Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Discrete Probabilities With Bhattacharyya Measure for SVM-Based Speaker Verification

Support vector machines (SVMs), and kernel classifiers in general, rely on the kernel functions to measure the pairwise similarity between inputs. This paper advocates the use of discrete representation of speech signals in terms of the probabilities of discrete events as feature for speaker verification and proposes the use of Bhattacharyya coefficient as the similarity measure for this type of inputs to SVM. We analyze the effectiveness of the Bhattacharyya measure from the perspective of feature normalization and distribution warping in the SVM feature space. Experiments conducted on the NIST 2006 speaker verification task indicate that the Bhattacharyya measure outperforms the Fisher kernel, term frequency log-likelihood ratio (TFLLR) scaling, and rank normalization reported earlier in literature. Moreover, the Bhattacharyya measure is computed using a data-independent square-root operation instead of data-driven normalization, which simplifies the implementation. The effectiveness of the Bhattacharyya measure becomes more apparent when channel compensation is applied at the model and score levels. The performance of the proposed method is close to that of the popular GMM supervector with a small margin.
Correlation between spirometry and impulse oscillometry in children with asthma

Aim: In certain patients, such as young children or individuals with cerebral palsy or severe mental retardation, it is difficult to perform forced expiratory manoeuvres to measure expiratory flow volume. In such cases, we could evaluate obstructive lung disease through the measurement of airway resistance instead of expiratory flow volume.
Influence of surface treatments on structural and mechanical properties of bamboo fiber-reinforced poly(lactic acid) biocomposites

Bamboo fiber-reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) composites were prepared using a film-stacking process. Bamboo fibers were treated using three different methods, i.e., direct silane coupling (DC), silane coupling after plasma (CAP) treatment, and silane coupling during UV irradiation (CDU), to improve the interfacial bonding strength between fibers and PLA. After surface treatment, the chemical group on the surface of bamboo fibers was analyzed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The intensity of bands around 880–900 cm−1 increased strongly. These results suggested that the grafting of silane onto fibers was enhanced substantially. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the amorphous region of the CDU- and CAP-treated fibers increased. The interfacial shear strength between the fibers and the matrix also increased by 44.2%, 64.2%, and 87.4% by DC, CDU, and CAP treatment, respectively. In addition, the tensile strength of bamboo–PLA composites with DC-, CDU-, and CAP-treated fibers increased 43.0%, 61.1%, and 71.2%, respectively. Moreover, the predicted tensile modulus of the composites with CAP-treated fibers showed good agreement with the experimental one.
Effects of inhibition of proteoglycan synthesis on the differentiation of cultured rat Schwann cells

Schwann cells synthesize two heparan sulfate proteoglycans, one that is a component of the Schwann cell basement membrane and a smaller one that is an integral component of the Schwann cell plasma membrane. To determine the functions of these molecules, Schwann cell-nerve cell cultures were grown in medium containing a specific inhibitor of proteoglycan biosynthesis, 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-xyloside. Treatment with 1 mM beta-D-xyloside caused a 90% reduction in the accumulation of 35SO4-labeled proteoglycans in the cell layer of the cultures. Gel filtration analysis revealed that both the basement membrane and plasma membrane proteoglycans were affected. Inhibition of proteoglycan biosynthesis was accompanied by an inhibition of laminin deposition into extracellular matrix as determined by immunostaining of cultures and by immunoblotting of cell-associated proteins. This occurred even though there was no decrease in the amount of laminin detected in the medium of beta-D-xyloside-treated cultures. Deposition of collagen type IV was similarly affected. In addition, there was no myelin produced in beta-D-xyloside treated cultures. However, when beta- xyloside-treated cultures were supplied with exogenous basement membrane, Schwann cells produced numerous myelin segments. These results indicate that Schwann cell proteoglycans play an essential role in basement membrane assembly, and that the integral plasma membrane proteoglycan is not required for the basement membrane to exert its effects on Schwann cell differentiation.
Application of the Reverse Engineering to 3D Reconstruction on a Denture

In this paper, 3D model reconstruction on a denture that has undergone the run-in time is studied, using reverse engineering technique. In the stage of surface data acquisition, since the denture has very complicated and irregular contour, a non-contact mode is preferred. In point cloud data pre-processing, salient outliers are manually removed; Gaussian filter is used for noise suppression; curvature-based sampling is adopted for data reduction. In the model reconstruction stage, the surface reconstruction which is based on enclosed triangular Bezier surface patches is used for it can deal with arbitrary shape contours. Then, hole patching, smoothing and reduction are added for refinement of the surface creation. At last, the errors of the whole reconstruction process are measured and evaluated. The results indicate that our reverse engineering work has good performance, which can bring about comfortableness for the use of future dentures by patients.
Research on Predicting the Stability of Partially Stabilized Zirconia Based on SVM

The stability is one most important product performance index, which can directly determine the quality of the partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ), and the stability of PSZ is always fluctuating in the commercial process, so how to accurately, quickly and easily predict the stability of PSZ in the preparation process is very important. In the present paper, a new mathematical model to predict the stability of PSZ was proposed, based on statistical theory (SLT) and support vector machine (SVM) theory, which relates the stability of PSZ and the influence factors, such as the holding temperature, rising rate of temperature, holding time, decreasing rate of temperature and hardening temperature. Typical data collected from commercial process were collected for the training samples and test samples. Then testing and analyzing was done. The results showed that the max relative error was 1.80%, the least relative error was 0%, and the average relative error was 0.58%. It is accurate and reliable to predict the stability of PSZ by SVM model. Besides, multiple influence factors can be comprehensively considered in the SVM model, thus a new highly effective method for predicting the stability of PSZ is provided for commercial application.
Improved fibronectin-immobilized fibrinogen microthreads for the attachment and proliferation of fibroblasts

The aim of this study was to fabricate fibrinogen (Fbg) microfibers with different structural characteristics for the development of 3-D tissue-engineering scaffolds. Fabricated Fbg microfibers were investigated for their biomolecule encapsulation, cell adhesion, and proliferations. Microfibers with three different concentrations of Fbg (5, 10, and 15 wt%) were prepared by a gel solvent-extraction method using a silicone rubber tube. Fbg microfibers were covalently modified with fibronectin (FN) by using water-soluble 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide as the cross-linking agent. Fbg microfibers were characterized by their FN cross-linking properties, structural morphology, and in vitro degradation. Furthermore, FN/Fbg microfibers were evaluated for cell attachment and proliferation. The bio-compatibility and cell proliferation of the microfibers were assessed by measuring adenosine triphosphate activity in C2C12 fibroblast cells. Cell attachment and proliferation on microfibers were further examined using fluorescence and scanning electron microscopic images. FN loading on the microfibers was confirmed by fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy. Surface morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and showed highly aligned nanostructures for fibers made with 15 wt% Fbg, a more porous structure for fibers made with 10 wt% Fbg, and a less porous structure for those made with 5 wt% Fbg. Controlled biodegradation of the fiber was observed for 8 weeks by using an in vitro proteolytic degradation assay. Fbg microfibers with highly aligned nanostructures (15 wt%) showed enhanced biomolecule encapsulation, as well as higher cell adhesion and proliferation than another two types of FN/Fbg fibers (5 and 10 wt%) and unmodified Fbg fibers. The promising results obtained from the present study reveal that optimal structure of Fbg microfibers could be used as a potential substratum for growth factors or drug release, especially in wound healing and vascular tissue engineering, in which fibers could be applied to promote and orient cell adhesion and proliferation.
Siglecs Facilitate HIV-1 Infection of Macrophages through Adhesion with Viral Sialic Acids

Background Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infects macrophages effectively, despite relatively low levels of cell surface-expressed CD4. Although HIV-1 infections are defined by viral tropisms according to chemokine receptor usage (R5 and X4), variations in infection are common within both R5- and X4-tropic viruses, indicating additional factors may contribute to viral tropism. Methodology and Principal Findings Using both solution and cell surface binding experiments, we showed that R5- and X4-tropic HIV-1 gp120 proteins recognized a family of I-type lectin receptors, the Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (Siglec). The recognition was through envelope-associated sialic acids that promoted viral adhesion to macrophages. The sialic acid-mediated viral-host interaction facilitated both R5-tropic pseudovirus and HIV-1BaL infection of macrophages. The high affinity Siglec-1 contributed the most to HIV-1 infection and the variation in Siglec-1 expression on primary macrophages from different donors was associated statistically with sialic acid-facilitated viral infection. Furthermore, envelope-associated sialoglycan variations on various strains of R5-tropic viruses also affected infection. Conclusions and Significance of the Findings Our study showed that sialic acids on the viral envelope facilitated HIV-1 infection of macrophages through interacting with Siglec receptors, and the expression of Siglec-1 correlated with viral sialic acid-mediated host attachment. This glycan-mediated viral adhesion underscores the importance of viral sialic acids in HIV infection and pathogenesis, and suggests a novel class of antiviral compounds targeting Siglec receptors.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging study of external source memory and its relation to cognitive insight in non‐clinical subjects

Previous research has linked cognitive insight (a measure of self‐reflectiveness and self‐certainty) in psychosis with neurocognitive and neuroanatomical disturbances in the fronto‐hippocampal neural network. The authors’ goal was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of cognitive insight during an external source memory paradigm in non‐clinical subjects.
Assessing the Heritability of Complex Traits in Humans: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities

The goal of this review article is to provide a conceptual based summary of how heritability estimates for complex traits such as obesity are determined and to explore the future directions of research in the heritability field. The target audience are researchers who use heritability data rather than those conducting heritability studies. The article provides an introduction to key concepts critical to understanding heritability studies including: i) definitions of heritability: broad sense versus narrow sense heritability; ii) how data for heritability studies are collected: twin, adoption, family and population-based studies; and iii) analytical techniques: path analysis, structural equations and mixed or regressive models of complex segregation analysis. For each section, a discussion of how the different definitions and methodologies influence heritability estimates is provided. The general limitations of heritability studies are discussed including the issue of “missing heritability” in which heritability estimates are significantly higher than the variance explained by known genetic variants. Potential causes of missing heritability include restriction of many genetic association studies to single nucleotide polymorphisms, gene by gene interactions, epigenetics, and gene by environment interactions. Innovative strategies of accounting for missing heritability including modeling techniques and improved software are discussed.
Modified data-pilot multiplexed scheme for OFDM systems

In data-pilot-multiplexed OFDM schemes, data-interference to pilot tones causes degradation in frequency offset and channel estimation. This paper derives the best data-pilot-multiplexed scheme in terms of minimizing data-interference on pilot tones. This design gives a correlated data insertion scheme (CD) (data on the left and right adjacent tones of each pilot are correlated) and a null data insertion scheme (ND) (no data are transmitted on the left and right adjacent tones of each pilot). Both schemes outperform conventional data-pilot-multiplexed schemes (CV) significantly (over 7 dB SNR advantage at the uncoded BER of 2 times 10-2 and pilot-to-data energy ratio (PDER) of 5 dB). With the BLUE frequency offset estimator, the CD scheme yields a better performance than the ND scheme while having a slight advantage in data throughput. A modified CD scheme is also presented which transmits the same data rate at similar complexity as the CV scheme does while achieving a significant BER improvement (over 3 dB SNR advantage at the uncoded BER of 2 times 10 -2 and PDER of 5 dB)
Large Scale Protein Profiling by Combination of Protein Fractionation and Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT)*

In the past decade, shotgun proteomic analysis has been utilized extensively to answer complex biological questions. New challenges arise in large scale proteomic profiling when dealing with complex biological mixtures such as the mammalian cell lysate. In this study, we explored the approach of protein separation prior to the shotgun multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) analysis. We fractionated the mammalian cancer cell lysate using the PF 2D ProteomeLab system and analyzed the distribution of molecular weight, isoelectric point, and cellular localization of the eluted proteins. As a result, we were able to reduce sample complexity by protein fractionation and increase the possibility of detecting proteins with lower abundance in the complex protein mixture.
A PC-based driving simulator using virtual reality technology

Driving simulators are frequently used for vehicle system development, human factor study, and vehicle safety research by enabling the reproduction of the actual driving environments in a safe and tightly controlled environment. Recent development of powerful desktop computer workstations can now support the computational requirement of small to medium-scale driving simulators. The driving simulator for this research is developed using PC-based workstations that are capable of producing high fidelity graphics at reasonable cost. The VR-based simulator gives a driver on board the impression that he drives an actual vehicle by predicting vehicle motion caused by the driver input and feeding back the corresponding visual, motion, audio and proprioceptive cues to the driver. This research is intended to provide a test bed for simulating driving related task using virtual reality technology.
Measure Theory and Filtering : Introduction with Applications

Many courses in filtering and signal processing involve elementary linear algebra, calculus and Hilbert space theory. The key objective underlying such procedures is the recursive estimation of indirectly observed states given the observed data. In mathematical terms, this means that one is faced with estimating conditional expected values given the observations. Measurable spaces equipped with a probability measure seems the correct setting for such problems. This (hardback) book comes into two parts. The first part provides an introduction to measure theory, stochastic calculus and stochastic processes, with particular emphasis on martingales and Brownian motion. The second part develops a thorough treatment of Kalman filter, including some recent results that extend the Kalman filter to provide parameter estimates. Applications of these latter ideas, combined with measure-theoretic probability techniques, are applied to problems arising in finance, genetics and population modelling.
Linear transformation of conditional real-time tasks

The classical schedulability theory generally considers linear tasks. Scheduling conditional task set is much more intricate. We thus propose a transformation of a conditional task set into a linear task set on which the traditional linear schedulability tools can be used. We prove that this transformation is consistent in the sense that a positive linear schedulability diagnosis is not misleading: if the linear task set is feasible, so was the conditional task set. But the converse does not hold.
Evaluating XML retrieval effectiveness at INEX

The INitiative for the Evaluation of XML retrieval (INEX) was set up in 2002 to establish an infrastructure and provide means, in the form of large test collections and appropriate scoring methods, for evaluating the effectiveness of content-oriented XML retrieval systems. This report provides an overview of the evaluation methodology developed in INEX from 2002 to 2006.
Two Caenorhabditis elegans Actin Depolymerizing Factor/Cofilin Proteins, Encoded by the unc-60 Gene, Differentially Regulate Actin Filament Dynamics*

The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-60gene encodes two actin depolymerizing factor/cofilin proteins which are implicated in the regulation of actin filament assembly in body wall muscle. We examined the interaction of recombinant UNC-60A and B proteins with actin and found that they differentially regulate actin filament dynamics. Co-pelleting assays with F-actin showed that UNC-60A depolymerized but did not remain bound to F-actin, whereas UNC-60B bound to but did not depolymerize F-actin. In the pH range of 6.8–8.0, the apparent activities of UNC-60A and B did not change although UNC-60A showed greater actin-depolymerizing activity at higher pH. These activities were further confirmed by a light scattering assay and electron microscopy. The effects of these proteins on actin polymerization were quite different. UNC-60A inhibited polymerization in a concentration-dependent manner. On the other hand, UNC-60B strongly inhibited the nucleation process but accelerated the following elongation step. However, an excess amount of UNC-60B increased the amount of unpolymerized actin. These results indicate that UNC-60A depolymerizes actin filaments and inhibits actin polymerization, whereas UNC-60B strongly binds to F-actin without depolymerizing it and, through binding to G-actin, changes the rate of actin polymerization depending on the UNC-60B:actin ratio. These data suggest that the two UNC-60 isoforms play differential roles in regulating actin filament dynamics in vivo.
Electrical defects in AlGaN and InAlN

Compound semiconductors based on GaN have multiple functional applications. Useful compositions include GaN, and ternary and quaternary compositions of (AlGaIn)N. Defects arising from lattice mismatch, point defects, or impurities may act as electrical trapping centers and degrade device efficiency. Current-voltage, capacitance-voltage, thermal admittance spectroscopy (TAS), and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements are applied to characterize the defects in Al0.40Ga0. 80N and In0.18Al0. 82N in this report. Broad peaks with a shoulder at high temperature dominate the DLTS spectra in each of the materials. An acceptor trap associated with a dislocation appears at 340 K in AlGaN. The defect has an energy of 0.2 eV and capture cross section of 10-21 cm2. A second trap at 0.35 eV, 10-14 cm2 appears in the TAS measurements in addition to the trap at 0.2 eV. Defects in InAlN are dominated by a peak near 150 K. Two traps appear in the TAS measurements. Both traps in the InAlN are acceptors, based on a lack of field dependent emission rates using double pulse DLTS (DDLTS). The two energy levels in InAlN appear to be coupled, with only one state occupied at a time.
QuickRec: prototyping an intel architecture extension for record and replay of multithreaded programs

There has been significant interest in hardware-assisted deterministic Record and Replay (RnR) systems for multithreaded programs on multiprocessors. However, no proposal has implemented this technique in a hardware prototype with full operating system support. Such an implementation is needed to assess RnR practicality. This paper presents QuickRec, the first multicore Intel Architecture (IA) prototype of RnR for multithreaded programs. QuickRec is based on QuickIA, an Intel emulation platform for rapid prototyping of new IA extensions. QuickRec is composed of a Xeon server platform with FPGA-emulated second-generation Pentium cores, and Capo3, a full software stack for managing the recording hardware from within a modified Linux kernel. This paper's focus is understanding and evaluating the implementation issues of RnR on a real platform. Our effort leads to some lessons learned, as well as to some pointers for future research. We demonstrate that RnR can be implemented efficiently on a real multicore IA system. In particular, we show that the rate of memory log generation is insignificant, and that the recording hardware has negligible performance overhead. However, the software stack incurs an average recording overhead of nearly 13%, which must be reduced to enable always-on use of RnR.
Using the Cross-Match Test to Appraise Covariate Balance in Matched Pairs

Having created a tentative matched design for an observational study, diagnostic checks are performed to see whether observed covariates exhibit reasonable balance, or alternatively whether further effort is required to improve the match. We illustrate the use of the cross-match test as an aid to appraising balance on high-dimensional covariates, and we discuss its close logical connections to the techniques used to construct matched samples. In particular, in addition to a significance level, the cross-match test provides an interpretable measure of high-dimensional covariate balance, specifically a measure defined in terms of the propensity score. An example from the economics of education is used to illustrate. In the example, imbalances in an initial match guide the construction of a better match. The better match uses a recently proposed technique, optimal tapered matching, that leaves certain possibly innocuous covariates imbalanced in one match but not in another, and yields a test of whether the imbalances are actually innocuous.