Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cantonese Tone Perception for Children Who Use a Hearing Aid and a Cochlear Implant in Opposite Ears

Objectives: The ability to recognize tones is vital for speech perception in tonal languages. Cantonese has six tones, which are differentiated almost exclusively by pitch cues (tones 1 to 6). The differences in pitch contours among the tones are subtle, making Cantonese a challenging language for cochlear implant users. The addition of a hearing aid has been shown to improve speech perception in nontonal languages and in Mandarin Chinese. This study (1) investigates the Cantonese tone perception ability of children who use a cochlear implant and a hearing aid in opposite ears; (2) evaluates the effect of varying pitch height and pitch contour cues on Cantonese tone perception for these children; and (3) compares the Cantonese tone perception ability for using a hearing aid and a cochlear implant together versus an implant alone. Design: Eight native Cantonese speaking children using a cochlear implant and a hearing aid in opposite ears were assessed for tone perception and word identification. The tone perception test involved discriminating and ranking tone pairs from natural and artificially manipulated Cantonese tones with various pitch heights and/or pitch contours. The word identification test involved identifying Cantonese words in a four-alternative forced-choice task. All tests were performed in two device conditions: (1) cochlear implant and hearing aid together and (2) implant alone. Results: Seven of the 8 subjects performed significantly above chance in both tests using the cochlear implant alone. Results showed that both pitch height and/or pitch direction were important perceptual cues for implant users. Perception for some tones was improved by increasing the pitch height differences between the tones. The ability to discriminate and rank the tone 2/tone 5 contrast and the tone 4/tone 6 contrast was poor, as the tones in these contrasts are similar in pitch contours and onset frequencies. No significant improvement was observed after artificially increasing the pitch offset differences between the tones in the tone 2/tone 5 and the tone 4/tone 6 contrasts. Tone perception results were significantly better with the addition of the hearing aid in the nonimplanted ear compared with using the implant alone; however, word identification results were not significantly different between using the implant alone and using both the hearing aid and the implant together. None of the subjects performed worse in tone perception or in word identification when the hearing aid was added. Conclusions: Reduced ability to perceive pitch contour cues, even when artificially exaggerated, may explain some of the difficulties in Cantonese word recognition for implant users. The addition of a contralateral hearing aid could be beneficial for Cantonese tone perception for some individuals with a unilateral implant. The results encouraged Cantonese speakers to trial a hearing aid in the nonimplanted ear when using a cochlear implant.
Human dental pulp stem cells expressing STRO‐1, c‐kit and CD34 markers in peripheral nerve regeneration

Peripheral nerve injuries are a commonly encountered clinical problem and often result in long‐term functional defects. The application of stem cells able to differentiate in Schwann cell‐like cells in vitro and in vivo, could represent an attractive therapeutic approach for the treatment of nerve injuries. Further, stem cells sources sharing the same embryological origin as Schwann cells might be considered a suitable tool. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the ability of a neuroectodermal subpopulation of human STRO‐1+/c‐Kit+/CD34+ DPSCs, expressing P75NTR, nestin and SOX‐10, to differentiate into Schwann cell‐like cells in vitro and to promote axonal regeneration in vivo, which led to functional recovery as measured by sustained gait improvement, in animal rat model of peripheral nerve injury. Transplanted human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) engrafted into sciatic nerve defect, as revealed by the positive staining against human nuclei, showed the expression of typical Schwann cells markers, S100b and, noteworthy, a significant number of myelinated axons was detected. Moreover, hDPSCs promoted axonal regeneration from proximal to distal stumps 1 month after transplantation. This study demonstrates that STRO‐1+/c‐Kit+/CD34+ hDPSCs, associated with neural crest derivation, represent a promising source of stem cells for the treatment of demyelinating disorders and might provide a valid alternative tool for future clinical applications to achieve functional recovery after injury or peripheral neuropathies besides minimizing ethical issues. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of molecular weight on the perforation impact behavior of injection-molded plaques of α-and β-phase isotactic polypropylenes

Abstract This study was devoted to the instrumented falling weight impact (IFWI) behavior of injection-molded a-and β-phase isotactic polypropylene (iPP) homopolymers. The perforation impact response of iPP with various melt flow indices (MFIs), and thus molecular weight (MW) characteristics, was studied at two different temperatures (T = 23°C and T =−40°C) and incident impact speeds (vinc = 5 and 10 m/s). The impact resistance of β-iPP was superior to the α-modification. The absolute resistance to perforation increased with increasing MW or decreasing MFI, whereas the relative toughness improvement between the β-and α-iPPs followed an opposite tendency. The molding-induced skin-core morphology did not affect practically the out-of-plane response of the impacted plaques. Changes in the fractograms (viz. force-time curves) under various experimental conditions were traced to variations in the failure mode, showing a competition between radial and circumferential cracking with respect to the clamping ring.
Text independent Amharic Language Speaker Identification in Noisy Environments using speech processing Techniques

In Ethiopia, the largest ethnic and linguistic groups are the Oromos, Amharas and Tigrayans. This paper presents the performance analysis of text-independent speaker identification system for the Amharic language in noisy environments. VQ (Vector Quantization), GMM (Gaussian Mixture Models), BPNN (Back propagation neural network), MFCC (Mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients), GFCC (Gammatone Frequency Cepstral Coefficients), and a hybrid approach had been use as techniques for identifying speakers of Amharic language in noisy environments. For the identification process, speech signals are collected from different speakers including both sexes; for our data set, a total of 90 speakers’ speech samples were collected, and each speech have 10 seconds duration from each individual. From these speakers, 59.2%, 70.9% and 84.7% accuracy are achieved when VQ, GMM and BPNN are used on the combined feature vector of MFCC and GFCC.
Interpersonal sensitivity, bullying victimization and paranoid ideation among help‐seeking adolescents and young adults

The effects of a negative interpersonal experience, such as bullying victimization in childhood and adolescence, can be strong and long lasting. Bullying victimization is associated with paranoid ideation and suspiciousness. Few studies have focused on personality traits of victims of bullying. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a particular personality trait called interpersonal sensitivity may be related to suspiciousness in those who experienced bullying victimization.
Emotions Trump Facts: The Role of Emotions in on Social Media: A Literature Review

Emotions are an inseparable part of how people use social media. While a more cognitive view on social media has initially dominated the research looking into areas such as knowledge sharing, the topic of emotions and their role on social media is gaining increasing interest. As is typical to an emerging field, there is no synthesized view on what has been discovered so far and – more importantly – what has not been. This paper provides an overview of research regarding expressing emotions on social media and their impact, and makes recommendations for future research in the area. Considering differentiated emotion instead of measuring positive or negative sentiment, drawing from theories on emotion, and distinguishing between sentiment and opinion could provide valuable insights in the field.
Forebrain Organization in Elasmobranchs

It has long been known that many elasmobranch fishes have relatively large brains. The telencephalon, in particular, has increased in size in several groups, and as a percent of total brain weight, it is as large as in some mammals. Little is known, however, about the organization, connections, and functions of the telencephalon in elasmobranchs. Early experimental studies indicated that olfaction does not dominate the telencephalon and that other sensory modalities are represented, particularly in the pallium. We have investigated the intrinsic and extrinsic connections of the telencephalon in two elasmobranch species: the thornback guitarfish, Platyrhinoidis triseriata, and the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias. Tracers were injected into various parts of the forebrain and olfactory pathways were found to be extensive and were seen to involve the pallium. Injections into various parts of the pallium revealed a major input from the area basalis, which receives secondary and tertiary olfactory fibers. Nonolfactory input from the diencephalon appeared relatively minor and seemed to converge with olfactory information in the dorsal pallium and area superficialis basalis. Major descending projections were seen to originate in the dorsal pallium and terminate in the hypothalamus and – in the case of Platyrhinoidis – massively in the lateral mesencephalic nucleus. Descending pathways appeared mainly crossed in Platyrhinoidis, but not in Squalus. Our data indicate that the concept of the dorsal pallium as a nonolfactory area in elasmobranchs must be reconsidered, and we suggest that many telencephalic centers, including the dorsal pallium, are involved in olfactory orientation.
Crowd Anomaly Detection Using Motion Based Spatio-Temporal Feature Analysis

Recently, the demand for surveillance system is increasing in real time application to enhance the security system. These surveillance systems are mainly used in crowded places such as shopping malls, sports stadium etc. In order to support enhance the security system, crowd behavior analysis has been proven a significant technique which is used for crowd monitoring, visual surveillance etc. For crowd behavior analysis, motion analysis is a crucial task which can be achieved with the help of trajectories and tracking of objects. Various approaches have been proposed for crowd behavior analysis which has limitation for densely crowded scenarios, a new object entering the scene etc. In this work, we propose a new approach for abnormal crowd behavior detection. Proposed approach is a motion based spatio-temporal feature analysis technique which is capable of obtaining trajectories of each detected object. We also present a technique to carry out the evaluation of individual object and group of objects by considering relational descriptors based on their environmental context. Finally, a classification is carried out for detection of abnormal or normal crowd behavior by following patch based process. In the results, we have reported that proposed model is able to achieve better performance when compared to existing techniques in terms of classification accuracy, true positive rate, and false positive rate.
Bile Salts Modulate the Mucin-Activated Type VI Secretion System of Pandemic Vibrio cholerae

The causative agent of cholera, Vibrio cholerae, regulates its diverse virulence factors to thrive in the human small intestine and environmental reservoirs. Among this pathogen’s arsenal of virulence factors is the tightly regulated type VI secretion system (T6SS). This system acts as an inverted bacteriophage to inject toxins into competing bacteria and eukaryotic phagocytes. V. cholerae strains responsible for the current 7th pandemic activate their T6SS within the host. We established that T6SS-mediated competition occurs upon T6SS activation in the infant mouse, and that this system is functional under anaerobic conditions. When investigating the intestinal host factors mucins (a glycoprotein component of mucus) and bile for potential regulatory roles in controlling the T6SS, we discovered that once mucins activate the T6SS, bile acids can further modulate T6SS activity. Microbiota modify bile acids to inhibit T6SS-mediated killing of commensal bacteria. This interplay is a novel interaction between commensal bacteria, host factors, and the V. cholerae T6SS, showing an active host role in infection.
Annihiliation of Redudant Data in Amalgamation of WSN's using Data Cleansing

manufacturing environments are very charismatic and inclement. Traditional management information systems (MISs) have mostly been implemented upon hierarchical architectures, which are inflexible to adapt changes and uncertainties promptly. Next-generation MISs must be agile and adaptable to accommodate changes without significant time delays. It is essential for an MIS to obtain real-time data from the distributed and vehement manufacturing environment for decision making. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems provide an excellent infrastructure for data acquisition, distribution, and processing. In this paper, some key challenges related to the amalgamation of WSN and RFID technologies are discussed. A five-layer system architecture has been proposed to achieve synergistic performance. For the amalgamation of WSN and RFID, one of the critical issues is the low efficiency of communication due to redundant data as redundant data increases energy consumption and causes time delay. To address it, an improved data cleansing algorithm has been proposed; its feasibility and effectiveness have been verified via simulation and a comparison with a published algorithm. To illustrate the capacity of the developed architecture and new data cleaning algorithm, their application in relief supplies storage management has been discussed.
Healthy And Unhealthy Statistics: Examining The Impact Of Erroneous Statistical Analyses In Health-Related Research

Sound statistical analyses are essential to the advancement of medicine. Although certainly not always the case, far too many publications are based on weak or inappropriate statistical methodology, leading to questionable results. Statistical reporting guidelines and standards for research are being introduced which should help curb this problem. Wide recognition of the need for statistical methodologies aligned with research questions and study designs, and the impact when this is not the case, would help prevent this problem. In this thesis, I illustrate the consequences of erroneous statistical analyses on data from an observational study on Multiple Sclerosis and I investigate the impact of inappropriate survival analyses through a simulation study.
The Expanding Role of the BCL6 Oncoprotein as a Cancer Therapeutic Target

BCL6 was initially discovered as an oncogene in B-cell lymphomas, where it drives the malignant phenotype by repressing proliferation and DNA damage checkpoints and blocking B-cell terminal differentiation. BCL6 mediates its effects by binding to hundreds of target genes and then repressing these genes by recruiting several different chromatin-modifying corepressor complexes. Structural characterization of BCL6–corepressor complexes suggested that BCL6 might be a druggable target. Accordingly, a number of compounds have been designed to bind to BCL6 and block corepressor recruitment. These compounds, based on peptide or small-molecule scaffolds, can potently block BCL6 repression of target genes and kill lymphoma cells. In the case of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL), BCL6 inhibitors are equally effective in suppressing both the germinal center B-cell (GCB)- and the more aggressive activated B-cell (ABC)-DLBCL subtypes, both of which require BCL6 to maintain their survival. In addition, BCL6 is implicated in an expanding scope of hematologic and solid tumors. These include, but are not limited to, B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, and non–small cell lung cancer. BCL6 inhibitors have been shown to exert potent effects against these tumor types. Moreover, mechanism-based combinations of BCL6 inhibitors with other agents have yielded synergistic and often quite dramatic activity. Hence, there is a compelling case to accelerate the development of BCL6-targeted therapies for translation to the clinical setting. Clin Cancer Res; 23(4); 885–93. ©2016 AACR.
Micromechanics of flat‐probe adhesion tests of soft viscoelastic polymer films

Because of recent experiments (H. Lakrout et al., J Adhes 1999, 69, 307) conducted with an instrumented probe-tack device, a better description of the debonding mechanisms of soft viscoelastic adhesives from a hard interface can be proposed. Because the deformed volume is about the magnitude of the sample size and the deformation is highly inhomogeneous, adhesion cannot be studied independently of the geometry of the test. One of the simplest geometries is that of the debonding of a cylindrical flat-ended probe from a thin film. In this case, a uniform displacement field is applied over the entire top surface of the film, and the stress field at the probe-film interface is strongly dependent on the degree of confinement of the film characterized by the ratio between the probe radius a and the film thickness h. For a very confined film, the nucleation of interfacial cavities is predicted to occur over most of the surface of the probe. These cavities will grow in the plane of the film and can be assimilated to multiple penny-shaped interfacial cracks. We present a semiquantitative model of how the lateral growth of these cavities is controlled by the competition between a critical energy-release rate at the interface G c and the elastic modulus of the film E. Finally, either these cavities coalesce and the film is debonded from the surface or the walls between these cavities become elongated in the tensile direction and form a fibrillar structure. The conditions for the formation of this fibrillar structure are qualitatively discussed.
Corporate Governance, Incentives, and Tax Avoidance

We examine the link between corporate governance, managerial incentives, and corporate tax avoidance. Similar to other investment opportunities that involve risky expected cash flows, unresolved agency problems may lead managers to engage in more or less corporate tax avoidance than shareholders would otherwise prefer. Consistent with the mixed results reported in prior studies, we find no relation between various corporate governance mechanisms and tax avoidance at the conditional mean and median of the tax avoidance distribution. However, using quantile regression, we find a positive relation between board independence and financial sophistication for low levels of tax avoidance, but a negative relation for high levels of tax avoidance. These results indicate that these governance attributes have a stronger relation with more extreme levels of tax avoidance, which are more likely to be symptomatic of over- and under-investment by managers.
Advances in analysis of transcriptional regulatory networks

A transcriptional regulatory network represents a molecular framework in which developmental or environmental cues are transformed into differential expression of genes. Transcriptional regulation is mediated by the combinatorial interplay between cis‐regulatory DNA elements and trans‐acting transcription factors, and is perhaps the most important mechanism for controlling gene expression. Recent innovations, most notably the method for detecting protein–DNA interactions genome‐wide, can help provide a comprehensive catalog of cis‐regulatory elements and their interaction with given trans‐acting factors in a given condition. A transcriptional regulatory network that integrates such information can lead to a systems‐level understanding of regulatory mechanisms. In this review, we will highlight the key aspects of current knowledge on eukaryotic transcriptional regulation, especially on known transcription factors and their interacting regulatory elements. Then we will review some recent technical advances for genome‐wide mapping of DNA–protein interactions based on high‐throughput sequencing. Finally, we will discuss the types of biological insights that can be obtained from a network‐level understanding of transcription regulation as well as future challenges in the field. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2011 3 21–35 DOI:10.1002/wsbm.105
Accuracy control of hot bending for Inconel 718 superalloy thick plate

Abstract Based on an Inconel 718 superalloy thick plate bending product with gradient radius (thickness: 12 mm), the accuracy control of hot bending was studied by the finite element method numerical simulation and experimental test. Meanwhile, the effects of bending die gap and friction coefficients were investigated using Deform‐3D, and the parameters of the hot bending test have been improved. The results show that radial deviations decrease with reduction in the gap between male and female dies as the friction coefficients are fixed, and decrease as the friction coefficients rise when the die gap settles. In addition, radial deviations of the area, which are close to the plate’s border, rise with the decrease in distance to the border. According to the results, an Inconel 718 thick plate bending product with gradient radius has been formed on a hydraulic machine of 5000 kN with improved parameters. The radial accuracy of thick bending plate meets the requirements (R±0·5 mm).
Causal reasoning in New Caledonian crows

A large number of studies have failed to find conclusive evidence for causal reasoning in nonhuman animals. For example, when animals are required to avoid a trap while extracting a reward from a tube they appear to learn about the surface-level features of the task, rather than about the task’s causal regularities. We recently reported that New Caledonian crows solved a two-trap-tube task and then were able to immediately solve a novel, visually distinct problem, the trap-table task. Such transfer suggests these crows were reasoning causally. However, there are two other possible explanations for the successful transfer: sampling bias and the use of a spatial, rather than a causal, analogy. Here we present data that rule out these explanations.
Low-Temperature Sintering (Ba0.6Sr0.4)TiO3 Thick Film Prepared by Screen Printing

(Ba0.6Sr0.4) TiO3 thick films doped with glass slurry were fabricated by the screen-printing technique. The dielectric properties and the sintering mechanism were investigated. The films can be sintered at 600°C. The dielectric constant is 88 and the dielectric loss is 0.002 with a tunability of 23.86% under 100 kV/cm. Higher dielectric constant and tunability were obtained in the samples sintered at higher temperatures. The highest tunability is 61.12% under 150 kV/cm in the sample sintered at 800°C. The low sintering temperature and dielectric loss of the glass-doped thick films make them potential candidates for LTCC and microwave tunable devices.
Enhanced steroid dosing reduces seizures during antiparasitic treatment for cysticercosis and early after

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a major cause of seizures and epilepsy in endemic countries. Antiparasitic treatment of brain cysts leads to seizures due to the host's inflammatory reaction, requiring concomitant steroids. We hypothesized that increased steroid dosing will reduce treatment‐associated seizures.