Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Speech Recognition System with Output-Gate Projected Gated Recurrent Unit

SUMMARY The long short-term memory recurrent neural network (LSTM) has achieved tremendous success for automatic speech recognition (ASR). However, the complicated gating mechanism of LSTM introduces a massive computational cost and limits the application of LSTM in some scenarios. In this paper, we describe our work on accelerating the decoding speed and improving the decoding accuracy. First, we propose an architecture, which is called Projected Gated Recurrent Unit (PGRU), for ASR tasks, and show that the PGRU can consistently outperform the standard GRU. Second, to improve the PGRU generalization, particularly on large-scale ASR tasks, we propose the Output-gate PGRU (OPGRU). In addition, the time delay neural network (TDNN) and normalization meth-ods are found beneﬁcial for OPGRU. In this paper, we apply the OPGRU for both the acoustic model and recurrent neural network language model (RNN-LM). Finally, we evaluate the PGRU on the total Eval2000 / RT03 test sets, and the proposed OPGRU single ASR system achieves 0.9% / 0.9% absolute (8.2% / 8.6% relative) reduction in word error rate (WER) compared to our previous best LSTM single ASR system. Furthermore, the OPGRU ASR system achieves signiﬁcant speed-up on both acoustic model and language model rescoring.
A new painkiller nanomedicine to bypass the blood-brain barrier and the use of morphine

A novel painkiller nanomedicine triggers the specific delivery of enkephalin neuropeptide into inflamed tissues. The clinical use of endogenous neuropeptides has historically been limited due to pharmacokinetic issues, including plasma stability and blood-brain barrier permeability. In this study, we show that the rapidly metabolized Leu-enkephalin (LENK) neuropeptide may become pharmacologically efficient owing to a simple conjugation with the lipid squalene (SQ). The corresponding LENK-SQ bioconjugates were synthesized using different chemical linkers in order to modulate the LENK release after their formulation into nanoparticles. This new SQ-based nanoformulation prevented rapid plasma degradation of LENK and conferred on the released neuropeptide a notable antihyperalgesic effect that lasted longer than after treatment with morphine in a rat model of inflammation (Hargreaves test). The biodistribution study as well as the use of brain-permeant and -impermeant opioid receptor antagonists indicated that LENK-SQ NPs act through peripherally located opioid receptors. This study represents a novel nanomedicine approach, allowing the specific delivery of LENK neuropeptide into inflamed tissues for pain control.
Development of a Web Database System for a Comprehensive Hypertension Management Program in the Primary Health Care Setting of Urban Areas of Peru

Objectives The objective of this case report is to introduce the development process, structure, characteristics, and effectiveness of the web database (DB) system developed for the hypertension management program in the primary health care setting in the low-income urban areas of Peru. Methods A Korean research team cooperated with a Peruvian IT startup company to develop a web DB system to improve the data management of the hypertension management program. The entire web application infrastructure was hosted using the Amazon Web Service. Two different web platforms were established for the user groups of health workers and researchers (program managers). Results A total of 2,827 program participants were registered in the web DB system until December 2017. Health professionals can input the participant data while providing consultation to the program participants, and the data is accumulated in the web DB in real time. Input errors or data loss is prevented by setting restrictions in the data entry system. During the 4-year project period, 7,696 hours of working time and USD 39,536.48 for data management were saved as the result of web DB system utilization. Conclusions The developed web DB system contributed to improve the health condition of the health program participants by providing necessary information to the health professionals at the right time. This case report could be a reference for other researcher to develop web databases for their own context, especially in developing countries.
The Effects of Breviscapine Injection on Hypertension in Hypertension-Induced Renal Damage Patients: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis

Background: Breviscapine (Dengzhanhua) injection has been wildly used in clinical treatment for cerebral infarction, cardiovascular disease, diabetic nephropathy, renal impairment of essential hypertension and stroke in China. Breviscapine injection and antihypertensive drugs combination therapy is supposed to be beneficial for hypertension-induced renal damage patients. Objectives: To evaluate the beneficial and adverse effects of breviscapine injection on hypertension in hypertension-induced renal damage patients, an extensive meta-analysis was performed. Methods: We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Sino Med, VIP, and Wanfang Data for relevant literature. The timeframe of retrieval was set from the founding date of each database to September 28, 2018. Results: Fourteen papers were included in this study. The quality of all the studies included was determined to be low. All studies were conducted with Chinese populations. Meta-analysis showed that, compared with single-use antihypertensive drugs, using breviscapine injection in combination with antihypertensive drugs to treat hypertension in hypertension-induced renal damage patients can reduce 24-h urinary total protein (24 h UTP) [WMD = −0.04, 95% CI (−0.05, −0.02), P ≤ 0.001], but does not lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) [WMD = −1.02, 95% CI (−2.88, 0.84), P = 0.281] or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [WMD = −0.21, 95% CI (−1.71, 1.29), P = 0.786] more effectively. There was also no statistically significant difference in adverse events between experimental groups and control groups. Conclusion: Breviscapine injection, in combination with antihypertensive drugs, appears to be more effective in improving the 24 h UTP, but overall have no effect on improving the blood pressure in hypertension-induced renal damage patients. Moderate dose of breviscapine injection (10 ml) may have effects on reducing blood pressure in hypertension-induced renal damage patients but high doses of breviscapine injection (20 ml) may increase blood pressure by subgroup analysis. However, the evidence of methodological quality and sample sizes is weak, and thus, further standardized research is required.
When Do Motivational Factors Lead to Negative User Experience on Social Networking Applications?

We investigate why some innovative user interface (UI) designs (e.g., Facebook Home), although initially expected to encourage users to accept or adopt social networking applications (apps), actually discouraged users from using those applications over time. Using two experimental studies, we explore the relationship between new design factors and user behavioural intentions. In Study 1, we adopted two-factor theory to discover motivational factors related to using a social networking app. We then designed and created a virtual social networking app (called Unicorn) using these identified motivational factors. In Study 2, we investigated how motivational factors de-motivate user behavioural intentions. We unpacked this relationship using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Further, we explored how involvement level may alleviate this negative relationship. Our results show that users with a high involvement level exhibit a relatively high level of perceived usefulness and perceived playfulness. Therefore, involvement level can alleviate the negative relationship that exists between motivational factors and behavioural intentions. This study provides both theoretical implications to the literature and practical insights for UI designers.
Altered Regulation of Striatal Neuronal N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Trafficking by Palmitoylation in Huntington Disease Mouse Model

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play a critical role in synaptic signaling, and alterations in the synaptic/extrasynaptic NMDAR balance affect neuronal survival. Studies have shown enhanced extrasynaptic GluN2B-type NMDAR (2B-NMDAR) activity in striatal neurons in the YAC128 mouse model of Huntington disease (HD), resulting in increased cell death pathway activation contributing to striatal vulnerability to degeneration. However, the mechanism(s) of altered GluN2B trafficking remains unclear. Previous work shows that GluN2B palmitoylation on two C-terminal cysteine clusters regulates 2B-NMDAR trafficking to the surface membrane and synapses in cortical neurons. Notably, two palmitoyl acyltransferases (PATs), zDHHC17 and zDHHC13, also called huntingtin-interacting protein 14 (HIP14) and HIP14-like (HIP14L), directly interact with the huntingtin protein (Htt), and mutant Htt disrupts this interaction. Here, we investigated whether GluN2B palmitoylation is involved in enhanced extrasynaptic surface expression of 2B-NMDARs in YAC128 striatal neurons and whether this process is regulated by HIP14 or HIP14L. We found reduced GluN2B palmitoylation in YAC128 striatum, specifically on cysteine cluster II. Consistent with that finding, the palmitoylation-deficient GluN2B Cysteine cluster II mutant exhibited enhanced, extrasynaptic surface expression in striatal neurons from wild-type mice, mimicking increased extrasynaptic 2B-NMDAR observed in YAC128 cultures. We also found that HIP14L palmitoylated GluN2B cysteine cluster II. Moreover, GluN2B palmitoylation levels were reduced in striatal tissue from HIP14L-deficient mice, and siRNA-mediated HIP14L knockdown in cultured neurons enhanced striatal neuronal GluN2B surface expression and susceptibility to NMDA toxicity. Thus, altered regulation of GluN2B palmitoylation levels by the huntingtin-associated PAT HIP14L may contribute to the cell death-signaling pathways underlying HD.
Increased Reactive Oxygen Species Generation Contributes to the Atherogenic Activity of the B2 Bradykinin Receptor

Atherosclerosis and ensuing cardiovascular disease are major causes of death with insufficient treatment options. In search for pathomechanisms of atherosclerosis, we investigated the impact of the B2 bradykinin receptor, Bdkrb2, on atherosclerotic lesion formation, because to date it is not clear whether the B2 bradykinin receptor is atheroprotective or atherogenic. As a model of atherosclerosis, we used hypercholesterolemic ApoE-deficient (apolipoprotein E-deficient) mice, which develop atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta with increasing age. The role of Bdkrb2 in atherosclerosis was studied in ApoE-deficient mice, which were either Bdkrb2-deficient, or had moderately increased aortic B2 bradykinin receptor protein levels induced by transgenic BDKRB2 expression under control of the ubiquitous CMV promoter. We found that Bdkrb2 deficiency led to a significantly decreased atherosclerotic plaque area whereas transgenic BDKRB2 expression enhanced atherosclerotic lesion formation in the aorta of ApoE-deficient mice at an age of 8 months. Concomitantly, the aortic content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was higher in BDKRB2-expressing mice whereas Bdkrb2 deficiency decreased aortic ROS levels of ApoE-deficient mice. In addition, aortic nitrate as a marker of nitric oxide activity and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) co-factor, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) were reduced in BDKRB2-expressing ApoE-deficient mice. The decreased aortic BH4 content could be a consequence of increased ROS generation and down-regulated aortic expression of the BH4-synthesizing enzyme, Gch1 (GTP cyclohydrolase 1). In agreement with a causal involvement of decreased BH4 levels in the atherogenic function of BDKRB2, we found that treatment with the BH4 analog, sapropterin, significantly retarded atherosclerotic plaque formation in BDKRB2-expressing ApoE-deficient mice. Together our data show that the B2 bradykinin receptor is atherogenic, and the atherosclerosis-promoting function of BDKRB2 is partially caused by decreased aortic BH4 levels, which could account for eNOS uncoupling and further enhancement of ROS generation.
Enhanced taxonomy annotation of antiviral activity data from ChEMBL

Abstract The discovery of antiviral drugs is a rapidly developing area of medicinal chemistry research. The emergence of resistant variants and outbreaks of poorly studied viral diseases make this area constantly developing. The amount of antiviral activity data available in ChEMBL consistently grows, but virus taxonomy annotation of these data is not sufficient for thorough studies of antiviral chemical space. We developed a procedure for semi-automatic extraction of antiviral activity data from ChEMBL and mapped them to the virus taxonomy developed by the International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The procedure is based on the lists of virus-related values of ChEMBL annotation fields and a dictionary of virus names and acronyms mapped to ICTV taxa. Application of this data extraction procedure allows retrieving from ChEMBL 1.6 times more assays linked to 2.5 times more compounds and data points than ChEMBL web interface allows. Mapping of these data to ICTV taxa allows analyzing all the compounds tested against each viral species. Activity values and structures of the compounds were standardized, and the antiviral activity profile was created for each standard structure. Data set compiled using this algorithm was called ViralChEMBL. As case studies, we compared descriptor and scaffold distributions for the full ChEMBL and its `viral’ and `non-viral’ subsets, identified the most studied compounds and created a self-organizing map for ViralChEMBL. Our approach to data annotation appeared to be a very efficient tool for the study of antiviral chemical space.
Free Will Emerges From a Multistage Process of Target Assignment and Body-Scheme Recruitment for Free Effector Selection

Self-intended action implies an initial stage of assigning an external entity as target of action, with subsequent recruitment of body-scheme information serving the free selection of an appropriate effector system to achieve the action aim. This plurality underscores the concept that neuronal response freedom underlying the generation of such action is not necessarily restricted to a singular cerebral event at its initiation, but that such freedom is embedded in a series of successive processing steps. In this respect, action intention initially concerns the transition of a neutral object into a target of action, while the “will” to act further crystalizes with the recruitment of one’s body scheme. The latter is a prerequisite for effector selection and indeed complements the emerging sense of agency. This temporal order of neuronal events fits a model of fronto-parietal interactions associated with volition. A concise behavioral experiment is additionally described, in which successively displayed balls represent either a recognizable object with distinct shape and color features, or a target of action. Instructions to write down the ball’s characteristics were alternated by the command ”action. ” When shifting from a neutral object to an action target, the ball was placed in one of three backgrounds: empty, an outdoor goal or indoor basket. In response to the action command, subjects reported intended actions such as kicking, seizing, throwing and heading, thus implicitly referring to the foot, hand, or head as chosen effector. For the latter the parietal cortex is strongly implicated, not only concerning predefined but also free selection. Although subjects were free to choose what to do with the ball, the environmental cues of the ball strongly influenced their choices. These results illustrate the temporal order in fronto-parietal processing associated with initial target assignment, instantly followed by the embodiment of will, i.e., the recruitment of body-scheme information for possible effector selection. Such multistage neuronal processing underlying free action selection underscores that the onset of brain signals prior to the perceived sense of free will is not a valid argument to reduce free will to an illusion.
Facilitating Low-Carbon Living? A Comparison of Intervention Measures in Different Community-Based Initiatives

The challenge of facilitating a shift towards sustainable housing, food and mobility has been taken up by diverse community-based initiatives ranging from “top-down” approaches in low-carbon municipalities to “bottom-up” approaches in intentional communities. This paper compares intervention measures in four case study areas belonging to these two types, focusing on their potential of re-configuring daily housing, food, and mobility practices. Taking up critics on dominant intervention framings of diffusing low-carbon technical innovations and changing individual behavior, we draw on social practice theory for the empirical analysis of four case studies. Framing interventions in relation to re-configuring daily practices, the paper reveals differences and weaknesses of current low-carbon measures of community-based initiatives in Germany and Austria. Low-carbon municipalities mainly focus on introducing technologies and offering additional infrastructure and information to promote low-carbon practices. They avoid interfering into residents’ daily lives and do not restrict carbon-intensive practices. In contrast, intentional communities base their interventions on the collective creation of shared visions, decisions, and rules and thus provide social and material structures, which foster everyday low-carbon practices and discourage carbon-intensive ones. The paper discusses the relevance of organizational and governance structures for implementing different types of low-carbon measures and points to opportunities for broadening current policy strategies.
Joint Optimization of Tree-based Index and Deep Model for Recommender Systems

Large-scale industrial recommender systems are usually confronted with computational problems due to the enormous corpus size. To retrieve and recommend the most relevant items to users under response time limits, resorting to an efficient index structure is an effective and practical solution. The previous work Tree-based Deep Model (TDM) \cite{zhu2018learning} greatly improves recommendation accuracy using tree index. By indexing items in a tree hierarchy and training a user-node preference prediction model satisfying a max-heap like property in the tree, TDM provides logarithmic computational complexity w.r. t. the corpus size, enabling the use of arbitrary advanced models in candidate retrieval and recommendation. In tree-based recommendation methods, the quality of both the tree index and the user-node preference prediction model determines the recommendation accuracy for the most part. We argue that the learning of tree index and preference model has interdependence. Our purpose, in this paper, is to develop a method to jointly learn the index structure and user preference prediction model. In our proposed joint optimization framework, the learning of index and user preference prediction model are carried out under a unified performance measure. Besides, we come up with a novel hierarchical user preference representation utilizing the tree index hierarchy. Experimental evaluations with two large-scale real-world datasets show that the proposed method improves recommendation accuracy significantly. Online A/B test results at a display advertising platform also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in production environments.
Border Handling for 2D Transpose Filter Structures on an FPGA

It is sometimes desirable to implement filters using a transpose-form filter structure. However, managing image borders is generally considered more complex than it is with the more commonly used direct-form structure. This paper explores border handling for transpose-form filters, and proposes two novel mechanisms: transformation coalescing, and combination chain modification. For linear filters, coefficient coalescing can effectively exploit the digital signal processing blocks, resulting in the smallest resources requirements. Combination chain modification requires similar resources to direct-form border handling. It is demonstrated that the combination chain multiplexing can be split into two stages, consisting of a combination network followed by the transpose-form combination chain. The resulting transpose-form border handling networks are of similar complexity to the direct-form networks, enabling the transpose-form filter structure to be used where required. The transpose form is also significantly faster, being automatically pipelined by the filter structure. Of the border extension methods, zero-extension requires the least resources.
The Role of User Di � erences in Customization: A Case Study in Personalization for Infovis-Based Content

Although there is extensive evidence that personalization of interactive systems can improve the user’s experience and satisfaction, it is also known that the two main approaches to deliver personalization, namely via customization or system-driven adaptation , have limitations. In particular, many users do not use customize mechanisms, while adaptation can be perceived as intrusive and opaque. In this paper, we explore an intermediary approach to personalization, namely delivering system-driven support to customization. To this end, we study a customization mechanism allowing to choose the type and amount of information displayed by means of information visualizations in a system for decision making, and examine the impact of user di � erences on the e � ectiveness of this mechanism. Our results show that, for the users who did use the customization mechanism, customization e � ectiveness was impacted by their levels of visualization literacy and locus of control . These results suggest that the customization mechanism could be improved by system-driven assistance to customize depending on the user’s level of visualization literacy and locus of control.
Coordinating Real-Time Serial Cooperative Work by Cuing the Order in the Case of Theatrical Performance Practice

Our goal is to facilitate real-time serial cooperative work. In real-time serial cooperative work, the order of subtasks is important because a failure of the order leads to a failure of the whole task. So, coordinating the order of workers’ subtasks is necessary to smoothly accomplish the tasks. In this paper, we propose a method that uses vibration to present the action order and coordinate the orders. We conducted a user study to verify the effectiveness of the method in theatrical performance practice, which was an example of real-time serial cooperative work. As a result, order coordination reduced mistakes in the order of speech and action and in the contents of lines and action. This result suggests that order coordination can improve real-time serial cooperative work.