Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Application of Recurrent Neural Networks to Low Bit Rate Speech Coding

It is well known that the LSP coefficient which represents the speech spectrum envelope as one of the linear prediction coefficients, shows good performance for spectral interpolation along the time axis, but it is also known that the duration of interpolation is limited up to 20/spl sim/30 ms. This limitation makes it difficult to reduce the bit rate in very low bit rate speech coding. To resolve this problem, recurrent neural networks (RNN) were applied to interpolate LSP coefficients, and it was possible to increase the duration of interpolation to about 100 ms without so much degradation of the synthesized speech quality.
Stress distribution of molars restored with minimal invasive and conventional technique: a 3-D finite element analysis

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze stress distribution and maximum von Mises stress generated in intracoronal restorations and in tooth structures of mandibular molars with various types of cavity designs and materials. Materials and Methods: Three-dimensional solid models of mandible molar such as O inlay cavity with composite and gold (OR-C, OG-C), MO inlay cavity with composite and gold (MR-C, MG-C), and minimal invasive cavity on occlusal and proximal surfaces (OR-M, MR-M) were designed. To simulate masticatory force, static axial load with total force of 200 N was applied on the tooth at 10 occlusal contact points. A finite element analysis was performed to predict stress distribution generated by occlusal loading. Results: Restorations with minimal cavity design generated significantly lower values of von Mises stress (OR-M model: 26.8 MPa; MR-M model: 72.7 MPa) compared to those with conventional cavity design (341.9 MPa to 397.2 MPa). In tooth structure, magnitudes of maximum von Mises stresses were similar among models with conventional design (372.8 - 412.9 MPa) and models with minimal cavity design (361.1 - 384.4 MPa). Conclusion: Minimal invasive models generated smaller maximum von Mises stresses within restorations. Within the enamel, similar maximum von Mises stresses were observed for models with minimal cavity design and those with conventional design. (J Dent Rehabil Appl Sci 2018;34(4):297-305)
Unequal Saccades Produced Patterns: a Model Approach

This study addresses a possible mechanism for fast disconjugate adaptation of binocular horizontal saccades. Disconjugacy of binocular saccades was elicited by two dichopticaHy presented, identical but aniseikonic, random checkerboard patterns. Adaptation was achieved with the patterns at far distance (144 cm). In this condition, which requires a relatively small (8%) size difference of the saccades, a short learning period was mandatory for the binocular saccades to become disconjugate. The saccadic modifications were superimposed on an idiosyncratic pattern of intra-saccadic yoking. A model of saccadic signal generation is described, that has been used to separate the contributions on saccadic disconjngacy provided by modification of visual inputs processing, which alters the motor-system inputs, and by modification of the control system: the adaptation. We identified three major components of the saccadic command (two phasic and one tonic) that contribute and in a specific way to the saccadic yoking and disconjugacy. The model analysis proposes that separate control mechanisms exist operating on these phasic and tonic signals. We show that the saccadic system can generate the vergence component shown by our aniseikonic saccades. We discuss a distributed-parallel implementation of the saccadic system able to provide both the conjugate and disconjugate components of control.
Food Addiction and Obesity: Evidence from Bench to Bedside

Abstract Obesity has become a major health problem and epidemic. However, much of the current debate has been fractious and etiologies of obesity have been attributed to eating behavior or fast food, personality issues, depression, addiction, or genetics. One of the interesting new hypotheses for epidemic obesity is food addiction, which is associated with both substance-related disorder and eating disorder. Accumulating evidences have shown that there are many shared neural and hormonal pathways as well as distinct differences that may help researchers find why certain individuals overeat and become obese. Functional neuroimaging studies have further revealed that good or great smelling, looking, tasting, and reinforcing food has characteristics similar to that of drugs of abuse. Many of the brain changes reported for hedonic eating and obesity are also seen in various forms of addictions. Most importantly, overeating and obesity may have an acquired drive like drug addiction with respect to motivation and incentive; craving, wanting, and liking occur after early and repeated exposures to stimuli. The acquired drive for great food and relative weakness of the satiety signal would cause an imbalance between the drive and hunger/reward centers in the brain and their regulation.
Membrane fluidity and lipid composition of fluconazole resistant and susceptible strains of Candida albicans isolated from diabetic patients

Ten clinical isolates of Candida albicans, five strains belonging to each of fluconazole resistant and susceptible groups isolated from diabetic patients, were studied for the membrane fluidity and lipid composition. Compared to fluconazole susceptible strains, fluconazole resistant ones exhibited enhanced membrane fluidity as measured by fluorescence polarization technique. The increased membrane fluidity was reflected in the decreased p-values exhibited by the resistant strains. On the other hand, susceptible isolates contained higher amount of ergosterol, almost twice as compared to resistant isolates which might have contributed to their lower membrane fluidity. However, no significant alteration was observed in the phospholipid and fatty acid composition of these isolates. Labeling experiments with fluorescamine dye revealed that the percentage of the exposed aminophospholipid, phosphatidylethanolamine was highest in the resistant strains as compared to the susceptible strains, indicating a possible overexpression of CDR1 and CDR2 genes in resistant strains. The results presented here suggest that the changes in the ergosterol content and overexpression of ABC transporter genes CDR1 and CDR2 could contribute to fluconazole resistance in C. albicans isolated from diabetic patients.
Nuclear Orphan Receptor TAK1/TR4-Deficient Mice Are Protected Against Obesity-Linked Inflammation, Hepatic Steatosis, and Insulin Resistance

OBJECTIVE The nuclear receptor TAK1/TR4/NR2C2 is expressed in several tissues that are important in the control of energy homeostasis. In this study, we investigate whether TAK1 functions as a regulator of lipid and energy homeostasis and has a role in metabolic syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We generated TAK1-deficient (TAK1−/−) mice to study the function of TAK1 in the development of metabolic syndrome in aged mice and mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). (Immuno)histochemical, biochemical, and gene expression profile analyses were performed to determine the effect of the loss of TAK1 expression on lipid homeostasis in liver and adipose tissues. In addition, insulin sensitivity, energy expenditure, and adipose-associated inflammation were compared in wild-type (WT) and TAK1−/− mice fed a HFD. RESULTS TAK1-deficient (TAK1−/−) mice are resistant to the development of age- and HFD-induced metabolic syndrome. Histo- and biochemical analyses showed significantly lower hepatic triglyceride levels and reduced lipid accumulation in adipose tissue in TAK1−/− mice compared with WT mice. Gene expression profiling analysis revealed that the expression of several genes encoding proteins involved in lipid uptake and triglyceride synthesis and storage, including Cidea, Cidec, Mogat1, and CD36, was greatly decreased in the liver and primary hepatocytes of TAK1−/− mice. Restoration of TAK1 expression in TAK1−/− hepatocytes induced expression of several lipogenic genes. Moreover, TAK1−/− mice exhibited reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells and expression of inflammatory genes in white adipose tissue, and were resistant to the development of glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. TAK1−/− mice consume more oxygen and produce more carbon dioxide than WT mice, suggesting increased energy expenditure. CONCLUSIONS Our data reveal that TAK1 plays a critical role in the regulation of energy and lipid homeostasis, and promotes the development of metabolic syndrome. TAK1 may provide a new therapeutic target in the management of obesity, diabetes, and liver steatosis.
Dip-means: an incremental clustering method for estimating the number of clusters

Learning the number of clusters is a key problem in data clustering. We present dip-means, a novel robust incremental method to learn the number of data clusters that can be used as a wrapper around any iterative clustering algorithm of k-means family. In contrast to many popular methods which make assumptions about the underlying cluster distributions, dip-means only assumes a fundamental cluster property: each cluster to admit a unimodal distribution. The proposed algorithm considers each cluster member as an individual 'viewer' and applies a univariate statistic hypothesis test for unimodality (dip-test) on the distribution of distances between the viewer and the cluster members. Important advantages are: i) the unimodality test is applied on univariate distance vectors, ii) it can be directly applied with kernel-based methods, since only the pairwise distances are involved in the computations. Experimental results on artificial and real datasets indicate the effectiveness of our method and its superiority over analogous approaches.
An in Vivo Comparison of the Kinetics of Protein and Lipid Deposition on Group II and Group IV Frequent-Replacement Contact Lenses

Purpose. To investigate the degree and rate of deposition of protein and lipid on FDA group II and group IV contact lens materials over a period of up to 28 days of wear. Methods. Twenty-two subjects wore a group IV lens (Acuvue) and a group II lens (Soflens 66) in a randomized, cross-over study. The lenses were randomly worn for periods between 1 and 28 days and then collected for laboratory-based deposition analysis. Results. The group II lenses revealed an increased degree of lipoidal spoilage (p < 0.0001) and the group IV lenses exhibited increased protein spoilage (p < 0.0001). Surface protein for both materials reached a maximum after 1 day and did not increase over the 4-week wearing period (p = NS). Total protein for group IV lenses reached a maximum between 1 and 7 days and then reached a plateau, with no further increase occurring (p = NS), whereas total protein accumulation on the group II lens continued to increase across all time periods (p < 0.05). Lipid deposition on the group IV lens was maximal after 1 day and increased no further (p = NS), whereas lipid deposition on the group II material monotonously increased and progressively built-up over the 4 weeks of wear (p < 0.0001). Conclusions. The kinetics of contact lens deposition is mediated by the chemical structure of the contact lens material under consideration. Protein deposition occurs rapidly with group IV materials before reaching a maximum, whereas N-vinyl pyrrolidone-containing group II materials progressively accumulate protein and lipid deposits, with no plateau occurring.
Neural incremental attribute learning based on principal component analysis

Feature Extraction (FE) based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) can effectively improve classification results by reducing the interference among features. However, such a good method has not been employed in previous studies of Incremental Attribute Learning (IAL), a novel machine learning strategy, where features are gradually trained one by one in order to remove interference among features and improve classification results. This study proposed a preprocessing for neural IAL algorithm based on feature extraction with PCA. Experimental results show that this approach is not only very efficient, but also applicable for pattern classification performance improvement.
Hoist: A Second-Generation Expert System Based on Qualitative Physics

This article describes a causal expert system based on hypothetical reasoning and its application to the maintenance of the lower hoist of a Mark 45 turret gun. The system, Hoist, performs fault diagnosis without the use of a repair expert or shallow rules. Its knowledge is coded directly from a structural specification of the Mark 45 lower hoist. The technology reported here for assisting the less experienced diagnostician differs considerably from normal rule-based techniques: It reasons about machine failures from a functional model of the device. In a mechanism like the lower hoist, the functional model must reason about forces, fluid pressures, and mechanical linkages; that is, it must reason about qualitative physics. Hoist technology can be directly applied to any exactly specified device for the modeling and diagnosis of single or multiple faults. Hypothetical reasoning, the process embodied in Hoist, has general utility in qualitative physics and reason maintenance.
A classification algorithm for supporting object-oriented views

In recent years, object-oriented (OO) views have been recognized as a powerful mechanism for customizing the structural as well as behavioral aspects of interfaces to object-oriented databases (OODBs) for diverse users. In this context, classification is concerned with the integration of virtual classes derived using an OO query into one unifying schema. Existing approaches either require the user to explicitly specify the relationship between a virtual class and existing base classes, or they relate a virtual class directly with its source class(es) or with the root of the schema. In this paper, we propose a solution to this classification problem that accomplishes the following goals: (1) generate maximally informative, and thus comprehensible, schemas that explicitly model the subclass relationships between base and virtual classes, and (2) support efficient type resolution for shared property functions by supporting upwards inheritance for both base and virtual classes. Correctness and complexity of the classification algorithm are also discussed.
D-branes, KK-theory and duality on noncommutative spaces

We present a new categorical classification framework for D-brane charges on noncommutative manifolds using methods of bivariant K-theory. We describe several applications including an explicit formula for D-brane charge in cyclic homology, a refinement of open string T-duality, and a general criterion for cancellation of global worldsheet anomalies.
Sunscreens Cause Coral Bleaching by Promoting Viral Infections

Background Coral bleaching (i.e., the release of coral symbiotic zooxanthellae) has negative impacts on biodiversity and functioning of reef ecosystems and their production of goods and services. This increasing world-wide phenomenon is associated with temperature anomalies, high irradiance, pollution, and bacterial diseases. Recently, it has been demonstrated that personal care products, including sunscreens, have an impact on aquatic organisms similar to that of other contaminants. Objectives Our goal was to evaluate the potential impact of sunscreen ingredients on hard corals and their symbiotic algae. Methods In situ and laboratory experiments were conducted in several tropical regions (the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, and the Red Sea) by supplementing coral branches with aliquots of sunscreens and common ultraviolet filters contained in sunscreen formula. Zooxanthellae were checked for viral infection by epifluorescence and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Results Sunscreens cause the rapid and complete bleaching of hard corals, even at extremely low concentrations. The effect of sunscreens is due to organic ultraviolet filters, which are able to induce the lytic viral cycle in symbiotic zooxanthellae with latent infections. Conclusions We conclude that sunscreens, by promoting viral infection, potentially play an important role in coral bleaching in areas prone to high levels of recreational use by humans.
Fluorescent Proteins as Proteomic Probes*S

Protein complexes mediate the majority of cellular processes. Knowledge of the localization and composition of such complexes provides key insights into their functions. Although green fluorescent protein (GFP) has been widely applied for in vivo visualization of proteins, it has been relatively little used as a tool for the isolation of protein complexes. Here we describe the use of the standard GFP tag to both visualize proteins in living cells and capture their interactions via a simple immunoaffinity purification procedure. We applied this method to the analysis of a variety of endogenous protein complexes from different eukaryotic cells. We show that efficient isolations can be achieved in 5–60 min. This rapid purification helps preserve protein complexes close to their original state in the cell and minimizes nonspecific interactions. Given the wide use and availability of GFP-tagged protein reagents, the present method should greatly facilitate the elucidation of many cellular processes.
Answer Extraction from Passage Graph for Question Answering

In question answering, answer extraction aims to pin-point the exact answer from passages. However, most previous methods perform such extraction on each passage separately, without considering clues provided in other passages. This paper presents a novel approach to extract answers by fully leveraging connections among different passages. Specially, extraction is performed on a Passage Graph which is built by adding links upon multiple passages. Different passages are connected by linking words with the same stem. We use the factor graph as our model for answer extraction. Experimental results on multiple QA data sets demonstrate that our method significantly improves the performance of answer extraction.
Modelling thrombosis using dissipative particle dynamics method

Aim. Arterial occlusion is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. The main mechanism causing vessel occlusion is thrombus formation, which may be initiated by the activation of platelets. The focus of this study is on the mechanical aspects of platelet-mediated thrombosis which includes the motion, collision, adhesion and aggregation of activated platelets in the blood. A review of the existing continuum-based models is given. A mechanical model of platelet accumulation onto the vessel wall is developed using the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method in which the blood (i.e. colloidal-composed medium) is treated as a group of mesoscale particles interacting through conservative, dissipative, attractive and random forces. Methods. Colloidal fluid components (plasma and platelets) are discretized by mesoscopic (micrometre-size) particles that move according to Newton's law. The size of each mesoscopic particle is small enough to allow tracking of each constituent of the colloidal fluid, but significantly larger than the size of atoms such that, in contrast to the molecular dynamics approach, detailed atomic level analysis is not required. Results. To test this model, we simulated the deposition of platelets onto the wall of an expanded tube and compared our computed results with the experimental data of Karino et al. (Miscrovasc. Res. 17, 238–269, 1977). By matching our simulations to the experimental results, the platelet aggregation/adhesion binding force (characterized by an effective spring constant) was determined and found to be within a physiologically reasonable range. Conclusion. Our results suggest that the DPD method offers a promising new approach to the modelling of platelet-mediated thrombosis. The DPD model includes interaction forces between platelets both when they are in the resting state (non-activated) and when they are activated, and therefore it can be extended to the analysis of kinetics of binding and other phenomena relevant to thrombosis.
Lower airway colonization and inflammatory response in COPD: a focus on Haemophilus influenzae

Bacterial infection of the lower respiratory tract in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is common both in stable patients and during acute exacerbations. The most frequent bacteria detected in COPD patients is Haemophilus influenzae, and it appears this organism is uniquely adapted to exploit immune deficiencies associated with COPD and to establish persistent infection in the lower respiratory tract. The presence of bacteria in the lower respiratory tract in stable COPD is termed colonization; however, there is increasing evidence that this is not an innocuous phenomenon but is associated with airway inflammation, increased symptoms, and increased risk for exacerbations. In this review, we discuss host immunity that offers protection against H. influenzae and how disturbance of these mechanisms, combined with pathogen mechanisms of immune evasion, promote persistence of H. influenzae in the lower airways in COPD. In addition, we examine the role of H. influenzae in COPD exacerbations, as well as interactions between H. influenzae and respiratory virus infections, and review the role of treatments and their effect on COPD outcomes. This review focuses predominantly on data derived from human studies but will refer to animal studies where they contribute to understanding the disease in humans.
Architecture of a Context-aware and Adaptive Learning Schedule for Learning Java

Novice programmers require large amounts of time and motivation to learn an object-oriented programming language such as Java. In this paper, the architecture of our context-aware and adaptive learning schedule (CALS) tool is described. The tool has been designed to focus initially on supporting first year computer science undergraduate students to become more proficient Java programmers, and makes use of a learning schedule, where the learner inputs their daily activities. Based on this information, the tool is able to automatically determine the contextual features such as the location and available time. The appropriate learning materials are selected for the students according to, firstly, the learner preferences (such as learning styles), and secondly the contextual features (such as the level of concentration).
Management of Arrhythmias in Heart Failure

Arrhythmias often complicate the management of heart failure and contribute to mortality and morbidity. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators are the best protection from death caused by ventricular arrhythmias, but their benefit will probably be less in heart failure populations than has been observed in trials that have not focused on heart failure populations. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators are first-line therapy for high-risk patients who have been resuscitated from sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, who have inducible ventricular tachycardia in the setting of previous myocardial infarction, or who have unexplained syncope. Amiodarone is the major pharmacologic option for treatment of symptomatic arrhythmias. In selecting therapy, the severity of heart failure and cause of heart failure are important considerations. Atrial fibrillation occurs with increasing frequency as the severity of heart failure increases. Anticoagulation and rate control are important. Attempted maintenance of sinus rhythm with amiodarone or dofetilide is a reasonable consideration for selected patients, although the benefit of treatment strategies that seek to maintain sinus rhythm has not been demonstrated. Ongoing trials will provide further guidance for arrhythmia management.