Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An experiment that validates theory with measurements for a large-aperture microphone array

Poor sound pick up by remote microphones in multimedia applications, conference rooms and auditoria has traditionally hampered speech recognition and communication among spatially-separated groups. The problems are reverberation, acoustic noise, and the variability of the radiation pattern of unconstrained talkers. One potential solution that is becoming increasingly practical is to use an array of microphones and sophisticated signal processing. In this paper a brief description of a large, real-time, working system is presented and its measured beamforming performance is compared to what is predicted from a mathematical model. A combination of a synchronized test signal/system and a careful mathematical model results in the performances matching surprisingly well. From this match of theory to practice, we are able to draw some important inferences about future system improvements.
PPK1 and PPK2 — which polyphosphate kinase is older?

Polyphosphate kinases (PPKs) catalyse the polymerisation and degradation of polyphosphate chains. As a result of this process, PPK produces or consumes energy in the form of ATP. Polyphosphate is a linear molecule that contains tens to hundreds of phosphate residues connected by macroergic bonds, and it appears to be an easily obtainable and rich source of energy from prebiotic times to the present. Notably, polyphosphate is present in the cells of all three domains of life, but PPKs are widely distributed only in Bacteria, as Archaea and Eucarya use various unrelated or “nonhomologous” proteins for energy and metabolic balance. The present study focuses on PPK1 and PPK2 homologues, which have been described to some extent in Bacteria, and the aim was to determine which homologue group, PPK1 or PPK2, is older. Phylogenetic analyses of 109 sequence homologues of Escherichia coli PPK1 and 109 sequence homologues of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PPK2 from 109 bacterial genomes imply that polyphosphate consumption (PPK2) evolved first and that phosphate polymerisation (PPK1) evolved later. Independently, a theory of the trends in amino acid loss and gain also confirms that PPK2 is older than PPK1. According to the results of this study, we propose 68 hypothetical proteins to mark as PPK2 homologues and 3 hypothetical proteins to mark as PPK1 homologues.
TSFD: two stage frame dropping for scalable video transmission over data networks

Scalable video transmission is used to adjust the rate of video depending on the level of network congestion. Previous studies on scalable video transmission of MPEG over ATM ABR service required major changes in the network protocols and did not provide methods to determine the ABR connection parameters. We propose a new scalable video transmission scheme which does not require major changes in network protocols. In our proposed scheme, frames are dynamically dropped either by the source or the network depending on the level of network congestion.
Animation system of virtual human using motion capture devices

Animation system of virtual human uses the capturing data of motion capture devices to drive virtual human animation, and reconstructs human body motion. We present an animation system of virtual human using motion capture devices, and also estimate the position of every joints and the displacement of human body. Using the estimated result drive the animation of virtual human. We construct a hierarchical human model which is categorized according to the motion characteristics. The experiments have shown that the proposed model is suitable for using capturing data to drive animation of virtual-human.
Assessment of the benefits of Orbeseal®, when used in combination with dry cow antibiotic therapy in three commercial dairy herds

An internal teat sealant containing bismuth subnitrate was used in combination with dry cow antibiotic therapy in a cow-level prospective case-control field trial in three herds with different dry cow management practices. Treated quarters (antibiotic+sealant) had a 59% lower odds of developing a new dry period infection at 1-3 days-in-milk (DIM) than control (antibiotic only) quarters (P<0.001). Herd-level variation in new intramammary infection (IMI) and mastitis treatment rates during the first 100 DIM were observed. Greatest benefits from internal teat sealant use were documented in herds with the highest rates of new IMI during the dry period, and for environmental streptococci. Economic benefit accrued from differences in the timing of treatment for mastitis was estimated to be $5.38 per cow in the herd.
Visualization for Activity Information Sharing System Using Self-Organizing Map

In this papar, we introduce a visualization method for acitivity information sharing system using Self-Organizing Map and the activity information sharing system "ALKAN2", which aims at gathering activity information for activity analysis. ALKAN2 gathers users' activity using sensor data and movie data. Moreover, ALKAN2 prepares display environment for users. A user mimics activities of other users, and a user sends the mimicked data to the server. As a result, the mimicked data can be objectively evaluated. In this papar, we explain visualization for sensor data of ALKAN2.
Salsalate Attenuates Free Fatty Acid–Induced Microvascular and Metabolic Insulin Resistance in Humans

OBJECTIVE Insulin recruits muscle microvasculature, thereby increasing endothelial exchange surface area. Free fatty acids (FFAs) cause insulin resistance by activating inhibitor of κB kinase β. Elevating plasma FFAs impairs insulin’s microvascular and metabolic actions in vivo. Whether salsalate, an anti-inflammatory agent, prevents FFA-induced microvascular and/or metabolic insulin resistance in humans is unknown. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Eleven healthy, young adults were studied three times in random order. After an overnight fast, on two occasions each subject received a 5-h systemic infusion of Intralipid ± salsalate pretreatment (50 mg/kg/day for 4 days). On the third occasion, saline replaced Intralipid. A 1 mU/kg/min euglycemic insulin clamp was superimposed over the last 2-h of each study. Skeletal and cardiac muscle microvascular blood volume (MBV), microvascular flow velocity (MFV), and microvascular blood flow (MBF) were determined before and after insulin infusion. Whole body glucose disposal rates were calculated from glucose infusion rates. RESULTS Insulin significantly increased skeletal and cardiac muscle MBV and MBF without affecting MFV. Lipid infusion abolished insulin-mediated microvascular recruitment in both skeletal and cardiac muscle and lowered insulin-stimulated whole body glucose disposal (P < 0.001). Salsalate treatment rescued insulin’s actions to recruit muscle microvasculature and improved insulin-stimulated whole body glucose disposal in the presence of high plasma FFAs. CONCLUSIONS High plasma concentrations of FFAs cause both microvascular and metabolic insulin resistance, which can be prevented or attenuated by salsalate treatment. Our data suggest that treatments aimed at inhibition of inflammatory response might help alleviate vascular insulin resistance and improve metabolic control in patients with diabetes.
Susceptibility weighted imaging: differentiating between calcification and hemosiderin*

Objective To present a detailed explanation on the processing of magnetic susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI), demonstrating the effects of echo time and sensitive mask on the differentiation between calcification and hemosiderin. Materials and Methods Computed tomography and magnetic resonance (magnitude and phase) images of six patients (age range 41– 54 years; four men) were retrospectively selected. The SWI images processing was performed using the Matlab’s own routine. Results Four out of the six patients showed calcifications at computed tomography images and their SWI images demonstrated hyperintense signal at the calcification regions. The other patients did not show any calcifications at computed tomography, and SWI revealed the presence of hemosiderin deposits with hypointense signal. Conclusion The selection of echo time and of the mask may change all the information on SWI images, and compromise the diagnostic reliability. Amongst the possible masks, the authors highlight that the sigmoid mask allows for contrasting calcifications and hemosiderin on a single SWI image.
The Great Wall of “English Only”: Teacher Perceptions of Classroom Ecology in Arizona’s Post-Proposition 203 Era

Abstract In 2000, Arizona voters enacted Proposition 203, which limited the use of children’s native language in public schools and instead, mandated an accelerated one-year English immersion model for children with limited English proficiency. This study examines the results of a 20-question survey and follow-up interviews with 117 Arizona K-12 teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) to determine their views on the effects of the “English–only” model on teaching and learning. The results revealed that restrictive language policies have upset the balance of classroom ecology, resulting in teacher frustration and concern. Teachers’ recommendations to improve ELL education are also discussed.
A measurement study of online internet video views through a large-scale, search engine

As the spread of broadband internet access, the online Internet video becomes popular in our daily life. The search engine is an important tool for users to access online video, resulting in considerable traffic on the video websites. In this work, we statistically analyze the video access log provided by a large scale video search engine, and validate that the aggregated views of online video from the search engine is diurnally regular. Furthermore, we find the probability of abrupt surge or disappearance of views is significantly high, having a percentage of 20% all videos. The results also show that 30% of them are spike that indicates that an accessing surge of views is followed by an immediate and abrupt falling. Such a result renders the big challenge how the website providers can satisfy the quality of service in providing their videos to users during the surging period. The online video access also indicates the social behaviors of the corresponding social group. These results are revealed by studying the querying string at the search engine. These results can be useful for the website developer to optimize the video system by allocating appropriate system resources according to the accessing habits of the users.
On the Systematic Drift of Physically Unclonable Functions Due to Aging

In recent years Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) have been proposed as a promising building block for security related scenarios like key storage and authentication. PUFs are physical systems and as such their responses are inherently noisy, precluding a straightforward derivation of cryptographic key material from raw PUF measurements. To overcome this drawback, Fuzzy Extractors are used to eliminate the noise and guarantee robust outputs. A special type are Reverse Fuzzy Extractors, shifting the computational load of error correction towards a computationally powerful verifier. However, the Reverse Fuzzy Extractor reveals error patterns to any eavesdropper, which may cause privacy issues (if the PUF key is drifting, the error pattern is linkable to the identity) and even security problems (if the noise is data-dependent and multiple protocol transcripts can be linked to the same user). In this work we evaluate the effects of aging on popular PUF implementations and investigate its impact on the security properties of the Reverse Fuzzy Extractor.
Components of unemployment

This article reports the results of a study aimed at quantifying differences in unemployment rates between Polynesians and non-Polynesians in New Zealand and establishing how much of this difference is attributable to demographic factors other than ethnic origins. The data were derived from the 1981 Census of Population and Dwellings restricted to those who were in the labor force full-time. The distribution of the 2 populations on age sex region education level and marital status was standardized and results were analyzed separately for those under 25 years of age and those 25 years of age and older. Among the under 25-year olds the unemployment rate was 24.2% for Polynesians and 7.3% for non-Polynesians. Standardizing the demographic characteristics of the Polynesians to those of the non-Polynesians reduced the Polynesian unemployment rate to 18.8%. This means that 68% of the difference observed can be attributed to ethnic differences. Log-linear analysis indicated that age differences accounted for 27% of the variation in unemployment rates education levels contributed 11% and regional differences accounted for 8%. Altogether demographic differences accounted for 60% of the variation and ethnic origin accounted for 37%. Among those age 25 years and over Polynesians had an unemployment rate of 6.7% compared with 2% for non-Polynesians. Standardization reduced the Polynesian rate to 4.6%. Differing education was the major demographic contributor to this difference (24%). In the log-linear analysis ethnicity accounted for only 18% of the variation in unemployment rates. Marital status made the greatest contribution (46%) and education contributed only 8%. These results indicate that nonethnic demographic factors particularly education age and marital status (for the older group) make an important contribution to differences in unemployment rates in New Zealand.
Efficacy of Acupuncture in Reducing Preoperative Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis

Background. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce preoperative anxiety in several previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In order to assess the preoperative anxiolytic efficacy of acupuncture therapy, this study conducted a meta-analysis of an array of appropriate studies. Methods. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and CINAHL) were searched up to February 2014. In the meta-analysis data were included from RCT studies in which groups receiving preoperative acupuncture treatment were compared with control groups receiving a placebo for anxiety. Results. Fourteen publications (N = 1,034) were included. Six publications, using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S), reported that acupuncture interventions led to greater reductions in preoperative anxiety relative to sham acupuncture (mean difference = 5.63, P < .00001, 95% CI [4.14, 7.11]). Further eight publications, employing visual analogue scales (VAS), also indicated significant differences in preoperative anxiety amelioration between acupuncture and sham acupuncture (mean difference = 19.23, P < .00001, 95% CI [16.34, 22.12]). Conclusions. Acupuncture therapy aiming at reducing preoperative anxiety has a statistically significant effect relative to placebo or nontreatment conditions. Well-designed and rigorous studies that employ large sample sizes are necessary to corroborate this finding.
DASCA: Dead Write Prediction Assisted STT-RAM Cache Architecture

Spin-Transfer Torque RAM (STT-RAM) has been considered as a promising candidate for on-chip last-level caches, replacing SRAM for better energy efficiency, smaller die footprint, and scalability. However, it also introduces several new challenges into last-level cache design that need to be overcome for feasible deployment of STT-RAM caches. Among other things, mitigating the impact of slow and energy-hungry write operations is of the utmost importance. In this paper, we propose a new mechanism to reduce write activities of STT-RAM last-level caches. The key observation is that a significant amount of data written to last-level caches is not actually re-referenced again during the lifetime of the corresponding cache blocks. Such write operations, which we call dead writes, can bypass the cache without incurring extra misses by definition. Based on this, we propose Dead Write Prediction Assisted STT-RAM Cache Architecture (DASCA), which predicts and bypasses dead writes for write energy reduction. For this purpose, we first propose a novel classification of dead writes, which is composed of dead-on-arrival fills, dead-value fills, and closing writes, as a theoretical model for redundant write elimination. On top of that, we present a dead write predictor based on a state-of-the-art dead block predictor. Evaluations show that our architecture achieves an energy reduction of 68% (62%) in last-level caches and an additional energy reduction of 10% (16%) in main memory and even improves system performance by 6% (14%) on average compared to the STT-RAM baseline in a single-core (quad-core) system.
BendFields

Designers frequently draw curvature lines to convey bending of smooth surfaces in concept sketches. We present a method to extrapolate curvature lines in a rough concept sketch, recovering the intended 3D curvature field and surface normal at each pixel of the sketch. This 3D information allows to enrich the sketch with 3D-looking shading and texturing. We first introduce the concept of regularized curvature lines that model the lines designers draw over curved surfaces, encompassing curvature lines and their extension as geodesics over flat or umbilical regions. We build on this concept to define the orthogonal cross field that assigns two regularized curvature lines to each point of a 3D surface. Our algorithm first estimates the projection of this cross field in the drawing, which is nonorthogonal due to foreshortening. We formulate this estimation as a scattered interpolation of the strokes drawn in the sketch, which makes our method robust to sketchy lines that are typical for design sketches. Our interpolation relies on a novel smoothness energy that we derive from our definition of regularized curvature lines. Optimizing this energy subject to the stroke constraints produces a dense nonorthogonal 2D cross field which we then lift to 3D by imposing orthogonality. Thus, one central concept of our approach is the generalization of existing cross field algorithms to the nonorthogonal case. We demonstrate our algorithm on a variety of concept sketches with various levels of sketchiness. We also compare our approach with existing work that takes clean vector drawings as input.
The business intelligence competence centre as an interface between IT and user departments in maintenance and release development

The growing relevance, scale, and complexity of Business Intelligence (BI) entails the need to find agile and efficient solutions for the coordination of maintenance and release processes – under consideration of the heterogeneity of the involved units on the IT and the business side. The finance industry with its mature BI infrastructures and its highly turbulent business environment is a forerunner for these developments. Based on a survey among BI users in the finance sector, relevant problem areas in the BI service provision are identified and structured. A series of qualitative interviews among banks and insurance companies is used to gain further insights into approaches for dealing with the related issues. The studies uncover several advantages of a central “BI Competency Centre” (BICC) as well as levers for effectively structuring the interfaces between BICC, IT, and user interface.
An Ensemble of Classifiers for coping with Recurring Contexts in Data Streams

This paper proposes a general framework for classifying data streams by exploiting incremental clustering in order to dynamically build and update an ensemble of incremental classifiers. To achieve this, a transformation function that maps batches of examples into a new conceptual feature space is proposed. The clustering algorithm is then applied in order to group different concepts and identify recurring contexts. The ensemble is produced by maintaining an classifier for every concept discovered in the stream The full version of this paper as well as the datasets used for evaluation can be found at: http://mlkd.csd. auth.gr/concept_drift. html
Adaptive Multi-path QoS Aware Dynamic Source Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad-Hoc Network

Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a collection of mobile nodes interconnected by wireless media. Due to the dynamic topology, several routing algorithms have been proposed to forward data packets between the nodes such as proactive and reactive routing protocols. Quality of services (QoS) in MANET became a challenge and a focus of several researchers. Several approaches have been suggested to improve QoS especially on dynamic source routing (DSR) protocol. In this paper we propose an adaptive multi-path QoS aware dynamic source routing protocol. The protocol will collect information about QoS metrics during the route discovery phase and use them to choose a set of disjoint paths, and distributes the data based on QoS they provide. Each node has to monitor links and adaptively adds or removes paths whenever it is needed to achieve the required QoS. The simulation experiments will be conducted using GloMoSim network simulator. We will compare the performance of the suggested algorithm to the performance of the conventional DSR
The Association between Progression of Atherosclerosis and the Methylated Amino Acids Asymmetric Dimethylarginine and Trimethyllysine

Objective We previously showed that treatment with folic acid (FA)/B12 was associated with more rapid progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). High doses of FA may induce methylation by increasing the availability of S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM). Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and trimethyllysine (TML) are both produced through proteolytic release following post-translational SAM–dependent methylation of precursor amino acid. ADMA has previously been associated with CAD. We investigated if plasma levels of ADMA and TML were associated with progression of CAD as measured by quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). Methods 183 patients from the Western Norway B Vitamin Intervention Trial (WENBIT) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomized to daily treatment with 0.8 mg FA/0.4 mg B12 with and without 40 mg B6, B6 alone or placebo. Coronary angiograms and plasma samples of ADMA and TML were obtained at both baseline and follow-up (median 10.5 months). The primary end-point was progression of CAD as measured by diameter stenosis (DS) evaluated by linear quantile mixed models. Results A total of 309 coronary lesions not treated with PCI were identified. At follow-up median (95% CI) DS increased by 18.35 (5.22–31.49) percentage points per µmol/L ADMA increase (p-value 0.006) and 2.47 (0.37–4.58) percentage points per µmol/L TML increase (p-value 0.021) in multivariate modeling. Treatment with FA/B12 (±B6) was not associated with ADMA or TML levels. Conclusion In patients with established CAD, baseline ADMA and TML was associated with angiographic progression of CAD. However, neither ADMA nor TML levels were altered by treatment with FA/B12 (±B6). Trial Registration Controlled-Trials.com NCT00354081