Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring foreign accent strength using an acoustic distance measure

Pronunciations from different speakers are often compared using phonetic transcriptions, even though transcribing speech is time-consuming and error prone. To understand whether this process can be omitted when the goal is to quantify pronunciation differences, we investigate several acoustic-only methods for representing and comparing pronunciations. Specifically, we compute numerical feature representations based on Melfrequency cepstral coefficients and a pre-trained Transformerbased neural network, and make word-level comparisons using Dynamic Time Warping. We use the speech of nonnative and native speakers of English as input to these models, and evaluate the algorithms by comparing their output to human judgements of accent strength. Our results show that the Transformer-based approach outperforms the already wellperforming transcription-based method, while being minimally affected by individual speaker differences. These results suggest that phonetically transcribing speech is not necessary to quantify pronunciation differences when a pre-trained Transformerbased neural model is available.
A MINI REVEIW ON "BRACT MOSAIC" DISEASE OF BANANA

The disease "bract mosaic" in banana and plantain was caused by Banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV), a distinct member of the genus Potyvirus belongs to the family Potyviridae. The disease incidence was reported from various parts of the world including Philippine, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Western Samoa and Vietnam. In India, the disease is more prevalent in states of Kerala, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu (TN) and Andhra Pradesh (AP). BBrMV is a non-enveloped flexuous filamentous ssRNA virus infects all kinds of banana varieties. It follows the putative polyprotein strategy of Potyvirus. The virus is transmitted by aphid (non-persistantly) and vegetative planting materials and account for significant yield loss in banana. Recently, in addition to banana, the virus was also reported in small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) and flowering ginger (Alpphinia purpurata) indicates adapting new hosts for their surveillance and spread. A laboratory study demonstrated that BBrMV could be transmitted from flowering ginger to its natural host banana seems alarming sign to the global banana production. The major problem in the management of this disease is remains unnoticed until it causes severe crop loss. Regular field inspection, early disease diagnosis, removal of source of virus inoculums, insect vector control, selection of resistant plants, mass production virus-free banana seedlings by in vitro micro-propagation and stringent quarantine measures are necessary for better management of the disease. This review provieds an overview of distribution, properties, detection and management of BBrMV.
Prognostic markers of canine mammary tumours: Retrospective study of 142 cases

Due to relevance of the problem, prediction of biological behaviour of neoplasias in mammary glands of dogs requires using contemporary approaches to the study, first of all, of ways of dissemination of tumour cells. One of them is studying the mechanisms of migration of cancer cells out of the neoplasm tissues with further dissemination and development of metastatic sites in the regional lymphatic nodes and remote tissues. We studied the survival period of bitches with tumours of the mammary glands following regional or unilateral mastectomy. Among malignant mammary tumours in bitches, the most often diagnosed were single tumours (57.5%), which histologically were classified to carcinomas – ductal (26.9%) and mixed type (21.9%). Probability of intratumoral invasion to blood vessels equaled 12.0%, to lymph vessels – 7.8%, lymph nodes – 12.8%. It depends on the histological type of the tumour, the most aggressive potentially being сomedocarcinoma, tubulopapillary carcinoma and ductal carcinoma. Parameters of life expectancy and survival level after mastectomy depend on clinical stage of the disease (increase in the stage from the first to the third was characterized by decrease from 12.8 ± 9.5 to 9.4 ± 7.8 months), presence of angio/lymphatic invasions, presence of angiolymphatic invasion, but had no correlation with the size of the tumours. An important predictor of tumour-related death of dogs suffering neoplasias of the mammary glands is index vet-NPI, which has significant correlation with the clinical stage according to Owen and median survival. In particular, median survival in patients with the index lower than 4 exceeded the corresponding values in dogs with the index above 4 by 1.3 times. A promising direction of further research would be studying biological mechanisms of development of tumour emboli in the blood and lymph vessels, metastatic sites in lymph nodes, and also determining their role in pathogenesis of canine mammary tumours.
A Descriptive Study on Hematological Changes in Brucellosis Infected Individuals

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic organism that causes diseases in both animals and humans. Human contact with infected domestic animals is often a transmission route of Brucellosis infection. This infection affects hematological parameters of the patients. We carried this study to determine the changes in various hematological parameters in our study subjects. Patients and Methodology: This study was carried out in Nangarhar regional hospital and safi medical complex on 45 Afghani people from December 2018 up to December 2020. The study design was prospective. A total of 45 patients (Cases) with confirmed diagnosis of Brucellosis on the basis of serology enrolled in the study. Complete blood count and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate studies are also performed. Considered hematological parameters includes Hemoglobin (Hb), White Blood Cell count (WBC), Platelet count (PLT) and ESR. As well interview was done with each patient and a questionnaire was used. The collected data was analyzed with Microsoft excel program Autosum statistics. Results. A total of 45 patients were enrolled. The mean age±SD of the patients under the study were (28.74±15.22) years. The most common hematological changes observed were; anemia (57.7%), thrombocytopenia (24%), leucocytosis (13.3%), pancytopenia (24.4%), lymphocytopenia (31.1%), lymphocytosis (55.5%) & leucopenia (40%). Erythrocyte sedimentation Original Research Article Safi and Noori; JPRI, 33(60A): 390-395, 2021; Article no.JPRI. 79139 391 rate were elevated in about 66% of patients. Fever and headache were the most common presenting symptoms (73%) and (82%) respectively. Night sweats in (40%), joint pain (53%), muscle pain (53%) and lymphadenopathy in 46% of patients. Conclusion: This result of this study shows that Brucellosis commonly affects people of low socioeconomical states, female sex, uneducated, those consuming contaminated dairy products, peoples living in rural areas and those having consuming or contact with animal. Salmonella typhi causes changes in the hematological parameters due to involvement of bone marrow.
Real Earnings Management, Firm Performance, and Corporate Governance Mechanism

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of real earnings management on firm performance and the impact of corporate governance as an intervening variable in the relationship between real earnings management and firm performance. The object are companies include in Corporate Governance Perception Index during 2015-2019 and listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and analyzed by using path analysis method. Real earnings management has a significant effect on the firm performance. Furthermore, with corporate governance mechanism within the company, real earnings management significantly affect firm performance. This research is meaningful, but has limitations. The result cannot be generalizing because the sample only companies that listed in CGPI and IDX period 20152019. The research implication are as follows: top level management should be cautious about credit policy, cash flow from operation, discretionary expenditures, and production. Earnings management is one of variable that the most prevalent in recent studies but the proxy for earnings management in the recent studies used discretionary accrual. In this research, real earnings management is used to indicate earnings management which measured by abnormal cash flow from operation. Thus, it may provide some contribution to the literature.
Charge Carrier Dynamics of Electrochemically Synthesized Poly (Aniline Co-Pyrrole) Nanospheres Based Sulfur Dioxide Chemiresistor

ABSTRACT Poly(aniline co – pyrrole) (PAP) nanospheres (diameter ~50 nm) have been synthesized by using cost-effective electrochemical oxidation of monomers, i.e., aniline, and pyrrole (1:1 ratio), and evaluated as sulfur dioxide chemiresistor. PAP chemiresistor exhibited an improved sensing response (6.1%) toward a low concentration of sulfur dioxide (5 parts per million) compared to its precursor-based chemiresistors at room temperature. It is attributed to the remarkable characteristics of PAP, such as higher surface-to-volume ratio, larger effective surface area, higher branching, and lower conductivity value. Furthermore, the cause of low conductivity was evaluated using low-temperature direct current charge transport studies. The dependence of activation energy on temperature discarded the probability of band conduction mechanism in the synthesized PAP nanospheres. PAP nanospheres were found to possess 3-Dimensional VRH conduction of charge carriers. The low conductivity of PAP nanospheres is further explained by evaluating Mott’s parameters, i.e., characteristic temperature, hopping radius, hopping energy, and density of states.
Managing nutrient stocks and movement in smallholder gardens in Bena , Papua New Guinea

Developing countries like Papua New Guinea (PNG) maintain low input agricultural systems where the use of commercial fertilizers is minimal. In such agricultural systems, the crops depend almost entirely on the soil nutrient reserve for their growth. As a consequence, the soil nutrient reserve declines, resulting in lower crop yields over time. This declining soil fertility may be attributed to several processes, including natural processes like soil erosion and leaching, and anthropogenic processes like crop harvesting and crop residue removal. These processes are also influenced by environmental factors (e.g. climate) and socioeconomic factors (e.g. access to markets). This paper concentrates on some of the management processes that affect the soil fertility, like crop harvesting and organic matter movement. Substantial amounts of nutrients are removed from the soil when crops are harvested but considerable amounts of plant residues or wastes are also generated in food production systems. These residues contain nutrients in various forms more or less readily available that can be appropriately used to benefit the farming system. Farming systems and farming practices alter nutrient fluxes in time and space, so identifying the nutrient pathways is critical for the maintenance of soil fertility.
WINTER FROST DAMAGE AND ITS LINK TO EARLY GROWTH AND SURVIVAL IN A POPLAR CLONE COLLECTION

The Northern European countries largely rely on poplars and their hybrids that are transferred northward from more southern regions, therefore, facing a trade-off between the use of full growth potential and sufficient tolerance of low temperatures. We characterized frost damage and its link to early growth and survival of 33 poplar genotypes at the age of one, three, and four years in a clonal collection on agricultural land. The survival after the first season varied from 42% to 99%. Half of the clones had autumn frost injuries with a maximum of 20% of trees damaged. The autumn frost-damaged trees were significantly (p < 0.001) higher before the injury than the undamaged trees with site mean 105.3 ± 7.9 and 72.0 ± 2.5 cm, respectively, but, at the clone mean level, the proportion of autumn frost-damaged trees had no link to survival (rho = 0.53, p < 0.001). The observed winter frost damage showed no relation (p < 0.05) regarding the proportion of trees with autumn frost damage. Trees with winter frost damage tended to be shorter than undamaged trees (p < 0.001) and had lower survival (rho = 0.47, p < 0.01). The maximum height difference of the clones among the studied years was in a magnitude from 2.4 to 2.9, and the stability of a clonal ranking increased with the age. The results emphasize the need for further monitoring of the clone performance under the local climatic conditions before recommendations of commercial use of particular clones in Latvia.
Omalizumab as New Modality of Treatment ABPA in Cystic Fibrosis Patient: Case Report

Background Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a severe complication in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), resulting in deterioration of lung function and impairment of overall prognosis. Standard therapy consists of high dosage, long-term corticosteroid treatment. This carries the risk of serious side effects such as immune suppression, diabetes and osteoporosis. Antifungal drugs such as itraconazole may cause interactions with other drugs and drug levels need to be monitored. Omalizumab treatment has been tried in several case studies. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients with CF and ABPA receiving treatment with omalizumab from May 2014 to May 2015. A patient was treated at the Department of Paediatric Pulmonology of the king fasial special Hospital and research center the patient gave his written informed consent for retrospective analysis of their ABPA history. Diagnosis of CF in the patient was approved by cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations. Results/discussion: patient showed clinical and laboratory stability or even an improvement within the treatment and post-treatment observation period, although . Side effects of systemic steroids were reduced. Conclusion: Omalizumab has the potential to be an additional and solitary treatment option in patients with CF and ABPA. Early onset treatment may be beneficial and patients with early stage of lung disease seem to be more benefit.
Salivary factors related to caries in pregnancy

Background. The authors of this meta-analysis aimed to assess saliva-related caries risk factors, including calcium and phosphate, hydrogen ion concentration, buffer capacity, Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus counts, flow rate, and decayed, missing and filled teeth index in each trimester during pregnancy. Types of Studies Reviewed. The authors searched electronic databases up to July 1, 2019. Eligible observational studies were included. The authors assessed the quality of the included studies by using the Joanna Briggs Institute scale. To estimate the effects of pregnancy, standardized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were pooled using the random-effects model. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed using Begg and Egger tests. Results. Twenty-nine studies were included in the meta-analysis, representing 1,230 pregnant women in the case groups and 715 in the control groups (nonpregnant women). The results showed that salivary calcium concentration decreased in the third trimester, salivary phosphate decreased in the second and third trimesters, saliva hydrogen ion concentration decreased in the first and third trimesters, stimulated saliva flow rate increased in the third trimester, and salivary S mutans count increased in the second and third trimesters. In addition, the results showed that saliva calcium, phosphate, S mutans, and buffer capacity amounts had changed from the first trimester to the third. Conclusions and Practical Implications. In the third trimester, most salivary factors related to caries change and can increase the risk of developing caries in the future. Interventions and screening for caries prevention in pregnancy should start in the first or second trimesters.
COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF COMPOSTED VETIVER GRASS PRUNES, VETIVER HEDGEROWS AND VETIVER MULCH ON SOIL QUALITY AND ERODIBILITY OF A DEGRADED SOIL

Maintenance of soil quality in an erosion-induce degraded soil has been a major worry in the tropics. To quantify the influence of vetiver grass hedgerows, vetiver mulch and composted vetiver grass prunes (vetiver-compost) on soil quality of an eroded land, an experiment was set up on an Alfisol (Typic Kanhaplustalf) in the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Ibadan, Nigeria. The treatments were 3-m wide vetiver hedgerows (VGS) established at 10-m inter-row spacing, vetiver grass mulch (VGM) imposed at 5 t ha, composted vetiver grass prunes (veticompost) applied at 5 t ha and a control. All quality indicators including physical, chemical and biological indices were collected and analysed between 2008 and 2009. For erosion risk assessment, erodibility factor K on each plot was also quantified in accordance with Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). Results showed that soil organic matter and associated nutrients play a major role in soil quality variation. VGM plot has the highest quality rating of 76.5% but not significantly different (P<0.05) from veticompost plot with 72.5%. These two treatments were however significantly different from the VGS and control plots with 54.5% and 46.4%, respectively. The quality ratings are related to the grain yield of maize. 70% of the grain yield variability was accounted to the soil quality ratings. Although, the soil quality rating of the VGM plot was higher than veticompost, the quality of organic matter and associated nutrients under veticompost enhanced better soil productivity, and thus resulted in greater crop yield than VGM. Properties that determine erodibility such as soil aggregation and shear strength were strongly influenced by vetiver systems while erodibility factor K ranged between 0.013 and 0.030 Mg h MJ mm with the vetiver mulch and control plots having the least and highest erodibility factors, respectively. It is therefore suggested that organic matter addition through application of vetiver mulch and vetiver-compost could be better practices in improving the quality of eroded land as well as reducing the erosive forces that would have broken apart the soil matrix.
Utilization of Quarry Dust as a Partial Replacement of Sand in Concrete Making

The use of crushed quarry dust as a partial replacement of river sand in concrete production was investigated in this study. This is expedient as quarry dust can be available at some locations with insufficient river sand for construction purposes. The use of quarry dust is also in concrete is also a measure necessary for improvement of concrete strength. River sand was replaced with quarry dust for different mix designs of concrete for 0% to 25% replacement levels with 5% intervals. The physical properties of river sand and quarry dust were tested and reported and the workability as well as compressive strengths of the concrete mixtures were also tested. It was observed that the slump values increased with increase in percentage replacement of sand with quarry dust. The compressive strength of cubes at 28 day curing for control mixture of 1:3:6 at 0% partial replacement of river sand with quarry dust was 12.6N/mm 2 but compressive strengths of 21.5 N/mm 2 and 26.0 N/mm 2 were gotten for 1:2:4 concrete and 1:1.5:3 concrete respectively. As the quarry dust content increased to 25%, the 28day compressive strength increased to 13.58 N/mm 2 and 21.57 N/mm 2 for the 1:3:6 and 1:2:4 mixes respectively. Compressive strength values decreased to a value of 25.72N/mm 2 for the 1:1.5:3 concrete mix. The maximum compressive strength values were reached at 20% quarry dust content at the age of 28 days for the three concrete grades investigated. The increase in compressive strength with inclusion of quarry dust was attributed to the higher specific gravity of quarry dust above river sand. The compressive strength of quarry dust concrete continued to increase with age for all the percentages of quarry dust contents. Quarry dust was recommended as a suitable partial replacement for river bed sand in concrete production.
Corrosion inhibition performance of silver nanoparticles embedded-gloss paint on carbon steel and aluminium substrates in 2.0 M H 2 SO 4 solution

the inhibition effects of incorporated in The were via and characterized using of and were uniformly with a thin of with solution at five different concentrations and The inhibition efficiency of the AgNPs modified paint was conducted via gravimetric, gasometric, and potentiodynamic polarization analyses. Results of the gravimetric analysis revealed an increased weight loss with an increased period of exposure and decreased concentration of AgNPs in the paint. The corrosion rates for the mild steel and aluminium samples were 0.051 and 0.005 mmpy with inhibition efficiencies of 42% and 69%, respectively, when immersed in 20 µg/ml AgNPs-incorporated coating and exposed for 120 hours. Potentiodynamic polarization analysis revealed that the presence of AgNPs in the paint (as inhibitor) retarded the anodic dissolution by the formation of protective films on the mild steel and aluminium sample surfaces. The evolution of hydrogen gas from 20 µg/ml AgNPs-incorporated coating was signifi-cantly reduced by 81% and 14% for mild steel and aluminium, respectively, when compared with the control samples at 200 mins of exposure. These results revealed that incorporation of AgNPs into the gloss paint matrix minimizes the degradation due to corrosion of the mild steel and aluminium samples.
University of Birmingham Luminal fluid motion inside an in vitro dissolution model of the human ascending colon assessed using magnetic resonance imaging

Knowledge of luminal flow inside the human colon remains elusive, despite its importance for the design of new colon-targeted drug delivery systems and physiologically relevant in silico models of dissolution mechanics within the colon. This study uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to visualise, measure and differentiate between different motility patterns within an anatomically representative in vitro dissolution model of the human ascending colon: the dynamic colon model (DCM). The segmented architecture and peristalsis-like contractile activity of the DCM generated flow profiles that were distinct from compendial dissolution apparatuses. MRI enabled different motility patterns to be classified by the degree of mixing-related motion using a new tagging method. Different media viscosities could also be differentiated, which is important for an understanding of colonic pathophysiology, the conditions that a colon-targeted dosage form may be subjected to and the effectiveness of treatments. The tagged MRI data showed that the DCM effectively mimicked wall motion, luminal flow patterns and the velocities of the contents of the human ascending colon. Accurate reproduction of in vivo hydrodynamics is an essential capability for a biorelevant mechanical model of the colon to make it suitable for in vitro data generation for in vitro in vivo evaluation (IVIVE) or in vitro in vivo correlation (IVIVC). This work illustrates how the DCM provides new insight into how motion of the colonic walls may control luminal hydrodynamics, driving erosion of a dosage form and subsequent drug release, compared to traditional pharmacopeial methods.