Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of best algorithm combinations for speech processing tasks in machine learning using median vs. mean clusters in MARF

This work reports experimental results and their analysis in various speech processing tasks using SpeakerIdentApp, a text-independent speaker identification application, based on Modular Audio Recognition Framework (MARF)'s API and its implementation in terms of best of the available algorithm configurations for each particular task using median clusters as opposed to the default mean clusters. This study focuses on the tasks of identification of speakers' as of who they are, their gender, and accent through machine learning. This work significantly complements two preceding statistical studies undertaken using only mean clusters and shows the difference in selection of the best algorithm combinations using the median cluster approach. To the author's knowledge there was no any previous comprehensive study in this regard.
Role of Receptor for Hyaluronic Acid-mediated Motility (RHAMM) in Low Molecular Weight Hyaluronan (LMWHA)-mediated Fibrosarcoma Cell Adhesion

Background: Hyaluronan (HA) modulates key cancer cell functions through interaction with its CD44 and RHAMM receptors. Results: Low molecular weight HA (LMWHA) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.01) the adhesion capacity of HT1080 cells in a RHAMM-dependent manner. Conclusion: RHAMM/HA interaction regulates fibrosarcoma cell adhesion via the activation of FAK and ERK1/2 signaling pathways. Significance: Identification of a novel HA-signaling pathway. Hyaluronan (HA) modulates key cancer cell functions through interaction with its CD44 and receptor for hyaluronic acid-mediated motility (RHAMM) receptors. HA was recently found to regulate the migration of fibrosarcoma cells in a manner specifically dependent on its size. Here, we investigated the effect of HA/RHAMM signaling on the ability of HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells to adhere onto fibronectin. Low molecular weight HA (LMWHA) significantly increased (p ≤ 0.01) the adhesion capacity of HT1080 cells, which high molecular weight HA inhibited. The ability of HT1080 RHAMM-deficient cells, but not of CD44-deficient ones, to adhere was significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.001) as compared with control cells. Importantly, the effect of LMWHA on HT1080 cell adhesion was completely attenuated in RHAMM-deficient cells. In contrast, adhesion of RHAMM-deficient cells was not sensitive to high molecular weight HA treatment, which identifies RHAMM as a specific conduit of the LMWHA effect. Western blot and real time-PCR analyses indicated that LMWHA significantly increased RHAMM transcript (p ≤ 0.05) and protein isoform levels (53%, 95 kDa; 37%, 73 kDa) in fibrosarcoma cells. Moreover, Western blot analyses showed that LMWHA in a RHAMM-dependent manner enhanced basal and adhesion-dependent ERK1/2 and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation in HT1080 cells. Utilization of a specific ERK1/2 inhibitor completely inhibited (p ≤ 0.001) LMWHA-dependent adhesion, suggesting that ERK1/2 is a downstream effector of LMWHA/RHAMM signaling. Likewise, the utilization of the specific ERK1 inhibitor resulted in a strong down-regulation of FAK activation in HT1080 cells, which identifies ERK1/2 as a FAK upstream activator. In conclusion, our results suggest that RHAMM/HA interaction regulates fibrosarcoma cell adhesion via the activation of FAK and ERK1/2 signaling pathways.
On the Bumpy Road to the Dominant Mode

Abstract. Maximum likelihood estimation in many classical statistical problems is beset by multimodality. This article explores several variations of deterministic annealing that tend to avoid inferior modes and find the dominant mode. In Bayesian settings, annealing can be tailored to find the dominant mode of the log posterior. Our annealing algorithms involve essentially trivial changes to existing optimization algorithms built on block relaxation or the EM or MM principle. Our examples include estimation with the multivariate t distribution, Gaussian mixture models, latent class analysis, factor analysis, multidimensional scaling and a one‐way random effects model. In the numerical examples explored, the proposed annealing strategies significantly improve the chances for locating the global maximum.
An Evaluation of Hydroxyapatite and Biphasic Calcium Phosphate in Combination With Pluronic F127 and BMP on Bone Repair

Calcium phosphates like hydroxyapatite (HA), β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), and their mixtures (biphasic calcium phosphates; BCP) are used clinically to repair bone defects. These materials can be difficult to handle and have no inherent biological activity. Handling properties of other bone substitute materials have been improved by combining them with an inert carrier such as Pluronic F-127 (Pluronic, BASF, Mt. Olive, NJ), while the addition of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) with such implants has also been shown to enhance bone repair. This study assessed the impact of adding Pluronic and BMPs to an HA (C-Graft™) or a BCP (80/20 HA/β-TCP ratio; Algisorb™) implant's ability of promote bony repair in the rabbit calvarial defect model. Twenty-five New Zealand white rabbits were divided into 5 groups of 5 animals each. Bilateral calvarial defects were made in the parietal bones of each animal. HA or BCP alone or combined with Pluronic and/or BMP were implanted into the defect sites. Animals were euthanized at 6 weeks, postoperatively. Bone regeneration was evaluated quantitatively by histomorphometry. The amount of bone regeneration, which occurred in defects containing HA and BCP, was similar over the time period studied. Incorporating Pluronic increased handling and moldability without compromising osteoconductivity of either calcium phosphate. The addition of BMP significantly increased the amount of new bone formed with all calcium phosphates studied (P < 0.05). These results suggest that Pluronic can be added to calcium phosphates to enhance handling and moldability without any negative effects on their biocompatibility and that healing can be enhanced with the incorporation of BMPs.
Merging squared-magnitude approaches to DWI denoising: An adaptive Wiener filter tuned to the anatomical contents of the image

We present a new method for denoising of Diffusion Weighted Images (DWI) that shares several desirable features of state-of-the-art proposals: 1) it works with the squared-magnitude signal, allowing for a closed-form formulation as a Linear Minimum Mean Squared Error (LMMSE) estimator, a.k. a. Wiener filter; 2) it jointly accounts for the DWI channels altogether, being able to unveil anatomical structures that remain hidden in each separated channel; 3) it uses a Non-Local Means (NLM)-like scheme to discriminate voxels corresponding to different fiber bundles, being able to enhance the anatomical structures of the DWI. We report extensive experiments evidencing the new approach outperforms several related methods for all the range of input signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). An open-source C++ implementation of the algorithm is also provided for the sake of reproducibility.
Efficient Signcryption for Heterogeneous Systems

Privacy and authentication are the two main security goals in secure communications. To solve the secure communications problem between two heterogeneous systems, we propose two efficient signcryption schemes that can simultaneously achieve confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and nonrepudiation in a logical single step. The first scheme allows a sender in a public key infrastructure (PKI) to send a message to a receiver in an identity-based cryptosystem (IBC) and the second scheme allows a sender in the IBC system to send a message to a receiver in the PKI system. We prove that the first scheme has indistinguishability against adaptive chosen ciphertext attacks (IND-CCA2) under the q-bilinear Diffie-Hellman inversion problem (q-BDHIP) and existential unforgeability against adaptive chosen messages attacks (EUF-CMA) under the Diffie-Hellman inversion problem in the random oracle model. We also prove that the second scheme has the IND-CCA2 property under the BDHIP and EUF-CMA property under the q-strong Diffie- Hellman problem (q-SDHP) in the random oracle model.
A test set for LEDs life model estimation

Life models relate the time to failure to the applied stress. They can be derived starting from knowledge of chemical/physical phenomena involved in the ageing process caused by the stress or by means of regressive techniques on data acquired in ALT-based procedure. Anyway, experimental tests are needed. This paper deals with a test system implemented to estimate a life model for LEDs where the forward current is considered as stress.
Effects of Atorvastatin on C-reactive Protein Secretions by Adipocytes in Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a powerful predictor for coronary heart diseases. Recent study has revealed that adipocytes can produce CRP. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ, an important nuclear transcriptional factor, can be predominately detected in adipocytes and exert several biological properties, including antiinflammatory effects. The authors investigated the effects of 2-week atorvastatin treatment on CRP secretions by adipocytes in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. CRP concentrations in serum and adipocytes culture supernatants were measured by latex particle-enhanced immunoturbidometric method. RT-PCR was used to evaluate PPARγ mRNA expression. Two weeks of atorvastatin treatment resulted in significant reductions of circulating CRP concentrations, which were associated with CRP secretions in adipocytes (r = 0.688, P = 0.007). Meanwhile, CRP secretions in adipocytes were intimately related to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (r = 0.869, P < 0.001) and PPARγ mRNA expressions in adipocytes (r = −0.857, P < 0.001). These data demonstrate that hypercholesterolemia may induce CRP secretions in adipocytes; short-term atorvastatin treatment reduces CRP secretions in adipocytes, possibly through lowering blood cholesterol levels and upregulating PPARγ expressions in adipocytes. These findings enrich the pharmacological effects of statins and also enlighten the relationship between adipocytes and hypercholesterolemia.
Decrease in the incidence of culture-positive meningitis and cerebral tuberculomas in France from 1990 to 2007

SUMMARY We evaluated the incidence rate of culture-positive central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS TB) in France in 2007 and its time trend between 1990 and 2007. We used a capture–recapture analysis by using data recorded in 2007 by the mandatory notification system and the national network of the National Reference Centre (NRC). The 2007 sensitivity of the NRC was 79·4%. The previous sensitivity for 2000 (75·6%) and that for 2007 yielded a pooled estimate of 77·4% (95% confidence interval 64·8–88·0), which was used to extrapolate the number of culture-positive CNS TB cases from those reported in four surveys (1990, 1995, 2000, 2007). The extrapolated number of culture-positive CNS TB cases fell from 90 to 35 between 1990 and 2007, and the extrapolated incidence rates fell from 1·6 to 0·55 cases/million (P < 0·001). This favourable trend should be closely monitored following the change of the BCG vaccination policy in 2007.
Information Choice and Amplification of Financial Crises

We propose an amplification mechanism of financial crises based on the information choices of investors. Information acquisition makes investors more likely to act against their prior. Deteriorating public news under an initially strong (weak) prior increases (reduces) the value of private information and induces more (less) information acquisition. Deteriorating public news increases the probability of a crisis, since the initially strong (weak) prior induces no attacks (attacks). This effect is amplified with endogenous information choices. To enhance financial stability, a policy maker affects information acquisition via taxes and subsidies. We derive and discuss testable implications for the magnitude of amplification.
Halftoning over a hexagonal grid

In this contribution, we present an optimal halftoning algorithm that uniformly distributes pixels over a hexagonal grid. This method is based on a slightly modified error-diffusion approach presented at SIGGRAPH 2001. Our algorithm's parameters are optimized using a simplex downhill search method together with a blue noise based cost function . We thus present a mathematical basis needed to perform spectral and spatial calculations on a hexagonal grid. The proposed algorithm can be used in a wide variety of printing and visualization tasks. We introduce an application where our error-diffusion technique can be directly used to produce clustered screen cells.
Physician and Patient Attitudes Toward Obesity

Several studies have found that health care professionals tend to hold negative attitudes regarding obesity. The degree to which patients perceive these attitudes, however, remains unclear. This study examined physicians’ and their obese patients’ attitudes toward obesity. In addition, the physicians’ attitudes were compared with their obese patients’ perceptions of their physicians’ attitudes. Though both physicians and their obese patients reported ambivalent overall attitudes regarding obesity, the physicians reported less negative attitudes than what their patients perceived. The implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.
Diaoyu Dao, Diaoyutai or Senkaku? Creative solutions to a festering dispute in the East China Sea from an ‘Island Studies’ perspective

This paper draws on extensive island examples with a view to offer ‘creative’ solutions to the ongoing dispute over the Diaoyu/Diaoyutai/ Senkaku Islands between China (and Taiwan) and Japan in the East China Sea. In spite of the rhetoric and apparent intractability of island conflicts, there are various examples from the past (and the present) that suggest how island disputes may be decided, and in ‘win–win’ ways, to the satisfaction of the different parties involved. The resolution of island territorial problems can benefit greatly from a critical appreciation of how other small islands, also contested, have had their situation resolved in non-zero-sum ways. In such cases, sovereignty has been shared, split/divided or expunged; in other cases, sovereignty disputes have been put aside in order to co-develop and co-exploit natural resources. There is also one example of a UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of a string of small islands and surrounding waters whose management is shared between three countries.
β-Lapachone Prevents Diet-Induced Obesity by Increasing Energy Expenditure and Stimulating the Browning of White Adipose Tissue via Downregulation of miR-382 Expression

There has been great interest in the browning of fat for the treatment of obesity. Although β-lapachone (BLC) has potential therapeutic effects on obesity, the fat-browning effect and thermogenic capacity of BLC on obesity have never been demonstrated. Here, we showed that BLC stimulated the browning of white adipose tissue (WAT), increased the expression of brown adipocyte–specific genes (e.g., uncoupling protein 1 [UCP1]), decreased body weight gain, and ameliorated metabolic parameters in mice fed a high-fat diet. Consistently, BLC-treated mice showed significantly higher energy expenditure compared with control mice. In vitro, BLC increased the expression of brown adipocyte–specific genes in stromal vascular fraction-differentiated adipocytes. BLC also controlled the expression of miR-382, which led to the upregulation of its direct target, Dio2. Upregulation of miR-382 markedly inhibited the differentiation of adipocytes into beige adipocytes, whereas BLC recovered beige adipocyte differentiation and increased the expression of Dio2 and UCP1. Our findings suggest that the BLC-mediated increase in the browning of WAT and the thermogenic capacity of BAT significantly results in increases in energy expenditure. Browning of WAT by BLC was partially controlled via the regulation of miR-382 targeting Dio2 and may lead to the prevention of diet-induced obesity.
Trap Kinetics in Solution-Processed Organic Thin-Film Transistors

The role of traps in controlling source-drain current in organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) is not well understood and has so far been studied only in structures with silicon dioxide as the dielectric. We study trap kinetics in solution-processed OTFT with a polymer gate dielectric and 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene as the organic semiconductor. The trapping kinetics has been studied at different temperatures using time analyzed transient spectroscopy, which enables the detailed line shape analysis of electrical transients. We show unambiguously that the non-exponential turn-ON current transients are not due to the capture of majority holes, but rather are due to the emission of electrons modulating the channel carrier concentration through field. Two dominant electron traps with the activation energies of 0.14 and 0.20 eV are identified of which the former is discrete and the latter continuously distributed.
Visualization of cervical nerve roots and their distal nerve fibers by diffusion-weighted scanning using parallel imaging

Purpose: To report a technique developed for visualizing cervical nerve roots and distal nerve fibers using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging employing parallel imaging. Material and Methods: We performed maximum intensity projection for a stack of isotropic axial diffusion-weighted images obtained with parallel imaging applying a motion-probing gradient in six directions with a b-value of 500 s/mm2 in a preliminary series of 13 subjects. Results: This method worked well for visualizing the spinal cord and most of the nerve roots, the dorsal root ganglia, and proximal peripheral nerves. Conclusion: Although the technique remains limited in depicting the brachial plexus and distal nerves, the ability to visualize the proximal peripheral nervous system at the cervical level is promising.
Novel Fluorescent Pyrimidine Nucleosides Containing 2,1,3-Benzoxadiazole and Naphtho-[1,2,3-CD] Indole-6 (2H)-One Fragments

A series of novel fluorescent pyrimidine nucleosides containing 2,1,3-benzoxadiazole or naphtho[1,2,3-cd]indole-6 (2h)-one fragments was designed and synthesized. Introduction of fluorescent fragments into the position 5 of the uridine or cytidine heterocycle was carried out in two ways: by Sonogashira Coupling Reaction and CuI-catalyzed cycloaddition (“click” reaction). The obtained nucleoside derivatives became fluorescent due to the inserted fragments. The excitation wavelength (440–450 nm) was outside the absorption band of many biomolecules and significantly differed from the emission wavelength (560–600 nm). In addition, the intended nucleoside analogs were shown to kill cultured human tumor cells at submicromolar concentrations.
Health-Compromising Behaviors Among a Multi-Ethnic Sample of Canadian High School Students: Risk-Enhancing Effects of Discrimination and Acculturation

This article examines whether acculturation and experiences of discrimination help to explain observed ethnic disparities in rates of three health-compromising behaviors: interpersonal violence, drinking, and cannabis use. Data were drawn from a cross-sectional survey of 3,400 high school students from Toronto, Canada, sampled in 1998–2000. Multivariate ordinary least squares and logistic regression models tested for baseline differences in the health-compromising behaviors by ethnic identity. Subsequent models adjusted for control measures and introduced acculturation and discrimination measures. Results confirm that experiences of discrimination and acculturation are risk enhancing, whereas active cultural retention appears to protect ethnic youth from participation in health-compromising activities.
A Comparative Study on the Accuracy of Two Methods for Time Delay Estimation

This paper1 presents an accuracy analysis of Time Delay Estimation (TDE) in the passive location system. Firstly, the signal processing model using the information of envelope and phase are presented, respectively. Then the Cramer-Rao Lower Bounds (CRLB) for phase delay estimation is developed. The bound is shown to be inversely proportional to carrier wavelength, and for narrowband signals, independent of the signals bandwidth. Simulation results show that the theoretical analysis is correct, and the use of phase information alone or in combination with the envelope information is expected to significantly improve the accuracy of time delay estimation.
K Pairs of Disjoint Paths Algorithm for Protection in WDM Optical Networks

Survivable routing in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks has been proven to be NP-hard problem. There is a trade-off between the computational time and the optimality of solutions in existing approaches to the problem. Existing heuristic approaches purely based the graph algorithms are efficient in computational time but do not offer optimal solutions and may fail in some cases even when a solution exists. Meanwhile, the integer linear programming (ILP) models offer optimal solutions but are intractable even with moderate scale networks. In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm for finding K pairs of disjoint paths which are employed as K candidate pairs for each connection in the ILP models. We introduce an ILP model for dedicated path protection in which the number of decision variables is mainly dependant on traffic requests and the constant K, not on the network size
Direct and Indirect Effects of a Sex‐Biased Antagonist on Male and Female Fertility: Consequences for Reproductive Trait Evolution in a Gender‐Dimorphic Plant

Gender‐dimorphic plants are often subject to sex‐differential enemy attack, but whether and how this contributes to trait evolution is unknown. To address this gap, we documented the spatiotemporal prevalence of sex‐biased weevil damage in a gynodioecious strawberry. We then conducted path analysis to evaluate the direct and indirect pathways for weevils to affect female and male fertility and to mediate selection in two experimental gardens. Direct effects of weevils significantly reduced fertility and mediated selection on reproductive traits, even in the nonpreferred sex (females). Weevils significantly reduced floral display size in hermaphrodites in both gardens, and this translated into a substantial negative indirect effect on male fertility in the garden where the pathway to fertility via display was stronger. Thus, indirect effects of weevils can contribute to selection in hermaphrodites, which gain the majority of their fitness via male function. Our results also indicate that weevils often play a larger role than pollinators in shaping reproductive phenotype and thus raise the intriguing possibility that antagonists may be drivers of sexual dimorphism. Finally, our results support the view that mutualists, antagonists, and the abiotic environment should be considered when attempting to understand reproductive trait evolution in gender‐dimorphic species.