Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altering speech synthesis prosody through real time natural gestural control

This paper investigates the usage of natural gestural controls to alter synthesised speech prosody in real time (for example, recognising a one-handed beat as a cue to emphasise a certain word in a synthesised sentence). A user’s gestures are recognised using a Microsoft Kinect R © sensor, and synthesised speech prosody is altered through a series of hand-crafted rules running through a modified HTS engine (pHTS, as described in [1]). Two sets of preliminary experiments are carried out. Firstly, it is shown that users can control the device to a moderate level of accuracy, though this is projected to improve further as the system is refined. Secondly, it is shown that the prosody of the altered output is significantly preferred to that of the baseline pHTS synthesis. Future work is recommended to focus on learning gestural and prosodic rules from data, and in using an updated version of the underlying pHTS engine. The reader is encouraged to watch a short video demonstration of the work at http://tinyurl.com/gesture-prosody.
Comparative Analysis of Novel Targets for Antimalarial Drugs: Structural and Mechanistic Insights about Plasmodium falciparum Enzymes

Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of severe human malaria. The dominance of resistant strains has compelled to the discovery and development of new and different modes-of- action. Current plasmodial drug discovery efforts remains lack far-reaching set of legitimated drug targets. Prerequisite of these targets (or the pathways in which they function) is that they prove to be crucial for parasite survival. Thioredoxin Reductase is a flavoprotein that catalyzes the NADPH-dependent reduction of thioredoxin. It plays an important role in maintaining the redox environment of the cell. A third redox active group transfers the reducing equivalent from the apolar active site to the surface of protein. This group is a second redox active disulfide in thioredoxin reductase. The vital importance of the thioredoxin redox cycle (encompassing NADPH, thioredoxin reductase and thioredoxin) is stressed by the confirmation that thioredoxin reductase is indispensable for the survival of intraerythrocytic P. falciparum. Cytosolic Plasmodium falciparum Spermidine synthase linked with the polyamine metabolism is a potential target for antimalarial chemotherapy due to the vital role of spermidine in the activation of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A, cell proliferation and the mechanism of the aminopropyltransferase action of Spermidine Synthase. Methyl Erythritol 4-Phosphate (MEP)/Rohmer pathway is assumed to have specific inhibitors designed against enzymes of this pathway with less toxicity and fewer side effects. 2C-Methyl-d- Erythritol 2, 4 - Cyclodiphosphate Synthase (MECPS), catalyzes the formation of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. All three enzymes represents as promising drug targets for rational drug designing.
Deletion in two-dimensional quad trees

An algorithm for deletion in two-dimensional quad trees that handles the problem in a manner analogous to deletion in binary search trees is presented. The algorithm is compared with a proposed method for deletion which reinserts all of the nodes in the subtrees of the deleted node. The objective of the new algorithm is to reduce the number of nodes that need to be reinserted. Analysis for complete quad trees shows that the number of nodes requiring reinsertion is reduced to as low as 2/9 of that required by the old algorithm. Simulation tests verify this result. Reduction of the number of insertions has a similar effect on the number of comparison operations. In addition, the total path length (and balance) of the resulting tree is observed to remain constant or increase slightly when the new algorithm for deletion is used, whereas use of the old algorithm results in a significant increase in the total path length for large trees.
Markets with Asymmetric Information 2 More speci

For more than two decades, research on incentives and market equilibrium in situations with asymmetric information has been a proliÞc part of economic theory. In 1996, the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to James Mirrlees and William Vickrey for their fundamental contributions to the theory of incentives under asymmetric information, in particular its applications to the design of optimal income taxation and resource allocation through different types of auctions. The theory of markets with asymmetric information rests Þrmly on the work of three researchers: George Akerlof (University of California, Berkeley), Michael Spence (Stanford University) and Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia University). Their pioneering contributions have given economists tools for analyzing a broad spectrum of issues. Applications extend from traditional agricultural markets to modern Þnancial markets. Why are interest rates often so high on local lending markets in Third World countries? Why do people looking for a good used car typically turn to a dealer rather than a private seller? Why do Þrms pay dividends even if they are taxed more heavily than capital gains? Why is it in the interest of insurance companies to offer a menu of policies with different mixes of premiums, coverage and deductibles? Why do wealthy landowners not bear the entire harvest risk in contracts with poor tenants? These questions exemplify familiar  but seemingly different  phenomena, each of which posed a challenge to traditional economic theory. This years laureates showed that these  and many other  phenomena can be understood by augmenting the theory with the same realistic assumption: one side of the market has better information than the other. The borrower knows more than the lender about his creditworthiness; the seller knows more than the buyer about the quality of his car; the CEO and board of a Þrm know more than the shareholders about the proÞtability of the Þrm; insurance clients know more than the insurance company about their accident risk; and tenants know more than the landowner about harvesting conditions and their own work effort.
A Parallel Optimistic Dynamic Optimization of Discrimination Networks for Active Databases

An active database system integrates a database management system with a rule base system. It is capable of handling a lot of enhanced functionality of databases by triggering o appropriate actions ordained by prede ned rules for database events such as queries, and updates the database. However, the active database has a disadvantage in performance because checking rule conditions are considerably slow due to a large number of comparison among items. Therefore, some kind of mechanism for speeding up the rule checking process is in great demand for improving the overall performance of an active database. Some active databases make use of discrimination networks to improve the speed of checking rule conditions, but it is not still su cient. In this paper, we propose a parallel query optimization method and its timing modes for a TREAT-like discrimination network in our parallel active relational database prototype system, named Parade. The TREAT-like discrimination network can be treated as a set of query trees. In this case, the query trees are used repeatedly, and they can be optimized not just for the current condition check but also for the future ones. Thus the cost of the optimization can be hidden by parallel execution of the query tree and its corresponding optimization. Although the proposed method requires extra-processors for optimization, it makes good use of parallel machines, and can derive an optimal query tree as the state of databases changes. We also show the experimental results of the proposed method Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the DMIB copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of DMIB Organizing Committee. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or special permission. International Symposium on Digital Media Information Base (DMIB'97), Nara, Japan, November 1997 applied on an nCUBE2 machine.
Sustainable procurement - Extending project procurement concepts and processes based on PMBOK

This paper focuses on the extension of project procurement concepts and processes with the aim of integrating sustainable procurement into the project management methodology provided by the PMBOK framework. The starting point is to include sustainability into the organisational structure. Subsequently, a bridge is built between the organisations' sustainability principles and the project management methodology provided by the PMBOK Guidelines. The PMBOK Guidelines are carefully analysed and the key Knowledge Areas were identified. Integration, Procurement and Quality Management are at the centre of this research. The Initiating Process Group was extended, as well as the process Develop Project Management Plan from the Planning Process Group which was extended to include the Project Sustainability Guidelines as well as the Plan Procurements. Classification standards and e-procurement can be highlighted as one of the most important additions. The Executing Process Group was also considered and extensions were proposed to include the quality standards. Monitoring and Controlling comprised the updates of the suggested sustainability guidelines and change requests in order to ensure they meet the project needs and requirements. Finally it is suggested that a project sustainability report is produced once the project is complete. A similar output was added to the Close Procurement Process in the form of a project procurement sustainability report.
Modeling Testosterone Circadian Rhythm in Hypogonadal Males: Effect of Age and Circannual Variations

The objective of this study was to characterize the baseline circadian rhythm of testosterone levels in hypogonadal men. A total of 859 baseline profiles of testosterone from hypogonadal men were included in this analysis. The circadian rhythm of the testosterone was described by a stretched cosine function. Model parameters were estimated using NONMEM® 7.3. The effect of different covariates on the testosterone levels was investigated. Model evaluation was performed using non-parametric bootstrap and predictive checks. A stretched cosine function deeply improved the data goodness of fit compared to the standard trigonometric function (p < 0.001; ΔOFV = −204). The effect of the age and the semester, defined as winter and spring versus summer and fall, were significantly associated with the baseline levels of testosterone (p < 0.001, ΔOFV = −15.6, and p < 0.001, ΔOFV = −47.0). Model evaluation procedures such as diagnostic plots, visual predictive check, and non-parametric bootstrap evidenced that the proposed stretched cosine function was able to model the time course of the diurnal testosterone levels in hypogonadal males with accuracy and precision. The circadian rhythm of the testosterone levels was better predicted by the proposed stretched cosine function than a standard cosine function. Testosterone levels decreased by 5.74 ng/dL (2.4%) every 10 years and were 19.3 ng/dL (8.1%) higher during winter and spring compared to summer and fall.
Native and second-language processing of contrastive pitch accent: An ERP study

Prosody signals important aspects of meaning, and hence, is crucial for language comprehension and learning, yet remains under-investigated in second-language (L2) processing. The present electrophysiology study investigates the use of prosody to cue information structure, in particular, the use of contrastive pitch accent (L+H*) to define the set of elements that are contrasted. For instance, in We ate Angela’s cake, but saved BENjamin’s cake, the pitch accent on Benjamin’s is a cue that two cakes are contrasted; BENjamin’s ice cream is not plausible in this context. Native English speakers showed a large negativity on the target noun (cake) when the preceding possessive was inappropriately accented. Event-related brain potential (ERP) results from Mandarin-Chinese L2 learners of English suggest they did not use contrastive pitch accent to cue the contrast set in the way native English speakers did, even though Mandarin is similar to English in the use of prosodic cues to express contrast. Our results are in line with previous studies suggesting that L2 speakers have difficulty integrating information across domains and building information structure, especially in demanding task situations like in the present study.
The covering numbers of Mycielski ideals are all equal

Abstract The Mycielski ideal is defined to consist of all sets A ⊆ ℕk such that {f ↾ X : f ∈ A} ≠ Xk for all . It will be shown that the covering numbers for these ideals are all equal. However, the covering numbers of the closely associated Rosłanowski ideals will be shown to be consistently different.
Analysis of Clusters Generated on mushroom data using Artificial Neural Networks

In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze a mushroom data set (available from the UCI data repository) to identify different combinations of attributes that are significant in grouping the mushroom data as poisonous or edible. For generation of clusters Kohonen Self-Organizing Feature Maps are used. Clusters are generated on all attributes of the data, and by observing these clusters; some different combinations of attributes are considered for further analysis. Clusters are generated on these combinations of attributes. These clusters are compared with the clusters generated using all attributes in terms of the clustering error.
Impact of Definitive Therapy with Beta-Lactam Monotherapy or Combination with an Aminoglycoside or a Quinolone for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bacteremia

Background Bacteremia by Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents one severe infection. It is not clear whether beta-lactam monotherapy leads to similar rates of treatment success compared to combinations of beta-lactams with aminoglycosides or quinolones. Methods Retrospective cohort study from 3 tertiary hospitals (2 in Greece and 1 in Italy). Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were susceptible to a beta-lactam and an aminoglycoside or a quinolone. Patients received appropriate therapy for at least 48 hours. Primary outcome of interest was treatment success in patients with definitive beta-lactam combination therapy compared to monotherapy. Secondary outcomes were treatment success keeping the same empirical and definitive regimen, mortality, and toxicity. Results Out of 92 bacteremias there were 54 evaluable episodes for the primary outcome (20 received monotherapy). Treatment success was higher with combination therapy (85%) compared to beta-lactam monotherapy (65%), however not statistically significantly [Odds ratio (OR) 3.1; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.69–14.7, p = 0.1]. Very long (>2 months) hospitalisation before bacteremia was the only factor independently associated with treatment success (OR 0.73; 95% CI 0.01–0.95, p = 0.046), however this result entailed few episodes. All-cause mortality did not differ significantly between combination therapy [6/31 (19%)] and monotherapy [8/19 (42%)], p = 0.11. Only Charlson comorbidity index was associated with excess mortality (p = 0.03). Conclusion Our study, in accordance with previous ones, indicates that the choice between monotherapy and combination therapy may not affect treatment success significantly. However, our study does not have statistical power to identify small or moderate differences. A large randomized controlled trial evaluating this issue is justified.
A Default Discrimination Method for Manufacturing Companies by Improved PSO-based LS-SVM

Loan default evaluation and discrimination is a complicated issue because of its nonlinearity and uncertainty. Least square support vector machine (LS-SVM) has been successfully employed to solve regression and time series problem. This paper proposes a novel PSO-LS-SVM model based on the improved PSO algorithm to optimize parameters of LS-SVM, which is a new improved form by synthesizing the exiting model of PSO. Some evaluation indices, which are reduced without information loss by a genetic algorithm, are used to train PSO-LS-SVM and discriminate between healthy and default testing samples. A case study based on financial data acquired from listed companies has been carried out. Result has shown that the proposed model has a distinct improvement in the aspect of accuracy rate as compared to PSO-SVM, LS-SVM, SVM and BP neural network.
Microbial Community Structure Affects Marine Dissolved Organic Matter Composition

Marine microbes are critical players in the global carbon cycle, affecting both the reduction of inorganic carbon and the remineralization of reduced organic compounds back to carbon dioxide. Members of microbial consortia all depend on marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) and in turn, affect the molecules present in this heterogeneous pool. Our understanding of DOM produced by marine microbes is biased towards single species laboratory cultures or simplified field incubations, which exclude large phototrophs and protozoan grazers. Here we explore the interdependence of DOM composition and bacterial diversity in two mixed microbial consortia from coastal seawater: a whole water community and a <1.0-μm community dominated by heterotrophic bacteria. Each consortium was incubated with isotopically-labeled glucose for 9 days. Using stable-isotope probing techniques and electrospray ionization Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, we show that the presence of organisms larger than 1.0-μm is the dominant factor affecting bacterial diversity and low-molecular-weight (<1000 Da) DOM composition over this experiment. In the <1.0-μm community, DOM composition was dominated by compounds with lipid and peptide character at all time points, confirmed by fragmentation spectra with peptide-containing neutral losses. In contrast, DOM composition in the whole water community was nearly identical to that in the initial coastal seawater. These differences in DOM composition persisted throughout the experiment despite shifts in bacterial diversity, underscoring an unappreciated role for larger microorganisms in constraining DOM composition in the marine environment.
Pulsed-laser-induced nanoscale island formation in thin metal-on-oxide films

he mechanisms controlling the nanostructuring of thin metal-on-oxide films by nanosecond pulsed excimer lasers are investigated. When permitted by the interfacial energetics, the breakup of the metal film into nanoscale islands is observed. A range of metals (Au, Ag, Mo, Ni, Ti, and Zn) with differing physical and thermodynamic properties, and differing tendencies for oxide formation, are investigated. The nature of the interfacial metal-substrate interaction, the thermal conductivity of the substrate, and the initial thickness of the metal film are all shown to be of importance when discussing the mechanism for nanoscale island formation under high fluence irradiation. It is postulated that the resulting nanoparticle size distribution is influenced by the surface roughness of the initial film and the Rayleigh instability criterion. The results obtained are compared with simulations of the heat transfer through the film in order to further elucidate the mechanisms. The results are expected to be applicable to the laser induced melting of a large range of different materials, where poor wetting of substrate by the liquid phase is observed.
IISA: An Inter-Cluster and Intra-Cluster Scheduling Algorithm Cluster-Based for Wireless Sensor Network

The MAC based on competition doesn't do any contribution in the energy savings, because it will lead to conflict, crosstalk, idle intercept and control expenses in communication. TDMA scheduling system based on the structure of cluster can effectively improve the scalability, save energy and does not increase node costs, but it also brought transmission interference between clusters. We proposed an Inter -cluster and Intra-cluster TDMA scheduling algorithm cluster-based (USA), each round of data collection time is divided by layers along down the data aggregation tree, each cluster node in the pool tree preserves its initial allocation work time and time control of the son tree. Nodes in accordance with their own work TDMA initial time can transmit data without any collision conflict. The simulation results show that, in the larger nodes density circumstances, the performance of USA is better than that of HEED.
Designing Mid-Air TV Gestures for Blind People Using User- and Choice-Based Elicitation Approaches

Mid-air gestures enable intuitive and natural interactions. However, few studies have investigated the use of mid-air gestures for blind people. TV interactions are one promising use of mid-air gestures for blind people, as "listening"' to TV is one of their most common activities. Thus, we investigated mid-air TV gestures for blind people through two studies. Study 1 used a user-elicitation approach where blind people were asked to define gestures given a set of commands. Then, we present a classification of gesture types and the frequency of body parts usage. Nevertheless, our participants had difficulty imagining gestures for some commands. Thus, we conducted Study 2 that used a choice-based elicitation approach where the participants selected their favorite gesture from a predefined list of choices. We found that providing choices help guide users to discover suitable gestures for unfamiliar commands. We discuss concrete design guidelines for mid-air TV gestures for blind people.
Lipid droplet autophagy in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Lipid droplet formation and degradation are pivotal processes in preventing lipotoxicity and providing energy sources and signaling molecules. This is the first demonstration of lipid droplet turnover in yeast by microautophagy. Lipophagy is distinct from ER-phagy, mitophagy, and pexophagy and contributes to neutral lipid homeostasis by vacuolar lipolysis.
IIB-branes and new spacetime superalgebras

We provide a classification of the IIB Dp- and NSp-branes in which the brane action exists due to a non-trivial class of the Chevalley-Eilenberg cohomology of free differential algebras. We then present a new geometric formulation of the IIB Dp- and NSp-branes (p ≤ 5) in which the manifestly superinvariant Wess-Zumino terms are constructed in terms of the supersymmetric currents. The supercurrents are obtained by using supergroup manifolds corresponding to the IIB-brane superalgebra, which is characterized by the generators of D3-, D5-, NS5- and KK5-branes in addition to the previously introduced generators of supertranslations, F- and D-strings. The charges of D1-, F1- and D3-branes are related to those of the M-algebra, but some charges of D5- and NS5-branes are not. The S-duality of the type-IIB theory is realized as transformations of the supercurrents generalizing the SO(2) R-symmetry of the superalgebra. We thus find that the superalgebra is lifted into twelve-dimensions with signature (11,1).