Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust Speaker Verification over Narrowband and Wideband Communication Channels

Modern speaker recognition applications involve the authentication of users by their voices. A wide range of systems requires reliable personal recognition techniques to either determine or confirm the identity of a person requesting some type of their services. The main purpose of these techniques is to ensure that provided services are accessed only by a legitimate user and no one else. Voice biometrics for user authentication is a task in which the goal is to perform convenient and secure authentication of speakers. In this work we investigate the use of voiced segments of speech utterances and features normalization techniques on the text-independent speaker verification system based on GMM-UBM approach. A variety of narrowband and wideband codecs were used for simulation real communication channel. Result shows that feature enhancement technique are better for narrowband verification especially.
An autonomous robot navigation system - integrating environmental mapping, path planning, localisation and motion control

SUMMARY This paper describes an autonomous robot vehicle which can navigate through an initially unknown obstacle field to a nominated goal or systematically map its working environment. The navigation system uses combined ultrasonic beacon/odometry based localisation, optical range finders for environmental mapping, an A path planning procedure and continuous motion control. The computational support is divided between a graphics workstation 'home base' and a PC hosted transputer array on-board. The integration of all the subsystems cited above has been achieved and many successful navigation experiments completed. Possible further developments which would enhance the capabilities of the system are also discussed.
The Minimal Clinically Important Difference for the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory

Objectives:To determine the Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) and Robust Clinically Important Difference (RCID) of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory–4 (MPAI-4) as measures of response to intervention. Methods:Retrospective analysis of existing data. Both distribution- and anchor-based methods were used to triangulate on the MCID and to identify a moderate, that is, more robust, level of change (RCID) for the MPAI-4. These were further evaluated with respect to clinical provider ratings. Participants:Data for individuals with acquired brain injury in rehabilitation programs throughout the United States in the OutcomeInfo Database (n = 3087) with 2 MPAI-4 ratings. Main Measures:MPAI-4, Supervision Rating Scale, Clinician Rating of Global Clinical Improvement. Results:Initial analyses suggested 5 T-score points (5T) as the MCID and 9T as the RCID. Eighty-one percent to 87% of clinical raters considered a 5T change and 99% considered a 9T change to indicate meaningful improvement. Conclusions:5T represents the MCID for the MPAI-4 and 9T, the RCID. Both values are notably less than the Reliable Change Index (RCI). While the RCI indicates change with a high level of statistical confidence, it may be insensitive to change that is considered meaningful by providers and participants as indicated by the MCID.
PCL-CNT nanocomposites for bone tissue engineering application

Bone injuries and defects, caused by trauma, malformation, osteoporosis and tumours, are therapeutically challenging. Autografts and allografts are ideal treatment approaches for bone regeneration. However, they may be associated with a number of complications, and outcomes are variable. Therefore, bone substitute biomaterials, which not only effectively solved the problem of limited supply, but also provided possibility for reducing immune-complications and enhancing bone formation properties, have shown great potential for bone tissue engineering application. Currently, polycaprolactone (PCL) are widely used for the production of scaffolds for tissue engineering thanks to its superior rheological and viscoelastic properties. Nevertheless, some intrinsic drawbacks, hydrophobic chemical nature, interaction with biological fluids prevent cells adhesion and proliferation, for instance, limited PCL’s application. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), with excellent osteoinductivity and osteoconductivity, offer a natural platform for obtaining composite micro-fabricated scaffolds thanks to their outstanding mechanical properties and good biocompatibility, even they are not biodegradable. Thus, PCL-CNT nanocomposites, combined PCL and CNTs to maintain their advantages as well as minimise their drawbacks, could be used as effective bone substitute biomaterials for bone regeneration.
Spatially constrained Generalized Dirichlet mixture model for image segmentation

A new color image segmentation of noisy images based on spatial information with the Generalized Dirichlet mixture model is presented. The methodology uses Markov Random Field distribution with a novel factor that is induced in mixture model. The model is learned using Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm based on Newton-Raphson approach. The obtained results using real images are more encouraging than those proposed in earlier algorithms/models.
Effective ray tracing of large 3D scenes through mobile distributed computing

Ray tracing large-scale 3D scenes at interactive frame rates is a challenging problem on mobile devices. In this paper, we present a mobile ray tracing system that aims to render large scenes with many millions of triangles at interactive speeds on a small-scale mobile cluster. To mitigate performance degradation due to excessive data communication on mobile and wireless networks with still high latency, we employ a tile-based rendering strategy where each participating mobile device keeps an entire copy of the necessary rendering data. To realize such a system, we compress the 3D scene data to a size loadable into graphics memory, which enables an effective mobile GPU ray tracing. Also, by using a careful interaction scheme between the master and slave devices in the mobile cluster, we enhance the efficiency of the mobile distributed GPU ray tracing markedly.
Subtype-specific Regulation of Muscarinic Receptor Expression and Function by Heterologous Receptor Activation (*)

Incubation of cultured embryonic chicken heart cells with the β-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the number of mAChR on the surface of intact cells. The isoproterenol-mediated increase in mAChR number was time dependent and reached a maximum by 48 h. Chick heart cells treated with isoproterenol exhibited a greater than 6-fold increase in the sensitivity for carbachol-mediated inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity as compared to control. Stimulation of cultured heart cells for 24 h with isoproterenol resulted in a 25-35% increase in cm2 mRNA levels as compared to control cm2 mRNA levels. In contrast, the level of cm4 mRNA was not significantly affected by isoproterenol treatment. cm2 mRNA levels were maximally elevated by 15 h following isoproterenol stimulation and remained elevated for up to 72 h. Incubation of cells with isoproterenol in the presence of Rp-cAMP, an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, blocked the increase in the level of cm2 mRNA. Thus, prolonged activation of β-adrenergic receptors results in an increase in mAChR number and muscarinic responsiveness in chick heart cells due to a cAMP-dependent protein kinase mediated increase in cm2 mRNA levels.
Evidence of Gender- and Tissue-Specific Promoter Methylation and the Potential for Ethinylestradiol-Induced Changes in Japanese Medaka (Oryzias Latipes) Estrogen Receptor and Aromatase Genes

In order to explore the potential of DNA methylation to serve as a biomarker of toxicity, thus establishing a link between exposure to environmental contaminants and physiologically significant changes in gene expression, tissue- and gender-specific methylation patterns in the promoter regions of estrogen receptor (ER) and aromatase genes of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) were determined. Adult male and female medaka were exposed to either 0 or 500 ng/L 17 α-ethinylestradiol (EE) for 14d via a waterborne exposure. Livers, gonads, and brains were removed and genomic DNA was extracted. Samples of genomic DNA were then analyzed by bisulfite-mediated methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of an ∼300-bp region containing suspected methylation sites from the two genes, amplified, cloned, and sequenced. ER protein content in exposed medaka was significantly induced in all male and female tissues compared to controls. Aromatase activity in exposed medaka was significantly increased in the male brain, testes, and female brain as compared to controls. The methylation changes described by these studies indicate the potential for anthropogenic alteration of the mechanisms controlling gene expression, as well as gender- and tissue-specific sensitivity. While methylation differences were not paralleled by changes in protein expression in this study, changes in methylation have the potential to impact the regulation of normal gene expression and these changes could be transmitted to offspring.
Chapter 15 Connexins in the Nervous System

This chapter reviews the localizations and physiological roles of connexins in neurons and glia of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Cx32 forms gap junctions in noncompact myelin in Schwann cells, which are thought to form a reflexive communication pathway connecting the outer and inner myelin layers. Cx29 is also expressed in myelinating Schwann cells, but does not appear to form gap junctions; its role remains to be elucidated. Mutations in CX32 cause an X-linked form of the inherited neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease; most such mutations are likely to act through loss of function. Connexins may also play an important role in proliferating Schwann cells. Oligodendrocytes express Cx32, Cx47, and Cx29, while astrocytes express Cx43, Cx30, and possibly Cx26. Although astrocytes are extensively coupled to each other in vivo, oligodendrocyte coupling in vivo is demonstrable only to astrocytes, most via heterotypic Cx43–Cx47 or Cx30–Cx32 junctions. These junctions, along with those between astrocytes, may play a role in spatial buffering of Kþ ions and neurotransmitters, and may influence severity of tissue damage during ischemia. Mutations in CX47 cause Pelizaeus Merzbacher–like disease while mutations in CX43 cause oculodentodigital dysplasia. Only Cx36 and Cx45 have been definitively identified in nonretinal brain neurons, where they form electrical synapses; neuron–neuron coupling may play a role in the pathogenesis of epilepsy.
Low-Cost and Energy-Saving Wireless Sensor Network for Real-Time Urban Mobility Monitoring System

This paper presents a low-cost and energy-saving urban mobility monitoring system based on wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The primary components of the proposed sensor unit are a Bluetooth sensor and a Zigbee transceiver. Within the WSN, the Bluetooth sensor captures the MAC addresses of Bluetooth units equipped in mobile devices and car navigation systems. The Zigbee transceiver transmits the collected MAC addresses to a data center without any major communications infrastructures (e.g., fiber optics and 3G/4G network). A total of seven prototype sensor units have been deployed on roadway segments in Newark, New Jersey, for a proof of concept (POC) test. The results of the POC test show that the performance of the proposed sensor unit appears promising, resulting in 2% of data drop rates and an improved Bluetooth capturing rate.
Cost-effectiveness of warfarin and aspirin for prophylaxis of stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE To examine the cost-effectiveness of prescribing warfarin sodium in patients who have nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) with or without additional stroke risk factors (a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease). DESIGN Decision and cost-effectiveness analyses. The probabilities for stroke, hemorrhage, and death were obtained from published randomized controlled trials. The quality-of-life estimates were obtained by interviewing 74 patients with atrial fibrillation. Costs were estimated from literature review, phone survey, and Medicare reimbursement. PATIENTS In the base case, the patients were 65 years of age and good candidates for warfarin therapy. INTERVENTIONS Treatment with warfarin, aspirin, or no therapy in the decision analytic model. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Quality-adjusted survival and marginal cost-effectiveness of warfarin as compared with aspirin or no therapy. RESULTS For patients with NVAF and additional risk factors for stroke, warfarin therapy led to a greater quality-adjusted survival and to cost savings. For patients with NVAF and one additional risk factor, warfarin therapy cost $8000 per quality-adjusted life-year saved. For 65-year-old patients with NVAF alone, warfarin cost about $370,000 per quality-adjusted life-year saved, as compared with aspirin therapy. However, for 75-year-old patients with NVAF alone, prescribing warfarin cost $110,000 per quality-adjusted life-year saved. For patients who were not prescribed warfarin, aspirin was preferred to no therapy on the basis of both quality-adjusted survival and cost in all patients, regardless of the number of risk factors present. CONCLUSIONS Treatment with warfarin is cost-effective in patients with NVAF and one or more additional risk factors for stroke. In 65-year-old patients with NVAF but no other risk factors for stroke, prescribing warfarin instead of aspirin would affect quality-adjusted survival minimally but increase costs significantly.
Analysis the robustness of control systems based on disturbance observer

Disturbance observer (DOB) estimates the system disturbances by using the inverse of the nominal plant model and a low pass filter (LPF). Although the LPF provides the properness in the inner-loop, it is the main design constraint of the control systems based on DOB. The bandwidth of the LPF is designed as high as possible so that the DOB can estimate the disturbances in a wider frequency range. However, its bandwidth is limited by noise and robustness of the system. The robustness limitation is directly related with the robustness analysis methods, and they significantly affect the performance of the DOB based control systems. In this paper, three different robustness analysis methods are implemented into the DOB based control systems, and the relation between the robustness of the system and bandwidth of DOB is clearly explained. The conservatism, which is the main drawback of the conventional analysis methods, on the bandwidth of DOB is removed by proposing a new real parametric uncertainty based analysis method. The proposed methods are compared in detail, and simulation results are given to show the validation.
Dementia Cregiving in the United States: Implications for Long-term Care

Informal care is an important source of long-term care (LTC) for persons with dementia and cognitive impairments. Using the Aging Demographic and Memory Study (ADAMS) dataset this study analyzes a sequence of predisposing, enabling and need factors that jointly predict the amount of informal and formal health care received by individuals with dementia in the US. The „altruistic‟ motivation to provide care increases the level of informal care and delays the institutionalization. Caregivers‟ physical, emotional stress and change in perceived health status associated with caregiving increase the use of formal home health care services. The need for supervision to protect the consequences of impaired judgment significantly increases the amount of both informal care and formal home health care. The findings have profound social and health implications for expanding the publicly funded LTC needs for individuals with dementia to capture the unique nature of the disease. JEL classification: I12; J14; J22.
Direct DNA delivery into zebrafish embryos employing tissue culture techniques

Summary: The production of transfected fish embryos requires expertise in injecting the fertilized eggs and/or expensive equipment for electroporation or microprojectiles. This article demonstrates that by exposure to DNA constructs conjugated with transfecting reagents dechorionated Danio rerio embryos are capable of acquiring extracellular DNA and expressing reporter genes. Embryos incubated with pCMVluc complexed with GeneJammer or GenePORTER expressed luciferase 24–48 h after exposure. pCMVGFP DNA mixed with the same agents generated embryos that exhibited differential patterns of expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Embryonic development varied depending on the procedure employed and the reporter gene utilized. Expression of the luciferase gene did not interfere with the subsequent development of the embryos. In contrast, the embryos expressing a high level of GFP were affected, probably due to a very active promoter. These results demonstrate the ease of obtaining transfected fish embryos, which facilitate the mass production of new genotypes and extend the procedure to laboratories with limited resources. genesis 31:1–5, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Are The Real Exchange Rate Indices of Australia Non-Stationary in the Presence of Structural Break?

This paper examines the time series properties of real exchange rate indices of Australia in the presence of structural break. Traditional unit root procedures have low power when structural break is ignored. By including structural change in the data, Perron’s (1997) Additive Outlier model was found optimal. Three indices (Trade-weighted index (TWI), Export-weighted index (EWI) and Import-weighted index (IWI) are found to be stationary while G7 GDP-weighted index (G7WI) was found non-stationary. The estimated break dates correspond to the period of huge real GDP downturn in Australia (early 1990s), and the global recession in the early 1980s affecting the G7 countries.
A Classroom Simulation to Teach Economic Input−Output Life Cycle Assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and tools are increasingly being taught in university courses. Students are learning the concepts and applications of process‐based LCA, input−output‐based LCA, and hybrid methods. Here, we describe a classroom simulation to introduce students to an economic input−output life cycle assessment (EIO‐LCA) method. The simulation uses a simplified four‐industry economy with eight transactions among the industries. Production functions for the transactions and waste generation amounts are provided for each industry. Students represent an industry and receive and issue purchase orders for materials to simulate the actual purchases of materials within the economy. Students then compare the simulation to mathematical representations of the model. Finally, students view an online EIO‐LCA tool (http://www.eiolca.net) and use the tool to compare different products. The simulation has been used successfully with a wide range of students to facilitate conceptual understanding of one EIO‐LCA method.
High Sensitivity of Fetal DNA in Plasma Compared to Serum and Nucleated Cells Using Unnested PCR in Maternal Blood

DNA analysis of blood is conventionally performed on cells – plasma and serum are discarded. Free DNA has been demonstrated in serum in cancer and autoimmune disorders and in pregnancy. We investigated possible noninvasive prenatal diagnosis using fetal DNA from maternal plasma and serum in pregnancy. Fetal gender was determined by PCR on DNA from maternal venous blood, serum and plasma of 65 women by boiling with or without phenol/chloroform extraction. When sensitivities were compared for plasma, additional phenol/chloroform extraction proved more sensitive than boiling alone (89 vs. 50%), the observed difference was 50% (CI 19 to 81%). Extracted plasma amplified better than extracted serum (89 vs. 46%), the observed difference being 44% (CI 22 to 66%). In contrast, fetal gender could not reliably be determined from DNA extracted from maternal nucleated blood cells. The size of plasma and serum DNA at 15–17 weeks of gestation was >1,500 bp. This work confirms the presence of fetal DNA in maternal plasma and serum which may be applicable to noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of paternally derived DNA sequences. We conclude that optimal sensitivity requires two methods of DNA extraction and that the use of plasma is preferred to that of serum.
We’re All in This (Game) Together

This study applies theories of computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction to the study of transactive memory systems (TMS; how small groups coordinate expertise, for which communication is the central mechanism) in video game teams. A large-scale survey (N = 18,627) of players from the small group video game League of Legends (LoL) combined with server-side data provided by Riot Games (the creators of LoL) was conducted to look at the relationship between TMS and win/loss outcome as well as the role of team size and past team member acquaintanceship on the formation of TMS, using social presence as a mediator. Results found that TMS was highly predictive of the likelihood of a team winning a game, and that while past team member acquaintanceship predicted TMS, team size did not. Furthermore, only two dimensions of social presence, copresence and perceived comprehension, were related to TMS. These two dimensions fully mediated the relationship between past team member acquaintanceship and TMS.
Metabolic distinction between vesicular and cytosolic GABA in cultured GABAergic neurons using 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy

GABA exists in at least two different intracellular pools, i.e., a cytoplasmic or metabolic pool and a vesicular pool. This study was performed to gain information about the quantitative role of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in biosynthesis of GABA from glutamine when GABA was selectively released from either one of these two pools. Cultured cerebral cortical neurons (GABAergic) were incubated in a medium containing 0.5 mM [U‐13C]glutamine and subsequently depolarized for release of GABA from either the vesicular or the cytoplasmic pool. The vesicular release was induced by 55 mM K+ in the presence of tiagabine, a nontransportable inhibitor of the plasma membrane GABA carriers, whereas the cytoplasmic release via a reversal of the GABA carrier was induced by exposure to N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA; 50 μM) in the presence of (RS)‐2‐amino‐3‐(3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazol‐4‐yl)propionate (AMPA; 50 μM). Cell extracts were analyzed by 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy subsequent to the incubation or depolarization. The percentage of GABA generated from glutamine via the TCA cycle decreased from 60% to 46% during depolarization, inducing GABA release from the cytoplasmic pool, whereas a significant change in this parameter was not observed after release from the vesicular pool. These observations indicate that, during release from the cytoplasmic pool, the fraction of GABA synthesized directly from glutamine without involvement of the TCA cycle is more pronounced than that occurring during resting conditions and when release occurs from the vesicular pool. This might be explained by differences in the regulation of the two isoforms of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD65 and GAD67), which presumably play different roles in the maintenance of GABA in the two pools. Both isoforms were found in the cultured cerebral cortical neurons, as shown by Western blotting employing an antibody recognizing GAD65 as well as GAD67. J. Neurosci. Res. 63:347–355, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.