Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Audio-visual Speech Recognition Performance with Cross-modal Student-teacher Training

In this paper, we propose a cross-modal student-teacher learning framework to make a full use of externally abundant acoustic data in addition to a given task-specific audio-visual training database for improving speech recognition performance under the low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and acoustic mismatch conditions. First, a teacher model is trained with large-sized audio-only databases. Next, a student, namely a deep neural network (DNN) model, is trained on a small-sized audio-visual database to minimize the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence between its output and the posterior distribution of the teacher. We evaluate the proposed approach in both matched and mismatch acoustic conditions for phone recognition with the NTCD-TIMIT database. Compared to the DNN recognition system trained with the original audio-visual data only, the proposed solution reduces the phone error rate (PER) from 26.7% to 21.3% on a matched acoustic scenario. In the mismatch conditions, the PER is reduced from 47.9% to 42.9%. Moreover, we show that posteriors generated by the teacher contain environmental information, which enables our proposed student-teacher learning to work as an environmental-aware training and good PER reductions are observed in all SNR conditions.
Bactericidal effects of polyhexamethylene biguanide against intracellular Staphylococcus aureus EMRSA-15 and USA 300.

OBJECTIVES The treatment of skin infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus is limited by acquired antibiotic resistance and poor drug delivery into pathogen and host cells. Here, we investigated the antibacterial activities of six topically used antimicrobials and a cationic polymer, polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB), against intracellular MSSA strain RN4420 and MRSA strains EMRSA-15 and USA 300. METHODS The MICs of antimicrobials were determined for MSSA and MRSA strains, and the bactericidal activities of nadifloxacin and PHMB against intracellular MRSA were determined using infected keratinocytes. Fluorescein-tagged PHMB (PHMB-FITC) was used to study PHMB uptake, co-localization with intracellular EMRSA-15 and retention in keratinocytes. The mechanism(s) of PHMB uptake into keratinocytes were studied using a dynamin inhibitor, dynasore. RESULTS Gentamicin, nadifloxacin and PHMB showed the lowest MICs for MRSA. Nadifloxacin at 10 mg/L killed 80% of intracellular EMRSA-15, but was not effective against USA 300. PHMB at 4 mg/L killed almost 100% of intracellular EMRSA-15 and USA 300. PHMB entered keratinocytes, co-localized with intracellular EMRSA-15 and was retained by the cells for over 5 h. PHMB uptake and its intracellular antibacterial activities were inhibited by the dynamin inhibitor, dynasore. CONCLUSIONS PHMB kills intracellular MRSA via direct interaction with pathogens inside keratinocytes and host cell entry is dynamin dependent.
Assessment of the Levels of Airborne Bacteria, Gram-Negative Bacteria, and Fungi in Hospital Lobbies

Aims: We assessed the levels of airborne bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), and fungi in six hospital lobbies, and investigated the environmental and hospital characteristics that affected the airborne microorganism levels. Methods: An Andersen single-stage sampler equipped with appropriate nutrition plate agar was used to collect the samples. The three types of microorganisms were repeatedly collected at a fixed location in each hospital (assumed to be representative of the entire hospital lobby) from 08:00 through 24:00, with a sampling time of less than 5 min. Temperature and relative humidity were simultaneously monitored. Results: Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the major factors affecting microorganism levels. The average levels of bacteria (7.2 × 102 CFU/m3), GNB (1.7 × 10 CFU/m3), and fungi (7.7 × 10 CFU/m3) indicated that all hospital lobbies were generally contaminated. Season was the only factor that significantly affected the levels of all microorganisms (p < 0.0001), where contamination was the highest during the summer, significantly higher than during the winter. Other significant factors varied by microorganism, as follows: airborne bacteria (number of people in the lobby, sampling time), GNB (scale of hospital), and fungi (humidity and air temperature). Conclusions: Hospital lobby air was generally contaminated with microorganisms, including bacteria, GNB, and fungi. Environmental factors that may significantly influence the airborne concentrations of these agents should be managed to minimize airborne levels.
A global analysis of water and nitrogen relationships between mistletoes and their hosts: broad‐scale tests of old and enduring hypotheses

Summary Mistletoes use far more water per unit carbon fixed during photosynthesis than their hosts (i.e. they have lower ‘water use efficiency’, WUE). The widely cited ‘nitrogen-parasitism hypothesis’ posits that N is the most limiting resource for mistletoes and that they use their faster transpiration rates to acquire sufficient N from the host xylem. In a rather different context, the ‘mimicry hypothesis’ arose in the literature suggesting that some mistletoes mimic the morphology of host leaves in order to deploy higher N leaves without suffering higher levels of herbivory. These two non-exclusive hypotheses share the common goal of trying to explain patterns of mistletoe leaf N concentration. We set out to test the generality of both hypotheses at broad geographic scale using data for 168 mistletoes–host pairs, from 39 sites, encompassing all continents except Antarctica. We drew together data from published literature and our own field data on two key plant functional traits, leaf N concentration (Nmass) and leaf carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) (representing long-term WUE and degree of stomatal control over photosynthesis). Key findings included (i) little or no support for the N-parasitism hypothesis: differences in mistletoe and host Nmass explained only 3% variation in differences in leaf δ13C, and mistletoe–host differences in leaf δ13C were unrelated to whether or not the hosts were N-fixers (presumed to have higher N concentration in xylem sap); (ii) partial support for the mimicry hypothesis: mimic mistletoes generally had higher Nmass when associated with N-fixing hosts (but, on non-N-fixing hosts there was no such pattern); and (iii) more broadly, mistletoes showed similar trait responses as their hosts to environmental drivers; for example, they showed similar-magnitude shifts in Nmass and δ13C in relation to site aridity. Contrary to current belief, our findings suggest that nitrogen is not the limiting nutrient for mistletoes, at least not the main component driving the faster transpiration rates. Our results also give insight into the evolution of mimicry in mistletoes and show, for the first time, that mistletoes are also constrained by local water availability, exhibiting clear trait adaptations to environmental gradients. By reconsidering these issues at broad geographic scale and across a large number of species, our findings substantially modify current knowledge on the ecology and physiology of mistletoes and their hosts.
Retinoblastoma: postenucleation orbital recurrence.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was (i) to identify clinicopathological variables that significantly influence the frequency of postenucleation orbital recurrence and (ii) to create an awareness regarding follow-up, to pre-empt orbital recurrence. DESIGN Retrospective, case-controlled, longitudinal study. PARTICIPANTS A total of 176 children with retinoblastoma who were admitted and treated at Khyber Teaching Hospital between August 1, 1978, and July 31, 1998. METHODS This study was undertaken by reviewing the appropriate charts. The data of children with primary enucleation were analyzed to extract cases of orbital recurrence. RESULTS The mean age was 3.8 years (range 1-10 years). Of 176 patients, 83 (47.3%) presented with proptosis and fungating mass. Of 136 patients who were enucleated, 80 (58.82%) presented with proptosis and fungating mass. The 31 patients who had been diagnosed as having had orbital recurrence had a mean age of 4.09 years. The duration between enucleation and orbital recurrence was 1-12 months in 28 patients (90.4%). Histopathology reports of only 8 patients (26%) could be traced. Follow-up was recorded in only 9.6% of cases. CONCLUSIONS The failure to identify clinical and pathological parameters in the course of the disease in retinoblastoma children results in human misery caused by poor follow-up and gross negligence.
Systems of logic defined by ordinals Universal Turing Machine

The machine learning approach to kernels is defined not only by the synthesis of consistent hashing, but also by the confusing need for cache coherence. Given the current status of concurrent algorithms, mathematicians shockingly desire the key unification of hierarchical databases and voice-over-IP, which embodies the technical principles of steganography. We present a framework for mobile theory, which we call Deed. This is crucial to the success of our work.
Γ-Stability and Vortex Motion in Type II Superconductors

We consider a time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equation for superconductors with a strictly complex relaxation parameter, and derive motion laws for the vortices in the case of a finite number of vortices in a bounded magnetic field. The motion laws correspond to the flux-flow Hall effect. As our main tool, we develop a quantitative Γ-stability result relating the Ginzburg–Landau energy to the renormalized energy.
The mixed blessing of echolocation: differences in sonar use by fish-eating and mammal-eating killer whales

Despite well-documented experimental evidence of echolocation in toothed whales, virtually nothing is known about the use and functional significance of cetacean sonar in the wild. Here, the patterns of echolocation sounds produced by killer whales, Orcinus orca ,o VBritish Columbia and Alaska are described. Two sympatric populations with divergent food habits diVered markedly in sonar sound production. Individuals belonging to the fish-eating 'resident' population produced trains of characteristic sonar clicks, on average, 4% of the time, 27 times more often than marine mammal-eating 'transient' killer whales. The click trains of residents averaged 7 s, more than twice as long as the trains of transients. Click repetition rates within resident's trains were constant or changed gradually; within transient's trains they often fluctuated abruptly. Transients produced isolated single or paired clicks at an average rate of 12/h, four times as often as residents. In general, the isolated clicks and infrequent, short and irregular trains of transients were less conspicuous against background noise than the sonar of residents. This diVerence in acoustic crypticity may reflect a flexible response to the probability of alerting prey, because marine mammals have more acute hearing than fish in the frequency range of sonar clicks. In both populations, echolocation use per individual decreased with increasing group size, suggesting the sharing of information between group members. No relationships were found between echolocation activity and water clarity for whales of either population. Transient whales often travelled or foraged without discernibly echolocating, suggesting that passive listening provides cues for prey detection and orientation. 1996 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Thermal testing on programmable logic devices

In this work, an FPGA-oriented temperature monitoring scheme is presented. A control circuit enables a ring-oscillator during a short period and measures its output frequency, a magnitude that is a function of the die temperature. Several sensors have been constructed using Xilinx chips, obtaining sensitivities between 17 kHz per /spl deg/C and 77 kHz per /spl deg/C. The characterization of self-heating, matching between identical sensors, power supply dependence and detection of signal contentions have also been performed. The usefulness of other chip resources as thermal transducers, like the built-in OSC4 cell or the IOB clamping diodes, has also been verified. The use of ring-oscillators convert the FPGAs in a powerful tool for researchers interested in thermal modeling of integrated circuits. Just the possibility of "moving" a sensor (or an array of them) over the die, in a simple, fast, and inexpensive way, is almost impossible in any other VLSI technology.
Altered temporal correlations in parietal alpha and prefrontal theta oscillations in early-stage Alzheimer disease

Encoding and retention of information in memory are associated with a sustained increase in the amplitude of neuronal oscillations for up to several seconds. We reasoned that coordination of oscillatory activity over time might be important for memory and, therefore, that the amplitude modulation of oscillations may be abnormal in Alzheimer disease (AD). To test this hypothesis, we measured magnetoencephalography (MEG) during eyes-closed rest in 19 patients diagnosed with early-stage AD and 16 age-matched control subjects and characterized the autocorrelation structure of ongoing oscillations using detrended fluctuation analysis and an analysis of the life- and waiting-time statistics of oscillation bursts. We found that Alzheimer's patients had a strongly reduced incidence of alpha-band oscillation bursts with long life- or waiting-times (< 1 s) over temporo-parietal regions and markedly weaker autocorrelations on long time scales (1–25 seconds). Interestingly, the life- and waiting-times of theta oscillations over medial prefrontal regions were greatly increased. Whereas both temporo-parietal alpha and medial prefrontal theta oscillations are associated with retrieval and retention of information, metabolic and structural deficits in early-stage AD are observed primarily in temporo-parietal areas, suggesting that the enhanced oscillations in medial prefrontal cortex reflect a compensatory mechanism. Together, our results suggest that amplitude modulation of neuronal oscillations is important for cognition and that indices of amplitude dynamics of oscillations may prove useful as neuroimaging biomarkers of early-stage AD.
Emotions and False Memories

The effects of mood on false memories have not been studied systematically until recently. Some results seem to indicate that negative mood may reduce false recall and thus suggest an influence of emotional valence on false memory. The present research tested the effects of both valence and arousal on recall and recognition and indicates that the effect is actually due to arousal. In fact, whether participants∗ mood is positive, negative, or neutral, false memories are significantly more frequent under conditions of high arousal than under conditions of low arousal.
Causal Inference Using the Algorithmic Markov Condition

Inferring the causal structure that links n observables is usually based upon detecting statistical dependences and choosing simple graphs that make the joint measure Markovian. Here we argue why causal inference is also possible when the sample size is one. We develop a theory how to generate causal graphs explaining similarities between single objects. To this end, we replace the notion of conditional stochastic independence in the causal Markov condition with the vanishing of conditional algorithmic mutual information and describe the corresponding causal inference rules. We explain why a consistent reformulation of causal inference in terms of algorithmic complexity implies a new inference principle that takes into account also the complexity of conditional probability densities, making it possible to select among Markov equivalent causal graphs. This insight provides a theoretical foundation of a heuristic principle proposed in earlier work. We also sketch some ideas on how to replace Kolmogorov complexity with decidable complexity criteria. This can be seen as an algorithmic analog of replacing the empirically undecidable question of statistical independence with practical independence tests that are based on implicit or explicit assumptions on the underlying distribution.
Tool Support for Enterprise Architecture Management - Strengths and Weaknesses

This paper sketches the approach we have taken in an extensive survey to evaluate existing tools providing support for enterprise architecture (EA) management. From there, we outline important strengths and weaknesses of existing EA management tools discovered in the survey and suggest some approaches for improving the tool support available in this field. The tool evaluation, to which the paper refers, is built on a definition of EA management, which we operationalized via a set of scenarios, which constitute a sufficiently concrete base for making precise statements about the tool support. The paper outlines some scenarios, which are constructed to be representative for EA management, and therefore cover typical tasks. In order to ensure the representativeness of the scenarios, they were validated by ten of our industry partners. Considering the results of the evaluation, which covered nine EA management tools, we show characteristic strengths and weaknesses common to the tools. From this analysis, which e.g. covered the tools' metamodeling capabilities, the methodologies they offer to address EA management, and especially their visualization-specific capabilities, we suggest areas for further improvement regarding the software support for EA management. This is meant as a contribution to the field of EA management, which we view as not adequately addressable in practice without tool support due to the inherent complexity of this field
Peningkatan hasil belajar matematika melalui model pembelajaran problem based learning (PBL) siswa Kelas 4 SD

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan hasil belajar matematika siswa kelas 4 SDN Ngasinan 01 Kecamatan Susukan Kabupaten Semarang Semester 2 Tahun Pelajaran 2018/2019 dengan menggunakan model Problem Based Learning. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian tindakan kelas yang dilakukan sebanyak dua siklus dan masing-masing siklus tiga kali pertemuan. Subjek dalam penelitian ini siswa kelas 4 SDN Ngasinan 01 yang berjumlah 25 siswa. Variabel dalam penelitian ini terdiri dari variabel bebas yaitu model Problem Based Learning dan variabel terikat yaitu hasil belajar matematika. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan teknik tes. Teknik analisis data menggunakan deskriptif komparatif yang berupa presentase dari hasil belajar matematika antara pra siklus dan setelah siklus. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa pembelajaran dengan model Problem Based Learning dapat meningkatkan hasil belajar pada mata pelajaran matematika materi bangun datar. Hasil sebelum dilakukan tindakan yaitu pada pra siklus hanya 11 siswa atau 44% yang tuntas, pada siklus I meningkat menjadi 16 siswa atau 64% yang tuntas belajar matematika dan pada siklus II meningkat lagi menjadi 22 siswa yang tuntas belajar matematika atau 88%. Penelitian ini dikatakan berhasil karena mencapai indikator kinerja yaitu ≥ 80% dari seluruh siswa dengan KKM ≥ 70.
ON TRIBONACCI SEQUENCES

The aim of this note is to give a simple construction of the Tribonacci sequences, namely they consist of the occurrences of letters in an innite word obtained as the xed point of the morphism dened by : a ! ab;b ! ac;c ! a. The construction is combinatorial and admits a generalization to k-bonacci sequences.
Low Efficacy of Hypochlorous Acid Solution Compared to Povidone-iodine in Cataract Surgery Antisepsis

Hypochlorous Acid Solution (HAS) is a non-irritating, odorless and transparent, pH-neutral substance having antimicrobial activity. The study aimed to compare the efficacy of HAS with a 10% povidone-iodine (PVI) solution for antisepsis in Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery (PCS). Consecutive patients undergoing PCS in the Elbląg City Hospital, Poland, were enrolled in this prospective trial. In the morning just before surgery a swab was taken from the inferior conjunctival fornix of the eye that was to be operated. Patients were assigned to receive conjunctival irrigation with PVI or HAS in the operating room. Three minutes after lavage with PVI or HAS, conjunctival swabs were taken. During surgery the cornea and conjunctival sac were irrigated with Ringer’s lactate. The last swab was taken before removing the eye speculum. Overall, 110 patients completed the study; there were 59 patients in the PVI group and 51 patients in the HAS group. Conjunctival lavage with 10% PVI resulted in a decrease in bacterial load, while HAS application did not. In the HAS group a reduction in bacterial load was found after surgery. Patients after HAS irrigation reported significantly less discomfort associated with conjunctival lavage than with PVI. None of the patients developed postoperative endophthalmitis or any type of eye inflammation within the follow-up period. This study confirms the excellent antibacterial activity of a 10% povidone-iodine solution used for three minutes before cataract surgery. Conjunctival irrigation with Ringer lactate during PCS decreased the bacterial load of the conjunctival sac.
On the universal sl2 invariant of ribbon bottom tangles

Abstract. A bottom tangle is a tangle in a cube consisting of arc components whose boundary points are on a line in the bottom square of the cube. A ribbon bottom tangle is a bottom tangle whose closure is a ribbon link. For every ncomponent ribbon bottom tangle T , we prove that the universal invariant of T associated to the quantized enveloping algebra Uh(sl2) is contained in a certain subalgebra of the n-fold completed tensor power of Uh(sl2). This result is applied to the colored Jones polynomial of ribbon links.
Iodopovidone pleurodesis: experience of a tertiary hospital in Kolkata.

INTRODUCTION The management of recurrent pleural effusion or pneumothorax has always been a cause for serious concern among chest physicians. Among the wide variety of agents that are available for pleurodesis, povidone iodine is now perhaps the most sought after agent as it is cheap, easily available, effective and safe. This study was conducted to establish the efficacy and safety of povidone iodine as an agent for pleurodesis in patients with recurrent pleural effusion and pneumothorax. METHODS A total of 38 consecutive patients with symptomatic malignant or recurrent pleural effusion and pneumothorax received povidone iodine for pleurodesis over a period of 18 months. The mean follow-up period was 10.2 months, with a standard deviation of 2.9 months. RESULTS Out of the 38 patients, 29 had malignant pleural effusion, eight had recurrent pneumothorax and one had tubercular pleural effusion which was nonresponsive to antitubercular therapy. A complete response with no recurrence during follow-up was obtained in 34 (89.5 percent) patients. All the cases of failure had malignant pleural effusion. Three (7.9 percent) patients experienced intense chest pains after the installation of sclerosing agent, but they recovered with immediate symptomatic management. CONCLUSION Recurrent pleural effusion or pneumothorax due to any cause may be managed effectively and safely by chemical pleurodesis with povidone iodine. It may be considered as the agent of choice to achieve pleurodesis, especially in resource constrained countries like India, as it is inexpensive and easily available.