Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Parametric Harmonic + Noise Model

We present and evaluate here an Harmonic + Noise Model (HNM) for speech synthesis. The noise part is represented by an autoregressive model whose output is pitch-synchronously modulated in energy. The harmonic part of the signal is represented by a sum of harmonic sinusoids. This paper compares different methods for separating these two components. We then evaluate different models for the analysis/synthesis of each component.
An augmented directed graph base for application development

Directed graphs have been used as the theoretical base for many applications in Computer Science -- especially artificial intelligence. Two drawbacks to the use of directed graphs for more practical work have been:1. The difficulty in associating data of a variety of types with the nodes in the graph and with the connections between the nodes, and2. The inability to search and modify the graph efficiently as the size and complexity of the graph grows.This paper describes a library of cooperating routines for dealing with directed graphs that overcomes these objections. The first problem is overcome by adding to the usual directed graph model the concepts of "data tags" and "connection descriptors. " The problem of efficiency is addressed by using a binary tree facility to implement the augmented directed graph. This paper describes the augmented directed graph "access method" and how it can be used as the base for application development.
Long Lasting Egocentric Disorientation Induced by Normal Sensori-Motor Spatial Interaction

Background Perception of the cardinal directions of the body, right-left, up-down, ahead-behind, which appears so absolute and fundamental to the organisation of behaviour can in fact, be modified. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has been shown that prolonged distorted perception of the orientation of body axes can be a consequence of disordered sensori-motor signals, including long-term prismatic adaptation and lesions of the central nervous system. We report the novel and surprising finding that a long-lasting distortion of perception of personal space can also be induced by an ecological pointing task without the artifice of distorting normal sensori-motor relationships. Methodology/Principal Findings Twelve right-handed healthy adults performed the task of pointing with their arms, without vision, to indicate their subjective ‘straight ahead’, a task often used to assess the Egocentric Reference. This was performed before, immediately, and one day after a second task intended to ‘modulate’ perception of spatial direction. The ‘modulating’ task lasted 5 minutes and consisted of asking participants to point with the right finger to targets that appeared only in one (right or left) half of a computer screen. Estimates of the ‘straight-ahead’ during pre-test were accurate (inferior to 0.3 degrees deviation). Significantly, up to one day after performing the modulating task, the subjective ‘straight-ahead’ was deviated (by approximately 3.2 degrees) to the same side to which subjects had pointed to targets. Conclusion/Significance These results reveal that the perception of directional axes for behaviour is readily influenced by interactions with the environment that involve no artificial distortion of normal sensori-motor-spatial relationships and does not necessarily conform to the cardinal directions as defined by the anatomy of orthostatic posture. We thus suggest that perceived space is a dynamic construction directly dependent upon our past experience about the direction and/or the localisation of our sensori-motor spatial interaction with environment.
Unitizing Performance of IaaS Cloud Deployments

In order to establish a broader market for cloud computing, offers must be made comparable. Several efforts exist to compare performance of products from different providers and convey an idea of what to expect by means of (periodical) reports. Yet, buying IaaS cloud compute resources remains a blind bargain. The actual performance of a customer's deployment may, for various reasons, be substantially different from such third-party reports. Particularly, a cloud user cannot rely on receiving the same performance, be it because of higher load or arbitrary cloud reconfiguration. To render service levels of different cloud products meaningful and comparable within and across providers, these will have to commit themselves to providing performance according to some reference measure that also regards virtualization, resource allocation and isolation. Though the actual benchmarks will likely differ across application and market niches, the methodology to define, measure and guarantee performance remains the same. In this paper we propose a method for quantifying, determining and ensuring performance on the basis of a performance unit that conveys what performance can be expected from a VM deployment and is suitable for use in SLAs. The abstract approach is exemplified and validated by a case study with concrete benchmarks on a KVM-based cloud.
Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Model To Evaluate Intramuscular Tetracycline Treatment Protocols To Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Pigs

ABSTRACT High instances of antimicrobial resistance are linked to both routine and excessive antimicrobial use, but excessive or inappropriate use represents an unnecessary risk. The competitive growth advantages of resistant bacteria may be amplified by the strain dynamics; in particular, the extent to which resistant strains outcompete susceptible strains under antimicrobial pressure may depend not only on the antimicrobial treatment strategies but also on the epidemiological parameters, such as the composition of the bacterial strains in a pig. This study evaluated how variation in the dosing protocol for intramuscular administration of tetracycline and the composition of bacterial strains in a pig affect the level of resistance in the intestine of a pig. Predictions were generated by a mathematical model of competitive growth of Escherichia coli strains in pigs under specified plasma concentration profiles of tetracycline. All dosing regimens result in a clear growth advantage for resistant strains. Short treatment duration was found to be preferable, since it allowed less time for resistant strains to outcompete the susceptible ones. Dosing frequency appeared to be ineffective at reducing the resistance levels. The number of competing strains had no apparent effect on the resistance level during treatment, but possession of fewer strains reduced the time to reach equilibrium after the end of treatment. To sum up, epidemiological parameters may have more profound influence on growth dynamics than dosing regimens and should be considered when designing improved treatment protocols.
Impact of social networks on healthy behaviors: An example of breastfeeding in western China

Most researchers agree that social networks have a positive impact on people’s health. However, more studies are needed to explore how social networks affect health. Some researchers argue that networks promote health by improving people’s healthy behaviors. However, this argument needs further empirical testing. Based on a large-scale survey in western China, this article studies the relationship between social networks and one particular form of healthy behavior, namely breastfeeding. Our results show that a new mother with a network consisting mainly of strong ties is more likely to obtain social support for breastfeeding her infant, especially in early infancy. Meanwhile, if there are any medical professionals in a mother’s social network, she will be more likely to breastfeed her baby. We conclude that social networks enhance people’s healthy behaviors by providing social support and information and thus can be helpful in improving people’s general health.
Evaluation of Approaches to Identify the Targets of Cellular Immunity on a Proteome-Wide Scale

Background Vaccine development against malaria and other complex diseases remains a challenge for the scientific community. The recent elucidation of the genome, proteome and transcriptome of many of these complex pathogens provides the basis for rational vaccine design by identifying, on a proteome-wide scale, novel target antigens that are recognized by T cells and antibodies from exposed individuals. However, there is currently no algorithm to effectively identify important target antigens from genome sequence data; this is especially challenging for T cell targets. Furthermore, for some of these pathogens, such as Plasmodium, protein expression using conventional platforms has been problematic but cell-free in vitro transcription translation (IVTT) strategies have recently proved successful. Herein, we report a novel approach for proteome-wide scale identification of the antigenic targets of T cell responses using IVTT products. Principal Findings We conducted a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments using IVTT proteins either unpurified, absorbed to carboxylated polybeads, or affinity purified through nickel resin or magnetic beads. In vitro studies in humans using CMV, EBV, and Influenza A virus proteins showed antigen-specific cytokine production in ELIspot and Cytometric Bead Array assays with cells stimulated with purified or unpurified IVTT antigens. In vitro and in vivo studies in mice immunized with the Plasmodium yoelii circumsporozoite DNA vaccine with or without IVTT protein boost showed antigen-specific cytokine production using purified IVTT antigens only. Overall, the nickel resin method of IVTT antigen purification proved optimal in both human and murine systems. Conclusions This work provides proof of concept for the potential of high-throughput approaches to identify T cell targets of complex parasitic, viral or bacterial pathogens from genomic sequence data, for rational vaccine development against emerging and re-emerging diseases that pose a threat to public health.
Toward wafer-scale patterning of freestanding intermetallic nanowires

Individual metal alloy nanowires of constant diameter and high aspect ratio have previously been self-assembled at selected locations on atomic force microscope (AFM) probes by the method reported in Yazdanpanah et al (2005 J. Appl. Phys. 98 073510). This process relies on the room temperature crystallization of an ordered phase of silver–gallium. A parallel version of this method has been implemented in which a substrate, either an array of micromachined tips (similar to tips on AFM probes) or a lithographically patterned planar substrate, is brought into contact with a continuous, nearly planar film of melted gallium. In several runs, freestanding wires are fabricated with diameters of 40–400 nm, lengths of 4–80 µm, growth rates of 80–170 nm s − 1 and, most significantly, with yields of up to 97% in an array of 422 growth sites. These results demonstrate the feasibility of developing a batch manufacturing process for the decoration of wafers of AFM tips and other structures with selectively patterned freestanding nanowires.
Peach Water Relations, Gas Exchange, Growth and Shoot Mortality under Water Deficit in Semi-Arid Weather Conditions

In this study the sensitivity of peach tree (Prunus persica L.) to three water stress levels from mid-pit hardening until harvest was assessed. Seasonal patterns of shoot and fruit growth, gas exchange (leaf photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration) as well as carbon (C) storage/mobilization were evaluated in relation to plant water status. A simple C balance model was also developed to investigate sink-source relationship in relation to plant water status at the tree level. The C source was estimated through the leaf area dynamics and leaf photosynthesis rate along the season. The C sink was estimated for maintenance respiration and growth of shoots and fruits. Water stress significantly reduced gas exchange, and fruit, and shoot growth, but increased fruit dry matter concentration. Growth was more affected by water deficit than photosynthesis, and shoot growth was more sensitive to water deficit than fruit growth. Reduction of shoot growth was associated with a decrease of shoot elongation, emergence, and high shoot mortality. Water scarcity affected tree C assimilation due to two interacting factors: (i) reduction in leaf photosynthesis (-23% and -50% under moderate (MS) and severe (SS) water stress compared to low (LS) stress during growth season) and (ii) reduction in total leaf area (-57% and -79% under MS and SS compared to LS at harvest). Our field data analysis suggested a Ψstem threshold of -1.5 MPa below which daily net C gain became negative, i.e. C assimilation became lower than C needed for respiration and growth. Negative C balance under MS and SS associated with decline of trunk carbohydrate reserves – may have led to drought-induced vegetative mortality.
NodeTrix : Reprsentation Hybride pour Analyser les Rseaux Sociaux

The need to visualize large social networks is growing as har dw e capabilities make analyzing large networks feasible and many new data sets bec ome available. Unfortunately, the visualizations in existing systems do not satisfactorily a nswer the basic dilemma of being readable both for the global structure of the network and also for deta iled analysis of local communities. To address this problem, we present NodeTrix, a hybrid repre sentation for networks that combines the advantages of two traditional representations: node-l ink diagrams are used to show the global structure of a network, while arbitrary portions of the netw ork can be shown as adjacency matrices to better support the analysis of communities. A key contrib u ion is a set of interaction techniques. These allow analysts to create a NodeTrix visualization by d ragging selections from either a nodelink or a matrix, flexibly manipulate the NodeTrix represent ation to explore the dataset, and create meaningful summary visualizations of their findings. Final ly, we present a case study applying NodeTrix to the analysis of the InfoVis 2004 coauthorship da taset to illustrate the capabilities of NodeTrix as both an exploration tool and an effective means o f communicating results. Key-words: Graph visualization, Social networks, Matrix visualizati on, Hybrid visualization, Aggregation, Interaction. ∗ INRIA/LRI Univ. Paris-Sud & Univ. Sydney † Ontario Cancer Institute NodeTrix: Reprsentation Hybride pour Analyser les Rseaux Sociaux Résuḿe : Alors que les donnes issues des communications electroniqu es deviennent de plus en plus facilement accessible et comportent des informations touj ours plus riches et nombreuses, le besoin de visualiser ces rseaux sociaux se fait plus pressant. Cepe ndant, les systmes actuels ne permettent pas aux analystes de Mots-clés : Visualisation de graph, Rseaux sociaux, visualisation mat ricielle, visualisation hybride, aggregation, interaction.
Improving Maternal and Child Healthcare Programme Using Community-Participatory Interventions in Ebonyi State Nigeria

In Nigeria, the government is implementing the Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme (FMCHCP). The policy is premised on the notion that financial barriers are one of the most important constraints to equitable access and use of skilled maternal and child healthcare. In Ebonyi State, Southeastern Nigeria the FMCHCP is experiencing implementation challenges including: inadequate human resource for health, inadequate funding, out of stock syndrome, inadequate infrastructure, and poor staff remuneration. Furthermore, there is less emphasis on community involvement in the programme implementation. In this policy brief, we recommend policy options that emphasize the implementation of community-based participatory interventions to strengthen the government's FMCHCP as follows: Option 1: Training community women on prenatal care, life-saving skills in case of emergency, reproductive health, care of the newborn and family planning. Option 2: Sensitizing the community women towards behavioural change, to understand what quality services that respond to their needs are but also to seek and demand for such. Option 3: Implementation packages that provide technical skills to women of childbearing age as well as mothers' groups, and traditional birth attendants for better home-based maternal and child healthcare. The effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated in a number of community-based participatory interventions, building on the idea that if community members take part in decision-making and bring local knowledge, experiences and problems to the fore, they are more likely to own and sustain solutions to improve their communities' health.
On the Stereochemistry of 2-Hydroxyethylphosphonate Dioxygenase

Stereochemical investigations have shown that the conversion of 2-hydroxyethylphosphonate to hydroxymethylphosphonate by the enzyme HEPD involves removal of the pro-S hydrogen at C2 and, surprisingly, the loss of stereochemical information at C1. As a result, the mechanisms previously proposed for HEPD must be re-evaluated.
Radial spokes of Chlamydomonas flagella: genetic analysis of assembly and function

In addition to the previously studied pf-14 and pf-1 loci in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, mutations for another five genes (pf-17, pf- 24, pf-25, pf-26, and pf-27) have been identified and characterized as specifically affecting the assembly and function of the flagellar radial spokes. Mutants for each of the newly identified loci show selective alterations for one or more of the 17 polypeptides in the molecular weight range of 20,000-130,000 which form the radial spoke structure. In specific instances the molecular defect has been correlated with altered radial spoke morphology. Biochemical analysis of in vivo complementation in mutant X wild-type dikaryons has provided indirect evidence that mutations for four of the five new loci (pf-17, pf-24, pf-25, and pf-26) reside in structural genes for spoke components. In the case of pf-24, the identity of the mutant gene product was supported by analysis of induced intragenic revertants. In contrast to the other radial spoke mutants thus far investigated, evidence suggests that the gene product in pf-27 is extrinsic to the radial spokes and is required for the specific in vivo phosphorylation of spoke polypeptides.
Trust in People and Trust in Technology: Expanding Interpersonal Trust to Technology-Mediated Interactions

vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. 1 Theoretical Development . 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 8 Trust in People. 9 McAllister (1995). 11 Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman (1995). 12 McKnight, Cummings, and Chervany (1998). 16 Trust in people in a virtual setting . 18 Trust in Technology . 23 Trust in information and communication technology . 27 Trust across system elements . 29 Outcomes . 33 Sociotechnical systems theory. 35 Text Analysis . 38 Brief History . 38 Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). 40 Applications . 41 The Present Study . 42 Contributions.50 CHAPTER 3: METHOD . 52 Participants . 52 Materials . 52 Experimental stimuli . 52 Performance task . 53 Measures . 55 Defining Collaboration . 56 Design . 59 Procedure . 59 ii CHAPTER 4: RESULTS . 61 Attention Check . 62 Text Processing . 63 Descriptive Statistics . 63 Nonindependence analyses . 65 Model Development.66 Modeling technique . 67 Variable description. 68 Modeling approach . 69 Dataset structure.69 Model specification . 70 Model testing . 70 Model 0 . 73 Model 1 augmented interpersonal trust and trust in technology model (no relationships between the two trust concepts -Figure 8) . 75 Model 2 augmented interpersonal trust and trust in technology model (trust in technology impacts interpersonal trust –Figure 9) . 76 Model 3 augmented interpersonal trust and trust in technology model (interpersonal trust impacts trust in technology –Figure 10) . 77 Hypothesis Testing . 78 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION . 88 Collaboration and performance.92 Interpersonal Trust and Trust in Technology . 94 Relationships with outcome . 97 Collaboration.97 Communication . 98 Intentions.99 Contributions to the Trust Literature.100 Methodological Considerations . 102 Implications for Organizations . 103 Limitations . 105 Future Research . 106 Conclusion . 108 REFERENCES . 109 FIGURES . 122 TABLES . 138 APPENDICES . 169 Appendix A: Definition of Terms . 170 Appendix B: Experimental Conditions . 171 Appendix C: Measurement Scales . 173 Appendix D: Demographic Survey . 178 iii Appendix E: Desert Survival Task . 179 Appendix F: Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval Letter . 181
Déficits de mémoire verbale à court-terme pour l’ordre sériel chez des enfants dyslexiques

Dans la plupart des etudes, la MCT est evaluee via des epreuves de rappel seriel (comme l’empan de chiffres ou de mots) qui requierent simultanement la retention de l’information item (identite des stimuli) et de l’ordre seriel (ordre de presentation des stimuli). Or, ces deux types d’information seraient sous-tendus par des processus distincts. Selon des modeles recents de la MCT (Burgess & Hitch, 1999 ; Gupta, 2003), le stockage de l’information item depend directement de la qualite des representations phonologiques et semantiques. Par contraste, le stockage de l’ordre seriel est realise via un systeme specifique et independant des representations langagieres.
Beaming Light from a Subwavelength Aperture

Light usually diffracts in all directions when it emerges from a subwavelength aperture, which puts a lower limit on the size of features that can be used in photonics. This limitation can be overcome by creating a periodic texture on the exit side of a single aperture in a metal film. The transmitted light emerges from the aperture as a beam with a small angular divergence (approximately ±3°) whose directionality can be controlled. This finding is especially surprising, considering that the radiating region is mainly confined to an area with lateral dimensions comparable to the wavelength of the light. The device occupies no more than one cubic micrometer and, when combined with enhanced transmission, suggests that a wide range of photonic applications is possible.