Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semantic and Discourse Information for Text-to-Speech Intonation

Concept-to-Speech (CTS) systems, which aim to synthesize speech from semantic information and discourse context, have succeeded in producing more appropriate and naturalsounding prosody than text-to-speech (TTS) systems, which rely mostly on syntactic and orthographic information. In this paper, we show how recent advances in CTS systems can be used to improve intonation in text reading systems for English. Specifically, following (Prevost, 1995; Prevost, 1996), we show how information structure is used by our program to produce intonational patterns with context-appropriate variation in pitch accent type and prominence. Following (Cahn, 1994; Cahn, 1997), we also show how some of the semantic information used by such CTS systems can be drawn from WordNet (Miller et al., 1993), a large-scale semantic lexicon. 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n Although theories relating intonational patterns with discourse phenomena have been proposed (Pierrehumbert and Hirschberg, 1990), existing TTS systems, and even CTS systems, often fail to exploit them. The most advanced intonation systems (Hirschberg, 1990; Hirschberg, 1993) have relied on elements of discourse context which are relatively easy to extract from text, such as lexical givenness. Our system augments this approach by analyzing information structure and drawing semantic information from a large-scale semantic database. Information structure is identified by first dividing utterances into semantic propositions rather than syntactic constituents (cf. (Monaghan, 1994)), in accordance with our belief that intonational domains are often orthogonal to traditional syntactic constituents. 1 These semantic propositions are then sub-divided into theme (or topic) and theme (or comment). The theme of the proposition represents a link to prior utterances, whereas the rheme provides the core contribution--roughly, the new or interesting par t -of the proposition. Based on previous intonation generation work (Prevost and Steedman, 1994), thematic and rhematic items requiring accentuation are assigned Lq-H* and H* pitch accents respectively. The notion that large databases in TTS systems can substitute for application-specific knowledge bases has been suggested by (Horne et al., 1993) and (Cahn, 1994). Following Cahn's proposal (Cahn, 1994) and implementation (Cahn, 1997), we employ WordNet to identify lexical items related by synonymy, hypernymy or hyponymy, and also to identify contrastive lexical items. However, our use of information structure situates our work in a different theoretical framework from Cahn's. 1 (Steedman, 1991) and (Prevost and Steedman, I994) show how the correspondence between intonational phrasing and semantic constituency can be modeled by Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG), a formalism allowing a more flexible notion of syntactic constituency.
Text Summarisation for Knowledge Filtering Agents in Distributed Heterogeneous Environments

The rapidly growing volume of electronic information available in distributed heterogeneous environments, such as the World Wide Web, has made it increasingly difficult and time-consuming to search for and locate relevant documents (in textual, visual or audio format). To refieve users of the burden of this task, intelligent tools that automate the search and retrieval tasks by generating profiles of user interests with minireal user interaction are required. In this paper, an intelligent knowledge filtering system (SAMURAI) and, in particular, the text summarisation and clustering modules of the system are described. Modules for extracting salient concepts in documents were built and evaluated on a variety of documents from different knowledge domains. A natural language processing approach based on part-of-speech tagging was used and compared with an alternative approach based on the well-known (and commonly-used) TFIDF information retrieval algorithm. Results show that, in the tagger-based approach, more informative keywords and phrases from each document set are extracted than in the TFIDF approach. Furthermore, the tagger-based system has a significantly reduced computation time compared with TFIDF, making it scalable to large document sets.
A parallel TreeSPH code for galaxy formation

We describe a new implementation of a parallel TreeSPH code with the aim of simulating galaxy formation and evolution. The code has been parallelized using shmem, a Cray proprietary library to handle communications between the 256 processors of the Silicon Graphics T3E massively parallel supercomputer hosted by the Cineca Super-computing Center (Bologna, Italy). 1 The code combines the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method for solving hydrodynamical equations with the popular Barnes & Hut tree-code to perform gravity calculation with an N×log N scaling, and it is based on the scalar TreeSPH code developed by Carraro et al. Parallelization is achieved by distributing particles along processors according to a workload criterion. Benchmarks, in terms of load balance and scalability, of the code are analysed and critically discussed against the adiabatic collapse of an isothermal gas sphere test using 2×104 particles on 8 processors. The code results balance at more than the 95 per cent level. Increasing the number of processors, the load balance slightly worsens. The deviation from perfect scalability for increasing number of processors is almost negligible up to 32 processors. Finally, we present a simulation of the formation of an X-ray galaxy cluster in a flat cold dark matter cosmology, using 2×105 particles and 32 processors, and compare our results with Evrard's P3M–SPH simulations. Additionally we have incorporated radiative cooling, star formation, feedback from SNe of types II and Ia, stellar winds and UV flux from massive stars, and an algorithm to follow the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium. Simulations with some of these ingredients are also presented.
Adverse reactions to medication on a coronary care unit

In a prospective survey of treatment on a coronary care unit 23·6% of patients who received medication had one or more side effects. In several cases these were severe enough to cause marked deterioration of the patient's clinical status. Whilst antiarrhythmic therapy is an integral part of modern coronary care its potential hazards should be recognized, particularly in the elderly patient.
vGMQL - Introducing a Visual Notation for the Generic Model Query Language GMQL

This paper presents a visual query notation for the generic model query language GMQL. So far, GMQL allows for specifying pattern queries as complex set-theoretical formulas. This fact impedes the practical usability of GMQL, because specifying and understanding a query is unintuitive. The visual query notation we propose is a first step towards resolving this shortcoming. We derive objectives for this notation, implement it in a working prototype, as well as evaluate the notation using expert interviews and a literature survey.
Location-based Fast Recommendation Social Network

Location-based response to queries has the potential to improve the quality of recommendations. But in order to actually improve quality one needs in addition to location-based, also time-dependent evaluation of the basis for recommendation. We propose the usage of opinion-ontologies – a short and sharp loosely structured subjective ontology – that can be transmitted in realtime and be integrated with previously received opinion-ontologies. This approach has been designed and implemented into a system with wireless smartphone clients and servers supporting information integration, evaluation and recommendation formulation. The approach has been tested with a prototype composed of existing software packages playing the needed roles in the designed system.
Graph-Based Multicell Scheduling in OFDMA-Based Small Cell Networks

This paper proposes a novel graph-based multicell scheduling framework to efficiently mitigate downlink intercell interference in OFDMA-based small cell networks. We define a graph-based optimization framework based on interference condition between any two users in the network assuming they are served on similar resources. Furthermore, we prove that the proposed framework obtains a tight lower bound for conventional weighted sum-rate maximization problem in practical scenarios. Thereafter, we decompose the optimization problem into dynamic graph-partitioning-based subproblems across different subchannels and provide an optimal solution using branch-and-cut approach. Subsequently, due to high complexity of the solution, we propose heuristic algorithms that display near optimal performance. At the final stage, we apply cluster-based resource allocation per subchannel to find candidate users with maximum total weighted sum-rate. A case study on networked small cells is also presented with simulation results showing a significant improvement over the state-of-the-art multicell scheduling benchmarks in terms of outage probability as well as average cell throughput.
Patterns of damage and repair of liver DNA induced by carcinogenic methylating agents in vivo.

Single-strand breaks induced by methylating agents in liver DNA and their rejoining were studied in vivo by the use of alkaline sucrose gradients. DNA breaks were induced by the i.p. injection of single doses of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM), N -methyl- N -nitrosourea (MNU), and N -methyl- N -nitrosourethan. The degree of damage was dependent on the dose of the substance given. DMN and MAM are comparably efficient in inducing marked single-strand breaks of liver DNA in small doses. MNU, although noncarcinogenic for liver, causes single-strand breaks of liver DNA, while N -methyl- N -nitrosourethan causes less damage even at toxic doses. The repair of the damage to DNA induced by MNU was complete in the first week while that induced by DMN and MAM was still not complete within 14 days after administration of the compond. Thus, the repair of the damage induced by hepatocarcinogens (DMN and MAM) seemed to be slower than that with the methylating agents not carcinogenic for the liver (MNU and methyl methanesulfonate).
Auditory Perception and Cognition Academic and Research Staff

It has often been difficult to find good predictors of speech reception in measures of psychoacoustic performance. In some ways, given the complexity of speech, this is not surprising. On the other hand, there are some aspects of hearing loss, such as the loss of frequency selectivity and compression, which might be expected to play a significant role in the difficulties faced by hearing-impaired listeners. This project investigates a potential link between speech reception in complex backgrounds and psychoacoustic measures of cochlear nonlinearity. Before embarking on the speech reception issues, it was first important to establish reliable and repeatable measures of cochlear nonlinearity in humans. A study, currently under review (Rosengard et al., 2004), investigated two such measures and compared them in terms of within-subject reliability. Preliminary work on relating these measures to speech reception was reported at the spring meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in New York.
Direct current reduces wound edema after full-thickness burn injury in rats.

OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of 4 and 40 microA direct current (DC) on edema formation after burn injury in rats. DESIGN, MATERIALS, AND METHODS Silver-nylon wound dressings were used as either anodes (-) or cathodes (+) on 20% total body surface area full-thickness scalds in anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats. Untreated burned rats and rats treated with silver-nylon dressings without current were used as controls. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Immediately applied, continuous DC reduced burn edema by 17 to 48% at different times up to 48 hours postburn (p < 0.001). Neither reversal of electrode polarity nor change in current density had any significant effect on the results of treatment. Starting treatment during the first 8 hours postburn produced the least edema accumulation, but the reduction was significant even when DC was applied 36 hours afterburn. If started immediately after injury, treatment had to be continued a minimum of 8 hours to be most effective. CONCLUSIONS Direct electric current has a beneficial effect in reducing wound edema after burn injury.
Role of Acid Metabolism in Streptomyces coelicolor Morphological Differentiation and Antibiotic Biosynthesis

ABSTRACT Studies of citrate synthase (CitA) were carried out to investigate its role in morphological development and biosynthesis of antibiotics in Streptomyces coelicolor. Purification of CitA, the major vegetative enzyme activity, allowed characterization of its kinetic properties. The apparent Kmvalues of CitA for acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) (32 μM) and oxaloacetate (17 μM) were similar to those of citrate synthases from other gram-positive bacteria and eukaryotes. CitA was not strongly inhibited by various allosteric feedback inhibitors (NAD+, NADH, ATP, ADP, isocitrate, or α-ketoglutarate). The corresponding gene (citA) was cloned and sequenced, allowing construction of a citA mutant (BZ2). BZ2 was a glutamate auxotroph, indicating that citA encoded the major citrate synthase allowing flow of acetyl-CoA into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Interruption of aerobic TCA cycle-based metabolism resulted in acidification of the medium and defects in morphological differentiation and antibiotic biosynthesis. These developmental defects of the citA mutant were in part due to a glucose-dependent medium acidification that was also exhibited by some other bald mutants. Unlike other acidogenic bald strains,citA and bldJ mutants were able to produce aerial mycelia and pigments when the medium was buffered sufficiently to maintain neutrality. Extracellular complementation studies suggested that citA defines a new stage of theStreptomyces developmental cascade.
A Method for the Evaluation of Image Quality According to the Recognition Effectiveness of Objects in the Optical Remote Sensing Image Using Machine Learning Algorithm

Objective and effective image quality assessment (IQA) is directly related to the application of optical remote sensing images (ORSI). In this study, a new IQA method of standardizing the target object recognition rate (ORR) is presented to reflect quality. First, several quality degradation treatments with high-resolution ORSIs are implemented to model the ORSIs obtained in different imaging conditions; then, a machine learning algorithm is adopted for recognition experiments on a chosen target object to obtain ORRs; finally, a comparison with commonly used IQA indicators was performed to reveal their applicability and limitations. The results showed that the ORR of the original ORSI was calculated to be up to 81.95%, whereas the ORR ratios of the quality-degraded images to the original images were 65.52%, 64.58%, 71.21%, and 73.11%. The results show that these data can more accurately reflect the advantages and disadvantages of different images in object identification and information extraction when compared with conventional digital image assessment indexes. By recognizing the difference in image quality from the application effect perspective, using a machine learning algorithm to extract regional gray scale features of typical objects in the image for analysis, and quantitatively assessing quality of ORSI according to the difference, this method provides a new approach for objective ORSI assessment.
The ecological forecast horizon, and examples of its uses and determinants

Forecasts of ecological dynamics in changing environments are increasingly important, and are available for a plethora of variables, such as species abundance and distribution, community structure, and ecosystem processes. There is, however, a general absence of knowledge about how far into the future, or other dimensions (space, temperature, phylogenetic distance), useful ecological forecasts can be made, and about how features of ecological systems relate to these distances. The ecological forecast horizon is the dimensional distance for which useful forecasts can be made. Five case studies illustrate the influence of various sources of uncertainty (e.g. parameter uncertainty, environmental , and demographic stochasticity, evolution), level of ecological organisation (e.g. population or community), organismal properties (e.g. body size or number of trophic links) on temporal, spatial, and phylogenetic forecast horizons. Insights from these case studies demonstrate that the ecological forecast horizon is a flexible and powerful tool for researching and communicating ecological predictability. It also has potential for motivating and guiding agenda setting for ecological forecasting research and development.
Transmission of hepatitis C virus from mothers to infants. The Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus Collaborative Study Group.

BACKGROUND Although there are case reports of vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), it remains uncertain to what extent infected mothers transmit this virus to their infants. METHODS We investigated the transmission of HCV from infected mothers to their babies by analyzing HCV RNA in the blood. Three independent studies were performed. First, 7698 parturient women were tested for anti-HCV antibodies; 53 were positive. Their 54 infants (including one set of twins) were followed prospectively for at least six months and tested for HCV disease were prospectively studied. Third, the families of three HCV-infected infants were examined retrospectively. RESULTS Of the 53 antibody-positive mothers, 31 were also positive for serum HCV RNA: Three of the 54 babies born to these mothers (5.6 percent) became positive for HCV RNA during the follow-up period. None of the babies of the 22 women who were antibody-positive but HCV RNA-negative became positive for HCV RNA: In the second study, HCV RNA was detected in one of the six infants of infected mothers. In the third study, HCV RNA was detected in the mothers of the three HCV-infected infants. In each of the seven infected infants we studied, the genomic sequence of HCV was almost identical to that from the mother. These seven mothers had significantly higher titers of HCV RNA than did the mothers of infants with no evidence of infection (mean [+/- SD], 10(6.4 +/- 0.5) vs. 10(4.4 +/- 1.5) per milliliter; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS HCV is vertically transmitted from mother to infant, and the risk of transmission is correlated with the titer of HCV RNA in the mother.
Phosphoinositide lipid phosphatase SHIP1 and PTEN coordinate to regulate cell migration and adhesion

The second messenger phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)P(3) (PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3)) is formed by stimulation of various receptors, including G protein-coupled receptors and integrins. The lipid phosphatases PTEN and SHIP1 are critical in regulating the level of PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) during chemotaxis. Observations that loss of PTEN had minor and loss of SHIP1 resulted in a severe chemotaxis defect in neutrophils led to the belief that SHIP1 rather than PTEN acts as a predominant phospholipid phosphatase in establishing a PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) compass. In this study, we show that SHIP1 regulates PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) production in response to cell adhesion and plays a limited role when cells are in suspension. SHIP1((-)/(-)) neutrophils lose their polarity upon cell adhesion and are extremely adherent, which impairs chemotaxis. However, chemo-taxis can be restored by reducing adhesion. Loss of SHIP1 elevates Akt activation following cell adhesion due to increased PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) production. From our observations, we conclude that SHIP1 prevents formation of top-down PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) polarity to facilitate proper cell attachment and detachment during chemotaxis.
Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-1 Is Essential for In Vitro Cardiomyocyte Development

Abstract— Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)/FGF receptor (FGFR) signaling plays a crucial role in mesoderm formation and patterning. Heartless mutant studies in Drosophila suggest that FGFR1, among the different FGFRs, may play a role in cardiogenesis. However, fgfr1−/− mice die during gastrulation before heart formation. To establish the contribution of FGFR1 in cardiac development, we investigated the capacity of murine fgfr1+/− and fgfr1−/− embryonic stem (ES) cells to differentiate to cardiomyocytes in vitro. Clusters of pulsating cardiomyocytes were observed in >90% of 3-dimensional embryoid bodies (EBs) originated from fgfr1+/− ES cells at day 9 to 10 of differentiation. In contrast, 10% or less of fgfr1−/− EBs showed beating foci at day 16. Accordingly, fgfr1−/− EBs were characterized by impaired expression of early cardiac transcription factors Nkx2.5 and d-Hand and of late structural cardiac genes myosin heavy chain (MHC)-&agr;, MHC-&bgr;, and ventricular myosin light chain. Homozygous fgfr1 mutation resulted also in alterations of the expression of mesoderm-related early genes, including nodal, BMP2, BMP4, T (bra), and sonic hedgehog. Nevertheless, fgfr1+/− and fgfr1−/− EBs similarly express cardiogenic precursor, endothelial, hematopoietic, and skeletal muscle markers, indicating that fgfr1-null mutation exerts a selective effect on cardiomyocyte development in differentiating ES cells. Accordingly, inhibitors of FGFR signaling, including the FGFR1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor SU 5402, the MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126, and the protein kinase C inhibitor GF109 all prevented cardiomyocyte differentiation in fgfr1+/− EBs without affecting the expression of the hematopoietic/endothelial marker flk-1. In conclusion, the data point to a nonredundant role for FGFR1-mediated signaling in cardiomyocyte development.
Digital pathology image analysis: opportunities and challenges.

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Herpes Simplex Virus Seroprevalence and Risk Factors in 2 Canadian Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors for herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 in patients attending 2 Canadian sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics. Study: Stored sera were tested for the presence of IgG class antibodies to HSV-1 and HSV-2 and results linked to that obtained from a risk behavior questionnaire. Results: Overall prevalences for HSV-1 and -2 were 56% and 19%, respectively. HSV-1 and -2 seropositivity was associated with increasing age, female gender, nonwhite ethnicity, and a history of STD. HSV-2 seropositivity was also associated with a history of genital herpes, presence of genital sores, and coinfection with either human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis C (HCV). Conclusions: Herpes simplex infection is common in this high-risk Canadian population. Our finding that HCV seropositivity was a significant predictor for HSV-2 seropositivity emphasizes the overlap between pathogens that are primarily thought to be bloodborne pathogens and sexually transmitted infections and the need to target prevention in these areas concurrently.