’ ability to sanction leaders through elections. Linking data on international crises to domestic polarisation, we find that leaders are more likely to be involved in the initiation of inter-state disputes, resulting disputes will be more likely to result in prolonged conflict, and ultimately that foreign policy outcomes exhibit greater variance. Results from our analysis and extensive robustness checks demonstrate evidence that increased dispersion of preferences among key actors can lead to extreme and negative foreign policy outcomes as electoral mechanisms fail to reign in and hold governing parties to account.
Abandonment and Recultivation of Agricultural Lands in Slovakia—Patterns and Determinants from the Past to the Future

Central and Eastern Europe has experienced fundamental land use changes since the collapse of socialism around 1990. We analyzed the patterns and determinants of agricultural land abandonment and recultivation in Slovakia during the transition from a state-controlled economy to an open-market economy (1986 to 2000) and the subsequent accession to the European Union (2000 to 2010). We quantified agricultural land-use change based on available maps derived from 30-m multi-seasonal Landsat imagery and analyzed the socioeconomic and biophysical determinants of the observed agricultural land-use changes using boosted regression trees. We used a scenario-based approach to assess future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation until 2060. The maps of agricultural land use analysis reveal that cropland abandonment was the dominant land use process on 11% of agricultural land from 1986 to 2000, and on 6% of the agricultural land from 2000 to 2010. Recultivation occurred on approximately 2% of agricultural land in both periods. Although most abandoned land was located in the plains, the rate of abandonment was twice as high in the mountainous landscapes. The likelihood of abandonment increased with increased distance from the national capital (Bratislava), decreased with an increase of annual mean temperatures and was higher in proximity to forest edges and on steeper slopes. Recultivation was largely determined by the opposite effects. The scenario for 2060 suggests that future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation may largely be determined by climate and terrain conditions and, to a lesser extent, by proximity to economic centers. Our study underscores the value of synergetic use of satellite data and land-use modeling to provide the input for land planning, and to anticipate the potential effects of changing environmental and policy conditions.
Shape circularity assisted tomography reconstruction

This paper deals with the binary tomography reconstruction problem for very limited projection data availability. The connection between discrete geometrical moments and orthogonal projection data is thoroughly analyzed. The circularity shape descriptor, which can be expressed by geometrical moments, is taken as a new regularization factor in the reconstruction process. A new gradient based reconstruction method is designed to incorporate this regularization. Experimental evaluation shows that the proposed method is very competitive in comparison with other recently suggested methods for limited projection availability: one or two projection directions only. The proposed approach can be a valuable tool in situations of sharply reduced projection availability.
Rede de combate à escravidão contemporânea: De Jure ou De Facto?

e article analyzes the functioning of the network of actors that develop actions within the scope of the Second National Plan for the Eradication of Slave Labor, specifically those initiatives aimed at fomenting agrarian reform as a way of dealing with the problem. e objective was to explore whether the network formally established by the Plan (de jure) effectively acts (de facto) on the policy of combat and prevention of slave labor in Brazil. A qualitative research was carried out, using the focus group technique with relevant actors for the execution of the policy. e results indicate the lack of links among the actors specified in the Plan, revealing a dissociation between the formalization of the policy and its dynamics. It is concluded that the focus of the networks analysis should also consider the daily practices of organizations, in order to evaluate the real results and difficulties of policy making.
Spationtemporal population genomics of marine species : invasion, expansion, and connectivity

Every genome tells a story. This dissertation contains four such stories, focused on shared themes of marine population dynamics and rapid change, with an emphasis on invasive marine species. Biological invasions are often characterized by a range expansion, during which strong genetic drift is hypothesized to result in decreased genetic diversity with increased distance from the center of the historic range, or the point of invasion. In this dissertation, population genetic and genomic tools are used to approach complex and previously intractable fundamental questions pertaining to the non-equilibrium dynamics of species invasions and rapid range expansions in two invasive marine species: the lionfish, Pterois volitans; and the shrimp, Palaemon macrodactylus. Using thousands of loci sequenced with restriction enzyme associated DNA sequencing in these two systems, this research tests theoretical predictions of the genomic signatures of range expansions. Additionally, the first chapter elucidates patterns of population genetic connectivity for deep-sea invertebrates in the New Zealand region demonstrating intimate relationships between genetics, oceanographic currents, and life history traits. Invasive shrimp results extend our understanding of marine population connectivity to suggest that human-mediated dispersal may be as important - if not more important - than oceanographic and life history considerations in determining genetic connectivity during specific phases of marine invasions. In invasive populations of lionfish, measures of genomic diversity, including a difference between observed and expected heterozygosity, were found to correlate with distance from the point of introduction, even in the absence of spatial metapopulation genetic structure. These results indicate a signal of rapid range expansion. The final study in this dissertation uses an innovative temporal approach to explore observed genomic patterns in the lionfish. In all, this dissertation provides a broad perspective through the study of multiple species undergoing superficially parallel processes that, under more intense scrutiny, are found to be mechanistically unique. It is only through comparative approaches that predictable patterns of population dynamics will emerge.
Effect of Processing Atmosphere and Secondary Operations on the Mechanical Properties of Additive Manufactured AISI 316L Stainless Steel by Plasma Metal Deposition

Plasma metal deposition (PMD) is an interesting additive technique whereby diverse materials can be employed to produce end parts with complex geometries. This study investigates not only the effects of the manufacturing conditions on the final properties of 316L stainless steel specimens by PMD, but it also affords an opportunity to study how secondary treatments could modify these properties. The tested processing condition was the atmosphere, either air or argon, with the other parameters having previously been optimized. Furthermore, two standard thermal treatments were conducted with the intention of broadening knowledge regarding how these secondary operations could cause changes in the microstructure and properties of 316L parts. To better appreciate and understand the variation of conditions affecting the behavior properties, a thorough characterization of the specimens was carried out. The results indicate that the presence of vermicular ferrite (δ) varied slightly as a consequence of the processing conditions, since it was less prone to appear in specimens manufactured in argon than in air. In this respect, their mechanical properties suffered variations; the higher the ferrite (δ) content, the higher the mechanical properties measured. The degree of influence of the thermal treatment was similar regardless of the processing conditions, which affected the properties based on the heating temperature.