Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toward transfer of acoustic cues of emphasis across languages

Speech-to-speech (S2S) translation has been of increased interest in the last few years with the research focused mainly on lexical aspects. It has however been widely acknowledged that incorporating other rich information such as expressive prosody contained in speech can enhance the cross-lingual communication experience. Motivated by recent empirical ﬁndings showing a positive relation between the transfer of emphasis and the quality of the audio translation, we propose a computational method to derive a set of acoustic cues that can be used in transferring emphasis for the English-Spanish language pair. In particular, we present an iterative algorithm that aims to discover the set of acoustic cue pairs in the two languages that maximize the accurate transfer of emphasis. We ﬁnd that the relevant acoustic cues can be constructed from a diverse set of features including word/phrase level statistics of spectral, intensity and prosodic cues and can model the acoustic information related to emphasized and neutral words/phrases for the English-Spanish language pair. These features can in turn enable data-driven transformations from source to target language that preserve such rich prosodic information. We demonstrate the efﬁcacy of this approach through experiments on a specially constructed corpus of 1800 English-Spanish words/phrases.
Arbitrary speaker conversion based on speaker space bases constructed by deep neural networks

This paper proposes a novel approach to construct a Deep Neural Network (DNN) based voice conversion (VC) system, where DNNs are integrated with speaker eigenspace. The proposed network consists of multiple DNNs and each of them converts input features to features corresponding to a base of eigenspace. Training of these DNNs is achieved with the assistance of Eigenvoice GMM (EVGMM). Experimental evaluations using one-to-many VC tasks show that the proposed method achieved better performance compared with that of EVGMM.
Ginevra Castellano Scientific Report from ConGAS Short Term Scientific Mission ( STSM ) to Stockholm

My visit at KTH aimed to develop a system in which audio-visual feedback is provided to users who are free to move in the space. The feedback depends on the expressivity of the body movements they perform. Specifically, users can render a music performance by controlling in realtime acoustic parameters through their full-body movement and get a visual feedback on a screen in front of them with colours depending on the expressivity their movement communicates.
Walking execution is not affected by divided attention in patients with multiple sclerosis with no disability, but there is a motor planning impairment.

PURPOSE We analysed the cognitive influence on walking in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, in the absence of clinical disability. METHOD A case-control study was conducted with 12 MS patients with no disability and 12 matched healthy controls. Subjects were referred for completion a timed walk test of 10 m and a 3D-kinematic analysis. Participants were instructed to walk at a comfortable speed in a dual-task (arithmetic task) condition, and motor planning was measured by mental chronometry. RESULTS Scores of walking speed and cadence showed no statistically significant differences between the groups in the three conditions. The dual-task condition showed an increase in the double support duration in both groups. Motor imagery analysis showed statistically significant differences between real and imagined walking in patients. CONCLUSION MS patients with no disability did not show any influence of divided attention on walking execution. However, motor planning was overestimated as compared with real walking.
Balancing the Communication Load of Asynchronously Parallelized Machine Learning Algorithms

Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) is the standard numerical method used to solve the core optimization problem for the vast majority of machine learning (ML) algorithms. In the context of large scale learning, as utilized by many Big Data applications, efficient parallelization of SGD is in the focus of active research. Recently, we were able to show that the asynchronous communication paradigm can be applied to achieve a fast and scalable parallelization of SGD. Asynchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent (ASGD) outperforms other, mostly MapReduce based, parallel algorithms solving large scale machine learning problems. In this paper, we investigate the impact of asynchronous communication frequency and message size on the performance of ASGD applied to large scale ML on HTC cluster and cloud environments. We introduce a novel algorithm for the automatic balancing of the asynchronous communication load, which allows to adapt ASGD to changing network bandwidths and latencies.
Scalable and Shape Sensitive As-Rigid-As-Possible Deformations

The use of as-rigid-as-possible deformations in standard applications such as character animation or modeling has been hindered by two factors: its relatively high cost, specially when aimed at large models, and the fact that it was originally conceived as a space-deforming scheme, being virtually blind to the shape of the model. In this paper we discuss two enhancements of this technique: a less expensive formulation which provides approximate results, and a skeleton-driven deformation scheme capable of deforming meshes in a shape-sensible way. Both methods are capable of handling models of up to a few hundred thousand vertices at interactive rates.
The Impact of the Rape/Sexual Assault Statutory Aggravating Factor on Death Sentencing Decision Making in Capital Murder Trials in North Carolina (1977–2009): A Propensity Score Matching Approach

It was not too many decades ago that rape was a crime for which the death penalty was a permissible punishment in the United States, particularly in death penalty states in the South. Relatedly, historical and contemporary death penalty research almost always focuses on the role of the race of the defendant and, more recently, the race of the victim and defendant–victim racial dyads as being relevant factors in death penalty decision making. As such, the current study employs data from official court records for the population of capital trials (n = 954) in the state of North Carolina (1977–2009) to evaluate the effect of the rape/sexual assault statutory aggravating factor on jurors’ decision to recommend the death penalty. Results suggest that cases in which rape is an aggravating factor had a significantly greater odds of receiving a death penalty recommendation, and these results are robust after also considering the independent effects of defendant–victim racial dyads, even following the application of propensity score matching to equate cases on a host of defendant and victim characteristics, legal and extralegal confounders, and case characteristics. Study limitations and implications are discussed.
Exact Design of a New Class of Generalized Chebyshev Low-Pass Filters Using Coupled Line/Stub Sections

A method for the design of a new class of distributed low-pass filters enables exact realization of the series short-circuited transmission lines, which are normally approximated via unit elements in other filter realizations. The filters are based upon basic sections using a pair of coupled lines, which are terminated at one end in open-circuited stubs. The approach enables realization of transmission zeros at the quarter-wave frequency, hence giving improved stopband performance. A complete design theory starting from a distributed generalized Chebyshev low-pass prototype filter is presented. A design example demonstrates excellent performance in good agreement with theory.
Research on computational approaches using element-free Galerkin methods

Element free Galerkin method (EFGM) is a new computational method for solving partial differential equation, in which there is no need to generate FE elements and only the information of nodes not the connective information is needed. This work is mainly concerned with four problems, such as constructing moving least square (MLS) approximation to construct the shape function, developing control equation with the weak variational form, enforcing the essential boundary condition and integrating the design domain using Gauss method, where the shape function derived from MLS method generally canpsilat meet Kronecker condition around the essential boundary and it can be settled by employing Lagrange multiplies. A typical example is performed to substantiate the validity of EFGM accompanied with the comparison of analytical result and FE approximation.
Multi-Objects Segmentation and Tracking Based Graph-Cuts

In this paper we present an algorithm that joints segmentation and tracking of multiple objects in a video via graphcuts optimization technique. The proposed approach is composed of two steps. First, we initialize tracked objects through an initialization step based on background subtraction algorithm. Hence we obtain initial observations that will be used to predict the location of target object in the next frame. Then, we process a tracking step based on an energy function associated to each predicted observation. The minimization of this energy via graph-cut allows us to yield a better segmentation that matches extracted observations with initial detected objects. Experimental validation of the proposed method is performed in several video sequences and provides us significant tracking results.
Learning Word-to-Concept Mappings for Automatic Text Classification

For both classification and retrieval of natural language text documents, the standard document representation is a term vector where a term is simply a morphological normal form of the corresponding word. A potentially better approach would be to map every word onto a concept, the proper word sense and use this additional information in the learning process. In this paper we address the problem of automatically classifying natural language text documents. We investigate the effect of word to concept mappings and word sense disambiguation techniques on improving classification accuracy. We use the WordNet thesaurus as a background knowledge base and propose a generative language model approach to document classification. We show experimental results comparing the performance of our model with Naive Bayes and SVM classifiers.
Quickdraw: Generating Security Log Events for Legacy SCADA and Control System Devices

Security event logs play a role in the early detection of attacks and in after incident investigations. Controllers used in SCADA, DCS and other control systems log almost no security events. This deficiency is addressed by the Quickdraw application, which is a passive security log generator for controllers. Quickdraw monitors communication like a network IDS, detects events that should be logged in a controller, creates the security events, and then sends the event to a historian, SEM or other log aggregator.
Efficient modeling of complex substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) circuits

This paper presents the outline of the major numerical techniques adopted for the modeling and design of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) circuits, along with their applications to the design of SIW components and circuits. Particular emphasis is given to the Boundary Integral-Resonant Mode Expansion (BI-RME) method and to the automatic derivation of equivalent circuit models of SIW discontinuities, useful for the design and optimization of complex circuits.
Robust obstacle detection with monocular vision based on motion analysis

This paper deals with the problem of obstacle detection from a single camera mounted on a vehicle. We define an obstacle as any object that obstructs the vehicle's driving path. The perception of the environment is performed through a fast processing of image sequence. The approach is based on motion analysis. Generally, the optical flow techniques are huge in computation time and sensitive to vehicle motion. To overcome these problems, we choose to detect the obstacle in two steps. The road motion is firstly computed through a fast and robust wavelets analysis. Then, we detect the areas which have a different motion thanks to a Bayesian modelization. Results shown in the paper prove that the proposed method permits the detection of any obstacle on a road.
Password Authenticated Connection Establishment with the Internet Key Exchange Protocol version 2 (IKEv2)

The Internet Key Exchange protocol version 2 (IKEv2) does not allow secure peer authentication when using short credential strings, i.e., passwords. Several proposals have been made to integrate password- authentication protocols into IKE. This document provides an adaptation of Password Authenticated Connection Establishment (PACE) to the setting of IKEv2 and demonstrates the advantages of this integration. This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community.
Hot Crap!

HotCRP, a web-based conference submission and review package designed for flexibility and ease of use during reviewing, was initially written in summer 2006 as the submission system for HotNets V, which I co-chaired with Greg Minshall. It currently consists of about 20,000 lines of PHP plus 500 lines of Javascript, 1200 lines of CSS, and some others, and has been used for two SIGCOMMs, two USENIX Annual Technical Conferences, NSDI, ISCA, SOSP, and others. This paper discusses its design principles (and how they differ from other systems), my experiences with ongoing development and with anonymity, some interesting bugs, and general thoughts on conference review. Heartfelt thanks to the generous Dirk Grunwald, author of HotCRP’s ancestor CRP. Without CRP, HotCRP would not exist (although since essentially all CRP code has been replaced, any bugs are mine).
Intracellular and transcellular transport of secretory component and albumin in rat hepatocytes

The intra- and transcellular transports of hepatic secretory and membrane proteins were studied in rats in vivo using [3H]fucose and [35S]cysteine as metabolic precursors. Incorporated radioactivity in plasma, bile, and liver subcellular fractions was measured and the labeled proteins of the Golgi complex, bile, and plasma were separated by SDS PAGE and identified by fluorography. 3H-radioactivity in Golgi fractions peaked at 10 min postinjection (p.i.) and then declined concomitantly with the appearance of labeled glycoproteins in plasma. Maximal secretion of secretory fucoproteins from Golgi occurred between 10 and 20 min p.i. In contrast, the clearance of labeled proteins from Golgi membrane subfractions occurred past 30 min p.i. , indicating that membrane proteins leave the Golgi complex at least 30 min later than the bulk of content proteins. A major 80,000-dalton form of secretory component (SC) was identified in the bile by co-precipitation with (IgA)2 by an anti-IgA antibody. An antibody (raised in rabbit) against the biliary 80,000-dalton peptide recognized two larger forms (116,000 and 94,000 dalton), presumably precursors, in Golgi membranes. A comparative study of kinetics of transport of 35S-SC and 35S-albumin showed that albumin peaked in bile at approximately 45 min p.i. , whereas the SC peak occurred at 80 min p.i. , suggesting that the transit time differs for plasma and membrane proteins that are delivered to the bile canaliculus.
In Vivo Inhibition of c-MYC in Myeloid Cells Impairs Tumor-Associated Macrophage Maturation and Pro-Tumoral Activities

Although tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are involved in tumor growth and metastasis, the mechanisms controlling their pro-tumoral activities remain largely unknown. The transcription factor c-MYC has been recently shown to regulate in vitro human macrophage polarization and be expressed in macrophages infiltrating human tumors. In this study, we exploited the predominant expression of LysM in myeloid cells to generate c-Mycfl/fl LysMcre/+ mice, which lack c-Myc in macrophages, to investigate the role of macrophage c-MYC expression in cancer. Under steady-state conditions, immune system parameters in c-Mycfl/fl LysMcre/+ mice appeared normal, including the abundance of different subsets of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells, precursors and circulating cells, macrophage density, and immune organ structure. In a model of melanoma, however, TAMs lacking c-Myc displayed a delay in maturation and showed an attenuation of pro-tumoral functions (e.g., reduced expression of VEGF, MMP9, and HIF1α) that was associated with impaired tissue remodeling and angiogenesis and limited tumor growth in c-Mycfl/fl LysMcre/+ mice. Macrophage c-Myc deletion also diminished fibrosarcoma growth. These data identify c-Myc as a positive regulator of the pro-tumoral program of TAMs and suggest c-Myc inactivation as an attractive target for anti-cancer therapy.
Lipolytic Changes in Fermented Sausages Produced with Turkey Meat: Effects of Starter Culture and Heat Treatment

In this study, the effects of two different commercial starter culture mixes and processing methodologies (traditional and heat process) on the lipolytic changes of fermented sausages manufactured with turkey meat were evaluated during processing stages and storage. Free fatty acid (FFA) value increased with fermentation and during storage over 120 d in all fermented sausage groups produced with both processing methodologies (p<0.05). After drying stage, free fatty acid values of traditional style and heat processed fermented sausages were between 10.54-13.01% and 6.56-8.49%, respectively. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values of traditionally processed fermented sausages were between 0.220-0.450 mg·kg-1, and TBA values of heat processed fermented sausages were in a range of 0.405-0.795 mg·kg-1. Oleic and linoleic acids were predominant fatty acids in all fermented sausages. It was seen that fermented sausage groups produced with starter culture had lower TBA and FFA values in comparison with the control groups, and heat application inhibited the lipase enzyme activity and had an improving effect on lipid oxidation. As a result of these effects, heat processed fermented sausages had lower FFA and higher TBA values than the traditionally processed groups.
LIPID SYNTHESIS, INTRACELLULAR TRANSPORT, STORAGE, AND SECRETION

A time sequence study of intracellular movement of labeled lipid in the liver was carried out on fasted and ethanol-treated rats injected with either palmitate-3H or glycerol-3H by electron microscopic radioautography. The elimination of water-soluble lipid precursors during specimen preparation was checked and found to be complete. The labeled lipid product in the tissue was identified as mostly triglyceride. A dehydration procedure was adapted to minimize the loss of lipid during specimen preparation. At 2 min after injection, the earliest time interval studied, both precursors were found to have penetrated the liver cells, and the label was found over both rough and smooth elements of the endoplasmic reticulum, which is the site of glyceride esterification. From 5 min on, in fasted and especially in ethanol-treated rats, the label was seen also over lipid droplets 0.5–2.0 µ in diameter, which represent "storage lipid" (slowly turning over compartment). Mitochondria became labeled mostly at later time intervals after injection. From 10 min on, concentration of label was seen over the Golgi apparatus, containing small osmiophilic particles. Association of label with groups of particles in smooth-surfaced vesicles and vacuoles in and near the Golgi apparatus and in the vicinity of the sinusoidal border was seen, both after palmitate-3H and glycerol-3H. It is proposed that these particles represent lipoproteins which are formed in the endoplasmic reticulum, "processed" in the Golgi apparatus, and transported in vacuoles to the sinusoid surface to be discharged into the circulation.
Local sparse appearance model with specific structural information in infrared pedestrian tracking

Robust pedestrian tracking in infrared image sequence becomes a crucial requirement for numerous computer vision applications. Conventional sparse appearance models have been widely used for tracking in infrared image sequence because it can reduce the noise efficiently and find the inner information in the fewer model data, but most of them aim at tracking the general object or rigid object and the structural information of an object didn't be exploited, so it cannot work efficiently when tracking the non-rigid object such as pedestrian. Based on ALSA, this paper proposes further an adaptive part-based local sparse appearance model for reducing the influence by the non-rigidity shapes to the pedestrian. Then, two-step pooling algorithm is presented to extract the moving characteristics of pedestrian such as walking and swing arm. A confidence level evaluation is used to adapt the drastic appearance changes and improve the template updating strategy when the particle filter is working. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations are carried out on four infrared image sequences collected by ourselves and OSU dataset. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can outperform the other start-of-the-art algorithms when occluding, scale changing and cluster background occurs.
DRAFT TAX REVENUE AND ( OR ? ) TRADE LIBERALIZATION

With the public finances of many developing and emerging market countries still heavily dependent on trade tax revenues, further trade liberalization may be stymied unless they are able to develop alternative sources of revenue. While there is now a well-established body of theory and policy advice on how this might be done in principle, this paper asks what has happened in practice: Have countries in fact recovered from other sources the revenues they have lost from past episodes of trade liberalization? Using panel data—cleaned for a variety of weaknesses in the standard data sources—covering 125 countries over the period 1975–2000, the answers that emerge are both fairly robust and troubling: high income countries have recovered revenues with ease, but middle income countries have recovered only about 35–55 cents for each dollar of trade tax revenue they have lost. Still more troubling, low income countries have recovered essentially none. Nor is there much evidence that the presence of a VAT has in itself made it easier to cope with the revenue effects of trade liberalization. Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Laura Clauser and other seminar participants for helpful comments. Views and errors are ours alone, and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund. ∗ Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, Washington D.C., 20431 (email tbaunsgaard@imf.org and mkeen@imf.org )
SimClust - A Program to Simulate Star Clusters

We present a program tool, SimClust, designed for Monte-Carlo modeling of star clusters. It populates the available stellar isochrones with stars according to the initial mass function and distributes stars randomly following the analytical surface number density profile. The tool is aimed at simulating realistic images of extragalactic star clusters and can be used to: (i) optimize object detection algorithms, (ii) perform artificial cluster tests for the analysis of star cluster surveys, and (iii) assess the stochastic effects introduced into photometric and structural parameters of clusters due to random distribution of luminous stars and non-uniform interstellar extinction. By applying SimClust, we have demonstrated a significant influence of stochastic effects on the determined photometric and structural parameters of low-mass star clusters in the M31 galaxy disk. The source code and examples are available at the SimClust website: this http URL