Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
I-vector based language modeling for spoken document retrieval

Since more and more multimedia data associated with spoken documents have been made available to the public, spoken document retrieval (SDR) has become an important research subject in the past two decades. The i-vector based framework has been proposed and introduced to language identification (LID) and speaker recognition (SR) tasks recently. The major contribution of the i-vector framework is to reduce a series of acoustic feature vectors of a speech utterance to a low-dimensional vector representation, and then numbers of well-developed postprocessing techniques (such as probabilistic linear discriminative analysis, PLDA) can be readily and effectively used. However, to our best knowledge, there is no research up to date on applying the i-vector framework for SDR or information retrieval (IR). In this paper, we make a step forward to formulate an i-vector based language modeling (IVLM) framework for SDR. Furthermore, we evaluate the proposed IVLM framework with both inductive and transductive learning strategies. We also exploit multi-levels of index features, including word- and subword-level units, in concert with the proposed framework. The results of SDR experiments conducted on the TDT-2 (Topic Detection and Tracking) collection demonstrate the performance merits of our proposed framework when compared to several existing approaches.
Detection and Grading of Coronary Allograft Vasculopathy in Children With Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Coronary Vessel Wall

Background—Coronary allograft vasculopathy is the leading cause of late death after heart transplantation in children. It is poorly detected by conventional angiography. Intravascular ultrasound is invasive and costly. This study shows that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) of the coronary vessel wall can detect and grade coronary allograft vasculopathy. Methods and Results—Twenty-four children (10 male; age range, 9–17 years) underwent coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and MRI. Maximal intimal thickness and mean intimal index were recorded. MRI included coronary magnetic resonance angiogram and LGE vessel wall imaging with 1.5 T (n=12) and 3.0 T (n=12). Ten healthy control subjects also underwent LGE MRI. Mean time posttransplantation was 5.5 years (range, 0.25–14 years). Seven patients had Stanford grade IV coronary allograft vasculopathy on intravascular ultrasound, 3 of whom had angiographic disease. Maximal intimal thickness and mean intimal index were 0.73±0.50 mm and 20.9±10.6%, respectively. On MRI, mean diameter of enhancement of vessel wall was 6.57±4.91 mm, and mean enhancement index (indexed to vessel lumen size) was 1.10±1.72. The control group showed little or no LGE. Correlation of LGE with maximal intimal thickness using the Pearson coefficient was 0.80 (P<0.001) and with mean intimal index was 0.92 (P<0.001). An MRI diameter >7.5 mm gave 86% sensitivity and 93% specificity. Conclusions—LGE scores correlate well with traditional intravascular ultrasound measures. These promising early results encourage larger-scale clinical studies to investigate whether LGE MRI will allow closer follow-up and better prevention of coronary allograft vasculopathy in children.
Effect of bioaugmentation and biostimulation on sulfate-reducing column startup captured by functional gene profiling.

Sulfate-reducing permeable reactive zones (SR-PRZs) depend upon a complex microbial community to utilize a lignocellulosic substrate and produce sulfides, which remediate mine drainage by binding heavy metals. To gain insight into the impact of the microbial community composition on the startup time and pseudo-steady-state performance, functional genes corresponding to cellulose-degrading (CD), fermentative, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic microorganisms were characterized in columns simulating SR-PRZs using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Duplicate columns were bioaugmented with sulfate-reducing or CD bacteria or biostimulated with ethanol or carboxymethyl cellulose and compared with baseline dairy manure inoculum and uninoculated controls. Sulfate removal began after ~ 15 days for all columns and pseudo-steady state was achieved by Day 30. Despite similar performance, DGGE profiles of 16S rRNA gene and functional genes at pseudo-steady state were distinct among the column treatments, suggesting the potential to control ultimate microbial community composition via bioaugmentation and biostimulation. qPCR revealed enrichment of functional genes in all columns between the initial and pseudo-steady-state time points. This is the first functional gene-based study of CD, fermentative and sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea in a lignocellulose-based environment and provides new qualitative and quantitative insight into startup of a complex microbial system.
Immunization with Staphylococcus aureus iron regulated surface determinant B (IsdB) confers protection via Th17/IL17 pathway in a murine sepsis model

We have previously shown that IsdB, a conserved protein expressed by Staphylococcus aureus, induces a robust antibody response which correlates with protection in a murine challenge model. Here we investigate the role of cellular immunity in IsdB mediated protection using lymphocyte deficient SCID mice. As opposed to WT CB-17 mice the CB-17 SCID mice were not protected against a lethal challenge of S. aureus after active and passive immunizations with IsdB. Adoptive transfer of in vitro isolated lymphocyte subsets revealed that reconstituting mice with IsdB specific CD3+ or CD4+ T-cells conferred antigen specific protection while CD8+ T-cells, CD19+ B-cells and plasma cells (CD138highB220intCD19lo) alone were not protective. A combination of CD3+ T-cells plus CD19+ B-cells conferred protection in CB-17 SCID mice, whereas bovine serum albumin (BSA) immune lymphocytes did not confer protection. Active immunization experiments indicated that IsdB immunized Jh mice (B-cell deficient) were protected against lethal challenge, while nude (T-cell deficient) mice were not. In vitro assays indicated that isolated IsdB specific splenocytes from immunized mice produced abundant IL-17A, much less IFN-γ and no detectable IL-4. IL-23 deficient mice were not protected from a lethal challenge by IsdB vaccination, pointing to a critical role for CD4+ Th17 in IsdB-mediated vaccination. Neutralizing IL-17A, but not IL-22 in vivo significantly increased mortality in IsdB immunized mice; whereas, neutralizing IFN-γ did not alter IsdB-mediated protection. These findings suggest that IL-17A producing Th17 cells play an essential role in IsdB vaccine-mediated defense against invasive S. aureus infection in mice.
UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): reliability, validity, and factor structure.

In this article I evaluated the psychometric properties of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3). Using data from prior studies of college students, nurses, teachers, and the elderly, analyses of the reliability, validity, and factor structure of this new version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale were conducted. Results indicated that the measure was highly reliable, both in terms of internal consistency (coefficient alpha ranging from .89 to .94) and test-retest reliability over a 1-year period (r = .73). Convergent validity for the scale was indicated by significant correlations with other measures of loneliness. Construct validity was supported by significant relations with measures of the adequacy of the individual's interpersonal relationships, and by correlations between loneliness and measures of health and well-being. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a model incorporating a global bipolar loneliness factor along with two method factor reflecting direction of item wording provided a very good fit to the data across samples. Implications of these results for future measurement research on loneliness are discussed.
Quantification of Nitrifying Bacterial Populations in a Full‐Scale Nitrifying Trickling Filter Using Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to quantify the ammonia‐oxidizing populations within intact biofilm samples collected from a full‐scale nitrifying trickling filter (NTF). Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate concentrations were measured for aqueous samples taken in conjunction with biofilm samples at multiple filter depths. Correlation coefficients for individual sampling events, calculated by simple linear regression of FISH signal area and ammonia removal rates, ranged from 0.558 when using probe NEU23a to 0.982 when using probe Nso190. The improved correlations with Nso190 suggest that genera other than Nitrosomonas are present in this system. Percent biofilm coverage, as determined by 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole counterstaining and dry weight biomass measurements, did not change throughout the NTF. This indicates that biofilm growth is fairly uniform throughout the filter even if nitrifier growth is not.
A Graph-Based Approach for Protein-Protein Docking

Protein-protein docking is the computational approach to predict protein-protein interactions. The 3D geometric matching plays an important role in docking because a good matching between proteins provides a good cue for searching the interactional interfaces between them. In this paper, we propose a graph-based approach to search for the protein binding site. Given two proteins, we first identify the cavities in one protein based on the α shape theory. Then we bind the two proteins together by partial matching the cavities with the local shape of another protein. The partial shape matching problem is converted to that of detecting the maximum clique in graph theory. By solving it, we are able to compute the best rigid transformation for docking. The proposed approach has been applied to the docking experiments of IGFBP4 and IGF1 under different circumstances, and the results demonstrate the reliability of our approach.
Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help

Helping is a fundamental human activity, but it can also be a frustrating one. All too often our sincere offers of help are resented, resisted, or refused and we often react the same way when people try to help us. In this seminal book on the topic named one of the top five leadership books of 2009 by strategy+business magazine Edgar Schein analyzes the social and psychological dynamics common to all types of helping relationships, explains why help is often not helpful, and shows what any would-be helpers must do to ensure that their assistance is both welcomed and genuinely useful. Using examples from many types of relationships doctors and patients, consultants and clients, husbands and wives Schein offers specific techniques and illuminating examples that help us determine what type of help to offer and how best to offer it in any situation. These techniques not only apply to all kinds of one-on-one helping in personal and professional relationships, teaching, social work, and medicine but also can be usefully applied to teamwork and to organizational leadership.
Transgenic tobacco cells producing the human monoclonal antibody to hepatitis B virus surface antigen

The recombinant human monoclonal antibody (MAb) against hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) was expressed in tobacco suspension cultures. The parental CL4MAb was produced by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) transformed human cell line TAPC301‐CL4. The CL4MAb cDNA was introduced into tobacco suspension cells by Agrobacterium mediated transformation. The monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), B294 and B303, which were derived from CL4 and subsequently produced in plant cells were selected for study. After purification on Protein A columns, B294 and B303 MAbs had anti‐HBs relative affinity constants similar to the parental CL4MAb. B303 MAb interacted with cell surface HBsAgs and showed complement‐dependent cytotoxicity in a manner that was similar to anti‐HBs human immunoglobulins (HBIg) that are used clinically. The results of this study point to the feasibility of producing MAbs to HBsAg in plants as an alternative to HBIg. J. Med. Virol. 73:208–215, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
High speed cutting with industrial robots: Towards model based compensation of deviations

Application of industrial robots for high speed cutting currently is limited to tasks with very low precision demands due to the low stiffness of industrial robots compared to machine tools. However, industrial robots are more affordable and have a larger workspace. This paper presents first steps towards model based compensation of deviations caused by the undesired elasticities. A model of the industrial robot which takes into account the elasticities is introduced.
PsyOps: Personality assessment through gaming behavior

Traditional personality assessment methods are based on behavioral, observational, and self-report measures [8], each of which suffers from weaknesses that stem from ambiguity (behavioral measures), cost-payoff ratio (professional observation), and reliability (self-report). Assessment through video game play offers a way of quantifying behavior, automating observations, and side-stepping self-report. To determine whether video games are a valuable addition to the arsenal of personality assessment methods, we set out to answer the question: Does the statistically trackable play style of a player significantly correlate to his personality? To find the answer, we conducted a survey among Battlefield 3 players. Through the use of a promotional campaign, dubbed ’PsyOps’, the response to the survey ran up to 13,376 individuals. Each participant was asked to fill out a 100-item IPIP (International Personality Item Pool) Big Five personality questionnaire, and requested for permission to draw their game statistics from a public database. All in all, 175 game variables, 100 personality scores, and 5 personality dimensions were correlated for the total sample, and 11 demographic subsamples. We found that play style and personality do correlate significantly, showing three key themes. (1) Conscientiousness is negatively correlated with speed of action. (2) The game variable Unlock Score per Second correlates most often and most strongly with personality, especially with Conscientiousness and Extraversion. (3) Work ethic correlates negatively with performance in the game. Apart from these three themes, subsamples differ in correlational patterns. An additional result was found when performing a posthoc analysis on age. Correlations between age and play style were greater than those between play style and personality. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. FDG 2013 Chania, Krete Greece Copyright 20XX ACM X-XXXXX-XX-X/XX/XX . $15.00. While themes (1), (2) and (3) showed effect sizes up to the 0.2 range, age offered effect sizes in the 0.3 range for game performance and game length preference, as well as a correlation of r = 0.42 with Unlock Score per Second. Age and personality correlate with a similar effect size as play style and personality. Therefore, age correlates strongly to play style, while age and play style offer complimentary correlations to personality.
How Adolescents with Diabetes Experience Social Support from Friends: Two Qualitative Studies

Self-management of diabetes is challenging, especially for adolescents who face multiple changes, including closer peer relationships. Few studies have explored how friends can provide constructive support in this effort. The present research investigated, in two qualitative studies, the perceptions of adolescents with diabetes and their friends with respect to the positive social support that friends can offer. In study 1, 28 adolescents aged 12–15 with type 1 diabetes participated in online focus groups. In study 2, 11 of these adolescents were interviewed in person together with their best friends. The data were analysed by means of content analysis. In study 1, the adolescents with diabetes identified various supportive behaviours of friends, particularly concerning emotional support: treating them normally, showing interest, having fun, providing a distraction, and taking their diabetes into account. They differed in their attitude towards support, and this influenced which behaviours they perceived as supportive. Study 2 showed that the adolescents with diabetes and their friends often had similar opinions on the desired degree of support. Fear of stigmatization and sense of autonomy withheld some adolescents with diabetes from soliciting more support. These insights can be useful in patient education aiming to promote social support.
Power Management for Wireless Data Transmission Using Complex Event Processing

Energy consumption of wireless data transmission, a significant part of the overall energy consumption on a mobile device, is context-dependent-it depends on both internal and external contexts, such as application workload and wireless signal strength. In this paper, we propose an event-driven framework that can be used for efficient power management on mobile devices. The framework adapts the behavior of a device component or an application to the changes in contexts, defined as events, according to developer-specified event-condition-action (ECA) rules that describe the power management mechanism. In contrast to previous work, our framework supports complex event processing. By correlating events, complex event processing helps to discover complex events that are relevant to power consumption. Using our framework developers can implement and configure power management applications by editing event specifications and ECA rules through XML-based interfaces. We evaluate this framework with two applications in which the data transmission is adapted to traffic patterns and wireless link quality. These applications can save roughly 12 percent more energy compared to normal operation.
Non-contact whole-part inspection

Recent advances in optical scanning devices enable us to collect millions of sample points of reasonable individual accuracy on a part to be inspected. There are obvious advantages of non-contact inspection methods: speed, coverage, ease of operation, price, etc. One may ask why non-contact methods are not even more widespread in dimensional measurement. In fact the automatic extraction of actual dimensional and GD&T values from non-contact measurement data is not an easily repeatable and reproducible procedure. What is the reason for this? Certainly there are major differences between CMM and non-contact measurement data that require sometimes fundamentally different approaches. The first difference is that the accuracy of the individual points in non-contact measurements is usually inferior to that of touch-probe devices. This problem has traditionally caused considerable concern; however, these doubts can be less and less sustained as the overall accuracy of the devices improve. The second difference is that some surfaces, due to glossiness or transparency, are not suitable for optical measurement and cause special errors. This is a valid argument but at the same time there are many materials that are inadequate for touch-probe measurement as well (e.g. soft or flexible substances). There is a third difference: the sheer amount of the collected data. This might be of the most significance, at the same time a blessing and a curse for non-contact measurement. The vast amount of points provides far more coverage, but the inspector must relinquish his/her individual control over the individual points. So this difference is more in the process of assessment than in the geometric algorithms. In some way this difference forces the engineer to think about dimensional inspection and GD&T in a somewhat different way. The main emerging concepts are the automatic classification of measured points with respect to the features to be measured and the automatic elimination of outliers. Using these concepts Geomagic developed special solutions to deal with large collections measurement data in an automatic and semi-automatic way. This paper will introduce some of these ideas and methods.
Urbanization and Climate Change

Cities are at the centre of Asia-Pacific’s economic growth and development. They provide the environment and social milieu in which more and more people live. Urban areas in the region, though containing around 42 percent of its population, account for 80 percent of the region’s GDP1. Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific is proceeding at a scale and speed unprecedented in human history. It took 210 years for urbanization rates in Latin America to rise from 10 to 50 percent. Asia and the Pacific as a whole will take only 95 years to achieve the same level of urbanization, some countries in the region will require less than 60 years2. While Asia-Pacific hosts over half of the world’s 20 megacities3, over 60 percent of the region’s urbanites live in urban areas with populations of less than 1 million, often experiencing higher population growth rates than primary cities4. Secondary cities also act as local economic growth centres, markets and processing centres for rural products, and bridges between rural areas and large urban centres. Yet most of them lack basic infrastructure and services, as well as inclusive urban management capacity. Most have not developed global or even national linkages and are struggling to accommodate growing populations, lag in job creation and have weak revenue bases.
Routage et performances dans les réseaux CPL pour le Smart Grid. (Routing and performance for the Smart Grid)

The power grid has begun a major evolution in the past decade, laying the foundations of what is known as the Smart Grid. The Smart Grid relies on bidirectional communications in order to enable new functionalities. One of the key components of the Smart Grid is the Advanced Metering Infrastructure that enables the interconnection between users and utilities thanks to a new generation of power meters: the Smart Meter. While Smart Meter deployments have already started worldwide at the instigation of governments, a multitude of choices still remains to be done concerning their technical implementations. Specifically, Smart Meter networking can be based on Power Line Communication (PLC), which is one of the major networking technologies available to utilities. P1901.2, a narrowband PLC has been standardized by the IEEE for usage in the Smart Grid. However, debates are still open for the routing protocol to use for these new high-density, narrowband PLC networks. PLC, being a harsh environment (low bandwidth, noisy, etc.), has most of the characteristics of a Low power and Lossy Network. As a result, the protocol RPL, designed specifically for Low power and Lossy Network, is a prime candidate for routing in IEEE P1901.2 networks. The goal of this thesis is to study RPL? s behavior in Smart Grid environment and to provide adjustments to its behavior in order to improve the network performance in a narrowband PLC network of Smart Meters.