Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acoustic plus Electric Speech Processing: Preliminary Results of a Multicenter Clinical Trial of the Iowa/Nucleus Hybrid Implant

Aim: This communication details the latest preliminary results from an ongoing multicenter single-subject design clinical trial of the Iowa/Nucleus Hybrid 10-mm cochlear implant. Selection criteria, surgical strategies used for hearing preservation, and the benefits of preserved residual low-frequency hearing, improved word understanding in noise, and music appreciation are described. Patients and Methods: The device has been implanted in 48 individuals with residual low-frequency hearing. Results:Hearing preservation has been accomplished in 46/48 subjects. Acoustic speech perception has also been preserved. Combined acoustic plus electric speech processing has enabled most of this group of volunteers to gain improved word understanding as compared to their preoperative hearing with bilateral hearing aids. A subset of subjects with 12 months or more experience demonstrates CNC word understanding continues to improve more than 24 months after implantation. Improved word understanding in noise is also a benefit of acoustic plus electric speech processing. Conclusions:The improvement of speech in noise and melody recognition is linked to the ability to distinguish fine pitch differences as the result of preserved residual low-frequency acoustic hearing. Both of these measures are very important in real life to the hearing impaired. Preservation of residual low-frequency hearing should be considered when expanding candidate selection criteria for standard cochlear implants.
The Impact of Sub-National Fiscal Decentralization on Rural Compulsory Education Input

In modern China,under the system of "County government taking responsibility for basic education",fiscal decentralization has great impact on budgetary and extra-budgetary educational rural compulsory education revenues.With unmatched revenues and expenditures in county government,the positive impacts of intergovernmental transfers is decreasing while more extra-budgetary revenues had been put into rural compulsory education.Establishing sub-national intergovernmental fiscal decentralization,increasing county fiscal revenues,and disbursing and spending transfers more effectively are important approaches to guarantee rural compulsory funds and reduce dependant on extra-budgetary revenues.
NudC-like protein 2 regulates the LIS1/dynein pathway by stabilizing LIS1 with Hsp90

The type I lissencephaly gene product LIS1, a key regulator of cytoplasmic dynein, is critical for cell proliferation, survival, and neuronal migration. However, little is known about the regulation of LIS1. Here, we identify a previously uncharacterized mammalian homolog of Aspergillus NudC, NudCL2 (NudC-like protein 2), as a regulator of LIS1. NudCL2 is localized to the centrosome in interphase, and spindle poles and kinetochores during mitosis, a pattern similar to the localization of LIS1 and cytoplasmic dynein. Depletion of NudCL2 destabilized LIS1 and led to phenotypes resembling those of either dynein or LIS1 deficiency. NudCL2 complexed with and enhanced the interaction between LIS1 and Hsp90. Either disruption of the LIS1-Hsp90 interaction with the C terminus of NudCL2 or inhibition of Hsp90 chaperone function by geldanamycin decreased LIS1 stability. Thus, our results suggest that NudCL2 regulates the LIS1/dynein pathway by stabilizing LIS1 with Hsp90 chaperone. This represents a hitherto undescribed mechanism of the LIS1/dynein regulation in mammalian cells.
Integrating social sensors and pervasive services: approaches and perspectives

Purpose – The key purpose of this paper is to overview the many issues related to the integration of social sensing and pervasive sensing in the support of adaptive context-aware services. Design/methodology/approach – From the analysis of existing proposals and prototypes, the authors found out that the process of integrating social and pervasive sensing can follow a limited number of approaches, which enables the authors to properly frame the proposals existing in the literature (and/or available as prototype infrastructures) according to a simple taxonomy, which is very useful to make the survey much more effective than a simple list of systems and proposals. Findings – The taxonomy shows that, when integrating social sensing with pervasive sensing, it is possible, at one extreme, to exploit social network as a mere source of information and have such information flow towards the infrastructure supporting the execution of pervasive computing services. At the other extreme, it is possible exploiting a s.
Detection and differentiation of avian pneumoviruses (metapneumoviruses)

The available detection methods for avian pneumoviruses (turkey rhinotracheitis virus; genus Metapneumovirus ) in turkeys, domestic fowl and other species are reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of virus isolation techniques, virus or genome (polymerase chain reaction) detection and serology are discussed. Some of the problems likely to be encountered are considered, including the detection of yet to be discovered subtypes, as are the factors that are likely to influence the outcome of the work
Study on impacts on resource efficiency of future EU demand for bioenergy (ReceBio). Final report. Project: ENV.F.1/ETU/2013/0033

The study examines the resource efficiency implications of various levels of EU use of bioenergy for electricity and heat until 2050. Methods of analysis include an extensive literature and statistical review, detailed modelling of cross-sectorial wood biomass production and use, and in-depth analysis of the implications on several sustainability indicators. The results for biomass use for material and energy are reported for EU28, while the sustainability indicators are assessed both for the EU and globally. In addition, country specific assessments were carried out for three case countries (Finland, Germany, and Italy) to examine the results against country-specific policies and resources.
Tomosyn-dependent regulation of synaptic transmission is required for a late phase of associative odor memory

Synaptic vesicle secretion requires the assembly of fusogenic SNARE complexes. Consequently proteins that regulate SNARE complex formation can significantly impact synaptic strength. The SNARE binding protein tomosyn has been shown to potently inhibit exocytosis by sequestering SNARE proteins in nonfusogenic complexes. The tomosyn–SNARE interaction is regulated by protein kinase A (PKA), an enzyme implicated in learning and memory, suggesting tomosyn could be an important effector in PKA-dependent synaptic plasticity. We tested this hypothesis in Drosophila, in which the role of the PKA pathway in associative learning has been well established. We first determined that panneuronal tomosyn knockdown by RNAi enhanced synaptic strength at the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction, by increasing the evoked response duration. We next assayed memory performance 3 min (early memory) and 3 h (late memory) after aversive olfactory learning. Whereas early memory was unaffected by tomosyn knockdown, late memory was reduced by 50%. Late memory is a composite of stable and labile components. Further analysis determined that tomosyn was specifically required for the anesthesia-sensitive, labile component, previously shown to require cAMP signaling via PKA in mushroom bodies. Together these data indicate that tomosyn has a conserved role in the regulation of synaptic transmission and provide behavioral evidence that tomosyn is involved in a specific component of late associative memory.
Clinical and genetic studies on 12 preaxial polydactyly families and refinement of the localisation of the gene responsible to a 1.9 cM region on chromosome 7q36

Polydactyly is the most frequently observed congenital hand malformation with a prevalence between 5 and 19 per 10 000 live births. It can occur as an isolated disorder, in association with other hand/foot malformations, or as a part of a syndrome, and is usually inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. According to its anatomical location, polydactyly can be generally subdivided into pre- and postaxial forms. Recently, a gene responsible for preaxial polydactyly types II and III, as well as complex polysyndactyly, has been localised to chromosome 7q36. In order to facilitate the search for the underlying genetic defect, we ascertained 12 additional families of different ethnic origin affected with preaxial polydactyly. Eleven of the kindreds investigated could be linked to chromosome 7q36, enabling us to refine the critical region for the preaxial polydactyly gene to a region of 1.9 cM. Our findings also indicate that radial and tibial dysplasia/aplasia can be associated with preaxial polydactyly on chromosome 7q36. Combining our results with other studies suggests that all non-syndromic preaxial polydactylies associated with triphalangism of the thumb are caused by a single genetic locus, but that there is genetic heterogeneity for preaxial polydactyly associated with duplications of biphalangeal thumbs. Comparison of the phenotypic and genetic findings of different forms of preaxial polydactyly is an important step in analysing and understanding the aetiology and pathogenesis of these limb malformations.
AT2 Receptors Attenuate AT1 Receptor-Induced Phospholipase D Activation in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Previous studies indicate that angiotensin (AT)1 receptor-induced activation of phospholipase D (PLD) may importantly contribute to vascular hypertrophy, injury, and contraction. However, the role of AT2 receptors in regulating AT1 receptor-induced PLD activation is unknown. In this study, we identified angiotensin II receptors on cultured preglomerular vascular smooth muscle cells (PGSMCs) from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and binding assays and examined their functional effects on angiotensin II-mediated PLD activity. Both RT-PCR and binding indicated that cultured SHR and WKY PGSMCs expressed AT1 and AT2 receptors, and the combined total of AT1 and AT2 receptors was similar between the strains. However, the number of AT1 and AT2 receptors differed between SHR and WKY PGSMCs in so much as the ratio of AT1 to AT2 receptors was approximately 1 to 1 and 3 to 1 in WKY and SHR PGSMCs, respectively. As previously reported, angiotensin II more potently activated PLD in SHR PGSMCs (SHR EC50 = 4 nM; WKY EC50 = 47 nM). Addition of an AT2 receptor-specific antagonist or agonist shifted the angiotensin II-mediated PLD concentration-response curve of WKY PGSMCs in a manner consistent with AT2 receptors producing an inhibitory signal. In contrast, in SHR little change was observed. Our findings indicate that the ratio of AT1 to AT2 receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells may be a determinant of the net effects of angiotensin II on PLD activity due to AT2-dependent inhibition of AT1-mediated PLD activity. Furthermore, cultured WKY PGSMCs provide an excellent model system to study endogenous AT2 receptor signal transduction.
An adjustable fuzzy power control architecture for a multi-rate WCDMA system

This paper describes an adjustable fuzzy power control architecture for a multi-rate WCDMA system. The adjustable fuzzy power control architecture is employed to adaptively control the transmission power and select the suitable transmission rate in the uplink transmission. Unlike the conventional power control mechanisms, the proposed power control architecture can dynamically adjust the membership function of the fuzzy system by the input signal-to-interference (SIR) error and the error change. The adjustment of the membership function can improve the system performance in a time-varying fading channel. In addition, the conventional Lagrangian relaxation method and the fuzzy power control architecture with fixed membership function were evaluated by computer simulations. According to the simulation results, the adjustable fuzzy power control architecture achieves a smaller outage probability and has a higher average transmission rate than those of the prior power control architectures in a wireless fading channel.
24-hour ambulatory pH-metry in patients with refractory heartburn: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic condition that affects a large proportion of population. The aim of our study was to determine what percentages of patients with persistent heartburn on acid suppressive therapy have evidence of reflux disease while off acid suppressive therapy. METHODS In a prospective study 48 patients with refractory heartburn from Taleghani Hospital were enrolled who had been on a double dose of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) for 8 weeks without improvement. Because of low index of suspicion for GERD as an etiology, all the patients underwent 24h pH-metry while off PPI. The variables of pH-metry such as the fraction time of pH <4 were evaluated by comparing to normal volunteers. RESULTS The mean "number of acid refluxes" was 49.98 in upright position and 6.29 in supine position. The mean "longest acid reflux" duration was 2.98 minutes in upright and 3.13 minutes in supine position. The total time fraction of pH <4 was 2.97% in upright position, 1.2 % in supine position and 2.74% in postprandial state. The mean DeMeester score was 10.06 (SD=10.48). However, the difference in the total fraction of time with pH <4 was not significant. CONCLUSION Our study showed that most of the patients with refractory heartburn did not have acid reflux. Patients with refractory heartburn often do not have evidence of reflux disease on pH monitoring, thus evaluating these patients should be performed while on acid suppressive therapy (using impedance-pH monitoring) in order to clarify the relationship between symptoms and acid and non-acid reflux.
Prediction Error Based Adaptive Jacobian Tracking for Free-Floating Space Manipulators

The work presented here investigates task-space trajectory tracking control for free-floating space robots with uncertain kinematics and dynamics. To deal with these two kinds of uncertainties, we propose a prediction error based adaptive Jacobian controller, which includes a modified task-space computed torque controller and two modified least-squares estimators. By defining a new variable that is termed as the estimate of the spacecraft angular acceleration, the proposed controller can work without requiring measurement of the spacecraft angular acceleration. The kinematic and dynamic parameter adaptations are driven by prediction errors. Using input-output stability analysis, we obtain explicit stability results of the closed-loop system and show the asymptotic convergence of the end-effector motion tracking errors of the free-floating manipulator. Furthermore, it is shown that the performance of the proposed controller has a tight relationship with the estimated generalized Jacobians of free-floating manipulators. Simulation results are presented to show the performance of the proposed controller, and in addition some implementation issues of the proposed control algorithm are discussed.
Variation in the triceps brachii muscle: A fourth muscular head

Routine cadaver dissection has resulted in the identification of a fourth head of the triceps brachii muscle on the left side in one specimen. This novel arrangement demonstrated a single tendon arising from the proximal posteromedial aspect of the humeral shaft, distal to the shoulder capsule. The tendon of this fourth head passed along the medial aspect of the humerus and gave way to a muscle belly on the medial surface of the distal one‐third of the humerus. The tendon of the fourth head passed directly over the neurovascular bundle containing the radial nerve and deep brachial artery at approximately the point where the neurovascular bundle entered the radial sulcus. This close positional relationship between the tendon of the fourth head, the radial nerve, and the deep brachial artery has prompted us to speculate on the possible clinical significance of this finding in relation to radial nerve palsy and arterial compression. Additionally, the position of the muscle belly, lying in close proximity to the ulnar groove, invites speculation on the role of the fourth head in cases of snapping elbow. To the authors' knowledge, a description of the muscular fourth head of the triceps as seen in the present work has not been noted in previous literature. Clin. Anat. 10:259–263, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss Inc.
Remarks on Automatic Algorithm Stabilization

This note is about a methodology utilizing inexact computation in conjunction with exact computation where the exact input is known and exact output is desired. The inexact computation is used to help avert the growth of intermediate expressions. This growth frequently makes using exact computation infeasible. We mention several existing applications and also mention where the methodology is not useful. We propose new directions where one can make effective use of the stabilization methodology.
Does stress increase imitation of drinking behavior? An experimental study in a (semi-)naturalistic context.

BACKGROUND That alcohol consumption is strongly influenced by the drinking behavior of social company has been demonstrated in observational research. However, not everyone is equally vulnerable to other people's drinking, and it is important to unravel which factors underlie these individual differences. This study focuses on the role of psychosocial stress in attempting to explain individual differences in the propensity to imitate alcohol consumption. METHODS With a 2 (confederate's drinking condition: alcohol vs. soda) × 2 (participant's stress condition: stress vs. no stress) experimental design, we tested whether the tendency to imitate other people's drinking was related to participants' induced stress levels. The young male adults (N = 106) were randomly assigned to each of the conditions. In each session, directly after the stress or no-stress period, confederates and participants entered a bar laboratory where we observed their drinking behavior. Prior to entering the session, confederates were instructed to drink alcohol or soda. RESULTS Participants in both stress and no-stress conditions consumed substantially more alcohol when confederates drank alcohol than when they drank soda. There was no difference in alcohol consumed between stress and no-stress conditions. No moderating effect of stress on the tendency to drink along with peers was found. CONCLUSIONS Generally, it appears that among young male adults, imitation of alcohol consumption is a robust phenomenon not dependent on individual stress levels.
Interactive concepts for shaping generative models of spatial behavior

A technique widely used in video based situation assessment, and especially in anomaly detection, is the analysis of spatial behavior in terms of motion profiles recorded along trajectories. An intuitive assessment metric is the deviation from normal behavior, where generative models are a natural choice for capturing the underlying statistics. Applying such outlier methods in open world scenarios has the drawback that long observation times are required, in order to fully determine the model, while underdetermined models are very prone to generate non-intuitive or wrong results. In order to address this problem, the usage of interactive concepts for supporting the learning process and refining learned models is proposed. Thereby, the method keeps track of automatically integrated observations and stochastic priors generated by examples provided by the user. Examples can be given in terms of individual labeled samples, or in terms of complex pdfs. The feasibility of the proposed approach is illustrated on the BIWI Walking Pedestrians dataset, using partitioned Gaussian mixture models as the generative model.
Biodegradation of polycyclic hydrocarbons by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The ability of the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are present in anthracene oil (a distillation product obtained from coal tar) was demonstrated. Analysis by capillary gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography showed that at least 22 PAHs, including all of the most abundant PAH components present in anthracene oil, underwent 70 to 100% disappearance during 27 days of incubation with nutrient nitrogen-limited cultures of this fungus. Because phenanthrene is the most abundant PAH present in anthracene oil, this PAH was selected for further study. In experiments in which [14C]phenanthrene was incubated with cultures of P. chrysosporium containing anthracene oil for 27 days, it was shown that 7.7% of the recovered radiolabeled carbon originally present in [14C]phenanthrene was metabolized to 14CO2 and 25.2% was recovered from the aqueous fraction, while 56.1 and 11.0% were recovered from the methylene chloride and particulate fractions, respectively. High-performance liquid chromatography of the 14C-labeled material present in the methylene chloride fraction revealed that most (91.9%) of this material was composed of polar metabolites of [14C]phenanthrene. These results suggest that this microorganism may be useful for the decontamination of sites in the environment contaminated with PAHs.
A fast and effective digital image copy move forgery detection with binarized SIFT

With the widespread use of digital images almost every field so authentication of them has become increasingly important. So researchers proposed various methods to cope with this issue recently. We proposed a new fast and effective method to cope with the digital image copy move forgery. In this method the keypoints and their descriptors are extracted from the input image by using Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm. For faster matching, the descriptor vectors are binarized 128 dimension to 128 bit and their hashing value are calculated. Then forged regions are detected by matching binarized descriptors with the same hash value. According to experimental results, the method detects forged regions on the images even if the forged image has undergone some post processing and preprocessing attacks.
An EM algorithm for obtaining maximum likelihood estimates in the multi‐phenotype variance components linkage model

In recent years variance components models have been developed for localising genes that contribute to human quantitative variation. In typical applications one assumes a multivariate normal model for phenotypes and estimates model parameters by maximum likelihood. For the joint analysis of several correlated phenotypes, however, finding the maximum likelihood estimates for an appropriate multivariate normal model can be a difficult computational task due to complex constraints among the model parameters. We propose an algorithm for computing maximum likelihood estimates in a multi‐phenotype variance components linkage model that readily accommodates these parameter constraints. Data simulated for Genetic Analysis Workshop 10 are used to demonstrate the potential increase in power to detect linkage that can be obtained if correlated phenotypes are analysed jointly rather than individually.
Engineered interfaces for enhanced oxidation/corrosion resistance of ultra thin pre-plated leadframes

Optimizing the elelctroplating condition, the thickness of a Pd layer in the Au/Pd/Ni/Cu pre-plated leadframe (PPF) is reduced to 8 -10 nm. Introducing a ~10 nm thick dense (Cu,Ni)3Sn intermetallic compound (IMC) layer in the PPF drastically reduces Cu out-diffusion and hence improves significantly the protection of the leadframes against oxidation and corrosion attack. The microstructural characterization results indicate that the success in the development of ultra-thin PPFs with a Ni layer thickness less than 200 nm is attributed to coherent/semi-coherent interfaces between the layers and the Sn-based IMC.