Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frame-theoretic analysis of oversampled filter banks

We provide a frame-theoretic analysis of oversampled finite impulse response (FIR) and infinite impulse response (FIR) uniform filter banks (FBs). Our analysis is based on a new relationship between the FBs polyphase matrices and the frame operator corresponding to an FB. For a given oversampled analysis FB, we present a parameterization of all synthesis FBs providing perfect reconstruction. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for an oversampled FB to provide a frame expansion. A new frame-theoretic procedure for the design of paraunitary FBs from given nonparaunitary FBs is formulated. We show that the frame bounds of an FB can be obtained by an eigen-analysis of the polyphase matrices. The relevance of the frame bounds as a characterization of important numerical properties of an FB is assessed by means of a stochastic sensitivity analysis. We consider special cases in which the calculation of the frame bounds and synthesis filters is simplified. Finally, simulation results are presented.
Investigating Explicit Model Transformations for Speaker Normalization

In this work we extend the test utterance adaptation techniqueused in vocal tract length normalization to a larger number ofspeaker characteristic features. We perform partially joint estimation of four features: the VTLN warping factor, the corner position of the piece-wise linear warping function, spectral tilt in voiced segments, and model variance scaling. In experiments on the Swedish PF-Star children database, joint estimation of warping factor and variance scaling lowered the recognition error rate compared to warping factor alone.
In vitro and in vivo evaluation of electrospun PCL/PMMA fibrous scaffolds for bone regeneration

Abstract Scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning using polycaprolactone (PCL) blended with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in ratios of 10/0, 7/3, 5/5 and 3/7. The PCL/PMMA ratio affected the fiber diameter, contact angle, tensile strength and biological in vitro and in vivo properties of the scaffolds, and the 7/3 ratio resulted in a higher mechanical strength than 5/5 and 3/7. In vitro cytotoxicity and proliferation of MG-63 osteoblast cells on these blended scaffolds were examined by MTT assay, and it was found that PCL/PMMA blends are suitable for osteoblast cell proliferation. Confocal images and expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen confirmed the good proliferation and expression of cells on the 7/3 PCL/PMMA fibrous scaffolds. In vivo bone formation was examined using rat models, and bone formation was observed on the 7/3 PCL/PMMA scaffold within 2 months. In vitro and in vivo results suggest that 7/3 PCL/PMMA scaffolds can be used for bone tissue regeneration.
City-Specific Spatiotemporal Infant and Neonatal Mortality Clusters: Links with Socioeconomic and Air Pollution Spatial Patterns in France

Infant and neonatal mortality indicators are known to vary geographically, possibly as a result of socioeconomic and environmental inequalities. To better understand how these factors contribute to spatial and temporal patterns, we conducted a French ecological study comparing two time periods between 2002 and 2009 for three (purposefully distinct) Metropolitan Areas (MAs) and the city of Paris, using the French census block of parental residence as the geographic unit of analysis. We identified areas of excess risk and assessed the role of neighborhood deprivation and average nitrogen dioxide concentrations using generalized additive models to generate maps smoothed on longitude and latitude. Comparison of the two time periods indicated that statistically significant areas of elevated infant and neonatal mortality shifted northwards for the city of Paris, are present only in the earlier time period for Lille MA, only in the later time period for Lyon MA, and decrease over time for Marseille MA. These city-specific geographic patterns in neonatal and infant mortality are largely explained by socioeconomic and environmental inequalities. Spatial analysis can be a useful tool for understanding how risk factors contribute to disparities in health outcomes ranging from infant mortality to infectious disease—a leading cause of infant mortality.
Environmental effects on survival rates: robust regression, recovery planning and endangered Atlantic salmon

Describing how population-level survival rates are influenced by environmental change becomes necessary during recovery planning to identify threats that should be the focus for future remediation efforts. However, the ways in which data are analyzed have the potential to change our ecological understanding and thus subsequent recommendations for remedial actions to address threats. In regression, distributional assumptions underlying short time series of survival estimates cannot be investigated a priori and data likely contain points that do not follow the general trend (outliers) as well as contain additional variation relative to an assumed distribution (overdispersion). Using juvenile survival data from three endangered Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. populations in response to hydrological variation, four distributions for the response were compared using lognormal and generalized linear models (GLM). The influence of outliers as well as overdispersion was investigated by comparing conclusions from robust regressions with these lognormal models and GLMs. The analyses strongly supported the use of a lognormal distribution for survival estimates (i.e., modeling the instantaneous rate of mortality as the response) and would have led to ambiguity in the identification of significant hydrological predictors as well as low overall confidence in the predicted relationships if only GLMs had been considered. However, using robust regression to evaluate the effect of additional variation and outliers in the data relative to regression assumptions resulted in a better understanding of relationships between hydrological variables and survival that could be used for population-specific recovery planning. This manuscript highlights how a systematic analysis that explicitly considers what monitoring data represent and where variation is likely to come from is required in order to draw meaningful conclusions when analyzing changes in survival relative to environmental variation to aid in recovery planning.
European Central Bank

2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the first indent of Article 105(4), of the Treaty establishing the European Community (hereinafter referred to as the Treaty), since the proposed Directive constitutes an instrument essential to ensure the integrity of the Community financial markets and to enhance investor confidence in those markets and contains provisions with a bearing on the issuance of securities by the ECB. The ECB also notes that Article 105(1) of the Treaty and Article 2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank state that the ESCB shall support the general economic policies in the Community. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, this opinion has been adopted by the Governing Council of the ECB.
Quantitative analysis of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss in aging DBA/2NNia glaucomatous mice: comparison with RGC loss in aging C57/BL6 mice.

PURPOSE To quantify the extent and pattern of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss in the DBA2/NNia glaucomatous mouse strain as a function of age and compare it with ganglion cell loss in a nonglaucomatous strain. METHODS All the ganglion cells in retinas of DBA/2NNia and C57/BL6 mice of various ages (five eyes per age group in 3-month intervals from 3 to 18 months of age) were counted. A novel counting method that does not rely on sampling and that uses retrograde labeling of RGCs with Fluorogold (Fluorochrome; Englewood, CO) was used. RGC loss in the glaucomatous DBA/2NNia mouse strain was contrasted to RGC loss in C57 mice at the same ages. The total number of Fluorogold-labeled cells per retina was compared within and among the two strains as a function of age. In addition, RGC density maps were constructed for each retina, and the range of densities for each age group was compared within and among the two strains. IOP in awake, nonsedated DBA/2NNia mice was measured with a rebound tonometer. RESULTS RGC loss started between 12 and 15 months of age in C57 mice and led to an approximate 46% reduction by 18 months of age. The rate of loss was best approximated by a second-order polynomial curve. In comparison, DBA/2NNia mice also began showing RGC loss at approximately 12 months of age, but it proceeded at a much faster rate, with approximately 64% of their RGCs dying by the 15th month of age but little additional loss thereafter. RGC loss in the DBA animals had a focal pattern that appeared more patchy and showed greater variability than the age-related loss in C57 mice, which was more diffuse. IOP and total retinal area in DBA/2NNia mice began to increase at approximately 6 months of age. IOP normalized after the 12th month of age. CONCLUSIONS Age-related RGC loss of up to 50% can occur in the C57 mouse by 18 months of age. The loss does not proceed linearly with age, as is often assumed, and differs both in extent and locational pattern from pathologic RGC loss secondary to glaucoma in DBA/2NNia mouse retinas.
The Application of A Risk-Resilience Model in Pediatric Chronic Pain

Children with chronic pain are vulnerable to adverse outcomes, such as impaired quality of life and poor functioning. Recent risk and resilience models for adult chronic pain have aimed to conceptualize the complexity of pain, which may prove useful for pediatric populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the unique predictive value of prominent pain-related risk factors, investigate optimism’s role as a resilience factor, and explore protective mechanisms through which optimism exerts its benefits. Participants included 58 8-17 year-old children and adolescents with chronic pain. Pain intensity remained the best predictor of disability, but painrelated fear and optimism were unique predictors of well-being. Optimism contributed to adaptation by reducing pain-related fear and catastrophizing. Findings suggest that the predictive value of related risk factors is inconsistent across functioning outcomes, and optimism is an applicable resilience factor in pediatric pain through its minimization of pain-related risk factors. INDEX WORDS: Pediatric chronic pain, Fear of pain, Catastrophizing, Optimism, Resilience THE APPLICATION OF A RISK-RESILIENCE MODEL IN PEDIATRIC CHRONIC PAIN
MTNR1B G24E Variant Associates With BMI and Fasting Plasma Glucose in the General Population in Studies of 22,142 Europeans

OBJECTIVE Common variants in the melatonin receptor type 1B (MTNR1B) locus have been shown to increase fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and the risk of type 2 diabetes. The aims of this study were to evaluate whether nonsynonymous variants in MTNR1B associate with monogenic forms of hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes, or related metabolic traits. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS MTNR1B was sequenced in 47 probands with clinical maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), in 51 probands with early-onset familial type 2 diabetes, and in 94 control individuals. Six nonsynonymous variants (G24E, L60R, V124I, R138C, R231H, and K243R) were genotyped in up to 22,142 Europeans. Constitutive and melatonin-induced signaling was characterized for the wild-type melatonin receptor type 1B (MT2) and the 24E, 60R, and 124I MT2 mutants in transfected COS-7 cells. RESULTS No mutations in MTNR1B were MODY specific, and none of the investigated MTNR1B variants associated with type 2 diabetes. The common 24E variant associated with increased prevalence of obesity (odds ratio 1.20 [1.08–1.34]; P = 8.3 × 10−4) and increased BMI (β = 0.5 kg/m2; P = 1.2 × 10−5) and waist circumference (β = 1.2 cm; P = 9 × 10−6) in combined Danish and French study samples. 24E also associated with decreased FPG (β = −0.08 mmol/l; P = 9.2 × 10−4) in the Danish Inter99 population. Slightly decreased constitutive activity was observed for the MT2 24E mutant, while the 124I and 60R mutants displayed considerably decreased or completely disrupted signaling, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Nonsynonymous mutations in MTNR1B are not a common cause of MODY or type 2 diabetes among Danes. MTNR1B 24E associates with increased body mass and decreased FPG. Decreased MT2 signaling does apparently not directly associate with FPG or type 2 diabetes.
Strong Gravitational Lensing Time Delay Statistics and the Density Profile of Dark Halos

The distribution of differential time delays Δt between images produced by strong gravitational lensing contains information on the mass distributions in the lensing objects as well as on cosmological parameters such as H0. We derive an explicit expression for the conditional probability distribution function of time delays P(Δt | θ), given an image separation between multiple images θ and related statistics. We consider lensing halos described by the singular isothermal sphere (SIS) approximation and by its generalization as proposed by Navarro, Frenk, & White (NFW), which has a density profile ρ ∝ r-α in the innermost region. The time delay distribution is very sensitive to these profiles; steeper inner slopes tend to produce larger time delays. For example, if H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1, a Λ-dominated cosmology and a source redshift zS = 1.27 are assumed, lenses with θ = 5′′ produce a time delay of Δt = 1.5, 0.39, 0.15, and 0.071 yr (50% confidence interval) for SIS, generalized NFW with α = 1.5, α = 1.0, and α = 0.5, respectively. At a fixed image separation, the time delay is determined by the difference in the lensing potential between the position of the two images, which typically occur at different impact parameters. Although the values of Δt are proportional to the inverse of H0, P(Δt | θ) is rather insensitive to all other cosmological model parameters, source redshifts, magnification biases, and so on. A knowledge of P(Δt | θ) will also be useful in designing the observing program of future large-scale synoptic variability surveys and for evaluating possible selection biases operating against large splitting lens systems.
Single-wire current-share paralleling of current-mode-controlled DC power supplies

This paper presents a new single-wire autonomous current-share paralleling of current-mode-controlled DC power supplies. The proposed control scheme makes use of the nature of fast response of the inner current loop and the share bus injected signal to improve the response of the power supplies. It reduces the unbalance of current distribution during the transient state and avoids the fault alarm for the current limit. Through the theoretical derivation, the proposed control circuit can be designed by the three-loop control method. A design example of two 400 V/48 V 20 A parallel modules is set up and experimental recordings verify the performance of current sharing.
The Elusive Present: Hidden Past and Future Dependency and Why We Build Models

Modeling a temporal process as if it is Markovian assumes that the present encodes all of a process's history. When this occurs, the present captures all of the dependency between past and future. We recently showed that if one randomly samples in the space of structured processes, this is almost never the case. So, how does the Markov failure come about? That is, how do individual measurements fail to encode the past? and How many are needed to capture dependencies between the past and future? Here, we investigate how much information can be shared between the past and the future but not reflected in the present. We quantify this elusive information, give explicit calculational methods, and outline the consequences, the most important of which is that when the present hides past-future correlation or dependency we must move beyond sequence-based statistics and build state-based models.
Decreased Levels of Foldase and Chaperone Proteins Are Associated with an Early-Onset Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive upper and lower motor neuron degeneration. One of the peculiar clinical characteristics of ALS is the wide distribution in age of onset, which is probably caused by different combinations of intrinsic and exogenous factors. We investigated whether these modifying factors are converging into common pathogenic pathways leading either to an early or a late disease onset. This would imply the identification of phenotypic biomarkers, that can distinguish the two populations of ALS patients, and of relevant pathways to consider in a therapeutic intervention. Toward this aim a differential proteomic analysis was performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from a group of 16 ALS patients with an age of onset ≤55 years and a group of 16 ALS patients with an age of onset ≥75 years, and matched healthy controls. We identified 43 differentially expressed proteins in the two groups of patients. Gene ontology analysis revealed that there was a significant enrichment in annotations associated with protein folding and response to stress. We next validated a selected number of proteins belonging to this functional group in 85 patients and 83 age- and sex-matched healthy controls using immunoassays. The results of the validation study confirmed that there was a decreased level of peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A (also known as cyclophilin A), heat shock protein HSP 90-alpha, 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (also known as BiP) and protein deglycase DJ-1 in PBMC of ALS patients with an early onset. Similar results were obtained in PBMC and spinal cord from two SOD1G93A mouse models with an early and late disease onset. This study suggests that a different ability to upregulate proteins involved in proteostasis, such as foldase and chaperone proteins, may be at the basis of a different susceptibility to ALS, putting forward the development of therapeutic approaches aiming at boosting the protein quality control system.
The importance of head movements for binaural room synthesis - a pilot experiment

The impact of head movements on sound localisation of loudspeakers in a listening room was investigated. Listeners were allowed to move their heads during sound presentations in both real life and during binaural synthesis. The binaural synthesis was implemented by means of measured binaural room impulse responses, for which the direct sound was updated according tO the head position of the listener. Localisation generally improved when head movements were. allowed, compared to when listeners kept their heads still during sound presentations. This result encourages the use of head tracking in binaural synthesis systems.
Reforzando las Redes: Supporting Latina/o Undergraduates at a State Flagship University

This study investigated the experiences of self-identified Latina/o students at a flagship state university. From a university-provided list of self-identified Latina/o undergraduate students, 117 responded to an online survey and 10 elected to participate in follow-up interviews. Students were asked about their participation in on-campus student clubs and organizations as well as interactions with faculty and staff. Nora’s student engagement model framed the qualitative exploration of three emerging themes, students’ levels of engagement in student organizations, their perceptions of levels of faculty support and accessibility, and their views about faculty and staff’s understandings of the unique and diverse roles of Latina/o students. Implications for university administrators, faculty, and staff are discussed.
Level of automation effects on performance, situation awareness and workload in a dynamic control task.

Various levels of automation (LOA) designating the degree of human operator and computer control were explored within the context of a dynamic control task as a means of improving overall human/machine performance. Automated systems have traditionally been explored as binary function allocations; either the human or the machine is assigned to a given task. More recently, intermediary levels of automation have been discussed as a means of maintaining operator involvement in system performance, leading to improvements in situation awareness and reductions in out-of-the-loop performance problems. A LOA taxonomy applicable to a wide range of psychomotor and cognitive tasks is presented here. The taxonomy comprises various schemes of generic control system function allocations. The functions allocated to a human operator and/or computer included monitoring displays, generating processing options, selecting an 'optimal' option and implementing that option. The impact of the LOA taxonomy was assessed within a dynamic and complex cognitive control task by measuring its effect on human/system performance, situation awareness and workload. Thirty subjects performed simulation trials involving various levels of automation. Several automation failures occurred and out-of-the-loop performance decrements were assessed. Results suggest that, in terms of performance, human operators benefit most from automation of the implementation portion of the task, but only under normal operating conditions; in contrast, removal of the operator from task implementation is detrimental to performance recovery if the automated system fails. Joint human/system option generation significantly degraded performance in comparison to human or automated option generation alone. Lower operator workload and higher situation awareness were observed under automation of the decision making portion of the task (i.e. selection of options), although human/system performance was only slightly improved. The implications of these findings for the design of automated systems are discussed.
Annual Modulation in the Intraday Variability of Quasar 0917+624 due to Interstellar Scintillation

The quasar 0917+624 has been one of the best-studied intraday variable radio sources. However, debate continues as to whether the underlying cause is intrinsic or extrinsic. Much previous work has assumed the intraday variability (IDV) to be intrinsic, which implies an extraordinarily compact source for the radio emission; in contrast, an extrinsic variation due to interstellar scintillation (ISS) implies a relatively larger source diameter, although at the smaller end of the range expected for relativistic jet models. Kraus et al. reported a marked slowing of the IDV at a wavelength of 6 cm in 1998 September and suggested that a change in the source was responsible. However, here we show that the slowing is consistent with the annual modulation in the scintillation timescale expected for ISS, under the assumption that the scattering medium moves with the local standard of rest (LSR). The ISS timescale is governed by the ISS spatial scale divided by the Earth's velocity relative to the scattering plasma. It happens that in the direction of 0917+624, the transverse velocity of the Earth with respect to the LSR varies widely, with a deep minimum in the months of September-November. Hence, the slowing of the IDV in 1998 September strongly suggests that ISS rather than intrinsic variation of the source is the dominant cause of the IDV.