Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OOV-detection in large vocabulary system using automatically defined word-fragments as fillers

The problem of unknown words has been addressed using automatically generated ller fragments which augment the lexicon and are incorporated in the language model. These fragments are used to reduce the damage on in-vocabulary words, to detect OOV regions and to provide a phonetic transcription for these regions. The performance of this technique has been evaluated in terms of damage reduction error rate and OOV tagging rate. Signi cant improvements are reported on both measures. In particular, the in uence of an appropriate tuning of the language model factor and word penalties is demonstrated as well as the usefulness of using cross-word triphones over fragments boundaries.
A stochastic connectionist approach for global optimization with application to pattern clustering

In this paper, a stochastic connectionist approach is proposed for solving function optimization problems with real-valued parameters. With the assumption of increased processing capability of a node in the connectionist network, we show how a broader class of problems can be solved. As the proposed approach is a stochastic search technique, it avoids getting stuck in local optima. Robustness of the approach is demonstrated on several multi-modal functions with different numbers of variables. Optimization of a well-known partitional clustering criterion, the squared-error criterion (SEC), is formulated as a function optimization problem and is solved using the proposed approach. This approach is used to cluster selected data sets and the results obtained are compared with that of the K-means algorithm and a simulated annealing (SA) approach. The amenability of the connectionist approach to parallelization enables effective use of parallel hardware.
The likelihood decoder: Error exponents and mismatch

This paper studies likelihood decoding for channel coding over discrete memoryless channels. It is shown that the likelihood decoder recovers the same random-coding error exponents as the maximum-likelihood decoder for i.i. d. and constant-composition random codes. The role of mismatch in likelihood decoding is studied, and the notion of the mismatched likelihood decoder capacity is introduced. It is shown, both in the case of random coding and optimized codebooks, that the mismatched likelihood decoder can lead to strictly worse achievable rates and error exponents compared to the corresponding mismatched maximum-metric decoder.
Herbivory-induced volatiles function as defenses increasing fitness of the native plant Nicotiana attenuata in nature

From an herbivore's first bite, plants release herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) which can attract enemies of herbivores. However, other animals and competing plants can intercept HIPVs for their own use, and it remains unclear whether HIPVs serve as an indirect defense by increasing fitness for the emitting plant. In a 2-year field study, HIPV-emitting N. attenuata plants produced twice as many buds and flowers as HIPV-silenced plants, but only when native Geocoris spp. predators reduced herbivore loads (by 50%) on HIPV-emitters. In concert with HIPVs, plants also employ antidigestive trypsin protease inhibitors (TPIs), but TPI-producing plants were not fitter than TPI-silenced plants. TPIs weakened a specialist herbivore's behavioral evasive responses to simulated Geocoris spp. attack, indicating that TPIs function against specialists by enhancing indirect defense. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.00007. 001
Lunar Agglutinitic Glass Simulants with Nanophase Iron

Introduction: The adhering, abrasive, and pervasive nature of lunar dust presents many problems for ISRU and dust mitigation on the Moon [1]. Lunar soil contains a significant amount of agglutinitic glass (up to 50 wt%, [1, 2]) containing nanophase (np) Fe (npFe, Fig. 1a), which is formed by micrometeorite impact-induced melting, vaporization, and deposition [35]. The presence of np-Fe generates the observed magnetic susceptibility of lunar soil [1, 2, 5]. Recently, a startling and new discovery by Taylor and Meek [6, 7] revealed that a portion of lunar soil placed in a normal 2.45 GHz microwave oven will melt at >1200 C before your tea will boil at 100 C, caused by np-Fe. The magnetic properties of lunar soil are also important for dust mitigation on the Moon [e.g., 1]. Due to lack of availability of lunar soil, material simulating these lunar soil properties is required for testing different mitigation methods using electromagnetic fields. In addition, simulant with np-Fe in metastable glass is also necessary for toxilogocal studies.
A receiver based protecting protocol for wireless multi-hop networks

Nowadays most medium access protocols designed for wireless ad hoc networks are based on collision avoidance strategies like the CSMA/CA based IEEE 802.11 protocol. But these types of protocols are not designed for multi-hop scenarios -- the efficiency of the channel utilization is too low which results in, among others, large packet delays. One popular approach to increase the channel utilization is to reserve time slots along a transmission path, thus having a scheduled access. However, a major problem is interference from nearby nodes, although these nodes are not on the same route. This might lead to destruction of ongoing data receptions. In this paper we suggest a new reservation protocol, called JamTDMA. It offers protection against this effect by advertising the reservations in a larger neighborhood. We will show that this protocol allows to improve the rate of successfully received packets while assuring an upper bound for the end-to-end delay.
Inference in Text Understanding

The problem of deciding what was implied by a written text, of "reading between the lines" is the problem of inference. To extract proper inferences from a text requires a great deal of general knowledge on the part of the reader. Past approaches have often postulated an algorithm tuned to process a particular kind of knowledge structure (such as a script, or a plan). An alternative, unified approach is proposed. The algorithm recognizes six very general classes of inference, classes that are not dependent on individual knowledge structures, but instead rely on patterns of connectivity between concepts. The complexity has been effectively shifted from the algorithm to the knowledge base; new kinds of knowledge structures can be added without modifying the algorithm.
Prevalence of placenta previa among deliveries in Mainland China

Background:Placenta previa is characterized by the abnormal placenta overlying the endocervical os, and it is known as one of the most feared adverse maternal and fetal-neonatal complications in obstetrics. Objectives:We aimed to obtain overall and regional estimates of placenta previa prevalence among deliveries in Mainland China. Methods:The research was performed a systematic review, following the Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines for systematic reviews of observational studies, and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Electronic databases were searched and included hospital-based studies that reported placenta previa prevalence in Mainland China. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to pool prevalence estimates of placenta previa. Meta-regression analyses were performed to explore sources of heterogeneity across the included studies. For exploring the geographical distributions of placenta previa, the ArcGIS software (Esri) was used to construct the map of prevalence. Results:A total of 80 articles and 86 datasets (including 1,298,548 subjects and 14,199 placenta previa cases) from 1965 through 2015 were included. The pooled overall prevalence of placenta previa among deliveries was 1.24% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12–1.36) in Mainland China during 1965 to 2015. And, the trend in the prevalence of placenta previa was steady. The occurrence rate of placenta previa in the region groups Northeast, North, Northwest, Central China, East, South, and Southwest was 1.20%, 1.01%, 1.10%, 1.15%, 0.93%, 1.42%, and 2.01%, respectively. The prevalence map based on a geographic information system showed an unequal geographic distribution. Conclusions:The results showed that placenta previa is currently a high-burden disease in Mainland China. This review would be useful for the design of placenta previa planning and implementation adequate health care systems and treatment programs in Mainland China.
Exact formulations for the minimum interference problem in k-connected ad hoc wireless networks

Energy consumption is one of the most critical issues in wireless ad hoc and sensor networks. A considerable amount of energy is dissipated due to radio transmission power and interference (message collisions). A typical topology control technique aims at reducing energy consumption while ensuring specific desired properties to the established wireless network (such as biconnectivity). Energy minimization can be achieved by reducing the transmission power and selecting edges that suffer or cause less interference. We propose four integer programming formulations for the k-connected minimum wireless ad hoc interference problem, which consists in a topology control technique to find a power assignment to the nodes of an ad hoc wireless network such that the resulting network topology is k-vertex connected and the radio interference is minimum. Interference is measured by three different models: Boolean, protocol, and physical. We report computational experiments comparing the formulations and interference models. Optimal solutions for moderately sized networks are obtained using a commercial solver.
Frame alignment method for cross-lingual voice conversion

Most of the existing voice conversion methods calculate the optimal transformation function from a given set of paired acoustic vectors of the source and target speakers. The alignment of the phonetically equivalent source and target frames is problematic when the training corpus available is not parallel, although this is the most realistic situation. The alignment task is even more difficult in cross-lingual applications because the phoneme sets may be different in the involved languages. In this paper, a new iterative alignment method based on acoustic distances is proposed. The method is shown to be suitable for text-independent and cross-lingual voice conversion, and the conversion scores obtained in our evaluation experiments are not far from the performance achieved by using parallel training corpora.
Ferromagnetic insulator-based superconducting junctions as sensitive electron thermometers

We present an exhaustive theoretical analysis of charge and thermoelectric transport in a normal metal-ferromagnetic insulator-superconductor (NFIS) junction, and explore the possibility of its use as a sensitive thermometer. We investigated the transfer functions and the intrinsic noise performance for different measurement configurations. A common feature of all configurations is that the best temperature noise performance is obtained in the non-linear temperature regime for a structure based on an europium chalcogenide ferromagnetic insulator in contact with a superconducting Al film structure. For an open-circuit configuration, although the maximal intrinsic temperature sensitivity can achieve $10$nKHz$^{-1/2}$, a realistic amplifying chain will reduce the sensitivity up to $10$$\mu$KHz$^{-1/2}$. To overcome this limitation we propose a measurement scheme in a closed-circuit configuration based on state-of-art SQUID detection technology in an inductive setup. In such a case we show that temperature noise can be as low as $35$nKHz$^{-1/2}$. We also discuss a temperature-to-frequency converter where the obtained thermo-voltage developed over a Josephson junction operated in the dissipative regime is converted into a high-frequency signal. We predict that the structure can generate frequencies up to $\sim 120$GHz, and transfer functions up to $200$GHz/K at around $\sim 1$K. If operated as electron thermometer, the device may provide temperature noise lower than $35$nKHz$^{-1/2}$ thereby being potentially attractive for radiation sensing applications.
SURFACE RECONSTRUCTION USING ACTIVE CONTOUR MODELS Laurent COHEN Eric BARDINET Nicholas AYACHE Fevrier 1993 Surface Reconstruction using Active Contour Models Reconstruction de Surface a l'aide de Mod eles de Contours Actifs

Variational Methods have been frequently used for surface reconstruction and contour extraction (snakes). We present a surface reconstruction method where we assume the surface composed of two regions of di erent types of smoothness. One region of the surface models a \lake" (constant height region with uphill borders). It is surrounded by the other background region which is reconstructed using classic surface regularization. The boundary between the two regions, represented by a closed curve is determined with the help of an active contour model. Then the surface is reconstructed by minimizing the energy terms in each region. Minimizing a global energy de ned on the couple of unknowns { boundary curve and surface{ permits to introduce other forces on the curve. The surface reconstruction and contour extraction tasks are then made together. We have applied this model for segmenting a synthetic Digital Terrain Model (DTM) image which represents a noisy mountain and lake.
Decreased expression of miR‐125b and miR‐100 in oral cancer cells contributes to malignancy

Altered microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been observed in numerous malignancies, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, their role in disease is not entirely clear. Several genetic aberrations are characteristic of OSCC, with amplification of chromosomal band 11q13 and loss of distal 11q being among the most prevalent. It is not known if the expression levels of miRNAs in these regions are altered or whether they play a role in disease. We hypothesize that the expression of miRNAs mapping to 11q are altered in OSCC because of loss or amplification of chromosomal material, and that this contributes to the development and progression of OSCC. We found that miR‐125b and miR‐100 are down‐regulated in OSCC tumor and cell lines, and that transfecting cells with exogenous miR‐125b and miR‐100 significantly reduced cell proliferation and modified the expression of target and nontarget genes, including some that are overexpressed in radioresistant OSCC cells. In conclusion, the down‐regulation of miR‐125b and miR‐100 in OSCC appears to play an important role in the development and/or progression of disease and may contribute to the loss of sensitivity to ionizing radiation. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A conceptual framework of impression management: new insights from psychology, sociology and critical perspectives

In this paper we develop a conceptual framework, based on the concepts of rationality and motivation, which uses theories and empirical research from psychology/behavioural finance, sociology and critical accounting to systematise, advance and challenge research on impression management. The paper focuses on research that departs from economic concepts of impression management as opportunistic managerial discretionary disclosure behaviour resulting in reporting bias or ‘cheap talk’. Using alternative rationality assumptions, such as bounded rationality, irrationality, substantive rationality and the notion of rationality as a social construct, we conceptualise impression management in alternative ways as (1) self-serving bias, (2) symbolic management and (3) accounting rhetoric. This contributes to an enhanced understanding of impression management in a corporate reporting context.
A Novel Telomerase Activator Suppresses Lung Damage in a Murine Model of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

The emergence of diseases associated with telomere dysfunction, including AIDS, aplastic anemia and pulmonary fibrosis, has bolstered interest in telomerase activators. We report identification of a new small molecule activator, GRN510, with activity ex vivo and in vivo. Using a novel mouse model, we tested the potential of GRN510 to limit fibrosis induced by bleomycin in mTERT heterozygous mice. Treatment with GRN510 at 10 mg/kg/day activated telomerase 2–4 fold both in hematopoietic progenitors ex vivo and in bone marrow and lung tissue in vivo, respectively. Telomerase activation was countered by co-treatment with Imetelstat (GRN163L), a potent telomerase inhibitor. In this model of bleomycin-induced fibrosis, treatment with GRN510 suppressed the development of fibrosis and accumulation of senescent cells in the lung via a mechanism dependent upon telomerase activation. Treatment of small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) or lung fibroblasts ex vivo with GRN510 revealed telomerase activating and replicative lifespan promoting effects only in the SAEC, suggesting that the mechanism accounting for the protective effects of GRN510 against induced lung fibrosis involves specific types of lung cells. Together, these results support the use of small molecule activators of telomerase in therapies to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Redundant Floating-Point Decimal CORDIC Algorithm

In this work, we propose a new decimal redundant CORDIC algorithm to manage transcendental functions, using floating-point representation. The algorithms determine the direction of the elementary rotation using sign estimations. Unlike binary redundant CORDIC, repetition of iterations are not required to ensure convergence since novel decimal codes have been carefully selected with sufficient redundancy to prevent any repetition. The algorithms are mapped to a low-cost unit based on a decimal 3-2 carry-save adder which can also be used as a floating-point decimal division unit. Compared to current decimal floating-point units, the implementation of our algorithm involves minor modifications of the native hardware, while providing a huge set of elementary functions.
File Access Prediction Using Neural Networks

One of the most vexing issues in design of a high-speed computer is the wide gap of access times between the memory and the disk. To solve this problem, static file access predictors have been used. In this paper, we propose dynamic file access predictors using neural networks to significantly improve upon the accuracy, success-per-reference, and effective-success-rate-per-reference by using neural-network-based file access predictor with proper tuning. In particular, we verified that the incorrect prediction has been reduced from 53.11% to 43.63% for the proposed neural network prediction method with a standard configuration than the recent popularity (RP) method. With manual tuning for each trace, we are able to improve upon the misprediction rate and effective-success-rate-per-reference using a standard configuration. Simulations on distributed file system (DFS) traces reveal that exact fit radial basis function (RBF) gives better prediction in high end system whereas multilayer perceptron (MLP) trained with Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) backpropagation outperforms in system having good computational capability. Probabilistic and competitive predictors are the most suitable for work stations having limited resources to deal with and the former predictor is more efficient than the latter for servers having maximum system calls. Finally, we conclude that MLP with LM backpropagation algorithm has better success rate of file prediction than those of simple perceptron, last successor, stable successor, and best k out of m predictors.
Towards using expressive performance algorithms for typist emotion detection

The most common interface for detailed information communication by computer is the QWERTY keyboard. However users have been shown to be notoriously bad at communicating their emotional state when typing emails or SMS messages – hence the reason for so many misunderstood messages, and for netiquette and emoticons. In studies of expressive performance, it has been shown that there are consistencies in the playing styles of pianists and the emotion they are trying to express. There has been initial work on algorithms to emulate such emotional playing styles on computers, and to detect emotion playing styles from MIDI transcripts. These include such elements as tempo and loudness. The emotional playing styles are thought to be related to – amongst other things the performer’s emotional state and the biophysical limitations involved in utilizing a piano keyboard. We propose examining whether such performance emotion detection algorithms can be utilized in examining the emotional state in real-time of a typist using a QWERTY keyboard. Such data would be useful in Human-Computer Interaction studies, and automated emoticon generation systems – amongst others. It also leads naturally to proposals for a protocol for emotional ASCII transmission based on the MIDI protocol.
X-Ray Repair Cross-Complementing Group 1 (XRCC1) Genetic Polymorphisms and Risk of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Meta-Analysis

Background Recently, there have been a number of studies on the association between XRCC1 polymorphisms and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) risk. However, the results of previous reports are inconsistent. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to clarify the effects of XRCC1 variants on childhood ALL risk. Methods A meta-analysis was performed to examine the association between XRCC1 polymorphisms (Arg399Gln, Arg194Trp, and Arg280His) and childhood ALL risk. We critically reviewed 7 studies with a total of 880 cases and 1311 controls for Arg399Gln polymorphism, 3 studies with a total of 345 cases and 554 controls for Arg280His polymorphism, and 6 studies with a total of 783 cases and 1180 controls for Arg194Trp polymorphism, respectively. Odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used. Results Significant association between XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and childhood ALL risk was observed in total population analyses (ORadditive model = 1.501, 95% CI 1.112–2.026, POR = 0.008; ORdominant model = 1.316, 95% CI = 1.104–1.569, POR = 0.002) and Asian subgroup analyses (ORadditive model = 2.338, 95%CI = 1.254–4.359, POR = 0.008; ORdominant model = 2.108, 95%CI = 1.498–2.967, POR = 0.000). No association was detected in Caucasians, Metizo and mixed populations. Ethnicity was considered as a significant source of heterogeneity in the meta-regression model. For the other two XRCC1 polymorphisms, no association with childhood ALL risk was found. Conclusions The meta-analysis results suggested that XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism might be associated with elevated childhood ALL risk among Asian population.