Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Dialect Detection in Arabic Broadcast Speech

We investigate different approaches for dialect identification in Arabic broadcast speech, using phonetic, lexical features obtained from a speech recognition system, and acoustic features using the i-vector framework. We studied both generative and discriminate classifiers, and we combined these features using a multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM). We validated our results on an Arabic/English language identification task, with an accuracy of 100%. We used these features in a binary classifier to discriminate between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Dialectal Arabic, with an accuracy of 100%. We further report results using the proposed method to discriminate between the five most widely used dialects of Arabic: namely Egyptian, Gulf, Levantine, North African, and MSA, with an accuracy of 52%. We discuss dialect identification errors in the context of dialect code-switching between Dialectal Arabic and MSA, and compare the error pattern between manually labeled data, and the output from our classifier. We also release the train and test data as standard corpus for dialect identification.
EFFECT OF A NEW IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE AGENT, FK506, ON HUMAN LYMPHOCYTE RESPONSES IN VITRO: I. Inhibition of Expression of Alloanticen‐Activated Suppressor Cells, As Well As Induction of Alloreactivity

The effect of FK506 on in vitro human lymphocyte responses was assessed in comparison with cyclosporine. FK506 suppressed, in a dose-dependent fashion, the lymphocyte response to stimulation with PHA and with alloantigens in primary mixed lymphocyte reactions at a 70-100-fold lower concentration than CsA--namely, 50% inhibition (IC50) was obtained with 8.6 nM FK506 and with 750 nM CsA in the PHA response, and with 0.21 nM FK506 and with 20 nM CsA in MLR. Allocytolytic T lymphocyte induction was also inhibited by FK506, whereas the ability of CTL to lyse targets was not affected by the agent, indicating that FK506 did not affect the recognition and binding of alloantigen by CTL. FK506 inhibited, in a dose-dependent fashion, both IL-2 receptor and transferrin receptor expression on the alloactivated lymphocytes--whereas this agent inhibited only incompletely both expression of both receptors on lymphocytes stimulated with PHA. Lymphocytes from primary MLR cultured in the presence of FK506 were tested for suppressor cell activity on day 8 of culture. FK506 did not allow for the expression of alloantigen-activated suppressor cells when used in a dose sufficient to inhibit CTL generation.
Regulation of Hfq by the RNA CrcZ in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Carbon Catabolite Repression

Carbon Catabolite repression (CCR) allows a fast adaptation of Bacteria to changing nutrient supplies. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) catabolite repression control protein (Crc) was deemed to act as a translational regulator, repressing functions involved in uptake and utilization of carbon sources. However, Crc of PAO1 was recently shown to be devoid of RNA binding activity. In this study the RNA chaperone Hfq was identified as the principle post-transcriptional regulator of CCR in PAO1. Hfq is shown to bind to A-rich sequences within the ribosome binding site of the model mRNA amiE, and to repress translation in vitro and in vivo. We further report that Crc plays an unknown ancillary role, as full-fledged repression of amiE and other CCR-regulated mRNAs in vivo required its presence. Moreover, we show that the regulatory RNA CrcZ, transcription of which is augmented when CCR is alleviated, binds to Hfq with high affinity. This study on CCR in PAO1 revealed a novel concept for Hfq function, wherein the regulatory RNA CrcZ acts as a decoy to abrogate Hfq-mediated translational repression of catabolic genes and thus highlights the central role of RNA based regulation in CCR of PAO1.
Battery Sizing for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Beijing: A TCO Model Based Analysis

This paper proposes a total cost of ownership (TCO) model for battery sizing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The proposed systematic TCO model innovatively integrates the Beijing driving database and optimal PHEV energy management strategies developed earlier. The TCO, including battery, fuel, electricity, and salvage costs, is calculated in yearly cash flows. The salvage cost, based on battery degradation model, is proposed for the first time. The results show that the optimal battery size for PHEVs in Beijing is 6–8 kWh. Several additional scenarios are also analyzed: (1) 10% increase in battery price or discount rate leads to an optimal battery size of 6 kWh, and 10% increase in fuel price shifts the optimal battery size to 8 kWh; (2) the longer and more dispersive daily range distribution in the U.S. increases the optimal battery size to 14 kWh; (3) the subsidy in China results in an optimal battery size of 13 kWh, while that in the U.S. results in 17 kWh, and a fuel savings rate based subsidy policy is innovatively proposed; (4) the optimal battery size with Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 batteries is 2 kWh, but the TCO of Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 batteries is higher than that of LiFePO 4 batteries.
Trained trigger language model for sentence retrieval in QA: bridging the vocabulary gap

We propose a novel language model for sentence retrieval in Question Answering (QA) systems called trained trigger language model. This model addresses the word mismatch problem in information retrieval. The proposed model captures pairs of trigger and target words while training on a large corpus. The word pairs are extracted based on both unsupervised and supervised approaches while different notions of triggering are used. In addition, we study the impact of corpus size and domain for a supervised model. All notions of the trained trigger model are finally used in a language model-based sentence retrieval framework. Our experiments on TREC QA collection verify that the proposed model significantly improves the sentence retrieval performance compared to the state-of-the-art translation model and class model which address the same problem.
Adaptive robust control for triple evasion-tracing-arrival performance of uncertain mechanical systems

This article proposes a (cooperative) triple evasion-tracing-arrival problem for mechanical systems. The system contains uncertainty which is (possibly fast) time-varying but bounded; however, the bound is unknown. The main objective is to obtain controllers for the controlled system to assure three categories of system performance: evasion (with respect to a region), tracing (with respect to another region) and arrival (with respect to other another region). This problem is transferred as constraint-following control, based on which, the constraint derived from the original problem is creatively divided into two categories: evasion-tracing constraint and arrival constraint. Then, an adaptive robust control is designed, with which the evasion-tracing constraint is completely followed and the arrival constraint is closely followed by the system, regardless of the uncertainty. As a result, the triple evasion-tracing-arrival problem is solved.
On the Salience of Ethnic Conflict

A classical theme in social analysis views economic class divisions as the main cause of social conflict. Yet many, if not most of the conflicts we observe today appear to be ethnic in nature. It appears that the "vertical" nature of class divisions is often dominated by the "horizontal" antagonisms across groups delineated by noneconomic markers. This paper highlights the perverse synergy of economic inequality within ethnic groups, and its role in the salience of ethnic conflict. In a model of group formation which allows both class and ethnic groupings to emerge, we show that ethnic, as opposed to class, conflict may be focal, and precisely in the presence of economic inequality. (JEL D72, D74)
2D Unitary ESPRIT Based Super-Resolution Channel Estimation for Millimeter-Wave Massive MIMO With Hybrid Precoding

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) with hybrid precoding is a promising technique for the future 5G wireless communications. Due to a large number of antennas but a much smaller number of radio frequency chains, estimating the high-dimensional mmWave massive MIMO channel will bring the large pilot overhead. To overcome this challenge, this paper proposes a super-resolution channel estimation scheme based on 2-D unitary ESPRIT algorithm. By exploiting the angular sparsity of mmWave channels, the continuously distributed angle of arrivals/departures (AoAs/AoDs) can be jointly estimated with high accuracy. Specifically, by designing the uplink training signals at both base station and mobile station, we first use low pilot overhead to estimate a low-dimensional effective channel, which has the same shift-invariance of array response as the high-dimensional mmWave MIMO channel to be estimated. From the low-dimensional effective channel, the super-resolution estimates of AoAs and AoDs can be jointly obtained by exploiting the 2-D unitary ESPRIT channel estimation algorithm. Furthermore, the associated path gains can be acquired based on the least squares criterion. Finally, we can reconstruct the high-dimensional mmWave MIMO channel according to the obtained AoAs, AoDs, and path gains. Simulation results have confirmed that the proposed scheme is superior to conventional schemes with a much lower pilot overhead.
Preconstruction Biogeochemical Analysis of Mercury in Wetlands Bordering the Hamilton Army Airfield (HAAF) Wetlands Restoration Site. Part 3

Abstract : The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is working to reconstruct wetlands at the former Hamilton Army Airfield (HAAF) on San Pablo Bay (SPB). This 203-ha site will provide tidal habitat to endangered species such as the clapper rail and the saltmarsh harvest mouse. Means to mitigate MeHg magnification in bay aquatic food webs are needed not only for HAAF but for other Bay restoration sites as well. This interim technical report describes studies primarily performed in 2006. A field study was conducted in San Pablo Bay focusing on site-specific rates of mercury methylation and demethylation, and biogeochemical parameters related to the mercury cycle as measured by both conventional and emerging methods, including Diffusive Gradient in Thin Film (DGT) and Diffusional Equilibration in Thin Film (DET) techniques. Experiments on MeHg accumulation by clams, fish, and DGTs were conducted under laboratory conditions to test the ability of the DGT technique to mimic MeHg bioaccumulation. The multiple source mixing models SOURCE and STEP were used to quantify food web sources and trophic structure using multiple stable isotopes, and, thus, contribute to elucidating the trophic relationships leading to MeHg bioaccumulation. Use of these models showed that macrophytic primary producers of the salt marsh formed important food sources of consumers. Consumers in the nearshore bay were found to be largely benthivorous and fed partly on higher plant fragments and/or bay-POM, of which the relative contributions decreased with increasing trophic level. A data gap exists on food chain structure, components, bioaugmentation mechanisms and MeHg accumulated in the biota associated with San Francisco Bay wetlands. Additional field, experimental, and modeling research was recommended to decrease the uncertainty of these early model outcomes.
Betweenness centrality on Multi-GPU systems

Betweenness Centrality (BC) is steadily growing in popularity as a metrics of the influence of a vertex in a graph. The exact BC computation for a large scale graph is an extraordinary challenging and requires high performance computing techniques to provide results in a reasonable amount of time. Here, we present the techniques we developed to speed-up the computation of the BC on Multi-GPU systems. Our approach combines the bi-dimensional (2-D) decomposition of the graph and multi-level parallelism. Experimental results show that the proposed techniques are well suited to compute BC scores in graphs which are too large to fit in single GPU memory. In particular, the computation time of a 234 million edges graph is reduced to less than 2 hours.
Surface profiles and basal shear stresses of outlet glaciers from a Late-glacial mountain ice field in western Scotland

Abstract Surface and basal long profiles are reconstructed for 13 outlet glaciers that drained ice from a large ice field (80 km by 120 km) that formed in the western Grampians of Scotland during part of the Late-glacial period (c, 14000–10000years BP). Basal shear stresses are calculated at 5 km intervals along the central flowlines of the reconstructed outlet glaciers. Individual basal shear stresses for the outlet glaciers range from 10 to 204 kPa. Variations in calculated basal shear stresses within and between the glaciers are mainly explained by differences in bedrock topography, extending and compressional flow, and by differences in basal boundary conditions. Low basal shear stresses (<53kPa) calculated for the terminal zones of Creran, Menteith and Lomond glaciers are partly explained by the overriding of glaciomarine clays with inferred high pore-water pressures and a low yield strength that may have led to rapid basal sliding and thinning of the ice lobes.
Price of Competition and Dueling Games

We study competition in a general framework introduced by Immorlica et al. and answer their main open question. Immorlica et al. considered classic optimization problems in terms of competition and introduced a general class of games called dueling games. They model this competition as a zero-sum game, where two players are competing for a user's satisfaction. In their main and most natural game, the ranking duel, a user requests a webpage by submitting a query and players output an ordering over all possible webpages based on the submitted query. The user tends to choose the ordering which displays her requested webpage in a higher rank. The goal of both players is to maximize the probability that her ordering beats that of her opponent and gets the user's attention. Immorlica et al. show this game directs both players to provide suboptimal search results. However, they leave the following as their main open question: "does competition between algorithms improve or degrade expected performance? " In this paper, we resolve this question for the ranking duel and a more general class of dueling games. More precisely, we study the quality of orderings in a competition between two players. This game is a zero-sum game, and thus any Nash equilibrium of the game can be described by minimax strategies. Let the value of the user for an ordering be a function of the position of her requested item in the corresponding ordering, and the social welfare for an ordering be the expected value of the corresponding ordering for the user. We propose the price of competition which is the ratio of the social welfare for the worst minimax strategy to the social welfare obtained by a social planner. We use this criterion for analyzing the quality of orderings in the ranking duel. We prove the quality of minimax results is surprisingly close to that of the optimum solution.
N-Cadherin Promotes Motility in Human Breast Cancer Cells Regardless of Their E-Cadherin Expression

E-cadherin is a transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates calcium-dependent, homotypic cell–cell adhesion and plays a role in maintaining the normal phenotype of epithelial cells. Decreased expression of E-cadherin has been correlated with increased invasiveness of breast cancer. In other systems, inappropriate expression of a nonepithelial cadherin, such as N-cadherin, by an epithelial cell has been shown to downregulate E-cadherin expression and to contribute to a scattered phenotype. In this study, we explored the possibility that expression of nonepithelial cadherins may be correlated with increased motility and invasion in breast cancer cells. We show that N-cadherin promotes motility and invasion; that decreased expression of E-cadherin does not necessarily correlate with motility or invasion; that N-cadherin expression correlates both with invasion and motility, and likely plays a direct role in promoting motility; that forced expression of E-cadherin in invasive, N-cadherin–positive cells does not reduce their motility or invasive capacity; that forced expression of N-cadherin in noninvasive, E-cadherin–positive cells produces an invasive cell, even though these cells continue to express high levels of E-cadherin; that N-cadherin–dependent motility may be mediated by FGF receptor signaling; and that cadherin-11 promotes epithelial cell motility in a manner similar to N-cadherin.
Psychological stress may induce diabetes-related autoimmunity in infancy.

OBJECTIVE In retrospective studies, a number of disparate environmental factors (including experiences of serious life events) have been proposed as trigger mechanisms for type 1 diabetes or the autoimmune process behind the disease. Psychosocial stress in families may affect children negatively due to a link to hormonal levels and nervous signals that in turn influence both insulin sensitivity/insulin need and the immune system. Our aim was to investigate whether psychological stress, measured as psychosocial strain in families, is associated with diabetes-related autoimmunity during infancy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The first 4,400 consecutive 1-year-old children from a large prospective population-based project participated in the study. Parents completed questionnaires at birth and at 1 year, including various measures of psychosocial stress (e.g., parenting stress) and sociodemographic background. Blood samples drawn from the children at 1 year were analyzed for type 1 diabetes-associated autoantibodies toward tyrosine phosphatase and GAD. Antibodies toward tetanus toxoid were used as non-diabetes-related control antibodies. RESULTS Psychosocial factors, i.e., high parenting stress (odds ratio 1.8 [95% CI 1.2-2.9], P < 0.01), experiences of a serious life event (2.3 [1.3-4.0], P < 0.01), foreign origin of the mother (2.1 [1.3-3.3], P < 0.001), and low paternal education (1.6 [1.1-2.3], P < 0.01) were associated with diabetes-related autoimmunity in the child, independent of family history of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS Psychological stress, measured as psychosocial strain in the family, seems to be involved in the induction, or progression, of diabetes-related autoimmunity in the child during the 1st year of life.
Land Salinisation, Waterlogging and the Agricultural Benefits of a Surface Drainage Scheme in Benerembah Irrigation District

Soil salinisation and waterlogging are significant problems in the Irrigation Areas and Districts of southern New South Wales. Various actions can be taken at either a regional or farm level to alleviate these problems. District surface drainage, sub-surface drainage, pumping from deep aquifers and changes to water pricing policies are regional options, while possible on-farm options include laser controlled landforming, pumping groundwater from shallow aquifers, recycling drainage water, changes to crops and rotations and the adoption of improved irrigation systems. The purpose of this study was to analyse the agricultural benefits of a surface drainage scheme proposed for an Irrigation District in the Murrumbidgee Valley. The objective of the analysis was to determine overa 30 year period the change in present value of district net farm income anributable to the surface drainage scheme. The study differed from other economic assessments of the losses due to salinity and waterlogging in that it accounted for farmers' adjustment processes. A regional linear programming model was developed which determined the optimal mix of agricultural activities in any year, subject to the level of soil salinity and waterlogging.
Genome Sequence of Canine Polyomavirus in Respiratory Secretions of Dogs with Pneumonia of Unknown Etiology

ABSTRACT We report here the first canine polyomavirus genome, identified by metagenomics in respiratory secretions of two dogs with severe pneumonia, which tested negative for all canine respiratory pathogens except Mycoplasma cynos. The isolate, Canis familiaris polyomavirus 1 (DogPyV-1), is a beta polyomavirus whose closest known LT antigen relatives are primate polyomaviruses.
ENVIRONMENTALLY-SOUND ADAPTABLE TILLAGE - SOLUTIONS FROM HUNGARY

Szent Istvan University Godollő, Hungary, University of West Hungary, Mosonmagyarovar In the last centuries, the need for tillage was to provide suitable soil conditions for plant growth (crop-focusing tillage). During the last decades, traditional goals of soil tillage have really been improved considering environmental consequences (environment-focusing tillage). In the next decade a new task is stressed, that is mitigating the climate induced losses (climate-focusing tillage). New challenges for the future are prevention of tillage-induced soil quality deterioration, and to reduce climate induced damages by the use of environmentally-sound adaptable tillage. In the adaptable tillage program ten important steps are suggested, namely: (1) Risk assessment in the fields. (2) Prevention of tillage induced defects affecting climate stresses. (3) Maintaining an optimal soil physical and biological state and fertility. (4) Use soil structure conservation methods in any seasons. (5) Mulch the surface at least in summer. (6) Improve soil loading capacity connected with carbon conservation. (7) Utilize stubble residues rationally. (8) Maintain an optimal water management in soils by the soil state improving. (9) Create small water-loss surface at tillage operations. (10) Improve a harmony between soil disturbance and environmental requirements.
Do small mammals avoid roads because of the traffic

Summary 1. Roads can act as barriers to animal movement, which may reduce population persistence by reducing recolonization of empty habitats and limiting immigration. Appropriate mitigation of this barrier effect (e.g. seasonal road closures, location and design of wildlife over- or underpasses) depends upon whether the animals avoid the road itself or the traffic on the road. Empirical studies of road avoidance to date do not generally differentiate between these. 2. We conducted short- and long-distance translocations and trapping studies of white-footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus ) and eastern chipmunks ( Tamias striatus ) near two-lane paved roads, which differed widely in traffic amount, from 47 to 15 433 vehicles per day. 3. In the trapping study (13 sites) only five animals moved across a road, in comparison to 36 animals that moved the same distance without an intervening road ( P < 0·0001). In the short-distance translocations (15 sites), 51% of the small mammals that were translocated across roads returned, in comparison to a return rate of 77% of animals that were translocated a similar distance with no intervening road ( P = 0·009). 4. In the long-distance translocation study (24 sites) we found that each intervening road reduced the probability of successful return by about 50%. 5. We found no significant effects of traffic amount on return rates in either the short-distance or the long-distance translocations studies. 6. Small mammal densities were not lower near roads and we found no evidence for a decrease in density near roads with increasing traffic amount. 7. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that small mammals avoid the road itself, and not emissions such as noise from the traffic on the roads. Our results imply that the barrier effect of roads on these species cannot be mitigated by measures aimed at reducing traffic amount; other measures such as wildlife passages would be needed.