Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Simple and Fast Strategy for Handling Rare Words in Neural Machine Translation

Neural Machine Translation (NMT) has currently obtained state-of-the-art in machine translation systems. However, dealing with rare words is still a big challenge in translation systems. The rare words are often translated using a manual dictionary or copied from the source to the target with original words. In this paper, we propose a simple and fast strategy for integrating constraints during the training and decoding process to improve the translation of rare words. The effectiveness of our proposal is demonstrated in both high and low-resource translation tasks, including the language pairs: English → Vietnamese, Chinese → Vietnamese, Khmer → Vietnamese, and Lao → Vietnamese. We show the improvements of up to +1.8 BLEU scores over the baseline systems.
Adversarially Improving NMT Robustness to ASR Errors with Confusion Sets

Neural machine translation (NMT) models are known to be fragile to noisy inputs from automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. Existing methods are usually tailored for robustness against only homophone errors which account for a small portion of realistic ASR errors. In this paper, we propose an adversarial example generation method based on confusion sets that contain words easily confusable with a target word by ASR to conduct adversarial training for NMT models. Specifically, an adversarial example is generated from the perspective of acoustic relations instead of the traditional uniform or unigram sampling from the confusion sets. Experiments on different test sets with hand-crafted and real-world noise demonstrate the effectiveness of our method over previous methods. Moreover, our approach can achieve improvements on the clean test set.
Investigation on properties of ultrafast switching in a bulk gallium arsenide avalanche semiconductor switch

Properties of ultrafast switching in a bulk gallium arsenide (GaAs) avalanche semiconductor switch based on semi-insulating wafer, triggered by an optical pulse, were analyzed using physics-based numerical simulations. It has been demonstrated that when a voltage with amplitude of 5.2 kV is applied, after an exciting optical pulse with energy of 1 μJ arrival, the structure with thickness of 650 μm reaches a high conductivity state within 110 ps. Carriers are created due to photons absorption, and electrons and holes drift to anode and cathode terminals, respectively. Static ionizing domains appear both at anode and cathode terminals, and create impact-generated carriers which contribute to the formation of electron-hole plasma along entire channel. When the electric field in plasma region increases above the critical value (∼4 kV/cm) at which the electrons drift velocity peaks, a domain comes into being. An increase in carrier concentration due to avalanche multiplication in the domains reduces the domain.
Determinants of customer satisfaction in a high-contact service environment: a study of selected hotels in Abakaliki metropolis, Nigeria

ABSTRACT This article explores the factors that lead to customer satisfaction, with a particular interest in the hospitality industry of Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. In a high-contact service industry such as hospitality, service providers and customers usually have an intimate and direct interaction for a considerable time duration and, as such, sales to and retention of customers is based on the richness or otherwise of such interactions. With this in mind, this study specifically seeks to find out if customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry (especially hotels) is determined by staff service quality, room quality, value and security. Hypotheses were formulated vis-à-vis a theoretical background and conceptual models. Survey data generated from 317 consumers of hotel services in Abakaliki were used as the research database. In analysing the data used for the study, the researchers made use of factor analysis and multiple regression analysis techniques. It was discovered that all the determinants of customer satisfaction under study have an effect on customer satisfaction.
Employee psychological well-being, transformational leadership and the future of hospitality jobs

ABSTRACT Employee psychological well-being is a central concern for hospitality establishments as it impacts talent retention. This empirical research explores the relationship between transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being. This relationship is tested through a mediation model where transformational leadership is proposed to explain the effect on the psychological well-being of hospitality employees (hedonic and eudaemonic well-being) through the affective mediators thriving at work and employees’ amplification of pleasant emotions and employee engagement. The cross-sectional data came from 133 5-star hotel employees in the Netherlands. Analysing the responses showed that eudaemonic well-being had to be split into four new variables: growing and giving, liveliness, self-esteem and managing oneself. Furthermore, thriving at work and employee engagement fully mediated between transformational leadership and hedonic well-being, thriving at work fully mediated between transformational leadership and growing and giving, while thriving at work and employees’ amplification of pleasant emotions fully mediated between transformational leadership and self-esteem. A direct relationship was found between transformational leadership and managing oneself. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed in detail.
Predicting hospitality management students’ intention to enter employment in the hospitality industry on graduation: a person–environment fit perspective

ABSTRACT This study investigates factors predicting hospitality management students’ intention to enter employment in the hospitality industry upon graduation. Survey data were collected from 591 hospitality management students in a hotel management school in the Netherlands. Results of multiple regression analyses showed that study progress negatively predicted, while preferences for large organisations, engaging work content and growth opportunities positively predicted students’ intention to enter the hospitality industry. Supplementary analyses further revealed that among higher study year students, growth opportunity was the most crucial predictor for intention to enter the industry. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
A Monte Carlo study of the low resistance state retention of HfOx based resistive switching memory

A Monte Carlo simulator is developed to investigate the low resistance state (LRS) retention of HfOx based resistive switching memory. The simulator tracks the evolution of oxygen ions and oxygen vacancies by choosing the occurrence of the generation/recombination/migration processes based on their corresponding probability at each simulation step. The current through the resulting conductive filament (CF) configuration is then calculated by a trap-assisted-tunneling solver. The simulation results are corroborated with experimental data. The LRS retention is found to be CF size dependent, and its variability is suggested to be intrinsic due to the stochastic nature of the CF dissolution. The tail bits of the failure time distribution become a limiting factor of the device reliability in a large memory array.
Validation of the thermal code of RadTherm-IR, IR-Workbench, and F-TOM

System assessment by image simulation requires synthetic scenarios that can be viewed by the device to be simulated. In addition to physical modeling of the camera, a reliable modeling of scene elements is necessary. Software products for modeling of target data in the IR should be capable of (i) predicting surface temperatures of scene elements over a long period of time and (ii) computing sensor views of the scenario. For such applications, FGAN-FOM acquired the software products RadTherm-IR (ThermoAnalytics Inc., Calumet, USA) and IR-Workbench (OKTAL-SE, Toulouse, France). Inspection of the accuracy of simulation results by validation is necessary before using these products for applications. In the first step of validation, the performance of both "thermal solvers" was determined through comparison of the computed diurnal surface temperatures of a simple object with the corresponding values from measurements. CUBI is a rather simple geometric object with well known material parameters which makes it suitable for testing and validating object models in IR. It was used in this study as a test body. Comparison of calculated and measured surface temperature values will be presented, together with the results from the FGAN-FOM thermal object code F-TOM. In the second validation step, radiances of the simulated sensor views computed by RadTherm-IR and IR-Workbench will be compared with radiances retrieved from the recorded sensor images taken by the sensor that was simulated. Strengths and weaknesses of the models RadTherm-IR, IR-Workbench and F-TOM will be discussed.
Statistical Time to Event Analysis in the Social Sciences: Modeling Hazard Rate and Duration in Finance

Abstract. The relevance of statistical time to event analysis in the social sciences has proved to be of great importance in the last few years, especially in applications related to labor-market analysis, employment and/or unemployment issues, duration of strikes, and survival of new firms, and in financial applications related to the time a company spends in a given status, for example, bankruptcy. We review some of the techniques that have proved to be adequate for analyzing this type of data and the conditions they require for their proper use. In addition, we extend these techniques in order to be able to analyze specific and more complex situations by using a more general and flexible model. All of these techniques and their extensions are illustrated with an example that studies the duration of firms under bankruptcy in the United States.
Ovarian aging: mechanisms and intervention strategies

Abstract Ovarian reserve is essential for fertility and influences healthy aging in women. Advanced maternal age correlates with the progressive loss of both the quantity and quality of oocytes. The molecular mechanisms and various contributing factors underlying ovarian aging have been uncovered. In this review, we highlight some of critical factors that impact oocyte quantity and quality during aging. Germ cell and follicle reserve at birth determines reproductive lifespan and timing the menopause in female mammals. Accelerated diminishing ovarian reserve leads to premature ovarian aging or insufficiency. Poor oocyte quality with increasing age could result from chromosomal cohesion deterioration and misaligned chromosomes, telomere shortening, DNA damage and associated genetic mutations, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and epigenetic alteration. We also discuss the intervention strategies to delay ovarian aging. Both the efficacy of senotherapies by antioxidants against reproductive aging and mitochondrial therapy are discussed. Functional oocytes and ovarioids could be rejuvenated from pluripotent stem cells or somatic cells. We propose directions for future interventions. As couples increasingly begin delaying parenthood in life worldwide, understanding the molecular mechanisms during female reproductive aging and potential intervention strategies could benefit women in making earlier choices about their reproductive health.
Evolution, Expansion and Characterization of Cannabinoid Synthase Gene Family in Cannabis Sativa

We are working toward a complete functional and genomic characterization of the cannabinoid synthase family in Cannabis (itself part of the larger Berberine Bridge Enzyme family). This clade, which is unique to Cannabis, includes four main subclades that appear to have arisen by a series of gene duplications. We have functionally characterized three cannabinoid synthases, in addition to the three already characterized, so that now all four subclades contain at least one characterized enzyme. The previously uncharacterized Clade C enzymes have relatively low activity and produce CBCA as their primary product. In addition, we report genomic characterization to better understand the structure and high level of copy number variation in this family. We report a pattern of shared regions immediately upstream of the cannabinoid synthase genes that suggests a specific sequence of breakpoints, and hence gene duplication events. We present a model of gene family expansion to account for the observed data, along with evidence that this expansion occurred under selective pressure. This work adds to our understanding of both the high level of variability in this family and the origin of THCA in type III plants lacking a functional THCAS gene.
Patterns and determinants of the global herbivorous mycobiome

In spite of their indispensable role in host nutrition, the anaerobic gut fungal (AGF) component of the herbivorous gut microbiome remains poorly characterized. To examine global patterns and determinants of AGF diversity, we generated and analyzed an amplicon dataset from 661 fecal samples from 34 animal species, 9 families, and 6 continents. We identified 56 novel genera, greatly expanding AGF diversity beyond current estimates. Both stochastic (homogenizing dispersal and drift) and deterministic (homogenizing selection) processes played an integral role in shaping AGF communities, with a higher level of stochasticity observed in foregut fermenters. Community structure analysis revealed a distinct pattern of phylosymbiosis, where host-associated (animal species, family, and gut type), rather than ecological (domestication status and biogeography) factors predominantly shaped the community. Hindgut fermenters exhibited stronger and more specific fungal-host associations, compared to broader mostly non-host specific associations in foregut fermenters. Transcriptomics-enabled phylogenomic and molecular clock analyses of 52 strains from 14 genera indicated that most genera with preferences for hindgut hosts evolved earlier (44-58 Mya), while those with preferences for foregut hosts evolved more recently (22-32 Mya). This pattern is in agreement with the sole dependence of herbivores on hindgut fermentation past the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event through the Paleocene and Eocene, and the later rapid evolution of animals employing foregut fermentation strategy during the early Miocene. Only a few AGF genera deviated from this pattern of co-evolutionary phylosymbiosis, by exhibiting preferences suggestive of post-evolutionary environmental filtering. Our results greatly expand the documented scope of AGF diversity and provide an ecologically and evolutionary-grounded model to explain the observed patterns of AGF diversity in extant animal hosts.
Qualitative spatio-temporal representation andreasoning : a computational perspectiveFrank

\Although there has always been a temptation in KR to set the sights either too low (and provide only a data structuring facility with little or no inference) or too high (and provide a full theorem proving facility), this paper argues for the rich world of representation that lies between these two extremes. " Levesque and Brachman (1985)
Impulsive start of a symmetric airfoil at high angle of attack

The fluid dynamic phenomena following the Impulsive start of a NACA 0015 airfoil were studied by using a time accurate solution of the incompressible, laminar Navier-Stokes equations. Angle of attack was set at 10 deg to simulate steady-state poststall conditions at a Reynolds number of 1.2 x 10 4 . The calculation revealed that large initial lift values can be obtained, immediately following the impulsive start, when a trapped vortex develops above the airfoil. Before the buildup of this trapped vortex and immediately after the airfoil was set into motion, the fluid is attached to the airfoil's surface and flows around the trailing edge, demonstrating the delay in the buildup of the classical Kutta condition. The transient of this effect is quite short and is followed by an attached flow event that leads to the trapped vortex that has a longer duration. The just described initial phenomenon eventually transits into a fully developed separated flow pattern identifiable by an alternating, periodic vortex shedding.
Testing AutoTrace: A machine-learning approach to automated tongue contour data extraction

While ultrasound provides a remarkable tool for tracking the tongue's movements during speech, it has yet to emerge as the powerful research tool it could be. A major roadblock is that the means of appropriately labeling images is a laborious, time-intensive undertaking. In earlier work, Fasel and Berry (2010) introduced a "translational" deep belief network (tDBN) approach to automated labeling of ultrasound images of the tongue, and tested it against a single-speaker set of 3209 images. This study tests the same methodology against a much larger data set (about 40,000 images), using data collected for different studies with multiple speakers and multiple languages. Retraining a “generic” network with a small set of the most erroneously labeled images from language-specific development sets resulted in an almost three-fold increase in precision in the three test cases examined.
Phenomenological description of counterflow superfluid turbulence in rotating containers

In this paper a simple equation for the vortex line density describing some of the most relevant observed effects in counterflow superfluid turbulence in ${}^{4}\mathrm{He}$ in the presence of rotation is proposed. This model is based on a generalization of Vinen's equation which incorporates as additional quantity the angular velocity \ensuremath{\Omega}.
Peripheral artery endothelial function responses to altered shear stress patterns in humans

What is the central question of this study? What is the effect of altered shear stress pattern, with or without concurrent neurohumoral and metabolic activation, on the acute endothelial function response assessed via brachial artery flow‐mediated dilatation? What is the main finding and its importance? Despite generating distinctive shear stress patterns (i.e. increases in anterograde only, anterograde only with neurohumoral and metabolic activation, and both anterograde and retrograde), similar acute improvements were observed in the brachial artery flow‐mediated dilatation response in all conditions, indicating that anterograde and/or turbulent shear stress might be the essential element to induce acute increases in endothelial function.
The Impact of Colistin Resistance on the Activation of Innate Immunity by Lipopolysaccharide Modification

Colistin resistance is acquired by different lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modifications. We proposed to evaluate the of effect in vivo colistin resistance acquisition on the innate immune response. ABSTRACT Colistin resistance is acquired by different lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modifications. We proposed to evaluate the of effect in vivo colistin resistance acquisition on the innate immune response. We used a pair of ST11 clone Klebsiella pneumoniae strains: an OXA-48, CTX-M-15 K. pneumoniae strain susceptible to colistin (CS-Kp) isolated from a urinary infection and its colistin-resistant variant (CR-Kp) from the same patient after prolonged treatment with colistin. No mutation of previously described genes for colistin resistance (pmrA, pmrB, mgrB, phoP/Q, arnA, arnC, arnT, ugdH, and crrAB) was found in the CR-Kp genome; however, LPS modifications were characterized by negative-ion matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. The strains were cocultured with human monocytes to determine their survival after phagocytosis and induction to apoptosis. Also, monocytes were stimulated with bacterial LPS to study cytokine and immune checkpoint production. The addition of 4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose (Ara4N) to lipid A of CR-Kp accounted for the colistin resistance. CR-Kp survived significantly longer inside human monocytes after being phagocytosed than did the CS-Kp strain. In addition, LPS from CR-Kp induced both higher apoptosis in monocytes and higher levels of cytokine and immune checkpoint production than LPS from CS-Kp. Our data reveal a variable impact of colistin resistance on the innate immune system, depending on the responsible mechanism. Adding Ara4N to LPS in K. pneumoniae increases bacterial survival after phagocytosis and elicits a higher inflammatory response than its colistin-susceptible counterpart.
Curli amyloid fibers in Escherichia coli biofilms: the influence of water availability on their structure and functional properties

E. coli biofilms consist of bacteria embedded in a self-produced matrix mainly made of protein fibers and polysaccharides. The curli amyloid fibers found in the biofilm matrix are promising versatile building blocks to design sustainable bio-sourced materials. To exploit this potential, it is crucial to understand i) how environmental cues during biofilm growth influence the molecular structure of these amyloid fibers, and ii) how this translates at higher length scales. To explore these questions, we studied the effect of water availability during biofilm growth on the conformation and functions of curli. We used microscopy and spectroscopy to characterize the amyloid fibers purified from biofilms grown on nutritive substrates with different water contents, and micro-indentation to measure the rigidity of the respective biofilms. The purified curli amyloid fibers present differences in the yield, structure and functional properties upon biofilm growth conditions. Fiber packing and β-sheets content correlate with their hydrophobicity and chemical stability, and with the rigidity of the biofilms. Our study highlights how E. coli biofilm growth conditions impact curli structure and functions contributing to macroscopic materials properties. These fundamental findings infer an alternative strategy to tune curli structure, which will ultimately benefit to engineer hierarchical and functional curli-based materials. Graphical Abstract
Biofilm characterization in the maize pathogen, Fusarium verticillioides

Nearly all microbes, including fungal pathogens, form biofilms, which are structured communities of microbial aggregates enclosed in self-produced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and attached to a surface. Studying plant-associated fungal biofilms can enhance understanding of fungal biology and knowledge of the links between fungal diseases and plants. However, only a few plant-associated fungi are reported to form biofilms. This study aimed to examine the ability of a mycotoxigenic fungus of maize, Fusarium verticillioides, to form biofilms under laboratory conditions. During our investigation, F. verticillioides stationary phase cultures incubated in liquid media developed a biofilm-like pellicle with a hyphal assemblage that appears in the form of a cloudy and thin slime material. Under the microscope, the biofilms exhibited a highly heterogeneous architecture made of dense, entangled, and compact hyphae, which were accompanied by a quantifiable EPS and extracellular DNA (eDNA). The biofilm was also found to respond to different abiotic conditions including pH and temperature, suggesting their relevance in a field setting. We further demonstrate the biofilm structural maintenance role of eDNA through treatment with DNase, which was only marginally effective during late biofilm stages, suggesting that it forms complex interactions with the EPS during biofilm maturation. Based on these results, we propose that F. verticillioides forms a ‘true’ biofilm that may act as a potential virulence factor.