Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk and Protective Factors Associated With Support of Violent Radicalization: Variations by Geographic Location

Objectives: We examine the association between perceived discrimination, mental health, social support, and support for violent radicalization (VR) in young adults from three locations across two countries: Montréal and Toronto, Canada, and Boston, United States. A secondary goal is to test the moderating role of location. Methods: A total of 791 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30, drawn from the Somali Youth longitudinal study and a Canada-based study of college students, participated in the study. We used multivariate linear regression to assess the association between scores on the Radical Intentions Scale (RIS) with demographic characteristics, anxiety, depression, social support, and discrimination. Results: In the full sample, discrimination, age, and gender were associated with RIS scores. When we examined moderation effects by location, RIS scores were associated with depression only in Montréal, and with social support (negatively) and discrimination in Toronto. None of the variables were significant in Boston. Conclusion: These findings suggest that an understanding of risk and protective factors for support of VR may be context-dependent. Further research should take into consideration local/regional differences.
Experimental and Numerical Study of Quench Propagation Characteristics of Different Epoxy Impregnated REBCO Coated Conductors

REBCO coated conductors are very promising for various HTS power applications. However, a detailed knowledge about their quench characteristics is crucial for developing effective quench detection methods. This article experimentally and numerically analyzed the quench propagation characteristics of REBCO coated conductors impregnated with different epoxy. The quench parameters, including minimum quench energy (MQE), voltage profiles, and normal zone propagation velocities, obtained from the experimental results are validated by numerical model. The experimental phenomenon can be further described by the numerical model. The analysis shows that higher thermal conductivity of epoxy increase the MQE of the epoxy impregnated conductor, indicating that maintaining a relatively high thermal conductivity of epoxy is helpful to decrease the quench damage of the epoxy impregnated conductor.
Intermuscular Fat Content in Young Chinese Men With Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes: Based on MR mDIXON-Quant Quantitative Technique

Objective Skeletal muscle fat content is one of the important contributors to insulin resistance (IR), but its diagnostic value remains unknown, especially in the Chinese population. Therefore, we aimed to analyze differences in skeletal muscle fat content and various functional MRI parameters between diabetic patients and control subjects to evaluate the early indicators of diabetes. In addition, we aimed to investigate the associations among skeletal muscle fat content, magnetic resonance parameters of skeletal muscle function and IR in type 2 diabetic patients and control subjects. Methods We enrolled 12 patients (age:29-38 years, BMI: 25-28 kg/m2) who were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (intravenous plasma glucose concentration≥11.1mmol/l or fasting blood glucose concentration≥7.0mmol/l) together with 12 control subjects as the control group (age: 26-33 years, BMI: 21-28 kg/m2). Fasting blood samples were collected for the measurement of glucose, insulin, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (PBG2h), and glycated hemoglobin (HbAlc). The magnetic resonance scan of the lower extremity and abdomen was performed, which can evaluate visceral fat content as well as skeletal muscle metabolism and function through transverse relaxation times (T2), fraction anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. Results We found a significant difference in intermuscular fat (IMAT) between the diabetes group and the control group (p<0.05), the ratio of IMAT in thigh muscles of diabetes group was higher than that of control group. In the entire cohort, IMAT was positively correlated with HOMA-IR, HbAlc, T2, and FA, and the T2 value was correlated with HOMA-IR, PBG2h and HbAlc (p<0.05). There were also significant differences in T2 and FA values between the diabetes group and the control group (p<0.05). According to the ROC, assuming 8.85% of IMAT as the cutoff value, the sensitivity and specificity of IMAT were 100% and 83.3%, respectively. Assuming 39.25ms as the cutoff value, the sensitivity and specificity of T2 value were 66.7% and 91.7%, respectively. All the statistical analyses were adjusted for age, BMI and visceral fat content. Conclusion Deposition of IMAT in skeletal muscles seems to be an important determinant for IR in type 2 diabetes. The skeletal muscle IMAT value greater than 8.85% and the T2 value greater than 39.25ms are suggestive of IR.
Reconfigurable Microwave Coupled Resonator Band-pass Filter and Diplexer

This paper presents the design, simulation and experimental results of a reconfigurable microstrip band-pass filter formed by two square open-loop resonators. A reconfigurable diplexer designed with four square spiral resonators is also proposed and preliminary simulation results are reported. The devices are designed to operate at S-band, and the reconfiguration is achieved using PIN diodes.
Estrogen Receptor Beta Influences the Inflammatory p65 Cistrome in Colon Cancer Cells

Inflammation is a primary component of both initiation and promotion of colorectal cancer (CRC). Cytokines secreted by macrophages, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), activates the pro-survival transcription factor complex NFκB. The precise mechanism of NFκB in CRC is not well studied, but we recently reported the genome-wide transcriptional impact of TNFα in two CRC cell lines. Further, estrogen signaling influences inflammation in a complex manner and suppresses CRC development. CRC protective effects of estrogen have been shown to be mediated by estrogen receptor beta (ERβ, ESR2), which also impacts inflammatory signaling of the colon. However, whether ERβ impacts the chromatin interaction (cistrome) of the main NFκB subunit p65 (RELA) is not known. We used p65 chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-Seq) in two different CRC cell lines, HT29 and SW480, with and without expression of ERβ. We here present the p65 colon cistrome of these two CRC cell lines. We identify that RELA and AP1 motifs are predominant in both cell lines, and additionally describe both common and cell line-specific p65 binding sites and correlate these to transcriptional changes related to inflammation, migration, apoptosis and circadian rhythm. Further, we determine that ERβ opposes a major fraction of p65 chromatin binding in HT29 cells, but enhances p65 binding in SW480 cells, thereby impacting the p65 cistrome differently in the two cell lines. However, the biological functions of the regulated genes appear to have similar roles in both cell lines. To our knowledge, this is the first time the p65 CRC cistrome is compared between different cell lines and the first time an influence by ERβ on the p65 cistrome is investigated. Our work provides a mechanistic foundation for a better understanding of how estrogen influences inflammatory signaling through NFκB in CRC cells.
Consistency in Motion Event Encoding Across Languages

Syntactic templates serve as schemas, allowing speakers to describe complex events in a systematic fashion. Motion events have long served as a prime example of how different languages favor different syntactic frames, in turn biasing their speakers toward different event conceptualizations. However, there is also variability in how motion events are syntactically framed within languages. Here, we measure the consistency in event encoding in two languages, Spanish and Swedish. We test a dominant account in the literature, namely that variability within a language can be explained by specific properties of the events. This event-properties account predicts that descriptions of one and the same event should be consistent within a language, even in languages where there is overall variability in the use of syntactic frames. Spanish and Swedish speakers (N = 84) described 32 caused motion events. While the most frequent syntactic framing in each language was as expected based on typology (Spanish: verb-framed, Swedish: satellite-framed, cf. Talmy, 2000), Swedish descriptions were substantially more consistent than Spanish descriptions. Swedish speakers almost invariably encoded all events with a single syntactic frame and systematically conveyed manner of motion. Spanish descriptions, in contrast, varied much more regarding syntactic framing and expression of manner. Crucially, variability in Spanish descriptions was not mainly a function of differences between events, as predicted by the event-properties account. Rather, Spanish variability in syntactic framing was driven by speaker biases. A similar picture arose for whether Spanish descriptions expressed manner information or not: Even after accounting for the effect of syntactic choice, a large portion of the variance in Spanish manner encoding remained attributable to differences among speakers. The results show that consistency in motion event encoding starkly differs across languages: Some languages (like Swedish) bias their speakers toward a particular linguistic event schema much more than others (like Spanish). Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the typology of event framing, theories on the relationship between language and thought, and speech planning. In addition, the tools employed here to quantify variability can be applied to other domains of language.
Southern French thyme oils : chromatographic study of chemotypes

Oils obtained from seven chemotypes (thymol, linalool, geraniol, borneol, (E)-sabinene hydrate/terpinene-4-ol, p-cymene and carvacrol) of Thymus vulgaris (thyme) that exist in the South of France were analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and characterised. Wild thyme growing in three departments (Bouches du Rhone, Var and Vaucluse) of Provence and in a fourth neighbouring department (Gard) was also studied. This is often the result of a mixture of three chemotypes: thymol, carvacrol and p-cymene. Linalool and (E)-sabinene hydrate/terpinene-4-ol were observed as minor chemotypes. GC/MS was also used to monitor seasonal variations in the composition of the oil obtained from thyme harvested at the same location (Gemenos, near Marseille, Bouches du Rhone) during the plant vegetative and life cycles (19 samples). Four components were determined: the phenols thymol and carvacrol and the monoterpene hydrocarbon precursors p-cymene and γ-terpinene. Results showed maximum oil (34.1 mL kg−1 dry matter) and phenolic terpenoid (95.4 mmol kg−1 dry matter) contents occurring in May, the period of flowering and harvesting. In contrast, in December the oil displayed a higher level of phenolic precursors (p-cymene and γ-terpinene, 72.8 mmol kg−1 dry matter) than phenolic terpenoids. Depending on the harvesting date, the oils isolated from southern French thyme (T. vulgaris) could have different potential biological activities. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
Supramaximal-Exercise Training Improves Heart Rate Variability in Association With Reduced Catecholamine in Obese Adults

This study investigates the effect of 6 weeks of supramaximal exercise training (SET) on heart rate variability (HRV) and associated factors in sedentary obese (OB) and normal-weight (NW) adults. In this study, 19 OB [22.9 (8.4) years; body mass index (BMI) 33.4 (1.4) kg/m2] and 18 NW [23.2 (4.4) years; BMI 23.3 (1.2) kg/m2] adults completed a 6-week SET intervention. Anthropometric and aerobic indicators as well the homeostasis model assessment index for insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) were assessed at baseline and after SET. The low- and high-frequency [(LF (0.03–0.15 Hz) in ms2 and HF (0.15–0.4 Hz) in ms2)] analysis of HRV as well as adrenaline (A in nmol/l) and noradrenaline (NA in nmol/l) responses were assessed at resting condition and during ventilatory threshold 1 (VT1) of a graded maximal test at baseline and after SET. At baseline, resting HF, LF and the LF/HF ratio were different among groups (P < 0.01, respectively) and were significantly associated with waist-to-hip ratio (β = −0.26; p = 0.01, β = −0.12; p = 0.01 and, β = 0.21; p = 0.01). During exertion at VT1, only LF/HF ratio was associated with NA responses (β = 0.23; p = 0.01). After SET, the frequency domain marker improved significantly for both groups in comparison to baseline. These improvements are manifested by LF and HF increases and LF/HF ratio decreases in the rest condition (p < 0.01, respectively) and during exertion at VT1 (p < 0.01, respectively). The improvement in LH and HF were associated with VO2max increases (β = 0.22 p = 0.01 and β = 0.33; p = 0.01). The decreases observed for the LF/HF ratio are mainly associated to NA decreases observed at rest (β = 0.31; p = 0.001) and at VT1 (β = 0.38; p = 0.001). Obese adults have altered HRV, and 6 weeks of SET improves HRV variables at rest and during VT1 exertion. While LF and HF improvement were associated with VO2max increases, the LF/HF ratio was mainly associated with noradrenaline decreases observed at rest and at VT1.
Concept of a Tri-band Frequency Reconfigurable Microstrip Patch Antenna

A compact reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna capable of working at three different frequency bands is presented in this paper. Connecting and disconnecting secondary structures from the main patch, allows a change in the dimensions of the antenna leading to three resonating frequencies (9, 12.5 and 16GHz). The experimental measurements carried out on the prototype are in line with the results obtained by electromagnetic simulation. With this technique, it is possible to design a single antenna operating at various frequencies.
Implementation of DC-DC PFM Boost Power Converter for Low-power Energy Harvesting Applications

This paper implements a low-power PFM boost power converter that can be applied to low-voltage energy harvesting systems, such as in the IoT intelligent micro-sensing power module or energy harvesting interface circuit. The interface circuit can provide power management functions between the energy harvesting device and the electric load. The power converter uses the PFM feedback control mechanism to implement a boost converter which can stabilize the output voltage when the input voltage and load change. And when the input voltage of the PFM boost power converter circuit is less than the transition voltage of the Schmitt triggered inverter circuit, the PFM control circuit of the power converter will stop operating the feedback control regulation process, and the boost power converter will enter the standby mode. Therefore, the static power consumption of the boost power converter is minimized. The overall circuit is simulated and designed using TSMC 0.35um 2P4M CMOS process technology. The converter having 0.324x0. 43015 mm2 chip size and power dissipation about 2.287mW. This chip can operate with input supply voltage from 2.0V to 2.5V, and its output voltage can stable at 3.0V and less than 20mV ripple voltage at maximum output current 10mA. The converter with a load regulation is less than 0.944mV/mA and the line voltage regulation is less than 34.6mV/V.
Analysis Of High Efficiency Single-Input Triple-Outputs Dc-Dc Converter With Coupled Inductor

The aim of this article is to Analysis of high efficiency single-input triple-outputs dc/dc converter. The converter presented will raise input of the low voltage and have three output voltages. This converter uses a coupled inductor with few turns and one power switch to get high stepup gain and borrow an inductor to change the positions of a voltage of the auxiliary source terminal. Also, this converter uses voltage clamping and zerocurrentswitching to achieve the goals of high efficient transformation and three different voltage scales. The simulation been done in MATLAB/ SIMULINK platform and respective results were presented.
Personalized Extractive Summarization for a News Dialogue System

In modern society, people’s interests and preferences are diversifying. Along with this, the demand for personalized summarization technology is increasing. In this study, we propose a method for generating summaries tailored to each user’s interests using profile features obtained from questionnaires administered to users of our spoken-dialogue news delivery system. We propose a method that collects and uses the obtained user profile features to generate a summary tailored to each user’s interests, specifically, the sentence features obtained by BERT and user profile features obtained from the questionnaire result. In addition, we propose a method for extracting sentences by solving an integer linear programming problem that considers redundancy and context coherence, using the degree of interest in sentences estimated by the model. The results of our experiments confirmed that summaries generated based on the degree of interest in sentences estimated using user profile information can transmit information more efficiently than summaries based solely on the importance of sentences.
Novel Microbial Groups Drive Productivity in an Archean Iron Formation

Deep subsurface environments are decoupled from Earth’s surface processes yet diverse, active, and abundant microbial communities thrive in these isolated environments. Microbes inhabiting the deep biosphere face unique challenges such as electron donor/acceptor limitations, pore space/fracture network limitations, and isolation from other microbes within the formation. Of the few systems that have been characterized, it is apparent that nutrient limitations likely facilitate diverse microbe-microbe interactions (i.e., syntrophic, symbiotic, or parasitic) and that these interactions drive biogeochemical cycling of major elements. Here we describe microbial communities living in low temperature, chemically reduced brines at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park, United States. The Soudan Iron mine intersects a massive hematite formation at the southern extent of the Canadian Shield. Fractured rock aquifer brines continuously flow from exploratory boreholes drilled circa 1960 and are enriched in deuterium compared to the global meteoric values, indicating brines have had little contact with surface derived waters, and continually degas low molecular weight hydrocarbons C1-C4. Microbial enrichments suggest that once brines exit the boreholes, oxidation of the hydrocarbons occur. Amplicon sequencing show these borehole communities are low in diversity and dominated by Firmicute and Proteobacteria phyla. From the metagenome assemblies, we recovered approximately thirty genomes with estimated completion over 50%. Analysis of genome taxonomy generally followed the amplicon data, and highlights that several of the genomes represent novel families and genera. Metabolic reconstruction shows two carbon-fixation pathways were dominant, the Wood-Ljungdahl (acetogenesis) and Calvin-Benson-Bassham (via RuBisCo), indicating that inorganic carbon likely enters into the microbial foodweb with differing carbon fractionation potentials. Interestingly, methanogenesis is likely driven by Methanolobus and suggests cycling of methylated compounds and not H2/CO2 or acetate. Furthermore, the abundance of sulfate in brines suggests cryptic sulfur cycling may occur, as we detect possible sulfate reducing and thiosulfate oxidizing microorganisms. Finally, a majority of the microorganisms identified contain genes that would allow them to participate in several element cycles, highlighting that in these deep isolated systems metabolic flexibility may be an important life history trait.
A Conditional Cycle Emotion Gan for Cross Corpus Speech Emotion Recognition

Speech emotion recognition (SER) is important in enabling personalized services and multimedia applications in our life. It also becomes a prevalent topic of research with its potential in creating a better user experience across many modern technologies. However, the highly contextualized scenario and expensive emotion labeling required cause a severe mismatch between already limited-in-scale speech emotional corpora; this hinders the wide adoption of SER. In this work, instead of conventionally learning a common feature space between corpora, we take a novel approach in enhancing the variability of the source (labeled) corpus that is target (unlabeled) data-aware by generating synthetic source domain data using a conditional cycle emotion generative adversarial network (CCEmoGAN). Note that no target samples with label are used during whole training process. We evaluate our framework in cross corpus emotion recognition tasks and obtain a three classes valence recognition accuracy of 47.56%, 50.11% and activation accuracy of 51.13%, 65.7% when transferring from the IEMOCAP to the CIT dataset, and the IEMOCAP to the MSP-IMPROV dataset respectively. The benefit of increasing target domain-aware variability in the source domain to improve emotion discriminability in cross corpus emotion recognition is further visualized in our augmented data space.
Monitoring and Control of PV Microgrid using IoT

A Microgrid (MG) is a small-scale power grid that can operate independently or collaboratively with other power grids. The practice of using MGs is known as distributed energy production (DER). Microgrid refers to the distributed energy sources which in turn can be connected to the main grid network or can be made standalone. IoT presents a solution for improving the performance of power generation in a distributed energy resources (DER) in MG. For multiple MG systems, IoT provides a method to interconnect all the system such that all the MG systems combines together and can be connected to grid simultaneously to support the load demand in peak time, which reduces the overall load on the power generation plant.
Design Guidelines for Topology Management in Software-Defined Vehicular Networks

Software-Defined Vehicular Networks (SDVNs) have been a vital component to various radio access technologies that supports massive data loads in various security and infotainment applications. SDVNs elevate the constraints of static hardware network devices to programmable units and provide a global view of the network's status and a common interface between varied radio access technologies. However, having a logically centralized control unit comes with several challenges, including bottleneck issues and densification issues. The distributed control plane appears as a possible alternative to the centralized one yet raises questions concerning where to deploy control units, how many SDN controllers are needed in a given network structure, and when to migrate switches or change controllers. Therefore, the development of an efficient topology management entity is an important aspect that needs to be addressed. In this article, we define the main components necessary to develop and design an efficient SDVN topology management architecture. We evaluate the current solutions and methods of controllers' deployment and assignment for software-defined vehicle networks. We then discuss several challenges, design guidelines, open issues, and future directions for research related to the development of future adaptive software-defined vehicular networks.