Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Objective intelligibility assessment of text-to-speech systems through utterance verification

Objective assessment of synthetic speech intelligibility can be a useful tool for the development of text-to-speech (TTS) systems, as it provides a reproducible and inexpensive alternative to subjective listening tests. In a recent work, it was shown that the intelligibility of synthetic speech could be assessed objectively by comparing two sequences of phoneme class conditional probabilities, corresponding to instances of synthetic and human reference speech, respectively. In this paper, we build on those findings to propose a novel approach that formulates objective intelligibility assessment as an utterance verification problem using hidden Markov models, thereby alleviating the need for human reference speech. Specifically, given each text input to the TTS system, the proposed approach automatically verifies the words in the output synthetic speech signal and estimates an intelligibility score based on word recall statistics. We evaluate the proposed approach on the 2011 Blizzard Challenge data, and show that the estimated scores and the subjective intelligibility scores are highly correlated (Pearson’s |R| = 0.94).
Speech and Song Search on the Web: System Design and Implementation

This paper proposes a novel search system for speech and song segments. The amount of accumulated video data in the World Wide Web is expanding and its content is varied. Video content includes natural voices and singing voices, and these differ in their phoneme lengths. Our system uses frame-wise phoneme recognition and continuous dynamic programming (CDP). First, each target and query waveform is divided into fixed short-time frames; second, each frame of the waveform is used to estimate a phoneme label using Bayes estimation; third, the query sequences of phoneme labels are searched from target sequences by time-robustness CDP; and, finally, this system gets candidate answers. This method is robust along the time dimension, and thus has a great advantage for natural voice as well as song. This paper also introduces an implementation of this system, which is published on the Web, as a secondary search engine for Youtube data.
Fixed, Random, and Mixed Models in the Analysis of Variance as Special Cases of Finite Model III

Though estimation of variance components in the analysis of variance has received considerable attention, and Eisenhart discussed Models I and I1 in 1947 (Biometrics, 3, 1-21), Model I11 got into print only recently (see H. Scheffl, Ann. math. Statist., 1956, 27, 251-271). Since Models I and I1 and "mixed" models are special cases of Model 111, the expected mean squares and some "error" terms for various designs can be derived easily from Model I11 (but see Ann. math. Statist., 1956, 27, 23-36 for use of Hotelling's T2 when testing the significance of the "fixed effect in a mixed model). The table shows Model I11 for a 3-factor design. There exist A levels of Factor 1, B levels of Factor 2, and C levels of Factor 3. Select at random and without replacement a of the A, b of the B, and c of the C levels. Assign each of the abc different combinations randomly to n (h 1 ) experimental units (e.g., individuals). For Model I ("fixed effects), a = A, b = B, and c = C. If A, B, and C all approach infinity, then a/A, b/B, and c/C approach 0, and so we have the infinite-population "random" model, 11. Mixed models are of 2 types: 1 fixed and 2 random factors, 2 fixed and 1 random factors. Coefficients in parentheses equal 0 for fixed factors, 1 for random factors. Expected mean squares for Model 111 with less than or more than 3 factors can be derived quickly from the table, also.
Litigation as an Instrument for Change in Juvenile Detention: A Case Study

Litigation is an expensive and contentious means to solve the twin problems of over-crowding and dangerous conditions in juvenile detention centers. However, it is possible to use lawsuits as effective agents for change. Willingness to mediate settlement and develop a common approach to problems causes greater change than through trial and court-imposed injunction or consent decree. This alternative approach obligates litigants to engage a consortium to attack institutional conditions and develop a continuum of alternatives. It also requires sensible population control resulting in decreased costs and a guarantee that children charged with serious and repeated offenses remain in secure detention.
Reforming the Work to Combat Long-Term Homelessness in Sweden

Examining recent strategies to combat long-term homelessness, the article looks at two social policy reforms implemented in a Swedish municipality. The first of these involved dismantling of the existing hostel system and its replacement with the ‘housing staircase’ model. The second meant the end of the housing staircase model and the engagement of private for-profit companies in the municipal special-housing service provision. By incorporating the new actors within its homeless policy framework, however, the municipality has merely adjusted its approach to accommodate a practice already followed on the ground to legitimize an existing situation. The reforms resulted in revisions to official policy and organizational structures, while actual practices remained unaffected. As a result, little has changed in the situation of the long-term homeless. Regardless of the type of service supplier (municipal, for profit or non-profit), measures to counteract homelessness in Sweden have remained dependent on a general premise equating homelessness with addiction, mental illness and deviance more broadly. Alternatives based on access to regular housing are not even debated, despite the success such approaches have had elsewhere.
Accurate evaluation of a distance function for optimization-based motion planning

We propose three novel methods to evaluate a distance function for robotic motion planning based on semiinfinite programming (SIP) framework; these methods include golden section search (GSS), conservative advancement (CA) and a hybrid of GSS and CA. The distance function can have a positive and a negative value, each of which corresponds to the Euclidean distance and penetration depth, respectively. In our approach, each robot's link is approximated and bounded by a capsule shape, and the distance between some selected link pairs is continuously evaluated along the joint's trajectory, provided by the SIP solver, and the global minimum distance is found. This distance is fed into the SIP solver, which subsequently suggests a new trajectory. This process is iterated until no negative distance is found anywhere in the links of the robot.We have implemented the three distance evaluation methods, and experimentally validated that the proposed methods effectively and accurately find the global minimum distances to generate a self-collision-free motion for the HRP-2 humanoid robot. Moreover, we demonstrate that the hybrid method outperforms other two methods in terms of computational speed and reliability.
Quantitative analysis of velopharyngeal movement using a stereoendoscope: accuracy and reliability of range images

Abstract Objective: We developed a novel method of producing accurate range images of the velopharynx using a three-dimensional (3D) endoscope to obtain detailed measurements of velopharyngeal movements. The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between the distance from the endoscope to an object, elucidate the measurement accuracy along the temporal axes, and determine the degree of blurring when using a jig to fix the endoscope. Methods: An endoscopic measuring system was developed in which a pattern projection system was incorporated into a commercially available 3D endoscope. After correcting the distortion of the camera images, range images were produced using pattern projection to achieve stereo matching. Graph paper was used to measure the appropriate distance from the camera to an object, the mesial buccal cusp of the right maxillary first molar was measured to clarify the range image stability, and an electric actuator was used to evaluate the measurement accuracy along the temporal axes. Results: The measurement error was substantial when the distance from the camera to the subject was >6.5 cm. The standard error of the 3D coordinate value produced from 30 frames was within 0.1 mm (range, 0.01–0.08 mm). The measurement error of the temporal axes was 9.16% in the horizontal direction and 9.27% in the vertical direction. Conclusion: The optimal distance from the camera to an object is <6.5 cm. The present endoscopic measuring system can provide stable range images of the velopharynx when using an appropriate fixation method and enables quantitative analysis of velopharyngeal movements.
A novel semantic approach for Web service discovery using computational linguistics techniques

With the proliferation of available Web services, new approaches are needed to search for the most appropriate services matching user requirements. Existing UDDI based discovery techniques fail to recognize similarities and differences between Web service capabilities and thus greatly limit the scope of service discovery. Hence, in this paper we present a framework for discovering the vast amount of Web services present in Internet based on a novel semantic approach to automatically discover the most appropriate services to user requirements. Our framework is based on a natural language query to facilitate usage of our implemented discovery framework. For this purpose, we first apply some computational linguistics techniques such as part-of-speech tagging and word sense disambiguation to format and extract useful semantic information from user query. Then, we propose an innovative semantic matchmaking technique based on significant concepts properties in the referenced domain ontology and we show that it improves discovery efficiency compared to a similar related work.
Unsupervised Video Tag Correction System

We present a new system for video auto tagging which aims at cor- recting and completing the tags provided by users for videos uploaded on the Internet. Unlike most existing systems, we do not learn any tag classifiers or use the questionable textual information to compare our videos. We propose to compare directly the visual content of the videos described by different sets of features such as Bag-of-visual-Words or frequent patterns built from them. Then, we propagate tags between visually similar videos according to the frequency of these tags in a given video neighborhood. We also propose a controlled experimental set up to evaluate such a system. Experiments show that with suitable features, we are able to correct a reasonable amount of tags in Web videos.
Industrial relations climate and staff attitudes in the fire service: a case of union renewal?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for trade union renewal in the UK fire service. Its aim is to consider two main questions: “How have union‐management relations and the industrial relations climate been affected by management reforms? ” and “To the extent that there is deterioration in the IR climate, has this had an effect on union leadership style and also on union commitment and participation amongst ordinary members? ”Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on interviews with managers and union representatives and a survey of firefighters in the north of England.Findings – The research finds that a marked deterioration in the industrial relations climate led to changes in union leadership and to an increase in union commitment and participation amongst ordinary members. The poor climate created the conditions for union renewal by bringing forward union activists with more inclusive styles and by raising membership awareness of the need to vigorously defend their exist.
Decoding visual stimuli in human brain by using Anatomical Pattern Analysis on fMRI images

A universal unanswered question in neuroscience and machine learning is whether computers can decode the patterns of the human brain. Multi-Voxels Pattern Analysis (MVPA) is a critical tool for addressing this question. However, there are two challenges in the previous MVPA methods, which include decreasing sparsity and noises in the extracted features and increasing the performance of prediction. In overcoming mentioned challenges, this paper proposes Anatomical Pattern Analysis (APA) for decoding visual stimuli in the human brain. This framework develops a novel anatomical feature extraction method and a new imbalance AdaBoost algorithm for binary classification. Further, it utilizes an Error-Correcting Output Codes (ECOC) method for multi-class prediction. APA can automatically detect active regions for each category of the visual stimuli. Moreover, it enables us to combine homogeneous datasets for applying advanced classification. Experimental studies on 4 visual categories (words, consonants, objects and scrambled photos) demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves superior performance to state-of-the-art methods.
What Is “Urban Studies”? Context, Internal Structure, and Content

ABSTRACT: The record of learned concern with cities is nearly as old as the city itself. In the past several decades, however, a distinct academic field of “Urban Studies” has emerged. This article characterizes the context, internal structure, and content of the field through interviews with leading scholars, probabilistic multidimensional scaling analyses of survey data, and a content analysis of a leading journal. The article concludes that although Urban Studies is in some respects not a bounded “academic discipline,” it is an intellectually coherent, distinctively structured, and promising field of inquiry steered by complex, ever-changing, and often-large-scale realities and real-world problems of evolving human settlements.
Horses for Courses

This article draws on insights taken from Lacanian psychoanalysis to rethink and resituate notions of the self and subjectivity within the theory and practice of experiential leadership development. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, it describes the author’s own experience as a participant in a program of equine-assisted learning or “horse whispering” and considers the consequences of human–animal interactions as a tool for self-development and improvement. Through an analysis of this human–animal interaction, the article presents and applies three Lacanian concepts of subjectivity, desire, and fantasy and considers their form and function in determining the often fractured relationship between self and other that characterizes leader–follower relations.
A Distributed Stream Processing based Architecture for IoT Smart Grids Monitoring

Sensor networks have become ubiquitous -- being present from personal smartphones to smart cities deployments -- and are producing large volumes of data at increasing rates. Distributed event stream processing systems, in its turn, are a specific kind of systems that help us to parallelize event processing. Therefore, they provide us capabilities to produce quick insights and decisions, in near real-time, on top of multiple data streams. However, current systems for large scale processing do not focus on Internet of Things and Sensor Network workloads, which makes the performance decrease quickly as the workload size increases. In order to process large scale events with acceptable latency percentiles and high throughput, special systems are needed, such as distributed event stream processing systems. In this work, we propose an architecture for Internet of Things data workloads, in a combination of sensor networks data sources and distributed event stream processing systems, focused on smart grid data profiles. In our evaluations, the system was able to process up to 45K messages per second using 8 processing nodes, while providing stable latencies for micro-batches above 30 seconds.
Image Labeling by Integrating Local, Middle and Global Information

We carry out image labeling based on probabilistic integration of local, middle and global information. Local information is effective for capturing color and texture pattern. Middle information is obtained from patches which are larger than local regions and is able to incorporate context information. Global information obtained from an entire image helps to decide the presence of categories in the scene. In the experiments using the MSRC21 dataset, labeling accuracies are much improved by integrating local, middle and global information. Our method gave the state-of-the-art performance.
Challenges & Opportunities in Human-Data Interaction

As personal data are increasingly collected, analysed, and traded, we introduce the topic of Human-Data Interaction (HDI) to engage users with their data. HDI is inherently inter-disciplinary, encapsulating elements not only of traditional computer science such as data processing, systems design, visualisation and interaction design, but also of law, psychology, behavioural economics, and sociology. We outline HDI’s motivation, its privacy and ethical challenges, and the opportunities it presents.
Microsatellite unstable colorectal cancer

Dr Riis provides a cool Nordic analysis of scientific dishonesty and concludes that there is a need for a national independent control body that should take initiatives for strong preventative action.1 I disagree. There is no real evidence that scientific dishonesty is on the increase. Even if it were, it does not matter. Unsound data are already published for a variety of reasons, the chief of which are unsound methodologies and …
Nuclear Photosynthetic Gene Expression Is Synergistically Modulated by Rates of Protein Synthesis in Chloroplasts and Mitochondria[W]

Arabidopsis thaliana mutants prors1-1 and -2 were identified on the basis of a decrease in effective photosystem II quantum yield. Mutations were localized to the 5′-untranslated region of the nuclear gene PROLYL-tRNA SYNTHETASE1 (PRORS1), which acts in both plastids and mitochondria. In prors1-1 and -2, PRORS1 expression is reduced, along with protein synthesis in both organelles. PRORS1 null alleles (prors1-3 and -4) result in embryo sac and embryo development arrest. In mutants with the leaky prors1-1 and -2 alleles, transcription of nuclear genes for proteins involved in photosynthetic light reactions is downregulated, whereas genes for other chloroplast proteins are upregulated. Downregulation of nuclear photosynthetic genes is not associated with a marked increase in the level of reactive oxygen species in leaves and persists in the dark, suggesting that the transcriptional response is light and photooxidative stress independent. The mrpl11 and prpl11 mutants are impaired in the mitochondrial and plastid ribosomal L11 proteins, respectively. The prpl11 mrpl11 double mutant, but neither of the single mutants, resulted in strong downregulation of nuclear photosynthetic genes, like that seen in leaky mutants for PRORS1, implying that, when organellar translation is perturbed, signals derived from both types of organelles cooperate in the regulation of nuclear photosynthetic gene expression.
Capturing Collabportunities: A method to evaluate collaboration opportunities in information search using pseudocollaboration

In explicit collaborative search, two or more individuals coordinate their efforts toward a shared goal. Every day, Internet users with similar information needs have the potential to collaborate. However, online search is typically performed in solitude. Existing search systems do not promote explicit collaborations, and collaboration opportunities (collabportunities) are missed. In this article, we describe a method to evaluate the feasibility of transforming these collabportunities into recommendations for explicit collaboration. We developed a technique called pseudocollaboration to evaluate the benefits and costs of collabportunities through simulations. We evaluate the performance of our method using three data sets: (a) data from single users' search sessions, (b) data with collaborative search sessions between pairs of searchers, and (c) logs from a large‐scale search engine with search sessions of thousands of searchers. Our results establish when and how collabportunities would significantly help or hinder the search process versus searches conducted individually. The method that we describe has implications for the design and implementation of recommendation systems for explicit collaboration. It also connects system‐mediated and user‐mediated collaborative search, whereby the system evaluates the likely benefits of collaborating for a search task and helps searchers make more informed decisions on initiating and executing such a collaboration.
Region-Based Association Test for Familial Data under Functional Linear Models

Region-based association analysis is a more powerful tool for gene mapping than testing of individual genetic variants, particularly for rare genetic variants. The most powerful methods for regional mapping are based on the functional data analysis approach, which assumes that the regional genome of an individual may be considered as a continuous stochastic function that contains information about both linkage and linkage disequilibrium. Here, we extend this powerful approach, earlier applied only to independent samples, to the samples of related individuals. To this end, we additionally include a random polygene effects in functional linear model used for testing association between quantitative traits and multiple genetic variants in the region. We compare the statistical power of different methods using Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 mini-exome family data and a wide range of simulation scenarios. Our method increases the power of regional association analysis of quantitative traits compared with burden-based and kernel-based methods for the majority of the scenarios. In addition, we estimate the statistical power of our method using regions with small number of genetic variants, and show that our method retains its advantage over burden-based and kernel-based methods in this case as well. The new method is implemented as the R-function ‘famFLM’ using two types of basis functions: the B-spline and Fourier bases. We compare the properties of the new method using models that differ from each other in the type of their function basis. The models based on the Fourier basis functions have an advantage in terms of speed and power over the models that use the B-spline basis functions and those that combine B-spline and Fourier basis functions. The ‘famFLM’ function is distributed under GPLv3 license and is freely available at http://mga.bionet. nsc.ru/soft/famFLM/.
The role of intraoperative blood pressure in the association between low bispectral index values and mortality within two years after surgery.

To the Editor: In a recent study by Lindholm et al., the effect of low intraoperative bispectral index (BIS) values on mortality within 2 yr after surgery was studied. The design of this study was based on an earlier study by Monk et al. in 2005 in which comorbidity, cumulative time during which the BIS was 45 mm, and cumulative duration of intraoperative hypotension (systolic blood pressure 80 mm Hg) were found to be associated with 1-yr mortality. The aim of the authors “was to confirm or refute these unexpected findings” of this previous study, and they therefore used a similar set of covariates. Nevertheless, the authors did not enter intraoperative blood pressure measurements in their analysis. Apart from the association between intraoperative hypotension and 1-yr mortality as suggested by Monk et al., one can also hypothesize that a low intraoperative blood pressure can lead to a low BIS value or, conversely, that a deep level of anesthesia can lead to low blood pressure. Thus, intraoperative hypotension fulfills all criteria to be a potential confounder in the relationship between low BIS values and 1or 2-yr mortality. This deviation from the original study by Monk et al. makes it hard to compare the results from both studies without significant reservation.