Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFL Learners’ Performances on Associating English proverbs with Equivalent Turkish Proverbs: A Cross-Cultural Study

As verbal folklore genres, proverbs are an essential part of cultural, social, and linguistic patterns in a given language, yet with universal tendencies present in all languages. As cultural mirrors of a given culture, proverbs may pose a resemblance in meaning and structure across cultures. There are growing appeals for translation studies that revolve around contrasting and investigating equivalent proverbs in the source language and the target language. This is the focus of the current study that aims to examine the performance of Turkish learners of English in translating selected English proverbs in terms of their interlingual equivalents in Turkish based on the theory of re-conceptualization on a comparative basis. Through the study, as an initial step 15 English proverbs were selected and examined under the scope of their re-conceptualization degrees to indicate their level of equivalency in three distinct levels as highly equivalent, roughly equivalent, and non-equivalent proverbs. As a second step, 80 learners of EFL at A2 levels participated in translating 3 groups of proverbs, and later their performance in translating these proverbs was examined and analyzed. The study is a quantitative study and the data was collected through papers uploaded by the learners on an online education program that enables remote learning called AYDEP (Ahi Qualification-Based Education Program), administered by Kırşehir Ahi Evran University. The results indicated that learners performed better in translating maximally equivalent interlingual English proverbs than roughly equivalent proverbs, and they translated and interpreted non-equivalent proverbs differently. Given these points, intertwining an intercultural affinity between the source language and the target language, interlingual equivalent proverbs prove to have facilitating roles in associating English proverbs with Turkish equivalents.
Research on a fast method of building procedural modeling

Regarding the current existing modeling methods, procedural modeling is a fast and convenient method. The more perfect shape in use now is the CGA shape, which is a new shape syntax for procedural modeling of CG architecture. It can clearly show the outline and appearance of the building, but the process is too cumbersome and the algorithm is difficult. Based on this problem, this paper proposes a method of programmatic generation of building models based on triangulation algorithm and UV texture mapping. This article mainly constructs a procedural modeling method for a single building.
A Laser Surface Textured Hydrostatic Mechanical Seal

A mechanical seal subjected to laser surface texturing over an annular portion of one of its mating rings is theoretically and experimentally investigated. The partial surface texturing provides a mechanism for hydrostatic pressure build up in the sealing dam similar to that of a radial step or face coning. Optimization of the surface texturing parameters to obtain maximum hydrostatic pressure effect is performed on a theoretical model. A test rig that allows friction torque and temperature measurements in a back-to-back double seal arrangement is used to validate the surface texturing effect. It is found that optimally textured seals generate substantially less friction and heat. Moreover, a simple unbalanced seal, limited in its pressure capacity, can be easily transformed by surface texturing to an equivalent balanced seal with much higher pressure capability. Presented at the 57th Annual Meeting Houston, Texas May 19–23, 2002
Power-Efficient Implementation of Ternary Neural Networks in Edge Devices

There is a growing interest in pushing computation to the edge, especially the problem-solving abilities of artificial neural networks (ANNs). This article presents a simplified method to obtain a ternary neural network based on the multilayer perceptron. The method is focused on resource-constrained devices, where memory, computing power, and battery are some of the most relevant constraints. A dynamic threshold is estimated to perform ternarization, and a new pruning technique is proposed to obtain a drastic reduction in the ANN’s size, with the corresponding decrease in resource utilization and power consumption of the resulting hardware. In addition, a support framework has been developed to automate hardware design exploration and generation from the network trained in software. Experimental results show that the proposed method and architecture, when implemented in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), provide excellent figures in power (0.11–0.13 W) and efficiency (1225–1448 kfps/W) with respect to state of the art, being its efficiency double than the maximum one reported previously.
Effects of a Polyherbal Dietary Additive on Performance, Dietary Energetics, Carcass Traits, and Blood Metabolites of Finishing Lambs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of a polyherbal additive (PA) containing hydrolyzable tannins, flavonoids, and essential oils on productive performance, dietary energetics, carcass and meat characteristics, and blood metabolites of lambs in their finishing phase. Twenty-eight Pelibuey × Katahdin lambs (20.52 ± 0.88 kg body weight (BW)) were housed in individual pens and assigned to four treatments (n = 7) with different doses of PA: 0 (CON), 1 (PA1), 2 (PA2), and 3 (PA3) g of PA kg−1 of DM for 56 days. Compared to the CON, lambs in PA1 treatment had higher average daily gain (p = 0.03), higher dietary energy utilization (p = 0.01), greater backfat thickness (p = 0.02), greater Longissimus dorsi muscle area (p = 0.01), and better feed conversion ratio (p = 0.02). PA supplementation did not affect (p > 0.05) dry matter intake, carcass yield, biometric measures, and meat chemical composition. All hematological and most of the blood biochemical parameters were similar in lambs of all treatments (p > 0.05). However, compared to the CON, lambs assigned to the PA3 treatment had lower serum urea concentration (p = 0.05) and higher serum albumin concentration (p = 0.03). In conclusion, low doses of PA could be used as a growth promoter in finishing lambs without affecting dry matter intake, carcass yield, meat chemical composition, and health status of the lambs. However, more in vivo research is needed to better understand the impact of bioactive compounds from PA used on productivity, metabolism, and health status of finishing lambs.
Nonlinear Equilibrium Point Control for One-Machine Model Power System

For the stability of power systems, nonlinear control is thought to be desirable since generator has a strong nonlinearity. On the other hand, the authors have proposed an equilibrium point control for multi-machine power systems. This letter shows that in the case of nonlinear supplementary control input for AVR, the calculation of equilibrium points is simple, and the input gives fairly good control responses and a long critical clearing time through the numerical simulation of a one-machine model power system.
Wartime threats and displacement decisions: civilian self-protection strategies in the Battle for Abidjan

This thesis fits into the wider topic of how war impacts civilians, focusing on the littleunderstood mediating factor of how civilians protect themselves from wartime threat. The research context is a short battle in PK18, a remote northern suburb of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. The Invisible Commando rebel group was fighting to oust President Gbagbo following his refusal to accept electoral defeat in late 2010. Many civilians fled in late February 2011 due to four days of intense fighting between Gbagbo loyalists and the Invisible Commandos. A survey of 715 households was conducted in late 2012, as well as key informant interviews, and semi-structured interviews with households and excombatants. This very localised mixed-methods approach to a short period of wartime violence provides the opportunity to study the interaction of armed group decisions and civilian decisions, centred around the concepts of threat and protection. On the basis of this data, four empirical chapters analyse different aspects of threat and protection. The third chapter studies armed groups actions that result in the production and reduction of threat. The fourth looks primarily at civilian protective responses to threat in PK18, and also at how the protective motivation affected the Invisible Commandos through mobilisation and demobilisation. Using quantitative data at the intra-household level, the fifth chapter describes in detail one particular protection strategy - that of displacement. The sixth chapter then investigates why households choose particular displacement strategies, analysing the importance of three causal channels from violence to displacement - direct threat, indirect threat and impact. The thesis concludes that displacement, like other civilian protection strategies, results from complex decisions in managing competing threats and scarce protection resources.
Application of C-LSTM Networks to Automatic Labeling of Vehicle Dynamic Response Data for Bridges

Maintaining bridges that support road infrastructure is critical to the economy and human life. Structural health monitoring of bridges using vibration includes direct monitoring and drive-by monitoring. Drive-by monitoring uses a vehicle equipped with accelerometers to drive over bridges and estimates the bridge’s health from the vehicle vibration obtained. In this study, we attempt to identify the driving segments on bridges in the vehicle vibration data for the practical application of drive-by monitoring. We developed an in-vehicle sensor system that can measure three-dimensional behavior, and we propose a new problem of identifying the driving segment of vehicle vibration on a bridge from data measured in a field experiment. The “on a bridge” label was assigned based on the peaks in the vehicle vibration when running at joints. A supervised binary classification model using C-LSTM (Convolution—Long-Term Short Memory) networks was constructed and applied to data measured, and the model was successfully constructed with high accuracy. The challenge is to build a model that can be applied to bridges where joints do not exist. Therefore, future work is needed to propose a running label on bridges based on bridge vibration and extend the model to a multi-class model.
Boosting working memory: uncovering the differential effects of tDCS and tACS

Abstract Working memory (WM) is essential for reasoning, decision-making, and problem solving. Recently, there has been an increasing effort in improving WM through noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS), especially transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation (tDCS/tACS). Studies suggest that tDCS and tACS can modulate WM performance, but large variability in research approaches hinders the identification of optimal stimulation protocols and interpretation of study results. Moreover, it is unclear whether tDCS and tACS differentially affect WM. Here, we summarize and compare studies examining the effects of tDCS and tACS on WM performance in healthy adults. Following PRISMA-selection criteria, our systematic review resulted in 43 studies (29 tDCS, 11 tACS, 3 both) with a total of 1826 adult participants. For tDCS, only 4 out of 23 single-session studies reported effects on WM, while 7 out of 9 multi-session experiments showed positive effects on WM training. For tACS, 10 out of 14 studies demonstrated effects on WM, which were frequency dependent and robust for frontoparietal stimulation. Our review revealed no reliable effect of single-session tDCS on WM but moderate effects of multi-session tDCS and single-session tACS. We discuss the implications of these findings and future directions in the emerging research field of NIBS and WM.
Hybrid Method for Endpoint Prediction in a Basic Oxygen Furnace

Strict monitoring and prediction of endpoints in a Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) are essential for end-product quality and overall process efficiency. Existing control models are mostly developed based on thermodynamic principles or by deploying advanced sensors. This article aims to propose a novel hybrid algorithm for endpoint temperature, carbon, and phosphorus, based on heat and mass balance and a data-driven technique. Three types of static models were established in this study: firstly, theoretical models, based on user-specified inputs, were formulated based on mass and energy balance; secondly, artificial neural networks (ANN) were developed for endpoints predictions; finally, the proposed hybrid model was established, based upon exchanging outputs among theoretical models and ANNs. Data of steelmaking production details collected from 28,000 heats from Tata Steel India were used for this article. Machine learning model validation was carried out with five-fold cross-validation to ensure generalizations in model predictions. ANNs are found to achieve better predictive accuracies than theoretical models in all three endpoints. However, they cannot be directly applied in any steelmaking plants, due to possible variations in the production setting. After applying the hybrid algorithm, normalized root mean squared errors are reduced for endpoint carbon and phosphorus by 3.7% and 9.77%.
Fragility analysis for ballistic design

Abstract Effective structural design to resist ballistic effects such as small arms or fragmenting weapons has been a goal since weapons were developed. Approaches currently in use for ballistic design are predominantly deterministic and allow designers to decide what wall thickness should be used to stop a prescribed projectile impacting at a predefined velocity. The research presented in this paper provides a framework for conducting reliability analysis of structures subjected to bullet and fragment demands. Thus, pseudo-fragility curves are developed for the limit states related to spall and perforation of wall panels, residual velocities of bullets and fragments, and injury to personnel. The pseudo-fragility analysis provides engineers and owners with a tool to quickly assess the reliability of a wall system subjected to high velocity, low mass projectiles. In particular, the proposed analysis method allows designers and owners to determine the probability of spall and perforation, residual velocity, and injury as a function of wall thickness or threat standoff distance. Abbreviations: Cumulative distribution function (CDF): Gives the probability that a stochastic variable ‘X’, with a proper probability density function, is equal to or less than a value (x). Coefficient of variation (COV): The quotient of the standard deviation and the mean
DSIM: Distributed Sequence Matching on Near-DRAM Accelerator for Genome Assembly

Matching nucleic acid sequences has long become the performance bottleneck in genome assembly which aims to connect enormous partial genome reads without prior knowledge of the reference sequence. The intensive and random data accesses of querying sequences using the widely adopted FM-Index data structure have caused in-efficient usage and long runtime of the memory system. Existing software FM-Index tools are limited on algorithmic inefficiency and poor processing parallelism. Solutions on GPU, FPGA and ASIC focus mainly on computational acceleration while still bottlenecked at the memory-bound nature of querying FM-Index. This paper proposes DSIM, a scalable FM-Index querying on near-DRAM accelerators. DSIM supports highly parallel multi-step query processing by distributing partial FM-Index table to different DRAM chips. Each genome sequence is partitioned into shorter queries and dispatched to the corresponding DRAM chip for string lookup. The optimized data layout and execution control on DRAM enables high row-data reuse and minimizes CPU-DRAM data transfers. The light-weight mapping scheme on the host CPU facilitates effective query distribution to DRAM chips and further supports scalability to multiple DIMMs (Dual-Inline Memory Modules). An in-DRAM arbiter is implemented to control the intra-chip data processing without affecting the external memory controller and DDR protocol. Experiments on 128-chip DRAM system showed that DSIM achieves up to 231 $\times$ and 8.9 $\times$ overall speedup compared to the software FM-Index tool and the state-of-the-art near-DRAM solution respectively.
A 0.8 ps DNL Time-to-Digital Converter With 250 MHz Event Rate in 65 nm CMOS for Time-Mode-Based  $\Sigma \Delta$ Modulator

A time-to-digital converter (TDC) is proposed to replace the multi-bit quantizer and the multi-bit feedback DAC of traditional voltage-mode ΣΔ modulator. Since time-mode systems process analog signals encoded in the time dimension rather than the voltage dimension, the proposed time-mode TDC makes the multi-bit ΣΔ ADC digital friendly and more suitable for nanometric technologies. A pulse-width-modulator (PWM) converts the sampled-and-held voltage-sample to a digital pulse whose width is proportional to the voltage level of the sample. Then, the TDC generates a digital code that corresponds to the pulse width. Simultaneously, the TDC provides a time-quantized feedback pulse for the ΣΔ modulator, emulating the voltage-DAC in a conventional ΣΔ ADC. Linearity, jitter and data-dependent-delay effects on the performance of the proposed architecture are analyzed. A chip prototype is fabricated in TI 65 nm digital CMOS process. THD of 67 dB is achieved which corresponds to a TDC's DNL of less than 0.8 ps without calibration. Measurements show that the ΣΔ-modulator achieves a dynamic range of 68 dB and the TDC consumes 5.66 mW at 250 MHz event rate while occupying 0.006 mm2.
Vibration suppression of an elastic plate by use of an electrorheological patch and constraining layer

Electrorheological materials are a class of smart materials which exhibit dramatic changes in mechanical properties (like shear modulus) due to strong applied external electric fields. In this paper forced harmonic vibration of a simply supported rectangular elastic plate with a rectangular ER patch with arbitrary size and location on the plate and a constraining layer on the patch is investigated. A dynamic model for the electric field-dependent frequency response of a rectangular plate and the ER patch and its constraining layer is developed. Hamilton’s principle and the classical thin plate theory are applied to derive a set of fully coupled dynamic equations of motion along with the associated general boundary conditions. The frequency response functions and the modal loss factors are subsequently determined. The effects of electric field intensity, patch size and patch location on the frequency response functions and modal loss factors are investigated in numerical results. This work represents a rigorous analytical solution for the problem of the ER patch which seems to be absent in the previous works.
Protecting User Preference in Ranked Queries

—Protecting data privacy is of extremely importance for users who outsource their data to a third-party in cloud computing. Although there exist plenty of research work on data privacy protection, the problem of protecting user’s preference information has received less attention. In this paper, we consider the problem of how to prevent user preference information leakage from the third-party when processing ranked queries. We propose two algorithms to solve the problem, where the first one is based on distortion of preference vector and the second one is based on homomorphic encryption. We conduct extensive experiments to verify effectiveness of our approaches.
Identification of MBOAT2 as an Unfavorable Biomarker Correlated with KRAS Activation and Reduced CD8+ T-Cell Infiltration in Pancreatic Cancer

Objectives Limited research on the role of membrane-bound O-acyltransferase domain–containing 2 (MBOAT2) in cancer biology exists. In particular, the underlying role of MBOAT2 and its potential mechanisms in pancreatic cancer have not yet been explored. Further study of MBOAT2 could provide new ideas about the carcinogenesis and treatment of pancreatic cancer (PC). Methods In the current study, the potential biological and clinical significances of MBOAT2 were explored by bioinformatics analysis. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were performed to determine the level of MBOAT2 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines. MTT, colony formation, and Transwell assays and flow cytometry of cell cycle were performed to analyze PDAC cell proliferation, migration, and cycle progression. The potential relationship between MBOAT2 level and tumor immunity was analyzed using the ESTIMATE algorithm, CIBERSORT algorithm, and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. Results The level of MBOAT2 was remarkably upregulated in most tumors, especially pancreatic tumors, and was positively correlated with a greater rate of tumor recurrence, higher histologic grade, and worse overall survival. MBOAT2 overexpression was also closely correlated with the mutation status and expression level of driver genes, especially KRAS. Meanwhile, functional enrichment analysis demonstrated that MBOAT2 might be involved in cell–cell communication; cell cycling; the Ras signaling pathway; and immune-related biological functions such as the leukocyte activation involved in T-cell–receptor signaling pathway, the inflammatory response, and antigen processing and presentation. Furthermore, in vitro experiments demonstrated that MBOAT2 overexpression accelerated PC cell proliferation and migration. MBOAT2 overexpression also enhanced CDK2 and CCNA2 expression, leading to cell cycle progression from the G1 phase to the G2 phase. Lastly, MBOAT2 overexpression reduced the infiltration level of CD8+ T-cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and activated dendritic cells but triggered a high type-2 T helper/type-1 T helper cell ration (Th2/Th1 ration) in PC. Conclusion Our findings suggest that MBOAT2 is a potential protooncogene in PDAC that predicts a poor prognosis and is related to KRAS activation and inferior infiltration of CD8+ T-cells in PC.
Effect of different fixatives on yield of DNA from human fecal samples

Fixation and transportation of human fecal samples is often difficult in geographically remote locations due to unavailability of options for immediate freezing. In this study effectiveness of five different chemical fixatives were evaluated on human fecal samples including for supernatant using RNAprotect® Bacteria Reagent (Qiagen), 95% ethanol, acetone, TRIzol® and a mixture of all these fixatives, in addition to immediate freezing. DNA was extracted from the fecal samples using QIAamp® Fast DNA Stool Mini Kit as well as quality and yield of extracted DNA was monitored for a period of 30 days. It was found that except TRIzol®, all other preservatives showed good DNA quality and yield for a period of one month based on agarose gel electrophoresis, Nanodrop and Qubit fluorometric measurements. It was also found that supernatant of fecal sample fixed with RNAprotect Bacteria Reagent gave reliable DNA yield in comparison to other various fixatives. The study also revealed that quality and yield of DNA from fecal samples fixed in acetone were very promising since it is a cost-effective fixative. Overall, the study shows future applicability for downstream DNA analyses of the RNAprotect® Bacteria Reagent, 95% ethanol, acetone, and a mixture of all these fixatives for fixing human fecal samples to be collected from geographically remote locations or in regions where available resources are largely limited.