Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explaining Discrimination against Religious Minorities

Abstract Research has documented that religious minorities often face the brunt of religious discrimination. Yet formal tests, using global collections, have been lacking. Building on the religious economy theory and recent work in law and politics, we propose that minority religions face discrimination from the state because they represent unwanted competition for the state supported religion, are viewed as a threat to the state and larger culture, and lack support from an independent judiciary. Drawing on the recently collected Religion and State-Minorities collection on more than 500 minority religions, we find support for each of the propositions, though the level of support varies based on the targets of state discrimination. In general, the support is strongest when explaining discrimination against minority religion's institutions and clergy, but weakens when explaining more general discrimination against the membership.
A comparison of the contour alignment of nuclear and initial prenuclear accents was carried out for the Irish dialects of Gaoth Dobhair in Ulster (GD-U) and Cois

We are grateful to Francis Nolan and to the Cambridge intonation group for their interest and comments. We are also grateful to our reviewers, Abstract A comparison of the contour alignment of nuclear and initial prenuclear accents was carried out for the Irish dialects of Gaoth Dobhair in Ulster (GD-U) and Cois Fharraige in Connaught (CF-C). This was done across conditions where the number of unstressed syllables following the nuclear and preceding the initial prenuclear accents was varied from 2-0. This tests a variable peak hypothesis prompted by findings for other languages, that peak timing drifts as a function of the number of syllables preceding (the prenuclear) and following (the nuclear) accent. These data also test a second hypothesis that the L*+H dominant accent of GD-U might be viewed as being underlyingly the same as the dominant H* or H*+L accent of the CF-C dialect. According to this realignment hypothesis, the difference between these Ulster and Connaught dialects lies in the way that the melodic tier is aligned to the segmental tier: GD-U would be viewed as having a delayed realisation of the peak relative to the Connaught dialect. Results do not support the variable peak hypothesis for Irish, as in either dialect, the peak appeared to be rather fixed across the three conditions examined (though not necessarily identical for prenuclear and nuclear positions). The results also militate against the realignment hypothesis, which rather than providing a more simple unifying account, would greatly complicate it. One reason is that there is a peak timing difference between the nuclear and prenuclear accents of CF-C, not mirrored in GD-U. Furthermore, even if one were to limit consideration to a single (e.g., prenuclear) context, a simple realignment of the accents in one dialect does not generate the appropriate contour in the other.
The Protective Effect of Glibenclamide in a Model of Hemorrhagic Encephalopathy of Prematurity

We studied a model of hemorrhagic encephalopathy of prematurity (EP) that closely recapitulates findings in humans with hemorrhagic EP. This model involves tandem insults of 20 min intrauterine ischemia (IUI) plus an episode of elevated venous pressure induced by intraperitoneal glycerol on post-natal day (P) 0. We examined Sur1 expression, which is upregulated after focal ischemia but has not been studied after brief global ischemia including IUI. We found that 20 min IUI resulted in robust upregulation of Sur1 in periventricular microvessels and tissues. We studied tandem insult pups from untreated or vehicle-treated dams (TI-CTR), and tandem insult pups from dams administered a low-dose, non-hypoglycemogenic infusion of the Sur1 blocker, glibenclamide, for 1 week after IUI (TI-GLIB). Compared to pups from the TI-CTR group, pups from the TI-GLIB group had significantly fewer and less severe hemorrhages on P1, performed significantly better on the beam walk and accelerating Rotarod on P35 and in tests of thigmotaxis and rapid learning on P35–49, and had significantly greater body and brain weights at P52. We conclude that low-dose glibenclamide administered to the mother at the end of pregnancy protects pups subjected to IUI from post-natal events of elevated venous pressure and its consequences.
A new approach to understanding the frequency response of mineral oil

Dielectric spectroscopy is non-invasive diagnostic method and can give information about dipole relaxation, electrical conduction and structure of molecules. Since the creation of charge carriers in mineral oil is not only from dissociation but also injection from electrodes, the injection current cannot be simply ignored. The polarization caused by the charge injection has been studied in this paper. Based on our research, if the mobility of the injected charge carriers is fast enough so that they can reach the opposite electrode, the current caused by the injection will contribute only to the imaginary part of the complex permittivity and this part of the complex permittivity will decrease with the frequency with a slope of -1 which is in a good agreement with the experimental result. The classic ionic drift and diffusion model and this injection model will be combined to make an improved model. In this paper, the frequency responses of three different kinds of mineral oils have been measured, and this modified model has been used to simulate the experiment result. Since there is only one unknown parameter in this improved model, a better understanding of the frequency response in mineral oil can be achieved.
An emotional analysis method based on heart rate variability

In this paper, we propose a method to evaluate human's emotion and stress based on heart rate variability (HRV). Firstly, experiment scheme has been designed to induce 4 kinds of emotions and the corresponding electrocardiogram (ECG) changes have been measured in a laboratory setting; Secondly, an improved fast denoising method based on wavelet transform threshold denoising was proposed to process the noisy ECG signal, then we realize automatic extraction of HRV sequences; Finally, a wide range of physiological features from various analysis domains, including time, frequency, nonlinear analysis is proposed in order to find the best emotion-relevant features and to correlate them with emotional states, some important conclusions have been obtained.
Evaluation of Optimum Genetic Contribution Theory to Control Inbreeding While Maximizing Genetic Response

Inbreeding is the mating of relatives that produce progeny having more homozygous alleles than non-inbred animals. Inbreeding increases numbers of recessive alleles, which is often associated with decreased performance known as inbreeding depression. The magnitude of inbreeding depression depends on the level of inbreeding in the animal. Level of inbreeding is expressed by the inbreeding coefficient. One breeding goal in livestock is uniform productivity while maintaining acceptable inbreeding levels, especially keeping inbreeding less than 20%. However, in closed herds without the introduction of new genetic sources high levels of inbreeding over time are unavoidable. One method that increases selection response and minimizes inbreeding is selection of individuals by weighting estimated breeding values with average relationships among individuals. Optimum genetic contribution theory (OGC) uses relationships among individuals as weighting factors. The algorithm is as follows: i) Identify the individual having the best EBV; ii) Calculate average relationships ( rj¯) between selected and candidates; iii) Select the individual having the best EBV adjusted for average relationships using the weighting factor k, EBV*=EBVj(1-krj¯). iv) Repeat process until the number of individuals selected equals number required. The objective of this study was to compare simulated results based on OGC selection under different conditions over 30 generations. Individuals (n = 110) were generated for the base population with pseudo random numbers of N~ (0, 3), ten were assumed male, and the remainder female. Each male was mated to ten females, and every female was assumed to have 5 progeny resulting in 500 individuals in the following generation. Results showed the OGC algorithm effectively controlled inbreeding and maintained consistent increases in selection response. Difference in breeding values between selection with OGC algorithm and by EBV only was 8%, however, rate of inbreeding was controlled by 47% after 20 generation. These results indicate that the OGC algorithm can be used effectively in long-term selection programs.
MATHEMATICAL ENGINEERING TECHNICAL REPORTS Characterizations of Finite Frequency Properties Using Quadratic Differential Forms

Many of practical design specifications are provided by finite frequency properties described by inequalities over restricted finite frequency intervals. A quadratic differential form (QDF) is a useful algebraic tool when we consider dissipation theory based on the behavioral approach. In this paper, we investigate time domain characterizations of the finite frequency domain inequalities (FFDIs) using QDFs. Based on QDFs, we derive a characterization of the FFDIs using quadratic differential forms as a main result. This condition leads to a physical interpretation in terms of the compensating rate, which guarantees dissipativity of some behavior with some rate constraints. Such interpretation has not been clarified by the previous studies of finite frequency properties. The aforementioned characterization yields an LMI condition whose solvability is equivalent to the FFDIs. This can be regarded as the finite frequency KYP lemma in the behavioral framework.
European robotics challenges — A retrospective analysis of stage I towards a better challenge design in the future

As a key factor for driving innovation in European robotics and manufacturing, it is the main objective of The European Robotics Challenges (EuRoC) to strengthen collaboration and cross-fertilization between the industrial and the research community. Towards this aim EuRoC launched and is running three industrially relevant challenges in European robotics with applicability to the factory of the future. The EuRoC challenges are organized as three successive stages of increasing complexity. The aim of this paper is to report on and present the results of Stage I, in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the challenges design/processes, report on exploited/missed opportunities, avoided/encountered risks, etc. Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to suggest improvements wrt to the design of challenges in the future.
Human Embryonic Germ Cell Derivatives Facilitate Motor Recovery of Rats with Diffuse Motor Neuron Injury

We have investigated the potential of human pluripotent cells to restore function in rats paralyzed with a virus-induced motor neuronopathy. Cells derived from embryonic germ cells, termed embryoid body-derived (EBD) cells, introduced into the CSF were distributed extensively over the rostrocaudal length of the spinal cord and migrated into the spinal cord parenchyma in paralyzed, but not uninjured, animals. Some of the transplanted human cells expressed the neuroglial progenitor marker nestin, whereas others expressed immunohistochemical markers characteristic of astrocytes or mature neurons. Rare transplanted cells developed immunoreactivity to choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and sent axons into the sciatic nerve as detected by retrograde labeling. Paralyzed animals transplanted with EBD cells partially recovered motor function 12 and 24 weeks after transplantation, whereas control animals remained paralyzed. Semi-quantitative analysis revealed that the efficiency of neuronal differentiation and extension of neurites could not account for the functional recovery. Rather, transplanted EBD cells protected host neurons from death and facilitated reafferentation of motor neuron cell bodies. In vitro, EBD cells secrete transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Neutralizing antibodies to TGF-α and to BDNF abrogated the ability of EBD-conditioned media to sustain motor neuron survival in culture, whereas neutralizing antibodies to BDNF eliminated the axonal outgrowth from spinal organotypics observed with direct coculture of EBD cells. We conclude that cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells have the capacity to restore neurologic function in animals with diffuse motor neuron disease via enhancement of host neuron survival and function.
Enantioselective Phytotoxicity of the Herbicide Imazethapyr on the Response of the Antioxidant System and Starch Metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background The enantiomers of a chiral compound possess different biological activities, and one of the enantiomers usually shows a higher level of toxicity. Therefore, the exploration of the causative mechanism of enantioselective toxicity is regarded as one of primary goals of biological chemistry. Imazethapyr (IM) is an acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting chiral herbicide that has been widely used in recent years with racemate. We investigated the enantioselectivity between R- and S-IM to form reactive oxygen species (ROS) and to regulate antioxidant gene transcription and enzyme activity. Results Dramatic differences between the enantiomers were observed: the enantiomer of R-IM powerfully induced ROS formation, yet drastically reduced antioxidant gene transcription and enzyme activity, which led to an oxidative stress. The mechanism by which IM affects carbohydrate metabolism in chloroplasts has long remained a mystery. Here we report evidence that enantioselectivity also exists in starch metabolism. The enantiomer of R-IM resulted in the accumulation of glucose, maltose and sucrose in the cytoplasm or the chloroplast and disturbed carbohydrates utilization. Conclusion The study suggests that R-IM more strongly retarded plant growth than S-IM not only by acting on ALS, but also by causing an imbalance in the antioxidant system and the disturbance of carbohydrate metabolism with enantioselective manner.
On-Body Interaction for Optimized Accessibility

This thesis addresses the suitability of body interaction techniques, when used by persons with different levels of visual impairment, to improve the accessibility of mobile devices. The research will focus on: understanding how on-body interaction can surpass the current accessibility levels of mobile devices, characterizing the different complexities of skin mapping for different levels of visual impairment, perceiving for what types of input tasks it is best suited, and studying how it can complement other input modalities. Results will include an on-body interaction model, and several prototypes and studies characterizing body interaction.
Estimating gas masses and dust-to-gas ratios from optical spectroscopy

We present a method to estimate the total gas column density, dust-to-gas and dust-to-metal ratios of distant galaxies from rest-frame optical spectra. The technique exploits the sensitivity of certain optical lines to changes in depletion of metals onto dust grains and uses photo-ionization models to constrain these physical ratios along with the metallicity (Z) and dust column density. We compare our gas column density estimates with HI and CO gas mass estimates in nearby galaxies to show that we recover their total gas mass surface density to within a factor of 2 up to a total surface gas mass density of ~75 Mo/pc^2. Our technique is independent of the conversion factor of CO to H2 and we show that a Z-dependent XCO is required to achieve good agreement between our measurements and that provided by CO and HI. However we also show that our method can not be reliably aperture corrected to total gas mass. We calculate dust-to-gas ratios for all star-forming galaxies in the SDSS DR7 and show the resulting dependence on Z agrees well with the trend inferred from modelling of the dust emission of nearby galaxies using FIR data. We also present estimates of the variation of the dust-to-metal ratio with Z and show that this is poorly constrained at Z<~0. 5Z_sun. We end with a study of the inventory of gas in the central regions, defined both in terms of a fixed physical radius and as a fixed fraction of the half-light radius, of ~70,000 star-forming galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We show that their central gas content and gas depletion times are not accurately predicted by a single parameter, but in agreement with recent studies we find that a combination of the M* and some measure of central concentration provides a good predictor of gas content in galaxies. We also identify a population of galaxies with low surface densities of stars and very long gas depletion times.
The importance of distinguishing between black Caribbeans and Africans in understanding sexual risk and care-seeking behaviours for sexually transmitted infections: evidence from a large survey of people attending genitourinary medicine clinics in England.

BACKGROUND In the UK, black Caribbean and African populations experience disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. Often studies do not differentiate between these populations notwithstanding differences in STI epidemiology and sociodemographics. METHODS Patterns of care-seeking behaviour for STIs were explored separately for black Caribbean (n = 345), black African (n = 193) and white people through a cross-sectional survey of 2824 people attending five genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England. RESULTS Black Caribbean men were least likely to use, or try to use, their general practice surgery prior to GUM clinic attendance (16.6%). Symptomatic black Caribbean and African men were least likely to delay seeking care (30.8 and 26.3%, respectively). Symptomatic black Caribbean men faced the least provider delay in accessing care (27.3%). Black Caribbean men and women were most likely, and black African men and women least likely, to be diagnosed with an STI (49.7 and 32.0% versus 26.8 and 16.3%, respectively). Among symptomatic women, black Caribbeans and, among symptomatic men, black Africans were most likely to report abstaining from sex (46.3 and 73.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Our analyses highlight the importance of distinguishing between black ethnic groups and the need for future studies to ensure sufficiently large samples to permit such analyses.
Evaluation of force and torque magnitude discrimination thresholds on the human hand-arm system

This article reports on experiments about haptic perception aimed at measuring the force/torque differential thresholds applied to the hand-arm system. The experimental work analyzes how force is sent back to the user by means of a 6 degrees-of-freedom haptic device. Our findings on force perception indicate that the just-noticeable-difference is generally higher than previously reported in the literature and not constant along the stimulus continuum. We found evidence that the thresholds change also among the different directions. Furthermore, asymmetries in force perceptions, which were not described in previous reports, can be evinced for most of the directions. These findings support our claim that human beings perceive forces differently along different directions, thus suggesting that perception can also be enhanced by suitable signal processing, that is, with a manipulation of the force signal before it reaches the haptic device. We think that the improvement of the user perception can have a great impact in many applications and in particular we are focusing on surgical teleoperation scenarios.
Security and trust for wireless autonomic networks : Systems and control methods

We analyze and solve various problems of security, information assurance and trust in dynamic wireless networks. These include detection and defense against attacks, detection of propagating viruses, evaluation of intrusion systems, attacks at the physical, MAC and routing protocols, trust establishment-dynamics-management. We demonstrate persistently that systems and control models and methodologies provide new and powerful techniques to analyze these problems. We describe the use of distributed change detection methods and algorithms for intrusion detection and the use of non-cooperative games for the detection and defense against attacks at all layers. We demonstrate how Bayesian decision theory call he used to evaluate intrusion detection systems and we resolve some key problems in this area. We use game theoretic methods again to develop robust protocols against attacks, including Byzantine ones. We provide an in-depth investigation of trust establishment and computation in such networks. We describe various methods for distributed trust evaluation and the associated trust (and mistrust) 'spreading' dynamics. We investigate rules and policies that establish 'trust-connected' networks using only local interactions, and find the parameters (e.g. topology type) that speed up or slow down this transition. We describe and explain the phase transition phenomena that we have found in these evolutions. We model the interactions among agents as cooperative games and show that trust can encourage agents to collaborate. This leads us to a fundamental analytical technique, constrained coalitional games, that can be used to evaluate tradeoffs in collaborative networks in various areas: communications, sensors, economics, sociology, biology. We also describe a model for trust evaluation that uses pairwise iterated graph games between the agents to create a 'trust reputation' with evolution coupled to the game dynamics. Finally we present a new modeling framework for trust metric evaluation as linear iterations over ordered semirings. This allows its to formulate problems of resilience of trust metrics and trust evaluation to attacks.
Reduced time microwave filter tuning

A new algorithm for reduced time microwave filter tuning is presented, it being based on mapping the current detuned filter on the golden unit (original) tuned filter. The algorithm minimizes the time acquisition trying not to affect the accuracy of measurement, consequently preserving the main parameters of the filter. The algorithm identifies critical measurement points. The final results are checked from two point of views: the interpolated values are compared with the classical measurement as tuning filter time, and also they are compared with the original filter tuning accuracy, trying to keep the measurement safety and device application security.