Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combining Statistical Parameteric Speech Synthesis and Unit-Selection for Automatic Voice Cloning

The ability to use the recorded audio of a subject’s voice to produce an open-domain synthesis system has generated much interest both in academic research and in commercial speech technology. The ability to produce synthetic versions of a subjects voice has potential commercial applications, such as virtual celebrity actors, or potential clinical applications, such as offering a synthetic replacement voice in the case of a laryngectomy. Recent developments in HMM-based speech synthesis have shown it is possible to produce synthetic voices from quite small amounts of speech data. However, mimicking the depth and variation of a speaker’s prosody as well as synthesising natural voice quality is still a challenging research problem. In contrast, unit-selection systems have shown it is possible to strongly retain the character of the voice but only with sufficient original source material. Often this runs into hours and may require significant manual checking and labelling. In this paper we will present two state of the art systems, an HMM based system HTS-2007, developed by CSTR and Nagoya Institute Technology, and a commercial unit-selection system CereVoice, developed by Cereproc. Both systems have been used to mimic the voice of George W. Bush (43rd president of the United States) using freely available audio from the web. In addition we will present a hybrid system which combines both technologies. We demonstrate examples of synthetic voices created from 10, 40 and 210 minutes of randomly selected speech. We will then discuss the underlying problems associated with voice cloning using found audio, and the scalability of our solution.
Identification of genetic loci that contribute to Campylobacter resistance to fowlicidin-1, a chicken host defense peptide

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are critical components of host defense limiting bacterial infections at the gastrointestinal mucosal surface. Bacterial pathogens have co-evolved with host innate immunity and developed means to counteract the effect of endogenous AMPs. However, molecular mechanisms of AMP resistance in Campylobacter, an important human food-borne pathogen with poultry as a major reservoir, are still largely unknown. In this study, random transposon mutagenesis and targeted site-directed mutagenesis approaches were used to identify genetic loci contributing Campylobacter resistance to fowlicidin-1, a chicken AMP belonging to cathelicidin family. An efficient transposon mutagenesis approach (EZ::TN™ Transposome) in conjunction with a microtiter plate screening identified three mutants whose susceptibilities to fowlicidin-1 were significantly increased. Backcrossing of the transposon mutations into parent strain confirmed that the AMP-sensitive phenotype in each mutant was linked to the specific transposon insertion. Direct sequencing showed that these mutants have transposon inserted in the genes encoding two-component regulator CbrR, transporter CjaB, and putative trigger factor Tig. Genomic analysis also revealed an operon (Cj1580c-1584c) that is homologous to sapABCDF, an operon conferring resistance to AMP in other pathogens. Insertional inactivation of Cj1583c (sapB) significantly increased susceptibility of Campylobacter to fowlicidin-1. The sapB as well as tig and cjaB mutants were significantly impaired in their ability to compete with their wild-type strain 81–176 to colonize the chicken cecum. Together, this study identified four genetic loci in Campylobacter that will be useful for characterizing molecular basis of Campylobacter resistance to AMPs, a significant knowledge gap in Campylobacter pathogenesis.
Novel Protective Role of Endogenous Cardiac Myocyte P2X4 Receptors in Heart Failure

Background—Heart failure (HF), despite continuing progress, remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. P2X4 receptors (P2X4R) have emerged as potentially important molecules in regulating cardiac function and as potential targets for HF therapy. Transgenic P2X4R overexpression can protect against HF, but this does not explain the role of native cardiac P2X4R. Our goal is to define the physiological role of endogenous cardiac myocyte P2X4R under basal conditions and during HF induced by myocardial infarction or pressure overload. Methods and Results—Mice established with conditional cardiac-specific P2X4R knockout were subjected to left anterior descending coronary artery ligation–induced postinfarct or transverse aorta constriction–induced pressure overload HF. Knockout cardiac myocytes did not show P2X4R by immunoblotting or by any response to the P2X4R-specific allosteric enhancer ivermectin. Knockout hearts showed normal basal cardiac function but depressed contractile performance in postinfarct and pressure overload models of HF by in vivo echocardiography and ex vivo isolated working heart parameters. P2X4R coimmunoprecipitated and colocalized with nitric oxide synthase 3 (eNOS) in wild-type cardiac myocytes. Mice with cardiac-specific P2X4R overexpression had increased S-nitrosylation, cyclic GMP, NO formation, and were protected from postinfarct and pressure overload HF. Inhibitor of eNOS, L-N5-(1-iminoethyl)ornithine hydrochloride, blocked the salutary effect of cardiac P2X4R overexpression in postinfarct and pressure overload HF as did eNOS knockout. Conclusions—This study establishes a new protective role for endogenous cardiac myocyte P2X4R in HF and is the first to demonstrate a physical interaction between the myocyte receptor and eNOS, a mediator of HF protection.
Heart Disease Death Rates in Low Versus High Land Elevation Counties in the U.S

Previous research on land elevation and cancer death rates in the U.S. revealed lower cancer death rates in higher elevations. The present study further tests the possible effect of land elevation on a diffident health outcome, namely, heart disease death rates. U.S. counties not overlapping in their land elevations according to their lowest and highest elevation points were identified. Using an ecological design, heart disease death rates for two races (black and white) corresponding to lower elevation counties were compared to heart disease death rates in higher land elevation counties using the two-sample t-test and effect size statistics. Death rates in higher land elevation counties for both races were lower compared to the death rates in lower land elevation counties (p < 0.001) with large effect sizes (of > 0.70). Since this is an observational study, no causal inference is claimed, and further research is indicated to verify these findings.
Centre for Practical Quantitative Finance CPQF Working Paper Series No . 20 FX Volatility Smile Construction Dimitri Reiswich

The foreign exchange options market is one of the largest and most liquid OTC derivative markets in the world. Surprisingly, very little is known in the academic literature about the construction of the most important object in this market: The implied volatility smile. The smile construction procedure and the volatility quoting mechanisms are FX specific and differ significantly from other markets. We give a detailed overview of these quoting mechanisms and introduce the resulting smile construction problem. Furthermore, we provide a new formula which can be used for an efficient and robust FX smile construction.
On the Shape of Superbubbles Evolving in the Galactic Plane

The galactic supershells are cavities in the interstellar medium. These shells can be explained by introducing the concept of superbubbles, the theoretical result of multiple supernova. The superbubbles can be analytically described if the ambient medium has a constant density both in the so-called bursting phase and in the subsequent adiabatic expansion. In order to solve the expansion of superbubbles in the ISM, which is a non-homogeneous medium, a numerical technique is used that divides the sphere into many sectors. By varying the time of the bursting phenomenon and the time over which the phenomenon is followed, elliptical and hour-glass shapes or vertical walls can be obtained. Application of the developed theory/code to the super-shell associated with GW 46.4+5 and with GSH 238 allows us to say that the suggested physical parameters are consistent with our theory. The map of the expanding superbubble’s velocity can be tentatively traced by generating random points on the expanding surface. The structure of the galactic plane as a result of the evolution of many super-bubbles was simulated by adopting the percolation theory in order to generate new OB associations.
A Novel Biomimetic Material for Engineering Postsurgical Adhesion Using the Injured Digital Flexor Tendon–Synovial Complex as an In Vivo Model

Background: Many surgical procedures are complicated by adhesions. These restrictive fibrotic bands form between normally separate gliding tissue layers, potentially impairing function. The authors tested the adhesion-modifying effect of a novel fibronectin-derived biomimetic biomaterial in a tendon–synovial complex injury model. Methods: The deep flexor tendons of digits 2 and 4 in the right forepaw of 15 New Zealand White rabbits were subjected to 5-mm-long partial tenotomies. Animals were randomized to receive biomaterial tubes enveloping the tendon injuries or left untreated. Digits, amputated at 2 weeks, were randomized to mechanical pullout assessments of adhesion strength or to quantitative histologic cellularity and immunohistochemical proliferation (Ki67) assessments. Results: The mean peak pullout force required to break the adhesions was reduced from 7.70 N (n = 6) in untreated digits to 0.31 N (n = 7) in biomaterial-treated digits (p = 0.001). The mean structural stiffness of the adhesions was also significantly reduced (p = 0.001). Histologically, treated and untreated digits demonstrated an equal incidence of adhesions. The treated adhesions were 55 percent less cellular at their surface than the untreated injured controls (p = 0.003). Treated tendons were 8 percent more cellular (with equal numbers of proliferating cells) at their surface and significantly more cellular within their bulk than positive controls (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: This study suggests a significant reduction in the restrictive nature of postsurgical adhesions following treatment with the antiadhesive biomaterial without compromising tendon cellularity.
Locating malicious nodes for data aggregation in wireless networks

Data aggregation, as a primitive communication task in wireless networks, can reduce the communication complexity. However, in-network aggregation usually brings an unavoidable security defect. Some malicious nodes may control a large percentage of the whole network data and compel the network misbehave in an arbitrary manner. Thus, locating the malicious nodes to prevent them from further disaster is a practical challenge for data aggregation schemes. Based on the grouping and localization techniques, we propose a novel integrated protocol to locate malicious nodes. The proposed protocol does not rely on any special hardware and requests only incomplete information of the network from the security schemes. We also conduct simulation study to evaluate the proposed protocol.
The Cognitive Foundations of Mathematics: The Role of Conceptual Metaphor - eScholarship

Handbook of Mathematical Cognition New York : Psychology Press J. Campbell (Ed.). The Cognitive Foundations of Mathematics: The Role of Conceptual Metaphor Rafael Nunez and George Lakoff In The Tree of Knowledge, biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela (1987) analyze the biological foundations of human cognition. A crucial component of their arguments is a simple but profound aphorism: Everything said is said by someone. It follows from this that any concept, idea, belief, definition, drawing, poem, or piece of music, has to be produced by a living human being, constrained by the peculiarities of his or her body and brain. The entailment is straightforward: without living human bodies with brains, there are no ideas — and that includes mathematical ideas. This chapter deals with the structure of mathematical ideas themselves, and with how their inferential organization is provided by everyday human cognitive mechanisms such as conceptual metaphor. The Cognitive Study of Ideas and their Inferential Organization The approach to Mathematical Cognition we take in this chapter is relatively new, and it differs in important ways from (but is complementary to) the ones taken by many of the authors in this Handbook. In order to avoid potential misunderstandings regarding the subject matter and goals of our piece, we believe that it is important to clarify these differences right upfront. The differences reside mainly on three fundamental aspects:
A Survey of GPU-Based Volume Rendering of Unstructured Grids

Real-time rendering of large unstructured meshes is a major research goal in the scientific visualization community. While, for regular grids, texture-based techniques are well-suited for current Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), the steps necessary for rendering unstructured meshes are not so easily mapped to current hardware. This paper reviews volume rendering algorithms and techniques for unstructured grids aimed at exploiting high-performance GPUs. We discuss both the algorithms and their implementation details, including major shortcomings of existing approaches. Resumo: A visualizacao volumetrica de grandes malhas nao estruturadas e uma das principais metas da comunidade de visualizacao cientifica. Enquanto que em grades regulares o uso de tecnicas baseadas em textura sao adequadas para as Unidades de Processamento Grafico (GPUs) atuais, os passos necessarios para exibir malhas nao estruturas nao sao diretamente mapeadas para o hardware atual. Este artigo revisa algoritmos e tecnicas de visualizacao volumetrica que exploram GPUs de alta performance. Sao discutidos tanto os algoritmos como seus detalhes de implementacao, incluindo as principais dificuldades das abordagens atuais.
Optimal Design and Placement of Omni-Cameras in Binocular Vision Systems for Accurate 3-D Data Measurement

A new problem of automatically designing an optimal stereo vision system using two omni-directional catadioptric cameras to yield the highest 3-D data accuracy is studied. Factors of the system configuration considered in the design include camera pose, field of vision, and mirror shape. To find the optimal vision system configuration, an analytic formula is derived to model the 3-D measurement error, which takes into consideration the variations of pixel-quantization precisions and angular resolutions in images by conducting error propagation analysis in the data computation process. The formula is then used in an optimization framework to find the optimal system configurations for different shapes of system setup environments. For regular cases with rectangular cuboid-shaped 3-D measurement and camera placement areas, two fast algorithms are proposed to solve the problem, one being bisection-based and relatively slower for deriving the optimal solution, and the other faster using analytic formulas for deriving a suboptimal solution that is proved to be close to the optimal one in precision. Experimental results of simulations and real application cases show the feasibility of the proposed method.
Technical Report No . 201 701 January 201 7 RANDOMIZED SINGLE-VIEW ALGORITHMS FOR LOW-RANK MATRIX APPROXIMATION

This paper develops a suite of algorithms for constructing low-rank approximations of an input matrix from a random linear image of the matrix, called a sketch. These methods can preserve structural properties of the input matrix, such as positive-semidefiniteness, and they can produce approximations with a user-specified rank. The algorithms are simple, accurate, numerically stable, and provably correct. Moreover, each method is accompanied by an informative error bound that allows users to select parameters a priori to achieve a given approximation quality. These claims are supported by computer experiments.
Excitatory amino acid regulation of intracellular Ca2+ in isolated catfish cone horizontal cells measured under voltage- and concentration- clamp conditions

[Ca2+]i was measured using fura-2-loaded isolated catfish horizontal cells in the presence of L-glutamate and the glutamate analogs kainate (KA), quisqualate (QA), and NMDA. Caffeine was used to release Ca2+ from intracellular stores. Cell membrane potential was controlled with a voltage clamp to prevent activation of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in the presence of agonist. All excitatory amino acid agonists produced a rapid and sustained rise in [Ca2+]i with the order of potency being QA greater than Glu greater than KA greater than NMDA. The agonist-induced [Ca2+]i increase was blocked in reduced [Ca2+]o and by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione and 2-amino-5- phosphonopentanoate, which are specific blockers for QA/KA and NMDA receptors, respectively. The metabotropic receptor agonist trans-1- amino-1,3-cyclopentanedicarboxylic acid (ACPD; 10–200 microM) had no effect on [Ca2+]i. Hill coefficients from curves fitted to concentration-response data suggested an amplification of the Ca2+ signal that was interpreted as calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) from intracellular Ca2+ stores. Caffeine (10 mM) produced a rapid transient rise in [Ca2+]i, confirming the existence of a Ca(2+)- sensitive store. Following caffeine-induced depletion of Ca2+ from intracellular stores, agonists were still able to produce increases in [Ca2+]i, confirming Ca2+ influx through the agonist-gated channel. The agonist-induced increase in [Ca2+]i was decreased following caffeine- induced depletion, confirming a process of CICR. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that excitatory amino acids can produce direct modulation of [Ca2+]i by influx through the agonist-gated channel and by CICR from intracellular stores.
The Tyrphostin Agent AG490 Prevents and Reverses Type 1 Diabetes in NOD Mice

Background Recent studies in the NOD (non-obese diabetic) mouse model of type 1 diabetes (T1D) support the notion that tyrosine kinase inhibitors have the potential for modulating disease development. However, the therapeutic effects of AG490 on the development of T1D are unknown. Materials and Methods Female NOD mice were treated with AG490 (i.p, 1 mg/mouse) or DMSO starting at either 4 or 8 week of age, for five consecutive week, then once per week for 5 additional week. Analyses for the development and/or reversal of diabetes, insulitis, adoptive transfer, and other mechanistic studies were performed. Results AG490 significantly inhibited the development of T1D (p = 0.02, p = 0.005; at two different time points). Monotherapy of newly diagnosed diabetic NOD mice with AG490 markedly resulted in disease remission in treated animals (n = 23) in comparision to the absolute inability (0%; 0/10, p = 0.003, Log-rank test) of DMSO and sustained eugluycemia was maintained for several months following drug withdrawal. Interestingly, adoptive transfer of splenocytes from AG490 treated NOD mice failed to transfer diabetes to recipient NOD.Scid mice. CD4 T-cells as well as bone marrow derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) from AG490 treated mice, showed higher expression of Foxp3 (p<0.004) and lower expression of co-stimulatory molecules, respectively. Screening of the mouse immune response gene arrary indicates that expression of costimulaotry molecule Ctla4 was upregulated in CD4+ T-cell in NOD mice treated with AG490, suggesting that AG490 is not a negative regulator of the immune system. Conclusion The use of such agents, given their extensive safety profiles, provides a strong foundation for their translation to humans with or at increased risk for the disease.
Visualization of Time-Dependent Data using Feature Tracking

Visualization of time-dependent data is an enormous task because of the immense amount of data involved. However, most of the time the scientist is mainly interested in the evolution of certain features. Therefore, it suffices to show the evolution of these features. The task of the visualization system is to extract the features from all frames, to determine the correspondences between features in successive frames, and finally to visualize the tracking results. This paper describes a tracking system that uses feature data to solve the correspondence problem. It tracks feature paths and determines their evolution in time. The feature data consists of basic attributes such as position, size, and mass. For each set of attributes a number of correspondence functions can be tested which results in a correspondence factor. This factor makes it possible to quantify the goodness of the match between two features in successive time frames. Since the algorithm uses the feature data instead of the grid data, it is feasible to perform an extensive multi-pass search for continuing paths.
The Effects of Cervical and Lumbar Epidural Anesthesia on Heart Rate Variability and Spontaneous Sequence Baroreflex Sensitivity

A high level of neuroaxial block may produce profound bradycardia and hypotension, possibly as a result of an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic control of heart rate. We designed this study to test the hypothesis that cervical epidural anesthesia would increase the high-frequency (HF) component of heart rate variability (HRV) as a result of cardiac sympathectomy, whereas lumbar epidural anesthesia would cause sympathetic predominance. HRV and spontaneous baroreflex (SBR) sensitivity were assessed before and after cervical and lumbar epidural anesthesia by using plain 1.5% lidocaine (median upper/lower sensory block: C3/T8 for cervical and T11/L5 for lumbar) in healthy patients (n = 10 each). Electrocardiogram and noninvasive beat-to-beat arterial blood pressure were monitored. HRV was analyzed by using fast Fourier transformation. Least-square regression analysis relating R-R interval and systolic blood pressure during spontaneous fluctuation was performed to obtain SBR sensitivities. Cervical epidural group patients were significantly older (P < 0.01) and taller (P < 0.01). Cervical epidural anesthesia attenuated HF (0.15–0.4 Hz) and low-frequency (0.04–0.15 Hz) power of HRV with concomitant reductions in up- and down-sequence SBR sensitivities, suggesting decreased vagal modulation of heart rate. Lumbar epidural anesthesia resulted in a significant increase in the low-frequency/HF ratio of HRV and unchanged SBR indices, suggesting sympathetic predominance. HF power correlated well with SBR sensitivities under most of our study conditions. Respiratory rates and PaCO2 were unchanged by either epidural technique. Our results indicate that cervical, but not lumbar, epidural anesthesia depresses phasic and tonic dynamic modulation of the cardiac cycle by the vagal nerve in conscious humans.
The Absence of Arabic Corpus Linguistics: A Call for Creating an Arabic National Corpus

It is well-known that Arabic linguistic research in the Arabic countries is not based on corpora because Arab countries do not have Arabic corpus linguistics as compared to the existing English corpus linguistics. Corpora are very important in the advancement of different Arabic linguistics such as sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, historical linguistics, geolinguistics, contrastive linguistics, grammar, lexicography, stylistics, language pedagogy, and translation. This concise research calls for creating an Arabic National Corpus (ANC) based on four-step design: planning the corpus, collecting the data, computerizing the corpus and analyzing the corpus. This is considered a huge project that needs the collaboration of different national institutions as well as the governments fund and support.