Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incremental adaptation using translation information and post-editing analysis

It is well known that statistical machine translation systems perform best when they are adapted to the task. In this paper we propose new methods to quickly perform incremental adaptation without the need to obtain word-by-word alignments from GIZA or similar tools. The main idea is to use an automatic translation as pivot to infer alignments between the source sentence and the reference translation, or user correction. We compared our approach to the standard method to perform incremental re-training. We achieve similar results in the BLEU score using less computational resources. Fast retraining is particularly interesting when we want to almost instantly integrate user feed-back, for instance in a post-editing context or machine translation assisted CAT tool. We also explore several methods to combine the translation models.
The Transition to Home Ownership and the Black-White Wealth Gap

This paper analyzes differences in the likelihood that black and white families become homeowners. By following a sample of black and white renters over time, we are able to separately study racial differences in the likelihood of applying for a mortgage and in the likelihood that a mortgage application is accepted. Although its effect on the race gap in housing transitions is small, we find strong evidence that black applicants are almost twice as likely as comparable white households to be rejected, even when credit history proxies and measures of household wealth are accounted for. We show that the housing transition gap exists primarily because blacks are less likely to apply for mortgages in the first place. The analysis suggests that differences in income, family structure, and in the ability and willingness of parents to provide down-payment assistance are the primary reasons for this applications gap. We speculate that the portion of the gap that remains unexplained after controlling for income, demographics, and wealth may be the result of blacks anticipating a greater chance of rejection when they apply for mortgages.
Applicability of parallel file systems for technical simulations: a case study

ABSTRACT The lack of balance in processor speed and input/output performance of modern computers presents a challenging problem in high performance computing. Parallel and distributed file systems are one of the solutions to this problem because of their ability to distribute the input/output load over the network and improve the performance of clusters in order to meet the demands of applications for technical calculation and simulations. In this paper we present a work in progress, an evaluation of the Lustre distributed file system with advantages such as striping data across multiple nodes, network file system and local file system. The usage and profiling is geared towards demanding technical calculations and simulations. KEYWORDS Cluster computing, beowulf, Mosix, openmosix, evaluation, performance 1. INTRODUCTION Since the invention of the wheel, humankind has had an unsatisfied hunger to reach new heights in technical achievements. Many problems in technical development can mostly be solved with mathematics. Nevertheless, with limited resources it often takes an indispensable amount of time to solve the mathematical problems. Computers were designed to perform these demanding calculations, but the mathematical problems grew faster then the advancement of processors, hence, another solution was needed. The idea of parallel processing was born in the mid 1970’s when Cray Research Corporation designed the first supercomputer (Spector, 2000). In 1994, the scientists Sterling, Becker, Savarese and Dorband (1995), at NASA’s Centre of Excellence in Space Data and Information Sciences (CESDIS) constructed a cheap parallel computer from common off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware components, Beowulf (Sterling, 1995a)(Sterling, 1995b). During the last decade processor and bus speeds of COTS components have evolved faster then the ability to handle read and write operations to and from hard drives and network interfaces (Boklund, 2005). According to Almasi (1994) there must be balance between processor interconnect and input/output performance to achieve high overall performance. Many industrial applications used for simulations and calculations constantly handle massive sets of data to be read and written. It is not uncommon that even small simulations require tens of gigabytes of data, which do not fit into main memory. Hence, the data will be saved on hard drives and retrieved during execution of the program, thus, achieving lower execution times and higher scalability by increasing the input/output bandwidth instead of the number of CPU (Buyya, 1999). A possible solution might be to utilize a parallel input/output system, such as General Parallel File System (GPFS) (Jones, 2000), Parallel Virtual File System (PVFS) (Carns, 2000) or Lustre (Lustre, 2004). In this paper we present the first results from an ongoing project which aims to evaluate the impact of the Lustre parallel file system has on demanding technical applications. The performance results are compared to those of the traditionally used distributed Network File System (NFS) and the local file system under
A digitalwaveguide model of the electric bass guitar including different playing techniques

In this paper, we present a novel audio synthesis model that allows us to simulate bass guitar tones with 11 different playing techniques to choose from. In contrast, previous approaches focussing on bass guitar synthesis only implemented the two slap techniques. We apply a digital waveguide model extended by different modular parts to imitate the sound production process on this instrument. The results of aMUSHRA listening test reveal that an audio coding scheme based on the presented algorithm offers a high perceived sound quality in comparison to conventional low bit-rate coding schemes while requiring a much lower bit-rate.
Wide battery range supply modulator with reverse current protection in envelope tracking operation

This paper presents a hybrid supply modulator (SM) including Buck-Boost (BB) converter, which has wide battery operating range for cellular envelope tracking (ET) applications. The proposed SM supports both ET and average power tracking (APT) mode depending on the power amplifier (PA) output power level. The output voltage swing is boosted up to 4.5V by an integrated BB converter as supply of linear amplifier. A selective supply voltage of the switching amplifier and a reverse current sensing (RCS) circuit are employed to prevent the reverse current. The proposed automatic current ratio controller (CRC) between the linear amplifier and the switching amplifier provides robust performance against the battery voltage variation. The proposed SM supports LTE20MHz envelope signal with 76% efficiency at 800mW output. Adapting the SM to a PA at FDD Band3 with LTE 10MHz, the implemented ET-PA achieves 41.6% of power added efficiency (PAE) at 27dBm PA output power, while achieving −40dBc of E-UTRA ACLR and −137dBm/Hz of RX band noise. The chip is implemented in 0. 13μm CMOS process, and the die size is 5.0mm2.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most frequent neoplastic disease in children, being a rare disease in adults. Many of the advances in pediatric ALL have been through modifications in the doses and schedules of available agents as opposed to the introduction of new compounds. In recent years some improvements in the outcome of ALL in adults have occurred. Application of pediatric regimens to young and middle-aged adults shows promise to improve outcome. Advances in the supportive care of patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT), the use of alternative sources of hematopoietic stem cells and the use of reduced-intensity conditioning regimens will expand the number of patients who can benefit from this therapeutic modality. The evaluation of minimal residual disease will further stratify risk classification and redefine the role of therapeutic modalities such as SCT or biologic agents. New drugs such as thyrosin kinase inhibitors or monoclonal antibodies have led to incremental improvements in outcome. Advances in the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of the disease provide hope that targeted therapies can more effectively treat the disease with less toxicity.
‘It's not like you are less of a man just because you don't play rugby'—boys' problematisation of gender during secondary school physical education lessons in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Despite clear messages from current physical education (PE) curricula about the importance of adopting socially critical perspectives, dominant discourses of gender relating to physical activity, bodies and health are being reproduced within this school subject. By drawing on interview data from a larger ethnographic account of boys’ PE, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of boys’ experiences of gendered discourses in PE, particularly by acknowledging boys not only as docile or disciplined bodies but also as active subjects in negotiating power relations. In the analysis of the data, particular emphasis is placed on whether the boys recognise the influence of gendered discourses and power relations in PE, how they act upon this knowledge and how they understand themselves as gendered subjects through these particular discourses/power relations. Using Foucault's (1985. The use of pleasure: The history of sexuality, vol. 2. London: Penguin Books) framework related to the ‘modes of subjectivation’, this paper explores boys’ problematisation of dominant discourses of gender and power relations in PE. In summary, these boys perform gendered selves within the context of PE, via negotiation of gendered discourses and power relations that contribute to an alternative discourse of PE which creates spaces and opportunities for the production of more ethical and diverse masculinities.
An Intervention to Reduce Psychosocial and Biological Indicators of Stress in African American Lupus Patients: The Balancing Lupus Experiences with Stress Strategies Study.

OBJECTIVE Very little is known about the impact of psychosocial stress on African American lupus patients. Due to the exposure of African Americans to a unique trajectory of stressors throughout life, it may be critical to understand the relationship between psychosocial stress and underlying biological mechanisms that influence disease activity and pathology in this high risk group. METHODS The Balancing Lupus Experiences with Stress Strategies (BLESS) study piloted the validated "Better Choices, Better Health" Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) in 30 African-American lupus patients participating in the SLE Clinic Database Project at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Measures of psychosocial and biological indicators of stress were collected in all of the patients in each of the study conditions before and after intervention activities, as well as four months post-intervention, to assess the effectiveness of the program in reducing perceived and biological indicators of stress. RESULTS Participation in the workshops had large effects upon depression (d=1.63 and d = 1.68), social/role activities limitations (d =1.15), health distress (d =1.13 and d = 0.78), fatigue (d =1.03), pain (d =0.96), and lupus self-efficacy (d =0.85). Neither the differences in cortisol or DHEA levels pre- and post-intervention were found to be significantly different between intervention participants and controls. CONCLUSION The intervention workshops acted to reduce perceived stress and improve quality of life. Our findings imply that comparable, if not more significant gains in relevant health indicators are possible in African American patients when provided the opportunity to participate in CDSMP's.
Towards a workflow management system for service oriented modules

With the emergence of service-oriented architectures (SOAs), workflow management systems are being used to create applications from service compositions. Because service compositions may extend across platforms, domains, and virtual organisations, classical implementations of workflow management systems must be extended to address interoperability and reliability. In particular, there is a need to define interoperable and scalable communication mechanisms to support workflows over loosely-coupled environments and to provide support for runtime verification to increase user confidence in workflow behavior. This paper presents a road map towards creating a scientific workflow management system that leverages SOA and runtime verification technologies.
Regulation of Human c-Abl Tyrosine Kinase Activity in Xenopus Oocytes and Acceleration of Progesterone-Induced G2/M Transition by Oncogenic Forms

Abstract Deregulated activity of the Abl protein tyrosine kinase is oncogenic in humans and in animals. The normal cellular form of the enzyme is maintained at a low state of activity by mechanisms that have not yet been entirely elucidated. In particular, little is known about the trans-acting cellular factors involved. We have tested the activity of human c-Abl microinjected into oocytes of Xenopus laevis. In contrast to versions of Abl capable of transforming mammalian cells, which were highly active when introduced into oocytes, the activity of wild type c-Abl was inhibited. Oncogenic forms of Abl efficiently enhanced the ability of Xenopus oocytes to enter M phase following stimulation by progesterone. Abl-enhanced maturation was normal as judged by accumulation of Mos as well as activation of MAP kinase and Cdc2/CyclinB (MPF). Concomitant with maturation and activation of these kinases, Abl became extensively phosphorylated. Altogether, this suggests that an SH3 domain-dependent Abl regulation mechanism similar to the one observed in mammalian cells operates in Xenopus oocytes. Maturation enhancement by microinjection into Xenopus oocytes represents a useful novel assay for analyzing Abl activity. Moreover, the Xenopus oocyte may be a convenient source of trans-acting Abl regulators for biochemical studies.
Research on Tabu Search applied in off-line MPLS layout design problem

There are two kinds of layout designs in Multi-Protocol Label Switch network:on-line and off-line. To perform traffic engineering based on a given topological structure and Qos requirement of the network, the layout design must be carried out to serach an optimal link set and to make the flow distribution. One advantage of off-line MPLS layout design is to allow a globally optimal network design. To obtain the optimal MPLS layout, namely, to minimize the link set of LSP and to allocate flow hereinafter is designated as MPSFAP (Minimum Path Set and Flow Allocation Problem). It is diffcult to get an exact solution to MPSFAP because it is a mixed-integer nonlinear multi-depot problem. Here, we propose a heuristic algorithm based on tabu search to solve the problem. The simulation result shows that the approximate solutions of our algorithm are close to the exact ones.
Stabilin-1 and Stabilin-2 are specific receptors for the cellular internalization of phosphorothioate-modified antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) in the liver

Phosphorothioate (PS)-modified antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have been extensively investigated over the past three decades as pharmacological and therapeutic agents. One second generation ASO, Kynamro™, was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and over 35 second generation PS ASOs are at various stages of clinical development. In this report, we show that the Stabilin class of scavenger receptors, which were not previously thought to bind DNA, do bind and internalize PS ASOs. With the use of primary cells from mouse and rat livers and recombinant cell lines each expressing Stabilin-1 and each isoform of Stabilin-2 (315-HARE and 190-HARE), we have determined that PS ASOs bind with high affinity and these receptors are responsible for bulk, clathrin-mediated endocytosis within the cell. Binding is primarily dependent on salt-bridge formation and correct folding of the intact protein receptor. Increased internalization rates also enhanced ASO potency for reducing expression of the non-coding RNA Malat-1, in Stabilin-expressing cell lines. A more thorough understanding of mechanisms by which ASOs are internalized in cells and their intracellular trafficking pathways will aid in the design of next generation antisense agents with improved therapeutic properties.
Analysis of Preflow Push Algorithms for Maximum Network Flow

We study the class of preflow push algorithms recently introduced by Goldberg and Tarjan for solving the maximum network flow problem on a weighted digraph G(V,E). We improve Goldberg and Tarjanis O(n3) time bound for the maximum distance preflow push algorithm to O(n2√m) and show that this bound is tight by constructing a parametrized worst case network. We then develop the maximal excess preflow push algorithm and show that it achieves a bound of O(n2√m) pushes. Based on this we develop a maximum network flow algorithm for the synchronous distributed model of computation that uses at most O(n2√m) messages and O(n2) time, thereby improving upon the best previously known algorithms for this model.
Competitive remembering: Neural systems for overcoming interference in episodic memory

One of the most fundamental challenges to understanding episodic memories is to understand how we form, store, and retrieve memories of countless, interrelated memories. From an organizational perspective, this is a daunting task. It has been argued that forgetting may be a natural consequence of our normal mnemonic activities, or even an adaptive mechanism that allows memory systems to function efficiently. The present work is focused on three main themes related to the balance between remembering and forgetting of episodic memories. First, the consequences of repeated retrieval are considered, with a focus on the changes that take place both at the level of individual memories and at the level of the neural systems that guide competitive retrieval. Data is presented that argues for a direct relationship between demands placed on mechanisms in prefrontal cortex and forgetting of memories that prove to be irrelevant. These findings are considered in terms of an adaptive memory system, wherein interference between memories is detected and resolved by mechanisms in prefrontal cortex, with the gradual weakening of interfering memories lessening the demands on these prefrontal mechanisms. The second theme considered in this dissertation relates to the mechanisms that allow for previously irrelevant memories to be selectively retrieved in the face of interference from more dominant, but irrelevant memories. Such acts of retrieval are often required when retrieval goals change, with the ability to flexibly guide retrieval of obvious importance. Evidence is presented indicating that the same prefrontal mechanisms that benefit from the weakening of interfering memories are selectively recruited when these weakened memories must be retrieved. These data are considered with respect to other prefrontal mechanisms that support retrieval amidst competition. iii Finally, the third theme of this dissertation relates to the mechanisms that operate during encoding to help protect memories from interference-related forgetting. It is argued that while various neocortical and medial temporal lobe structures support successful encoding of episodic memories when no interference is present, engagement of these structures does not guard against interference-related forgetting. Rather, evidence is described highlighting the role of the hippocampus and surrounding cortex in supporting a mechanism that allows new learning to occur without profound forgetting of previously formed memories. Together, these studies highlight the cognitive and neural mechanisms that allow episodic memory to function in an adaptive manner, elucidating the factors that regulate the delicate balance between remembering and forgetting.
Selective and site-specific mobilization of dermal dendritic cells and Langerhans cells by Th1- and Th2-polarizing adjuvants

Dendritic cells (DCs) initiate and polarize adaptive immune responses toward varying functional outcomes. By means of intravital two-photon microscopy, we report that dermal dendritic cells (DDCs) and Langerhans cells (LCs) are differentially mobilized during contact sensitization and by adjuvants such as unmethylated CpG oligonucleotide (CpG) and LPS that induce T helper type 1 (Th1) responses, or papain that induces T helper type 2 (Th2) responses. In ear pinna, contact sensitization, CpG, LPS, and papain all mobilized DDCs in three distinct phases: increased motility and dendritic probing, directed migration, and entry into lymphatic vessels. During the same treatments, the adjacent LCs in ear pinna remained immotile over a 48-hr period of observation. In contrast, footpads lacked DDCs and Th1-polarizing adjuvants selectively induced a delayed mobilization of LCs after 48 hr. Th1 polarization of CD4+ T cells was independent of the immunization site, whereas ear immunization favored Th2 polarization, correlating with site-specific DC distribution and dynamics. Our results provide an initial description of peripheral DC dynamics in response to adjuvants and imply that LC mobilization enhances a Th1 response and is not sufficient to trigger a Th2 response, whereas mobilization of DDCs alone is sufficient to trigger T-cell proliferation and to polarize initial T-cell activation toward a Th2 response.
State-of-Charge Estimation for Lithium-Ion Batteries Using a Kalman Filter Based on Local Linearization

State of charge (SOC) estimation is of great significance for the safe operation of lithium-ion battery (LIB) packs. Improving the accuracy of SOC estimation results and reducing the algorithm complexity are important for the state estimation. In this paper, a zeroaxial straight line, whose slope changes along with SOC, is used to map the predictive SOC to the predictive open circuit voltage (OCV), and thus only one parameter is used to linearize the SOC-OCV curve near the present working point. An equivalent circuit model is used to simulate the dynamic behavior of a LIB, updating the linearization parameter in the measurement equation according to the present value of the state variables, and then a standard Kalman filter is used to estimate the SOC based on the local linearization. This estimation method makes the output equation of the nonlinear battery model contain only one parameter related to its dynamic variables. This is beneficial to simplify the algorithm structure and to reduce the computation cost. The linearization method do not essentially lose the main information of the dynamic model, and its effectiveness is verified experimentally. Fully and a partially charged battery experiments indicate that the estimation error of SOC is better than 0.5%.
Therapeutic robocat for nursing home residents with dementia: Preliminary inquiry

Traditional pet therapy enhances individual wellbeing. However, there are situations where a substitute artificial companion (i.e., robotic pet) may serve as a better alternative because of insufficient available resources to care for a real pet, allergic responses to pets, or other difficulties. This pilot study, which compared the benefits of a robotic cat and a plush toy cat as interventions for elderly persons with dementia, was conducted at a special care unit of a large, not-for-profit nursing home. Various aspects of a person's engagement and affect were assessed through direct observations. Though not identical, similar trends were seen for the two cats. Interacting with the cats was linked with decreased agitation and increased pleasure and interest. The study is intended to pave the way for future research on robotherapy with nursing home residents.