Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring the perceptual effects of modelling assumptions in speech synthesis using stimuli constructed from repeated natural speech

Acoustic models used for statistical parametric speech synthesis typically incorporate many modelling assumptions. It is an open question to what extent these assumptions limit the naturalness of synthesised speech. To investigate this question, we recorded a speech corpus where each prompt was read aloud multiple times. By combining speech parameter trajectories extracted from different repetitions, we were able to quantify the perceptual effects of certain commonly used modelling assumptions. Subjective listening tests show that taking the source and filter parameters to be conditionally independent, or using diagonal covariance matrices, significantly limits the naturalness that can be achieved. Our experimental results also demonstrate the shortcomings of mean-based parameter generation. Index terms: speech synthesis, acoustic modelling, stream independence, diagonal covariance matrices, repeated speech
Application of a Luminescence‐Based Sediment Transport Model

Quantifying the transport history of sand is a challenging but important goal in geomorphology. In this paper, we take a simple idea that luminescence is bleached during transport and regenerates during storage, and use this as a basis to re‐envision luminescence as a sediment tracer. We apply a mathematical model describing luminescence through an idealized channel and reservoir system and then compare this idealized model to real rivers to see if luminescence can reproduce known sediment transport data. We provide results from application of this luminescence method in three rivers from the mid‐Atlantic region of the United States. This method appears promising. However, as a river system diverges from idealized conditions of the mathematical model, the luminescence data diverge from model predictions. We suggest that spatial variation in the delivery of sediment from hillslopes can be reflected in the channel sediment luminescence and that luminescence acts as a function of landscape dynamics.
Morphometric Characterization and Body Measurement Correlation in Dubska Pramenka Sheep

Summary The purpose of this study is to determine the morphometric characterization of Dubska Pramenka sheep and to establish a relationship between the most important body measurements of ewes and rams within the strain. The Dubska Pramenka is one of the biggest strains within the Pramenka breed. The wither heights of ewes and rams were 73.37 cm and 79.92 cm respectively, whereas the body lengths were 74.66 cm (ewes) and 80.42 cm (rams), and the rump heights were 73.72 cm (female) and 80.16 cm (male). Based on the data presented, it is evident that the Dubska Pramenka sheep has almost a square body shape with the rump height slightly greater than the wither height. The chest depth and shoulder width of ewes were 34.50 cm and 22.72 cm respectively, whereas those of males were 36.17 cm and 23.75 cm. In both sheep genders, the hip width (ewes 21.92 cm, rams 22.91 cm) was lower than the shoulder width. The chest and shin perimeters of females were 98.72 cm and 9.31 cm respectively, whereas those of males were 103.25 cm and 10.91 cm. The most significant correlation and statistical significance were recorded in relation to the measured wither and rump heights (r = 0.856 for females, r = 0.856 for males) due to their constant increase during the growth and development of sheep. Conversely, the measurements of rump heights and chest perimeters did not indicate any correlation (r = −0.028 for ewes, r = 0.004 for rams).
Tea consumption and mortality of all cancers, CVD and all causes: a meta-analysis of eighteen prospective cohort studies

Abstract Epidemiological studies have demonstrated inconsistent associations between tea consumption and mortality of all cancers, CVD and all causes. To obtain quantitative overall estimates, we conducted a dose–response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. A literature search in PubMed and Embase up to April 2015 was conducted for all relevant papers published. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled relative risks (RR) with 95 % CI. In eighteen prospective studies, there were 12 221, 11 306 and 55 528 deaths from all cancers, CVD and all causes, respectively. For all cancer mortality, the summary RR for the highest v. lowest category of green tea and black tea consumption were 1·06 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·15) and 0·79 (95 % CI 0·65, 0·97), respectively. For CVD mortality, the summary RR for the highest v. lowest category of green tea and black tea consumption were 0·67 (95 % CI 0·46, 0·96) and 0·88 (95 % CI 0·77, 1·01), respectively. For all-cause mortality, the summary RR for the highest v. lowest category of green tea and black tea consumption were 0·80 (95 % CI 0·68, 0·93) and 0·90 (95 % CI 0·83, 0·98), respectively. The dose–response analysis indicated that one cup per d increment of green tea consumption was associated with 5 % lower risk of CVD mortality and with 4 % lower risk of all-cause mortality. Green tea consumption was significantly inversely associated with CVD and all-cause mortality, whereas black tea consumption was significantly inversely associated with all cancer and all-cause mortality.
Chondrolectin Is a Novel Diagnostic Biomarker and a Therapeutic Target for Lung Cancer

Purpose: This study aims to identify molecules that might be useful as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and as targets for the development of new molecular therapies for lung cancer. Experimental Design: We screened for genes that were highly transactivated in a large proportion of 120 lung cancers by means of a cDNA microarray representing 27,648 genes and found chondrolectin (CHODL) as a candidate. Tumor tissue microarray was applied to examine the expression of CHODL protein and its clinicopathologic significance in archival non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues from 295 patients. A role of CHODL in cancer cell growth and/or survival was examined by siRNA experiments. Cellular invasive effect of CHODL on mammalian cells was examined by Matrigel assays. Results: Immunohistochemical staining revealed that strong positivity of CHODL protein was associated with shorter survival of patients with NSCLC (P = 0.0006), and multivariate analysis confirmed it to be an independent prognostic factor. Treatment of lung cancer cells with siRNAs against CHODL suppressed growth of the cancer cells. Furthermore, induction of exogenous expression of CHODL conferred growth and invasive activity of mammalian cells. Conclusions: CHODL is likely to be a prognostic biomarker in the clinic and targeting CHODL might be a strategy for the development of anticancer drugs. Clin Cancer Res; 17(24); 7712–22. ©2011 AACR.
Mechanisms of Organophosphate Toxicity and Detoxication with Emphasis on Studies in Croatia

Mechanisms of Organophosphate Toxicity and Detoxication with Emphasis on Studies in Croatia This review comprises studies on the mechanisms of toxicity and detoxication of organophosphorus (OP) compounds done in Croatia in different research areas. One area is the synthesis of antidotes against OP poisoning and their in vivo testing in experimental animals. In vitro studies included in this review focus on the mechanisms of reversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), protection of cholinesterases from inhibition by OPs, and reactivation of phosphylated cholinesterases. The third area comprises distribution profiles of BChE and paraoxonase (PON) phenotypes in selected population groups and the detection of OPs and metabolites in humans. Finally, methods are described for the detection of OP compounds in human blood and other media by means of cholinesterase inhibition. Mehanizam Toksičnosti I Detoksikacije Organofosfornih Spojeva S Naglaskom Na Istraživanja U Hrvatskoj Prikazana su istraživanja vođena u Hrvatskoj na različitim područjima mehanizma toksičnosti i detoksikacije organofosfornih (OP) spojeva. Jedno je područje sinteza antidota protiv otrovanja OP spojevima i testiranje in vivo antidota na eksperimentalnim životinjama. Istraživanja in vitro odnose se na mehanizam reverzibilne inhibicije acetilkolinesteraze (AChE) i buturilkolinesteraze (BChE), zaštitu kolinesteraza od inhibicije OP spojevima te reaktivaciju fosfiliranih kolinesteraza. Treće je područje distribucija fenotipova BChE i paraoksonaze (PON) u odabranim populacijama te detekcija OP spojeva i njihovih metabolita u ljudima. Na kraju su opisane metode detekcije OP spojeva u ljudskoj krvi i drugim medijima koje se osnivaju na inhibiciji kolinesteraza.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place

BACKGROUND: Israeli hospitals must continuously develop various mechanisms to protect both patients and staff against the physical threat of missile attacks during war situations. OBJECTIVES: To examine the difficulties and dilemmas with which the staff of a psychiatric hospital had to deal during missile attacks. DESIGN: A quality improvement project consisting of three stages (1) establishment of a steering committee; (2) execution of a staff nurses’ focus group; and (3) categorization of issues raised and suggestions for care improvement in future emergencies. RESULTS: The project stressed the challenges of dealing with restrained patients during missile alarms, waking up patients or dealing with those who refuse to enter the protected area, mismatching of the security needs in protected areas, and institutionalized emotional support for staff members. CONCLUSION: Suitable policies for clinical and management behavior and for information transfer between management and wards are essential during a continuous emergency.
MORPHOLOGY OF LUMBAR PLEXUS AND ITS CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Address for Correspondence: Dr. Deepti Arora, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, MMIMSR, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India, contact no.08059931294, E-Mail: dr.deeptiarora@gmail.com Background and Objectives: Looking to the applied significance of lumbar plexus in the form of its involvement in various injuries and entrapment, it is imperative to have a thorough knowledge about its formation, branching pattern and variations. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 30 formalin embalmed cadavers in the department of anatomy, Government Medical College, Patiala. The muscles of the posterior abdominal wall were exposed. The fibers of psoas major muscle were dissected from the transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae and the nerves of lumbar plexus were exposed. Results: The variable origin of iliohypogastric nerve was found in 8.33% cases. It was not found in 8 specimens. Ilioinguinal nerve was not seen in 14.97% cases. Variations in morphological origin of genitofemoral nerve were seen in 13.36% cases and in case of femoral nerve , variations were in 43.32% cases. Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve was seen arising from femoral nerve in 8.33% cases and was not found in 16.67% cases. Psoas minor muscle was found unilaterally in 1 cadaver on the right side and bilaterally in 2 cadavers. Conclusion: Knowledge of the anatomy of the lumbar plexus is essential for the surgeon who wishes to perform a surgical intervention to this plexus.
Enumeration and Asymptotic Properties of Unlabeled Outerplanar Graphs

We determine the exact and asymptotic number of unlabeled outerplanar graphs . The exact number $g_{n}$ of unlabeled outerplanar graphs on $n$ vertices can be computed in polynomial time, and $g_{n}$ is asymptotically $g\, n^{-5/2}\rho^{-n}$, where $g\approx0.00909941$ and $\rho^{-1}\approx7.50360$ can be approximated. Using our enumerative results we investigate several statistical properties of random unlabeled outerplanar graphs on $n$ vertices, for instance concerning connectedness, the chromatic number, and the number of edges. To obtain the results we combine classical cycle index enumeration with recent results from analytic combinatorics.
Atom-Resolved Imaging of Dynamic Shape Changes in Supported Copper Nanocrystals

In situ transmission electron microscopy is used to obtain atom-resolved images of copper nanocrystals on different supports. These are catalysts for methanol synthesis and hydrocarbon conversion processes for fuel cells. The nanocrystals undergo dynamic reversible shape changes in response to changes in the gaseous environment. For zinc oxide–supported samples, the changes are caused both by adsorbate-induced changes in surface energies and by changes in the interfacial energy. For copper nanocrystals supported on silica, the support has negligible influence on the structure. Nanoparticle dynamics must be included in the description of catalytic and other properties of nanomaterials. In situ microscopy offers possibilities for obtaining the relevant atomic-scale insight.
Evaluation of macular thickness change after inferior oblique muscle recession surgery

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the changes in macular thickness following inferior oblique muscle recession surgery. Materials and Methods: Thirty-eight eyes from 21 patients undergoing ocular muscle surgery were included. Patients were grouped into three groups based on the type of surgical intervention: Group I (n = 12), inferior oblique recession surgery alone; Group II (n = 12), inferior oblique plus horizontal muscle surgery; Group III (n = 14), horizontal muscle surgery alone. Each eye was scanned using the optical coherence tomography (OCT) device preoperatively and on the first postoperative day to measure macular thickness. Results: Following surgery, a significant increase in foveal thickness occurred in Group I (P < 0.05) and Group II (P < 0.01). In addition, a statistically significant difference was observed between the groups with regard to the increase in foveal thickness (P = 0.016), with significantly lower changes in Group III. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that inferior oblique muscle recession surgery is associated with an increase in macular thickness.
Less than optimal oral health care during pregnancy in Rhode Island women: oral health care as a part of prenatal care.

it is well-documented that hormonal and immunologic changes during pregnancy predispose women to various oral health problems including gingival/periodontal swelling or inflammation, tooth erosion, and dental decay. ,, The receipt of preventive and therapeutic oral health services can prevent further complications of dental diseases during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Furthermore, current evidence-based research demonstrates the potential benefits of maintaining good oral health during pregnancy to control other common pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension). Studies have suggested that gingival or periodontal infection-related bacteria can adversely affect the glycemic control of gestational diabetes and the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. ,, In addition, evidence shows that cariogenic bacteria are typically transmitted from mother to her child. , Pregnant women and potential caregivers who have extensive past or current tooth decay should be advised during pregnancy about the use of fluoride, antimicrobial products such as xylitol and chlorhexidine, dietary control, and behavioral changes and techniques to reduce cariogenic bacteria transmission to their babies. The Rhode Island Oral Health Program promotes a dental visit for all pregnant women to obtain counseling on oral health care and dental hygiene, preventive services, and treatment needed during their prenatal care period. However, no report has yet been available to assess oral health care access and utilization status of Rhode Island’s pregnant women. The objectives of this report are to (a) document the most recent estimates of Rhode Island women who received dental care during their pregnancy, (b) determine the prevalence of oral health care education provision for women in their prenatal care period, and (c) discuss how Rhode Island can ensure that all women obtain appropriate oral health care and education during their prenatal period.
An improved homomorphism preservation theorem from lower bounds in circuit complexity

Previous work of the author [Rossman 2008a] showed that the Homomorphism Preservation Theorem of classical model theory remains valid when its statement is restricted to finite structures. In this paper, we give a new proof of this result via a reduction to lower bounds in circuit complexity, specifically on the AC0 formula size of the colored subgraph isomorphism problem. Formally, we show the following: if a first-order sentence Φ of quantifier-rank k is preserved under homomorphisms on finite structures, then it is equivalent on finite structures to an existential-positive sentence Ψ of quantifier-rank kO(1). Quantitatively, this improves the result of [Rossman 2008a], where the upper bound on the quantifier-rank of Ψ is a non-elementary function of k.
Capacity and Random-Coding Exponents for Channel Coding With Side Information

Capacity formulas and random-coding exponents are derived for a generalized family of Gel'fand-Pinsker coding problems. These exponents yield asymptotic upper bounds on the achievable log probability of error. In our model, information is to be reliably transmitted through a noisy channel with finite input and output alphabets and random state sequence, and the channel is selected by a hypothetical adversary. Partial information about the state sequence is available to the encoder, adversary, and decoder. The design of the transmitter is subject to a cost constraint. Two families of channels are considered: 1) compound discrete memoryless channels (CDMC), and 2) channels with arbitrary memory, subject to an additive cost constraint, or more generally, to a hard constraint on the conditional type of the channel output given the input. Both problems are closely connected. The random-coding exponent is achieved using a stacked binning scheme and a maximum penalized mutual information decoder, which may be thought of as an empirical generalized maximum a posteriori decoder. For channels with arbitrary memory, the random-coding exponents are larger than their CDMC counterparts. Applications of this study include watermarking, data hiding, communication in presence of partially known interferers, and problems such as broadcast channels, all of which involve the fundamental idea of binning
Clinical case study

A 35-year-old man presented at our eye clinic with a 2-day history of a red, sore and watery right eye. He had visited Cameroon 4 months priorto presentation. Examination of the right eye revealed an injected conjunctiva and a coiled, mobile and translucent worm in the sub-conjunctival space (Figure 1). A diagnosis of loiasis was made on the basis of clinical examination, parasitologica! analysis, a full blood count (which revealed eosinophilia) and a blood film (which showed microfilaria). Removal of the worm (Loa loa) was attempted using an aseptic technique and minimal illumination. A sub-conjunctival injection of 2% lignocaine and 1:100,000 dilution of adrenaline was used to anaesthetise the eye and a 2 cm horizontal conjunctival incision was made. Despite multiple attempts to grasp the worm with forceps, it could not be extracted due to its slippery exterior. Gentle cautery was applied to seal the space around the worm and facilitate removal. Topical antibiotic was then applied and the conjunctiva closed with 6/0 vicryl. Within a week, the patient's ocular symptoms improved. Figure 1. Loa loa is a filarial nematode with a predilection for ocular tissues. With increasing international travel it is important that ophthalmologists become familiar with the various ocular presentations of infectious diseases, which untreated can cause serious morbidity and mortality.
The Camera Mouse: visual tracking of body features to provide computer access for people with severe disabilities

The "Camera Mouse" system has been developed to provide computer access for people with severe disabilities. The system tracks the computer user's movements with a video camera and translates them into the movements of the mouse pointer on the screen. Body features such as the tip of the user's nose or finger can be tracked. The visual tracking algorithm is based on cropping an online template of the tracked feature from the current image frame and testing where this template correlates in the subsequent frame. The location of the highest correlation is interpreted as the new location of the feature in the subsequent frame. Various body features are examined for tracking robustness and user convenience. A group of 20 people without disabilities tested the Camera Mouse and quickly learned how to use it to spell out messages or play games. Twelve people with severe cerebral palsy or traumatic brain injury have tried the system, nine of whom have shown success. They interacted with their environment by spelling out messages and exploring the Internet.
The Pilot Stroke Data Bank: Definition, Design, and Data

Four university centers collaborated to contribute 1158 patients with acute episodes of cerebrovascular disease to the pilot Stroke Data Bank, initiated by NINCDS in 1978. During the pilot project a standard set of data collection forms were developed and used at each of the collaborating centers. Data on clinical course, laboratory findings, therapy and outcome were gathered prospectivcly throughout the patient's hospitalization and at specified follow-up intervals. Using operational definitions of stroke sub-types, consecutive cases were systematically allocated to specific categories of brain and vascular pathology. The definitions were based on clinical criteria as well as on laboratory data, including computer- ized tomography (CT), and angiography findings. This paper describes the pilot Stroke Data Bank and presents the distribution of cases by diagnostic and demographic categories. It represents one of the largest series of prospectively collected stroke cases studied by CT (90% of the cases) and angiography (42%). Based upon the methods and processes of this pilot study, a main phase of the Stroke Data Bank has been established to address a number of questions pertaining to stroke classification, evolution, diagnosis, and prognosis. Stroke Vol 15, No 4, 1984
Single‐cell transcriptomes reveal characteristic features of human pancreatic islet cell types

Pancreatic islets of Langerhans contain several specialized endocrine cell types, which are commonly identified by the expression of single marker genes. However, the established marker genes cannot capture the complete spectrum of cellular heterogeneity in human pancreatic islets, and existing bulk transcriptome datasets provide averages across several cell populations. To dissect the cellular composition of the human pancreatic islet and to establish transcriptomes for all major cell types, we performed single‐cell RNA sequencing on 70 cells sorted from human primary tissue. We used this dataset to validate previously described marker genes at the single‐cell level and to identify specifically expressed transcription factors for all islet cell subtypes. All data are available for browsing and download, thus establishing a useful resource of single‐cell expression profiles for endocrine cells in human pancreatic islets.