Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
End-to-end Models with auditory attention in Multi-channel Keyword Spotting

In this paper, we propose an attention-based end-to-end model for multi-channel keyword spotting (KWS), which is trained to optimize the KWS result directly. As a result, our model outperforms the baseline model with signal pre-processing techniques in both the clean and noisy testing data. We also found that multi-task learning results in a better performance when the training and testing data are similar. Transfer learning and multi-target spectral mapping can dramatically enhance the robustness to the noisy environment. At 0.1 false alarm (FA) per hour, the model with transfer learning and multi-target mapping gain an absolute 30% improvement in the wake-up rate in the noisy data with SNR about -20.
Deciphering molecular properties of hypermutated gastrointestinal cancer

Great mutational heterogeneity is observed both across cancer types (>1000‐fold) and within a given cancer type, with a fraction harboring >10 mutations per million bases, thus termed hypermutation. We determined the genome‐wide effects of high mutation load on the transcriptome and methylome of two cancer types; namely, colorectal cancer (CRC) and stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD). Briefly, hierarchical clustering of the expression and methylation profiles showed that the majority of CRC and STAD hypermutated samples were mixed and separated from their respective non‐hypermutated samples, exceeding the boundary of tissue specificity. Further in‐detailed exploration uncovered that the underlying molecular mechanism may be related to the perturbation of chromatin remodeling genes.
Face Recognition: From Traditional to Deep Learning Methods

Starting in the seventies, face recognition has become one of the most researched topics in computer vision and biometrics. Traditional methods based on hand-crafted features and traditional machine learning techniques have recently been superseded by deep neural networks trained with very large datasets. In this paper we provide a comprehensive and up-to-date literature review of popular face recognition methods including both traditional (geometry-based, holistic, feature-based and hybrid methods) and deep learning methods.
Understanding Ovarian Hypo-Response to Exogenous Gonadotropin in Ovarian Stimulation and Its New Proposed Marker—The Follicle-To-Oocyte (FOI) Index

Hypo-responsiveness to controlled ovarian stimulation is an undervalued topic in reproductive medicine. This phenomenon manifests as a low follicles output rate (FORT) with a discrepancy between the relatively low number of pre-ovulatory follicles which develop following ovarian stimulation as compared to the number of antral follicles available at the start of stimulation. The pathophysiology mechanisms explaining the ovarian resistance to gonadotropin stimulation are not fully understood, but the fact that both hypo-responders and normal responders share similar phenotypic characteristics suggests a genotype-based mechanism. Indeed, existing evidence supports the association between specific gonadotropin and their receptor polymorphisms and ovarian hypo-response. Apart from genotypic trait, environmental contaminants and oxidative stress might also be involved in the hypo-response pathogenesis. The ratio between the number of oocytes collected at the ovum pick up and the number of antral follicles at the beginning of OS [Follicle to oocyte index (FOI)] is proposed as a novel parameter to assess the hypo-response. Compared with traditional ovarian reserve markers, FOI might reflect most optimally the dynamic nature of follicular growth in response to exogenous gonadotropin. In this review, we contextualize the role of FOI as a parameter to identify this condition, discuss the underlying mechanisms potentially implicated in the pathogenesis of hypo-response, and appraise possible the treatment strategies to overcome hyper-responsiveness to gonadotropin stimulation.
High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation ( HD-tDCS ) : a TMS study to investigate focal motor cortex ( M 1 ) excitability

were assessed before, during, immediately after and 30 minutes after the DC offset. CMAP and F-wave from MN, CMAP and SAP from RN were assessed at the same time intervals as a measurement of nerve excitability (NE). Results: C-tsDCS induced a progressive leftward shift of the HR-RC during stimulation and the effects persisted after stimulation offset. Indeed, C-tsDCS induced a significant reduction of RI at all the times points. Both A-tsDCS and SHAM had no significant effects on HR-RC and RI. None of the stimulation polarities showed an effect on PI and NE. Conclusions: tsDCS can modulate cervical SC excitability. The orientation of the spinal interneurons and motorneurons with respect to the electrical field (EF) seems to be important in establishing the final effects. Further studies are needed to elucidate mechanisms of tsDCS, with respect to polarity and geometry of EF. References: [1] Cogiamanian F. et al. Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation. Front Psychiatry 2012; 3:63. [2] Lim CY, Shin HI. Noninvasive DC stimulation on neck changes MEP. Neuroreport 2011 Nov 16; 22(16):819-23.
HDL-Mediated Lipid Influx to Endothelial Cells Contributes to Regulating Intercellular Adhesion Molecule (ICAM)-1 Expression and eNOS Phosphorylation

Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) is considered as the most important antiatherogenic role of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), but interventions based on RCT have failed to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. In contrast to RCT, important evidence suggests that HDL deliver lipids to peripheral cells. Therefore, in this paper, we investigated whether HDL could improve endothelial function by delivering lipids to the cells. Internalization kinetics using cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) AI fluorescent double-labeled reconstituted HDL (rHDL), and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells-1 (HMEC-1) showed a fast cholesterol influx (10 min) and a slower HDL protein internalization as determined by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Sphingomyelin kinetics overlapped that of apo AI, indicating that only cholesterol became dissociated from rHDL during internalization. rHDL apo AI internalization was scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI)-dependent, whereas HDL cholesterol influx was independent of SR-BI and was not completely inhibited by the presence of low-density lipoproteins (LDL). HDL sphingomyelin was fundamental for intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) downregulation in HMEC-1. However, vascular cell adhesion protein-1 (VCAM-1) was not inhibited by rHDL, suggesting that components such as apolipoproteins other than apo AI participate in HDL’s regulation of this adhesion molecule. rHDL also induced endothelial nitric oxide synthase eNOS S1177 phosphorylation in HMEC-1 but only when the particle contained sphingomyelin. In conclusion, the internalization of HDL implies the dissociation of lipoprotein components and a SR-BI-independent fast delivery of cholesterol to endothelial cells. HDL internalization had functional implications that were mainly dependent on sphingomyelin. These results suggest a new role of HDL as lipid vectors to the cells, which could be congruent with the antiatherogenic properties of these lipoproteins.
Efficient CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing and its application to conditional genetic analysis in Marchantia polymorpha

Marchantia polymorpha is one of the model species of basal land plants. Although CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing has already been demonstrated for this plant, the efficiency was too low to apply to functional analysis. In this study, we show the establishment of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing vectors with high efficiency for both construction and genome editing. Codon optimization of Cas9 to Arabidopsis achieved over 70% genome editing efficiency at two loci tested. Systematic assessment revealed that guide sequences of 17 nt or shorter dramatically decreased this efficiency. We also demonstrated that a combinatorial use of this system and a floxed complementation construct enabled conditional analysis of a nearly essential gene. This study reports that simple, rapid, and efficient genome editing is feasible with the series of developed vectors.
Metropolis-Hastings view on variational inference and adversarial training

A significant part of MCMC methods can be considered as the Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm with different proposal distributions. From this point of view, the problem of constructing a sampler can be reduced to the question - how to choose a proposal for the MH algorithm? To address this question, we propose to learn an independent sampler that maximizes the acceptance rate of the MH algorithm, which, as we demonstrate, is highly related to the conventional variational inference. For Bayesian inference, the proposed method compares favorably against alternatives to sample from the posterior distribution. Under the same approach, we step beyond the scope of classical MCMC methods and deduce the Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) framework from scratch, treating the generator as the proposal and the discriminator as the acceptance test. On real-world datasets, we improve Frechet Inception Distance and Inception Score, using different GANs as a proposal distribution for the MH algorithm. In particular, we demonstrate improvements of recently proposed BigGAN model on ImageNet.
Exome sequencing in large, multiplex bipolar disorder families from Cuba

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major psychiatric illness affecting around 1% of the global population. BD is characterized by recurrent manic and depressive episodes, and has an estimated heritability of around 70%. Research has identified the first BD susceptibility genes. However, the underlying pathways and regulatory networks remain largely unknown. Research suggests that the cumulative impact of common alleles with small effects explains only around 25–38% of the phenotypic variance for BD. A plausible hypothesis therefore is that rare, high penetrance variants may contribute to BD risk. The present study investigated the role of rare, nonsynonymous, and potentially functional variants via whole exome sequencing in 15 BD cases from two large, multiply affected families from Cuba. The high prevalence of BD in these pedigrees renders them promising in terms of the identification of genetic risk variants with large effect sizes. In addition, SNP array data were used to calculate polygenic risk scores for affected and unaffected family members. After correction for multiple testing, no significant increase in polygenic risk scores for common, BD-associated genetic variants was found in BD cases compared to healthy relatives. Exome sequencing identified a total of 17 rare and potentially damaging variants in 17 genes. The identified variants were shared by all investigated BD cases in the respective pedigree. The most promising variant was located in the gene SERPING1 (p.L349F), which has been reported previously as a genome-wide significant risk gene for schizophrenia. The present data suggest novel candidate genes for BD susceptibility, and may facilitate the discovery of disease-relevant pathways and regulatory networks.
Male disturbance, repeated insemination and sperm competition in the damselfly
 Coenagrion scitulum
 (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae)

Abstract Before mating, all male odonates translocate sperm from the testes (IX segment) to the penis (II segment), but in Coenagrion scitulum this behaviour is repeated up to six times during copulation. The aim of this study was to find an explanation for this unusual behaviour. Copulation behaviour consists of three to seven cycles, each of which includes one intra-male sperm translocation, one stage I and one stage II (i.e. the complete copulatory sequence typical of zygopterans). The duration of pre-copulatory tandem and cycle 1 of copulation was negatively correlated with time of day and positively with male disturbance. Males captured during stage I of any copulatory cycle always had the seminal vesicle full of sperm, thus indicating that they do translocate sperm during sperm translocation behaviour. Females were inseminated at stage II. The volume of ejaculate in females in the field interrupted during stage I of the first copulatory cycle was not significantly different from the volume stored by pre-copula females indicating that males cannot remove a significant amount of sperm from the female's genital tract at this stage. Spines on the horns of the penis, which in other damselflies help remove the sperm stored by females, are, however, absent in C. scitulum . Experiments with virgin females that received up to five inseminations indicated that the sperm are progressively packed, and therefore the volume is not directly proportional to the number of inseminations. Male C. scitulum thus has a poor sperm removal ability and multiple intra-male sperm translocation and insemination of the female during the same copulatory act seems to be a mechanism of sperm competition by which the male achieves a greater fertilization success.
Millimeter-Wave Substrate Integrated Waveguide Using Micromachined Tungsten-Coated Through Glass Silicon Via Structures

A millimeter-wave substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) has been demonstrated using micromachined tungsten-coated through glass silicon via (TGSV) structures. Two-step deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of silicon vias and selective tungsten coating onto them using a shadow mask are combined with glass reflow techniques to realize a glass substrate with metal-coated TGSVs for millimeter-wave applications. The proposed metal-coated TGSV structures effectively replace the metallic vias in conventional through glass via (TGV) substrates, in which an additional individual glass machining process to form micro holes in the glass substrate as well as a time-consuming metal-filling process are required. This metal-coated TGSV substrate is applied to fabricate a SIW operating at Ka-band as a test vehicle. The fabricated SIW shows an average insertion loss of 0.69 ± 0.18 dB and a return loss better than 10 dB in a frequency range from 20 GHz to 45 GHz.
Sexual selection in the Gulf Coast toad,
 Bufo valliceps
 : female choice based on variable characters

Abstract Sexual selection on male size and calling behaviour was studied for 2 years in one population and for 3 years in a second population of the Gulf Coast toad. A large-male mating advantage was detected only at one site during 1 year. Measures of calling behaviour were available for 3 years at one of the sites: on a nightly basis in 2 years, males with higher call rates were significantly more likely to mate than males with lower call rates. However, there was no relationship between mating success and either call duration or calling effort on a nightly bias in any year. In discrimination experiments, females preferred higher call rates and calls of longer duration, but not calls of lower frequency. Biased male mating success with respect to call rate therefore appears to have been partially a consequence of female mate choice. Call duration is positively correlated with male size, while dominant frequency is negatively correlated with male size in this species. Because females did not discriminate between high- and low-frequency calls, and because there was no bias in mating success with respect to call duration, it appears unlikely that female choice resulted in the large-male mating advantage observed in 1 year. Despite a nightly bias in mating success with respect to call rate that appears to have resulted from female mate choice, there was no detectable sexual selection on average call rate in any year. Instead, the number of nights of chorusing activity was the only detectable direct target of selection in all 3 years at one of the sites. The repeatability of call rate within males was low, ranging from 0·08 to 0·33. Simulations suggest that within-male variation in a trait can reduce the strength of sexual selection on the trait. Lack of selection on call rate, despite female choice based on call rate, may thus have been partially a consequence of within-male variation in this trait.
CariGANs

Facial caricature is an art form of drawing faces in an exaggerated way to convey humor or sarcasm. In this paper, we propose the first Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) for unpaired photo-to-caricature translation, which we call "CariGANs". It explicitly models geometric exaggeration and appearance stylization using two components: CariGeoGAN, which only models the geometry-to-geometry transformation from face photos to caricatures, and CariStyGAN, which transfers the style appearance from caricatures to face photos without any geometry deformation. In this way, a difficult cross-domain translation problem is decoupled into two easier tasks. The perceptual study shows that caricatures generated by our CariGANs are closer to the hand-drawn ones, and at the same time better persevere the identity, compared to state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, our CariGANs allow users to control the shape exaggeration degree and change the color/texture style by tuning the parameters or giving an example caricature.
Oxidation of Aβ and Plaque Biogenesis in Alzheimer's Disease and Down Syndrome

Abstract The processes involved with β-amyloid (Aβ) degradation and clearance in human brain are not well understood. We hypothesized that the distribution of oxidatively modified Aβ, as determined by an affinity-purified antibody in the entorhinal and frontal cortices of Alzheimer's disease (AD), Down syndrome (DS), nondemented elderly control cases, and canine brain, would provide insight into the mechanisms of Aβ accumulation. Based upon plaque counts, oxidized Aβ was present within 46–48% of diffuse and primitive plaques and 98% of cored plaques. Dense punctate deposits of oxidized Aβ were distributed throughout the neuropil in AD and DS brains but were also present within controls with mild neuropathology and isolated cognitive impairments. Confocal studies indicate that punctate oxidized Aβ deposits were within activated microglia. Oxidatively modified Aβ may reflect the efforts of microglial cells to take up and degrade Aβ. Oxidative modification of Aβ may be an early event in Aβ pathogenesis and may be important for plaque biogenesis.
Future Path Toward TB Vaccine Development: Boosting BCG or Re-educating by a New Subunit Vaccine

Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), kills 5,000 people per day globally. Rapid development and spread of various multi drug-resistant strains of Mtb emphasize that an effective vaccine is still the most cost-effectives and efficient way of controlling and eradicating TB. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), the only licensed TB vaccine, still remains the most widely administered human vaccine, but is inefficient in protecting from pulmonary TB in adults. The protective immunity afforded by BCG is thought to wane with time and considered to last only through adolescent years. Heterologous boosting of BCG-primed immune responses using a subunit vaccine represents a promising vaccination approach to promote strong cellular responses against Mtb. In our earlier studies, we discovered lipopeptides of ESAT-6 antigen with strong potential as a subunit vaccine candidate. Here, we have investigated that potential as a booster to BCG vaccine in both a pre-exposure preventive vaccine and a post-exposure therapeutic vaccine setting. Surprisingly, our results demonstrated that boosting BCG with subunit vaccine shortly before Mtb challenge did not improve the BCG-primed immunity, whereas the subunit vaccine boost after Mtb challenge markedly improved the quantity and quality of effector T cell responses and significantly reduced Mtb load in lungs, liver and spleen in mice. These studies suggest that ESAT-6 lipopeptide-based subunit vaccine was ineffective in overcoming the apparent immunomodulation induced by BCG vaccine in Mtb uninfected mice, but upon infection, the subunit vaccine is effective in re-educating the protective immunity against Mtb infection. These important results have significant implications in the design and investigation of effective vaccine strategies and immunotherapeutic approaches for individuals who have been pre-immunized with BCG vaccine but still get infected with Mtb.
The Regulation of Cbf1 by PAS Kinase Is a Pivotal Control Point for Lipogenesis vs. Respiration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PAS kinase 1 (Psk1) is a key regulator of respiration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Herein the molecular mechanisms of this regulation are explored through the characterization of its substrate, Centromere binding factor 1 (Cbf1). CBF1-deficient yeast displayed a significant decrease in cellular respiration, while PAS kinase-deficient yeast, or yeast harboring a Cbf1 phosphosite mutant (T211A) displayed a significant increase. Transmission electron micrographs showed an increased number of mitochondria in PAS kinase-deficient yeast consistent with the increase in respiration. Although the CBF1-deficient yeast did not appear to have an altered number of mitochondria, a mitochondrial proteomics study revealed significant differences in the mitochondrial composition of CBF1-deficient yeast including altered Atp3 levels, a subunit of the mitochondrial F1-ATP synthase complex. Both beta-galactosidase reporter assays and western blot analysis confirmed direct transcriptional control of ATP3 by Cbf1. In addition, we confirmed the regulation of yeast lipid genes LAC1 and LAG1 by Cbf1. The human homolog of Cbf1, Upstream transcription factor 1 (USF1), is also known to be involved in lipid biogenesis. Herein, we provide the first evidence for a role of USF1 in respiration since it appeared to complement Cbf1 in vivo as determined by respiration phenotypes. In addition, we confirmed USF1 as a substrate of human PAS kinase (hPASK) in vitro. Combined, our data supports a model in which Cbf1/USF1 functions to partition glucose toward respiration and away from lipid biogenesis, while PAS kinase inhibits respiration in part through the inhibition of Cbf1/USF1.
Male vigilance in white-tailed ptarmigan,
 Lagopus leucurus
 : mate guarding or predator detection?

Abstract Male white-tailed ptarmigan accompany their mates 88-92% of sightings before the onset of incubation, and while accompanying their mates, spend 22-30% of their time displaying vigilant behaviour. Two hypotheses to explain the function of male vigilance before onset of incubation were examined in white-tailed ptarmigan. The protection of paternity hypothesis proposes that male vigilance minimizes the threat of cuckoldry, thereby ensuring paternity in a reproductive attempt. Thus, male vigilance should be greatest during periods when females are fertile, and it should increase when the sex ratio is male-biased. The predator detection hypothesis predicts that increasing male vigilance decreases predation risk to their mates and thus may allow females to increase foraging efficiency. The percentage of time males spent in vigilant behaviour during the pre-incubation period did not change significantly with period of female fertility or with the sex ratio of breeding birds. However, males spent significantly more time vigilant in the year when there were more sightings of predators. The proportion of time females spent foraging was positively correlated with the proportion of time their mates were vigilant. Vigilant behaviour before onset of incubation is likely to increase a male's confidence in paternity of that nesting attempt in white-tailed ptarmigan. However, patterns of variation in male vigilance across seasons and between years suggests that this behaviour also functions to allow females to reduce their vigilance for predators, thereby enabling them to forage more effectively before incubation.