Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Envelope Enhancement on Speech Perception in Individuals with Auditory Neuropathy

Objectives: To investigate the ability to identify consonant-vowel (CV) stimuli by individuals with auditory neuropathy (AN) when the envelope of the speech signal is enhanced by15 dB for different modulation bandwidths (3 to 10 Hz; 3 to 20 Hz; 3 to 30 Hz; 3 to 60 Hz). Design: Eight individuals with auditory neuropathy whose pure-tone thresholds ranged from 30 to 70 dB HL participated in the present study. Speech material consisted of five lists of CV, one unprocessed and four with envelope enhancement. The magnitude of envelope enhancement was 15 dB and the bandwidths used were 3 to 10 Hz, 3 to 20 Hz, 3 to 30 Hz, and 3 to 60 Hz. Results: Speech identification scores improved when the envelope of the speech was enhanced. The improvement was greater for the broader bandwidth (3 to 30 Hz) conditions when compared with the smaller bandwidth (3 to 10 Hz and 3 to 20 Hz) conditions. In the unprocessed condition, manner of articulation was transmitted better than voicing and place of articulation. In the envelope-enhanced conditions, cues for manner and place of articulation were transmitted better than voicing. Conclusions: Envelope enhancement using digital techniques improves speech perception by individuals with auditory neuropathy, and it may be a viable option for the rehabilitation of these individuals. However, the magnitude of envelope enhancement of speech required for maximal improvement of speech perception is yet to be determined.
Symmetric tensor decomposition

We present an algorithm for decomposing a symmetric tensor of dimension n and order d as a sum of of rank-1 symmetric tensors, extending the algorithm of Sylvester devised in 1886 for symmetric tensors of dimension 2. We exploit the known fact that every symmetric tensor is equivalently represented by a homogeneous polynomial in n variables of total degree d. Thus the decomposition corresponds to a sum of powers of linear forms. The impact of this contribution is two-fold. First it permits an efficient computation of the decomposition of any tensor of sub-generic rank, as opposed to widely used iterative algorithms with unproved convergence (e.g. Alternate Least Squares or gradient descents). Second, it gives tools for understanding uniqueness conditions, and for detecting the tensor rank.
Clouds, Aerosols, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer: An Arm Mobile Facility Deployment

© Copyright 2015 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act September 2010 Page 2 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a web site or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy, available on the AMS Web site located at (https://www.ametsoc.org/) or from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or copyrights@ametsoc.org.
Nanodrug-Enhanced Radiofrequency Tumor Ablation: Effect of Micellar or Liposomal Carrier on Drug Delivery and Treatment Efficacy

Purpose To determine the effect of different drug-loaded nanocarriers (micelles and liposomes) on delivery and treatment efficacy for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) combined with nanodrugs. Materials/Methods Fischer 344 rats were used (n = 196). First, single subcutaneous R3230 tumors or normal liver underwent RFA followed by immediate administration of IV fluorescent beads (20, 100, and 500 nm), with fluorescent intensity measured at 4–24 hr. Next, to study carrier type on drug efficiency, RFA was combined with micellar (20 nm) or liposomal (100 nm) preparations of doxorubicin (Dox; targeting HIF-1α) or quercetin (Qu; targeting HSP70). Animals received RFA alone, RFA with Lipo-Dox or Mic-Dox (1 mg IV, 15 min post-RFA), and RFA with Lipo-Qu or Mic-Qu given 24 hr pre- or 15 min post-RFA (0.3 mg IV). Tumor coagulation and HIF-1α orHSP70 expression were assessed 24 hr post-RFA. Third, the effect of RFA combined with IV Lipo-Dox, Mic-Dox, Lipo-Qu, or Mic-Qu (15 min post-RFA) compared to RFA alone on tumor growth and animal endpoint survival was evaluated. Finally, drug uptake was compared between RFA/Lipo-Dox and RFA/Mic-Dox at 4–72 hr. Results Smaller 20 nm beads had greater deposition and deeper tissue penetration in both tumor (100 nm/500 nm) and liver (100 nm) (p<0.05). Mic-Dox and Mic-Qu suppressed periablational HIF-1α or HSP70 rim thickness more than liposomal preparations (p<0.05). RFA/Mic-Dox had greater early (4 hr) intratumoral doxorubicin, but RFA/Lipo-Dox had progressively higher intratumoral doxorubicin at 24–72 hr post-RFA (p<0.04). No difference in tumor growth and survival was seen between RFA/Lipo-Qu and RFA/Mic-Qu. Yet, RFA/Lipo-Dox led to greater animal endpoint survival compared to RFA/Mic-Dox (p<0.03). Conclusion With RF ablation, smaller particle micelles have superior penetration and more effective local molecular modulation. However, larger long-circulating liposomal carriers can result in greater intratumoral drug accumulation over time and reduced tumor growth. Accordingly, different carriers provide specific advantages, which should be considered when formulating optimal combination therapies.
The impact of near domain transfer on biomedical named entity recognition

Current research in fully supervised biomedical named entity recognition (bioNER) is often conducted in a setting of low sample sizes. Whilst experimental results show strong performance in-domain it has been recognised that quality suffers when models are applied to heterogeneous text collections. However the causal factors have until now been uncertain. In this paper we describe a controlled experiment into near domain bias for two Medline corpora on hereditary diseases. Five strategies are employed for mitigating the impact of near domain transference including simple transference, pooling, stacking, class re-labeling and feature augmentation. We measure their effect on f-score performance against an in domain baseline. Stacking and feature augmentation mitigate f-score loss but do not necessarily result in superior performance except for selected classes. Simple pooling of data across domains failed to exploit size effects for most classes. We conclude that we can expect lower performance and higher annotation costs if we do not adequately compensate for the distributional dissimilarities of domains during learning.
Grandfathering: the construction of new identities and masculinities

Men’s roles and identities as grandfathers are insufficiently explored in social science literatures (Bates, 2009; Tarrant, 2010). There has been a proliferation of interest in fathering and grandparenting in Britain (Clarke and Roberts, 2002; Dench and Ogg, 2002), but this has not resulted in further interest in grandfathers, whose roles, relationships, identities and practices remain inadequately theorised (Mann, 2007). This chapter focuses on men who are grandfathering with a particular focus on stories of men whose families have been affected and restructured by divorce, either their own divorce or the breakdown of their children’s relationships. My analysis of the empirical data confirms that men want to be involved in their grandchildren’s lives and this is achieved through various practices. It further reveals that this form and functioning of grandfathering is regulated by the quality and character of intergenerational relationships (as conceptualised by Katz and Lowenstein, 2010), which influences how men perform and construct their identities in a variety of ways. A ‘new’ identities approach (Fairhurst, 2003) is suggested to make sense of how the contemporary context shapes the familial and intergenerational relationships of men in middle- and old-age, and gives rise to multiple grandfathering roles and experiences. The chapter therefore focuses on grandfathering, identity construction and masculinities, and the contradictions that some men face in resolving these.
The Catalytic Activity of Protein-disulfide Isomerase Requires a Conformationally Flexible Molecule*

Protein-disulfide isomerase (PDI) catalyzes the formation of the correct pattern of disulfide bonds in secretory proteins. A low resolution crystal structure of yeast PDI described here reveals large scale conformational changes compared with the initially reported structure, indicating that PDI is a highly flexible molecule with its catalytic domains, a and a′, representing two mobile arms connected to a more rigid core composed of the b and b′ domains. Limited proteolysis revealed that the linker between the a domain and the core is more susceptible to degradation than that connecting the a′ domain to the core. By restricting the two arms with inter-domain disulfide bonds, the molecular flexibility of PDI, especially that of its a domain, was demonstrated to be essential for the enzymatic activity in vitro and in vivo. The crystal structure also featured a PDI dimer, and a propensity to dimerize in solution and in the ER was confirmed by cross-linking experiments and the split green fluorescent protein system. Although sedimentation studies suggested that the self-association of PDI is weak, we hypothesize that PDI exists as an interconvertible mixture of monomers and dimers in the endoplasmic reticulum due to its high abundance in this compartment.
Risk, Unexpected Uncertainty, and Estimation Uncertainty: Bayesian Learning in Unstable Settings

Recently, evidence has emerged that humans approach learning using Bayesian updating rather than (model-free) reinforcement algorithms in a six-arm restless bandit problem. Here, we investigate what this implies for human appreciation of uncertainty. In our task, a Bayesian learner distinguishes three equally salient levels of uncertainty. First, the Bayesian perceives irreducible uncertainty or risk: even knowing the payoff probabilities of a given arm, the outcome remains uncertain. Second, there is (parameter) estimation uncertainty or ambiguity: payoff probabilities are unknown and need to be estimated. Third, the outcome probabilities of the arms change: the sudden jumps are referred to as unexpected uncertainty. We document how the three levels of uncertainty evolved during the course of our experiment and how it affected the learning rate. We then zoom in on estimation uncertainty, which has been suggested to be a driving force in exploration, in spite of evidence of widespread aversion to ambiguity. Our data corroborate the latter. We discuss neural evidence that foreshadowed the ability of humans to distinguish between the three levels of uncertainty. Finally, we investigate the boundaries of human capacity to implement Bayesian learning. We repeat the experiment with different instructions, reflecting varying levels of structural uncertainty. Under this fourth notion of uncertainty, choices were no better explained by Bayesian updating than by (model-free) reinforcement learning. Exit questionnaires revealed that participants remained unaware of the presence of unexpected uncertainty and failed to acquire the right model with which to implement Bayesian updating.
Simulation and SAT Based ATPG for Compressed Test Generation

This paper presents a novel ATPG algorithm directly producing compressed test patterns. It benefits both from the features of satisfiability-based techniques and symbolic simulation. The ATPG is targeted to architectures comprised of interconnected embedded cores, particularly to the RESPIN architecture. We show experimentally that the proposed ATPG significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of the test compression ratio.
Early haemoglobin-independent increase of plasma erythropoietin levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

AIMS We studied plasma erythropoietin (EPO) levels and their relation with CD34(+)VEGFR-2(+) (mature and progenitor endothelial cells) and CD34(+) CD133(+)VEGFR-2(+), or CD34(+) CD117(+)VEGFR-2(+) (early/immature endothelial progenitors) cells in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS AND RESULTS Fifty AMI patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 6 h of symptom onset were enrolled. EPO, measured by ELISA, and cell subsets, by cytofluorimetric analysis, were evaluated before PCI, 24 h and 7 days afterwards. Forty-five healthy subjects (CTRLs) were studied. Plasma EPO levels were higher in AMI patients at admission, 24 h, and 7 days (P = 0.04, P = 0.0001, P = 0.001, respectively) than in CTRLs. No correlation was evidenced between EPO and haemoglobin (Hb) or haematocrit at admission or 24 h after AMI. Differently, both Hb and haematocrit inversely correlated with EPO at day 7 (P = 0.0016, P = 0.029, respectively). Plasma EPO levels correlated with CD34(+)CD133(+)VEGFR-2(+) cells at day 7 (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION AMI patients have increased plasma EPO levels until day 7. In the early phase, plasma EPO levels are Hb-independent; at day 7, an Hb-modulated increase of EPO correlates with the percentage of CD34(+)CD133(+)VEGFR-2(+) cells.
BEŞ FAKTÖR KURAMINA DAYALI BİR KİŞİLİK ÖLÇEĞİNİN GELİŞTİRİLMESİ: SIFATLARA DAYALI KİŞİLİK TESTİ (SDKT)

Bu calismanin amaci Bes Faktor kuramindan yola cikilarak, bu faktorlere uygun sifat ciftleri kullanilarak madde sayisi az, iki uclu bir olcegin gelistirilmesidir. Sifatlara Dayali Kisilik Testi (SDKT)’nin faktor yapisini belirlemek icin Direct Oblimin dondurme ile temel bilesenler analizi yonteminden yararlanilmistir. Aracin uyum gecerligini sinamak icin Sosyotropi Olcegi, Catismalara Tepki Olcegi, Negatif-Pozitif Duygu Olcegi, Surekli Kaygi Envanteri kullanilmistir. Guvenirlik icin test tekrari (2 hafta ara) yonteminden yararlanilmis ve faktorlerin ic tutarligi Cronbach Alfa katsayisi ile hesaplanmistir. Yapilan analizler sonucunda SDKT’nin psikometrik ozellikleri tatminkâr duzeyde bulunmus, olcegin universite ogrencileri uzerinde kullanilabilir bir arac oldugu sonucuna varilmistir.
Comparison of deep gray matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging among adults with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, and neuromyelitis optica

Background: Deep gray matter lesions have been reported in patients with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), multiple sclerosis (MS), and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the features of deep gray matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) among adult patients with ADEM, MS, and NMO. Methods: Ninety-five adult patients with ADEM (n=12), MS (n=60), and NMO (n=23) who had deep gray matter lesions on MRI were enrolled. Morphological features of deep gray matter lesions among these patients were assessed. Results: Putamen involvement was more common in patients with ADEM than in patients with MS and NMO. Differing from children, thalamus involvement might not be helpful in differentiating ADEM from MS in adults. Hypothalamus involvement was more common in patients with NMO than in patients with ADEM and MS. More importantly, bilateral hypothalamus involvement was more helpful in differentiating NMO from MS. The diameter of the thalamus lesions in patients with ADEM was larger than that in patients with NMO. Conclusions: Morphological features of deep gray matter lesions vary among adult patients with ADEM, MS, and NMO, and may be helpful in distinguishing these diseases.
Comparison of Brain Activation during Word Retrieval Done Silently and Aloud Using fMRI

Using functional MRI we compared the patterns of activation in an effortful word retrieval task (stem completion) performed both silently and aloud. The silent and overt conditions showed expected differences in activation magnitude in regions such as primary motor cortex. Some regions, such as frontal operculum and dorsolateral frontal cortex, showed similar activation magnitude across conditions. Thalamus was more active on the left in both conditions and showed a symmetric drop in activity in the silent compared with the overt condition. Putamen was also more active in the overt condition and showed a larger decrease in activity on the right than on the left in the silent compared with the overt condition. Thus it appears that silent and overt performance of this task engage the thalamus and putamen in different ways.
Transneuronal cell degeneration in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the macaque monkey.

Recent quantitative studies of transneuronal degeneration in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral geniculate body (Cook, Walker & Barr, 1951) and in the superior cervical ganglion (Hamlyn, 1954) have served to establish that in the adult cat and rabbit the nerve cells here undergo a slow and comparatively mild process of degeneration following interruption of their afferent connexions, and that within the limits of the survival periods used no obvious cell loss occurs. In Primates, on the other hand, transneuronal degeneration in the lateral geniculate nucleus appears to be a more fulminating process, as it has been found to occur as early as 7 days after eye enucleation in the monkey (Glees & Le Gros Clark, 1941). Furthermore, in a human case at least 36 years after an eye removal Goldby (1957) has shown that the degree of cell shrinkage in the parvocellular laminae is considerably more marked than in the cat and rabbit after a survival period of 313 days, and that in these laminate about 50% of the cells had completely disappeared. In view of the early onset of transneuronal degeneration in the monkey, experiments have been carried out to study the course of the degenerative process in this species. As this problem can only be investigated by quantitative methods, a study comparable to that of Cook et al. (1951) has been made in a series of monkeys during the first 4 months after unilateral eye enucleation. A point of particular interest in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the Primates is its organization into largeand smallcelled laminae. The functional significance of this arrangement is not at all clear, but it appears that these two cell populations react differently both to deafferentation and to axonal section. In transneuronal changes affecting these cell groups, there is evidence that after long survival periods the large cells are less severely affected, and we have therefore sought to determine whether these differences are apparent from the beginning and continue through all stages of the degenerative process.
Silencing of Mammalian Sar1 Isoforms Reveals COPII‐Independent Protein Sorting and Transport

The Sar1 GTPase coordinates the assembly of coat protein complex‐II (COPII) at specific sites of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). COPII is required for ER‐to‐Golgi transport, as it provides a structural and functional framework to ship out protein cargoes produced in the ER. To investigate the requirement of COPII‐mediated transport in mammalian cells, we used small interfering RNA (siRNA)‐mediated depletion of Sar1A and Sar1B. We report that depletion of these two mammalian forms of Sar1 disrupts COPII assembly and the cells fail to organize transitional elements that coordinate classical ER‐to‐Golgi protein transfer. Under these conditions, minimal Golgi stacks are seen in proximity to juxtanuclear ER membranes that contain elements of the intermediate compartment, and from which these stacks coordinate biosynthetic transport of protein cargo, such as the vesicular stomatitis virus G protein and albumin. Here, transport of procollagen‐I is inhibited. These data provide proof‐of‐principle for the contribution of alternative mechanisms that support biosynthetic trafficking in mammalian cells, providing evidence of a functional boundary associated with a bypass of COPII.
Fibrinolytic response to tumor necrosis factor in healthy subjects

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) may be involved in the disturbance of the procoagulant-fibrinolytic balance in septicemia, leading to microvascular thrombosis. To assess the dynamics of the fibrinolytic response to TNF in humans, we performed a crossover saline-controlled study in six healthy men, investigating the effects of a bolus intravenous injection of recombinant human TNF (50 micrograms/m2) on the stimulation and inhibition of plasminogen activation as well as on plasmin activity and inhibition. TNF induced a brief fourfold increase in the overall plasma plasminogen activator (PA) activity peaking after 1 h (p less than 0.0001), which was associated with rises in the antigenic levels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (p less than 0.0001) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (p less than 0.0001). Plasminogen activator inhibitor type I antigen remained unchanged in the first hour, but showed a rapid eightfold increase thereafter (p less than 0.0001), which coincided with the decrease in PA activity. Generation of plasmin activity in the first hour was signified by an 11- fold rise in D-dimer levels (p less than 0.0001); inhibition of plasmin was reflected by a 36-fold rise in plasmin-alpha 2 antiplasmin complexes (p less than 0.0001), as well as by a transient 16% decrease in alpha 2-antiplasmin activity (p less than 0.01). In conclusion, TNF induced an early activation of the fibrinolytic system becoming maximal in 1 h, with a rapid inhibition thereafter. Earlier observations in the same subjects showed sustained coagulation activation for 6-12 h. The observed disbalance between the procoagulant and fibrinolytic mechanisms after TNF injection confirms the in vivo relevance of the effects of TNF on vascular endothelium in vitro and may explain the tendency towards microvascular thrombosis in septicemia.
A survey of faith leaders concerning health promotion and the level of healthy living activities occurring in faith communities in Scotland

Faith groups constitute a growing health promotion partner in North America where they help increase community capacity. However, in the United Kingdom this collaboration is seemingly far less developed. This study sought to find evidence of health promotion in faith communities and examine perceptions and attitudes concerning health promotion among faith leaders. It also sought to establish the level to which health-promoting activities currently occur in, and are organized by, places of worship in one Scottish city, Dundee. The authors distributed a self-administered questionnaire to representatives of all faith communities in Dundee (response rate 71%, n = 50). The survey identified existing, well-formed community groups, some of whom already engaged in health-promoting activities, and shared similar interests with health promotion professionals. Generally, faith leaders were positive towards the concept of health promotion and many considered health promotion to be compatible with their mission. Not all denominations were equally involved in health promotion activities, for example, some conducted annual one-off activities, while others had well-established walking groups or exercise classes. The responses suggest a degree of readiness by faith communities to engage, if invited, in health promotion programmes. These results also indicate that faith groups may constitute untapped resources, poised to contribute to local health promotion efforts. The article concludes that as the National Health Service (NHS) invests in community-based health initiatives that can have long-term sustainability, it is reasonable to make links between what is happening in North America, the interest in health promotion reported by faith leaders in this study and the possibilities for their participation in voluntary sector community health partnerships.