Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis

Introduction 1 EXPRESSION IN SPEECH 1. Natural Speech 2. Speech Synthesis 3. Expression in Natural Speech 4. Expression in Synthetic Speech 5. The Perception of Expression 2 TRANSFERRING NATURAL EXPRESSION TO SYNTHESIS 6. The State of the Art 7. Emotion in Speech Synthesis 8. Recent Developments in Synthesis Models 3 EXPRESSION AND EMOTION: THE RESEARCH 9. The Biology and Psychology Perspectives 10. The Linguistics, Phonology, and Phonetics Perspective 11. The Speech Technology Perspective 12. The Influence of Emotion Studies 4 DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF EXPRESSION 13. The Beginnings of a Generalized Model of Expression 14. All Speech is Expression Based 15. Expressive Synthesis - The Longer Term 16. An Expression and Prosody Based Model of Speech Production Conclusion References
Letting Different Views about Business Cycles Compete

There are several candidate explanations for macro-fluctuations. Two of the most common discussed sources are surprise changes in disembodied technology and monetary innovations. Another popular explanation is found under the heading of a preference or more generally a demand shock. More recently two other explanations have been advocated: surprise changes in investment specific technology and news about future technology growth. The aim of this paper is to provide a quantitative assessment of the relative merits of all these explanations by adopting a framework which allows them to compete. In particular, we propose a co-integrated SVAR approach that encompasses all 5 shocks and thereby offers a coherent evaluation of the dynamics they induce as well as their contribution to macro volatility. Our main finding is that surprise changes in technology, whether it be of the disembodied or embodied nature, account for very little of fluctuations. In contrast, expected changes in technology appear to be an important force, with preference/demand shocks and monetary shocks also playing non-negligible roles.
JPEG 2000-based Scalable Video Coding with MCTF

We discuss the possibilities and limitations of a scalable video codec based on JPEG2000. We give a review of wavelet-based motion-compensated temporal filtering (MCTF) and discuss how JPEG2000 components can be used for coding temporal subbands and motion data. At the example of a simple implementation that uses as many ingredients from JPEG2000 as possible, we discuss some issues in coding transform coefficients resulting from MCTF. We also discuss to what extent JPEG2000 can be used to encode motion vector data in a lossless way. Finally, we present some compression results that can be achieved by putting the simple ingredients together, and compare them to MPEG-2 and MC-ECBZ, a “proper” wavelet-based scalable video codec.
Privacy dictionary: a linguistic taxonomy of privacy for content analysis

Privacy is frequently a key concern relating to technology and central to HCI research, yet it is notoriously difficult to study in a naturalistic way. In this paper we describe and evaluate a dictionary of privacy designed for content analysis, derived using prototype theory and informed by traditional theoretical approaches to privacy. We evaluate our dictionary categories alongside privacy-related categories from an existing content analysis tool, LIWC, using verbal discussions of privacy issues from a variety of technology and non-technology contexts. We find that our privacy dictionary is better able to distinguish between privacy and non-privacy language, and is less context-dependent than LIWC. However, the more general LIWC categories are able to describe a greater amount of variation in our data. We discuss possible improvements to the privacy dictionary and note future work.
Rate of Convergence Analysis of Decomposition Methods Based on the Proximal Method of Multipliers for Convex Minimization

This paper presents two classes of decomposition algorithms based on the proximal method of multipliers (PMM) introduced in the mid-1970s by Rockafellar for convex minimization. We first show that the PMM framework is at the root of many past and recent decomposition schemes suggested in the literature allowing for an elementary analysis of these methods through a unified scheme. We then prove various sublinear global convergence rate results for the two classes of PMM based decomposition algorithms for function values and constraints violation. Furthermore, under a mild assumption on the problem's data we derive rate of convergence results in terms of the original primal function values for both classes. As a by-product of our analysis we also obtain convergence of the sequences produced by the two algorithm classes to optimal primal-dual solutions.
Cell-Free Protein Synthesis in Miniaturized Array Devices and Effects of Device Orientation

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) has been used as an alternative to cell-based recombinant technology for protein production in academic and industrial labs. The continuous-exchange format generally has higher expression yield by constantly supplying a nutrient solution and removing inhibitory by-products through a porous membrane. Because of the concern of possible membrane clogging by large molecules in the CFPS solution, we investigated the effects of membrane orientation on protein synthesis. We fabricated a miniaturized array device called Vertical-I with its membrane oriented vertically in reference to the table surface and found that the protein synthesis yield in the Vertical-I device was 144% higher than the Horizontal Device reported previously. The reaction time was also faster; β-glucuronidase reached the synthesis yield plateau after 2 h in the Vertical-I device versus 4 h in the Horizontal Device. Possible clogging of membrane pores was confirmed by fluorescein diffusion measurement. Using these results, we designed a device called Vertical-II that would fit into a 96 well plate holder for compatibility with commercial reagent dispensers and microplate readers. The experimentally optimized device increased protein expression 406% over the Horizontal Device and consumes 5 times fewer reagents than a commercial device, showing the potential for high-throughput protein synthesis.
Organising Intimacy : Exploring Heterosexual Singledoms at Swedish Singles Activities

Single activities have long been places where single people can come to meet friends, build community or look for partners. The activities have relevance for studies of heterosexuality, intimacy, personal life and space. This dissertation discusses a conference, a cruise, an online site and an association for heterosexual singles in contemporary Sweden. It shows how these activities, analysed as organising people and spaces, offer participants different versions of intimacy, relationships, personal life and ultimately singledom itself. The concept non-relationality is coined to describe how people understand and enact what it means to lack a certain kind of relationship.Multi-sited ethnographic observations are combined with interviews and a survey (n=416). The chosen methods allow insight into both the heterogeneous character of the contemporary single activity scene, as well as existing tendencies to form communities. The group whose single activities are examined is deemed fairly typical of the single population at large. Nevertheless, most conclusions centre on the specific set of activities described in the book and relate them to historical examples and theory.The single activities examined can be interpreted to enact different practices entailed in a relationship without necessarily demanding commitment to a whole relationship or a specific person. In that way, the activities accommodate the inflexible personal lives that some singles report having. This challenges strict boundaries between coupledom and singledom. Such transgressive or “hetero-doxical” potential in single activities is nevertheless circumscribed by organisers’ notion that the activities provide therapeutic community in a phase before singles take the step (back) into coupledom.
Macroscopic description for a quantum plasma micro-instability: the quantum Weibel solution

The Weibel instability in the quantum plasma case is treated by means of a fluid-like (moments) approach. Quantum modifications to the macroscopic equations are then identified as effects of first or second kind. Quantum effects of the first kind correspond to a dispersive term, similar to the Bohm potential in the quantum hydrodynamic equations for plasmas. Effects of the second kind are due to the Fermi statistics of the charge carriers and can become the dominant influence for strong degeneracy. The macroscopic dispersion relations are of higher order than those for the classical Weibel instability. This corresponds to the presence of a cutoff wave-number even for the strong temperature anisotropy case.
Cs229: Action Recognition in Tennis

1. Motivation As active tennis players we are always trying to improve our game by observing the professionals. By observing their forehand, backhand and serve techniques, one can easily bring changes and perfect their own form. Unfortunately videos are not annotated with info stating the type of action the player is performing. Our goal for this project is to recognize the action a player is performing, so searching for such an action is plausible.
Transulnar carotid artery stent placement

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) has increased in popularity as an alternative to carotid artery endarterectomy for the treatment of significant carotid artery stenosis. The access site is predominantly the femoral artery, with radial or brachial access used less often. Here, we describe a case of CAS after failure of brachial access. Transulnar CAS was performed successfully without complications. Transulnar access represents an additional option in a patient undergoing CAS when conventional femoral, brachial, and radial arteries are not applicable. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Effects of Determinants of Self-determination on Flow of Online Game

Abstract The purpose of this research is to identify the factors of self-determination theory (e.g., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) affecting flow, satisfaction, and loyalty. This research uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to confirm the validity and analyzes the causal relationship of the suggested model. The results indicate that competence and relatedness positively influence flow and that autonomy positively influen-ces satisfaction. First, autonomy is significantly shown to influences satisfaction and does not significantly influence flow. Second, that competence significantly influenced flow and indirectly influenced satisfaction. Third, relatedness significantly influenced flow and indirectly influenced satisfaction. Finally, flow influenced satisfaction, and flow and satisfaction directly and indirectly influenced loyalty. Keywords：Online Game, Self-Determination, Satisfaction, Flow, SEM 논문접수일：2010년 08월 10일 논문수정일：2010년 10월 15일 논문게재확정일：2010년 11월 08일* 서강대학교 경영전문대학원** 그리스도대학교 경영학부*** 경희대학교 경영대학† 교신저자
Effects of Adding Essential Oil to the Diet of Weaned Pigs on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immune Response and Intestinal Health

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of adding essential oils to the diet of weaned pigs on performance, nutrient utilization, immune response and intestinal health. A total of 96 weaning pigs (8.37±1.58 kg) were allotted to one of three dietary treatments. The treatments consisted of an unsupplemented basal diet (negative control, NC) or similar diets supplemented with 0.01% of an essential oil product which contained 18% thymol and cinnamaldehyde (EOD) as well as a diet supplemented with 0.19% of an antibiotic mixture which provided 150 ppm chlortetracycline, 80 ppm colistin sulfate and 50 ppm kitasamycin (positive control, PC). Each treatment was provided to eight pens of pigs with four pigs per pen. Over the entire 35 d experiment, ADG and fecal score were improved (p<0.05) for pigs fed the PC and EOD compared with the NC. Dry matter and crude protein digestibility as well as lymphocyte proliferation for pigs fed the PC and EOD diets were increased significantly compared with NC (p<0.05). IGF-I levels in plasma were significantly increased (p<0.05) in pigs fed the PC diet compared with pigs fed the NC diet. Interleukin-6 concentration was lower (p<0.05) and the tumor necrosis factor-α level was higher (p<0.05) in the plasma of pigs fed the EOD diet than the NC diet. Plasma total antioxidant capacity level increased (p<0.05) in pigs fed the EOD diet compared with pigs fed the NC. Villus height to crypt depth ratio in the jejunum was greater (p<0.05) in pigs fed the PC and EOD diets than the NC. The numbers of E. coli in the cecum, colon and rectum were reduced (p<0.05) in pigs fed the PC and EOD diets compared with the control. In the colon, the ratio of Lactobacilli to E. coli was increased (p<0.05) in pigs fed the EOD diet compared with NC diet. Total aerobe numbers in the rectum were decreased (p<0.05) in pigs fed the PC and EOD diets compared with the control. Collectively, these results indicate that blends of essential oils could be a candidate for use as an alternative to traditional antibiotics in weaning pig diets.
Does Mutual Fund Performance Vary Over the Business Cycle?

We develop a new methodology that allows conditional performance to be a function of information available at the start of the performance period but does not make assumptions about the behavior of the conditional betas. We use econometric techniques developed by Lynch and Wachter (2011) that use all available factor return, instrument, and mutual fund data, and so allow us to produce more precise parameter estimates than those obtained from the usual GMM estimation. We use our SDF-based method to assess the conditional performance of fund styles in the CRSP mutual fund data set, and are careful to condition only on information available to investors, and to control for any cyclical performance by the underlying stocks held by the various fund styles. Moskowitz (2000) suggests that mutual funds may add value by performing well during economic downturns, but we find that not all funds styles produce counter-cyclical performance when using dividend yield or term spread as the instrument: instead, many fund styles exhibit pro-cyclical or non-cyclical performance, especially after controlling for any cyclicality in the performance of the underlying stocks. For many fund styles, conditional performance switches from counter-cyclical to pro- or non- cyclical depending on the instrument or pricing model used. Moreover, we find very little evidence of any business cycle variation in conditional performance for the 4 oldest fund styles (growth and income, growth, maximum capital gains and income) using dividend yield or term spread as the instrument, despite estimating the cyclicality parameter using the GMM method of Lynch and Wachter (2011) that produces more precise parameter estimates than the usual GMM estimation. Our results are important because they call into question the accepted wisdom and Moskowitz's conjecture that the typical mutual fund improves investor utility by producing counter-cyclical abnormal performance.
Biological chemistry and functionality of protein sulfenic acids and related thiol modifications

ABSTRACT Selective modification of proteins at cysteine residues by reactive oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur species formed under physiological and pathological states is emerging as a critical regulator of protein activity impacting cellular function. This review focuses primarily on protein sulfenylation (–SOH), a metastable reversible modification connecting reduced cysteine thiols to many products of cysteine oxidation. An overview is first provided on the chemistry principles underlining synthesis, stability and reactivity of sulfenic acids in model compounds and proteins, followed by a brief description of analytical methods currently employed to characterize these oxidative species. The following chapters present a selection of redox-regulated proteins for which the –SOH formation was experimentally confirmed and linked to protein function. These chapters are organized based on the participation of these proteins in the regulation of signaling, metabolism and epigenetics. The last chapter discusses the therapeutic implications of altered redox microenvironment and protein oxidation in disease.
Spectral Learning of Infinite Mixture of Hidden Markov Models for Human Action Recognition

In this work, we approach the sequence clustering and classification problem using an infinite mixture. For each class, we learn a mixture of multiple observation Hidden Markov Models (HMM). The exact inference requires the evaluation of an intractable integral over HMM parameters. Assuming that the observed sequences are sufficiently long, we approximate the intractable integral by a spectral method based on the approach by Hsu et.al [1]. We apply the resulting algorithm on human action recognition problem. We show that doing clustering in the training phase improves the classification accuracy, as many human action sequences tend to be multimodal. Our results also suggest an improved accuracy when compared to a more conventional Expectation Maximization approach.
Prolonged High‐Dose Bivalirudin Infusion Reduces Major Bleeding Without Increasing Stent Thrombosis in Patients Undergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Novel Insights From an Updated Meta‐Analysis

Background The optimal antithrombotic therapy in patients with ST‐segment‐elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a matter of debate. This updated meta‐analysis investigated the impact of (1) bivalirudin (with and without prolonged infusion) and (2) prolonged PCI‐dose (1.75 mg/hg per hour) bivalirudin infusion compared with conventional antithrombotic therapy on clinical outcomes in patients undergoing primary PCI. Methods and Results Eligible randomized trials were searched through MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane database, and proceedings of major congresses. Prespecified outcomes were major bleeding (thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium 3–5), acute stent thrombosis, as well as all‐cause and cardiac mortality at 30 days. Six randomized trials (n=17 294) were included. Bivalirudin compared with heparin (+/− glycoprotein‐IIb/IIIa inhibitor) was associated with reduction in major bleeding (odds ratio [OR]: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.48–0.88, P=0.006, derived from all 6 trials), increase in acute stent thrombosis (OR: 2.75, 95% CI: 1.46–5.18, P=0.002, 5 trials), and lower rate of all‐cause mortality (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.67–0.98, P=0.03, 6 trials) as well as cardiac mortality (OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.55–0.87, P=0.001, 5 trials). The incidence of acute stent thrombosis did not differ between the prolonged PCI‐dose bivalirudin and comparator group (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.27–2.46, P=0.71, 3 trials), whereas the risk of bleeding was reduced despite treatment with high‐dose bivalirudin infusion (OR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.13–0.60, P=0.001, 3 trials). Conclusions Bivalirudin (with and without prolonged infusion) compared with conventional antithrombotic therapy in ST‐segment‐elevation myocardial infarction patients undergoing primary PCI reduces major bleeding and death, but increases the rate of acute stent thrombosis. However, prolonging the bivalirudin infusion at PCI‐dose (1.75 mg/kg per hour) for 3 hours eliminates the excess risk of acute stent thrombosis, while maintaining the bleeding benefits.
Telomere structure and telomerase in health and disease

Telomerase is the enzyme responsible for maintenance of the length of telomeres by addition of guanine-rich repetitive sequences. Telomerase activity is exhibited in gametes and stem and tumor cells. In human somatic cells, proliferation potential is strictly limited and senescence follows approximately 50–70 cell divisions. In most tumor cells, on the contrary, replication potential is unlimited. The key role in this process of the system of the telomere length maintenance with involvement of telomerase is still poorly studied. Undoubtedly, DNA polymerase is not capable of completely copying DNA at the very ends of chromosomes; therefore, approximately 50 nucleotides are lost during each cell cycle, which results in gradual telomere length shortening. Critically short telomeres cause senescence, following crisis and cell death. However, in tumor cells the system of telomere length maintenance is activated. Much work has been done regarding the complex telomere/telomerase as a unique target, highly specific in cancer cells. Telomeres have additional proteins that regulate the binding of telomerase. Telomerase, also associates with a number of proteins forming the sheltering complex having a central role in telomerase activity. This review focuses on the structure and function of the telomere/telomerase complex and its altered behavior leading to disease, mainly cancer. Although telomerase therapeutics are not approved yet for clinical use, we can assume that based on the promising in vitro and in vivo results and successful clinical trials, it can be predicted that telomerase therapeutics will be utilized soon in the combat against malignancies and degenerative diseases. The active search for modulators is justified, because the telomere/telomerase system is an extremely promising target offering possibilities to decrease or increase the viability of the cell for therapeutic purposes.
The Effects of Saturation on the Armature Leakage Reactance of Large Synchronous Machines

A method which calculates a saturated value for the armature leakage reactance of large turbogenerators is described. The method is applied to evaluate the effects of saturation for various levels of steady-state, short-circuit armature currents. The method makes use of the fact that under balanced, short-circuit conditions, the leakage field in the stator is primarily peripheral. A finite difference method was selected to determine the two dimensional leakage field of the stator windings in the stator slots. Air-gap leakages such as the zig-zag and belt leakage, as well as the tooth-tip leakage, is automatically included in the calculations since the air-gap is considered as part of the problem region.
Institute of Physics Publishing Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering Artificial Sensory Hairs Based on the Flow Sensitive Receptor Hairs of Crickets

This paper presents the modelling, design, fabrication and characterization of flow sensors based on the wind-receptor hairs of crickets. Cricket sensory hairs are highly sensitive to drag-forces exerted on the hair shaft. Artificial sensory hairs have been realized in SU-8 on suspended Si x N y membranes. The movement of the membranes is detected capacitively. Capacitance versus voltage, frequency dependence and directional sensitivity measurements have been successfully carried out on fabricated sensor arrays, showing the viability of the concept.
Nod2-Dependent Regulation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in the Intestinal Tract

The gene encoding the Nod2 protein is frequently mutated in Crohn's disease (CD) patients, although the physiological function of Nod2 in the intestine remains elusive. Here we show that protective immunity mediated by Nod2 recognition of bacterial muramyl dipeptide is abolished in Nod2-deficient mice. These animals are susceptible to bacterial infection via the oral route but not through intravenous or peritoneal delivery. Nod2 is required for the expression of a subgroup of intestinal anti-microbial peptides, known as cryptdins. The Nod2 protein is thus a critical regulator of bacterial immunity within the intestine, providing a possible mechanism for Nod2 mutations in CD.