Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Female Empowerment and Femininity in Barbie’s “You Can Be Anything” YouTube Channel Campaign

—The famous Barbie doll is stereotypically perceived with negativity because of its unrealistic representation of the female appearance and standards of beauty. Thus, Mattel created a new campaign titled You Can Be Anything (YCBA) to encourage young girls to be ambitious and aim toward their aspirational selves. Among other means of dissemination, this campaign also uploads videos on the company’s YouTube channel. This article explores how the color pink is utilized in this campaign both as a signifier of femininity and as a message of empowerment. Its use eventually delivers an abstruse interpretation of the campaign’s mission. Applying Roland Barthes’ conception of the levels of connotation and denotation to the analysis of the campaign’s message of female empowerment through its depictions of the female mentorship program, this study finds that the YCBA campaign is indeterminate in its portrayal of empowerment for young girls, who form the target market for Barbie. The results of the study emphasize that girls still generally lack workplace and career equality and that the campaign contains moments of disempowerment that affirm dominant patriarchal values.
Combining bacteriophage engineering and linear dichroism spectroscopy to produce a DNA hybridisation assay

Nucleic acid detection is an important part of our bio-detection arsenal, with the COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrating the importance to healthcare of rapid and efficient detection of specific pathogenic sequences. As part of the drive to establish new DNA detection methodologies and signal read-outs, here we show how linear dichroism (LD) spectroscopy can be used to produce a rapid and modular detection system for detecting quantities of DNA from both bacterial and viral pathogens. The LD sensing method exploits changes in fluid alignment of bionanoparticles (bacteriophage M13) engineered with DNA stands covalently attached to their surfaces, with the read-out signal induced by the formation of complementary duplexes between DNA targets and two M13 bionanoparticles. This new sandwich assay can detect pathogenic material down to picomolar levels in under 1 minute without amplification, as demonstrated by the successful sensing of DNA sequences from a plant virus (Potato virus Y) and an ampicillin resistance gene, ampR.
Temperature and Noise Dependence of Tri-Mode VCSEL Carried 120-Gbit/s QAM-OFDM Data in Back-to-Back and OM5-MMF Links

The transmission performances of the tri-mode vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) carrying 16-quadrature amplitude modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (16-QAM OFDM) data streams at a data rate beyond 100 Gbit/s are demonstrated in OM5 and OM4 multi-mode fibers (MMFs) over 100 m. By using the double oxide-confined aperture with a diameter of 5 μm, the tri-mode VCSEL provides three main transverse modes at a power of 2 mW and a quantum efficiency of 0.4 mW/mA, in which these main transverse modes individually contribute to 53.1%, 37.6%, and 9.3% of the output power from the tri-mode VCSEL for delivering the QAM-OFDM data. With optimizing the bias current of the tri-mode VCSEL to 8 mA (32 Ith) and pre-leveling the QAM-OFDM subcarrier amplitudes at a slope of 0.5 dB/GHz in the back-to-back (BtB) transmission case, the raw data rate up to 120 Gbit/s can be achieved under the FEC receiving criterion. In particular, the performance of the tri-mode VCSEL operating at the temperature of up to 85°C in BtB case is also demonstrated, while its lasing spectrum translates from tri-mode to quasi-single-mode because of the heating induced carrier dissipation and index reprofiling process. After propagating through the 100-m OM5-MMF, the pre-leveled 16-QAM OFDM data carried by the tri-mode VCSEL guarantees the 104-Gbit/s FEC-certified transmission with a receiving power penalty of 3.8 dB.
Isotope fractionation of volatile organic compounds in porous media under variably saturated conditions

In order to investigate chlorine isotope behaviour, it was necessary to develop analytical methods and methods for data interpretation. The accuracy, precision and amount dependency of chlorine isotope ratio analyses performed with gas chromatography quadrupol mass-spectrometry (GC-qMS) were evaluated for two Agilent and Thermo instruments. The calibration of raw data to SMOC scale (Standard Mean Ocean Chloride) with external standards has been shown to deviate between instruments and over time. For that reason, at least two calibration standards are required to obtain reproducible isotopic values and true isotopic variations between samples. Precision of measurements varies from an instrument to another (1σ ≈ 0.2-0.5% for Agilent and 0.2-0.9% for Thermo GC-qMS). Additionally, different amount dependencies of δCl values were observed for each instrument, but could be eliminated by adjusting amplitudes of standards and samples. Nevertheless, δCl measurements showed good agreement between various instruments when the same external standards were used. In the second part of this chapter, a theoretical comparison between isotope and isotopologue fractionation during vaporization and diffusion was performed, as physical processes occurring in the unsaturated zone take place among isotopologues and not directly isotopes. It was demonstrated that, during vaporization, diffusion and combination of them, the isotope ratio evolves parallel to the isotopologue ratio. Partially published in Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science and Technology: • Bernstein, A. ; Shouakar-Stash, O. ; Ebert, K. ; Laskov, C. ; Hunkeler, D. ; Jeannottat, S. ; SakaguchiSöder, K. ; Laaks, J.; Jochmann, M. A. ; Cretnik, S. ; Jager, J.; Haderlein, S. B. ; Schmidt, T. C. ; Aravena, R. ; Elsner, M. Compound-specific chlorine isotope analysis: A comparison of gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry methods in an interlaboratory study. Anal. Chem. 2011, 83 (20), 7624-7634. • Jeannottat, S. ; Hunkeler, D. Chlorine and carbon isotopes fractionation during volatilization and diffusive transport of trichloroethene in the unsaturated zone. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46 (6), 3169-3176. 2. Analytical and conceptual developments for the application of Cl isotopes in UZ studies 19 2.
Differential responses of plumbagin content in Plumbago zeylanica L. (Chitrak) under controlled water stress treatments

A pot experiment was conducted on Plumbago zeylanica L. (Chitrak) under controlled water stress environment in greenhouse during the kharif season. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with five treatments of different water stress levels i.e. control, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% and four replications. Out of five stress levels, 80% water stress has influenced root length, dry herbage, plumbagin, potassium and proline content. In control conditions the plant height, number of leaf, total leaf area, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, photosynthesis, CO 2 utilization, H 2 O utilization and chlorophyll were found to be maximum. The impact of water stress on plumbagin content has shown increase trend with respect to different water stress levels that is maximum at 80 % and minimum at control.
Evaluación de sacarosa y GA3 en un cultivo in vitro de brotes de Alpinia purpurata (Zingiberaceae)

Alpinia purpurata is an ornamental plant species native to the Asia-Pacic with commercial potential due to its red inorescence adapted to the northern Colombian coast; however, the lack of propagation protocols hinders commercial cultivation. To adjust a micropropagation protocol for clonal plant material production, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sucrose and gibberellic acid (GA3) in the culture medium on the number of new shoots per explant, shoot length, root number, root length and number of leaves. Explants were cultured in semisolid MS (Murashige & Skoog) medium with sucrose (30, 45 and 60 mg/L) and GA3 (0.0; 0.25; 0.5; 0.75 and 1.0 mg/L). A factorial experimental design with two factors was employed, with 15 treatments, 10 replicates per treatment and 150 experimental units distributed with a completely randomized design. Cultures were stored ve weeks at 25 °C with a 12 h photoperiod (40 μmol m-2 s-1). Anova and Tukey’s test allowed detecting the statistical effects of sucrose and GA3 supply for all variables. An increase in sucrose concentration resulted in a higher number of shoots, while an increase in GA3 induced longer shoots. Root length and leaf number decreased as GA3 and sucrose increased. Isidro Elías, Suarez Padrón; et al. Evaluación de sacarosa Cienc. Tecnol. Agropecuaria, 21 (2): e1193 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21930/rcta. vol21_num2_art:1193 3
A Novel Approach to the Unsupervised Extraction of Reliable Training Samples From Thematic Products

Supervised classification algorithms require a sufficiently large set of representative training samples to generate accurate land-cover maps. Collecting reference data is difficult, expensive, and unfeasible at the large scale. To solve this problem, this article introduces a novel approach that aims to extract reliable labeled data from existing thematic products. Although these products represent a potentially useful information source, their use is not straightforward. They are not completely reliable since they may present classification errors. They are typically aggregated at polygon level, where polygons do not necessarily correspond to homogeneous areas. Finally, usually, there is a semantic gap between map legends and remote sensing (RS) data. In this context, we propose an approach that aims to: 1) perform a domain understanding to detect the discrepancies between the thematic map domain and the RS data domain; 2) use RS data contemporary to the map to decompose the thematic product from the semantic and spatial viewpoints; and 3) extract a database of informative and reliable training samples. The database of weak labeled units is used for training an ensemble of classifiers on recent data whose results are then combined in a majority voting rule. Two sets of experimental results obtained on MS images by extracting training samples from a crop type map and the 2018 Corine Land Cover (CLC) map, respectively, confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Gut Microbiota and the Development of Type 2 Diabetes

This paper explores the question: Can interventions focusing on healing the gut microbiome of a prediabetic patient prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes? Diabetes is a major health problem that is becoming the biggest epidemic of the 21 st century. Efforts to derail the progression of disrupted blood glucose metabolism are often futile leaving patients frustrated with a lifelong burden of disease management. Recent studies suggest that collectively the gut microbiome acts as an endocrine organ and that injury to this “organ” can lead to dysfunctional glucose regulation. A comprehensive literature review revealed that further studies are needed to explore alternative approaches to restoring normal glucose regulation. This proposed quantitative, experimental study aims to explore the effectiveness of a weekly program focusing on the establishment of a healthy gut microbiome to prevent the development of diabetes. The proposed sample will be 100 prediabetic adult patients (ages 25-65) who will be randomly divided into two groups: a treatment (Group A) and a control (Group B). All participants will provide a baseline fasting blood glucose, A1C and a fecal sample before the start of the study. Group A will attend an intensive educational program that consists of hour-long weekly meetings for 12 weeks. Group A will attend weekly discussions of evidence-based research on ways to promote a healthy gut microbiome. Activities that harm the gut thus promoting the growth of pathogenic bacteria will also be discussed and discouraged. Group B, the control group, will receive usual care which may or may not include recommendations from a physician about exercise, diet and weight loss. At the end of the study, we will compare the two groups’ fasting blood glucose, A1C, and fecal microbiome composition.
A comparative study of the hydrolysis of supercritical fluid extracted lutein esters by improved saponification and enzyme biocatalysis.

Lutein is a dietary oxycarotenoid which is found to reduce the risks of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Supercritical fluid extraction of lutein esters from marigold petals was carried out and was found to be much effective than conventional solvent extraction. The saponification of pre-concentrated lutein esters to produce free lutein was studied which showed a composition of about 88% total carotenoids (UV-VIS spectrophotometry) and 90.7% lutein (HPLC). The lipase catalyzed hydrolysis of lutein esters in non-conventional medium (hexane) was investigated. The optimal temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and water activity were found to be 50°C, 7, 15% and 0.33 respectively and the activity loss of lipase was about 25% after 8 times re-use at 50°C for 12 days. However, the lipase catalyzed hydrolysis of lutein esters in hexane resulted in moderate conversions (38.7%).
Silico Analyses of Antioxidant-Related Compounds on Selected Medicinal Plant Cordia macleodii Enzyme-Based Targets

A great number of medicinal plants phytochemicals are reported as good anti-oxidant from several studies. However, their modes of action are still not known properly. The lack of molecular studies could be considered an impediment for studies seeking to improve anti-oxidant-based drug design. The present computational study allows us to make important observations about the molecular details of the binding modes of a set of anti-oxidant against Cordia macleodii secondary metabolites drug-enzyme targets Super oxide dismutase, Catalase, Glutathione peroxidase. Through molecular docking it was found that two Cordia phytocompounds are promising leads for the anti-oxidant enzymes binding with active metal site domain, and exhibited better affinity towards active site Original Research Article Khan et al.; AJB2T, 4(1): 1-9, 2018; Article no.AJB2T. 41131 2 pocket binding. In addition, the affinity values were collected by principal component analysis and drug-likeness properties were checked to identify the strongest-docking phytochemicals. The results are an excellent starting point for future studies of structural optimization of this kind of compounds.
Emulsifier-Free Water-in-Biodiesel Emulsion Fuel via Steam Emulsification: Its Physical Properties, Combustion Performance, and Exhaust Emission

The focus of this work is to investigate the effect of emulsifier-free emulsion fuel via steam emulsification (SD) to the diesel engine through physical properties, combustion performance, and exhaust analysis, and compare with conventional emulsion fuel with water percentages of 5% and 10% (E5 and E10) and biodiesel blend (B5). The SD was prepared using a custom 200 mL glass mixing column. The B5 fuel quantitatively was filled in the column, and then the steam was injected from the bottom of the mixing column through the porous frit glass with the pores ranging from 40 to 100 µm. The average water droplet size of SD is 0.375 µm with the average water percentage of 6.18%. The brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of SD improved 4.19% and 3.92%, respectively, as compared to B5. The in-cylinder pressure (ICP) was lower than B5, however, yielding close to the B5 at 4 kW engine load. As for the exhaust emission test, NOx and PM for SD were reduced significantly with a percentage reduction of 25.22% and 10.68%, respectively, as compared to neat B5. The steam emulsification method offers a huge potential to be explored further as the concept offers the alternative method of making emulsion fuel without the use of conventional mechanical mixers.
Tri-Manipulation: An Evaluation of Human Performance in 3-Handed Teleoperation

With a third hand a human subject could be able to perform tasks that they would otherwise be incapable of. Foot-controlled interfaces have proven suitable for controlling robot arms, however, when it is best to use such devices and what limitations they place when controlling a supernumerary robotic limb (SL) in combination with the natural limbs (NLs) is unknown. Here, we report an investigation of three-handed manipulation with a foot interface. We analysed i) what effect the addition of a SL has on the performance of the NLs; and ii) how mechanical and/or cognitive coupling alters user performance. When the subjects moved the three limbs without coupling, only the motion’s completion time was observed to be significantly affected. In contrast with coupling, the incorporation of the foot controlled hand was found to affect the success rate, and planning of the motion, however it did not affect motion characteristics such as smoothness.
DESIGN OF ON-CHIP COMPATIBLE CONCURRENT DUAL BAND MILLIMETER WAVE ANTENNA

—This paper presents the design and analysis of an on-chip compatible millimeter wave (mm-wave) antenna concurrently operating at frequencies 60 GHz and 94 GHz. It is quite challenging to design an antenna at mm-wave frequency due to propagation of surface waves and use of high index Si substrate for system on-chip (SoC) applications. Hence, in this paper a micromachined mm-wave antenna design using suspended microstrip technology has been proposed for SoC applications. Dual band operation of the antenna has been achieved by reactive loading at the radiating edge. The designed antenna supports the fractional bandwidth of 3.7% & 5% and gain of 7.68 dBi & 8.22 dBi at 60 GHz and 94 GHz, respectively. The results were also compared using two diﬀerent EM solvers HFSS and CST which were in close agreement. Parametric eﬀects of diﬀerent substrate and antenna design parameters have also been analyzed. As a proof of concept, a scaled prototype antenna was fabricated and compared with the proposed mm-wave antenna.
The combination of destruxin A with insecticide chlorantraniliprole increases virulence against Plutella xylostella L.

Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, is a major worldwide pest of cruciferous vegetables and has developed high levels of resistance against many pesticides. The current research presents the joint action of destruxin A and chlorantraniliprole against resistant strain of Plutella xylostella were bioassayed under laboratory and field cage conditions. An apparent increase in adjusted larval mortality in a dose-dependent manner was observed when destruxin A and chlorantraniliprole were applied individually. The level of synergism between destruxin A and chlorantriniliprole was affected by the concentration of each component in the mixtures. The synergistic effects were observed in treatments (80.0+3.0), (40.0+1.0), (40.0+3.0) and (80.0+1.0), respectively. The treatments (40.0+3.0) and (80.0+0.3) were determined as additive effects according to their cumulative adjusted mortalities, Me and Chi-square values. In field cage experiments synergistic action was observed for 80.0+3.0 treatment with its cumulative mortality values of 69.93 / 87.05 / 98.87% at 48, 72 and 96 h post-treatment while additive effects were observed for treatments (40.0+0.3), (40.0+1.0) and (80.0+0.3).
Financial Shocks and the Relative Dynamics of Tangible and Intangible Investment: Evidence from the Euro Area

We develop an extended real business cycle model with financially constrained firms and non-pledgeable intangible capital. Based on a model-consistent series for firms’ borrowing conditions, we find, within a structural vector autoregression framework, that, in response to an adverse financial shock, tangible investment falls more than intangible investment. This positive co-movement between tangible and intangible investment as well as the relative resilience of intangible investment pose a challenge for the theoretical model. We show that investment-specific adjustment costs help in reconciling the model with the observed empirical evidence. The estimation of the theoretical model using a Bayesian limited information approach yields support for the presence of much larger adjustment costs for intangible investment than for tangible investment.
Deep Generative Models and Applications

Over the past few years, there have been fundamental breakthroughs in core problems in machine learning, largely driven by advances in deep neural networks. The amount of annotated data drastically increased and supervised deep discriminative models exceeded human-level performances in certain object detection tasks [Russakovsky et al., 2015, He et al., 2015]. The increasing availability in quantity and complexity of unlabelled data also opens up exciting possibilities for the development of unsupervised learning methods. Among the family of unsupervised methods, deep generative models find numerous applications. Moreover, as real-world applications include high dimensional data, the ability of generative models to automatically learn semantically meaningful subspaces makes their advancement an essential step toward developing more efficient algorithms. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are a family of unsupervised generative algorithms that have demonstrated impressive performance for data synthesis and are now used in a wide range of computer vision tasks. Despite this success, they gained a reputation for being difficult to train, which results in a time-consuming and human-involved development process to use them. In the first part of this thesis, we focus on improving the stability and the performances of GANs. Foremost, we consider an alternative training process to the standard one, named SGAN, in which several adversarial “local” pairs of networks are trained independently so that a “global” supervising pair of networks can be trained against them. The goal is to train the global pair with the corresponding ensemble opponent for improved performances in terms of mode coverage. Experimental results on both toy and real-world problems demonstrate that this approach outperforms standard training in terms of better mitigating mode collapse, stability while converging and that it surprisingly, increases the convergence speed as well. Next, to further reduce the computational footprint while maintaining the stability and performance advantages of SGAN, we focus on training single pair of adversarial networks using variance reduced gradient. More precisely, we study the effect of the stochastic gradient noise on the training of generative adversarial networks (GANs) and show that it can prevent the convergence of standard game optimization methods, while the batch version converges. We address this issue with two stochastic variance-reduced gradient and extragradient optimization algorithms for GANs, named SVRG-GAN and SVRE, respectively. As batch extragradient is the only method that converges for simple examples of games, our analyses focus on SVRE, which method for a large class of games improves upon the previous convergence rates proposed in the literature. We observe empirically that SVRE performs similarly to a batch method