Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perception of Temporally Processed Speech by Listeners with Hearing Impairment

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess a new signal-processing strategy, Spatiotemporal Pattern Correction (SPC), for a group of listeners with varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss. SPC is based on a physiological model of the level-dependent temporal response properties of auditory nerve (AN) fibers in normal and impaired ears. SPC attempts to “correct” AN response patterns by introducing time-varying group delays that differ across frequency channels. Listeners' speech intelligibility and preference judgments were obtained at different strengths of SPC processing. Design: Fifteen listeners, 12 with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and 3 with normal hearing, participated in this study. Listeners with hearing impairment were separated into 3 groups (mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe), based on their pure-tone averages at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. All preference judgments were made using sentences from the Hearing-In-Noise-Test (HINT). The sentences were processed at five SPC strengths (1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4). At an SPC strength of 1.0, the speech was processed through the SPC signal processor, becoming bandlimited, but no dynamic group delays were added to the signal. On each trial, listeners were presented a single sentence at two different SPC strengths, 1.0 (uncorrected) and a randomly selected SPC strength. Listeners were instructed to identify which of the two sentences they preferred. Sixteen vowel-consonant syllables, a subset of the Nonsense Syllable Test (NST), were used to assess speech intelligibility at three SPC strengths (1.0, 1.1, and 1.2). Listeners were asked to push one of 16 buttons on a response box that corresponded to the vowel-consonant syllable they heard. The moderate-to-severe hearing loss group was also tested using the low-probability sentences of the Speech-Perception-In-Noise (SPIN) test. Results: Listeners with normal hearing and listeners with mild hearing loss preferred the quality of uncorrected sentences (SPC strength of 1.0) compared with SPC-processed sentences. As the strength of SPC increased, listeners' preference for uncorrected sentences also increased. Listeners with moderate and moderate-to-severe hearing loss had difficulty differentiating between uncorrected and lower strength SPC-processed sentences but strongly preferred the uncorrected sentences as compared with high strength SPC-processed sentences. Vowel-consonant intelligibility was not improved or degraded by SPC. Sentence recognition scores for listeners with moderate-to-severe hearing loss decreased with SPC processing. Conclusions: Although SPC-processed speech was not preferred by listeners with hearing loss, the listeners with a more moderate degree of impairment could not differentiate the unprocessed sentences from the SPC processed sentences. Speech intelligibility was not improved by SPC processing.
Visualization methods and support vector machines as tools for determining markers in models of heterogeneous populations: Proapoptotic signaling as a case study

ower. Visualization methods and support vector machines as tools for determining markers in models of heterogeneous populations: Proapoptotic signaling as a case study. In Proc. of 8th Workshop for Computational Systems Biology (WCSB 2011), Zurich, Switzerland, pages 61-64, 2011. Abstract In recent years, cell population models have become very common, as they allow for the study of population heterogeneity. Unfortunately, the complexity of population models so far has prevented the devel- opment of analysis tools permitting an in-depth study of the source of heterogeneity, like genetics and epi- genetics. In this paper we propose an explorative analysis combining parallel-coordinate plots and nonlinear support vector machines to determine the main sources of cell-to-cell variability within decision processes in heterogeneous cell populations. The approach is applied to analyze proapoptotic signal transduction in cancer cell populations and to determine decision markers.
The Impact of Faculty Work-Life Factors on Faculty Service Morale.

This quantitative study examines how faculty service morale is related to faculty’s social identities, organizational environments, and the three dimensions of faculty work-lives proposed by Johnsrud and Rosser (2002): professional priorities and rewards, administrative relations and support, and quality of benefits and services. Findings suggest that identity characteristics, organizational environments, administrative relations and support, and quality of benefits and service all play important roles in predicting faculty service morale.
Efficient Implementation of Complex Modulated Filter Banks Using Cosine and Sine Modulated Filter Banks

The recently introduced exponentially modulated filter bank (EMFB) is a-channel uniform, orthogonal, critically sampled, and frequency-selective complex modulated filter bank that satisfies the perfect reconstruction (PR) property if the prototype filter of an-channel PR cosine modulated filter bank (CMFB) is used. The purpose of this paper is to present various implementation structures for the EMFBs in a unified framework. The key idea is to use cosine and sine modulated filter banks as building blocks and, therefore, polyphase, lattice, and extended lapped transform (ELT) type of implementation solutions are studied. The ELT-based EMFBs are observed to be very competitive with the existing modified discrete Fourier transform filter banks (MDFT-FBs) when comparing the number of multiplications/additions and the structural simplicity. In addition, EMFB provides an alternative channel stacking arrangement that could be more natural in certain subband processing applications and data transmission systems.
OutSourced database Method execute SQL queries with privacy and Client Data Confidentiality

Outsourcing is the buzzword since last few years, as more and more cost and quality conscious businesses all over the world are turning to destinations like India for outsourcing their non-core business processes. Recent trend towards database outsourcing the information, as well as concerns and laws leading data confidentiality, have lead to huge importance in enabling secure database services. Preceding approaches to enabling such a service have been based on data encryption, causing a large overheading query processing. In TrustedDB is an outsourced database prototype that allows clients to execute SQL queries with confidentiality and under regulatory compliance constraints without having to trust the service provider. TrustedDB achieves this by leveraging server-hosted tamper-proof trusted hardware in dangerous query processing stages. TrustedDB does not perimeter the query expressiveness of supported queries.
MOTIVATION AND LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE : EVIDENCE COUNTER TO SIMILARITY ATTRACTION THEORY

This study tests the similarity attraction paradigm using a measure of work motivation and leader-member exchanges. Seventy-five elected officials were sampled along with 368 of their staffers. Results indicate actual self-reported differences in sources of work motivation were not predictive of leader-follower exchanges, which is counter to the similarity attraction paradigm. It is argued that perceived similarity offers greater prediction of leader-member exchange quality than actual self-reported differences.
Differential subcellular localization of human MutY homolog (hMYH) and the functional activity of adenine:8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase.

The post-replicative adenine:8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (GO) mismatch is crucial for G:C to T:A transversion. This mismatch is corrected by Escherichia coli MutY which excises the adenine from A:GO. A candidate gene coding for the human counterpart of MutY has been cloned as hMYH. However, the function and enzyme activities of the gene product have not been identified. We previously demonstrated that an epitope-tagged hMYH protein behaves as a mitochondrial protein. In the present study, we have identified an alternative hMYH transcript, termed type 2, which differs in the exon 1 sequence of the known transcript (type 1). A nuclear localization for the type 2 protein was revealed by detection of epitope-tagged protein in COS-7 cells. Expression of both type 1 and type 2 transcripts was reduced in post-mitotic tissues. hMYH cDNA suppressed the mutator phenotype of E.coli mutY. In vitro expressed hMYH showed adenine DNA glycosylase activity toward the A:GO substrate. The protein can bind to A:GO, and to T:GO and G:GO without apparent catalysis. These results represent the first demonstration of the function of the hMYH gene product which is differentially transported into the nucleus or the mitochondria by alternative splicing
Patient-controlled epidural analgesia after Caesarean section: levobupivacaine 0.15% versus ropivacaine 0.15% alone or combined with fentanyl 2 µg/ml: a comparative study

Introduction The aim of this study was to compare the postoperative analgesic efficacy of epidural ropivacaine 0.15%, levobupivacaine 0.15% and ropivacaine 0.15% plus fentanyl 2 µg/ml, used with a patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) device after Caesarean section. Material and methods Sixty women undergoing elective Caesarean section under combined spinal-epidural anaesthesia were enrolled. Postoperatively, patients received PCEA with either ropivacaine or levobupivacaine 0.15% (basal rate 6 ml/h, bolus 5 ml/20 min), or ropivacaine 0.15% plus fentanyl 2 µg/ml (basal rate 6 ml/h, bolus 4 ml/20 min). Sympathetic and sensory level of analgesia, motor ability (Bromage 0-3), and pain scores at rest, movement and cough (VAS 0-10), haemodynamic parameters, oxygenation, side effects and total doses of local anaesthetic were documented every 6 h for 24 h. Patient satisfaction was assessed using a descriptive scale. Results No significant difference was observed in pain scores at all time intervals. A significantly higher sympathetic and sensory blockade occurred with levobupivacaine and ropivacaine 0.15% compared to ropivacaine 0.15% plus fentanyl, with no significant difference in total local analgesic consumption at 24 h (p = 0.08). Rescue analgesic requirements did not differ between the groups (p = 0.8) while patients’ satisfaction was significantly higher in the ropivacaine 0.15% plus fentanyl group (p = 0.02). Haemodynamics, oxygenation, nausea, pruritus and numbness did not differ between the groups. Conclusions Dilute local anaesthetic solutions provided satisfactory postoperative analgesia after Caesarean section when used with a PCEA device. The combination of ropivacaine 0.15% with fentanyl 2 µg/ml appeared superior, since it provided higher patient satisfaction with statistically equal pain scores and local anaesthetic consumption.
THE STUDY OF GENETIC VARIABILITY IN THE GENUS AESCULUS L . BY SSR MARKERS

Genetic variability was studied in two species of the genus Aesculus L. : A. turbinata and A. hippocastanum; ten clones of explant cultures of A. hippocastanum L. derived by organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis from donor resistant and susceptible to horse chestnut leaf-miner (Cameraria ohridella) were compared using microsatellite (SSR) markers. A total of 28 alleles were detected at the 8 SSR loci. The number of alleles generated by each marker ranged from 1 to 5 with an average of 3.5 alleles per locus. Statistical indicators were calculated for each SSR marker. We found low level of genetic variability. The value of polymorphic information content ranged from 0.00 to 0.74 (average 0.43). Conformity of donor plant resistant to C. ohridella and its in vitro horse chestnut clones (cultivar ‘Mertelík’) was demonstrated. No changes caused by in vitro cultivation were observed on molecular level. On the contrary, explant cultures of the susceptible genotype of A. hippocastanum did not report an assumed donor plant. This susceptible genotype was significantly different from the other A. hippocastanum genotypes. Despite a small sample analysis the possibility of using SSR markers for identification of donor plants and derived explant cultures was demonstrated. Klíčová slova: jírovec, mikrosatelitní markery, polymorfizmus DNA, explantátové techniky, klíněnka jírovcová, rezistence, pravost
Information Technology and Administrative Efficiency in U.S. State Governments: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

This paper explores value creation from government use of information technologies (IT). While the majority of studies in the information systems (IS) discipline have focused on discovering IT business value in for-profit organizations, the performance effects of IT in the public sector have not been extensively studied in either the IS or the public administration literature. We examine whether IT improves administrative efficiency in U.S. state governments. Utilizing IT budget data in state governments, the census data on state government expenditures, and a variety of information on public services that states provide, we measure technical efficiency with a stochastic frontier analysis and a translog cost function and estimate the effect of IT spending on efficiency. Our analyses provide evidence for a positive relationship between IT spending and cost efficiency and indicate that, on average, a $1 increase in per capita IT budget is associated with $1.13 in efficiency gains. This study contributes to the IS literature by expanding the scope of IT value research to public sector organizations and provides meaningful implications for elected officials and public sector managers.
Dissimilarity representations for thermal signature recognition at a distance

The recognition of faces at a distance has several challenges. One is the uncontrolled illumination, another is the low resolution of the images. One approach to tackle the first limitation is to use longwave infrared (LWIR) face images since they are invariant to illumination changes. In this paper we studied the application of dissimilarity representations for LWIR face images to overcome the low resolution problem. A comparison is made between feature representations and dissimilarity representations for various image resolutions. Our experiments using the Equinox benchmark database showed that classification results using the nearest neighbour (1-NN) classifier on a dissimilarity space were stable when the image resolution was decreased. On the other hand, classification accuracy decreased when using the 1NN on features, supporting the idea that a dissimilarity representation can be a more proper solution for the recognition of faces at a distance.
Optimized wavelets for fingerprint compression

We present optimized biorthogonal and orthonormal wavelets for embedded zerotree wavelet compression of fingerprint images. These were obtained by simulated annealing over the wavelet filter coefficients using rms error between original and recovered images as the cost to be minimized. Linear-phase biorthogonal wavelets optimized for fingerprint image compression provide significantly improved fidelity compared either with standard wavelets or with wavelets optimized upon general images. These results are confirmed by psychovisual evaluation by two fingerprint experts whose independent rankings were in complete agreement. Filter coefficients for optimized orthonormal and linear-phase biorthogonal wavelets are tabulated.
RCBR: a simple and efficient service for multiple time-scale traffic

Compressed video traffic is expected to be a significant component of the traffic mix in integrated services networks. This traffic is hard to manage, since it has strict delay and loss requirements, but at the same time, exhibits burstiness at multiple time-scales. In this paper, we observe that slow time-scale variations can cause sustained peaks in the source rate, substantially degrading performance. We use large deviation theory to study this problem and to motivate the design of Renegotiated Constant Bit Rate Service (RCBR), that adds renegotiation and buffer monitoring to traditional CBR service. We argue the the load placed on signalling by RCBR can be handled by current technology. We present a) an algorithm to compute the optimal renegotiation schedule for stored (off-line) traffic, and b) a heuristic to approximate the optimal schedule for online traffic. Simulation experiments show that RCBR is able to extract almost all of the statistical multiplexing gain available by exploiting slow time-scale variations in traffic. In more general terms, we believe that a clean system design must match control time-scales to the time scales over which the workload varies. RCBR works well because it makes intelligent use of this time-scale separation.
Identifying Clusters of Concepts in a Low Cohesive Class for Extract Class Refactoring Using Metrics Supplemented Agglomerative Clustering Technique

Object oriented software with low cohesive classes can increase maintenance cost. Low cohesive classes are likely to be introduced into the software during initial design due to deviation from design principles and during evolution due to software deterioration. Low cohesive class performs operations that should be done by two or more classes. The low cohesive classes need to be identified and refactored using extract class refactoring to improve the cohesion. In this regard, two aspects are involved; the first one is to identify the low cohesive classes and the second one is to identify the clusters of concepts in the low cohesive classes for extract class refactoring. In this paper, we propose metrics supplemented agglomerative clustering technique for covering the above two aspects. The proposed metrics are validated using Weyuker’s properties. The approach is applied successfully on two examples and on a case study.
Selection of catalysts through cellular reproduction

A series of simulation studies (Ono & Ikegami 1999; 2001) show that a proto cell spontaneously emerges from a chemical soup by acquiring membrane structures. In 2-dimensional space, the emergence of proto cells is followed by the reproduction of cells. A major unsolved problem is the evolution of proto cells; how the proto cells evolve into modern cells with higher functionalities. Here we examine, as the first step, the evolution of catalysts within the proto-cells. Catalytic chemicals have different catalytic activity in generating membrane chemicals. We show that cells with higher activity of membrane production evolve through cellular selection.
An Exploratory Study of College Student Condom Use

This study assessed a variety of psychological, health, and demographic measures and determined their relationship to condom use in a convenience sample of college students (n=476). The data were collected with the use of an anonymous questionnaire. It was administered in a variety of undergraduate classes at the SUNY College at Brockport during the Spring and Summer Semesters of 1992. Emerging from a factor analysis of the Condom Use Self Efficacy Scale were four reliable Mechanics, Partner's Disapproval, subscales labeled as followed: Assertive, and Intoxicants. A multiple discriminant function analysis was used to distinguish among the following three condom user groups:non-users, spoadic ' users, and ritualistic users. Compared to the other two groups, non-condom users (25.14% of the sample) were most likely to be: married or cohabitating, to be older, to live off-campus, and to have had a sexually transmitted disease. In contrast, spoadic condom u~ers (47.40% of the sample) reported the greatest number of sex partners and were most likely to be single. Sporadic users also consum.ed more alcohol than the other two groups and were most likely to expect sexual enhancement from alcohol. Ritualistic condom users (27.46% of the sample) were the group most likel to live on-campus. They also were the most confident group in regard to their abilities to insist on condom use in general and to use condoms even when intoxicated. Implications of these data for enhancing discussed. college students condom use are
Fast Fault Injection with Virtual Machines

Fault injection is a widely used technique to test the robustness of software systems and to find bugs in applications. We focus on using fault injection to judge the quality of error handling in applications. Even mature applications have serious bugs in error handling [3]. To find all bugs related to bad error handling when using a certain API one has to do exhaustive fault injection, i.e., to inject all error values found in the API’s specification. When doing exhaustive fault injection one has to do one fault injection experiment per API usage of the application to test. That means one need to run the application once per fault injection. So the run-time of all experiments together grows like O(n) in terms of API usages. One can reduce run-time complexity to O(n) by utilizing snapshots and rollbacks [2, 4]. The idea is to make a snapshot of the application directly before a fault is injected. After the fault injection experiment is finished the application’s state is rolled back to the last snapshot. In this way one can reuse the progress until the fault injection an application has already achieved. Figure 1 illustrates such a single fault injection run. The original fault free execution of the application is bold. The run has 3 API usages. Each API usage is a fault injection point. Due to an API usage, e.g., a function call, can fail for multiple reasons usually more than one fault needs to be injected per fault injection point to do an exhaustive analysis. In the example, at the first and the third fault injection point two faults need to be injected and at the second one three faults. The different faults are derived from the specified error values of the called API functions. In our experiments we are not interested in a complete run after the fault has been injected. It is sufficient to execute a limited number of instructions after injecting the fault, e.g., until the currently executed function returns to its caller. That is why, the runtime complexity is O(n) instead of O(n) when doing each experiment in a separate run. To underpin the complexity issues, we have parsed Figure 1. A fault injection run with 3 fault injection points with 2, 3, and 2 different error values to injection.
Energy saving strategy for video-based Wireless Sensor Networks under field coverage preservation

The demand for video-based wireless sensor networks (WSN) applications has significantly increased. Different from conventional sensor networks, video WSN imply a directional sensing model, complex in-node processing, and large data transfer, thus high clock frequencies and significant radio transmission time. Reducing energy consumption is a key requirement for reliable applications. We propose in this paper a novel energy saving method based on redundant node deactivation while preserving field coverage.