Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE ROLE OF FACIAL GESTURAL INFORMATION IN SUPPORTING PERCEPTUAL LEARNING OF DEGRADED SPEECH

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES viii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION . 1 Speech Perception 1 Perceptual Learning of Speech 2 Factors Affecting Perceptual Learning of Speech: The Role of Top-down Processing 6 Audiovisual Integration in Speech 13 Contributions of Articulatory Representations to Learning 16 Study Rationale 17 Applications 18 2. EXPERIMENT I: THE ROLE OF AUDIOVISUAL FEEDBACK IN SUPPORTING PERCEPTUAL LEARNING OF NOISE-VOCODED SPEECH 22 Introduction 22 Method 22 Participants 22 Design and Materials 23 Procedure 24 Data Coding and Analysis 27 Results 28 Discussion 29 3. EXPERIMENT II: THE ROLE OF CONCURRENT FACIAL GESTURAL INFORMATION IN SUPPORTING PERCEPTUAL LEARNING OF NOISEVOCODED SPEECH 3
Virtual Line Descriptor and Semi-Local Matching Method for Reliable Feature Correspondence

Finding reliable correspondences between sets of feature points in two images remains challenging in case of ambiguities or strong transformations. In this paper, we deﬁne a photometric descriptor for virtual lines that join neighbouring feature points. We show that it can be used in the second-order term of existing graph matchers to signiﬁcantly improve their accuracy. We also deﬁne a semi-local matching method based on this descriptor. We show that it is robust to strong transformations and more accu-rate than existing graph matchers for scenes with signiﬁcant occlusions, including for very low inlier rates. Used as a preprocessor to ﬁlter outliers from match candidates, it signiﬁcantly improves the robustness of RANSAC and reduces camera calibration errors.
Intermediate and long-term outcomes of total ankle arthroplasty and ankle arthrodesis. A systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND The efficacy of total ankle replacement compared with that of ankle fusion continues to be one of the most debated topics in foot and ankle surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are sufficient objective cumulative data in the literature to compare the two procedures. A systematic review of the literature addressing the intermediate and long-term outcomes of interest in total ankle arthroplasty and ankle arthrodesis was performed. METHODS A comprehensive search of MEDLINE for all relevant articles published in English from January 1, 1990, to March 2005 was conducted. Additionally, relevant abstracts from the 2003 and 2004 annual proceedings of major orthopaedic meetings were eligible. Two reviewers evaluated each study to determine whether it was eligible for inclusion and collected the data of interest. Meta-analytic pooling of group results across studies was performed for the two procedures. The analysis of the outcomes focused on second-generation ankle implants. RESULTS The systematic review identified forty-nine primary studies, ten of which evaluated total ankle arthroplasty in a total of 852 patients and thirty-nine of which evaluated ankle arthrodesis in a total of 1262 patients. The mean AOFAS (American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society) Ankle-Hindfoot Scale score was 78.2 points (95% confidence interval, 71.9 to 84.5) for the patients treated with total ankle arthroplasty and 75.6 points (95% confidence interval, 71.6 to 79.6) for those treated with arthrodesis. Meta-analytic mean results showed 38% of the patients treated with total ankle arthroplasty had an excellent result, 30.5% had a good result, 5.5% had a fair result, and 24% had a poor result. In the arthrodesis group, the corresponding values were 31%, 37%, 13%, and 13%. The five-year implant survival rate was 78% (95% confidence interval, 69.0% to 87.6%) and the ten-year survival rate was 77% (95% confidence interval, 63.3% to 90.8%). The revision rate following total ankle arthroplasty was 7% (95% confidence interval, 3.5% to 10.9%) with the primary reason for the revisions being loosening and/or subsidence (28%). The revision rate following ankle arthrodesis was 9% (95% confidence interval, 5.5% to 11.6%), with the main reason for the revisions being nonunion (65%). One percent of the patients who had undergone total ankle arthroplasty required a below-the-knee amputation compared with 5% in the ankle arthrodesis group. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of these findings, the intermediate outcome of total ankle arthroplasty appears to be similar to that of ankle arthrodesis; however, data were sparse. Comparative studies are needed to strengthen this conclusion.
Acrogranin, an acrosomal cysteine‐rich glycoprotein, is the precursor of the growth‐modulating peptides, granulins, and epithelins, and is expressed in somatic as well as male germ cells

Spermatogenesis is a unique system of differentiation involving cellular remodeling and the biogenesis of sperm‐specific organelles. To study the biogenesis of one such organelle, the acrosome, we have been examining the gene expression, biosynthesis, and targeting of specific acrosomal proteins during mammalian spermatogenesis. An acrosomal marker that we recently purified and began characterizing is acrogranin, a 67,000‐molecular‐weight glycoprotein originally isolated from guinea pig testes. This glycoprotein is detected in pachytene spermatocytes and is found later in the acrosomes of developing spermatids and sperm. Immunoblotting of several tissues and immunofluorescent localization in frozen sections of guinea pig testes suggested that acrogranin was a germ cell‐specific glycoprotein that was expressed meiotically and post‐meiotically. However, Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the mRNA for acrogranin was ubiquitously expressed in all guinea pig and mouse tissues examined. Furthermore, the primary structures of guinea pig and mouse acrogranins, deduced from the cDNA sequences, reveal that this glycoprotein is a cysteine‐rich molecule with a motif that is tandemly repeated seven times, very similar to that of the human epithelin/granulin precursor. We conclude that guinea pig and mouse acrogranins are homologues of the precursor of the human and rat epithelin/granulin peptides previously demonstrated to have growth‐modulating properties. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Combined use of directional atherectomy and drug-coated balloon for the endovascular treatment of common femoral artery disease: immediate and one-year outcomes.

AIMS Surgical endarterectomy is the therapy of choice for atherosclerotic common femoral artery (CFA) obstruction. Recently, some large single-centre series have shown encouraging results for the percutaneous treatment of CFA obstructions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and one-year efficacy of the endovascular treatment of CFA obstructions with combined use of directional atherectomy (DA) and a paclitaxel-coated balloon (DCB). METHODS AND RESULTS Between January 2012 and July 2014, 30 consecutive patients with severely calcified obstructions of the common femoral artery were treated in our centre using DA followed by DCB dilatation. Provisional stenting was allowed in the case of a suboptimal result. Twenty cases (66%) were isolated CFA interventions, whereas five (17%) and five (17%) also involved inflow and outflow vessels, respectively. Chronic total CFA occlusions (CTO) were recanalised in six cases (20%). Procedural success was achieved in all cases; stenting was needed in three cases (10%). At one year, restenosis and target lesion revascularisation were observed in two of 30 (6.6%) and one of 30 (3.3%) patients, respectively. The secondary patency rate was 96.7%. CONCLUSIONS This single-centre prospective study suggests that the combined use of DA and DCB is a safe and effective alternative to surgery, a treatment option for common femoral artery lesions and provides encouraging results in this setting.
Differential expression of cell cycle and apoptosis related proteins in colorectal mucosa, primary colon tumours, and liver metastases.

AIMS Tumour cell growth results from a disturbance in the balance between the rate of proliferation and cell death. In this study, proteins involved in the regulation of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were studied as possible factors responsible for uncontrolled cell growth in colorectal cancer. METHODS The expression of proteins involved in these processes was investigated in 48 metastases from patients with colorectal cancer and compared with eight normal colon mucosa samples and 14 primary tumours. Both primary tumours and metastases were obtained from eight patients. The expression of thymidylate synthase (TS), p53, retinoblastoma protein (Rb), Fas receptor, Fas ligand, bcl-2, mcl-1, bax, and bcl-x was measured using immunohistochemistry. Proliferation was determined by Ki67 staining, whereas apoptosis was assessed by M30 immunostaining, which recognises cleaved cytokeratin 18. RESULTS In the limited number of cases in which paired comparisons were possible, the expression of TS and Ki67 was significantly higher in metastases than in the matched primary tumour samples (p = 0.014 and 0.016, respectively), whereas Rb expression was lower in metastases than in primary tumours (p = 0.024). Fas receptor expression was high in normal mucosa but absent in primary tumours and metastases, whereas the opposite was seen for p53. The expression of bax, mcl-1, and bcl-x in normal mucosa was more apical than that seen in malignant cells, where a more diffuse expression pattern was seen (p < 0.04). Apoptosis was more abundant in primary tumours than in metastases. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that proliferation and apoptosis are disturbed during colorectal cancer progression, and this is accompanied by loss of Rb and Fas expression, the accumulation of p53 and TS, and changes in the expression patterns of bax, mcl-1, and bcl-xl.
Influence of various parameters on heat-induced internal sulphate attack

The work presented in this article studies the effects of some parameters that can be considered, a priori, as important in the appearance of delayed ettringite formation (DEF). The parameters studied are the nature of the binder, the water/cement (W/C) ratio, the preliminary microcracking (wetting–drying cycles) and the curing conditions. The results presented show that the chemical composition of cement is one of the main parameters controlling the appearance of DEF. The other parameters studied, (W/C ratio, wetting–drying cycles and temperature of curing water) principally modify the kinetics of the expansion: it seems that, the more favourable the conditions are to ionic and hydrous transfers, the sooner the expansion starts. Finally, the renewal of the curing water strongly affects the start of DEF. In one case of the study, the renewal of the curing water only accelerated the start of the expansion. In the second, it led to late starting of DEF (four years) whereas the same mixture cured continuously in water that was not renewed still had not expanded after more than five years. L’étude présentée dans cet article a pour objectif d’observer les effets de certains paramètres que l’on peut qualifier a priori d’importants vis-à-vis de l’apparition de la DEF. Les paramètres étudiés sont la nature du liant, le rapport E/C des mélanges, le préendommagement des éprouvettes (cycles d’humidification-séchage) et, enfin, les conditions de conservation des échantillons. Les résultats présentés montrent que la composition chimique du ciment est l’un des principaux paramètres contrôlant l’apparition de la DEF. Les autres paramètres étudiés (rapport E/C, cycles d’humidification-séchage et la température de l’eau de conservation des échantillons), modifient principalement la cinétique de l’expansion: il semble que plus les conditions sont favorables pour améliorer les transferts ioniques et hydriques, plus l’apparition des expansions est accélérée. Enfin, le renouvellement de l’eau de conservation affecte fortement le début de l’apparition de la DEF. Dans un cas d’étude, il n’a fait qu’accélérer le début de l’expansion. Dans un second cas, le renouvellement de l’eau de conservation a permis le déclenchement de la DEF au bout de 4 ans, alors que le même mélange conservé en permanence dans l’eau qui n’a pas été renouvelé n’avait pas encore montré de gonflement après plus de 5 ans.
Hijacking the Cellular Mail: Exosome Mediated Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Bone transplantation is one of the most widely performed clinical procedures. Consequently, bone regeneration using mesenchymal stem cells and tissue engineering strategies is one of the most widely researched fields in regenerative medicine. Recent scientific consensus indicates that a biomimetic approach is required to achieve proper regeneration of any tissue. Exosomes are nanovesicles secreted by cells that act as messengers that influence cell fate. Although exosomal function has been studied with respect to cancer and immunology, the role of exosomes as inducers of stem cell differentiation has not been explored. We hypothesized that exosomes can be used as biomimetic tools for regenerative medicine. In this study we have explored the use of cell-generated exosomes as tools to induce lineage specific differentiation of stem cells. Our results indicate that proosteogenic exosomes isolated from cell cultures can induce lineage specific differentiation of naïve MSCs in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, exosomes can also bind to matrix proteins such as type I collagen and fibronectin enabling them to be tethered to biomaterials. Overall, the results from this study show the potential of cell derived exosomes in bone regenerative medicine and opens up new avenues for future research.
Online Large-Margin Training for Statistical Machine Translation

We achieved a state of the art performance in statistical machine translation by using a large number of features with an online large-margin training algorithm. The millions of parameters were tuned only on a small development set consisting of less than 1K sentences. Experiments on Arabic-toEnglish translation indicated that a model trained with sparse binary features outperformed a conventional SMT system with a small number of features.
Towards an Optimal Subspace for K-Means

Is there an optimal dimensionality reduction for k-means, revealing the prominent cluster structure hidden in the data? We propose SUBKMEANS, which extends the classic k-means algorithm. The goal of this algorithm is twofold: find a sufficient k-means-style clustering partition and transform the clusters onto a common subspace, which is optimal for the cluster structure. Our solution is able to pursue these two goals simultaneously. The dimensionality of this subspace is found automatically and therefore the algorithm comes without the burden of additional parameters. At the same time this subspace helps to mitigate the curse of dimensionality. The SUBKMEANS optimization algorithm is intriguingly simple and efficient. It is easy to implement and can readily be adopted to the current situation. Furthermore, it is compatible to many existing extensions and improvements of k-means.
Perioperative Intranasal Mupirocin for the Prevention of Surgical-Site Infections: Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis

Abstract Objective: To review the evidence evaluating perioperative intranasal mupirocin for the prevention of surgical-site infections according to type of surgical procedure. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of published clinical trials. Setting: Studies included were either randomized clinical trial or prospective trials at a single institution that measured outcomes both before and after an institution-wide intervention (before-after trial). In all studies, intervention and control groups differed only by the use of perioperative intranasal mupirocin in the intervention group. Patients: Patients undergoing general or nongeneral surgery (eg, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopedic surgery, and neurosurgery). Main Outcome Measure: Risk of surgical-site infection following perioperative intranasal mupirocin versus usual care. Results: Three randomized and four before-after trials met the inclusion criteria. No reduction in surgical-site infection rate was seen in randomized general surgery trials (summary estimates: 8.4% in the mupirocin group and 8.1% in the control group; relative risk [RR], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI95], 0.81 to 1.33). In nongeneral surgery, the use of mupirocin was associated with a reduction in surgical-site infection in randomized trials (summary estimates: 6.0% in the mupirocin group and 7.6% in the control group; RR, 0.80; CI95, 0.58 to 1.10) and in before-after trials (summary estimates: 1.7% in the mupirocin group and 4.1% in the control group; RR, 0.40; CI95, 0.29 to 0.56). Conclusions: Perioperative intranasal mupirocin appears to decrease the incidence of surgical-site infection when used as prophylaxis in nongeneral surgery. Given its low risk and low cost, use of perioperative intranasal mupirocin should be considered in these settings.
PERMANENT DISABILITIES IN CHILDHOOD SURVIVORS OF LANGERHANS CELL HISTIOCYTOSIS

This study evaluates the permanent disabilities in children treated for Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). From January 1983 to December 1993, 50 patients with newly diagnosed biopsy proven LCH were seen at the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, India. Disease pattern, treatment, survival, and disabilities of the patients were studied. Patients with localized disease had surgery, irradiation, or steroids. Patients with disseminated disease had combination chemotherapy. Follow-up ranged from 36 to 156 months (median follow-up 85 months). Twelve of the 41 surviving patients (29.2%) had one or more disabilities. Growth retardation was seen in 8 patients, diabetes insipidus in 7, loss of teeth in 6, and mandibular defect, chronic aural discharge, partial hearing loss, facial palsy, and proptosis in 2 each. In short, a significant proportion of survivors of LCH had sequelae, which affected their quality of life. More intensive chemotherapy at the beginning might be helpful in reducing the disabilities.
Computerized adaptation of The Placing Test for early detection of both mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Changes in the hippocampal system have been proposed as a possible marker of incipient Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage. The Placing Test (TPT) evaluates the efficiency of the hippocampal system by measuring the ability to remember associations between images and their locations. Our aim was to validate a novel paper-and-pencil (PnP) version of TPT featuring people’s faces in color (versus the traditional test carried out with black-and-white images) and a computerized Placing test with categories of objects, faces, and animals (versus a version featuring the categories of objects, faces, and shapes). A total of 78 subjects were divided into 2 groups; each group included 20 normal control subjects, 10 subjects with MCI, and 9 with AD. All subjects underwent TPT. The correlation between the two versions of the test was highly significant (r = .770, p < .001), demonstrating that the transfer of the test format from PnP to computer was acceptable. Computerized object and animal subtests had the highest overall sensitivity and specificity for discriminating MCI from AD, while PnP faces in color discriminated controls from MCI best. Although this was a preliminary assessment on a small sample of subjects, the results of our study demonstrated that total scores on both the traditional and computerized versions of the test discriminate all three diagnostic categories, but the subtests had varying discriminatory abilities.
Mechanical Analysis for Laying Thermal Insulation Pipe

When crude oil contains wax and hydrate depositions, thermal management is needed to built up to prevent these deposition formation. Thermal insulation pipe is the common measure. Laying thermal insulation pipe is a complex operation due to their multi-layer structure and heavier weight. In this paper, mechanical analysis for thermal insulation pipe laid by S-lay is carried out. Large deformation theory is applied to establish S-lay model. Equivalent stiffness theory is used to solve the complicated structure. Numerical simulation is done to investigate the effect of controlling parameters to the pipe configuration. Numerical results show that the tension is the main controlling parameter during pipelay.
Structure-Activity–Dependent Regulation of Cell Communication by Perfluorinated Fatty Acids using in Vivo and in Vitro Model Systems

Background Perfluoroalkanoates, [e.g., perfluorooctanoate (PFOA)], are known peroxisome proliferators that induce hepatomegaly and hepatocarcinogenesis in rodents, and are classic non-genotoxic carcinogens that inhibit in vitro gap-junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). This inhibition of GJIC is known to be a function of perfluorinated carbon lengths ranging from 7 to 10. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine if the inhibition of GJIC by PFOA but not perfluoropentanoate (PFPeA) observed in F344 rat liver cells in vitro also occurs in F344 rats in vivo and to determine mechanisms of PFOA dysregulation of GJIC using in vitro assay systems. Methods We used an incision load/dye transfer technique to assess GJIC in livers of rats exposed to PFOA and PFPeA. We used in vitro assays with inhibitors of cell signaling enzymes and antioxidants known to regulate GJIC to identify which enzymes regulated PFOA-induced inhibition of GJIC. Results PFOA inhibited GJIC and induced hepatomegaly in rat livers, whereas PFPeA had no effect on either end point. Serum biochemistry of liver enzymes indicated no cytotoxic response to these compounds. In vitro analysis of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) indicated that PFOA, but not PFPeA, can activate the extracellular receptor kinase (ERK). Inhibition of GJIC, in vitro, by PFOA depended on the activation of both ERK and phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) in the dysregulation of GJIC in an oxidative-dependent mechanism. Conclusions The in vitro analysis of GJIC, an epigenetic marker of tumor promoters, can also predict the in vivo activity of PFOA, which dysregulated GJIC via ERK and PC-PLC.
Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine Algorithms for Automatic Cloud Classification of Whole-Sky Ground-Based Images

Clouds are one of the most important meteorological phenomena affecting the Earth radiation balance. The increasing development of whole-sky images enables temporal and spatial high-resolution sky observations and provides the possibility to understand and quantify cloud effects more accurately. In this letter, an attempt has been made to examine the machine learning [multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks and support vector machine (SVM)] capabilities for automatic cloud detection in whole-sky images. The approaches have been tested on a significant number of whole-sky images (containing a variety of cloud overages in different seasons and at different daytimes) from Vigna di Valle and Tor Vergata test sites, located near Rome. The pixel values of red, green, and blue bands of the images have been used as inputs of the mentioned models, while the outputs provided classified pixels in terms of cloud coverage or others (cloud-free pixels and sun). For the test data set, the overall accuracies of 95.07%, with a standard deviation of 3.37, and 93.66%, with a standard deviation of 4.45, have been obtained from MLP neural networks and SVM models, respectively. Although the two approaches generally generate similar accuracies, the MLP neural networks gave a better performance in some specific cases where the SVM generates poor accuracy.