Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of spoken dialogue system usability - what are we really measuring?

Speech based interfaces have not experienced the break-through many have predicted during the last decade. This paper attempts to clarify some of the reasons why by investigating the currently applied methods of usability evaluation. Usability attributes especially important for speech based interfaces are identified and discussed. It is shown that subjective measures (even for wide-spread evaluation schemes, such as PARADISE) are mostly done in an ad hoc manner and are rarely validated. A comparison is made between some well-known scales, and through an example application of the CCIR usability questionnaire it is shown how validation of the subjective measures can be performed.
Transformation-Based Correction of Rule-Based MT

We present a pilot study for using transformation-based learning for automatic correction of rule-based machine translation. Correction rules are learned based on a parallel corpus of machine translations from a commercial machine translation system and a human-corrected version of these translations. The correction rules exploit information on word forms and part of speech. The experiment results in a relative increase in translation quality of 4.6% measured using the BLEU metric.
Identification of the DNA damage-responsive element of RNR2 and evidence that four distinct cellular factors bind it

The RNR2 gene encodes the small subunit of ribonucleotide reductase, the enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the pathway for the production of the deoxyribonucleotides needed for DNA synthesis. Transcription of this gene is induced approximately 20-fold in response to environmental stimuli that damage DNA or block DNA replication. Deletion and subcloning analysis identified two, and possibly three, upstream activating sequences (UAS) and one repressing (URS) element in the RNR2 regulatory region. A 42-base-pair (bp) fragment from this region was found to be necessary for proper regulation of RNR2 and to be capable of conferring DNA damage inducibility upon a heterologous promoter. This fragment contained both positively and negatively acting sequences. Four DNA-binding factors interacted with the RNR2 regulatory region. One factor was identified as the GRF1 protein, the product of the RAP1 gene. GRF1 bound to the UAS2 element of RNR2, which was found to be directly adjacent to the 42-bp fragment. UAS2 activity was repressed by the 42-bp fragment. Three other factors bound to the 42-bp fragment; one of these factors, RRF3, had a second binding site in the RNR2 promoter. These factors are likely to mediate the response of RNR2 to DNA damage.
Leptin Perfusion Affects Insulin Secretion but Not Insulin Receptors in Rats

The aim of the study was to investigate acute leptin effects on insulin secretion and liver insulin binding in rats in vitro. In the in situ experiments leptin changed the pattern of insulin secretion from the pancreas but did not influence insulin binding in the liver. Perfusion of the pancreas with leptin (1, 10, and 100 nmol/l, respectively) at physiological and supraphysiological levels of glucose (6.66 and 25.0 mmol/l, respectively) did not evoke the inhibition of insulin output observed by the authors previously in the in vivo manners. On the contrary, leptin perfusion resulted in stimulation of insulin secretion. Simultaneously, liver perfusion with leptin for 30 min did not influence specific insulin binding. Analysis of Scatchard' plots indicated no changes in the number of high- and low-affinity insulin receptors and in their affinity to the hormone. Additionally, leptin did not influence general carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of the perfused liver. After the treatment with leptin, the output of glucose, free fatty acids and triglycerides to perfusate and the final contents of glycogen and triglycerides in liver were comparable to values obtained in control animals. The results indicate that some in vitro effects exerted by leptin differ from those observed in vivo.
Effectiveness of acupuncture in treatment of facial spasm: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT Facial spasm is one of the common facial diseases, especially in the aged. It is mostly characterized by initially progressive, involuntary, irregular, recurrent, clonic, or tonic movements of muscles innervated by the facial nerve on one side. Acupuncture is a low-risk treatment with purported claims of effectiveness for facial spasm. OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of acupuncture in facial spasm comprehensively. DESIGN The research team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that examined the effectiveness of acupuncture for facial spasm. OUTCOME MEASURE(S) The research team categorized results from each of the reviewed studies in two ways: (1) the number of participants who showed a positive response to therapy (total effectiveness rate) and (2) the number of participants who made a full recovery (clinical cure rate). RESULTS The research team reviewed a total of 13 studies involving 1262 participants with facial spasm. Researchers in China had conducted all studies, and most studies were poor in methodological quality. All studies reported that acupuncture was superior to other treatments, including carbamazepine, mecobalamin, and massage, and the meta-analysis on these low-quality studies yielded similar results. CONCLUSION Present trials evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in treatment of facial spasm are mostly poor in methodological quality. These studies showed that acupuncture was superior to other treatments for facial spasm; however, in its meta-analysis, the research team could not draw an affirmative conclusion as to the benefits of acupuncture due to the poor methodological quality and localized population of the included trials. The field needs large international, well-conducted RCTs.
Modeling and functional analysis of AEBP1, a transcriptional repressor

Adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 (AEBP1) is a transcriptional repressor of the aP2 gene, which encodes the adipocyte lipid binding protein and is involved in the differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes. It is an isoform of aortic carboxypeptidase‐like protein (ACLP), which is a part of the extracellular matrix. AEBP1 and ACLP contain a conserved carboxypeptidase domain which is critical for the function of AEBP1 as a transcriptional repressor. Homology modeling and multiple alignment of AEBP1 homologues were performed to identify putative domains and critical residues that were then deleted or mutated in mouse AEBP1. Expression of wild‐type and mutant AEBP1 proteins in CHO cells was performed, and their function in transcriptional repression was assayed by luciferase assay. All deletion forms of AEBP1 were able to repress transcription driven by the aP2 promoter. The DNA binding domain of AEBP1 was mapped by electrophoretic mobility shift assays to a region of the C‐terminus rich in basic residues. However, wild‐type AEBP1 was not able to interact strongly with DNA, suggesting that AEBP1 might function predominantly as a corepressor, independent of DNA binding. AEBP1 was also found to interact with Ca2+/calmodulin through this basic region, suggesting another mechanism of functional regulation. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Is Extended Hepatectomy for Hepatobiliary Malignancy Justified?

Background:Extended hepatectomy may be required to provide the best chance for cure of hepatobiliary malignancies. However, the procedure may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Methods:We analyzed the outcome of 127 consecutive patients who underwent extended hepatectomy (resection of ≥ 5 liver segments) for hepatobiliary malignancies. Results:The patients underwent extended hepatectomy for colorectal metastases (n = 86; 67.7%), hepatocellular carcinoma (n =12; 9.4%), cholangiocarcinoma (n =14; 11.0%), and other malignant diseases (n =15; 11.5%). Thirty-two left and ninety-five right extended hepatectomies were performed. Eight patients also underwent caudate lobe resection, and 40 patients underwent a synchronous intraabdominal procedure. Twenty patients underwent radiofrequency ablation, and 31 underwent preoperative portal vein embolization. The median blood loss was 300 mL for right hepatectomy and 600 mL for left hepatectomy (P = 0.02). Thirty-six patients (28.3%) received a blood transfusion. The overall complication rate was 30.7% (n = 39), and the operative mortality rate was 0.8% (n = 1). Significant liver insufficiency (total bilirubin level > 10 mg/dL or international normalized ratio > 2) occurred in 6 patients (4.7%). Multivariate analysis showed that a synchronous intraabdominal procedure was the only factor associated with an increased risk of morbidity (hazard ratio [HR], 4.9; P = 0.02). The median survival was 41.9 months. The overall 5-year survival rate was 25.5%. Conclusions:Extended hepatectomy can be performed with a near-zero operative mortality rate and is associated with long-term survival in a subset of patients with malignant hepatobiliary disease. Combining extended hepatectomy with another intraabdominal procedure increases the risk of postoperative morbidity.
High‐Resolution Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Shows Both Global and Regional Cerebral Hypometabolism in Multiple Sclerosis

The authors study brain regional glucose metabolism prospectively in multiple sclerosis (MS) using high‐resolution 2‐[18‐F]fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) in 25 MS patients of the Dent Neurologic Institute compared with 6 healthy subjects. Glucose metabolism is measured in 20 regions of interest using a line‐profile technique. Compared with control subjects, a 9% reduction in total brain glucose metabolism is noted in MS patients (p < 0.05). Hypometabolism is widespread, including the cerebral cortex, subcortical nuclei, supratentorial white matter, and infratentorial structures. This reduction represents absolute regional decreases ranging from 3% to 18%. The most dramatic absolute reductions occur in the superior mesial frontal cortex, superior dorsolateral frontal cortex, mesial occipital cortex, lateral occipital cortex, deep inferior parietal white matter, and pons. The regional hypometabolism in the superior mesial frontal cortex and superior dorsolateral frontal cortex is statistically significant (p < 0.05), whereas the changes in the mesial occipital cortex (p = 0.07) and the lateral occipital cortex (p = 0.09) approach significance. The authors' findings suggest that widespread cerebral dysfunction occurs in MS, and that diaschisis or neuronal system disconnection resulting from white matter disease plays a major role. Cortical gray matter hypometabolism may also reflect direct MS involvement. The quantitative cerebral abnormalities detected by FDG PET may serve as a marker of disease activity in understanding the pathophysiological expression and therapeutic response of MS.
Title Quantum dots incorporated magnetic nanoparticles for imaging colon carcinoma cells

Background Engineered multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) have made a tremend ous impact on the biomedical sciences, with advances in imaging, sensing and bioseparat ion. In particular, the combination of optical and magnetic responses through a single partic le system allows us to serve as novel multimodal molecular imaging contrast agents in cl in cal settings. Despite of essential medical imaging modalities and of significant clinic al application, only few nanocomposites have been developed with dual imaging contrast. A new method f or preparing quantum dots (QDs) incorporated magnetic nanoparticles (MNP s) based on layerby-layer (LbL) self-assembly techniques have developed and used for cancer c ells imaging.
Parameter Optimization in Time-frequency e-Filter based on Correlation Coefficient

Time-Frequencyε-filter (TF ε-filter) can reduce most kinds of noise from a single-channel noisy signal with preserving the signal that varies drastically such as a speech signal. The filter design is simple and it can effectively reduce noise. It can reduce not only small stationary noise but also large nonstationary noise. However, it has some parameters and we need to set them appropriately based on empirical control. So far, there are few studies to evaluate the appropriateness of the parameter setting of ε-filter in general. In this paper, we employ correlation coefficient of the filter output and the difference between the input and the filter output as the evaluation function of the parameter setting. We also show the algorithm to set the optimal parameter of TFε-filter. We conducted the experiments to compare the value of the correlation coefficient and the mean square error when we change ε value. The experimental results show the applicability of our criterion in parameter setting of ε-filter.
A novel adaptive equalizer and compensator for direct conversion receivers

A novel adaptive algorithm is proposed in this paper to remove I/Q mismatch, the second-order intermodulation (IM2), ISI and AWGN simultaneously in a direct conversion receiver (DCR) by using cascaded adaptive filters. IM2 signals are treated as variable real DC values both in in-phase and quadrature channels separately, so they can be removed simultaneously with only one complex tap incorporated into a complex feed forward equalizer (CFFE). In addition, a real valued adaptive mismatch canceller is employed before the CFFE. Furthermore, a complex decision feedback equalizer (CDFE) is employed to cancel the residual ISI. To accelerate the convergence rates of the taps and to reduce the estimation variance, an internal iterative algorithm is introduced. Simulation results are provided to verify the superior performance of the proposed method
Relationship of State-Trait Anxiety to Academic Performance in Dutch Medical Students

The administration of a Dutch version of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to medical students has been described. In Study 1 a significant negative relationship was obtained between level of anxiety and level of academic success. In Study 2 these results were partly replicated. Besides data obtained with the Dutch version in an anxiety-provoking situation and test-retest reliabilities, support was given to the Spielberger theory of trait-state anxiety by demonstrating that the increase in A-State level is higher for the group of high A-Trait men than for the group of low A-Trait students.
Cluster analysis of RNA-seq time-course data Plasmodium identifies stage-specific co-regulated biological processes and regulatory elements

In this study, we interpreted RNA-seq time-course data of three developmental stages of species by clustering genes based Plasmodium on similarities in their expression profile without prior knowledge of the gene function. Functional enrichment of clusters of upregulated genes at specific time-points reveals potential targetable biological processes with information on their timings. We identified common consensus sequences that these clusters shared as potential points of coordinated transcriptional control. Five cluster groups showed upregulated profile patterns of biological interest. This included two clusters from the Intraerythrocytic Developmental Cycle (cluster 4 = 16 genes, and cluster 9 = 32 genes), one from the sexual development stage (cluster 2 = 851 genes), and two from the gamete-fertilization stage in the mosquito host (cluster 4 = 153 genes, and cluster 9 = 258 genes). The IDC expressed the least numbers of genes with only 1448 genes showing any significant activity of the 5020 genes (~29%) in the experiment. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of these clusters revealed a total of 671 uncharacterized genes implicated in 14 biological processes and components associated with these stages, some of which are currently being investigated as drug targets in on-going research. Five putative transcription regulatory binding motifs shared by members of each cluster were also identified, one of which was also identified in a previous study by separate researchers. Our study shows stage-specific genes and biological processes that may be important in antimalarial drug research efforts. In addition, timed-coordinated control of separate processes may explain the paucity of factors in parasites.
Behavior of and Requirements for Internet Firewalls

This memo defines behavioral characteristics of and interoperability requirements for Internet firewalls. While most of these things may seem obvious, current firewall behavior is often either unspecified or underspecified and this lack of specificity often causes problems in practice. This requirement is intended to be a necessary first step in making the behavior of firewalls more consistent across implementations and in line with accepted IP protocol practices.
The slow repolarization phase of the action potential in rat heart.

Intracellular action potentials and isometric force were measured from thin trabeculae of the right ventricle of rat heart. Characteristic for the action potential of rat myocardium is a short plateau and a slow final repolarization phase. We have studied the influence of ionic composition of the medium and of stimulation frequency on the slow phase of repolarization and its relation to peak force. The results confirmed a positive correlation between peak force and the duration of the slow phase of repolarization, as has been reported for other species. An increase of [Ca2+]o caused a shortening of the slow phase of repolarization when peak force was kept constant. In low [Na+]o peak force was increased and the slow phase of repolarization was shortened. Reperfusion with normal medium after a period in low [Na+]o induced a transient prolongation of the slow phase of repolarization and reduction of peak force. The transient lasted about 20 min. In the presence of the Ca2+ entry blocker nifedipine the action potential duration and peak force were reduced. Low [Na+]o caused less shortening of the slow phase of repolarization and a greater increase of peak force. The slow phase of repolarization was prolonged transiently following reperfusion at normal [Na+]o, but only during a few beats. These results are in agreement with the hypothesis that the slow phase of repolarization is due to an inward current generated by Na+‐Ca2+ exchange, as latter mechanism is known to be sensitive to the intracellular and extracellular concentrations of both Na+ and Ca2+.
Sequence of the Circle Junction of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1: Implications for Reverse Transcription and Integration

The sequence of the LTR-LTR circle junction of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was determined. The circle junction sequences were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and cloned into M13 sequencing vectors. The circle junction contains 4 base pairs that are not present in the integrated provirus. We show that reverse transcription in HIV-1 initiates with the addition of a dC to the tRNA primer, suggesting that the tRNA used to initiate reverse transcription ends with the consensus CCA triplet. This indicates that the source of one of the four bases in the circle junction is probably the terminal A of the tRNA primer used to initiate reverse transcription. We propose that, in HIV-1, removal of the tRNA primer by RNase H cleavage shows an unusual specificity such that cleavage occurs between the terminal rA and the adjacent rC of the tRNA primer. These data also imply that the HIV-1 integration protein removes two bases from each end of the linear viral DNA during integration as has been described for other well-studied retroviruses.
High-Gain Millimeter-Wave AlGaN/GaN Transistors

In this paper, the fabrication and performance of common-source (CS) and common-gate transistors for operation at millimeter-wave frequencies are presented. The AlGaN/GaN devices have a gate length of 100 nm and yield a high maximum transconductance of above 550 mS/mm with a very low contact resistance of less than 0.12 Ω·mm. The baseline technology with its optimized epitaxial structures and their transition frequency of more than 80 GHz allows reproducible designs for monolithic microwave integrated circuits up to the W-band frequency range (75-110 GHz). In addition, GaN dual-gate (DG) devices were developed for substantial improvement of the bandwidth of the devices and of the gain per stage on circuit level. This paper discusses the advantages of the DG devices in power gain over the CS high electron mobility transistors for millimeter-wave applications.
Biomimetic Flow Imaging with an Artificial Fish Lateral Line

Almost all fish possess a flow-sensing system along their body, called the lateral line, that allows them to perform various behaviours such as schooling, preying, and obstacle or predator avoidance. Inspired from this, our group has built artificial lateral lines from newly-developed flow sensors using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology. To make our lateral line a functional sensory system, we develop an adaptive beamforming algorithm (applying Capon’s method) that provides our lateral line with the capability of imaging the locations of oscillating dipoles in a 3D underwater environment. To help our sensor arrays adapt to the environment for better performance, we introduce a self-calibration algorithm that significantly improves the image accuracy. Finally, we derive the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) that represents the fundamental perfomance limit of our system and provides guidance in optimizing artificial lateral-line systems.
Delivery of smaller gold nanoparticles by liposomal incorporation

Recent progress in gold nanoparticle (Au NP) based systems in cancer imaging and therapeutic has motivated development of a liposome-based system to enhance delivery of smaller NPs to cells. Our studies have shown that liposomal delivery resulted in an enhancement in the cellular uptake of the small Au NPs. Real-time intracellular tracking of the AuNP-liposomes revealed an average speed of 12.48 ± 3.12 μm/hr and diffusion coefficient of 5.1 ± 2.1 μm2/hr for their intracellular transport. Analysis of the time-dependent intracellular spatial distribution of the Au NP-liposomes demonstrated that they reside in lysosomes (final degrading organelles) within 40 minutes of incubation. Knowledge gained in these studies opens the door to pursuing liposomes as a viable strategy for delivery of Au NPs for applications in imaging and radiation therapy.
Molecular dissection and expression of the LdK39 kinesin in the human pathogen, Leishmania donovani

In this study we show for the first time the intracellular distribution of a K39 kinesin homologue in Leishmania donovani, a medically important parasite of humans. Further, we demonstrated that this motor protein is expressed in both the insect and mammalian developmental forms (i.e. promastigote and amastigotes) of this organism. Moreover, in both of these parasite developmental stages, immunofluorescence indicated that the LdK39 kinesin accumulated at anterior and posterior cell poles and that it displayed a peripheral localization consistent with the cortical cytoskeleton. Using a molecular approach, we identified, cloned and characterized the first complete open reading frame for the gene (LdK39) encoding this large (> 358 kDa) motor protein in L. donovani. Based on these observations, we subsequently used a homologous episomal expression system to dissect and express the functional domains that constitute the native molecule. Cell fractionation experiments demonstrated that LdK39 was soluble and that it bound to detergent‐extracted cytoskeletons of these parasites in an ATP‐dependent manner. The cumulative results of these experiments are consistent with LdK39 functioning as an ATP‐dependent kinesin which binds to and travels along the cortical cytoskeleton of this important human pathogen.