Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory time-frequency masking: Psychoacoustical measures and application to the analysis-synthesis of sound signals

Many audio applications, such as sound analysis-synthesis tools or audio codecs, call for specific signal representations enabling the analysis, processing, and synthesis of non stationary signals. Most of them are concerned with time-frequency (TF) representations such as the Gabor and wavelet transforms that allow decomposing any real-world sound into a set of elementary functions (or “atoms”) well localized in the TF domain. On the purpose of adapting these representations to the human auditory perception, the present study investigated auditory masking in the TF domain. Masking has been extensively investigated with simultaneous (frequency masking) and non-simultaneous (temporal masking) presentation of masker and target. A few studies examined TF relations of masking between masker and target. Because those studies involved stimuli that are not maximally compact in the TF plane (i.e., they were temporally and/or spectrally broad), their results are not suitable for predicting masking effects between TF atoms. In this study, we investigated auditory TF masking with masker and target signals having minimum spread in the TF plane, namely Gaussian-shaped sinusoids (referred to as Gaussians). The masker had a carrier frequency of 4 kHz and a level of 60 dB SL. Masker and target were separated either in frequency, in time, or both. The results of the TF conditions provide the TF spread of masking for stimuli that are maximally concentrated in the TF domain. The results of the simultaneous and non-simultaneous conditions allowed to show that a simple superposition of frequency and temporal masking functions does not provide an accurate representation of the measured TF masking function for Gaussian maskers. Two additional experiments were carried out that examined the effects of masker level and masker frequency in simultaneous conditions. Decreasing the masker level from 60 to 30 dB SL resulted in a reversal of the masking patterns' asymmetry and a narrowing of the frequency spread of masking. The frequency spread of masking at 0.75 kHz was similar to that obtained at 4 kHz when compared on an ERB scale. This is compatible with the constant-Q frequency analysis by the human auditory system. Finally, a first attempt was made to implement the gathered masking data in a sound signal processing algorithm allowing to remove the perceptually irrelevant atoms in the TF representations of audio signals. Potential applications of such an approach are, for instance, audio codecs and sound analysis-synthesis tools.
Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles: A Novel Approach for Kidney Disease Treatment

Abstract Globally, kidney disease has become a serious health challenge, with approximately 10% of adults suffering with the disease, and increasing incidence and mortality rates every year. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are 30 nm–100 nm sized nanovesicles released by cells into the extracellular matrix (ECM), which serve as mediators of intercellular communication. Depending on the cell origin, sEVs have different roles which depend on internal cargoes including, nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) exert anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and wound healing functions mainly via sEVs in a stable and safe manner. MSC-derived sEVs (MSC-sEVs) exert roles in several kidney diseases by transporting renoprotective cargoes to reduce oxidative stress, inhibit renal cell apoptosis, suppress inflammation, and mediate anti-fibrosis mechanisms. Additionally, because MSC-sEVs efficiently target damaged kidneys, they have the potential to become the next generation cell-free therapies for kidney disease. Herein, we review recent research data on how MSC-sEVs could be used to treat kidney disease.
High-Power Helicon Double Gun Thruster

High-Power Helicon Double Gun Thruster Nao Murakami Chair of the Supervisory Committee: While chemical propulsion is necessary to launch a spacecraft from a planetary surface into space, electric propulsion has the potential to provide significant cost savings for the orbital transfer of payloads between planets. Due to extended wave particle interactions, a plasma thruster that can operate in the 100 kW to several MW power regime can only be attained by increasing the size of the thruster, or by using an array of plasma thrusters. The HighPower Helicon (HPH) Double Gun thruster experiment examines whether firing two helicon thrusters in parallel produces an exhaust velocity higher than the exhaust velocity of a single thruster. The scaling law that relates the downstream plasma velocity with the number of helicon antennae is derived, and compared with the experimental result. In conjunction with data analysis, two digital filtering algorithms are developed to filter out the noise from helicon antennae. The scaling law states that the downstream plasma velocity is proportional to square root of the number of helicon antennae, which is in agreement with the experimental result.
An artiﬁcial neural network based harmonic distortions estimator for grid-connected power converter-based applications

Grid-connected solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems are predicted to cause signiﬁcant harmonic distortions in today’s power networks due to the increase utilization of power conversion systems widely recognized as harmonic sources. Estimating the actual harmonic emissions of a certain harmonic source can be a challenging task, especially with multiple harmonic sources connected, changes in the system’s characteristic impedance, and the intermittent nature of renewable resources. A method based on an Artiﬁcial Neural Network (ANN) system including the location-speciﬁc data is proposed in this paper to estimate the actual harmonic distortions of a solar PV inverter. A simple power system is modelled and simulated for different cases to train the ANN system and improve its prediction performance. The method is validated in the IEEE 34-bus test feeder with established harmonic sources, and it has estimated the individual harmonic components with a maximum error of less than 10% and a maximum median of 5.4%. (cid:1) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. ThisisanopenaccessarticleundertheCCBYlicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Adjustments to Pandemic Enforced Constraints: Insights from Postgraduate Students’ and Educators’ Transitions

Much of higher education (HE) experienced a forced global pilot test of online education with the added dimension of a rapid adoption for both educators and students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We used Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transition (MMT) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) perspectives within a two-time interval research design of postgraduate Master students’ and educators’ lived experience operationalised during the first three months of the pandemic in Ireland. This article describes the transition journey from shock and loss, to new and unfamiliar, enforced and confined learning environments, to eventual acceptance albeit with major challenges. The findings illustrate a complex narrative for both students and educators as they adjust to a new educational experience. The main finding was that both students and educators transitioned rapidly, but there is a lack of evidence that this “forced” transition repositioned the student and educator roles in a new educational ecosystem. As technological adoption continues with HE, research findings of this nature situated during the early stages of the pandemic can inform and guide the next iteration of educational and technological developments. *Author affiliations can be found in the back matter of this article 2 Nolan et al. International Journal of Educational and Life Transitions DOI: 10.5334/ijelt.3
Innate lymphoid cells in early tumor development

Innate and adaptive immune cells monitor, recognize, and eliminate transformed cells. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are innate counterparts of T cells that play a key role in many facets of the immune response and have a profound impact on disease states, including cancer. ILCs regulate immune responses by responding and integrating a wide range of signals within the local microenvironment. As primarily tissue-resident cells, ILCs are ideally suited to sense malignant transformation and initiate anti-tumor immunity. However, as ILCs have been associated with anti-tumor and pro-tumor activities in established tumors, they could potentially have dual functions during carcinogenesis by promoting or suppressing the malignant outgrowth of premalignant lesions. Here we discuss emerging evidence that shows that ILCs can impact early tumor development by regulating immune responses against transformed cells, as well as the environmental cues that potentially induce ILC activation in premalignant lesions.
What do we know about the employment impacts of climate policies? A review of the ex post literature

Concern around the employment impacts of climate mitigation policies can be a contentious and politized issue, with potentially limiting implications for climate action. It persists despite a significant ex ante literature that suggests that aggregate effects will most likely be limited and net positive. This review analyses 60 papers assessing the employment impacts of climate policies ex post, in 20 countries and 2 country groups. Eight broad mitigation policies are covered: (1) emissions trading, (2) carbon taxes, (3) feed‐in tariffs, renewable energy (4) procurement and (5) deployment, (6) green economy/jobs, (7) environmental regulation, and (8) other policies and regulations. The analysis confirms that employment impacts tend to be modest and net positive or neutral, but reveals that distributional outcomes can be uneven, disadvantaging certain groups and at times reinforcing existing inequalities. Additionally, lower quality jobs or weak labor market regulations may decrease the attractiveness of jobs created or increase job transition costs. These findings provide some justification for increased focus on how climate policies can ensure a “just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs” stipulated in the Paris Agreement, but also suggest that climate action should not be delayed for fear of widespread negative employment impacts. Ex post assessments offer an important lens into the determinants of climate policy employment outcomes and should be advanced and harnessed in support of accelerated and just action.
Exploring doctoral students’ emotions in feedback on academic writing: a critical incident perspective

ABSTRACT Informed by the analytical framework of academic emotions (Pekrun, R., and L. Linnenbrink-Garcia. 2012. “Academic Emotions and Student Engagement.” In The Handbook of Research on Student Engagement, edited by S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, and C. Wylie, 259–282. New York: Springer) and a cognitive approach to feedback, this study reported on 16 doctoral students’ emotions and emotion-regulation strategies in academic writing situations. A Critical Incident Technique and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from the participants. The findings revealed that across the 65 occurrences of discrete emotions, negative emotions were the most reported emotional status, such as anxiety, confusion, and frustration. However, participants also experienced positive emotions such as satisfaction, inspiration, and gratitude. This study also identified four major categories of emotion-regulation strategies (i.e. task-related regulation, cognitive change, co-regulation, and attention deployment) with 13 specific strategies used by doctoral students in taming and soothing their emotions in feedback situations. The findings provide insights into the emotional dimension of feedback on academic writing and offer implications for both the supervisors and doctoral students concerning how to alleviate the negative emotions and enhance positive emotions by updating their mindset and practice in giving and processing feedback.
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF RESONANT CHARACTERISTICS OF GRAPHENE RECTANGULAR MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA WITH ROOF TOP FUNCTIONS

|In this paper, an analytical model is presented to investigate the resonant characteristics of a graphene rectangular microstrip patch antenna. To take into account the graphene (cid:12)lm patch in the full-wave spectral domain technique, surface complex impedance is considered. This impedance is determined by using Kubo formula. A set of roof top sub-domain basis functions are employed to model the current density distribution on the graphene rectangular microstrip patch. The simulation results demonstrate that the designed structure can provide excellent tunable properties in Terahertz frequency region by varying diﬀerent chemical potentials and relaxation times of graphene (cid:12)lm. Variations of dimension of rectangular patch on the resonant frequency and bandwidth of a graphene rectangular microstrip antenna are presented. Finally, numerical results for the dielectric substrates eﬀects on the operating frequencies are also presented. The analysis is validated by comparing the results with a speci(cid:12)c example in the literature.
High-Frequency Cerebellar rTMS Improves the Swallowing Function of Patients with Dysphagia after Brainstem Stroke

Objective To explore the efficacy of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the swallowing motor area of the cerebellum in patients with dysphagia after brainstem stroke. Methods A total of 36 patients with dysphagia after brainstem stroke were recruited and divided into 3 groups. Before stimulation, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to determine the swallowing dominant cerebellar hemisphere and the representation of the mylohyoid muscle. The three groups of patients received bilateral cerebellar sham stimulation, dominant cerebellar rTMS + contralateral sham stimulation, or bilateral cerebellar rTMS. The stimulus plan for each side was 10 Hz, 80% resting movement threshold (rMT), 250 pulses, 1 s per stimulus, and 9 s intervals. Sham rTMS was performed with the coil held at 90° to the scalp. The changes in the motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude and the clinical swallowing function scales of the patients after stimulation were compared among the three groups. Results 34 patients were finally included for statistical analysis. The scores of penetration aspiration scale (PAS) and functional dysphagia scale (FDS) of the patients after 2 weeks of rTMS in the unilateral stimulation group and bilateral stimulation group were better than that in the sham stimulation group, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. The increase in the MEP amplitude of the cerebral hemisphere in the bilateral stimulation group was higher than that in the other two groups, and the increase in the MEP amplitude in the unilateral stimulation group was higher than that in sham stimulation group. There was no correlation between the improvement in patients' clinical swallowing function (PAS scores and FDS scores) and the increase in MEP amplitude in either the unilateral stimulation group or the bilateral stimulation group. Conclusion High-frequency rTMS in the cerebellum can improve swallowing function in PSD patients and increase the excitability of the representation of swallowing in the bilateral cerebral hemispheres. Compared with unilateral cerebellar rTMS, bilateral stimulation increased the excitability of the cerebral swallowing cortex more significantly, but there was no significant difference in clinical swallowing function.
Environmental Upgrading and Downgrading in Global Value Chains: A Framework for Analysis

Abstract A key concern of the global value chain (GVC) and global production network (GPN) literature relates to whether and how actors, especially in the Global South, upgrade by generating and capturing more value. To date, such research has predominantly focused on the economic and social aspects of upgrading. In this article, we leverage selected insights from economic geography to advance our understanding of the environmental dimensions of upgrading and downgrading in GVCs and GPNs. We develop an analytical framework that distinguishes the processes of environmental upgrading, in terms of value creation and appropriation, from the resultant outcomes (biophysical manifestations, impacts on market access, and reputation). Furthermore, the framework is considered from the upgrading perspectives of multiple actors instead of focusing only on lead firms and other powerful actors. We illustrate how to apply this framework through a case study of the Kenya–UK horticulture value chains. We show that despite the uptake of environmental upgrading practices, as required by UK supermarkets and transmitted by Kenyan export firms with the facilitation of government agencies, Kenyan farmers have mostly experienced environmental downgrading, with some negative effects also affecting farmers and other resource users beyond the value chain.
Parental Bonding and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Neuroticism and Social Support

This study aims to examine the influence of parental care/control on depressive symptoms and the mediating roles of neuroticism and social support in their association among Chinese college students during the COVID-19. A sample of 2561 college students with an age range of 16 - 26 (M age = 18.37, SD = 1.13, 29.05% boys) completed the care and control subscales of the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Social Support Rating Scale. Structural equation models indicated that parental care/control negatively/ positively predicted depressive symptoms. Furthermore, neuroticism and social support mediated the relationship between parental care/control and depressive symptoms, separately and sequentially. These findings may advance our understanding of the influences of multiple factors on Chinese college students’ depressive symptoms under the background of COVID-19.
Salivary microbiota of periodontitis aggravates bone loss in ovariectomized rats

The mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between periodontitis and osteoporosis remain unclear. Recently, the gut microbiota has been recognized as a pivotal regulator of bone metabolism, and oral and gut mucosae are microbiologically connected. In this study, we investigated the effects of periodontitis on osteoporosis through the oral-gut axis. The salivary microbiota of patients with periodontitis was collected and then pumped into the intestine of Sprague–Dawley rats via intragastric administration for 2 weeks. An osteoporosis model was established using ovariectomy. Changes in the maxillae and femora were evaluated using microcomputed tomography (micro CT) and HE staining. Intestinal barrier integrity and inflammatory factors were examined using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence. The gut microbiota was profiled by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Metabolome profiling of serum was performed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry sequencing. Micro CT and HE staining revealed osteoporotic phenotypes in the maxillae and femora of ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Our results confirmed that the salivary microbiota of patients with periodontitis aggravated femoral bone resorption in OVX rats. In addition, intestinal inflammation was exacerbated after periodontitis salivary microbiota gavage in OVX rats. Correlation analysis of microbiota and metabolomics revealed that lipolysis and tryptophan metabolism may be related to the bone loss induced by the salivary microbiota of patients with periodontitis. In conclusion, periodontitis can aggravate long bone loss through the oral-gut axis in OVX rats.
Genetics, phosphorus and correlations in soybean yield

It is essential to select soybean genotypes with high yield and adaptability to the Cerrado Biome, mainly related to the supply of phosphorus. In soybeans, studies on correlations involving their characters with phosphate fertilization are insipient. The objective of this work was to evaluate the phenotypic correlations of soybean under different concentrations of phosphorus, aiming to improve the selection and identification of the most promising characters regarding the possibility of gains in grain yield. The study was conducted in Mineiros, Goiás, Brazil. The experimental design used was in randomized blocks in factorial corresponding to four soybean genotypes in five levels of phosphorus. The soil tillage system was carried out conventionally. The crop treatments relevant to the control of weeds and pests were carried out following the best practices of integrated pest management. At the end of the experiment, the data were submitted to multivariate analysis of variance. The treatments differed, mainly due to the number of grains per plant, where their similars were grouped in clusters. The correlations between the characters were significant and pointed to affinities, in addition to the potential explanation for the yield. It is concluded that genetic factor is largely responsible for the soybean yield indices, however, this was also influenced by the concentrations of triple super phosphate as a phosphate source. And that in order to increase the yield of the soybean crop it is necessary to reduce the stand and plant height, as well as to increase the average of pods with three grains, pods per plant and grains per plant.
Clinical significance of pulmonary hypertension in interstitial lung disease: A consensus statement from the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute's innovative drug development initiative—Group 3 pulmonary hypertension

Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) has been linked to worse outcomes in chronic lung diseases. The presence of PH in the setting of underlying Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) is strongly associated with decreased exercise and functional capacity, an increased risk of hospitalizations and death. Examining the scope of this issue and its impact on patients is the first step in trying to define a roadmap to facilitate and encourage future research in this area. The aim of our working group is to strengthen the communities understanding of PH due to lung diseases and to improve the care and quality of life of affected patients. This introductory statement provides a broad overview and lays the foundation for further in‐depth papers on specific topics pertaining to PH‐ILD.