Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prosody generation using frame-based Gaussian process regression and classification for statistical parametric speech synthesis

This paper proposes novel models of F0 contours and phone durations using Gaussian process regression and classification (GPR and GPC) for statistical parametric speech synthesis. Although the use of frame-based GPR has shown the effectiveness of spectral feature modeling in previous studies, the application of GPR to prosodic features, i.e., F0 and phone duration, was not investigated sufficiently because the kernel function was designed for phonetic information only. In this paper, therefore, we propose a kernel function available for multiple units such as syllables, moras, and accent phrases. The proposed kernel function is based on temporal acoustic events like the beginning of accent phrase and the relative position between the target frame and the event is utilized for the kernel function. Experimental results of objective and subjective tests show that the GPR/GPC-based F0 and duration modeling improves the prediction accuracy of acoustic features compared with HMM-based speech synthesis.
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Determinants of Risky Sexual Behavior in Men Who Have Sex with Men

The persistent prevalence of HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) within the United States warrants examination of the social-sexual factors that contribute to the spread of HIV within this population. We reviewed 15 studies correlating disproportionately high child-sexual abuse (CSA) and victimization during sexual development with adult sexual risk behavior and HIV amongst MSM. CSA prevalence amongst MSM ranged from 14.9%-47% and was significantly associated with alcohol use, risky sexual behavior, partner violence, and depression. Additionally, cultural marginalization and victimization of MSM during childhood and adolescent sexual development directly contributed to negative health outcomes associated with HIV infection amongst MSM. We conclude that CSA and other forms of childhood victimization contribute to negative adult health outcomes and sexual behavior patterns that augment the spread of HIV amongst MSM. Further research is necessary to understand how health interventions can be tailored to address the affects of CSA and victimization on the HIV epidemic in the United States.
Yet another attack on a QR-based password authentication system

In 1988, Laih, Harn, and Huang proposed a password authentication scheme using quadratic residues (QR). In 1995, Chang, Wu, and Laih showed that the proposed password authentication scheme is suffered from an attack, where the attacker needs to apply to the system for four valid accounts, and then the desired password corresponding to an identity can be easily obtained. We propose another more effective attack and we show that only one extra valid account is needed in our new attack.
Hypolipidemic properties of bauhinia rufescens in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

The present investigation was aimed at evaluating the hypolipidemic properties of methanolic leaf extracts of Bauhinia rufescens (MLEBR) on alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Alloxan was injected intraperitoneally as a single dose of 150mg/kg for diabetes induction in the rats. Animals were orally treated for 4 consecutive weeks with MLEBR at doses of 200, 300 400mg/kg and Glibenclamide. The effects of the extracts and Glibenclamide on lipid profile and body weight (BW) were examined on the diabetic rats. Total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLD-C) and triglycerides (TG) levels at sacrifice (day 29) were estimated. Normal and Diabetic rats that were given normal saline only were used for comparison. Alloxan-induced diabetic rats showed moderate to significant increases in the levels of TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C and TG while body weight and HDL-C levels decreased compared to controls (non diabetic rats). Administration of the plant extracts to Alloxan-induced diabetic rats resulted in a significant decrease in TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C and TG and the dose 200 mg/kg of the MLEBR was the most effective; HDL-C level was markedly increased after four weeks post treatment compared to untreated diabetic rats. It can also be noticed that the MLEBR, especially the dose 200 mg/kg (p<0.01), produced more effects than glibenclamide. Rats treated with glibenclamide (5mg/kg) generally gave lower results compared to groups treated with the plant extracts. Results of the present study showed that methanolic leaf extracts of Bauhinia rufescens has beneficial effects on diabetic Original article
Interleukin-1beta and barrier function of retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19): aberrant expression of junctional complex molecules.

PURPOSE To examine the effects of interleukin (IL)-1beta on the resistance and permeability of the tight junctions of cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells. METHODS A human RPE cell line (ARPE-19) cultured on microporous filter-supports was used. IL-1beta and monoclonal anti-IL-1beta antibody-treated IL-1beta (mAbIL-1beta) were added to the standard culture medium. Transepithelial resistance (TER) of confluent RPE cells was measured by epithelial voltmeter. The permeability of the RPE cells to sodium fluorescein, horseradish peroxidase, and inulin was measured. The expression of the occludin and claudin was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunohistochemistry, and Western blot analysis. RESULTS A significantly greater decrease of TER occurred in IL-1beta-supplemented medium than in standard medium plus mAbIL-1beta after several days of stimulation. A significantly greater increase of sodium fluorescein, horseradish peroxidase, and inulin permeability occurred in IL-1beta-supplemented medium than in standard medium. The expression of the occludin gene and some types of claudin genes was observed. The expression of occludin was downregulated and that of claudin-1 upregulated more in IL-1beta-supplemented medium than in standard medium by real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot analysis. CONCLUSIONS The tight junctions of ARPE-19 cells are altered by IL-1beta supplementation either directly or through other factors activated by IL-1beta. The downregulation of occludin and upregulation of claudin-1 may have participated in the dysfunction of the RPE tight junctions in these in vitro experiments.
Strategic Positioning and the Financing of Nonprofit Organizations: Is Efficiency Rewarded in the Contributions Marketplace?

This article addresses the question of whether operational efficiency is recognized and rewarded by the private funders that support nonprofit organizations in fields ranging from education to social service to arts and beyond. Looking at the administrative efficiency and fundraising results of a large sample of nonprofit organizations over an 11 year period, we find that nonprofits that position themselves as cost efficient - reporting low administrative to total expense ratios - fared no better over time than less efficient appearing organizations in the market for individuals, foundations, and corporate contributions. From this analysis, we suggest that economizing may not always be the best strategy in the nonprofit sector.
Improvement of Fuzzy Geographically Weighted Clustering-Ant Colony Optimization using context-based clustering

Geo-demographic analysis (GDA) is an interdisciplinary that studies characteristics of population based on geographical area. Fuzzy Geographically Weighted Clustering-Ant Colony Optimization (FGWC-ACO), which is the improvement of FGWC algorithm, is considered as an effective algorithm in GDA. The integration of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) as a metaheuristic algorithm to the FGWC has been used as a global optimization tools to improve geo-demographic clustering accuracy in initial phase. Nonetheless, using ACO makes the computation running time of FGWC-ACO is slower than standard FGWC. In this paper, we propose a method to attach context variables to FGWC-ACO in order to accelerate the computing speed of the algorithm and to focus the clustering result on a certain condition. An experiment of the proposed method has been done using Indonesia Population Census 2010 from Statistics Indonesia to prove that the proposed method can improve the computing speed of FGWC-ACO and using IFV index as a validity index for spatial fuzzy clustering to evaluate the clustering quality of proposed method.
RF SiP: the next wave for wireless system integration

This paper discusses the opportunities of the system-in-package (SiP) concept for integrating complete wireless systems into a single package, providing the smallest size and lowest cost in the end application. SiPs offer the flexibility to use the optimal technology mixture for a particular wireless system. Two SiP approaches are introduced. The first approach is based on a low-cost laminate platform (LAMP) and the second approach uses a thin-film passive integration IC technology. In both approaches, multiple active dies (CMOS, BiCMOS, GaAs, etc.) can be placed on the passive substrate using either conventional wire-bonding technology or more advanced flip-chip technology. Two examples are described in the wireless connectivity area, i.e. a Bluetooth radio SiP and a complete WLAN 802.11b system SiP.
The Influence of Dietary Characteristics on the Milk Quantity and Quality of Riverine Buffaloes: Estimate of the Energy/Protein Requirements, for a Medium-high Production, in the First Ninety Days of Lactation

The data used came from two trials undertaken under the same climatic conditions (spring-summer). In both trials pluriparious buffaloes were utilized similar in weight, body condition score, and milk production from the previous year. From the first trial the data used was from the sub-period 23–88 DIM provided by seven animals fed ad libitum with diet A (6.69 MJ/kg DM; 158.30 g/kg of crude protein) with a forage/concentrate ratio of 48/52. From the second trial the data used was from the sub-period 33–90 DIM provided by seven animals fed ad libitum with diet B (6.63 MJ/kg DM; 179.50 g/kg of crude protein) and by seven animals fed ad libitum with diet C (5.99 MJ/kg DM; 155.40 g/kg of crude protein), each of the diets had the same forage/concentrate ratio (53/47). A significant difference was found in milk production between group B and C (13.08 vs. 11.56 kg/d, p<0.05), an intermediate production (12.10 kg/d) was noted in group A. A significant difference was found between fat (76.58 vs. 69.24 g/kg, p<0.05), protein (46.14 vs. 43.16 g/kg, p<0.05) and casein (39.94 vs. 34.98 g/kg, p<0.05) of the milk of group B with respect to group A. The milk of group C gave fat values (71.80 g/kg), protein (45.52 g/kg) and casein (39.06 g/kg) statistically equal to those of group B. The milk of groups B and C, in respect to the milk of group A, gave values of K20 (1.77, 1.82 vs. 3.68 min, p<0.05), statistically lower and values of A30 (48.28, 47.27 vs. 40.64 mm, p<0.05) statistically higher. Two simple linear regressions were calculated where the independent variable (x) was the daily standardized milk production, the dependent variable (y) or the daily intake of net energy or crude protein. Equation 1) NE (MJ/d) = 74.4049+2.8308×kg of normalized milk; equation 2) CP (kg/d) = 1.4507+0.1085×kg of normalized milk, both the equations were significant (p<0.05) with determination coefficients of 0.58 and 0.50 respectively. For a production of normalized milk that varies from 9 to 13 kg, the respective energy-protein concentrations fluctuate from 6.09 to 6.78 MJ/kg DM and from 148.00 to 174.46 g/kg DM.
Automated Detection and Identification of Persons in Video

We describe progress in the automatic detection and identification of humans in video, given a minimal number of labelled faces as training data. This is an extremely challenging problem due to the many sources of variation in a person’s imaged appearance: pose variation, scale, facial expression, illumination, partial occlusion, motion blur, etc. The method we have developed combines approaches from computer vision, for detection and pose estimation, with those from machine learning for classification. A ‘generative’ model of a person’s head is defined consisting of a coarse 3-D model and multiple texture maps. This allows faces to be rendered with a variety of facial expressions and at poses differing from those of the training data. We show that the identity of a target face can then be determined by first proposing faces with similar pose, and then classifying the target face as one of the proposed faces or not. Furthermore, the texture maps of the model can be automatically updated as new poses and expressions are detected. We demonstrate results of detecting three characters in a TV situation comedy.
Stem Cell-Like Differentiation Potentials of Endometrial Side Population Cells as Revealed by a Newly Developed In Vivo Endometrial Stem Cell Assay

Background Endometrial stem/progenitor cells contribute to the cyclical regeneration of human endometrium throughout a woman's reproductive life. Although the candidate cell populations have been extensively studied, no consensus exists regarding which endometrial population represents the stem/progenitor cell fraction in terms of in vivo stem cell activity. We have previously reported that human endometrial side population cells (ESP), but not endometrial main population cells (EMP), exhibit stem cell-like properties, including in vivo reconstitution of endometrium-like tissues when xenotransplanted into immunodeficient mice. The reconstitution efficiency, however, was low presumably because ESP cells alone could not provide a sufficient microenvironment (niche) to support their stem cell activity. The objective of this study was to establish a novel in vivo endometrial stem cell assay employing cell tracking and tissue reconstitution systems and to examine the stem cell properties of ESP through use of this assay. Methodology/Principal Findings ESP and EMP cells isolated from whole endometrial cells were infected with lentivirus to express tandem Tomato (TdTom), a red fluorescent protein. They were mixed with unlabeled whole endometrial cells and then transplanted under the kidney capsule of ovariectomized immunodeficient mice. These mice were treated with estradiol and progesterone for eight weeks and nephrectomized. All of the grafts reconstituted endometrium-like tissues under the kidney capsules. Immunofluorescence revealed that TdTom-positive cells were significantly more abundant in the glandular, stromal, and endothelial cells of the reconstituted endometrium in mice transplanted with TdTom-labeled ESP cells than those with TdTom-labeled EMP cells. Conclusions/Significance We have established a novel in vivo endometrial stem cell assay in which multi-potential differentiation can be identified through cell tracking during in vivo endometrial tissue reconstitution. Using this assay, we demonstrated that ESP cells differentiated into multiple endometrial lineages in the niche provided by whole endometrial cells, indicating that ESP cells are genuine endometrial stem/progenitor cells.
Learning a structured dictionary for video-based face recognition

In this paper, we propose a structured dictionary learning framework for video-based face recognition. We discover the invariant structural information from different videos of each subject. Specifically, we employ dictionary learning and low-rank approximation to preserve the invariant structure of face images in videos. The learned dictionary is both discriminative and reconstructive. Thus, we not only minimize the reconstruction error of all the face images but also encourage a sub-dictionary to represent the corresponding subject from different videos. Moreover, by introducing the low-rank approximation, the proposed method is able to discover invariant structured information from different videos of the same subject. To this end, an efficient alternating algorithm is employed to learn our structured dictionary. Extensive experiments on three video-based face recognition databases show that our approach outperforms several state-of-the-art methods.
Design Patterns for Domain-specific Application Modelling

Model-based development becomes increasingly attractive due to benefits like reducing risk for mistakes by manual code generation. Based on a domain-specific meta-model, it starts with specification of the platform independent model (PIM) of the target system. In practice, generating PIMs manually can become tedious because of the large number of often repetitive elements to be created. Applying the concept of design patterns at the requirement definition level could alleviate this problem. Therefore, this paper presents the concept of ”PIM patterns”, and shows a case study at hand of DECOS, an integrated EU-FP6 project, where a PIM specifies all software jobs of a (usually distributed and safety-critical) subsystem like powertrain control, together with exchanged messages and other structural, performance, and dependability requirements. An ongoing implementation using the Eclipse-based model transformation tool VIATRA is also outlined.
Horizon constraints and black-hole entropy

A question about a black hole in quantum gravity is a conditional question: to obtain an answer, one must restrict initial or boundary data to ensure that a black hole is actually present. For two-dimensional dilaton gravity—and probably for a much wider class of theories—I show that the imposition of a spacelike ‘stretched horizon’ constraint modifies the algebra of symmetries, inducing a central term. Standard conformal field theory techniques then fix the asymptotic density of states, successfully reproducing the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy. The states responsible for black-hole entropy can thus be viewed as ‘would-be gauge’ states that become physical because the symmetries are altered.
A Symmetry Search and Filtering Algorithm for Vision Based Pedestrian Detection System

In this paper we present a fast symmetry search and filtering algorithm for monocular vision based pedestrian candidate detection application. First the ROI of symmetry search is focused on the pedestrian leg region, where the background is relatively simple ground plane. Afterward, the search region is divided into 2 x 4 sub blocks and symmetry density and distribution of each sub block is calculated. Finally, by comparing the symmetry density and distribution of the sub blocks, the correct symmetry axis of the pedestrian candidate is search and also some no-pedestrian candidates are filtered out. The results shown in this method are fast, cost effective and well suited for real-time vision applications.
Stylised facts about New Zealand business cycles

This memo characterises the business cycles of the New Zealand economy, a la Stock and Watson (1998). The paper provides a set of stylised facts that New Zealand macroeconomic models should, ideally, be capable of emulating. This paper therefore serves as an important backdrop to macro modelling efforts. We also examine the same data series for the US and Australia, providing an indication of which features of New Zealand’s business cycles may be idiosyncratic.
Residue-to-Binary Converter for the New Moduli Set { − , , + }

In this paper, we propose the new moduli set { − , , + } with an efficient reverse converter. Experiments were performed on our converter and the state of the art using Xilinx ISE 14.3 software to target a Spartan 3 FPGA board. The results from these experiments suggest that on the average, the proposed converter outperforms the state of the art converters for the moduli sets { − , , + } and { − , , + }.
Chance and Necessity in Eye Evolution

Charles Darwin has proposed the theory that evolution of live organisms is based on random variation and natural selection. Jacques Monod in his classic book Chance and Necessity, published 40 years ago, presented his thesis “that the biosphere does not contain a predictable class of objects or events, but constitutes a particular occurrence, compatible indeed with the first principles, but not deducible from those principals and therefore, essentially unpredictable. ” Recent discoveries in eye evolution are in agreement with both of these theses. They confirm Darwin's assumption of a simple eye prototype and lend strong support for the notion of a monophyletic origin of the various eye types. Considering the complexity of the underlying gene regulatory networks the unpredictability is obvious. The evolution of the Hox gene cluster and the specification of the body plan starting from an evolutionary prototype segment is discussed. In the course of evolution, a series of similar prototypic segments gradually undergoes cephalization anteriorly and caudalization posteriorly through diversification of the Hox genes.
A NEW GEAR FAULT RECOGNITION METHOD USING MUWD SAMPLE ENTROPY AND GREY INCIDENCE

In this paper, we propose a new gear fault recognition method by using morphological undecimated wavelet decomposition (MUWD), sample entropy and grey incidence. MUWD possesses both the characteristic of morphological filter in morphology and multi-resolution in wavelet transform. Then we develop multi-scale MUWD based on the characteristic of impulse feature extraction in difference morphological filter. At first, we use multi-scale MUWD to process different gear fault signals in five levels, signal length is maintained invariable and information loss could be avoided in MUWD, simulation example tests the good effectiveness of its denoising capacity. Second, we calculate the sample entropy of each level. Different fault type corresponds with different sample entropy. In the end, we serve sample entropy as the feature vectors and calculate the grey incidence of different gear vibration signals to identify the fault pattern and condition. Practical example shows that the high efficiency of the proposed method. It is suitable for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of gear.
High-Performance Cluster Computing Using SCI

The Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) is a recent communication standard for cluster interconnects. We study the use of SCI in a high-performance parallel computing setting, using a cluster of UltraSparcs connected via Dolphin SCI SBus-2 adapters. We chose SCI as network fabric since it offers very low latencies and high bandwidth. In this paper, we study how to map a variety of programming models efficiently onto the SCI hardware. We focus on message passing and global address space support, implementing Active Messages and Split-C. We present implementation trade-offs and present performance measurements. We found that the user-level load/store programming interface of SCI is very convenient to use, achieves low latencies, and is fully virtualized, simultaneously supporting multiple parallel programs and communication channels. On the other hand, neither of the programming models studied maps directly to SCI. Issues such as notification, atomic operations, and virtual address space limitations represent major implementation challenges, which we address with a combination of compiler and run-time support. Overall, we found the SCI network to form a good substrate for high-performance cluster computing.