Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Redundant Information Is Sometimes More Beneficial Than Spatial Information to Understand Speech in Noise

Objectives: To establish a framework to unambiguously define and relate the different spatial effects in speech understanding: head shadow, redundancy, squelch, spatial release from masking (SRM), and so on. Next, to investigate the contribution of interaural time and level differences to these spatial effects in speech understanding and how this is influenced by the type of masking noise. Design: In our framework, SRM is uniquely characterized as a linear combination of head shadow, binaural redundancy, and binaural squelch. The latter two terms are combined into one binaural term, which we define as binaural contrast: a benefit of interaural differences. In this way, SRM is a simple sum of a monaural and a binaural term. We used the framework to quantify these spatial effects in 10 listeners with normal hearing. The participants performed speech intelligibility tasks in different spatial setups. We used head-related transfer functions to manipulate the presence of interaural time and level differences. We used three spectrally matched masker types: stationary speech-weighted noise, a competing talker, and speech-weighted noise that was modulated with the broadband temporal envelope of the competing talker. Results: We found that (1) binaural contrast was increased by interaural time differences, but reduced by interaural level differences, irrespective of masker type, and (2) large redundancy (the benefit of having identical information in two ears) could reduce binaural contrast and thus also reduce SRM. Conclusions: Our framework yielded new insights in binaural processing in speech intelligibility. First, interaural level differences disturb speech intelligibility in realistic listening conditions. Therefore, to optimize speech intelligibility in hearing aids, it is more beneficial to improve monaural signal-to-noise ratios rather than to preserve interaural level differences. Second, although redundancy is mostly ignored when considering spatial hearing, it might explain reduced SRM in some cases.
High-quality Image Restoration Using Low-Rank Patch Regularization and Global Structure Sparsity

In recent years, approaches based on nonlocal self-similarity and global structure regularization have led to significant improvements in image restoration. Nonlocal self-similarity exploits the repetitiveness of small image patches as a powerful prior in the reconstruction process. Likewise, global structure regularization is based on the principle that the structure of objects in the image is represented by a relatively small portion of pixels. Enforcing this structural information to be sparse can thus reduce the occurrence of reconstruction artifacts. So far, most image restoration approaches have considered one of these two strategies, but not both. This paper presents a novel image restoration method that combines nonlocal self-similarity and global structure sparsity in a single efficient model. Group of similar patches are reconstructed simultaneously, via an adaptive regularization technique based on the weighted nuclear norm. Moreover, global structure is preserved using an innovative strategy, which decomposes the image into a smooth component and a sparse residual, the latter regularized using $l_{1}$ norm. An optimization technique, based on the alternating direction method of multipliers algorithm, is used to recover corrupted images efficiently. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated on two important image restoration tasks: image completion and super-resolution. Experimental results show our method to outperform state-of-the-art approaches for these tasks, for various types and levels of image corruption.
“Fast” Versus “Slow” Word Integration of Visual and Olfactory Objects: EEG Biomarkers of Decision Speed Variability

In psychological experiments, behavioral speed varies across trials, and this variation is often associated with corresponding fluctuations in cortical activity. Little is known about such cortical variations in semantic priming tasks where target words are matched with preceding sensory object cues. Here, two visually presented target words (“pear” and “lilac”) were repeatedly cued by corresponding odors or pictures, and the participants were to indicate matching or nonmatching combinations. Data were split in behaviorally “fast” versus “slow” trials. We hypothesized that slow trials would be associated with higher prestimulus alpha activity and reduced ERP amplitudes, and that response-time differences between odor-cued and picture-cued trials would be especially large in slow behavioral trials. Results confirmed that slow trials showed increased alpha-band activity prior to word target onset, as well as amplitude decreases in the sensory P1 and semantic N400 components. However, no interactions between cue-modality and processing speed were observed. Instead, odor-cue integration responses were uniquely delayed on incongruent trials, a novel behavioral effect that was not observed in EEG measures. The results show that semantic integration speed is reflected in cortical activity before and during stimulus processing. Behavioral interactions with cue modality did not correspond to observed cortical activity changes, perhaps because olfactory circuits are not readily observed in scalp-recorded EEG. We conclude that combining behavioral speed variability and cortical EEG measures is useful in understanding the fluctuating nature of cognitive processing sequences.
Stress, Workplace Violence, and Burnout in Nurses Working in King Abdullah Medical City During Al-Hajj Season

ABSTRACT Background: The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the largest mass gatherings in the world, is associated with various challenges for nurses. One of these challenges is increased levels of workplace violence. Therefore, handling and mitigating workplace violence against nurses during Hajj, when nurses face a higher risk of violence and most experience stress and burnout, is of particular importance. Purpose: The aims of this study were to identify the types and sources of workplace violence, examine the relationship between burnout in nurses and the variables of stress and workplace violence, and identify from the perspective of nurses measures to effectively handle and mitigate these issues during Hajj season. Methods: This study used a descriptive correlational design. A convenience sample of 118 nurses completed the Perceived Stress Scale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the modified version of the Joint Programme on Workplace Violence in the Health Sector published by the International Labour Office in Geneva. Data analysis was done using an independent samples t test and Pearson product–moment correlation. Results: One hundred eighteen nurses completed the study. Over two thirds (65%) were female, and 56% reported experiencing at least one type of violence, of which bullying/mobbing, racial harassment, threats, and physical violence accounted for 61%, 15%, 12%, and 12%, respectively. Nurse managers displayed violent behaviors against 54% of the participants. Participants reported high levels of stress and burnout. A positive relationship was found between stress and emotional exhaustion (r = .387, p < .01). Providing effective security measures and staff training regarding how to deal with violence at the workplace were the main measures identified to help reduce workplace violence. Conclusions: Providing effective security measures and tailored intervention programs addressing how to deal with violence in the workplace may enable nurses to handle violent behaviors more effectively.
The postnatal development of ultrasonic vocalization‐associated breathing is altered in glycine transporter 2‐deficient mice

Newborn mice produce ultrasonic vocalization to communicate with their mother. The neuronal glycine transporter (GlyT2) is required for efficient loading of synaptic vesicles in glycinergic neurons. Mice lacking GlyT2 develop a phenotype that resembles human hyperekplexia and the mice die in the second postnatal week. In the present study, we show that GlyT2‐knockout mice do not acquire adult ultrasonic vocalization‐associated breathing patterns. Despite the strong impairment of glycinergic inhibition, they can produce sufficient expiratory airflow to produce ultrasonic vocalization. Because mouse ultrasonic vocalization is a valuable read‐out in translational research, these data are highly relevant for a broad range of research fields.
Accelerating Stochastic Gradient Descent Using Antithetic Sampling

(Mini-batch) Stochastic Gradient Descent is a popular optimization method which has been applied to many machine learning applications. But a rather high variance introduced by the stochastic gradient in each step may slow down the convergence. In this paper, we propose the antithetic sampling strategy to reduce the variance by taking advantage of the internal structure in dataset. Under this new strategy, stochastic gradients in a mini-batch are no longer independent but negatively correlated as much as possible, while the mini-batch stochastic gradient is still an unbiased estimator of full gradient. For the binary classification problems, we just need to calculate the antithetic samples in advance, and reuse the result in each iteration, which is practical. Experiments are provided to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Core–shell microencapsulation of curcumin in PLGA microparticles: programmed for application in ovarian cancer therapy

Abstract In our study, we have established a novel liquid-driven co-flow focusing (LDCF) process to fabricate curcumin (CUR)-loaded poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles (CPMs). LDCF-CPMs of size 20.26 ± 2.37 μm have high encapsulation efficiency (>70%) and were intended for application in ovarian cancer by intraperitoneal (IP) administration. LDCF-CPMs have smooth surface with narrow size distribution and a core–shell structured verified by confocal microscopy which can be precisely controlled by changing the flow rates of focusing, outer and inner phases. The LDCF-CPMs reveal the physiochemical stability with sustained release profile corresponding to 95% CUR release over a period of 14 days in an in vitro release medium. Moreover, LDCF-CPMs were testified for cytotoxicity against SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cell lines and peritoneal delivery advantages by animal experiments. The pharmacokinetics of LDCF-CPMs in rats following IP injection shows slow systemic absorption with mean residence time (MRT) of 13.54 h in comparison with 9.82 and 6.74 h for SE-CPMs and free CUR, respectively. In addition, IP delivery of CUR can expose the ovarian tumour to higher concentration for a longer duration by programming the thickness of the shell. The study provides compelling evidence for LDCF-CPMs having high therapeutic opportunity in the treatment of peritoneal cancers, such as ovarian, that reside in the peritoneal cavity.
Novel insights into the dynamics behavior of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor with its small molecule agonists

Abstract The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is a well-known target of therapeutics industries for the treatment of various metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes and obesity. The structural–functional relationships of small molecule agonists and GLP-1R are yet to be understood. Therefore, an attempt was made on structurally known GLP-1R agonists (Compound 1, Compound 2, Compound A, Compound B, and (S)-8) to study their interaction with the extracellular domain of GLP-1R. In this study, we explored the dynamics, intrinsic stability, and binding mechanisms of these molecules through computational modeling, docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and molecular mechanics Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) binding free energy estimation. Molecular docking study depicted that hydrophobic interaction (pi–pi stacking) plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of the complex, which was also supported by intermolecular analysis from MD simulation study. Principal component analysis suggested that the terminal ends along with the turns/loops connecting adjacent helix and strands exhibit a comparatively higher movement of main chain atoms in most of the complexes. MM/PBSA binding free energy study revealed that non-polar solvation (van der Waals and electrostatic) energy subsidizes significantly to the total binding energy, and the polar solvation energy opposes the binding agonists to GLP-1R. Overall, we provide structural features information about GLP-1R complexes that would be conducive for the discovery of new GLP-1R agonists in the future for the treatment of various metabolic diseases. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
An empirical study of inadequate and adequate test suite reduction approaches

Background. Regression testing is conducted after changes are made to a system in order to ensure that these changes did not alter its expected behavior. The problem with regression testing is that it can require too much time and/or too many resources. This is why researchers have defined a number of regression testing approaches. Among these, Test Suite Reduction (TSR) approaches reduce the size of the original test suites, while preserving their capability to detect faults. TSR approaches can be classified as adequate or inadequate. Adequate approaches reduce test suites so that they completely preserve the test requirements (e.g., statement coverage) of the original test suite, while inadequate ones produce reduced test suites that partially preserve these test requirements. Aims. We studied adequate and inadequate TSR approaches in terms of tradeoff between reduction in test suite size and loss in fault detection capability. We also considered three different kinds of test requirements (i.e., statement, method, and class coverages). Method. We conducted an experiment with six adequate (e.g., HGS) and 12 inadequate (e.g., the inadequate version of HGS) TSR approaches. In this experiment, we considered 19 experimental objects from a public dataset, i.e., SIR (Software-artifact Infrastructure Repository). Results. The most important result from our experiment is that inadequate approaches, as compared with adequate ones, allow achieving a better tradeoff between reduction in test suite size and loss in fault detection capability. This is especially true when these approaches are applied by considering statement and method coverages as test requirements. Conclusions. Although our results are not definitive, they might help the tester to chose both TSR approach and kind of code coverage that is closer to her needs when testing a software system.
The Long Road to Computational Location Privacy: A Survey

The widespread adoption of continuously connected smartphones and tablets developed the usage of mobile applications, among which many use location to provide geolocated services. These services provide new prospects for users: getting directions to work in the morning, leaving a check-in at a restaurant at noon and checking next day’s weather in the evening are possible right from any mobile device embedding a GPS chip. In these location-based applications, the user’s location is sent to a server, which uses them to provide contextual and personalized answers. However, nothing prevents the latter from gathering, analyzing and possibly sharing the collected information, which opens the door to many privacy threats. Indeed, mobility data can reveal sensitive information about users, among which one’s home, work place or even religious and political preferences. For this reason, many privacy-preserving mechanisms have been proposed these last years to enhance location privacy while using geolocated services. This paper surveys and organizes contributions in this area from classical building blocks to the most recent developments of privacy threats and location privacy-preserving mechanisms. We divide the protection mechanisms between online and offline use cases, and organize them into six categories depending on the nature of their algorithm. Moreover, this paper surveys the evaluation metrics used to assess protection mechanisms in terms of privacy, utility and performance. Finally, open challenges and new directions to address the problem of computational location privacy are pointed out and discussed.
Robustness via Retrying: Closed-Loop Robotic Manipulation with Self-Supervised Learning

Prediction is an appealing objective for self-supervised learning of behavioral skills, particularly for autonomous robots. However, effectively utilizing predictive models for control, especially with raw image inputs, poses a number of major challenges. How should the predictions be used? What happens when they are inaccurate? In this paper, we tackle these questions by proposing a method for learning robotic skills from raw image observations, using only autonomously collected experience. We show that even an imperfect model can complete complex tasks if it can continuously retry, but this requires the model to not lose track of the objective (e.g., the object of interest). To enable a robot to continuously retry a task, we devise a self-supervised algorithm for learning image registration, which can keep track of objects of interest for the duration of the trial. We demonstrate that this idea can be combined with a video-prediction based controller to enable complex behaviors to be learned from scratch using only raw visual inputs, including grasping, repositioning objects, and non-prehensile manipulation. Our real-world experiments demonstrate that a model trained with 160 robot hours of autonomously collected, unlabeled data is able to successfully perform complex manipulation tasks with a wide range of objects not seen during training.
Group II Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors: Role in Pain Mechanisms and Pain Modulation

Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system and plays a critical role in nociceptive processing and pain modulation. G-protein coupled metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are widely expressed in the central and peripheral nervous system, and they mediate neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission. Eight different mGluR subtypes have been identified so far, and are classified into Groups I–III. Group II mGluR2 and mGluR3 couple negatively to adenylyl cyclase through Gi/Go proteins, are mainly expressed presynaptically, and typically inhibit the release of neurotransmitters, including glutamate and GABA. Group II mGluRs have consistently been linked to pain modulation; they are expressed in peripheral, spinal and supraspinal elements of pain-related neural processing. Pharmacological studies have shown anti-nociceptive/analgesic effects of group II mGluR agonists in preclinical models of acute and chronic pain, although much less is known about mechanisms and sites of action for mGluR2 and mGluR3 compared to other mGluRs. The availability of orthosteric and new selective allosteric modulators acting on mGluR2 and mGluR3 has provided valuable tools for elucidating (subtype) specific contributions of these receptors to the pathophysiological mechanisms of pain and other disorders and their potential as therapeutic targets. This review focuses on the important role of group II mGluRs in the neurobiology of pain mechanisms and behavioral modulation, and discusses evidence for their therapeutic potential in pain.
Fasting and postprandial acyl and desacyl ghrelin and the acyl/desacyl ratio in obese patients before and after different types of bariatric surgery

Introduction The mechanism underlying beneficial outcomes of bariatric surgery still remains unclear. Especially little is known about hormonal and metabolic changes induced by the novel bariatric procedure mini gastric bypass (MGB). Aim To evaluate pre- and post-prandial changes in both ghrelin isoforms in obese patients without diabetes and cardiovascular complications treated with MGB, sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. Material and methods From 45 patients initially enrolled in the study, 23 persons completed a one-year follow-up period. Venous blood for acyl and desacyl ghrelin (AG and DAG) as well as other metabolic assays was collected 3 months before and 6 and 12 months after bariatric surgery (MGB, RYGB, SG) – in the fasting state and 2 h after the consumption of a standard 300 kcal-mixed meal (Nutridrink standard, Nutricia). Results AG and DAG levels (both fasting and prandial) as well as AG/DAG ratio did not change after 6 and 12 months in MGB and RYGB groups. In the SG group we observed a significant decrease in fasting and postprandial DAG levels and consecutively an increase in the fasting AG/DAG ratio after 6 and 12 months. Six months after surgery we observed some differences between carbohydrate metabolism measures in the MGB group (lower HbA1c, HOMA-IR and fasting insulinaemia) in comparison to the rest of the participants, but 12 months after each type of surgery body mass index and indices of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism did not differ. Conclusions The results of our study demonstrate that all studied bariatric procedures can successfully reduce overall body weight and suggest also that the mechanisms of weight loss and improvement in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism after all three types of surgery are independent of ghrelin and the acyl/desacyl ghrelin ratio.
Pulmonary hernia: Case report and review of the literature

Pulmonary hernia (PH) is an uncommon condition. We report a case of PH secondary to thoracic surgical intervention. In addition to the rarity, the peculiarity of the case is given by the clinical course as it is characterized by a clinical latency before the onset. The patient showed risk factors such as obesity and poliomyelitis infection sequelae. We also reviewed the literature about this topic.
Improving ultrasound-based gesture recognition using a partially shielded single microphone

We propose a method to improve ultrasound-based in-air gesture recognition by altering the acoustic characteristics of a microphone. The Doppler effect is often utilized to recognize ultrasound-based gestures. However, increasing the number of gestures is difficult because of the limited information obtained from the Doppler effect. In this study, we partially shield a microphone with a 3D-printed cover. The cover alters the sensitivity of the microphone and the characteristics of the obtained Doppler effect. Since the proposed method utilizes a 3D-printed cover with a single microphone and speaker embedded in a device, it does not require additional electronic devices to improve gesture recognition. We design four different microphone covers and evaluate the performance of the proposed method on six gestures with eight participants. The evaluation results confirm that recognition accuracy is increased by 15.3% by utilizing the proposed method.
An Exploratory Study on Codes in Heterogeneous Software Documents

Different kinds of software documents are produced in the life cycle of a software project, such as Bug Reports, Mail Lists, etc. These documents have close relationship with source code, but it is difficult to recover their traceability relationship. In this paper, we conduct an exploratory study on codes in a software project's heterogeneous documents, so that we can give some hints for traceability recovery from software documents to source code. We select a famous open source software project, Lucene, as sample, and collect its four kinds of software documents, including Bug Reports, Mail Lists, Stack Overflow Q&A Documents and Blogs. On this basis, we analyze these heterogeneous documents to answer the following questions: How much code is there in different kinds of documents? What APIs do these documents focus on? How many documents are relevant to the same APIs? Based on the study, we give 3 hints for recovering the traceability from software heterogeneous documents to source code.