Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cue-preserving MMSE filter for binaural speech enhancement

It is widely appreciated that the acoustic enhancement function of hearing aids, which is here represented by ambient noise reduction, needs to be designed such that the spatial auditory scene is well preserved, e.g., in terms of target speech and residual noise cues. In this way, we can properly stimulate the brain functions for sound segregation, localization, and recognition. This paper, firstly, stresses two particular forms of spatial cues distortions that occur with bilateral (i.e., independently operating) hearing aids at the left and right ear. We secondly introduce a rigorous derivation of a cue-preserving linear minimum mean-square error (MMSE) filter for acoustic noise reduction based on the general concept of the common spectral gain function. The proposed filter is then applied to a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios and compared with other gain functions, including the bilateral type. We find that our cue-preserving MMSE filter not only maintains the spatial auditory scene, but also turns out advantageous in terms of SNR improvement.
Platelet-rich plasma gel composited with nondegradable porous polyurethane scaffolds as a potential auricular cartilage alternative

Total auricular reconstruction is still a challenge, and autologous cartilage transplant is the main therapy so far. Tissue engineering provides a promising method for auricular cartilage reconstruction. However, although degradable framework demonstrated excellent initial cosmetic details, it is difficult to maintain the auricular contour over time and the metabolites tended to be harmful to human body. In this study, biocompatible and safe nondegradable elastic polyurethane was used to make porous scaffold in specific details by rapid prototyping technology. Platelet-rich plasma contains fibrin and abundant autologous growth factors, which was used as cell carriers for in vitro expanded cells. When crosslinking polyurethane framework, platelet-rich plasma and cells together, we successfully made polyurethane/platelet-rich plasma/cell composites, and implanted them into dorsal subcutaneous space of nude mice. The results showed that this method resulted in more even cell distribution and higher cell density, promoted chondrocyte proliferation, induced higher level expressions of aggrecan and type II collagen gene, increased content of newly developed glycosaminoglycans, and produced high-quality cartilaginous tissue. This kind of cartilage tissue engineering approach may be a potential promising alternative for external ear reconstruction.
Metabolism of n-C10:0 and n-C11:0 fatty acids by Trichoderma koningii, Penicillium janthinellum and their mixed culture: I. Biomass and CO2 production, and allocation of intracellular lipids

The capacity of two soil fungi, Trichoderma koningii and Penicillium janthinellum, to oxidize n-C10:0 and n-C11:0 fatty acids to CO2 and store intracellular lipids during growth is unknown. This article reports for the first time the metabolism of decanoic acid (DA, C10:0), undecanoic acid (UDA, n-C11:0), a mixture of the acids (UDA+DA) and a mixture of UDA+ potato dextrose broth (PDB) by T. koningii and P. janthinellum and their mixed culture. A control PDB complex substrate was used as a substrate control treatment. The fungal cultures were assayed for their capacity to: (1) oxidize n-C10:0 and n-C11:0 fatty acids to CO2 and (2) store lipids intracellularly during growth. On all four fatty acid substrates, the mixed T. koningii and P. janthinellum culture produced more biomass and CO2 than the individual fungal cultures. Per 150 mL culture, the mixed species culture grown on UDA+PDB and on PDB alone produced the most biomass (7,567 mg and 11,425 mg, respectively). When grown in DA, the mixed species culture produced the least amount of biomass (6,400 mg), a quantity that was lower than those obtained in UDA (7,550 mg) or UDA+DA (7,270 mg). Amounts of CO2 produced ranged from 210 mg under DA to 618 mg under PDB, and these amounts were highly correlated with biomass (r2 = 0.99). Fluorescence microscopy of stained lipids in the mixed fungal cell cultures growing during the exponential phase demonstrated larger fungal cells and higher accumulation of lipids in membranes and storage bodies than those observed during the lag and stationary phases. T. koningii and P. janthinellum grown on n-C10:0 and n-C11:0 fatty acids produced lower amounts of biomass and CO2, but stored higher amounts of intracellular lipids, than when grown on PDB alone.
Fast thickness measurements with frequency modulated continuous wave terahertz radiation

Broadband laser based terahertz systems for multilayer thickness inspections are getting established in industrial environments, such as in the quality control for paint processes in the automotive industry. Within this contribution we address another highly attractive and complementary industrial terahertz application by the thickness and density inspection of thick and multilayer plastics as for example in the field of tube production. In order to inspect plastic layers from millimeter to several tens of centimeters thickness at measurement rates of up to several kilohertz, we use electronic frequency modulated continuous wave terahertz systems operating in the terahertz regime below 500 GHz.
Prenatal Dexamethasone Causes Oligonephronia, Sodium Retention, and Higher Blood Pressure in the Offspring

Recent reports have shown that low birth weight infants have a higher incidence of adult hypertension. These observations have stimulated a number of studies designed to evaluate the mechanisms of this phenomenon. In this study, fetal growth retardation was induced by treating pregnant rats with dexamethasone. After birth, pups whose mothers were treated with dexamethasone had a lower body and kidney weight and a lower number of glomeruli than control pups. Immunohistochemistry on treated kidneys demonstrated a marked reduction in the number of cells undergoing mitosis in the cortical nephrogenic zone. In the treated group, body and kidney weight normalized by 60 d of age, but blood pressure was significantly higher compared with controls (130 ± 4 versus 107 ± 1 mm Hg). In addition, GFR was significantly lower, albuminuria was higher, urinary sodium excretion rate and fractional sodium excretion were lower, and sodium tissue content was higher. In contrast, when pregnant rats were treated with a natural glucocorticoid (hydrocortisone) which is metabolized by the placenta, fetal development and adult blood pressure were normal. In conclusion, we found that high levels of maternal glucocorticoids impair renal development and lead to arterial hypertension in offspring. Even though renal mass eventually normalizes, glomerular damage as well as sodium retention occur and these factors may contribute to the development of hypertension.
Autocracy and Variation in Economic Development Outcomes

I discuss and analyze the vast variation in development outcomes among autocracies, focusing on economic growth. I highlight plausible explanations of this variation pertaining to features of the leader, institutions, or the regime’s support coalition. Next, by analyzing data from more than 180 polities and with time series extending back to 1789, I present descriptive patterns and tests corroborating that variation in growth – in the shorter and longer term, across and within countries – is higher among autocracies than democracies. Finally, I assess the explanations for why some autocracies have higher growth than others. This exercise suggests that single-party autocracies have higher growth than personalist regimes and monarchies. Higher degrees of party institutionalization also correlate positively with growth. I find several (surprising) negative and null results. Notably, neither stronger legislative constraints on the autocrat nor the size of an autocratic regime’s support coalition correlate positively with growth.
QUANTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF PROTEIN OXIDATION IN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES*

Protein oxidation is defined here as the covalent modification of a protein induced either directly by reactive oxygen species or indirectly by reaction with secondary by-products of oxidative stress. Oxidative modification of proteins can be induced experimentally by a wide array of prooxidant agents and occurs in vivo during aging and in certain disease conditions. Oxidative changes to proteins can lead to diverse functional consequences, such as inhibition of enzymatic and binding activities, increased susceptibility to aggregation and proteolysis, increased or decreased uptake by cells, and altered immunogenicity. There are numerous types of protein oxidative modification and these can be measured with a variety of methods. Protein oxidation serves as a useful marker for assessing oxidative stress in vivo. There are both advantages and disadvantages to using proteins for this purpose compared to lipids and DNA. Finally, it is important to monitor the degree of oxidative modification of therapeutic proteins manufactured for commercial use. This review will examine various aspects of protein oxidation, with emphasis on using proteins as markers of oxidative stress in biological samples.
Current probe characterization in a reverberation chamber

The paper presents how it is possible to characterize a current probe in terms of its transfer impedance inside a reverberation chamber. The probe clamps a floating wire placed inside the working volume of the chamber and the current on the wire is calculated from the knowledge of the total average field in the working volume, measured by a tri-axial field sensor. The current is calculated representing the field in terms of a summation of random plane waves, where a FDTD code is used to compute the current induced by each plane wave along the wire clamped by the probe under test. Results for the current distribution along the wire are reported for several frequencies. Finally, the transfer impedance of commercial probes is recovered from the current knowledge and compared to the values given by the manufacturers
C-terminal Domain Modulates the Nucleic Acid Chaperone Activity of Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Nucleocapsid Protein via an Electrostatic Mechanism*

Retroviral nucleocapsid (NC) proteins are molecular chaperones that facilitate nucleic acid (NA) remodeling events critical in viral replication processes such as reverse transcription. Surprisingly, the NC protein from human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is an extremely poor NA chaperone. Using bulk and single molecule methods, we find that removal of the anionic C-terminal domain (CTD) of HTLV-1 NC results in a protein with chaperone properties comparable with that of other retroviral NCs. Increasing the ionic strength of the solution also improves the chaperone activity of full-length HTLV-1 NC. To determine how the CTD negatively modulates the chaperone activity of HTLV-1 NC, we quantified the thermodynamics and kinetics of wild-type and mutant HTLV-1 NC/NA interactions. The wild-type protein exhibits very slow dissociation kinetics, and removal of the CTD or mutations that eliminate acidic residues dramatically increase the protein/DNA interaction kinetics. Taken together, these results suggest that the anionic CTD interacts with the cationic N-terminal domain intramolecularly when HTLV-1 NC is not bound to nucleic acids, and similar interactions occur between neighboring molecules when NC is NA-bound. The intramolecular N-terminal domain-CTD attraction slows down the association of the HTLV-1 NC with NA, whereas the intermolecular interaction leads to multimerization of HTLV-1 NC on the NA. The latter inhibits both NA/NC aggregation and rapid protein dissociation from single-stranded DNA. These features make HTLV-1 NC a poor NA chaperone, despite its robust duplex destabilizing capability.
Analysis of the key pfcrt point mutation and in vitro and in vivo response to chloroquine in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The putative key codon (Lys-76 in sensitive parasites and Thr-76 in resistant parasites) of the novel candidate gene for chloroquine resistance, Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (pfcrt), was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism from 111 Cameroonian isolates and was compared with in vivo and in vitro responses to chloroquine. The key codon was significantly associated (P< .001) with responses in vivo (92% sensitivity and 76% specificity) and in vitro (97% sensitivity and 81% specificity). Some discordant results were due to multiclonal infections. The high, but not perfect, correlation between the pfcrt polymorphism and the phenotype implies that a single point mutation in codon 76 of the pfcrt gene is the major, but possibly not the sole, determinant for chloroquine resistance.
Deoxyribonucleic acid initiation mutation dnaB252 is suppressed by elevated dnaC+ gene dosage

The Escherichia coli dnaB252 allele is the only dnaB mutation which confers a deoxyribonucleic acid initiation-defective phenotype on the cell. The presence of a multicopy hybrid plasmid containing the dnaC+ gene in a dnaB252 strain completely suppressed the temperature-sensitive phenotype. It is suggested that at high temperature the dnaB252 protein has a lowered affinity for dnaC protein, and that the formation of a dnaB-dnaC complex is mandatory for initiation.
A wideband microstrip array based on air substrate for wireless base-station applications

This paper is to present a design of a wideband microstrip array based on air substrate for wireless applications. Especially, it can be installed as a high gain directional antenna at the base station. Additionally, this array is well designed in terms both of microstrip elements and feeding network, such that the wideband operation can be achieved. Such a frequency band is suitable for WLAN and WiMAX systems. Both of simulation and measurement results of this design are reported.
Development of a Psychometrically Equivalent Short Form of the Face–Name Associative Memory Exam for use Along the Early Alzheimer’s Disease Trajectory

Neuropsychologists are developing more challenging and specific tests to detect early and subtle changes in cognition related to preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The 16-item Face–Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME-16) is a challenging paired associative memory test able to detect subtle memory changes associated with biomarker evidence of preclinical AD. However, as individuals progress along the AD trajectory, measures that are sensitive at the preclinical stage may become too challenging by the stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Our goal was to develop a modified version of the face–name and face–occupation paired associative memory task (FNAME-12) with fewer stimuli and additional learning trials suitable for use in MCI. We administered the FNAME-12A, an alternate version FNAME 12B, the original FNAME-16, and a series of other neuropsychological measures to 65 clinically normal (CN) older adults (aged 65 to 85) and a subsample characterized by MCI (n = 18). The FNAME-12 exhibited psychometric equivalence with the FNAME-16 (r = .77, p < .001) and was correlated with other measures of episodic and semantic memory. The alternate form, FNAME-12B, was highly correlated with FNAME-12A (r = .76, p < .001). Mean performance on the FNAME 12A, stratified by education, was generated. The task could be completed by our MCI group yet remained challenging in the CN group, providing evidence for its utility along the AD trajectory.
High liabilities or heavy subsidies: Farmers’ preferences for crop insurance attributes in Hunan, China

Purpose - Understanding farmers’ preferences for crop insurance attributes is crucial in designing better insurance products and guiding government policies but such research is lacking, particularly in developing countries. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses a survey featuring a discrete choice experiment and policy simulation. Findings - Overall, crop insurance has positive values to farmers, although preference is heterogeneous based on socioeconomic characteristics and risk position. Policy simulation confirms the roles of liability in strengthening insurance participants’ welfare and premium subsidy in encouraging participation. Introducing one more product into the market can accommodate farmers’ diverse needs and lead to increases in both aggregated social welfare and participation while maintaining the current level of government expense in subsidy – a potential Pareto improvement. Research limitations/implications - Methodology employed is not the most novel in the choice experiment literature as many of the advances in choice experiment design could not be applied due to the actual condition in rural China and Chinese farmers’ capability in understanding the experiment. Practical implications - The results indicate that the current single-product market structure using “low liability with high premium subsidies” cannot accommodate the diverse needs among farmers. Providing more varieties of liability-subsidy combinations, e.g. a high liability with low premium subsidy insurance product, can substantially improve participants’ welfare with little impact to the probability of participation. Originality/value - The authors believe that this is one of the very few studies that that analyze farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay for the attributes of crop insurance products. It also shows how crop insurance product design can build upon farmers’ choices to achieve a potential Pareto improvement in aggregated social welfare in the context of a fast-developing crop insurance market.
Novel MRAS approach for online identification of key parameters for self-sensing control of PM synchronous machines

Some of the remaining challenges of self-sensing control for permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) are: combination of EMF-based and magnetic saliency-based methods, influence of the fundamental current control on saliency-based methods, position-transducerless system identification of key parameters and reduction of computational effort. The authors present a novel Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) approach which takes these demands into account. In this paper, the focus is set on identification of key parameters with reduced computational effort. Key parameters like saturation-dependent inductances have a great impact on position estimation, as already reported in the past. As rotor position estimation and parameter identification depend on each other, operating conditions exist where only an ambiguous determination is possible. This demands an appropriate identification strategy which is presented in this paper.
Atmospheric teleconnection influence on North American land surface phenology

Short-term forecasts of vegetation activity are currently not well constrained due largely to our lack of understanding of coupled climate-vegetation dynamics mediated by complex interactions between atmospheric teleconnection patterns. Using ecoregion-scale estimates of North American vegetation activity inferred from remote sensing (1982–2015), we examined seasonal and spatial relationships between land surface phenology and the atmospheric components of five teleconnection patterns over the tropical Pacific, north Pacific, and north Atlantic. Using a set of regression experiments, we also tested for interactions among these teleconnection patterns and assessed predictability of vegetation activity solely based on knowledge of atmospheric teleconnection indices. Autumn-to-winter composites of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) were strongly correlated with start of growing season timing, especially in the Pacific Northwest. The two leading modes of north Pacific variability (the Pacific-North American, PNA, and West Pacific patterns) were significantly correlated with start of growing season timing across much of southern Canada and the upper Great Lakes. Regression models based on these Pacific teleconnections were skillful predictors of spring phenology across an east-west swath of temperate and boreal North America, between 40°N–60°N. While the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was not strongly correlated with start of growing season timing on its own, we found compelling evidence of widespread NAO-SOI and NAO-PNA interaction effects. These results suggest that knowledge of atmospheric conditions over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans increases the predictability of North American spring phenology. A more robust consideration of the complexity of the atmospheric circulation system, including interactions across multiple ocean basins, is an important step towards accurate forecasts of vegetation activity.
Neurotrophin-4/5 enhances survival of cultured spiral ganglion neurons and protects them from cisplatin neurotoxicity

Destruction of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) induced by injury and toxins is one of the major causes for hearing loss. Here we report that neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5), a member of the nerve growth factor family, promoted survival of postnatal rat SGNs up to threefold in dissociated cell cultures. The survival-promoting potency of NT-4/5 was equivalent to that of BDNF and stronger than that of NT-3. In contrast, NGF showed no detectable effects. Immunohistochemistry, with TrkB and TrkA antisera, revealed that these neurons produced TrkB protein, the functional receptor for NT-4/5 and BDNF, but not TrkA protein, the high- affinity receptor for NGF. The survival-promoting activity of NT-4/5 was completely inhibited by TrkB-IgG fusion protein. These results suggest that NT-4/5 is a specific survival factor for SGNs. In addition, NT-4/5 protected the SGNs from neurotoxic effects of the anti- cancer drug, cisplatin. Thus, NT-4/5 may have therapeutic value in preventing hearing impairment caused by damage to primary auditory afferent neurons.
Iron in Child Obesity. Relationships with Inflammation and Metabolic Risk Factors

Iron (Fe) sequestration is described in overweight and in its associated metabolic complications, i.e., metabolic syndrome (MetS) and non-alcoholic liver fatty disease (NAFLD); however, the interactions between Fe, obesity and inflammation make it difficult to recognize the specific role of each of them in the risk of obesity-induced metabolic diseases. Even the usual surrogate marker of Fe stores, ferritin, is influenced by inflammation; therefore, in obese subjects inflammation parameters must be measured together with those of Fe metabolism. This cross-sectional study in obese youth (502 patients; 57% girls): 11.4 ± 3.0 years old (x ± SD); BMI z score 5.5 ± 2.3), multivariate regression analysis showed associations between Fe storage assessed by serum ferritin with risk factors for MetS and NAFLD, assessed by transaminase levels, which were independent of overweight and the acute phase protein fibrinogen. Further studies incorporating the measurement of complementary parameters of Fe metabolism could improve the comprehension of mechanisms involved.