Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Machine Translation Quality Estimation Across Domains

Machine Translation (MT) Quality Estimation (QE) aims to automatically measure the quality of MT system output without reference translations. In spite of the progress achieved in recent years, current MT QE systems are not capable of dealing with data coming from different train/test distributions or domains, and scenarios in which training data is scarce. We investigate different multitask learning methods that can cope with such limitations and show that they overcome current state-of-the-art methods in real-world conditions where training and test data come from different domains.
Improved Perception of Communication and Compliance With a Revised, Intensive Care Unit-Specific Bedside Communication Sheet

Although many pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) use beside communication sheets (BCSs) to highlight daily goals, the optimal format is unknown. A site-specific BCS could improve both PICU communication and compliance completing the BCS. Via written survey, PICU staff at an academic children’s hospital provided recommendations for improving and revising an existing BCS. Pre- and post-BCS revision, PICU staff were polled regarding PICU communication and BCS effectiveness, and daily compliance for completing the BCS was monitored. After implementation of the revised BCS, staff reporting “excellent” or “very good” day-to-day communication within the PICU increased from 57% to 77% (P = .02). Compliance for completing the BCS also increased significantly (75% vs 83%, P = .03). Introduction of a focused and concise BCS tailored to a specific PICU leads to improved perceptions of communication by PICU staff and increased compliance completing the daily BCS.
Evaluation of the phytoremediation potential of Arundo donax L. for nickel-contaminated soil

ABSTRACT This study investigates the accumulation and distribution of nickel in Arundo donax L. parts to assess the potential use of this plant in phytoremediation of Ni-contaminated soils. The effect of ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) and nutrient solution containing NPK on the plant was proped. A 35-day pot experiment was performed in the laboratory and the pots were irrigated with Ni-contaminated solution combined or not with EDTA and NPK. The growth of plants was evaluated at the end of the experiment. The accumulation of Ni was analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The obtained results indicate that the plant was able to survive with high Ni content. The growth and the concentrations of Ni in the plant tissues were less affected. In the absence of the amendments, Ni was accumulated in the stems and leaves. However, the addition of NPK significantly reduced Ni concentration in the stems and leaves. The application of EDTA enhanced Ni uptake in roots. The translocation factor (TF) was greater than 1, which categorizes A. donax L. as a great candidate for Ni phytoextraction. A. donax L. is suitable for phytoremediation of Ni. This investigation contributes to the studies on the potential of phytoremediation technologies in Algeria.
The DPP-4 inhibitor linagliptin restores β-cell function and survival in human isolated islets through GLP-1 stabilization.

CONTEXT Inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) is a potent strategy to increase glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon like peptide 1 (GLP-1) induced insulin secretion in diabetes. It is important to know whether new drugs approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes have direct effects on the β-cell. OBJECTIVE Herein we investigated the effect of linagliptin, a novel DPP-4 inhibitor, on β-cell function and survival. DESIGN Human islets were exposed to a diabetic milieu (11.1-33.3 mM glucose, 0.5 mM palmitate, the mixture of 2 ng/mL IL-1β+1000 U/mL interferon-γ, or 50 μM H₂O₂) with or without 500 ng/mL IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) or 30-50 nM linagliptin. RESULTS Linagliptin restored β-cell function and turnover, which was impaired when islets were exposed to elevated glucose, palmitate, cytokines, or H₂O₂. Pretreatment with IL-1Ra was similarly effective, except against H₂O₂ treatment. Nitrotyrosine concentrations in islet lysates, an indicator of oxidative stress, were highly elevated under diabetic conditions but not in islets treated with linagliptin or IL-1Ra. Linagliptin also reduced cytokine secretion and stabilized GLP-1 in islet supernatants. CONCLUSIONS We show that the novel DPP-4 inhibitor linagliptin protected from gluco-, lipo-, and cytokine-toxicity and stabilized active GLP-1 secreted from human islets. This provides a direct GLP-1 mediated protective effect of linagliptin on β-cell function and survival.
Muscarinic activation of ionic currents measured by a new whole-cell recording method

A new method is described as an alternative to whole-cell recording in order to prevent "wash-out" of the muscarinic response to acetylcholine (ACh) in rat lacrimal gland cells. The membrane of a cell-attached patch is permeabilized by nystatin in the patch pipette, thus providing electrical continuity between the pipette and the cytoplasm of the cell without the loss or alteration of cytoplasmic compounds necessary for the maintenance of the response to ACh. With normal whole-cell recording in these cells, the response to ACh, seen as the activation of Ca-activated K and Cl currents, lasts for approximately 5 min. With the nystatin method, the response is not diminished after 1 h. Nystatin, applied extracellularly, is shown to cause a rapid and reversible increase of membrane conductance to cations. In the absence of wash-out, we were able to obtain dose-response curves for the effect of ACh on Ca-activated K currents. An increase of [ACh] caused an increase in the K current, with apparent saturation at concentrations above approximately 1 microM ACh. The delay between ACh application and the activation of K current was inversely related to [ACh] and reached a minimum value of 0.7-1.0 s at high [ACh].
Plasmid Capture by the Bacillus thuringiensis Conjugative Plasmid pXO16

ABSTRACT Conjugation, mobilization, and retromobilization are three related mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. They have been extensively studied in gram-negative species, where retromobilization, the capture of DNA from a recipient by a donor cell, was shown to result from two successive steps: the transfer of the conjugative plasmid from the donor to the recipient followed by the retrotransfer of the mobilizable plasmid to the donor. This successive model was established for gram-negative bacteria but was lacking experimental data from the gram-positive counterparts. In the present work, the mobilization and retromobilization abilities of the conjugative plasmid pXO16 from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis were studied using the mobilizable plasmids pUB110 and pE194 and the “nonmobilizable” element pC194 lacking the mob and oriT features (all from Staphylococcus aureus). Experimental data suggested a successive model, since different retromobilization frequencies were observed between the small plasmids. More importantly, retromobilization was shown to be delayed by 50 and 150 min for pUB110 and pE194, respectively, compared to pXO16 conjugation. Natural liquid foods (cow milk, soy milk, and rice milk) were used to evaluate the putative ecological impact of these transfers. In cow and soy milk, conjugation, mobilization, and retromobilization were shown to occur at frequencies of 8.0 × 10−1, 1.0 × 10−2, and 1.2 × 10−4 transconjugants per recipient, respectively. These data are comparable to those obtained with LB medium and about 10-fold lower than in the case of rice milk. Taken together, these results emphasize the potential role of plasmid capture played by B. thuringiensis in natural environments.
Icon-based visualization using mosaic metaphors

This paper introduces a new approach to extend icon-based visualization methods by using a mosaic-based paradigm. We discuss how image metaphors closely related to the application domain can be applied for icon-based representations. Therefore, we enhance visualizations by well-known image mosaic techniques, such as image layouts, image selection and color adaption. Furthermore, we present the results of our approach by discussing an example of a clustered real-world climate data set.
pStore: A Secure Peer-to-Peer Backup System∗

In an effort to combine research in peer-to-peer systems with techniques for incremental backup systems, we propose pStore: a secure distributed backup system based on an adaptive peer-to-peer network. pStore exploits unused personal hard drive space attached to the Internet to provide the distributed redundancy needed for reliable and effective data backup. Experiments on a 30 node network show that 95% of the files in a 13 MB dataset can be retrieved even when 7 of the nodes have failed. On top of this reliability, pStore includes support for file encryption, versioning, and secure sharing. Its custom versioning system permits arbitrary version retrieval similar to CVS. pStore provides this functionality at less than 10% of the network bandwidth and requires 85% less storage capacity than simpler local tape backup schemes for a representative workload.
Micropulse Cyclophotocoagulation: Initial Results in Refractory Glaucoma

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (MP-TSCPC), a new and increasingly popular treatment, in patients with uncontrolled glaucoma. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for all patients who underwent a MP-TSCPC at the Glaucoma Associates of Texas. Results: A total of 84 eyes were treated with MP-TSCPC in this study with a mean follow-up time of 4.3 months. The mean age of treated patients was 74 years and 48 (57%) were female. Preoperatively, mean intraocular pressure (IOP) was 27.7 mm Hg and mean number of ocular antihypertensive medications used was 3.3. Mean postoperative IOP at months 1, 3, 6, and 12 were lowered to 16.3 mm Hg (41.2% reduction), 14.6, 13.0, and 11.1 mm Hg, respectively. Postoperative ocular antihypertensive medication use was also lowered to 1.9, 2.0, 2.0, and 2.3 medications at months 1, 3, 6, and 12, respectively. Five patients required further laser or surgical intervention for adequate IOP control. Complications included hypotony, IOP spike, hyphema, serous choroidal detachment, persistent inflammation, and vision loss. At 3 months, inflammation was still present in 46% of eyes and vision loss of at least 1 line was present in 41% of eyes. Conclusions: MP-TSCPC is effective at lowering IOP and decreasing the need for ocular antihypertensive medications. Eyes with limited visual potential or at high risk for incisional glaucoma surgery can successfully be treated with MP-TSCPC as a reasonable and effective alternative to traditional CPC. These results present short-term data and both longer follow-up and further studies are necessary.
Advanced Terahertz Detectors and Focal-Plane Arrays Based on Sb-Heterostructure Backward Diodes

by Syed M. Mahmudur Rahman In this dissertation, the design, fabrication and characterization of advanced terahertz (THz) quasi-optical detectors and focal-plane arrays (FPAs) based on monolithically integrated heterostructure backward diodes (HBDs) are presented for THz sensing and imaging applications. In order to develop highly sensitive room temperature THz detectors and FPAs, zero bias Sb-HBDs are attractive to be employed owing to their relatively high curvature coefficient (γ), high sensitivity, low noise equivalent power (NEP), high cut-off frequency, and room temperature operation. To develop high performance detectors and FPAs, HBDs with submicron-scale device areas are preferred for their high detector bandwidth. Since submicron scale HBDs have high device impedances at terahertz frequencies, lens-coupled planar folded dipole antennas (FDAs) which have a wide range impedance tuning capacity at THz frequencies are adopted in the detector design to achieve conjugate impedance matching for maximum detector sensitivities without additional matching networks. For a prototype demonstration, HBDs Syed M. Mahmudur Rahman with 0.16 μm and 0.1 μm active areas have been employed for the detector design at 200 and 585 GHz respectively. Simulation results show that maximum detector sensitivities of 21,000 V/W at 200 GHz and 9,500 V/W at 585 GHz could be achieved. The corresponding minimum NEPs (NEPsmin) of these detectors are estimated to be 0.42 pW/√Hz and 1.3 pW/√Hz respectively. In this work, HBDs are integrated with FDAs using submicron-scale airbridges and anode-to-mesa spacing to minimize parasitic capacitance and frequency dependent spreading resistance respectively. On the basis of modeling results, a novel, scalable, and robust fabrication process has been developed using mix-and-match electron beam and optical lithography. A record high zero bias curvature co-efficient of -58V has been obtained for HBDs developed using this process. The measurements of the lens-coupled HBD detector with a 0.7× 0.7 μm device area show that a peak detector sensitivity of approximately 2400 V/W and a NEPmin of 2.14 pW/√Hz have been obtained at 170 GHz without applying anti-reflection coating on the silicon lens. If an antireflection coating was used, a sensitivity of approximately 3500 V/W and a NEPmin of 1.48 pW/√Hz are projected. The radiation patterns of the quasi-optical detector in both the Eand H-planes have been measured and good agreement has been achieved between simulation and measurement. Finally, for imaging applications, the single element design has been expanded into full 2D THz FPAs and the off-axis radiation patterns, angular resolution, and mutual coupling have been studied. The reported approach using monolithically integrated heterostructure backward tunneling diodes is promising for developing high performance Syed M. Mahmudur Rahman and compact detectors and FPAs for millimeter-wave and THz sensing and imaging applications.
In search of parents’ knowledge for joint venture’s innovation

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of dynamic capabilities from the knowledge-based perspective, including knowledge relatedness and knowledge learning, and to investigate the dynamic capabilities on innovation performance in joint venture. Negative binomial regression is used to test the hypotheses in a panel data of 183 joint venture cases. Significant relationships are found between dynamic capabilities and innovation performance. Moreover, the moderating roles of parent patents granted before, parent knowledge diversity and joint venture knowledge diversity are recognised and are hypothesised as positively moderating the effect of knowledge relatedness on innovation performance, but parent patents granted before and joint venture knowledge diversity are hypothesised as negatively tending to moderate the effect of knowledge learning on innovation performance. The findings support our prediction and policy implications are discussed.
Effect of Locally Applied bFGF on Implant Stability: Biomechanical Evaluation of 2 Different Implant Surfaces in Rabbits

Objectives:The aim of this study was to evaluate the implant stability with the addition of local application of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) during the osseointegration of 2 different dental implant surfaces using rabbit tibia model. Materials and Methods:Fifty-six dental implants, 28 of hydrophilic surface (SLActive) and 28 of hydrophobic surface (OsseoSpeed), were placed in 14 mature New Zealand rabbits. The rabbits each received both SLActive and OsseoSpeed implants per tibia, and bFGF was applied locally on 1 randomly selected tibia. Half of the subjects were killed at the fourth week of healing period, and the other half were killed at the twelfth week. Stabilization was assessed using resonance frequency analysis (RFA) and removal torque value (RTV). Results:The local application of bFGF was found to enhance osseointegration, especially at the fourth week of healing period after application (P = 0.046). RFAs and RTVs were found to be higher in bFGF-treated implant with hydrophilic surfaces when compared with both bFGF-treated hydrophobic implants and nontreated hydrophilic controls. Conclusion:Local application of bFGF seems to increase the stabilization values in implants with hydrophilic surfaces and those with hydrophobic surfaces.
Type-Directed Specialization of Polymorphism

Flexibility of programming and efficiency of program execution are two important features of a programming language. Unfortunately, however, these two features conflict with each other in design and implementation of a modern statically typed programming language. Flexibility is achieved by a high-degree of polymorphism, which is based on generic primitives in an abstract model of computation, while efficiency requires optimal use of low-level primitives specialized to individual data structures. The motivation of this work is to reconcile these two features by developing a mechanism for specializing polymorphic primitives based on static type information. We analyze the existing methods for compiling a record calculus and an unboxed calculus, extract their common structure, and develop a framework for type-directed specialization of polymorphism.
Text Classification Based on a Novel Bayesian Hierarchical Model

In the text literature, many Bayesian generative models were proposed to represent documents and words in order to process text effectively and accurately. As the most popular one of these models, Latent Dirichlet Allocation Model(LDA) did great job in dimensionality reduction for document classification. In this paper, inspiring by latent Dirichlet allocation model, we propose LDCM or latent Dirichlet category model for text classification rather than dimensionality reduction. LDCM estimate parameters of models by variational inference and use variational parameters to estimate maximum a posteriori of terms. As demonstrated by our experimental results, we report satisfactory categorization performances about our method on various real-world text documents.
Inferring the user interests using the search history

Personalization involves the process of gathering user-specific information during interaction with the user, which is then used to deliver appropriate results to the user's needs. This paper presents a statistical method that learns the user interests by collecting evidence from his search history. The method focuses on the use of both user relevance point of view on familiar words in order to infer and express his interests and the use of a correlation metric measure in order to update them.
Coupling of a single photon source based on a colloidal semiconductor nanocrystal into polymer-based photonic structures

Coupling of a single photon source into photonic structures is highly demanded for implementation of numerous applications in quantum information processing and quantum dot (QD)-based solid-state platforms. In this work, we present a simple strategy for coupling a single semiconductor colloidal nanocrystal (NC) into polymer-based photonic structures. By utilizing low one-photon absorption (LOPA) direct laser writing (DLW) technique, we demonstrate the precise patterning of 2D SU-8 microstructures containing an individual core/shell CdSe/CdS NC. Various shapes of desired structures are fabricated with a single embedded NC while keeping its photon antibunching property as a single photon source. These results open a wide range of perspectives in term of quantum information, tunable emission, and efficient light harvesting by using polymer-based photonic crystal.
Vibration control of a flexible rotor suspended by shape memory alloy wires

The present contribution is devoted to the study of the in(cid:29)uence of shape memory alloys on the dynamic behavior of (cid:29)exible rotors. In this sense, a suspension composed by pseudoelastic SMA wires that are connected to a rotor-bearing test rig was designed. To evaluate the performance of the system, both numerical and experimental investigations are carried out. The suspension sti(cid:27)ness can vary, especially in the pseudoelastic region, so that this variation takes place per a hysteretic cycle denoting energy dissipation whenever the loading magnitude is su(cid:30)cient to induce a phase transformation. The constitutive model used to describe the SMA behavior is a modi(cid:28)ed version of the Brinson model for the one-dimensional case. To provide all thermomechanical properties of SMA wire, a complete characterization process was performed. Due to numerical reasons the size of the model of the rotating system was reduced. Finally, numerical and experimental results demonstrate the success of SMA applied to the suspension of rotating machines as an interesting alternative for vibration control.
Ultra-coherent nano-mechanical resonators for quantum optomechanics at room temperature

Mechanical oscillators are among the most important scientific tools in the modern physics. From the pioneering experiments in 18th by founding fathers of modern physics such as Newton, Hooke and Cavendish to the ground braking experiments in the 21th century where the merge of two massive black holes 1.3 billion light-year away detected on earth by a gravitational wave detectors[1], the high Q mechanical oscillators were at the core of many monumental experiments in physics. Their ability to couple to many different physical quantities such as mass [2, 3], charge[4], acceleration[5], electro-magnetic forces[6] and optical fields[7] makes them an ideal candidate for sensing applications. In addition, their intrinsically low dissipation rates (Γm) results in reduced coupling to the thermal bath. Since the invention of micro/nano-technology in the second half of the 20th century and ability to control the dimensions at micro and nano-scales, new horizon was opened up for mirco/nanomechanical oscillators. Miniaturization of the mechanical oscillators made them small and stiff enough to be used in our handheld electronics where dozens of mechanical sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes are used in our laptops and smartphones everyday. Besides these technological advancements, since the beginning of 21th century, a new opportunity for mechanical oscillators emerged: the idea of “putting mechanics into quantum mechanics”[8] and observing the quantum effects of these massive classical oscillators. Aside from the numerous technical challenges for achieving this goal, two fundamental obstacles has to solved: I) Even the smallest nano-mechanical oscillators still consist of billions of atoms and molecules and are orders of magnitude more massive that the traditional “quantum objects” such as atoms and molecules. Larger mass results in smaller zero point motion — the length scale where quantum effects are visible — which means in order to “see” these quantum effects, we have to detect smaller displacement than ever before [9]. II) The second challenge is the low frequency of the mechanical oscillators which makes their thermal Brownian energy, orders of magnitude larger than the quantum ground state of the oscillator — the energy scale where the quantum effects are visible — as n̄th ≈ kB T Ω 1 even for a Ω/2π∼ 1 GHz oscillator at room temperature. Both of these obstacles, can be seen as the competition between few fundamental rates: thermal decoherence and measurement rate/mechanical frequency. Thermal decoherence is the rate at which the mechanical oscillator exchange phonons — quanta of mechanical energy ( Ω)— with its thermal environment and is given by Γdecoherence = n̄thΓm . The first obstacle translates to having the measurement rate being faster than the decoherence rate of the mechanical oscillator, Γmeasurement Γdecoherence [10]. This means in order to see the