Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring Speech Quality of System Input while Observing only System Output

We present a set of relatively small-scale proof-of-concept experiments where we construct no-reference (NR) speech quality estimators that give reliable values of system-under-test (SUT) input speech quality in spite of the fact that NR estimators can only access SUT output speech. We then explain why this success is not as counter-intuitive as it might initially seem. Next we demonstrate that this advance can be used to adjust NR relative speech quality values to obtain the much more desirable and useful NR absolute speech quality values. The experiments start with over seven hours of studio-quality speech. A processor adds filtering, reverberation, and noise to simulate the somewhat lower quality speech that often must be used to test systems. Four different established full-reference speech quality estimators provide ground-truth values for these experiments.
Application of VR technologies in building future maritime specialists' professional competences

Progress of modern digital technologies enlarged the quantity of researches about implementation and usage of VR technologies in education process of higher educational establishments. The article provides analysis of best practices of simulation technologies application in maritime education. Absence of national research experience, evidence base for efficiency of new VR simulators operation leaves this issue open to be investigated in terms of researches on their performance effectiveness. The article proposes overview of advantages of VR technologies implementation aimed at building and shaping of future maritime specialists’ professional competences. Authors investigate potential application possibilities of interactive and representative potential of immersion digital technologies during education process at maritime educational establishments. Problem of VR technologies integration into education and training of future seafarers is highlighted, as well as possibility to use virtual courses in the process of future maritime specialists’ training. The article reveals prognostic validity of VR simulators used for building of professional competences.
Towards the Influence of Audio Quality on Gaming Quality of Experience

Humans are fascinated by video games for many years, which intrinsically immerse players in their virtual environments. Apart from the challenges offered by steadily new game concepts, aesthetically pleasing environments and characters, stories, and sound effects are highly important for the player experience. Recently, the new concept of cloud gaming, which offers users to play games executed on a cloud server remotely, is becoming increasingly popular. While cloud gaming offers many advantages, additional audio and video streaming poses many technical challenges. To ensure a satisfying Quality of Experience (QoE) of their customers, all stakeholders are interested in finding out which aspects of a gaming experience are of high importance and how resources can be optimally allocated. However, gaming QoE is a multidimensional construct including hedonic and pragmatic aspects and could be strongly influenced by interaction quality, video quality, and audio quality. While the impact of network and video encoding parameters of cloud gaming services was investigated in much detail in recent years, not many studies about the effect of audio quality on gaming experiences are available. Thus, in this paper, the impact of audio quality on gaming experience under different bitrate and packet loss conditions using two popular games is investigated. Therefore, a subjective experiment adhering to the ITU-T Rec. P.809 was conducted. The results show a significant impact of packet loss on audio quality and the overall gaming QoE. However, no significant effect of the bitrate, which was reduced to a minimum of 32 kbps, was revealed. Additionally, the influence of audio quality on gaming QoE was stronger for a game, which contained mainly diegetic effect sounds compared to a game containing few diegetic sounds and affect sound as background music.
History of Cryptographic Key Sizes

Picking a cryptographic algorithm to use is often the simplest part in designing a system which uses cryptography. The difficult part comes in how one combines different algorithms together to meet some security objective and how the related parameters to the underlying cryptographic algorithms are selected. Probably the most important parameter is the key size, and one needs to select this for each algorithm separately, so that the combined system meets the desired security level. Different algorithms have different metrics for measuring key strength; thus breaking a 128-bit key length for AES is not the same difficulty as breaking a 128-bit key length for RSA (the former is infeasible even with a quantum computer, whilst the latter is an undergraduate student project). To ease this issue Lenstra and Verheul published in 2000 an influential paper entitled Selecting Cryptographic Key Sizes [59], with a longer version in [61]. This was the first systematic attempt to measure the relative difficulty of different problems and provide some form of scientific guidance. Determining key sizes is not an exact science, but it is an combination of four related factors:
Open Sesame: A Novel Non-SAT-Attack against CAS-Lock

—CAS-Lock [1], is an advanced logic locking technique that harnesses the concept of single-point function in providing SAT-attack resiliency. It is claimed to be powerful and efﬁcient enough in mitigating state-of-the-art attacks against logic locking techniques. Despite the security robustness of CAS-Lock as claimed by the authors, we expose a serious vulnerability by exploiting the same and device a novel attack algorithm. The proposed attack can reveal the correct key by extracting the Distinguishing Input Patterns (DIPs) pertaining to a carefully chosen key simulation of the locked design. The correct key is obtained from the combination of elements from the set of extracted DIPs. Our attack is successful against various AND/OR cascaded-chain conﬁgurations of CAS-Lock and reports a 100% success rate in recovering the correct key.
An updated reference for age-sex-specific birth weight percentiles stratified for ethnicity based on data from all live birth infants between 2005 and 2014 in Alberta, Canada

This study aims to update the current reference for sex-specific birth weight percentiles by gestational age, overall and for specific ethnic groups, based on data from all singleton live-birth deliveries from 2005 to 2014 in Alberta, Canada. Infant and maternal information were captured in the Alberta Vital Statistics-Births Database for 473,115 singleton infants born to 311,800 women between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2014. Within each sex, and each sex-ethnic group, birth weights were modelled by gestational age using generalized additive models and natural cubic splines. Crude and corrected estimates for birth weight percentiles including cut-off values for large for gestational age (LGA) and small for gestational age (SGA) were calculated by sex and sex-ethnic group, and gestational age for singleton live births. LGA and SGA cut-offs were lower for females than for males for all gestational ages. The SGA and LGA percentiles were greater for both male and female very preterm infants in Alberta compared to previous national references. Ethnicity-specific LGA and SGA cut-offs for term Chinese and preterm and at-term South Asian infants were consistently lower than those for both the general population in Alberta and the previous national reference. South Asian infants had lower birth weights at almost all gestational ages compared with the other groups. The updated birth weight percentiles presented in this study highlight the differences in SGA and LGA cut-offs among infants from South Asian, Chinese, and the general population, which may be important for clinical perinatal care.
Public health preventive measures and child health behaviours during COVID-19: a cohort study

The primary objective was to determine the association between public health preventive measures and children’s outdoor time, sleep duration, and screen time during COVID-19. A cohort study using repeated measures of exposures and outcomes was conducted in healthy children (0 to 10 years) through The Applied Research Group for Kids (TARGet Kids! ) COVID-19 Study of Children and Families in Toronto, Canada, between April 14 and July 15, 2020. Parents were asked to complete questionnaires about adherence to public health measures and children’s health behaviours. The primary exposure was the average number of days that children practiced public health preventive measures per week. The three outcomes were children’s outdoor time, total screen time, and sleep duration during COVID-19. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted using repeated measures of primary exposure and outcomes. This study included 554 observations from 265 children. The mean age of participants was 5.5 years, 47.5% were female and 71.6% had mothers of European ethnicity. Public health preventive measures were associated with shorter outdoor time (−17.2; 95% CI −22.07, −12.40; p < 0.001) and longer total screen time (11.3; 95% CI 3.88, 18.79; p = 0.003) during COVID-19. The association with outdoor time was stronger in younger children (<5 years), and the associations with total screen time were stronger in females and in older children (≥5 years). Public health preventive measures during COVID-19 were associated with a negative impact on the health behaviours of Canadian children living in a large metropolitan area.
Identification of endometriosis-associated genes and pathways based on bioinformatic analysis

Abstract Endometriosis is associated with dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility. The specific mechanism of endometriosis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to apply a bioinformatics approach to reveal related pathways or genes involved in the development of endometriosis. The gene expression profiles of GSE25628, GSE5108, and GSE7305 were downloaded from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis was performed using GEO2R. The database for annotation, visualization, and integrated discovery (DAVID) was utilized to analyze the functional enrichment, gene ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway of the differentially expressed genes. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and module analysis was performed using search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes and cytoscape. A total of 119 common differentially expressed genes were extracted, consisting of 51 downregulated genes and 68 upregulated genes. The enriched functions and pathways of the DEGs and hub genes include DNA strand separation, cellular proliferation, degradation of the extracellular matrix, encoding of smooth muscle myosin as a major contractile protein, exiting the proliferative cycle and entering quiescence, growth regulation, and implication in a wide variety of biological processes. A bioinformatics approach combined with cell experiments in this study revealed that identifying DEGs and hub genes leads to better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of endometriosis, and efficient biomarkers underlying this pathway need to be further investigated.
Prognostic values of procalcitonin and platelet in the patient with urosepsis

Abstract Background: The patient suffering from urinary sepsis is often accompanied by elevated serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels and a decline in the average platelet count (PLT), which could result in a poor prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the value of PCT and PLT in determining the severity of urinary sepsis. Methods: A total of 120 urosepsis patients enrolled were divided into a survival group and a death group, respectively, according to their status within 14 days after admission. Changes in PCT and PLT levels between the 2 groups were compared at different time points. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was eventually obtained to predict the prognostic value of PCT and PLT. Results: The PCT levels in the survival group declined gradually after admission, and the PLT decreased at first but increased rapidly in subsequence. The PCT level in the death group, however, declined in a flat-slope trend or was hardly noticeable together with the number of PLT reduced significantly. In particular, it is on the 3rd day that PCT tended to positively correlate with acute physiological and chronic health score II (APACHE II) score (r = 0.730, P < .05), but negatively with PLT (r = 0.472, P < .05). The APACHE II score and PLT (r = 0.612, P < .05) were also negatively correlated with each other. As indicated by the ROC curve, the PCT level on the 3rd day after admission was of great value for the clinical mortality prognosis, and the area under the curve was 0.858. Moreover, PLT also has a high predictive value for prognosis. Area under the curve is 0.951. When the PLT was more than 51 × 109 /L, the sensitivity was up to 90%, and the specificity was 90%. Conclusion: PLT and PCT levels are closely related to the APACHE II score, which could indicate the severity of urosepsis in patients. The contribution of this study was to confirm that dynamic monitoring of the changes in PCT and PLT helps determine the prognosis of urosepsis patients.
Interleukin-10: A double-edged sword in breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is a frequently diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. Currently, BC can be divided into different subgroups according to the presence of the following hormone receptors: estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Each of these subgroups has different treatment strategies. However, the presence of new metastatic lesions and patient deterioration suggest resistance to a given treatment. Various lines of evidence had shown that cytokines are one of the important mediators of tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and treatment resistance. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an immunoregulatory cytokine, and acts as a poor prognostic marker in many cancers. The anti-inflammatory IL-10 blocks certain effects of inflammatory cytokines. It also antagonizes the co-stimulatory molecules on the antigen-presenting cells. Here, we review the current knowledge on the function and molecular mechanism of IL-10, and recent findings on how IL-10 contributes to the progression of BC.
Nitrification Inhibitor Effects on Nitrous Oxide Emission, Nitrogen Transformation, and Maize (Zea mays L.) Yield in Loamy Sand Soil in Thailand

ABSTRACT The nitrification inhibitors (NIs) effects on soil nitrogen (N) fates and maize yields were investigated in a loamy-sand soil in Thailand. The treatments were chemical fertilizer (CF) and CF with dicyandiamide (DCD) or neem oil at two rates of 5% and 10%. Compared to the CF plot, DCD and neem oil reduced the cumulative nitrous oxide (N2O) emission by the equivalent of 26% and 10%, respectively (P < 0.05). DCD and neem oil had a positive effect in slowing ammonium (NH4+)-conversion and prolonging NH4+-N in the soil with a maximum efficiency of 45% and 30%, respectively. NO3–N was higher in the NI plots (P < 0.05), but the effect was less pronounced later in the growing season. Adding the NIs increased maize yields and N uptake, but was only significant (P < 0.10) for neem oil. Results indicate that applying NIs is an effective method to mitigate soil N losses and enhancing N use efficiency in a tropical, agricultural field.
The use of an alternating magnetic field in the resorption of postoperative joint effusion following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Abstract Context There are no scientific reports unambiguously describing the efficacy of alternating magnetic field therapy in patients after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in the early postoperative period. Objective This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of using an alternating magnetic field in the resorption of postoperative joint effusion in patients after ACL reconstruction. Study design A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study. Setting Inpatients. Participants Forty patients were enrolled in the trial. However, the final study group consisted of 38 patients (28 men and 10 women) after ACL reconstruction who were randomly divided into an experimental group (19 patients) and a control group (19 patients). Intervention Each group received magnetic field therapy in the postoperative period, but only 1 apparatus emitted a magnetic field (the experimental group). Patients used the apparatus every day for 30 minutes for the next 11 days. The parameters in both devices were the same—3 mT and 10 Hz. Main outcome measures The measurement of the knee circumference and range of motion were made. The knee circumference measurement was performed before magnetic field therapy began and for 11 days after magnetic field treatment. The active knee range of motion was evaluated before and after magnetic field therapy was completed. Results There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in the reduction of post-operative joint effusion or knee joint function. Conclusion In patients after ACL reconstruction, in whom an alternating magnetic field was used to treat postoperative joint effusion, there were no beneficial effects on the analyzed variables compared to the control group.
Integrated analysis of costs and amount of greenhouse gases emissions during the building lifecycle

More than 6 billion square metres of new buildings are built each year. This is about 1.2 million buildings. If we translate these figures into carbon footprint (CF) generated during the construction, it will be approximately 3.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide. The contractors all over the world – also in Poland – decide to calculate the carbon footprint for various reasons, but mostly they are compelled to do so by the market. The analysis of costs and emissions of greenhouse gases for individual phases of the construction system allows implementing solutions and preventing a negative impact on the environment without increasing the construction costs. The share of each phase in the amount of produced carbon for construction and use of the building depends mainly on the used materials and applied design solutions. Hence, the materials and solutions with lesser carbon footprint should be used. It can be achieved by using natural materials or materials which do not need much energy to be produced. The author will attempt to outline this idea and present examples of integrated analysis of costs and amount of carbon footprint during the building lifecycle.
Transformational Leadership Relationship with Employee Creativity: The Moderating Effect of Knowledge Sharing and Mediating Effect of Creative Self-Efficacy

Sustainable competitive advantage is the ultimate goal of numerous creative oriented firms. Therefore, this study’s purpose is to investigate the relationship amongst transformational leadership and employee creative performance with the intervening mechanism of creative self-efficacy, furthermore, this study’s purpose is to examine the knowledge sharing culture moderating role amongst transformational leadership and creative self-efficacy. A quantitative survey methodology was used for data collection, and 150 questionnaires have been circulated to employees employed in the private banking sector situated within twin city premises. This study’s result indicated that transformational leadership and employee creative performance have significant relationships with each other, moreover, creative self-efficacy mediates amongst that relationship. Furthermore, knowledge sharing culture does not moderate amongst transformational leadership and creative self-efficacy. Practical implications and limitations have been discussed. Likewise, the future direction is also recommended in this study.
Implicit Political Attitudes: When, How, Why, With What Effects?

and Keywords This chapter reviews recent work on implicit political attitudes, detailing how, when, and why unconscious processes impact the explicit expression of political beliefs, attitudes, and preferences. The authors begin by discussing thresholds of awareness, defining im­ plicit attitudes and how the circumstances under which they reach conscious awareness. The ubiquity of unconscious effects in everyday life is considered, and two research para­ digms for measuring implicit attitudes are discussed. The resulting dual-process model, in which influences can be either conscious or subconscious, allows us to understand how sensory input works its way through the mind to influence attitudes and behaviors in ways that are rarely evident to the individual. These influences often include factors that the individual would never consider as being important, but nevertheless hold enormous power over effortful decision-making.
Evaluation of the Effect of the Intensity and Occurrence of Postoperative Pain of Resin-Based and Bioceramic Root Canal Sealers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial Studies

Objective: To evaluate resin- and bioceramic root canal sealers affect postoperative intensity and pain occurrence . Material and Methods: From the electronic databases, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, ISI have been used to perform systematic literature until September 2020. Electronic titles were managed using the Endnote X8 software. They performed searches with mesh terms. Two reviewers blindly and independently extracted data from studies that included data for data extraction. Results: A total of 186 potentially relevant titles and abstracts were found. Finally, four studies were included. Pain score was (RR = -0.20; 95% CI -1.09–0.68; p= 0.65). This result showed no statistically significant difference for the resin-based and bioceramic root canal sealers after 24 hours between the VAS scores . Conclusion: Postoperative pain was low in Patients requiring root canal retreatment and obturated with resin-based or bioceramic-based sealers without extrusion beyond the apex. No differences were observed between postoperative pain in resin-based and bioceramic root canal sealers 24 and 48 hours postoperatively.
Ranging behavior of the southern yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabriellae) in response to food resources and environmental variables

1 Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam Administration of Forestry, Vietnam 2 Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China 3 Central Department of Botany Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal 4 Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Southern Institute of Ecology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Corresponding author: Bach Thanh Hai <haicattien2000@yahoo.com>