Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chinese dialect identification using an acoustic-phonotactic model

In this paper we develop hidden Markov model (HMM) based approaches to identify Chinese dialects spoken in Taiwan. This task can be aided by exploiting various characteristic features of Chinese spoken languages. The baseline system performs phonotactic analysis after the speech utterance is tokenized into a sequence of five broad phonetic classes. The sequential statistics of the resulting symbols are then used to distinguish one dialect from another. The second approach we tested is to incorporate dialect-dependent phonotactic constraints into the phonetic tokenization rather than applying these constraints after the broad phonetic classification is complete. These algorithms were evaluated using a multispeaker speech corpus of text-independent spontaneous speech data. Simulation results indicate that the acousticphonotactic approach to dialect identification yields better performance with an average identification rate of 89.6%, compared to 70% for the baseline system.
Modulation of intestinal estrogen receptor by ovariectomy, estrogen and growth hormone.

Ovarian hormone deficiency decreases and estrogen (E2) and growth hormone (GH) administrations increase intestinal absorption of calcium (Ca++). However, the underlying mechanisms are uncertain. To examine whether alterations in the binding characteristics of intestinal estrogen receptors (ERs) are involved, we developed and validated methods for simultaneous measurement of intestinal ERs in cytosolic and nuclear fractions and applied these techniques to four groups of female rats: sham-operated, ovariectomized (Ovx), Ovx + 5 micrograms E2/kg b.wt. /day and Ovx + 8 mg GH/kg. b.wt. /day. All animals were killed on day 21, and mucosal cells harvested from the duodenum for ER determination. The cytosolic and nuclear ERs were 117.2 +/- 2.7 fmol/mg protein and 64.9 +/- 1.2 fmol/mg DNA, respectively, in sham-operated rats and decreased by 16.1% and 17.0% to 98.4 +/- 1.7 fmol/mg protein and 53.8 +/- 1.3 fmol/mg DNA, respectively in Ovx rats (P < .001). E2 therapy prevented completely the decrease in cytosolic and nuclear ERs that occurred in Ovx rat (126.1 +/- 2.9 fmol/mg protein and 68.0 +/- 3.0 fmol/mg DNA, respectively, in the E2-treated group). Similarly, GH administration prevented the decrease in cytosolic and nuclear ERs that resulted from ovariectomy (119.2 +/- 3.2 fmol/mg protein and 63.4 +/- 1.3 fmol/mg DNA, respectively, in the GH-treated group). The Kd of nuclear ER-ligand complex was 2.0 +/- 0.03 nM in sham-operated rats and was slightly modulated by Ovx, E2 and GH (3.3 +/- 0.02, 2.33 +/- 0.09 and 2.23 +/- 0.04 nM, respectively, P < .001), but the Kd of cytosolic ER-ligand complex was not altered by Ovx, E2 or GH. Our findings indicate that E2 deficiency down-regulates, whereas E2 and GH administrations up-regulate intestinal ERs and prevent ovariectomy-induced decrease in receptor binding affinity. We conclude that E2 deficiency, E2 and GH may modulate intestinal Ca++ absorption, in part, by altering the abundance and binding characteristics of intestinal ERs.
The Geometry of Projective Reconstruction I: Matching Constraints and the Joint Image

This paper studies the geometry of perspective projection into multiple images and the matching constraints that this induces between the images. The combined projections produce a 3D subspace of the space of combined image coordinates called the joint image. This is a complete projective replica of the 3D world defined entirely in terms of image coordinates, up to an arbitrary choice of certain scale factors. Projective reconstruction is a canonical process in the joint image requiring only the rescaling of image coordinates. The matching constraints tell whether a set of image points is the projection of a single world point. In 3D there are only three types of matching constraint: the fundamental matrix, Shashua's trilinear tensor, and a new quadrilinear 4 image tensor. All of these fit into a single geometric object, the joint image Grassmannian tensor. This encodes exactly the information needed for reconstruction: the location of the joint image in the space of combined image coordinates.
AN IMMUNOFLUORESCENT STUDY OF CIRCULATING ANTI‐LIVER ANTIBODIES IN CHRONIC LIVER DISEASES

A modified indirect Coons' immunofluorescent technic was used to determine whether or not there exist circulating anti‐liver tissue antibodies in the sera of 20 patients with various chronic liver diseases and 25 patients other than liver diseases. The normal liver tissue obtained from victims of traffic accident within 3 hours of death was used as antigen.
Channel flow and the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen: a critical review

The movement of a low-viscosity crustal layer in response to topographic loading provides a potential mechanism for (1) eastward flow of the Asian lower crust causing the peripheral growth of the Tibetan Plateau and (2) southward flow of the Indian middle crust to be extruded along the Himalayan topographic front. Thermomechanical models for channel flow link such extrusion to focused orographic precipitation at the surface. Isotopic constraints on the timing of fault movement, anatexis and thermobarometric evolution of the exhumed garnet- to sillimanite-grade metasedimentary rocks support mid-crustal channel flow during the Early to Mid-Miocene. Exhumed metamorphic assemblages suggest that the dominant mechanism of the viscosity reduction that is a requirement for channel flow was melt weakening along the upper surface, defined by the South Tibetan Detachment System, and strain softening along the base, bounded by the Main Central Thrust. Neotectonic extrusion, bounded by brittle Quaternary faults south of the Main Central Thrust, is positively correlated with the spatial distribution of precipitation across a north–south transect, suggesting climate–tectonic linkage over a million-year time scale. A proposed orogen-wide eastward increase in extrusion rate over 20 Ma reflects current precipitation patterns but climate–tectonic linkage over this time scale remains equivocal.
Modulating the Folding of P-Glycoprotein and Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Truncation Mutants with Pharmacological Chaperones

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) are ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters that have two transmembrane domains (TMDs) and two nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs). Defective folding of CFTR lacking phenylalanine 508 (ΔPhe508) in NBD1 is the most common cause of cystic fibrosis. The Phe508 position seems to be universally important in ABC transporters because deletion of the equivalent residue (Tyr490) in P-gp also inhibits maturation of the protein. The pharmacological chaperone VRT-325 can repair the ΔPhe508-type folding defects in P-gp or CFTR. VRT-325 may repair the folding defects by promoting dimerization of the two NBDs or by promoting folding of the TMDs. To distinguish between these two mechanisms, we tested the ability of VRT-325 to promote folding of truncation mutants lacking one or both NBDs. Sensitivity to glycosidases was used as an indirect indicator of folding. It was found that VRT-325 could promote maturation of truncation mutants lacking NBD2. Truncation mutants of CFTR or P-gp lacking both NBDs showed deficiencies in core-glycosylation that could be partially reversed by carrying out expression in the presence of VRT-325. The results show that dimerization of the two NBDs to form a “nucleotide-sandwich” structure or NBD interactions with the TMDs are not essential for VRT-325 enhancement of folding. Instead, VRT-325 can promote folding of the TMDs alone. The ability of VRT-325 to promote core-glycosylation of the NBD-less truncation mutants suggests that one mechanism whereby the compound enhances folding is by promoting proper insertion of TM segments attached to the glycosylated loops so that they adopt an orientation favorable for glycosylation.
Cooperative control between AtRGS1 and AtHXK1 in a WD40-repeat protein pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

HEXOKINASE 1 (AtHXK1) and Regulator of G-protein Signaling 1 (AtRGS1) pathways, mediate D-glucose signaling in Arabidopsis. However, it is not known the degree, if any, that these pathways overlap and how. We show modest signaling crosstalk between these pathways, albeit complex with both epistatic interactions and additive effects that may be indirect. The action of HXK1 on AtRGS1 signaling lies downstream of the primary step in G protein-mediated sugar signaling in which the WD-repeat protein, AGB1, is the propelling signaling element. RHIP1, a previously unknown protein predicted here to have a 3-stranded helical structure, interacts with both AtRGS1 and AtHXK1 in planta and is required for some glucose-regulated gene expression, providing a physical connection between these two proteins in sugar signaling. The rhip1 null mutant displays similar seedling growth phenotypes as rgs1-2 in response to glucose, further suggesting a role for RHIP1 in glucose signaling. In conclusion, glucose signaling is a complex hierarchical relationship which is specific to the target gene and sugar phenotype and suggests that there are two glycolysis-independent glucose signaling sensors: AtRGS1 and AtHXK1 that weakly communicate with each other via feed-back and feed-forward loops to fine tune the response to glucose.
Superresolution modeling using an omnidirectional image sensor

Recently, many virtual reality and robotics applications have been called on to create virtual environments from real scenes. A catadioptric omnidirectional image sensor composed of a convex mirror can simultaneously observe a 360-degree field of view making it useful for modeling man-made environments such as rooms, corridors, and buildings, because any landmarks around the sensor can be taken in and tracked in its large field of view. However, the angular resolution of the omnidirectional image is low because of the large field of view captured. Hence, the resolution of surface texture patterns on the three-dimensional (3-D) scene model generated is not sufficient for monitoring details. To overcome this, we propose a high resolution scene texture generation method that combines an omnidirectional image sequence using image mosaic and superresolution techniques.
A Novel, Evolutionarily Conserved Protein Phosphatase Complex Involved in Cisplatin Sensitivity*S

Using a combination of tandem affinity purification tagging and mass spectrometry, we characterized a novel, evolutionarily conserved protein phosphatase 4 (PP4)-containing complex (PP4cs, protein phosphatase 4, cisplatin-sensitive complex) that plays a critical role in the eukaryotic DNA damage response. PP4cs is comprised of the catalytic subunit PP4C; a known regulatory subunit, PP4R2; and a novel protein that we termed PP4R3. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae PP4R3 ortholog Psy2 was identified previously in a screen for sensitivity to the DNA-damaging agent and anticancer drug cisplatin. We demonstrated that deletion of any of the PP4cs complex orthologs in S. cerevisiae elicited cisplatin hypersensitivity. Furthermore human PP4R3 complemented the yeast psy2 deletion, and Drosophila melanogaster lacking functional PP4R3 (flfl) exhibited cisplatin hypersensitivity, suggesting a highly conserved role for PP4cs in DNA damage repair. Finally we found that PP4R3 may target PP4cs to the DNA damage repair machinery at least in part via an interaction with Rad53 (CHK2).
Assessment of the dynamic interactions between heart rate and arterial pressure by the cross time–frequency analysis

In this study, a framework for the characterization of the dynamic interactions between RR variability (RRV) and systolic arterial pressure variability (SAPV) is proposed. The methodology accounts for the intrinsic non-stationarity of the cardiovascular system and includes the assessment of both the strength and the prevalent direction of local coupling. The smoothed pseudo-Wigner–Ville distribution (SPWVD) is used to estimate the time–frequency (TF) power, coherence, and phase-difference spectra with fine TF resolution. The interactions between the signals are quantified by time-varying indices, including the local coupling, phase differences, time delay, and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). Every index is extracted from a specific TF region, localized by combining information from the different spectra. In 14 healthy subjects, a head-up tilt provoked an abrupt decrease in the cardiovascular coupling; a rapid change in the phase difference (from 0.37 ± 0.23 to −0.27 ± 0.22 rad) and time delay (from 0.26 ± 0.14 to −0.16 ± 0.16 s) in the high-frequency band; and a decrease in the BRS (from 23.72 ± 7.66 to 6.92 ± 2.51 ms mmHg−1). In the low-frequency range, during a head-up tilt, restoration of the baseline level of cardiovascular coupling took about 2 min and SAPV preceded RRV by about 0.85 s during the whole test. The analysis of the Eurobavar data set, which includes subjects with intact as well as impaired baroreflex, showed that the presented methodology represents an improved TF generalization of traditional time-invariant methodologies and can reveal dysfunctions in subjects with baroreflex impairment. Additionally, the results also suggest the use of non-stationary signal-processing techniques to analyze signals recorded under conditions that are usually supposed to be stationary.
Towards an Analytics-Driven Information Security Risk Management: a contingent Resource based Perspective

Information security risk management (ISRM) is a continuous process that integrates identification and analysis of risks to which an organisation is exposed, assessment of likelihood of potential threats and their impact on the business, and deciding what actions need to be taken to eliminate or reduce risk to an acceptable level. Our review of the literature highlights two trends in organizational practice of ISRM: (1) security risks are not analysed and monitored continuously and historically (2) security risks are assessed based on speculation rather than evidence. Business analytics (BA) provides organizations with a unique opportunity to develop specialised capabilities (security analytics) and thereby enable the practice of analytics-driven evidence-based decision making in ISRM. In this study, we utilize a contingent resource based view to develop a research model that explains how security analytics capabilities and ISRM capabilities indirectly influence enterprise security performance through mediating role of analytics-driven ISRM capabilities. Risk assessment complexity moderates the process by which security analytics capabilities and ISRM capabilities influence the enterprise security performance. The model is defined based on an extensive analysis of BA and ISRM literature. The model provides a foundation for future empirical work including multiple case studies and a survey.
Metacrate: Organize and Analyze Millions of Data Profiles

Databases are one of the great success stories in IT. However, they have been continuously increasing in complexity, hampering operation, maintenance, and upgrades. To face this complexity, sophisticated methods for schema summarization, data cleaning, information integration, and many more have been devised that usually rely on data profiles, such as data statistics, signatures, and integrity constraints. Such data profiles are often extracted by automatic algorithms, which entails various problems: The profiles can be unfiltered and huge in volume; different profile types require different complex data structures; and the various profile types are not integrated with each other. We introduce Metacrate, a system to store, organize, and analyze data profiles of relational databases, thereby following the proven design of databases. In particular, we (i) propose a logical and a physical data model to store all kinds of data profiles in a scalable fashion; (ii) describe an analytics layer to query, integrate, and analyze the profiles efficiently; and (iii) implement on top a library of established algorithms to serve use cases, such as schema discovery, database refactoring, and data cleaning.
Performance Analysis of Buffering Schemes on Wormhole Routers

Wormhole switched input-buffered and middle-buffered routers with virtual channels are analyzed in this paper. Middle buffering refers to the placement of virtual channels between the demultiplexors and multiplexors of a crossbar switch. An analytical model for multistage interconnection networks using middle-buffered switches is developed. In addition, extensive simulation is conducted to assess the performance of the two buffering techniques in different network topologies. The study demonstrates that middle buffering with virtual channels provides better performance than input buffering with virtual channels in multistage interconnection networks, two-dimensional meshes, and hypercubes.
Mariño-Vafa formula and Hodge integral identities

Based on string duality Marino and Vafa [10] conjectured a closed formula on certain Hodge integrals in terms of representations of symmetric groups. This formula was first explicitly written down by the third author in [13] and proved in joint work [8] of the authors of the present paper. For a different approach see [12]. Our proof follows the strategy of proving both sides of the equation satisfy the same cut-and-join equation and have the same initial values. In this note we will describe a proof of the ELSV formula relating Hurwitz numbers and Hodge integrals:
K-means based Image denoising using bilateral filtering and total variation

Bilateral filter and Total variation image denoising are widely used in image denoising. In low noisy level, bilateral filtering is better than TV denoising for it reveals better SNR and sharper edges. However, in high noisy level, TV denoising outperforms bilateral filtering in terms of SNR and more details of non edges. It is very difficult to perform denoising of a very noisy image for the resulted image rarely improves its SNR comparing to the original noisy one. Even though Total variation image denoising could be used for a very noisy image, the resulted SNR still needs some improvement. In this research, the K-means-based Bilateral-TV denoising (K-BiTV) approach using pixel-wise bilateral filtering and TV denoising has been derived based on the gradient magnitude calculation of the guideline map using K-means clusters. The denoising result of K-BiTV was depended on the level of noise density and the appropriate cluster. The experimental result showed that comparing to the conventional TV denoising and bilateral filter, K-BiTV gave the higher SNRs for some images with higher level of noise density.
Joint clustering-based resource allocation and power control in dense small cell networks

Cell range expansion (CRE) technique has been introduced into heterogeneous networks (HetNet) to perform load balance. However, small cell CRE user equipments (UEs) may suffer severe downlink (DL) co-tier interference and cross-tier interference in dense small cell environment. In this paper, we present a joint clustering-based resource allocation and power control scheme to mitigate interference CRE UEs suffer. Firstly, we divide the dense small cells into different clusters by the graph coloring algorithm (GCA). Then we coordinate frequency resource allocation among different clusters and macrocells, which can better reuse resource blocks (RBs). After that, SBSs in some clusters reduce power to mitigate the co-tier interference. Meanwhile, in order to alleviate the cross-tier interference, a utility function combining interference and throughput is calculated to find the optimal transmission power of macro base stations (MBSs) by differential evolution (DE) theory. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can significantly improve the CRE UEs throughput with slight sacrifice of the macro throughput.
Graspable user interfaces

This dissertation defines and explores Graspable User Interfaces, an evolution of the input mechanisms used in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). A Graspable UI design provides users concurrent access to multiple, specialized input devices which can serve as dedicated physical interface widgets, affording physical manipulation and spatial arrangements. Like conventional GUIs, physical devices function as "handles" or manual controllers for logical functions on widgets in the interface. However, the notion of the Graspable UI builds on current practice in a number of ways. With conventional GUIs, there is typically only one graphical input device, such as a mouse. Hence, the physical handle is necessarily "time-multiplexed," being repeatedly attached and unattached to the various logical functions of the GUI. A significant aspect of the Graspable UI is that there can be more than one input device. Hence input control can then be "space-multiplexed. " That is, different devices can be attached to different functions, each independently (but possibly simultaneously) accessible. This, then affords the capability to take advantage of the shape, size and position of the physical controller to increase functionality and decrease complexity. It also means that the potential persistence of attachment of a device to a function can be increased. By using physical objects, we not only allow users to employ a larger expressive range of gestures and grasping behaviors but also to leverage off of a user's innate spatial reasoning skills and everyday knowledge of object manipulations. In this thesis the concept of Graspable user interfaces is defined. Support for the concept is provided from the psychological literature. Instantiations of the concept are found in existing user interfaces. A task analysis of an existing interface's input activities and how to convert these to Graspable user interface devices is presented. The possible uses and implementation difficulties of bricks, a specific Graspable user interface are investigated. Finally, the advantages of two of the Graspable UI properties over conventional time-multiplexed generic input devices is measured by two controlled experiments.
Cerebral vasomotor reactivity and dementia after ischemic stroke

Gur AY, Gücüyener D, Korczyn AD, Üzüner N, Gilutz Y, Özdemir G, Bornstein NM. Cerebral vasomotor reactivity and dementia after ischemic stroke. Acta Neurol Scand: 2010: 122: 383–388. © 2010 The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Munksgaard.
Morphological changes (including filamentation) in Escherichia coli grown under starvation conditions on silicon wafers and other surfaces

Using a scanning electron microscope, pleomorphism (notably filamentation) was seen when Escherichia coli was grown under starvation conditions for 14 d on microporous silicon wafers, titanium, glass and plastic discs. Under these conditions, the ‘standard’, rod shaped cell (1–3 μm) failed to separate after division and filaments developed, some as long as 50 μm, with many showing bulbous tips. Filamentation began to occur 5 d after the imposition of starvation conditions. Dumbbell shaped cells were also observed, although apparent ‘Y’ and ‘V’‐shaped cells proved to be artefacts, caused by overlapping rods. The implications of the appearance of pleomorphism in E. coli, when grown under starvation conditions, is discussed in relation to its pathogenicity and growth in the environment.