Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adapting and controlling DNN-based speech synthesis using input codes

Methods for adapting and controlling the characteristics of output speech are important topics in speech synthesis. In this work, we investigated the performance of DNN-based text-to-speech systems that in parallel to conventional text input also take speaker, gender, and age codes as inputs, in order to 1) perform multi-speaker synthesis, 2) perform speaker adaptation using small amounts of target-speaker adaptation data, and 3) modify synthetic speech characteristics based on the input codes. Using a large-scale, studio-quality speech corpus with 135 speakers of both genders and ages between tens and eighties, we performed three experiments: 1) First, we used a subset of speakers to construct a DNN-based, multi-speaker acoustic model with speaker codes. 2) Next, we performed speaker adaptation by estimating code vectors for new speakers via backpropagation from a small amount of adaptation material. 3) Finally, we experimented with manually manipulating input code vectors to alter the gender and/or age characteristics of the synthesised speech. Experimental results show that high-performance multi-speaker models can be constructed using the proposed code vectors with a variety of encoding schemes, and that adaptation and manipulation can be performed effectively using the codes.
Outcome of pregnancy in patients with unilaterally increased uterine artery resistance in second trimester

Adverse pregnancy outcome due to impaired placentation have been shown to demonstrate increased impedance in the spiral artery. The spiral arteries are firstly invaded by trophoblasts and which then becomes incorporated into the vessel wall and replaces the endothelium and muscular layer. This results in the conversion of the small spiral arteries into vessels of greater diameter with low resistance and high compliance, in absence of maternal vasomotor control. This study was a Prospective Observational study, carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, in a tertiary care hospital. The study population consisted of pregnant women between 18 – 20 weeks of gestation with viable pregnancy. During pregnancy, 63(18.36%) women developed hypertensive disorders. Among these 63 patients, 37(58.73%) women had increased uterine artery pulsatility index in second trimester scan and 26(41.26%) had normal pulsatility index. The results were comparable for gestational hypertension with normal and unilaterally increased uterine artery PI and were not statistically significant.
Phytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Activity of Bitter Leaf (Vernonia amygdalina)

Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind and over 50% of all modern clinical drugs are of natural products origin and natural products play important roles in drug development in the pharmaceutical industry [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 80% of the world’s inhabitants rely on traditional or herbal medicines for their primary health care and plants have long formed the basis of sophisticated traditional medicine systems and purportedly provide excellent leads for new drug developments [2,3]. The rediscovery of the connection between plants and health is responsible for the launching of a new generation of multicomponent botanical drugs, dietary supplements and plant produced recombinant proteins [3]. However, the increasing problems of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria is of great concern to both the clinicians and pharmaceutical industries and this has made it significant to search for newer drugs that are highly effective, affordable, acceptable and available[4].
The Effect of Skin to Skin Contact Immediately after Delivery on the Maternal Attachment and Anxiety Regarding Infant

Introduction: The first hours of childbirth are a critical period for formation of the mother-infant attachment and reduce anxiety regarding infant and separating mother and infant at this time lead to harmful effects. The Purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of skin to skin contact, immediately after delivery on mother-infant attachment and anxiety regarding infant. Methods: This Randomized controlled trial was conducted on 114 primigravid mothers who referred to Om-ol-banin hospital of Mashhad, Iran in 2008. The Participants were divided into two groups, skin to skin contact and usual care groups. In skin-to-skin contact group, naked infants were placed chest to chest position immediately after delivery on skin contact with their mothers. In usual care group, infants were placed under radiant heater after delivery. Maternal and infants data were collected using questionnaire. Two groups followed up at end of the neonatal period to assess mother-infant attachment and anxiety regarding infant. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 14, Chi square, independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: 92 mother-infant dyads completed the study. The mean of maternal attachment in skin to skin contact group was significantly higher than the usual care group (51.17±3.88 vs. 49.19±4.56, (p=0.02)) and mean of anxiety regarding infant in skin to skin contact group was significantly lower than the usual care group (28.2±3.32 vs. 26.07±4.16, (p=0.03). Conclusion: Mother-infant skin to skin contact increase maternal attachment and reduce anxiety regarding infant.
The Neural Circuitry Involved in the Reading of German Words and Pseudowords: A PET Study

Silent reading and reading aloud of German words and pseudowords were used in a PET study using (15O) butanol to examine the neural correlates of reading and of the phonological conversion of legal letter strings, with or without meaning. The results of 11 healthy, right-handed volunteers in the age range of 25 to 30 years showed activation of the lingual gyri during silent reading in comparison with viewing a fixation cross. Comparisons between the reading of words and pseudo-words suggest the involvement of the middle temporal gyri in retrieving both the phonological and semantic code for words. The reading of pseudowords activates the left inferior frontal gyrus, including the ventral part of Broca's area, to a larger extent than the reading of words. This suggests that this area might be involved in the sublexical conversion of orthographic input strings into phonological output codes. (Pre)motor areas were found to be activated during both silent reading and reading aloud. On the basis of the obtained activation patterns, it is hypothesized that the articulation of high-frequency syllables requires the retrieval of their concomitant articulatory gestures from the SMA and that the articulation of low-frequency syllables recruits the left medial premotor cortex.
Comparison of simulated parallel transmit body arrays at 3 T using excitation uniformity, global SAR, local SAR, and power efficiency metrics

We compare the performance of eight parallel transmit (pTx) body arrays with up to 32 channels and a standard birdcage design. Excitation uniformity, local specific absorption rate (SAR), global SAR, and power metrics are analyzed in the torso at 3 T for radiofrequency (RF)‐shimming and 2‐spoke excitations.
Applications of the Free-Living Nematode, Caenorhabditis Elegans: A Review

Animals are used to understand basic biology, as ―models‖ for studying human biology and disease, and as test subjects for the development and testing of drugs, vaccines, and other biological (i.e. antibodies, hormones, ingredients in vaccines, etc.) to improve and advance human health. As models, scientists aim to produce artificially, a condition in an animal in a laboratory that may resemble the human equivalent of a medical disease or injury (Gawrylewski, 2007). A wide variety of animals are used in basic research, with mice being the most common. Rats, birds, amphibians, and fish are also used, and invertebrates such as fruit flies and worms are heavily used in genetic research (Greek& Shanks, 2009).
Enhanced Mechanical and Erosion-Corrosion Properties of Al/Nano Al2O3 Composite by ECAP

Aluminum composities are widely used in several applications due to light weight, outstanding strength, erosion corrosion resistance, and good formability. With the aim to study the effect of the severe plastic deformation (SPD) on the mechanical properties and erosion corrosion resistance of aluminum composities; in the current study equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was applied for consolidation of aluminum powder (50 μm) with varying concentrations of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) Nano-powders (40 nm). The homogeneity of the nano particles distribution due to ECAP was examined and the variations of the mechanical properties were investigated. The fracture surface and erosion corrosion resistance of the composite was also investigated. The results had showed that the ECAP process enhanced the distribution of reinforcement material, tensile strength, Vickers hardness value, and erosion corrosion properties of Al/Nano Al2O3 composite. Index Term-Aluminum composite, ECAP, Erosion corrosion, Powder metallurgy
Domain adaptation model for retinopathy detection from cross-domain OCT images

A deep neural network (DNN) can assist in retinopathy screening by automatically classifying patients into normal and abnormal categories according to optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Typically, OCT images captured from different devices show heterogeneous appearances because of different scan settings; thus, the DNN model trained from one domain may fail if applied directly to a new domain. As data labels are difficult to acquire, we proposed a generative adversarial network-based domain adaptation model to address the cross-domain OCT images classification task, which can extract invariant and discriminative characteristics shared by different domains without incurring additional labeling cost. A feature generator, a Wasserstein distance estimator, a domain discriminator, and a classifier were included in the model to enforce the extraction of domain invariant representations. We applied the model to OCT images as well as public digit images. Results show that the model can significantly improve the classification accuracy of cross-domain images.
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and the magnetic ground state in magnetoelectric 
LiCoPO4

Magnetic structures are investigated by means of neutron diffraction to shine a light on the intricate details that are believed to be key to understanding the magnetoelectric effect in LiCoPO$_4$ . At zero field, a spontaneous spin canting of $\varphi = 7(1)^{\circ}$ is found. The spins tilt away from the easy $b$-axis toward $c$. Symmetry considerations lead to the magnetic point group $m'_z$, which is consistent with the previously observed magnetoelectric tensor form and weak ferromagnetic moment along $b$. For magnetic fields applied along $a$, the induced ferromagnetic moment couples via the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction to yield an additional field-induced spin canting. An upper limit to the size of the interaction is estimated from the canting angle.
A Model of Political Bias in Social Science Research

In 2019 at the SPSP Political Psychology Pre-Conference, key stakeholders and researchers were invited to debate the question “does ideological diversity impact the quality of our research? ” If Clark and Winegard's (in press) review of ideological epistemology and its significance to social science is mostly on target, it would predict that many at the debate were unconvinced by those arguing that political bias matters. Why? To the extent that social psychologists function as a moral tribal community (as Clark and Winegard argue), motivated to protect their professional and political interests, they will fight tooth and nail to defend their sacred values and professional statuses against charges of political bias. Of course, they might also do so out of a justified belief that they were unfairly accused. How can one tell the difference? In this paper we argue that this can be accomplished by identifying how political biases manifest in social psychology. To that end, we expand upon two of Clark and Winegard's (in press) arguments: 1. there are no reasons to believe that social scientists are immune to the biases, errors, and social processes that can lead to distortions that stem from tribal loyalties; 2. these tribal tendencies, combined with extreme ideological homogeneity, work to create significant problems for the pursuit of scientific truth. Specifically, we present a heuristic model of political bias that identifies ways they manifest, and we review evidence that bears on it.
Detection of variety classic toxin and methicillin resistant genes of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from raw meat in western Thailand

A total of 519 Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains isolated from raw meat, which were taken from abattoirs and retail markets in western, Thailand, during October 2009 to September 2012 were investigated. The presence of 10 genes encoding enterotoxin (SEs; sea, seb, sec, sed, see, seg, seh and sei), toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1; tst) and methicillin resistant (MRSA; mecA) were detected by using multiplex PCR. Totally 281 S. aureus strains containing at least 1 out of 10 genes were detected at 54.14% (281/519). The prevalence of S. aureus with genes detected was 52.82% (206/390) and 58.14% (75/129) of the strains isolated in samples collected from abattoirs and retail markets, respectively. They were isolates from chicken (52.94%, 18/34), pork (56.16%, 228/406) and beef (44.30%, 35/79). The highest enterotoxin genes detected was sed gene (64.77%, 182/281) which were similar in the strains isolated from chicken, pork and beef 72.22% (13/18), 64.47% (147/228) and 62.86% (22/35), respectively. While tst gene was low prevalent (2.49%, 7/281). Most often detection was in the isolates from chicken (16.67%, 3/18). Meanwhile, mecA gene was detected at 5.34% (15/281) of which isolated from pork (6.14%, 14/228) and beef (2.86%, 1/35) but does not detected in chicken. This study found 30 different pattern of genes detected one or more genes. The S. aureus strains with single gene were commonly observed from chicken and beef, while the isolates harbored two and three genes were mostly found in pork (25.00%, 57/228). The presence and diversity of genes encoding toxin production that found in this study come from strains isolated in various sources of contamination. This suggests that good manufacturing practice and highly hygienic levels during the process should be implemented for consumer safety.
Population connectivity of sardines (Sardinops sagax) of the KZN sardine run using meristic, morphological and genetic data

ii Preface . iii Declaration . iv Plagiarism . iv Publications . v Other research outputs . vi Acknowledgements . 1 Chapter one: . 2 General introduction . 2 1.1. The sardine run: an overview . 2 1.2. Ecological phenomenon: The sardine run and it’s fishery . 4 1.3. Proximate and ultimate factors: current hypotheses about the sardine run . 6 1.3. 1. Ultimate factors . 6 1.3. 2. Proximate factors . 11 1.4. Motivation and rationale for this study . 12 1.4. 1. Population genetic and morphological techniques in population delineation . 12 1.4. 2. Conclusions . 15 1.4. 3. Arrangement of dissertation . 17 Chapter two: . 18 Materials and methods . 18 2.1 Study sites and sample collection . 18 2.2 Meristic data collection and analysis . 21 2.3. Morphological data collection and analysis . 22 2.3. 1. Material collection and preparation . 22 2.3. 2. Multivariate and Geometric analysis . 23 2.4 Genetic material, primer and data collection, and analysis . 26 2.4. 1. Primer selection . 26 2.4. 2. Material collection and preparation . 28 2.4. 3. EPIC encoded data collection and analysis . 29 2.4. 4. mtCOI data collection and analysis . 30 Chapter three: . 33
Free Vibration Analysis of Piezoelectric Cylindrical Nanoshell: Nonlocal and Surface Elasticity Effects

Vibration analysis of piezoelectric cylindrical nanoshell subjected to visco-Pasternak medium with arbitrary boundary conditions is investigated. In these analysis simultaneous effects of the nonlocal, surface elasticity and the different material scale parameter are considered. To this end, Eringen nonlocal theory and Gurtin–Murdoch surface/interface theory considering Donnell's shell theory are used. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton’s principle and the assumed mode method combined with Euler–Lagrange method is used for discretizing the equations of motion. The viscoelastic nanoshell medium is modeled as Visco-Pasternak foundation. A variety of new vibration results including frequencies and mode shapes for piezoelectric cylindrical nano-shell with non-classical restraints as well as different material parameters are presented. The convergence, accuracy and reliability of the current formulation are validated by comparisons with existing experimental and numerical results. Also, the effects of nonlocality, surface energy, nanoshell radius, circumferential wavenumber, nanoshell damping coefficient, and foundation damping are accurately studied on frequencies and mode shapes of piezoelectric cylindrical nanoshell.
Political Party Identification and Intergroup Attitudes: Exploring the Effects of Mediated and Direct Contact With the Opposing Party During a Presidential Campaign

Drawing from intergroup contact theory and social identity theory, this study explored the indirect effects of out-group partisan media exposure (Fox News for Democrats; MSNBC and CNN for Republicans), and out-group interpersonal political discussions with members of the opposing political party on intergroup bias and intergroup competition through party identity as a mediator. We also accounted for the effects of in-group partisan media exposure (Fox News for Republicans; MSNBC and CNN for Democrats) and interpersonal political discussion with members of one’s own party. The results suggested that interpersonal political discussion with “the other side” (out-group interpersonal discussion) and exposure to in-group media increased prejudicial attitudes and competitive intergroup behaviors, not only directly but also through enhanced party identity.
Inhibitory Effect on Nitric Oxide Production of RAW 264.7 Macrophage Cells of a Active Compound from Alternanthera philoxeroides

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of a major compound of Alternanthera philoxeroides, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosiduronic acid 28-β-D-glucopyranosyl-oleanolate or chikusetsusaponins IVa (compound 1), on the production of nitric oxide (NO) in lipopolydaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells.The results showed that compound 1 significantly suppressed NO production in a dose-dependent manner. The studies on structure-activity relationship of compound 1 have demonstrated that both acid and alkaline hydrolysis products, compound 1a (oleanolic acid) and compound 1b (oleanolic acid 3-O-β-D-glucoronide), also exhibited significant NO inhibitory activity, with the relative potency was compound 1b > compound 1 > compound 1a, respectively.
CO-EXISTENCE OF CIPROFLOXACIN RESISTANCE IN METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS FROM CLINICAL SAMPLES

Background: Ciprofloxacin is a broad-spectrum, fluorinated quinolone antibiotic. It has been successfully prescribed against a variety of bacteria. Though its use was limited to a last resort therapy against complicated infections, however widespread usage has led to the emergence of ciprofloxacin resistance. The current study was planned to evaluate the existence of ciprofloxacin resistance in methicillin resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus aureus from clinical samples. Methods: The clinical S. aureus isolates from wound, blood, urine and nose, were obtained from various labs of Hyderabad over nine months. The methicillin resistant strains were identified by Kirbey baur disc diffusion test using oxacillin (1 Âµg) discs. The response of Methicillin Resistant S. aureus and Methicillin Sensitive S. aureus strains against 2nd generation flouroquinolone, i.e., ciprofloxacin was demonstrated. Results: A total of 150 S. aureus isolates from various clinical specimens were included in this study. About 14.6 % (n=22) showed resistance against ciprofloxacin while 30% (n=48) were identified as MRSA. About 25% of the Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates displayed the co-resistance against ciprofloxacin. Among various specimens the maximum co-resistance was seen in case of blood isolates (37.5%) followed by urine isolates (33.3%). Comparatively, ciprofloxacin resistance was found to be lower in Methicillin Sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strains (9.1%). Odds Ratio [OR] was calculated to be 0.30 [95% CI=0. 12â€“0.77]. Statistically significant differences (pE‚0.05) for ciprofloxacin resistance were seen between MRSA and MSSA. Conclusion: The results suggest a statistically significant increase of ciprofloxacin resistance in Methicillin Resistant S. aureus as compared to Methicillin Sensitive S. aureus in clinical samples. Pak J Pysiol 2018;14(2)24â€“7
Parenting Style, Personality Traits, and Interpersonal Relationships: A Model of Prediction of Internet Addiction

This study examined how parenting style can help or hinder the development of healthy family relationships when Internet addiction is a concern. A sample of 700 middle school and 500 college students in Zhuhai (a special administrative city in Southern China) were surveyed using self-report questionnaire scales to examine the links among Internet addiction, parenting style, personality traits, and interpersonal communication skills. The findings indicate that problematic parenting styles, such as strict attitudes, heavy punishment, and regularly withholding affection significantly predict individuals’ Internet addiction. Dysfunctional parent–child relations can drive children to extensively use the Internet for escape. In addition, personality traits of introversion, tendency to lie, neuroticism, and psychoticism are positively associated with Internet addiction. Poor interpersonal skills are also linked to self-reported Internet addiction. This study found an interaction effect among parenting style, interpersonal relationships, and personality traits that produced a significant joint effect predicting Internet addiction. The findings provide some guidance for policy makers and professional counselors involved with youth and families struggling to treat Internet addiction.
Quantitative Analysis by IR: Determination of Chitin/Chitosan DD

FTIR spectroscopy has been widely used to quantitatively study the parameters of the chitin deacetylation. A new research on a Canadian chitin has shown that a degree of deacetylation (DD) of 90% has been reached with a base concentration of 12.5 M, a reaction time of 120 min, and a temperature of 110°C. In parallel, our study on Moroccan chitin allowed to reach 75%. A degree of deacetylation of 75% was obtained at T = 120°C and at CNaOH = 12 N in a single step for 6 hours. Another study followed by IR prepared the chitosan under pressure or under irradiation. Firstly, the compression method was used for preparing 100% deacetylated chitosan with less environmental pollution. The 100% fully deacetylated chitosan is produced in lowconcentration alkali and high-pressure conditions under 0.11–0.12 MPa for 120 min. Secondly, microwave deacetylation showed that a degree of deacetylation of 95.19% was achieved after irradiating chitin at 60 meshes with 50% NaOH solution in a microwave for 10 min at 1400-W power. To find these results, the authors used different formulas to calculate DD by FTIRM, but the most used and reliable formula is that which calculates DD of chitosan by the report of absorbance of amide at 1655 cm 1 that measures the acetyl group and absorbance at 3430 cm 1 relating to the hydroxyl group.