Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Lombard Speech Recognition Based on the Voice Conversion Towards Neutral Speech

The automatic speech recognition (ASR) under noisy environments is focused as one of the challenging topics. Especially, the observed speech under noisy environments much distorts compared with neutral observed speech under quiet one. This distortion is called Lombard effects, and ASR performance degrades by them. They should strongly occur subject to no auditory feedback for speaker. In conventional research, their features tend to be ascent of power, ascent of fundamental frequency (F0), flat of spectral envelope and higher-frequency shift of the first formant frequency (F1) and the second formant frequency (F2). Therefore, the ASR performance without any especially operations degrades by affecting such features. To overcome this problem, they had proposed to reconstruct the acoustic model with many Lombard speech signals, to adopt acoustic model with some Lombard ones, and so on. However, it is indispensable for above both approaches to supply the sufficient amount of Lombard speech signals in advance. Thus in this paper, we propose the new approach based on the voice conversion from Lombard speech to neutral speech. This approach has the advantages which are without not only the operation for acoustic model but also the sufficient amount of Lombard speech signals in advance. We try to improve the Lombard speech recognition performance with the voice conversion technique towards neutral speech. We firstly analyse F0, F1 and F2 features with Lombard speech and neutral one in detail. As a result, we confirmed that F0, F1 and F2 features with Lombard speech are higher frequency than neutral ones. In addition, we also confirmed the standard deviations of the ascending rate for F1 and F2 features are smaller than the one for F0 feature. Therefore, we decided to employ F1 and F2 as the feature for voice conversion, and we finally converted Lombard speech to neutral speech by equalizing the ascending rates for F1 and F2 features. We carried out evaluation experiments. As a result of experiments, we confirmed the ASR performance increases to 10 % for female speakers and 4 % for male one with proposed method. We therefore confirmed that the Lombard speech can be robustly recognized without reconstruct the acoustic model.
[Mesenchymal stem cells modified with Runt-related transcription factor 2 promote bone regeneration in rabbit mandibular distraction osteogenesis].

OBJECTIVE This work investigated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) modified with Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) therapy for bone regeneration in rabbit mandibular distraction osteogenesis. METHODS Forty-eight New Zealand mature white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups after the rabbit model of mandibular distraction osteogenesis was established: reconstruction plasmid modified with Runx2 (group A), plasmid without Runx2 (group B), and the same dose of saline as control (group C). At the fifth day of distraction phase, MSCs with reconstruction plasmid modified with adv-hRunx2-gfp were injected into the distraction gap of group A. MSCs with reconstruction plasmid modified with adv-gfp was injected into the distraction gap of group B, whereas group C was injected with the same dose of saline. At 8 weeks after injection, all animals were sacrificed, and the distracted mandibles were harvested. The general imaging histological observation and three-point bending test were used for evaluation. RESULTS CT plain scan and histological analysis confirmed that the amount of new bone forming in the distraction gap of group A was significantly higher than those in groups B and C. Dual-energy X ray and three-point bending test results also showed that the bone mineral density, bone mineral content, and maximum load of the distraction gap of group A were significantly higher than those of groups B and C (P<0.01). CONCLUSION Runx2-ex vivo gene therapy based on MSCs can effectively promote the bone regeneration in rabbit mandibular distraction osteogenesis and shorten the stationary phase. Therefore, reconstruction of craniofacial fracture would be a valuable strategy
Different Response of Human Glioma Tumor-initiating Cells to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Kinase Inhibitors*

Because a subpopulation of cancer stem cells (tumor-initiating cells, TICs) is believed to be responsible for the development, progression, and recurrence of many tumors, we evaluated the in vitro sensitivity of human glioma TICs to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibitors (erlotinib and gefitinib) and possible molecular determinants for their effects. Cells isolated from seven glioblastomas (GBM 1-7) and grown using neural stem cell permissive conditions were characterized for in vivo tumorigenicity, expression of tumor stem cell markers (CD133, nestin), and multilineage differentiation properties, confirming that these cultures are enriched in TICs. TIC cultures were challenged with increasing concentrations of erlotinib and gefitinib, and their survival was evaluated after 1-4 days. In most cases, a time- and concentration-dependent cell death was observed, although GBM 2 was completely insensitive to both drugs, and GBM 7 was responsive only to the highest concentrations tested. Using a radioligand binding assay, we show that all GBM TICs express EGFR. Erlotinib and gefitinib inhibited EGFR and ERK1/2 phosphorylation/activation in all GBMs, irrespective of the antiproliferative response observed. However, under basal conditions GBM 2 showed a high Akt phosphorylation that was completely insensitive to both drugs, whereas GBM 7 was completely insensitive to gefitinib, and Akt inactivation occurred only for the highest erlotinib concentration tested, showing a precise relationship with the antiproliferative effects of the drug. Interestingly, in GBM 2, phosphatase and tensin homolog expression was significantly down-regulated, possibly accounting for the insensitivity to the drugs. In conclusion, glioma TICs are responsive to anti-EGFR drugs, but phosphatase and tensin homolog expression and Akt inhibition seem to be necessary for such effect.
Five-year follow-up study of patients with reflux symptoms and reflux esophagitis in annual medical check-up field.

AIM To clarify changes in the prevalence of reflux symptoms and reflux esophagitis over a period of 5 years. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Five hundred thirty-nine study subjects (male: 408, mean age 47.3 years) were assessed using a reflux symptom questionnaire and endoscopic examinations conducted twice, 5 years apart. RESULTS At enrollment, 88 patients had reflux symptoms and 44 had reflux esophagitis (RE). After 5 years, 58 and 53 patients were diagnosed as having reflux symptoms and RE, respectively. Only 26% of the patients with reflux symptoms at enrollment had the symptoms after 5 years. The presence of reflux symptoms and an increase of BMI were significant risk factors for the presence of reflux symptoms after 5 years. CONCLUSION Reflux symptoms frequently disappear after 5 years. It is difficult to identify individuals who will still have symptoms after 5 years on the basis of clinical characteristics.
Familiarity and Voice Representation: From Acoustic-Based Representation to Voice Averages

The ability to recognize an individual from their voice is a widespread ability with a long evolutionary history. Yet, the perceptual representation of familiar voices is ill-defined. In two experiments, we explored the neuropsychological processes involved in the perception of voice identity. We specifically explored the hypothesis that familiar voices (trained-to-familiar (Experiment 1), and famous voices (Experiment 2)) are represented as a whole complex pattern, well approximated by the average of multiple utterances produced by a single speaker. In experiment 1, participants learned three voices over several sessions, and performed a three-alternative forced-choice identification task on original voice samples and several “speaker averages,” created by morphing across varying numbers of different vowels (e.g., [a] and [i]) produced by the same speaker. In experiment 2, the same participants performed the same task on voice samples produced by familiar speakers. The two experiments showed that for famous voices, but not for trained-to-familiar voices, identification performance increased and response times decreased as a function of the number of utterances in the averages. This study sheds light on the perceptual representation of familiar voices, and demonstrates the power of average in recognizing familiar voices. The speaker average captures the unique characteristics of a speaker, and thus retains the information essential for recognition; it acts as a prototype of the speaker.
Characterization of electrospun nanofiber matrices made of collagen blends as potential skin substitutes

Collagen and its blends, collagen/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and collagen/chitosan/PVA, were made into nanofibers by electrospinning. The nanofibrous matrices were evaluated for their potential as skin substitutes. The addition of PVA to collagen increased the swelling ratio of the nanofibers, their Young's modulus, strain at break and ultimate tensile strength. The addition of chitosan to collagen/PVA reduced its swelling ratio and its strain at break, but increased the Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength. Both PVA and chitosan stabilized the collagen fibers in an aqueous solution. The addition of PVA, but not chitosan, promoted initial fibroblast cell proliferation on the matrices. Compared to the skin substitute made of pure collagen, the substitutes with PVA and chitosan showed improved structural stability in aqueous solution, better tensile strength and similar or better biocompatibility in vitro.
Comparative Survivorship of Different Tibial Designs in Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND Few registry-based studies in the United States have compared the survivorship of different knee implant designs in total knee arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to compare differences in survivorship of commonly used tibial implant designs in primary total knee arthroplasty. METHODS A total of 16,584 primary total knee arthroplasties in 11,992 patients were performed at a single institution from 1985 to 2005. Patients were prospectively followed at regular intervals to ascertain details of subsequent revisions. Overall revision rates and revisions for aseptic loosening, wear, and osteolysis were compared across twenty-two tibial implant designs using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusting for age, sex, calendar year, and body mass index. RESULTS In comparison with metal-backed modular implants, all-polyethylene tibial components had a significantly lower risk of revision (hazard ratio, 0.3; 95% confidence intervals: 0.2, 0.5 [p < 0.0001]). The risk reduction with all-polyethylene tibial components was not affected by age, sex, or body mass index. With metal-backed modular tibial designs, cruciate-retaining knees performed better than the posterior-stabilized knees (p = 0.002), but this finding was limited to one specific metal-backed modular tibial component, the Press Fit Condylar design. With all-polyethylene tibial components, there was no survivorship difference between cruciate-retaining and posterior-stabilized designs. CONCLUSIONS All-polyethylene tibial components were associated with better outcomes than metal-backed modular components. Cruciate-retaining and posterior-stabilized designs performed equally well, except with the Press Fit Condylar design. Obese patients may have superior results with all-polyethylene and posterior-stabilized components. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Electrosurgical energy in combination with a transseptal needle: A novel method for the creation of an atrial communication in hypoplastic left heart syndrome with intact atrial septum

Neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and intact atrial septum (IAS) usually present with severe acidosis and hypoxemia that necessitate immediate intervention to create an atrial septal defect (ASD). Transcatheter creation of an ASD in these patients requires transseptal puncture of a thickened atrial septum in the setting of a very small left atrium. We report on a novel method of perforating the atrial septum using radio‐frequency energy in combination with a transseptal needle to facilitate transseptal puncture and subsequent stent placement in a very thick atrial septum of a newborn with HLHS/IAS and a small left atrium. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Optimizing Draw Call Batching Using Transient Data-Guided Texture Atlases

Rendering a large number of 2D textures in real-time requires reducing the overhead of a large number of draw calls on the CPU caused by binding different textures when drawing. Texture atlases are used to avoid switching textures by packing textures into one larger texture before rendering. Graphics hardware APIs limit the size of a texture, so textures need to be partitioned into multiple atlases. Unfortunately, composing textures into atlases is performed manually by developers or artists with an educated guess and requires manually checking which texture switch breaks a draw call batch to improve batching. Manual composition of texture atlases is cumbersome, time-consuming and not optimal for large-scale and unpredictable use of textures. We automated the composition of atlases based on previously gathered texture rendering data to remove manual intervention and created transient texture atlases at run-time based on usage to optimize draw call batching. We applied our approach to four simulations and measured the number of draw calls, CPU frame time and GPU frame time. The number of draw calls is similar or less for data-guided texture atlases than for manually composed texture atlases. Transient data-guided texture atlases reduce the number of draw calls significantly for unpredictable use of textures, which leads to performance gains on the CPU.
The stage IV error in Piaget's theory of object concept development: difficulties in object conceptualization or spatial localization?

Coherent articles essentially comprised of a mastic material uniformly dispersed throughout a cross-linked polymeric matrix may be employed in, eg, sheet form as sealants for wire and cable terminations, pipe junctions and the like. Adjacent layers of the articles may be amalgamated by heating, yet they are sufficiently crosslinked as to permit the impartation of heat recoverability.
Multigene phylogeny and mating tests reveal three cryptic species related to Calonectria pauciramosa

Calonectria pauciramosa is a pathogen of numerous plant hosts worldwide. Recent studies have indicated that it included cryptic species, some of which are identified in this study. Isolates from various geographical origins were collected and compared based on morphology, DNA sequence data of the β-tubulin, histone H3 and translation elongation factor-1α regions and mating compatibility. Comparisons of the DNA sequence data and mating compatibility revealed three new species. These included Ca. colombiana sp. nov. from Colombia, Ca. polizzii sp. nov. from Italy and Ca. zuluensis sp. nov. from South Africa, all of which had distinguishing morphological features. Based on DNA sequence data, Ca. brasiliensis is also elevated to species level.
Imaging of cardiac perfusion of free-breathing small animals using dynamic phase-correlated micro-CT.

PURPOSE Mouse models of cardiac diseases have proven to be a valuable tool in preclinical research. The high cardiac and respiratory rates of free breathing mice prohibit conventional in vivo cardiac perfusion studies using computed tomography even if gating methods are applied. This makes a sacrification of the animals unavoidable and only allows for the application of ex vivo methods. METHODS To overcome this issue the authors propose a low dose scan protocol and an associated reconstruction algorithm that allows for in vivo imaging of cardiac perfusion and associated processes that are retrospectively synchronized to the respiratory and cardiac motion of the animal. The scan protocol consists of repetitive injections of contrast media within several consecutive scans while the ECG, respiratory motion, and timestamp of contrast injection are recorded and synchronized to the acquired projections. The iterative reconstruction algorithm employs a six-dimensional edge-preserving filter to provide low-noise, motion artifact-free images of the animal examined using the authors' low dose scan protocol. RESULTS The reconstructions obtained show that the complete temporal bolus evolution can be visualized and quantified in any desired combination of cardiac and respiratory phase including reperfusion phases. The proposed reconstruction method thereby keeps the administered radiation dose at a minimum and thus reduces metabolic inference to the animal allowing for longitudinal studies. CONCLUSIONS The authors' low dose scan protocol and phase-correlated dynamic reconstruction algorithm allow for an easy and effective way to visualize phase-correlated perfusion processes in routine laboratory studies using free-breathing mice.
polymyalgia rheumatica: a double blind, prospective comparison between prednisolone and deflazacort

Accepted for publication 6 October 1995. Abstract Objective-To compare the long term effects of low dosage prednisolone or deflazacort treatments on bone mass in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica. Methods-Thirty patients with polymyalgia rheumatica were allocated on a random double blind basis to receive treatment with prednisolone or deflazacort. Bone mineral content (BMC) was measured in the lumbar spine and in the distal forearm before treatment and three, six, and 12 months after treatment. Results-At three months the decrease in lumbar BMC and bone mineral density (BMD) was significantly greater in the deflazacort group than in the prednisolone group (p < 005), but at six and 12 months there was no difference between the two groups. In all patients after one year there was a significant loss ofBMC: a 6.4% loss in lumbar BMC and a 1-8% loss in distal forearm BMC. Loss in lumbar BMC after six months was correlated to the cumulative dose of corticosteroid (r = 0*4; p ( 0.05) and was significantly greater in the group of patients who had persisting symptoms of polymyalgia at six weeks, three months, or both, after treatment started (p = 0.05). Conclusion-This low dose study failed to reveal any calcium sparing properties of deflazacort compared with prednisolone. Possible explanations for this finding are discussed.
Texturing through constructive modeling

The concept of solid texturing is extended in two directions: constructive modeling of space partitions for texturing and modeling of multi-dimensional textured objects called hypervolumes. A hypervolume is considered as a point set with attributes of both physical (density, temperature, etc.) and photometric (color, transparency, diffuse and specular reflections, etc.) nature. The point-set geometry and attributes are modeled independently using real-valued scalar functions of several variables. Each real-valued function defining the geometry or an attribute is evaluated in the given point by a procedure traversing a constructive tree structure with primitives in the leaves and operations in the nodes of the tree. This approach provides a framework for the modeling, texturing and visualization of 3D solids and time-dependent and multi-dimensional objects in a completely uniform manner. We introduced a special modeling language and implemented software tools supporting the proposed approach. The concept of constructive hypervolume textures is independent of the geometric representation. We provide examples of textured functional representation (F-Rep) and boundary representation (B-Rep) objects as illustrations.
Entry of Borrelia burgdorferi into macrophages is end-on and leads to degradation in lysosomes

The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, is ingested rapidly by mouse macrophages in vitro. Spirochetes attach by their ends and become progressively coiled as they move deeper into cells. From the earliest measurements, spirochetes colocalize with a marker of endosomes and lysosomes, and degradation of spirochetes occurs within lysosomes.
Wing-Assisted Incline Running and the Evolution of Flight

Flapping wings of galliform birds are routinely used to produce aerodynamic forces oriented toward the substrate to enhance hindlimb traction. Here, I document this behavior in natural and laboratory settings. Adult birds fully capable of aerial flight preferentially employ wing-assisted incline running (WAIR), rather than flying, to reach elevated refuges (such as cliffs, trees, and boulders). From the day of hatching and before attaining sustained aerial flight, developing ground birds use WAIR to enhance their locomotor performance through improved foot traction, ultimately permitting vertical running. WAIR provides insight from behaviors observable in living birds into the possible role of incipient wings in feathered theropod dinosaurs and offers a previously unstudied explanation for the evolution of avian flight.
Tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNFα, cachexin, or cachectin) is a cell signaling protein (cytokine) involved in systemic inflammation and is one of the cytokines that make up the acute phase reaction. It is produced chiefly by activated macrophages, although it can be produced by many other cell types such as CD4+ lymphocytes, NK cells, neutrophils, mast cells, eosinophils, and neurons.
Pentoxifylline increases retinal capillary blood flow velocity in patients with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether oral pentoxifylline would improve retinal microvascular hemodynamics and blood rheology in patients with diabetes. DESIGN Patients were enrolled in a double-masked, placebo-controlled trial of pentoxifylline at 2000 mg/d. Retinal capillary blood velocity and leukocyte density, filterability, viscosity, and fibrinogen content were measured by the blue-field entoptic phenomenon simulation, filtration, rotational viscosimetry, and heat precipitation techniques, respectively, before, during, and after drug therapy. RESULTS Treatment with pentoxifylline resulted in a 23.2%, 26.8%, and 37.8% increase in capillary blood flow velocity at 1, 2, and 3 months of therapy, respectively, with a return to pretreatment baseline levels 1 month after cessation of therapy. There were no apparent effects on the remaining variables during treatment. CONCLUSION Pentoxifylline increases retinal capillary blood flow velocity in patients with diabetes.
Detrimental neural control of precision grip lifts in children with ADHD

The aim was to investigate the performance of children with attention‐deficit‐hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in tasks involving motor‐memory representations. A special grip object recorded forces generated by the fingertips during a precision grip‐lift task. Common objects were lifted from a linear scale. Twenty‐five boys with ADHD were evaluated and grouped according to the presence (ADHD+) or absence (ADHD) of movement dysfunction using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Henderson and Sugden 1992). Mean group ages were 11.4 years(range 9.0 to 11.0 years) and 11.7 years (9.0 to 15.6 years), respectively. They were compared to a control group of 25 age‐matched boys, mean group age 11.8 years(range 9.0 to 13.0 years). Variability of motor performance was predominant in the ADHD+ group. Several of these participants presented a higher grip‐force output during the gripping movement. They also had difficulties in adapting the motor output to target different weights, suggesting deficient anticipatory parameter control based on memory representations. The results suggest that in some children motor problems are due to detrimental neural control functions rather than core symptoms of ADHD.