Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Paralinguistic Approach To Speaker Diarisation: Using Age, Gender, Voice Likability and Personality Traits

In this work, we present a new view on automatic speaker diarisation, i.e., assessing "who speaks when", based on the recognition of speaker traits such as age, gender, voice likability, and personality. Traditionally, speaker diarisation is accomplished using low-level audio descriptors (e.g., cepstral or spectral features), neglecting the fact that speakers can be well discriminated by humans according to various perceived characteristics. Thus, we advocate a novel paralinguistic approach that combines speaker diarisation with speaker characterisation by automatically identifying the speakers according to their individual traits. In a three-tier processing flow, speaker segmentation by voice activity detection (VAD) is initially performed to detect speaker turns. Next, speaker attributes are predicted using pre-trained paralinguistic models. To tag the speakers, clustering algorithms are applied to the predicted traits. We evaluate our methods against state-of-the-art open source and commercial systems on a corpus of realistic, spontaneous dyadic conversations recorded in the wild from three different cultures (Chinese, English, German). Our results provide clear evidence that using paralinguistic features for speaker diarisation is a promising avenue of research.
Psychopathology and the initiation of disability payments.

OBJECTIVE Longitudinal prospective data from the multisite Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) survey were examined to determine relationships between mental disorders, alcohol abuse or dependence, and transfer payments for disability. METHODS ECA respondents who were not receiving disability benefits at baseline but who were receiving them at the one-year follow-up were identified. The effects of six psychiatric disorders on the risk of starting payments were examined. They were major depressive disorder, panic disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence, phobic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. The odds of starting to receive payments were calculated for persons with these disorders, any mental or addictive disorder, or any two or more disorders, while the analysis controlled for sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS A total of 15,567 people were interviewed at baseline; 7 percent received disability payments. Among the 11, 981 people interviewed at one year, 261 had begun to receive payments that year, for a starting rate of 2.2 percent. Significant predictors of the initiation of payments were little education (odds ratio=3.7) and low household income (OR=2.6). Respondents with panic disorder were 5.2 times more likely to begin receiving benefits than those without this disorder; respondents with schizophrenia were 4.5 times more likely and those with two or more disorders were 2.8 times more likely to start benefits than those without these disorders. CONCLUSIONS Differences in social class influenced the initiation of disability payments. However, having a mental or addictive disorder was a more significant predictor, strongly increasing the risk of receiving payments. Given the economic burden to society and potential loss of earnings and opportunity costs for persons with disability and their families, intervening to prevent or alleviate mental disorders should be considered as one alternative to reducing disability payments.
Design of an adaptive secondary mirror: a global approach.

We present the mechanical and actuator design of an adaptive secondary mirror that matches the optical requirements of the active and adaptive corrections. Conceived for the particular implementation for the 6.5-m conversion of the multiple-mirror telescope, with small variations of the input parameters this study is suitable for applications for telescopes of the same class. We found that a three-layer structure, i.e., a thin deformable shell, a thick reference plate, and a third plate that acts as actuator support and heat sink, is able to provide the required mechanical stability and actuator density. We also found that a simple electromagnetic actuator can be used. This actuator, when optimized, will dissipate a typical power of a few tenths of watts.
Development of an automation system for a tablet coater

An instrumentation and automation system for a side-vented pan coater with a novel air-flow rate measurement system for monitoring the film-coating process of tablets was designed and tested. The instrumented coating system was tested and validated by film-coating over 20 pilot-scale batches of tablets with aqueous-based hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). Thirteen different process parameters were continuously measured and monitored, and the most significant ones were logged for analysis. Laser profilometry was used to measure the surface roughness of the coated tablets. The instrumentation system provided comprehensive and quantitative information on the process parameters monitored. The measured process parameters and the responses of the film-coated tablet batches showed that the coating process is reproducible. The inlet air-flow rate influenced the coating process and the subsequent quality of the coated tablets. Increasing the inlet flow rate accelerated the drying of the tablet surface. At high inlet flow rate, obvious film-coating defects (ie, unacceptable surface roughness of the coated tablets) were observed and the loss of coating material increased. The instrumented and automated pancoating system described, including historical data storage capability and a novel air-flow measurement system, is a useful tool for controlling and characterizing the tablet film-coating process. Monitoring of critical process parameters increases the overall coating process efficiency and predictability.
Leveraging OSGi and Eclipse technologies for a service oriented middleware in industrial machines

Eclipse technologies are widely used for desktop and even enterprise solutions. In contrast, the use of Eclipse technologies in automation is less common. Together with our customer, we have developed a service oriented middleware based on OSGi and Eclipse for loosely coupling real-time control software with machine and process visualization applications. We will show the requirements steering us towards these technologies and will elaborate on design, implementation and deployment. The insights gained from these steps show the adequacy of selected Eclipse technologies for serving tasks in machine automation software.
The Link 16 Contention Access protocol for multiple-reception terminals

Although conventional Link 16 terminals can receive only a single transmission per time slot, terminals capable of two receptions per time slot have recently been demonstrated in laboratory environments, and advances in RF and signal processing technologies suggest that terminals capable of two or more receptions per time slot may soon be practical. This paper presents analysis of the Contention Access (CA) protocol when used with multiple-reception Link 16 terminals. We show that, under mild conditions, the number of time slots per user per access interval that maximizes the resulting fraction of time slots containing between one and ρ transmissions is c = (1/ρ! )1/ρ, where ρ ≥ 1 is the number of transmissions a terminal can receive per time slot. We also show that a CA performance measure known as Average Receive Interval (ARI) essentially follows an Erlang distribution for multiple-reception terminals. This result simplifies the expression of certain CA performance statistics.
Reduction of O-Linked N-Acetylglucosamine-Modified Assembly Protein-3 in Alzheimer’s Disease

Abnormal protein processing and modification is associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. The role of phosphorylation in AD has been studied extensively because the presumed abnormal phosphorylation of tau protein is believed to play a role in the formation of paired helical filaments. Glycosylation with O-linkedN-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to serine and threonine residues is a dynamic protein modification of intracellular proteins, and it shares similar features with protein phosphorylation. In this study, O-GlcNAc glycosylation of proteins from autopsied human brains with confirmed AD and non-AD age-matched controls was examined.O-GlcNAcylation was demonstrated by labeling protein extracts with [3H]galactose in the presence of galactosyltransferase and subsequent analyses of saccharide–protein linkage and saccharide structure. The number ofO-GlcNAc-containing proteins and the overallO-GlcNAc level do not appear to be different between AD and control brain tissues. The only significant change observed is a marked reduction of O-GlcNAcylated clathrin assembly protein-3 (AP-3) in AD. The reduction is more evident in brain neocortical regions, and there appears to be a negative correlation between O-glycosylated AP-3 and the density of neurofibrillary tangles. These data suggest a possible association between the O-glycosylated AP-3 and AD pathology.
Systematic binding analysis of the insulin gene transcription control region: insulin and immunoglobulin enhancers utilize similar transactivators

The 5' regulatory region (-345 to +1) of the rat insulin I gene (Ins-I) was examined for binding to cellular factors with short oligodeoxynucleotide probes. Over 40 binding species were detected. The binding profiles were specific for each cell type studied. We characterized the factors binding two elements crucial for enhancer activity (the Nir and Far boxes) which bear sequence similarity to the microE1, microE2, and microE3 elements of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer. The Nir box binds three cellular factors that display preferential affinities for microE1, microE2, or microE3, and the Far box binds two factors related to microE2 or microE3. The insulin gene enhancer was mutated at the Nir box element to reflect the sequences of microE1, microE2, or microE3. Ins-microE2 was fully active, Ins-microE3 was partially active, and Ins-microE1 was inactive. Thus, factors similar or identical to nuclear factor NF-microE1, NF-microE2, or NF-microE3 may play a role in the activity of the insulin gene enhancer.
Encounter rates with conspecific males influence female mate choice in a naturally hybridizing fish

Mate choice can vary in response to internal or external conditions that alter the costs and benefits of being choosy. The relationship between mate choice and hybridization, however, is not well understood. An important influence on mate choice is the rate at which potential mates are encountered: low rates increase sampling costs, favoring reduced choosiness. We investigated the influence of conspecific encounter rate on female choice in a naturally hybridizing species of swordtail, Xiphophorus birchmanni. We exposed females to conspecific males, followed by either no delay or a long (24 h) delay before their next male encounter. In this second encounter, females were offered the choice of a heterospecific (X. malinche) male only or a choice between a conspecific and heterospecific male. When not given a choice between 2 males, females spent more time with the heterospecific following a long delay between male encounters than after no delay, suggesting a decrease in choosiness. When offered a choice between males, however, females preferentially associated with the conspecific, regardless of the time between male encounters. These results suggest that females are sensitive to conspecific encounter rate but may employ a sample-based (vs. standard-based) comparison tactic, which could make hybridization less likely. We also found that, contrary to our expectations, females with only the heterospecific male to choose from visited him more frequently following a long delay between male encounters than following no delay, possibly indicating an increase in sampling effort. Our study highlights the potential importance of context-dependent mate choice in animal hybridization. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.
A mutation outside the two zinc fingers of ADR1 can suppress defects in either finger

A second-site mutation that restored DNA binding to ADR1 mutants altered at different positions in the two zinc fingers was identified. This mutation (called IS1) was a conservative change of arginine 91 to lysine in a region amino terminal to the two zinc fingers and known from previous experiments to be necessary for DNA binding. IS1 increased binding to the UAS1 sequence two- to sevenfold for various ADR1 mutants and twofold for wild-type ADR1. The change of arginine 91 to glycine decreased binding twofold, suggesting that this arginine is involved in DNA binding in the wild-type protein. The increase in binding by IS1 did not involve protein-protein interactions between the two ADR1 monomers, nor did it require the presence of the sequences flanking UAS1. However, the effect of IS1 was influenced by the sequence of the first finger, suggesting that interactions between the region amino terminal to the fingers and the fingers themselves could exist. A model for the role of the amino-terminal region based on these results and sequence homologies with other DNA-binding motifs is proposed.
Can the Islamic bank be an emerging leader? A panel data causality analysis

ABSTRACT This short note investigates the ability of Islamic banks (IBs) to play a leading role in revamping and driving conventional banking. To this end, we used a panel of 10 major conventional banks (CBs) and 10 IBs over the period 2006–2013. We applied panel regression tests and carried out a panel causality analysis. Our findings identified no significant causality effect from IBs to CBs and indicated that IBs are not able to play a role of leader.
An estimation of distribution algorithm based on nonparametric density estimation

Probabilistic models play a key role in an estimation of distribution algorithm(EDA). Generally, the form of a probabilistic model has to be chosen before executing an EDA. In each generation, the probabilistic model parameters will be estimated by training the model on a set of selected individuals and new individuals are then sampled from the probabilistic model. In this paper, we propose to use probabilistic models in a different way: firstly generate a set of candidate points, then find some as offspring solutions by a filter which is based on a nonparametric density estimation method. Based on this idea, we propose a nonparametric estimation of distribution algorithm (nEDA) for global optimization. The major differences between nEDA and traditional EDAs are (1) nEDA uses a generating-filtering strategy to create new solutions while traditional EDAs use a model building-sampling strategy to generate solutions, and (2) nEDA utilizes a nonparametric density model with traditional EDAs usually utilize parametric density models. nEDA is compared with a traditional EDA which is based on Gaussian model on a set of benchmark problems. The preliminary experimental results show that nEDA is promising for dealing with global optimization problems.
Comparison of thoroughbred and Arabian horses using RAPD markers.

We compared pools of DNA from 10 Thoroughbred horses and 10 Arabian horses for the presence of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers which might be useful in distinguishing between the breeds. Using 212 decamer oligonucleotides and our polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions, 173 of the primers produced scoreable bands. The number of bands ranged from 0 to 9 with an average of 3.6. In family studies using 11 arbitrarily selected primers, five of the 11 primers produced polymorphic bands which exhibited Mendelian inheritance as dominant markers. When comparing the pooled DNA from Thoroughbred and Arabian horses we found 10 primers which identified markers present in the pooled DNA from one breed but absent in the pool from the other breed. Testing individual horses revealed that only two markers were wholly absent for one group while being present among members of the other. Primer UBC-85 (5'-GTGCTCGTGC-3') detected a pair of markers absent in Thoroughbred horses but present among 11 of 31 Arabian horses. These markers were 1500 and 1700 base pairs (bp) long and designated UBC-85C and UBC-85D, respectively. Primer UBC-126 (5'-CTTTCGTGCT-3') detected a 1000 bp marker (designated UBC-126C) absent in 20 of 20 Thoroughbred horses but present in 31 of 31 Arabian horses. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pathological changes in rabbits injected with Pasteurella tularensis killed by ionizing radiation.

Abstract : Suspensions of Pasteurella tularensis killed by exposure to ionizing radiation were toxic for rabbits. A dose of 3 ml or more of a suspension containing 2 x 10 to the 11th power to 3 x 10 to the 11th power organisms per ml was lethal within 24 hours of a single intravenous injection. The major pathologic changes were extensive hemorrhagic necrosis of the spleen, focal coagulation necrosis of the liver, pneumonitis, and glomerular capillary occlusion by fibrin thrombi. Similar lesions were produced when two smaller doses of the suspension were given intravenously 24 hours apart. The localized Shwartzman reaction was produced by an intradermal injection followed in 24 hours by an intravenous injection. Rabbits were protected against the lethal action of the suspension and against development of glomerular thrombosis by prior administration of either a single dose or of multiple doses of 25 mg of cortisone.
The erg‐like potassium current in rat lactotrophs

1 The ether‐à‐go‐go‐related gene (erg)‐like K+ current in rat lactotrophs from primary culture was characterized and compared with that in clonal rat pituitary cells (GH3/B6). The class III antiarrhythmic E‐4031 known to block specifically erg K+ channels was used to isolate the erg‐like current as the E‐4031‐sensitive current. The experiments were performed in 150 mM K+ external solution using the patch‐clamp technique. 2 The erg‐like K+ current elicited with hyperpolarizing pulses negative to ‐100 mV consisted of a fast and a pronounced slowly deactivating current component. The contribution of the slow component to the total current amplitude was potential dependent and varied from cell to cell. At ‐100 mV it ranged from 50 to 85 % and at ‐140 mV from 21 to 45 %. 3 The potential‐dependent channel availability curves determined with 2 s prepulses were fitted with the sum of two Boltzmann functions. The function related to the slowly deactivating component of the erg‐like current was shifted by more than 40 mV to more negative membrane potentials compared with that of the fast component. 4 In contrast to that of native lactotrophs studied under identical conditions, the erg‐like K+ current of GH3/B6 cells was characterized by a predominant fast deactivating current component, with similar kinetic and steady‐state properties to the fast deactivating current component of native lactotrophs. 5 Thyrotrophin‐releasing hormone reduced the erg‐like current in native lactotrophs via an intracellular signal cascade which seemed to involve a pathway independent from protein kinase A and protein kinase C. 6 RT‐PCR studies on cytoplasm from single lactotrophs revealed the presence of mRNA of the rat homologue of the human ether‐à‐go‐go‐related gene HERG (r‐erg1) as well as mRNA of the two other cloned r‐erg cDNAs (r‐erg2 and r‐erg3) in different combinations. In GH3/B6 cells, only the transcripts of r‐erg1 and r‐erg2 were found.
Adaptive Optimal Shape Prior for Easy Interactive Object Segmentation

For interactive segmentation approaches, object segmentation in complicated background is cumbersome, and usually needs tedious interactions to refine the incomplete segmentations . In this paper, an adaptive optimal shape prior is proposed for easy interactive object segmentation. Different from the traditional shape priors which only provide loose constraint, our adaptive shape prior gives more accurate and individualized constraint by exploiting the shape information of incomplete segmentation. Moreover, by combining the non-rigid shape registration and a local shape consistency evaluation system presented in this paper, such adaptive optimal shape prior could be achieved automatically. Both of these contributions greatly lighten the burden on users and make interactive segmentation much easier. The comparison experiments on the newly-built TypShape dataset with the related algorithms have demonstrated good performance of the proposed algorithm.
Splenomegaly, hypersplenism and coagulation abnormalities in liver disease.

Splenomegaly is a frequent finding in patients with liver disease. It is usually asymptomatic but may cause hypersplenism. Thrombocytopenia is the most frequent manifestation of hypersplenism and may contribute to portal hypertension related bleeding. A number of therapies are available for treating thrombocytopenia due to hypersplenism including splenectomy, partial splenectomy, partial splenic embolization, TIPS etc. None is entirely satisfactory. Hypersplenism usually improves following liver transplantation. Therapy with cytokines such as thrombopoietin may offer hope for the future. Patients with liver disease also have abnormalities in coagulation. This is not surprising as all coagulation proteins (except for von willebrand factor vWF) and most inhibitors of coagulation are synthesized in the liver. Genetic or acquired abnormalities of coagulation may predispose to thrombosis of the hepatic or portal veins with significant clinical sequelae. An understanding of the mechanisms involved in coagulation and thrombosis is valuable in choosing from the increasing treatment options available. These include clotting factors, haemeostatic drugs and newer therapies such as recombinant factor VIIa. Splenic artery aneurysms are the most common visceral artery aneurysms in man. Rupture is frequently catastrophic. These aneurysms are being increasingly recognized in liver transplant patients and require treatment before or during transplant surgery.
Meshes optimization in freeform and 3D printing for product design

Meshes optimization plays an important role in freeform surface reconstruction and 3D printing for product design. The purpose of this study applied the “Winner-take-all” method of Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) to classify the meshes in product model. SOM is to find the optimized feature points for the data points in model and reduce the points efficiently in the whole surface reconstruction process. An implicit surface based on radial basis function (RBF) kernel calculation reconstructed the meshes. Three case studies has been implemented to achieve an effective points data reduction and an error deviation acceptable process.