Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BAStat : New Statistical Resources at the Bavarian Archive for Speech Signals

A new type of language resource called 'BAStat' has been released by the Bavarian Archive for Speech Signals at Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet, Munich. In contrast to primary resources like speech and text corpora BAStat comprises statistical estimates based on a number of primary spoken language resources: first and second order occurrence probability of phones, syllables and words, duration statistics, probabilities of pronunciation variants of words and probabilities of context information. Unlike other statistical speech resources BAStat is based solely on recordings of conversational German and therefore models spoken language not text. The resource consists of a bundle of 7-bit ASCII tables and matrices to maximize inter-operability between different operation systems and can be downloaded for free from the BAS web-site. This contribution gives a detailed description about the empirical basis, the contained data types, the format of the resulting statistical data, some interesting interpretations of grand figures and a brief comparison to the text-based statistical resource CELEX.
Analysis of power-clocked CMOS with application to the design of energy-recovery circuits

This paper presents our research results on power-clocked CMOS design. First we provide algebraic expressions and describe the properties of clocked signals. Next two types of power-clocked CMOS circuit constructions are introduced and analyzed in detail. Since the adiabatic switching requires slow-ramping of the power-clock, a clocked transmission gate and a four-stage clocked NP-domino circuit are presented which receive trapezoidal and sinusoidal power-clocks, respectively. PSPICE simulations demonstrate the correct operation and energy-saving advantage of the proposed circuits.
OPTNET: a cost-effective optical network for multiprocessors

In this paper we propose the OPTNET, a novel optical network and associated coherence protocol for scalable multiprocessors. The network divides its channels into broadcast and point-to-point groups. The broadcast channels are used for memory block request, coherence, and synchronization transactions, while the point-to-point channels are utilized for memory block transfer operations. The three main distinguishing features of the OPTNET are: a) its broadcast channels behave well under high contention; b) its point-to-point channels do not require any access control mechanism; and c) it can achieve good communication performance at a low hardware cost. We use detailed execution-driven simulations of ten applications to evaluate a 16-node OPTNET-based multiprocessor. We compare our multiprocessor against highly-efficient systems based on the DMON and LambdaNet optical interconnects. Our results demonstrate that our system outperforms the DMON multiprocessors consistently for our applications, even though the OPTNET requires no more hardware than DMON. The comparison between our multiprocessor and the LambdaNet system shows performance differences in the range of 0 to 12% in favor of the LambdaNet. However, the LambdaNet requires a factor of p more hardware than the OPTNET, where p is the number of computational nodes in the multiprocessor. Based on these results and on our parameter space study, our main conclusion is that the combination of our network and coherence protocol strikes an excellent cost/performance ratio under most architectural assumptions.
Comparative conventional- and quantum dot-labeling strategies for LPS binding site detection in Arabidopsis thaliana mesophyll protoplasts

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria is recognized as a microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP) and not only induces an innate immune response in plants, but also stimulates the development of characteristic defense responses. However, identification and characterization of a cell surface LPS-receptor/binding site, as described in mammals, remains elusive in plants. As an amphiphilic, macromolecular lipoglycan, intact LPS potentially contains three MAMP-active regions, represented by the O-polysaccharide chain, the core and the lipid A. Binding site studies with intact labeled LPS were conducted in Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts and quantified using flow cytometry fluorescence changes. Quantum dots (Qdots), which allow non-covalent, hydrophobic labeling were used as a novel strategy in this study and compared to covalent, hydrophilic labeling with Alexa 488. Affinity for LPS-binding sites was clearly demonstrated by concentration-, temperature-, and time-dependent increases in protoplast fluorescence following treatment with the labeled LPS. Moreover, this induced fluorescence increase was convincingly reduced following pre-treatment with excess unlabeled LPS, thereby indicating reversibility of LPS binding. Inhibition of the binding process is also reported using endo- and exocytosis inhibitors. Here, we present evidence for the anticipated presence of LPS-specific binding sites in Arabidopsis protoplasts, and furthermore propose Qdots as a more sensitive LPS-labeling strategy in comparison to the conventional Alexa 488 hydrazide label for binding studies.
Comprehensive measurements on body channel characteristics of Human Body Communication

Human Body Communication (HBC) is regarded as a novel transmission technology for Artificial Intelligent (AI) society. It is important to measure and analysis body channel characteristics and the results are significant for Integrated Circuit (IC) design of HBC. This paper proposed an improving electrode configuration which was used to couple signals to human body with capacitive coupling type. The body channel characteristics in frequency domain, in time domain, and with different digital modulation were taken into sight systemically by Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), Vector Signal Generator (VSG), Digital Signal Analyzer (DSA), Arbitrary Function Generator (AFG) and Oscilloscope. The bandpass filtering characteristic of body channel was measured, and the center frequency is about 30MHz. The capacitive characteristic of body channel was also measured, and the capacitive characteristic disappears gradually with frequency increasing. Besides, the spectrum profiles of body channel characteristics with Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) and On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation after 20cm HBC were measured. Error Vector Multitude (EVM) was measured with different bits Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) after 20cm HBC.
Pain management in patients with Parkinson’s disease: challenges and solutions

This review focuses on the diagnosis and management of Parkinson-related pain which is one of the more frequently reported nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD), which is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease. Pain is ranked high by patients as a troublesome symptom in all stages of the disease. In early-stage PD, pain is rated as the most bothersome symptom. Knowledge of the correct diagnosis of pain origin and possible methods of treatments for pain relief in PD is of great importance. The symptoms have a great negative impact on health-related quality of life. Separating PD-related pain from pain of other origins is an important challenge and can be characterized as “many syndromes under the same umbrella”. Among the different forms of PD-related pain, musculoskeletal pain is the most common form, accounting for 40%–90% of reported pain in PD patients. Augmentation by pathophysiological pathways other than those secondary to rigidity, tremor, or any of the other motor manifestations of the disease seems most probable. In PD, the basal ganglia process somatosensory information differently, and increased subjective pain sensitivity with lower electrical and heat-pain thresholds has been reported in PD patients. The mechanism is assumed to be diminished activity of the descending inhibitory control system of the basal ganglia. PD pain, like many of the nonmotor symptoms, remains underdiagnosed and, thus, poorly managed. A systematic collection of patient descriptions of type, quality, and duration of pain is, therefore, of utmost importance. Recent studies have validated new and more specific and dedicated pain scales for PD-related symptoms. Symptomatic treatments based on clinical pain classification include not only pharmacological but also nonpharmacological methods and, to some degree, invasive approaches. In the clinic, pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions can be effective to varying degrees – as single therapies or in combination – and should be employed, because no therapeutic strategies have been validated to date for managing PD pain. Multimodal approaches should always be considered, dopamine replacement therapies should be adjusted, and analgesics and/or antidepressants should be considered, including the use of different forms of complementary therapies.
GALAXY-II: a reference architecture for conversational system development

GALAXY is a client-server architecture for accessing on-line information using spoken dialogue that we introduced at ICSLP94. It has served as the testbed for developing human language technologies for our group for several years. Recently, we have initiated a significant redesign of the GALAXY architecture to make it easier for many researchers to develop their own applications, using either exclusively their own servers or intermixing them with servers developed by others. This redesign was done in part due to the fact that GALAXY has been designated as the first reference architecture for the new DARPA Communicator Program. The purpose of this paper is to document the changes to GALAXY that led to this first reference architecture, which makes use of a scripting language for flow control to provide flexible interaction among the servers, and a set of libraries to support rapid prototyping of new servers. We describe the new reference architecture in some detail, and report on the current status of its development.
Aspects of Eddy Momentum Fluxes in the General Circulation of the Troposphere

This thesis investigates the roles of eddy momentum fluxes (EMFs) in several aspects of the tropospheric circulation. The thesis begins by examining how large-scale orographic forcing and ENSO-like equatorial heating affect horizontal EMFs in a multilayer primitive equation model (the GCM). For the orographic forcing a transition is seen from a linear regime, in which the response is dominated by zonal propagation, to a nonlinear regime, in which the response mostly propagates meridionally. The dynamics of this transition are investigated by comparing the behavior of the GCM with simpler models and it is also shown that the transition leads to relatively larger stationary EMFs in the nonlinear regime. In the equatorial heating experiments the winds in the deep tropics accelerate as the strength of the heating is applied and eventually superrotate. The superrotation is driven by the EMFs due to the stationary waves excited by the heating, and is closely related to the breakdown of the GCM’s linear response. Complementing these, the second half of the thesis consists of two projects which study the relationship between EMFs and mid-latitude jets. First, the EMFs in the lower troposphere of two idealized models as well as in a reanalysis dataset are investigated. The pattern of lower tropospheric EMFs is remarkably similar across the datasets, with even a two-layer quasi-geostrophic (QG) model capturing the basic structure seen in the reanalysis data of EMF divergence in the center of the jet at slow phase speeds and EMF convergence at fast phase speeds. A physical picture of the underlying dynamics is presented based on the dynamics of the QG model. Finally, the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem (FDT) is used to predict how the two-layer QG model responds to small, zonally-symmetric perturbations. It is found that the FDT can accurately predict the models response to barotropic perturbations (perturbations with the same magnitude and sign in each layer) but is less successful at predicting the response to baroclinic perturbations (perturbations with the same iii magnitude but opposite sign in each layer). Some alternative strategies for producing better FDT estimates are investigated, and these may be relevant for studies with more comprehensive atmospheric models.
Experimenting with the Interaction between Aggregation and Text Structuring

In natural language generation, different generation tasks often interact with each other in a complex way, which is hard to capture in the pipeline architecture described by Reiter (Reiter, 1994). This paper focuses on the interaction between a specific type of aggregation and text planning, in particular, maintaining local coherence, and tries to explore what preferences exist among the factors related to the two tasks. The evaluation result shows that it is these preferences that decide the quality of the generated text and capturing them properly in a generation system could lead to coherent text.
Ontology extraction for index generation

The administration of electronic publication in the Information Era congregates old and new problems, especially those related with Information Retrieval and Automatic Knowledge Extraction. This article presents an Information Retrieval System that uses Natural Language Processing and Ontology to index collection’s texts. We describe a system that constructs a domain specific ontology, starting from the syntactic and semantic analyses of the texts that compose the collection. First the texts are tokenized, then a robust syntactic analysis is made, subsequently the semantic analysis is accomplished in conformity with a metalanguage of knowledge representation, based on a basic ontology composed of 47 classes. The ontology, automatically extracted, generates richer domain specific knowledge. It propitiates, through its semantic net, the right conditions for the user to find with larger efficiency and agility the terms adapted for the consultation to the texts. A prototype of this system was built and used for the indexation of a collection of 221 electronic texts of Information Science written in Portuguese from Brazil. Instead of being based in statistical theories, we propose a robust Information Retrieval System that uses cognitive theories, allowing a larger efficiency in the answer to the users queries.
A K-band transformer based power amplifier with 24.4-dBm output power and 28% PAE in 90-nm CMOS technology

A fully integrated K-band transformer based power amplifier with neutralization technique is proposed and fabricated in 90-nm CMOS technology. Several cascode cells are combined together as differential power cells. On-chip transformers and current combing topology are used to combine amplifiers as well as to reduce the problem of output power loss. In order to improve the overall stability, neutralization structure is utilized in the combined cascode cell. The measurement results demonstrate 14.1-dB small-signal gain, saturated power (Psat) of 24.4 dBm, and output 1-dB compression point (ÖPrdB) of 21.7 dBm at 24 GHz. The peak power added efficiency (PAE) achieved by this PA at 24 GHz is 28%. The chip size is 0.526 mm2 with all pads. To the authors' knowledge, this circuit presents a superior power and efficiency performance compared with the reported K-band CMOS PAs.
Multi versions data for improvement of QoS in RTDBS

In current research toward the design of more powerful behavior of RTDBS under unpredictable workloads, different research groups focus their work on QoS (Quality of Service) guarantee. Their research is often based on feedback control real-time scheduling theory. In this paper we propose a technique which allows to execute transactions on time using fresh and precise data while taking into account the global size of the database. We have extended the feedback-based miss ratio control by both using multi-versions data, and proposing a data management policy combining (1) limitation of the versions number and (2) dynamic adjustment of this limit according to a maximum database size parameter.
Experimental Assessment of Different Receiver Structures for Underwater Acoustic Communications over Multipath Channels

Underwater communication channels are often complicated, and in particular multipath propagation may cause intersymbol interference (ISI). This paper addresses how to remove ISI, and evaluates the performance of three different receiver structures and their implementations. Using real data collected in a high-frequency (10–14 kHz) field experiment, the receiver structures are evaluated by off-line data processing. The three structures are multichannel decision feedback equalizer (DFE), passive time reversal receiver (passive-phase conjugation (PPC) with a single channel DFE), and the joint PPC with multichannel DFE. In sparse channels, dominant arrivals represent the channel information, and the matching pursuit (MP) algorithm which exploits the channel sparseness has been investigated for PPC processing. In the assessment, it is found that: (1) it is advantageous to obtain spatial gain using the adaptive multichannel combining scheme; and (2) the MP algorithm improves the performance of communications using PPC processing.
Cloning and nucleotide sequence of opdA, the gene encoding oligopeptidase A in Salmonella typhimurium

The opdA gene (formerly called optA) of Salmonella typhimurium encodes a metallopeptidase, oligopeptidase A (OpdA), first recognized by its ability to cleave and allow utilization of N-acetyl-L-Ala4 (E. R. Vimr, L. Green, and C. G. Miller, J. Bacteriol. 153:1259-1265, 1983). Derivatives of pBR328 carrying the opdA gene were isolated and shown to express oligopeptidase activity at levels approximately 100-fold higher than that of the wild type. These plasmids complemented all of the phenotypes associated with opdA mutations (failure to use N-acetyl-L-Ala4, defective phage P22 development, and diminished endopeptidase activity). The opdA region of one of these plasmids (pCM127) was defined by insertions of Tn1000 (gamma delta), and these insertions were used as priming sites to determine the nucleotide sequence of a 2,843-bp segment of the insert DNA. This region contained an open reading frame coding for a 680-amino-acid protein, the N terminus of which agreed with that determined for purified OpdA. This open reading frame contained both a sequence motif typical of Zn2+ metalloproteases and a putative sigma 32 promoter. However, no induction was detected upon temperature shift by using a beta-galactosidase operon fusion. The predicted OpdA sequence showed similarity to dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase, the product of the S. typhimurium gene dcp, and to rat metallopeptidase EC 3.4. 24.15. , which is involved in peptide hormone processing.
Feature extraction using evolutionary weighted principal component analysis

Principal component analysis (PCA) and Fisher's linear discriminant (FLD) are two commonly used feature extraction techniques. Based on them, an evolutionary weighted principal component analysis (EWPCA) is proposed. Similar to FLD, the proposed EWPCA maximizes the ratio of between-class scatter to that of within-class scatter, while keeps even smaller reconstruction error than that of traditional PCA. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are chosen as the searching method to select optimal weights for the EWPCA. In the face recognition application, Evolutionary Eigenface obtained by performing EWPCA, is used as the representation of original face images. Our experimental results prove that EWPCA outperforms both PCA and FLD. Besides, Evolutionary Cosineface is also proposed, which creates better classification performance than most reported approaches on ORLface database.
Infection with Devriesea agamarum and Chrysosporium guarroi in an inland bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps).

OBJECTIVE Description of clinical, microbiological and histopathological findings in a case of deep dermatitis in an inland bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) caused by Devriesea agamarum and Chrysosporium guarroi. CASE REPORT A 4-year-old male inland bearded dragon, weighing 497 g, was presented at the clinic because the animal was suffering from dysecdysis and chronic skin lesions. Large numbers of bacilli, cocci and hyphal elements were diagnosed during the microscopic examination of the wound exudate. Microbiological analysis of a skin specimen revealed a moderate growth of Enterococcus sp. and D. agamarum. The condition of the bearded dragon improved with combined therapy consisting of ceftiofur hydrochloride, voriconazole and meloxicam. However, 3 months later recrudescence was observed. This time, Clostridium sp. and Chrysosporium sp. were isolated in large numbers. The bearded dragon was euthanized. Histopathology confirmed a severe granulomatous dermatitis with associated fungal hyphae and a severe granulomatous hepatitis with intralesional hyphae. Chrysosporium guarroi was identified by PCR and sequencing in two organs (skin and liver). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE This is the first case of an infection with D. agamarum and C. guarroi in an inland bearded dragon (P. vitticeps). It emphasizes the importance of mycological cultures and specific treatment. Samples of suspected Chrysosporium sp. should be cultured at 30°C for 10-14 days. Early antifungal treatment is necessary to prevent systemic and potentially fatal infection with C. guarroi.
Performance analysis of the Imperialist Competitive algorithm using benchmark functions

In this paper, in order to prove the effectiveness of the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm - a socio-political inspired algorithm-on finding the optimal solution for different kinds of minimization functions as well as different kinds of landscapes. The reliability and quality of solutions for mathematical minimization functions of the ICA is evaluated by seven distinct benchmark functions where each one displays different behaviors, and then the results of each test is compared with two other optimization techniques, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the Differential Evolution (DE).
The Interface of Population Dynamics, Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds and Enigmatic Disturbance: Understanding Human-Crocodile Conflict in Costa Rica

Here, I introduce the organism, study site, urgency and problem that are the focus of the succeeding chapters. Relevant background on the biology of the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and the study area of Guanacaste, Costa Rica is provided. The problem; a unique male-bias in crocodile sex ratio, and the urgency; mounting tension between local humans and crocodiles, are described. I describe three foundational hypotheses that test why the crocodile sex ratio bias exists and the study design of each. The testing of such hypothesis forms the empirical basis for my dissertation. A conceptual framework describing the association of hypotheses is included.
The wandering nodes: key management for low-power mobile ad hoc networks

This paper describes a key management scheme that is designed to work in low-power mobile ad hoc networks. The key management scheme is built around the concept of a neighborhood in which nodes dynamically establish link keys based on keying material they already possess. As nodes wander through the network, their neighborhood changes and the keys are updated to reflect this change in environment. Our protocol is designed to work in power constrained environments and only uses efficient symmetric cryptographic primitives.