Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unsupervised Lexical Simplification for Non-Native Speakers

Lexical Simplification is the task of replacing complex words with simpler alternatives. We propose a novel, unsupervised approach for the task. It relies on two resources: a corpus of subtitles and a new type of word embeddings model that accounts for the ambiguity of words. We compare the performance of our approach and many others over a new evaluation dataset, which accounts for the simplification needs of 400 non-native English speakers. The experiments show that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art work in Lexical Simplification.
Study of the Deleterious Effect of Common-Mode Behavior on CPS Branch-Line Couplers and Wilkinson Dividers

An experimental study into the design and measurement of a balanced Branch-line coupler and Wilkinson divider using coplanar strip (CPS) transmission lines is presented. While these balanced passive components show great potential for differential microwave signal processing applications, it is shown that their undesirable common-mode behavior needs to be addressed for them to be of any use in practice. Some techniques for doing this are proposed based on results from mixed-mode S-parameter investigations.
A Novel Linguistic Group Decision-Making Model Based on Extended Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets

Hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS) is a set with ordered consecutive linguistic terms, and is very useful in addressing the situations where people are hesitant in providing their linguistic assessments. Wang [H. Wang, Extended hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets and their aggregation in group decision making, International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems 8(1) (2015) 14–33. ] removed the consecutive condition to introduce the notion of extended HFLTS (EHFLTS). The generalized form has wider applications in linguistic group decision-making. By introducing distance measures for EHFLTSs, in this paper we develop a novel multi-criteria group decision making model to deal with hesitant fuzzy linguistic information. The model collects group linguistic information by using EHFLTSs and avoids the possible loss of information. Moreover, it can assess the importance weights of criteria according to their subjective and objective information and rank alternatives based on the rationale of TOPSIS. In order to illustrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm, two examples are given and comparisons are made with the other existing methods.
Enumerative nonlinear model predictive control for linear induction motor using load observer

Enumerative nonlinear model predictive control for speed tracking problem of linear induction motors has been presented in [1], where the authors show that this control scheme has better performance as compared to direct torque control. In this paper, the authors show that using a load observer for integral action, the performance can be further improved. Specifically simulation results show that a load observer results in better tracking properties and offers more robust control.
Effects of a chance task outcome on the offers in the ultimatum game: The mediation role of emotions

This study investigated the effect of a chance task outcome on the offers made at the Ultimatum Game (UG). In addition, the putative mediation role of incidental (unrelated to UG) and integral (elicited by UG) emotions and beliefs was examined. The incidental emotions were induced by manipulating the task outcome in a positive or negative direction. As concerns integral emotions and beliefs, we took into account those supposed to underlie the offers amount, such as empathy, sense of fairness, fear of rejection etc. Results showed that a negative outcome led proposers to decrease the offers amount and that this effect was mediated by integral emotions and beliefs. Instead, positive incidental emotions produced suppression effects.
Minimizing Torque and Flux Ripples and Improving Dynamic Response of PMSM Using a Voltage Vector With Optimal Parameters

In this paper, a new predictive direct torque control (DTC) method is proposed, which improves the dynamic response of the conventional DTC in the transient state and yields the minimum torque and flux ripples in the steady state through an optimal voltage vector. At the steady state, the magnitude, phase, and time duration of the voltage vector are adjusted in a manner where the minimum torque and flux ripples are obtained; whereas in the transient state, the voltage vector parameters are adjusted in a manner where the fastest dynamic response is achieved. The space-vector modulation is used in synthesizing the selected voltage vector where a fixed switching frequency is achieved. In order to improve the control system efficiency, the principle of maximum torque per ampere is adopted in obtaining the commanding stator flux magnitude. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the steady-state and transient-state performances are tested in MATLAB software and in practice. The simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed method yields the minimum torque and flux ripples while improving the dynamic response of the conventional DTC. The comparative investigation with an existing predictive DTC method indicates that the proposed method has a better performance in both the steady state and transient state.
The Antithrombotic Effect of Aurin Tricarboxylic Acid in the Guinea Pig Is not Solely due to Its Interaction with the von Willebrand Factor-GPIb Axis

Summary Commercial aurin tricarboxylic acid (ATA) has been reported to interfere specifically with von Willebrand factor-glycoprotein lb (vWF-GPIb) axis. This study was designed to explore the antithrombotic effects of AT A by examining its effects on guinea pig platelet function in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo. In vitro, addition of various concentrations of ATA to platelet-rich guinea pig plasma totally inhibited ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation, as expected. Unexpectedly, however, ATA similarly inhibited the aggregation induced by ADP, PAF, collagen, I-BOP (a thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 analogue) and arachidonic acid. In vivo, the antithrombotic action of ATA was assessed in a model of acute platelet-dependent guinea pig mesenteric artery thrombosis triggered by laser-induced intimal injury. As the thrombotic response of arteries to such injury is a spontaneous cyclic recurrent process, 5 arteries in each animal were consecutively studied for 15 min each after i.v. bolus injection of 5, 7.5 or 10 mg/kg of ATA, which reduced the number of recurrent thrombi per artery in a dose-dependent manner. The highest dose of 10 mg/kg induced maximal inhibition of thrombus formation (72%, p <0.001) 5 min after injection. Ex vivo, platelet aggregation was assessed in blood samples taken before and after i.v. bolus injection of 10 or 15 mg/kg ATA. Ten mg/kg significantly inhibited collagen-induced aggregation, and 15 mg/kg, the aggregation induced by ristocetin, ADP, PAF, collagen, I-BOP and arachidonic acid. The results of the in vivo studies confirmed that ATA is an effective antithrombotic agent. In the in vitro and ex vivo studies, ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation confirmed that ATA interacts with the vWF-GPIb axis, and suggests that the final common pathway of the aggregation induced by other agents tested consists of fibrinogen binding to the platelet GPIIb/IIIa receptor. We conclude that ATA interferes with vWF binding to GPIb, that it may interact with fibrinogen binding to GPIIb/IIIa, and that it might possess potent antithrombotic properties in platelet-mediated thrombosis.
International Business Cycle Coherence and Phases

This paper examines international linkages amongst G7 economies, in terms of co-movements in output growth and fluctuations, in the frequency domain. The paper has identified patterns in international business cycle co-movements among the G7, offering a general outlook of international business cycle co-movements. Moreover, the paper details the lower frequency, higher frequency and middle range characteristics of international co-movements in output growth and fluctuations. The main findings of the study are that co-movements among G7 economies are considerably stronger at lower frequencies, and G7 economies have become more synchronized considerably in episode 2 since the new millennium. The results and findings show support for real business cycle theory being extended to an international arena, with long effect real shocks impacting economies across borders. The three euro economies become more integrated since the new millennium, against a background that all G7 economies have also become more synchronized.
The New Regionalism and Asia: Impact and Options

New regional initiatives abound, both outside Asia and within. Free Trade Areas in the West - notably NAFTA, its possible enlargement into an FTA of the Americas, and the European Union - have implications for Asia. Asian manufacturers will experience trade diversion, especially in textiles and apparel. Balancing such losses is the likelihood of gains from higher import demand caused by stronger economic growth in the Americas and Europe. ; New estimates of the gravity model of bilateral trade confirm the presence of implicit or de facto trade blocs in Asia and the Pacific, as in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. By testing concentric groupings at once, we ascertain that the right place to "draw the line" in describing existing patterns seems to be so as to include all of Asia. (There is also an independent Pacific effect, which can take the form either of an East Asia bloc or an APEC bloc). ASEAN does not function as an independent bloc, and South Asia is actually an anti-bloc: India and Pakistan trade much less with each other than would two otherwise-similarly situated countries. ; The strategic question, from the viewpoint of an individual Asian country, is whether to pursue unilateral, sub-regional, pan-regional, or multilateral routes to enhanced trade. Multilateral liberalization is much more advantageous than regional agreements. To the extent that domestic politics prevents unilateral liberalization and international politics prevents multilateral liberalization, however, regional arrangements may have some advantages. The advantages are particularly clear if the regional initiatives help to build political momentum, both domestically and internationally, for unilateral and multilateral liberalization. ; The last part of the paper reviews many political economy arguments: first those that suggest that regionalism undermines support for more generalized liberalization and then those that say that regional initiatives help build political momentum for global liberalization. We return to the gravity model for a verdict on which category of political economy forces appear to have been dominant among the trade blocs of 1970-1992. The conclusion is that regionalism has in the recent experiences been politically consistent with more general liberalization, particularly in the cases of East Asia and the European Community.
BSE risk assessments in the UK: a risk tradeoff?

Risk assessments for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) should be based on the group risk and not the median individual risk. The group risk is calculated from the arithmetic mean risk, which in the case of dorsal root ganglia, is a factor of 50‐fold higher than the median. For environmental routes, the arithmetic mean exposure is sufficient for risk assessment, while for food‐borne routes failure to accommodate the variation in exposures to individuals across the UK population could overestimate the group risk considerably. Ignoring prion destruction by cooking could overestimate the food‐borne risks still further. The recent estimate for the arithmetic mean cow‐to‐man species barrier of 4000 does not take into accounts either of these factors and thus may be too high. Until evidence for a threshold dose is demonstrated, public health scientists should avoid assessing safety on the basis of a ‘minimum infective dose’. The incubation period observed in cattle‐feeding studies, when completed, would continue to increase with decreasing dose below the ID50 if there is a threshold or co‐operative effect. The question is raised of whether fears over BSE in drinking water contributed to the spread of foot‐and‐mouth disease across the UK in 2001; a risk tradeoff.
Cell Lines for Drug Discovery: Elevating Target-Protein Levels Using Engineered Transcription Factors

Drug discovery requires high-quality, high-throughput bioassays for lead identification and optimization. These assays are usually based on immortalized cell lines, which express the selected drug target either naturally or as a consequence of transfection with the cDNA encoding the target. Natural untransfected cell lines often fail to achieve the levels of expression required to provide assays of sufficient quality with a high enough signal-to-noise ratio. Unfortunately, the use of cDNA is increasingly restricted, as the sequences for more and more genes become subject to patent restrictions. To overcome these limitations, the authors demonstrate that engineered transcription factors with Cys2-His2 zinc finger DNA-binding domains can be used to effectively activate an endogenous gene of interest without the use of isolated cDNA of the target gene. Using this approach, the authors have generated a cell line that provides a high-quality and pharmacologically validated G-protein-coupled receptor bioassay. In principle, this technology is applicable to any gene of pharmaceutical importance in any cell type. (Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2004:44-51)
Using subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) extreme rainfall forecasts for extended-range flood prediction in Australia

Meteorological and hydrological centres around the world are looking at ways to improve their capacity to be able to produce and deliver skilful and reliable forecasts of high-impact extreme rainfall and flooding events on a range of prediction timescales (e.g. sub-daily, daily, multi-week, seasonal). Making improvements to extended-range rainfall and flood forecast models, assessing forecast skill and uncertainty, and exploring how to apply flood forecasts and communicate their benefits to decision-makers are significant challenges facing the forecasting and water resources management communities. This paper presents some of the latest science and initiatives from Australia on the development, application and communication of extreme rainfall and flood forecasts on the extended-range "subseasonal-to-seasonal" (S2S) forecasting timescale, with a focus on risk-based decision-making, increasing flood risk awareness and preparedness, capturing uncertainty, understanding human responses to flood forecasts and warnings, and the growing adoption of "climate services". The paper also demonstrates how forecasts of flood events across a range of prediction timescales could be beneficial to a range of sectors and society, most notably for disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities, emergency management and response, and strengthening community resilience. Extended-range S2S extreme flood forecasts, if presented as easily accessible, timely and relevant information are a valuable resource to help society better prepare for, and subsequently cope with, extreme flood events.
Growth enhancement of black pepper (Piper nigrum) by a newly isolated Bacillus tequilensis NII-0943

A Gram positive, rod-shaped potential strain was selected from the pool of bacterial isolates obtained from the Western Ghats forest (India) on the basis of zone of P-solubilization activity. Identification based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the strain is of Bacillus species, sharing highest sequence similarity to Bacillus tequilensis NRRL B-41771T (99.5%). Strain NII-0943 was able to produce good amount of indole acetic acid (IAA) and was positive for siderophore production. In addition to IAA and siderophore attributes, strain NII-0943 also possessed the characteristics like Ca3(PO4)2 solubilization and growth in nitrogen-free medium. Seed inoculation with the strain NII-0943 resulted in significantly higher root initiation in black pepper cuttings grown under pots. The contents of nitrogen and phosphorus in both soil and plant were also enhanced significantly in treatments inoculated with these bacterial inocula. Hence, based on this evidence it is proposed that strain NII-0943 could be deployed as a plant growth-promoting inoculant to attain the desired results of bacterization.
A low-power adder operating on effective dynamic data ranges

To design a power-efficient digital signal processor, this study develops a fundamental arithmetic unit of a low-power adder that operates on effective dynamic data ranges. Before performing an addition operation, the effective dynamic ranges of two input data are determined. Based on a larger effective dynamic range, only selected functional blocks of the adder are activated to generate the desired result while the input bits of the unused functional blocks remain in their previous states. The added result is then recovered to match the required word length. Using this approach to reduce switching operations of noneffective bits allows input data in 2's complement and sign magnitude representations to have similar switching activities. This investigation thus proposes a 2's complement adder with two master-stage and slave-stage flip-flops, a dynamic-range determination unit and a sign-extension unit, owing to the easy implementation of addition and subtraction in such a system. Furthermore, this adder has a minimum number of transistors addressed by carry-in bits and thus is designed to reduce the power consumption of its unused functional blocks. The dynamic range and sign-extension units are explored in detail to minimize their circuit area and power consumption. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed 32-bit adder can reduce power dissipation of conventional low-power adders for practical multimedia applications. Besides the ripple adder, the proposed approach can be utilized in other adder cells, such as carry lookahead and carry-select adders, to compromise complexity, speed and power consumption for application-specific integrated circuits and digital signal processors.
A multiprocessor architecture for passive analysis of network traffic focusing on complex QoS strategies

Data communication is a widespread service in our society and the need for controlling the information interchange increases. Intending to solve this need, different kinds of data capture systems (sensors or probes) have been implemented. The aim of this paper is to present a new architecture that analyses data providing essential information like complex quality of service statistics, intrusion detection, and accounting. Nowadays, performance requirements limit the functionalities of sensors. Therefore, we have developed a high performance multiprocessor architecture which can process passively and online the captured packets in different ways. This improvement allows us to apply complex QoS algorithms whose implementation is quite difficult if the number of connections to follow is high.
Envois de fonds, in?galit? et pauvret? au Burkina Faso

Based on the household surveys, carried out in1994_95, the present study underlines the impact of remittances on the inequality and poverty in Burkina Faso, a country again largely dependent of the emigration to neighbor countries. Firstly, whereas transfers play an important role to raise the standard of living of households, the redistribution is especially the expression of the mobilisation of a social capital. Remittances - of which about half come from Cote d'Ivoire - represent the three quarters of the whole of the transfers and relate to about a third of the households burkinabe, especially poorest - profiting more from the international transfers - and those of the rural sector managed by a woman. Secondly, the decomposition of the sources of incomes shows that, as a whole, the transfers - considered as exogenous - tend to have an equalizing effect on the household income distribution in Burkina Faso. In this respect, the simulation indicates that the nonremittance incomes raise the inequality of the total income, whereas the remittances have an opposite effect. Moreover, if the variation of wellbeing results, initially, of the changes related to the nonremittance incomes, on the one hand, the increase of remittances has a substantial impact on the wellbeing of the rural households and, on the other hand, in the cities, the incidence of the institutional redistribution on the wellbeing is quasi_identical to the importance of the remittances. Thirdly, by underlining the fruitfulness of an approach viewing the remittances as a potential substitute of home earnings, the econometric analysis shows that the impact of the remittances is to reduce the headcount poverty of the rural households of 7,2 points of percentage, the mobilization of the social capital especially affecting the poverty and the inequality of the most vulnerable - subsistence farmers and inactive people, households managed by a woman. In the towns, the ratio of poverty of the households is reduced of 3,2 points of percentage, consecutively with the remittances, in particular for the socio_economic groups traditionally most exposed - unemployed, self_employed workers. The analysis ofstochastic dominance confirms these results. In fact, the positive impact of remittances on the inequality and poverty in Burkina Faso underlines the extent of the transfers coming from Cote d'Ivoire, and, consequently, the double dependence, in the short run, of the standard of living of the populations of Burkina Faso with regard to the international transmission of the neighbor countries conjuncture, and, later on, of the capacity of accumulation of the physical and human capital with respect to external resources. (Full text in French)
Empowerment, Organizational Commitment, and Voice Behavior in the Hospitality Industry

Employee empowerment is widely viewed as a promising approach to improve operating efficiency and customer service. But the most effective way to empower the staff is not always clear to hospitality managers, both in terms of what to do and what to avoid. Using data from 640 frontline service employees and their supervisors working in sixteen different properties of a multinational hotel chain in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region, this study tested a model of the relationships between empowering leadership, psychological empowerment, organizational commitment, and voice behavior. Results suggest that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and both organizational commitment and voice behavior (defined as identifying problems and suggesting improvements). The study also found a particular pitfall for empowerment in high power distance cultures, in that the effects are much weaker for high power distance cultures. As the value of empowering leadership seems clear, multinational companies may wish to select employees and managers who are comfortable with an empowerment strategy, and make clear to all employees—particularly those on the frontline—that the organization will support them as they take more initiative.