Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust Audio Watermarking Scheme Based on Wavelet Transforming Stable Feature

In order to improve the watermark invisibility and robustness simultaneously, a robust audio watermarking scheme with self-sychronization which based on discrete wavelet transforming stable feature was proposed. When audio is under attacks, the absolute average value of low frequency sub-bands of discrete wavelet is a steady feature. Thus taking this absolute average value as flags of watermark boundary and domain of embedding watermark is effective and practical. In this scheme, watermark was embedded through adjusting the absolute average value of wavelet transforming low frequency sub-bands in every three audio frames, each of which consists of N audio samples. Similarly watermark is attracted by estimating the relation among the absolute average value of wavelet transforming low frequency sub-bands in every three audio frames. Also two audio frames¿ absolute value of wavelet transforming need to be altered to keep accordance with the global average absolute value of the whole audio, which is adopted to embed flags of start and ending. Based on experimental results, the robust watermark was detected with high accuracy.
Self-Efficacies, Anxiety, and Aggression among African American and Latino Adolescents with Disabilities

ABSTRACT Self-appraisals can combine with aspects of the school environment in predicting adolescent emotions and behaviors. This study examined how academic self-efficacy and social self-efficacy are related to anxiety and aggression, and how these relations are moderated by school stressors, academic achievement, and school belonging. The participants of the study were African American and Latino adolescents with an intellectual disability and/or a physical disability. Self-report surveys were completed by 98 adolescents. Regression analyses revealed that higher levels of both self-efficacies were associated with lower levels of anxiety, but these relations were reduced as school stressors increased. Also, high academic self-efficacy was associated with more aggression when academic achievement was low, and high social self-efficacy was associated with more aggression when school belonging was low. The findings have implications for the development of self-efficacy and for the management of adolescent anxiety and aggression.
Corticothalamic Inputs Control the Pattern of Activity Generated in Thalamocortical Networks

Absence seizures (3–4 Hz) and sleep spindles (6–14 Hz) occur mostly during slow-wave sleep and have been hypothesized to involve the same corticothalamic network. However, the mechanism by which this network transforms from one form of activity to the other is not well understood. Here we examine this question using ferret lateral geniculate nucleus slices and stimulation of the corticothalamic tract. A feedback circuit, meant to mimic the cortical influence in vivo, was arranged such that thalamic burst firing resulted in stimulation of the corticothalamic tract. Stimuli were either single shocks to mimic normal action potential firing by cortical neurons or high-frequency bursts (six shocks at 200 Hz) to simulate increased cortical firing, such as during seizures. With one corticothalamic stimulus per thalamic burst, 6–10 Hz oscillations resembling spindle waves were generated. However, if the stimulation was a burst, the network immediately transformed into a 3–4 Hz paroxysmal oscillation. This transition was associated with a strong increase in the burst firing of GABAergic perigeniculate neurons. In addition, thalamocortical neurons showed a transition from fast (100–150 msec) IPSPs to slow (∼300 msec) IPSPs. The GABABreceptor antagonist CGP 35348 blocked the slow IPSPs and converted the 3–4 Hz paroxysmal oscillations back to 6–10 Hz spindle waves. Conversely, the GABAA receptor antagonist picrotoxin blocked spindle frequency oscillations resulting in 3–4 Hz oscillations with either single or burst stimuli. We suggest that differential activation of thalamic GABAA and GABAB receptors in response to varying corticothalamic input patterns may be critical in setting the oscillation frequency of thalamocortical network interactions.
Cosmic-Ray Protons and Magnetic Fields in Clusters of Galaxies and Their Cosmological Consequences

The masses of clusters of galaxies estimated by gravitational lensing exceed in many cases the mass estimates based on hydrostatic equilibrium. This may suggest the existence of nonthermal pressure. We ask if radio galaxies can heat and support the cluster gas with injected cosmic-ray protons and magnetic field densities, which are permitted by Faraday rotation and gamma-ray observations of clusters of galaxies. We conclude that they are powerful enough to do this within a cluster radius of roughly 1 Mpc. If present, nonthermal pressures could lead to a revised estimate of the ratio of baryonic mass to total mass, and the apparent baryonic overdensity in clusters would disappear. In consequence, Ωcold, the clumping part of the cosmological density Ω0, would be larger than 0.4 h−1/250.
ASSEMBLING THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF GIANT PLANETS AROUND INTERMEDIATE-MASS STARS

We examine a physical process that leads to the efficient formation of gas giant planets around intermediate-mass stars. In the gaseous protoplanetary disks surrounding rapidly accreting intermediate-mass stars, we show that the midplane temperature (heated primarily by turbulent dissipation) can reach ≳ 1000 K out to 1 AU. The thermal ionization of this hot gas couples the disk to the magnetic field, allowing the magnetorotational instability (MRI) to generate turbulence and transport angular momentum. Further from the central star the ionization fraction decreases, decoupling the disk from the magnetic field and reducing the efficiency of angular momentum transport. As the disk evolves toward a quasi-steady state, a local maximum in the surface density and in the midplane pressure both develop at the inner edge of the MRI-dead zone, trapping inwardly migrating solid bodies. Small particles accumulate and coagulate into planetesimals which grow rapidly until they reach isolation mass. In contrast to the situation around solar-type stars, we show that the isolation mass for cores at this critical radius around the more-massive stars is large enough to promote the accretion of significant amounts of gas prior to disk depletion. Through this process, we anticipate a prolific production of gas giants at ∼1 AU around intermediate-mass stars.
Wireless Information and Power Transfer for Multirelay-Assisted Cooperative Communication

In this letter, we consider simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in multirelay-assisted two-hop relay system, where multiple relay nodes simultaneously assist the transmission from source to destination using the concept of distributed space-time coding. Each relay applies power splitting protocol to coordinate the received signal energy for information decoding and energy harvesting. The optimization problems of power splitting ratios at the relays are formulated for both decode-and-forward (DF) and amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying protocols. Efficient algorithms are proposed to find the optimal solutions. Simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed schemes.
Plasma catecholamine concentrations during surgery in unsupplemented glucocorticoid-treated patients.

Plasma catecholamine (CA) concentrations, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and plasma corticosteroids were measured in fifteen unsupplemented glucocorticoid-treated patients undergoing major surgery. Eight patients had normal and seven patients had reduced plasma corticosteroid concentrations. Changes in plasma CA and MAP during surgery were not related to adrenocortical function. Two patients developed hypotension during the operation, but had normal plasma CA and corticosteroid concentrations.
Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor genotype is associated with brain gray and white matter tissue volumes recovery in abstinent alcohol‐dependent individuals

Neuroimaging studies have linked the methionine (Met) allele of the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene to abnormal regional brain volumes in several psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. However, no neuroimaging studies assessed the effects of this allele on brain morphology in alcohol use disorders and its demonstrated change during abstinence from alcohol. Here we assessed the effects of the BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) polymorphism on regional brain tissue volumes and their recovery during short‐term abstinence in treatment‐seeking alcohol‐dependent individuals. 3D T1 weighted magnetic resonance images from 62 individuals were acquired at 1.5 T at one week of abstinence from alcohol; 41 of the participants were rescanned at 5 weeks of abstinence. The images were segmented into gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and cerebrospinal fluid and parcellated into regional volumes. The BDNF genotype was determined from blood samples using the TaqMan technique. Alcohol‐dependent Val (Valine)/Met heterozygotes and Val homozygotes had similar regional brain volumes at either time point. However, Val homozygotes had significant GM volume increases, while Val/Met heterozygotes increased predominantly in WM volumes over the scan interval. Longitudinal increases in GM but not WM volumes were related to improvements in neurocognitive measures during abstinence. The findings suggest that functionally significant brain tissue volume recovery during abstinence from alcohol is influenced by BDNF genotype.
Relations between multiresolution analysis and quantum mechanics

We discuss a procedure to construct multiresolution analyses (MRA) of L2(R) starting from a given seed function h(s) which should satisfy some conditions. Our method, originally related to the quantum mechanical Hamiltonian of the fractional quantum Hall effect, is shown to be model independent. The role of a canonical map between certain canonically conjugate operators is discussed. This clarifies our previous procedure and makes much easier most of the original formulas, producing a convenient framework to produce examples of MRA.
The Impact of Unions on Wages in Brazilian Manufacturing

The empirical literature on the impact of unions on wages has stressed two major conclusions. Firstly, unionised workers earn a wage premium when compared to comparable nonunionised workers. Secondly, the dispersion of wages within the union sector is lower than in the nonunion sector. We examine the validity of these findings in the context of a developing country labour market. Our results show that unionism does create a positive wage differential for male, semi-skilled workers with formal labour contracts in Brazilian manufacturing, and that, contrary to the common finding in the existing literature, wage dispersion is greater in the union sector. We show that these findings can be explained by the greater variance in the characteristics of unionised workers, the vulnerability of nonunionised workers to market conditions, and the structure of wage bargaining.
LaFT-tree: perceiving the expansion trace of one's circle of friends in online social networks

Many patterns have been discovered to explain and analyze how people make friends. Among them is the triadic closure, supported by the principle of the transitivity of friendship, which means for an individual the friends of her friend are more likely to become her new friends. However, people's motivations under this principle haven't been well studied, and it's still unknown that how this principle works in diverse situations. In this paper, we try to study this principle deeply based on the behavior modeling. We study how one expands her egocentric network via her friends, also called intermediaries, based on the transitivity of friendship. We propose LaFT-Tree, a tree-based representation of friendship formation inspired from triadic closure. LaFT-Tree provides a hierarchical view of the flat structure of one's egocentric network by visualizing the expansion trace of one's egocentric network. We model people's friend-making behaviors using LaFT-LDA, a generative model for LaFT-Tree learning. The proposed model is evaluated on both synthetic and real-world social networks and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of LaFT-LDA for LaFT-Tree inference. We also present some interesting applications of the LaFT-Tree, showing that our model can be generalized and benefit other social network analysis tasks.
Attentional biases to emotional stimuli: Key components of the RDoC constructs of sustained threat and loss

Biased attention to emotional stimuli plays a key role in the RDoC constructs of Sustained Threat and Loss. In this article, we review approaches to assessing these biases, their links with psychopathology, and the underlying neural influences. We then review evidence from twin and candidate gene studies regarding genetic influences on attentional biases. We also discuss the impact of developmental and environmental influences and end with a number of suggestions for future research in this area. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Too much too soon? An analysis of the discourses used by policy advocates in the debate over kindergarten

In recent years, a debate over kindergarten has ensued. We refer to the actors in this debate as developmentalists , on the one hand , and academic advocates , on the other. Developmentalists argue that kindergarten should be centered on child-initiated play and intentional teaching through play, art activities, and hands on activities. Academic advocates argue that young children are capable of learning academic content in kindergarten and that academic instruction is necessary to help some students “catch up” before formal schooling begins. In this paper, we identify the key policy organizations engaged in this debate and analyze the ways they construct their arguments and critique the positions of their opponents. We find that, when discussing their vision for kindergarten, developmentalists and academic advocates share similar goals and views. However, when we analyze the ways the two agendas discuss kindergarten as it is practiced today, clear divisions emerge. Specifically, the agendas use different types of causal narratives to describe the problems with kindergarten and how it got that way. We conclude with a discussion of policy implications and directions for future research.
Short-Term Memory Impairment Sparing the Central Executive in Relapsing- Remitting Multiple Sclerosis?

Objective: It is widely accepted that working memory (WM) impairment has a high incidence in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, this WM impairment has rarely been analyzed with reference to a cognitive model. The aim of the study was to determine whether dysfunction in MS is due to WM or short-term memory deficits. Methods: We assessed the components of Baddeley's WM cognitive model, which include the phonological loop, visual sketch and central executive. Seventeen conditions implicating short term memory and executive functions (flexibility, inhibition, manipulation) were carried out by128MS patients diagnosed with RRMS, and 30 age matched healthy controls. Also assessed were three tasks of motor speed namely the Overt articulation rate, Digit-symbol copy test and Digit-symbol coding test. Results: In all but three conditions, the MS group scored significantly below the control group (Mann-Whitney tests), suggesting a short-term memory deficit in MS. However, when performances in the central executive conditions were expressed proportionally to a baseline, the patient group behaved in a similar way to the control group. Finally, no relationship could be shown between the impairment in WM tasks and the motor speed tasks. Conclusions: Our results suggest an impairment of short-term memory in MS patients but with a relative preservation of WM. Critically, this conclusion is not in agreement with the widespread notion of WM deficit in MS
Testosterone and gonadotropin levels in men with dementia.

OBJECTIVES Sex steroids such as testosterone and estradiol might protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously found lower levels of testosterone in men with AD compared with controls. We wanted to assess levels of pituitary gonadotropins that regulate sex steroid levels, to determine whether primary or secondary hypogonadism was responsible for low levels of testosterone in cases. METHOD We included 45 men with AD (McKhann, 1987), 15 men with other types of dementia and 133 elderly controls from the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing. Gonadotropins (follicle stimulating hormone or FSH and luteinizing hormone or LH), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG, which determines the amount of free testosterone) and testosterone were measured using enzyme immunoassays. RESULTS We found no difference in average LH (8.7 +/- 9 UI/L), FSH (13 +/- 17 UI/L) or SHBG (44 +/- 18 nmol/L) levels between AD cases and controls. Similar to our earlier findings, testosterone levels were significantly lower in men with AD (13 +/- 6 nmol/L) compared with controls (17 +/- 8, O.R. = 0.92, 95% C.I. = 0.87 to 0.97, p<0.005). Results were unchanged when controlled for age, SHBG and gonadotropin levels. CONCLUSION Although normal, the levels of gonadotropins were inappropriately low for the levels of testosterone. Our results support a preliminary conclusion that secondary hypogonadism occurs in men with AD. This could be a consequence of brain degeneration. This is contrary to an earlier study (Bowen, 1999) that found raised levels of gonadotropins in cases with AD, suggesting primary hypogonadism. Our cohort was younger than theirs and gonadotropin levels increase with age. We are enlarging our data set to investigate whether primary hypogonadism occurs in older cases with AD or whether secondary hypogonadism precedes cognitive dysfunction in men at risk for AD. If this is true, testosterone replacement therapy for hypogonadal men at risk for dementia may be indicated.
Towards the Limit of Network Quantization

Network quantization is one of network compression techniques to reduce the redundancy of deep neural networks. It reduces the number of distinct network parameter values by quantization in order to save the storage for them. In this paper, we design network quantization schemes that minimize the performance loss due to quantization given a compression ratio constraint. We analyze the quantitative relation of quantization errors to the neural network loss function and identify that the Hessian-weighted distortion measure is locally the right objective function for the optimization of network quantization. As a result, Hessian-weighted k-means clustering is proposed for clustering network parameters to quantize. When optimal variable-length binary codes, e.g., Huffman codes, are employed for further compression, we derive that the network quantization problem can be related to the entropy-constrained scalar quantization (ECSQ) problem in information theory and consequently propose two solutions of ECSQ for network quantization, i.e., uniform quantization and an iterative solution similar to Lloyd's algorithm. Finally, using the simple uniform quantization followed by Huffman coding, we show from our experiments that the compression ratios of 51.25, 22.17 and 40.65 are achievable for LeNet, 32-layer ResNet and AlexNet, respectively.
Antipsychotic treatments; focus on lurasidone

The introduction of atypical antipsychotic drugs (AAPDs), or second-generation antipsychotics, with clozapine as the prototype, has largely changed the clinicians' attitudes toward the treatment of mental illnesses including, but not limited to schizophrenia. Initially, there was optimism that AAPDs would be superior over typical antipsychotic drugs (TAPDs), or first-generation antipsychotic drugs, in terms of efficacy in various phenomenological aspects, including cognitive impairment, and less likelihood of causing adverse events. However, these views have been partly challenged by results from recent meta-analysis studies. Specifically, cardio-metabolic side effects of AAPDs, in spite of a relative paucity of extrapyramidal symptoms, may sometimes limit the use of these agents. Accordingly, attempts have been made to develop newer compounds, e.g., lurasidone, with the aim of increasing efficacy and tolerability. Further investigations are warranted to determine if a larger proportion of patients will be benefitted by treatment with AAPDs compared to TAPDs in terms of remission and recovery.
Value of 3-Dimensional CT Virtual Anatomy Imaging in Complex Foreign Body Retrieval from Soft Tissues

Objective To investigate the value of 3-dimensional (3D) CT virtual anatomy imaging (VAI) in the complex foreign body (FB) retrieval of the soft tissues. Materials and Methods Four hundred and seventy-five patients with radiopaque FB(s) diagnosed by radiograph underwent contrast-enhanced 3D CT examination. VAI was reconstructed by volume-rendering opacity software, by sliding down the lowest threshold from -600 to 100 HU. The imaging was grouped into three groups: A (axial and multi-planar reformation [MPR] images), B (standard 3D imaging with axial and MPR images), and C (VAI with axial and MPR images). They were analyzed to reveal the type, size, number, location, complications, and the interventional removability of the object, with the comparisons in the management and clinical outcomes on the patient follow-up studies. The data were subjected to chi-square tests, with p value < 0.05 indicating significant statistical difference. Results The FB shape, size, number, site distribution and vessels around FB, as well as the FB-associated vascular complications and the FB interventional removability were assessed more accurately in Group C than in Group B or Group A (p < 0.005). There was no significant difference in disclosing the type and depth of the FB among the three groups (p > 0.75). On the basis of the 3D CT, especially the enhanced 3D CT VAI, the followings were processed: the recommendation of interventional removal in 286 (60.47%) and non-intervention in 187 (39.53%) of the 473 patients with soft-tissue FB(s); in 352 (56.50%) of the 623 radiopaque FBs patients, 258 (54.55%) patients accurately detected on 3D CT and the successful removal by intervention (343 FBs) or surgery (9 FBs) without any sequela; and 215 (45.45%) patients with 271 FBs lost in the follow-up, with their departure from the hospital. Conclusion The 3D CT, especially 3D enhanced CT VAI, has great incremental value in further diagnosis and management of complex FB extraction from soft tissues.