Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some clustering with k-means : acoustics of a prosodic contrast in a corpus of spontaneous speech

Many theories of prosody (e.g. Selkirk 1996, Calhoun 2006) predict that function words like some will be highly reduced in English (1a), except in a few specific environments, such as under focus (1b-c). The present study quantifies the link between focus and the acoustic realization of the quantifier some using a novel technique. 1. a) [sm] people brought us fresh cilantro. b) Cilantro? [sʌm] people love it, [sʌm] people hate it. c) I guess SOME people like cilantro. A previous corpus study linked focus to prosodic prominence (Calhoun 2006), but it did not zoom in on function words and it was conservative in its focus annotation. The annotation guidelines favor explicit contrasts (1b), and recommend avoiding trickier cases of implicit contrast, such as in (1c), where a prominent some can trigger the scalar inference that not all people like cilantro. Such inferences are assumed by most semanticists to be very common, but judgments are actually sensitive to contextual information, including (potentially subtle) prosodic cues (de Marneffe & Tonhauser 2014). Other types of function words (prepositions, conjunctions, etc.) get focused more rarely, and often to correct some previous expression. Corrective focus tends to be very marked acoustically. Thus, some provides an interesting case study, where a word is predicted by prosodic theories to shift from low to high relative prominence under focus in general, but for types of focus like implicit contrast, it is not yet clear how this is reflected in its acoustics. To address this question, I collected from online sports radio talk shows a corpus of utterances of some followed by people (resulting in 143 focused and 54 unfocused somes) and by money (4 focused, 194 unfocused somes), for a total of 395 tokens. I measured vowel duration, intensity, formants, F0 range, and size and alignment of F0 extrema. I manually annotated for focus. Since I felt relatively uncertain in labeling implicit contrast (e.g. scalar inferences), I did not train a supervised model like logistic regression. Instead, I ran k-means clustering on all combinations of acoustic measurements (8191 combinations) and selected for analysis the 177 models which best matched my manual labels and performed better than the highest baseline (85.3%). The sheer number of successful unsupervised models suggests that for this dataset, focus correlates with a specific acoustic realization of some, which can best be characterized by increased duration, more extreme formants and an F0 peak (all …
41—THE RETRACTION AND STRETCH OF WRAPPED ELASTOMERIC-FIBRE CORE YARNS

Equations are given that relate the structure of spirally wrapped elastomeric-fibre core yams to their stretch properties. The model employed improves upon previous ones by considering the effect of covering-yarn diameter. Graphs are given that facilitate the use of the theory for manufacturing purposes. A comparison with available experimental data indicates an improved agreement between actual and predicted values of retraction in the most important case, where the input and output yarn lengths are measured. It is expected that the improved theory given here will show to much greater advantage with the present commercial fine-core wrapped structures. In the special case where the wrapping or covering yarns have very low twist, the basic theory is inadequate. Modifications to account for compression of the cover yarn are accordingly included to enable an approximate relationship between yarn structure and stretch to be obtained in this case.
Cortical Sensitivity to Visual Features in Natural Scenes

A central hypothesis concerning sensory processing is that the neuronal circuits are specifically adapted to represent natural stimuli efficiently. Here we show a novel effect in cortical coding of natural images. Using spike-triggered average or spike-triggered covariance analyses, we first identified the visual features selectively represented by each cortical neuron from its responses to natural images. We then measured the neuronal sensitivity to these features when they were present in either natural images or random stimuli. We found that in the responses of complex cells, but not of simple cells, the sensitivity was markedly higher for natural images than for random stimuli. Such elevated sensitivity leads to increased detectability of the visual features and thus an improved cortical representation of natural scenes. Interestingly, this effect is due not to the spatial power spectra of natural images, but to their phase regularities. These results point to a distinct visual-coding strategy that is mediated by contextual modulation of cortical responses tuned to the spatial-phase structure of natural scenes.
Diversity over Continuous Data

Result diversification has recently attracted much attention as a means of increasing user satisfaction in recommendation systems and web search. In this work, we focus on achieving content diversity in the case of continuous data delivery, such as in the context of publish/subscribe systems. We define sliding-window diversity and present a suite of heuristics for its efficient computation along with some performance results.
Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells

The photovoltaic industry is in a phase of rapid expansion, growing at over 30 % per annum over recent years. Although technologies based on thin-film compound and alloy solar cells are under active development, most commercial solar cells presently use self-supporting bulk crystalline or multicrystalline silicon wafers, similar to those used in microelectronics. The laboratory performance of these cells, at 25 % solar energy conversion efficiency, is now approaching thermodynamic limits, with the challenge being to incorporate these improvements into low-cost commercial products. Improvements in cell optical design, particularly in their ability to “trap” weakly absorbed light, has also led to a growing interest in thin-film cells based on polycrystalline silicon, having advantages over other thin film photovoltaic candidates.
Description Logics with Concrete Domains and Functional Dependencies

Description Logics (DLs) with concrete domains are a useful tool in many applications. To further enhance the expressive power of such DLs, it has been proposed to add database-style key constraints. Up to now, however, only uniqueness constraints have been considered in this context, thus neglecting the second fundamental family of key constraints: functional dependencies. In this paper, we consider the basic DL with concrete domains ALC(D), extend it with functional dependencies, and analyze the impact of this extension on the decidability and complexity of reasoning. Though intuitively the expressivity of functional dependencies seems weaker than that of uniqueness constraints, we are able to show that the former have a similarly severe impact on the computational properties: reasoning is undecidable in the general case, and NExpTime-complete in some slightly restricted variants of our logic.
Trisection Microstrip Delay Line Filter With Mixed Cross-Coupling

It has been discovered that a trisection bandpass filter with mixed cross-coupling <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K_{13}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> has flat group delay if the condition <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K_{13} = 0$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is satisfied, which occurs when magnetic <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K_{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and electric <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\vert K_{\mathrm {e}}\vert $ </tex-math></inline-formula> components of the coupling are equal. It has been proven that the group delay of the filter increases as the values <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K_{m} = \vert K_{\mathrm {e}}\vert $ </tex-math></inline-formula> increase. The microstrip construction of the trisection delay line filter is proposed. The analysis of this construction has been carried out, which allows controlling the values <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K_{m} = \vert K_{\mathrm {e}}\vert $ </tex-math></inline-formula> at the zero of cross-coupling. The results of the measurements and the simulation are presented.
MicroRNA 130 family regulates the hypoxia response signal through the P-body protein DDX6

The transcription factor HIF-1α (hypoxia inducible factor 1α) has an essential role in the maintenance of oxygen homeostasis in metazoans. HIF-1α expression and activity in the hypoxic response is regulated at the translation and post-translational levels. However, the mechanism and modulator of HIF-1α translation during hypoxia is not fully understood. We found that HIF-1α expression during hypoxia was upregulated by the microRNA 130 (miR-130) family. Levels of the miR-130 family are elevated under hypoxia, and their target is DDX6 mRNA, which is a component of the P-bodies. Furthermore, we found that a decrease of DDX6 expression by the miR-130 family enhanced the translation of HIF-1α in an internal ribosome entry site element-dependent manner. These results reveal a new HIF-1α translational mechanism and a role for P-bodies in hypoxic stress.
Statistical 3-D Beamforming for Large-Scale MIMO Downlink Systems Over Rician Fading Channels

In this paper, we investigate a downlink transmission algorithm for single-cell multiuser systems with two-dimensional (2-D) large-scale antenna array at the base station (BS) over Rician fading channels. We first derive some properties of the channel's line-of-sight (LOS) component in the large-scale antenna array scenario. Next, based on these properties and under the assumption of only statistical channel state information (CSI), i.e., the LOS component and Rician $K$-factor, at the BS, we derive the optimal beamforming vector for each user in maximizing an approximation of the ergodic sum rate. The main guidelines for user scheduling are also presented. Then, a three-dimensional (3-D) beamforming downlink transmission algorithm exploiting only the statistical CSI of each user is proposed. For this algorithm, we derive an exact analytical closed-form expression for the achievable ergodic rate and present tractable approximations. Based on our analysis, we gain some valuable insights. The proposed algorithm is shown to perform well in achieving considerable sum rate while requiring much less CSI at the BS. It requires three scalar values at the BS for each user, and can achieve an ergodic sum rate closer to the ergodic sum rate achieved by the matched-filter precoding with perfect CSI at the BS.
GAMDB: a web resource to connect microRNAs with autophagy in gerontology

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous ~23 nucleotides (nt) RNAs, regulating gene expression by pairing to the mRNAs of protein‐coding genes to direct their post‐transcriptional repression. Both in normal and aberrant activities, miRNAs contribute to a recurring paradigm of cellular behaviors in pathological settings, especially in gerontology. Autophagy, a multi‐step lysosomal degradation process with function to degrade long‐lived proteins and damaged organelles, has significant impact on gerontology. Thus, elucidating how miRNAs participate in autophagy may enlarge the scope of miRNA in autophagy and facilitate researches in gerontology.
Linked Component Analysis From Matrices to High-Order Tensors: Applications to Biomedical Data

With the increasing availability of various sensor technologies, we now have access to large amounts of multiblock (also called multiset, multirelational, or multiview) data that need to be jointly analyzed to explore their latent connections. Various component analysis methods have played an increasingly important role for the analysis of such coupled data. In this article, we first provide a brief review of existing matrix-based (two-way) component analysis methods for the joint analysis of such data with a focus on biomedical applications. Then, we discuss their important extensions and generalization to multiblock multiway (tensor) data. We show how constrained multiblock tensor decomposition methods are able to extract similar or statistically dependent common features that are shared by all blocks, by incorporating the multiway nature of data. Special emphasis is given to the flexible common and individual feature analysis of multiblock data with the aim to simultaneously extract common and individual latent components with desired properties and types of diversity. Illustrative examples are given to demonstrate their effectiveness for biomedical data analysis.
A novel PSO based blind channel estimation and equalization

As an alternative technique to well-known constant modulus algorithm (CMA), a Decision Feedback Equalizer via Channel Matched Filter (CMF-DFE) based blind channel estimation and equalization algorithm is proposed in this paper. The proposed technique employs Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in training, where the conventional CMA and least mean squares (LMS) based training algorithms are found slow and their convergence strictly depend on the step size parameter. On the other hand, if the PSO training algorithm is employed, it provides a faster convergence and less sensitivity to training parameters. Thus, a rapid converging high performance blind channel estimation and equalization method is obtained, as it is compared to CMF-DFE based blind LMS and CMA algorithm. Here, the price is paid for more complexity, however the obtained performance promises to compete with reference training sequence based parameter estimation techniques.
Ankyrin–Tiam1 Interaction Promotes Rac1 Signaling and Metastatic Breast Tumor Cell Invasion and Migration

Tiam1 (T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis 1) is one of the known guanine nucleotide (GDP/GTP) exchange factors (GEFs) for Rho GTPases (e.g., Rac1) and is expressed in breast tumor cells (e.g., SP-1 cell line). Immunoprecipitation and immunoblot analyses indicate that Tiam1 and the cytoskeletal protein, ankyrin, are physically associated as a complex in vivo. In particular, the ankyrin repeat domain (ARD) of ankyrin is responsible for Tiam1 binding. Biochemical studies and deletion mutation analyses indicate that the 11–amino acid sequence between amino acids 717 and 727 of Tiam1 (717GEGTDAVKRS727L) is the ankyrin-binding domain. Most importantly, ankyrin binding to Tiam1 activates GDP/GTP exchange on Rho GTPases (e.g., Rac1). Using an Escherichia coli–derived calmodulin-binding peptide (CBP)–tagged recombinant Tiam1 (amino acids 393–728) fragment that contains the ankyrin-binding domain, we have detected a specific binding interaction between the Tiam1 (amino acids 393–738) fragment and ankyrin in vitro. This Tiam1 fragment also acts as a potent competitive inhibitor for Tiam1 binding to ankyrin. Transfection of SP-1 cell with Tiam1 cDNAs stimulates all of the following: (1) Tiam1–ankyrin association in the membrane projection; (2) Rac1 activation; and (3) breast tumor cell invasion and migration. Cotransfection of SP1 cells with green fluorescent protein (GFP)–tagged Tiam1 fragment cDNA and Tiam1 cDNA effectively blocks Tiam1–ankyrin colocalization in the cell membrane, and inhibits GDP/GTP exchange on Rac1 by ankyrin-associated Tiam1 and tumor-specific phenotypes. These findings suggest that ankyrin–Tiam1 interaction plays a pivotal role in regulating Rac1 signaling and cytoskeleton function required for oncogenic signaling and metastatic breast tumor cell progression.
Cumulative Inflammatory Load Is Associated with Short Leukocyte Telomere Length in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study

Background Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is an emerging marker of biological age. Chronic inflammatory activity is commonly proposed as a promoter of biological aging in general, and of leukocyte telomere shortening in particular. In addition, senescent cells with critically short telomeres produce pro-inflammatory factors. However, in spite of the proposed causal links between inflammatory activity and LTL, there is little clinical evidence in support of their covariation and interaction. Methodology/Principal Findings To address this issue, we examined if individuals with high levels of the systemic inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and C-reactive protein (CRP) had increased odds for short LTL. Our sample included 1,962 high-functioning adults who participated in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study (age range: 70–79 years). Logistic regression analyses indicated that individuals with high levels of either IL-6 or TNF-α had significantly higher odds for short LTL. Furthermore, individuals with high levels of both IL-6 and TNF-α had significantly higher odds for short LTL compared with those who had neither high (OR = 0.52, CI = 0.37–0.72), only IL-6 high (OR = 0.57, CI = 0.39–0.83) or only TNF-α high (OR = 0.67, CI = 0.46–0.99), adjusting for a wide variety of established risk factors and potential confounds. In contrast, CRP was not associated with LTL. Conclusions/Significance Results suggest that cumulative inflammatory load, as indexed by the combination of high levels of IL-6 and TNF-α, is associated with increased odds for short LTL. In contrast, high levels of CRP were not accompanied by short LTL in this cohort of older adults. These data provide the first large-scale demonstration of links between inflammatory markers and LTL in an older population.
Characterization and Evaluation of a Mass Efficient Heat Storage Device.

The heat sponge is a device for mass-efficient storage of heat. It was developed to be incorporated in the substructure of a reentry or hypersonic vehicle to reduce thermal protection system requirements. The heat sponge consists of a liquid-vapor mixture contained within a number of miniature pressure vessels that can be embedded within a variety of different types of structures. As temperature is increased, pressure in the miniature pressure vessels also increases so that heat absorbed through vaporization of the liquid is spread over a relatively large temperature range. Using water as a working fluid, the heat storage capacity of the liquid-vapor mixture is many times higher than that of typical structural materials and is well above that of common phase change materials over the temperature range of 660oR to 1160oR. Prototype heat sponges were fabricated and characterized. These heat sponges consisted of 1.0 inch diameter hollow stainless steel spheres with a wall thickness of 0.020 inches which had varying percentages of their interior volumes filled with water. An apparatus to measure the heat stored in these prototype heat sponges was designed, fabricated, and verified. The heat storage capacity calculated from measured temperature histories is compared to numerical predictions.
Removal of Toxic Mercury from Petroleum Oil by Newly Synthesized Molecularly-Imprinted Polymer

In recent years, molecularly-imprinted polymers (MIPs) have attracted the attention of several researchers due to their capability for molecular recognition, easiness of preparation, stability and cost-effective production. By taking advantage of these facts, Hg(II) imprinted and non-imprinted copolymers were prepared by polymerizing mercury nitrate stock solution (or without it) with methacrylic acid (MAA), 2-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate (HEMA), methanol and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the monomer, co-monomer solvent (porogen) and cross-linker, respectively. Thus, the formed Hg(II) imprinted polymer was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The separation and preconcentration characteristics of Hg(II) imprinted polymer were investigated by solid phase extraction (SPE) procedures, and an optimal pH of 7 was investigated as ideal. The specific surface area of the Hg(II) imprinted polymer was found to be 19.45 m2/g with a size range from 100 to 140 µm in diameter. The maximum adsorption capacity was observed to be 1.11 mg/g of Hg(II) imprinted beads with 87.54% removal of Hg(II) ions within the first 5 min. The results of the study therefore confirm that the Hg(II) imprinted polymer can be used multiple times without significantly losing its adsorption capacity.
Increased expression of cyclin B1 sensitizes prostate cancer cells to apoptosis induced by chemotherapy

Chemotherapeutic drugs ideally should take advantage of the differences between transformed and normal cells and induce apoptosis only in cancer cells. One such difference may be the overexpression of cyclin B1 protein in cancer cells, which is required for the proper progression through mitosis. Previously, we showed that treatment of human prostate cancer cells with 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) or docetaxel results in an accumulation of cyclin B1 protein and an increase in cyclin B1 kinase activity, followed by induction of apoptotic cell death. Inhibition of cyclin B1 kinase lowers apoptosis induced by 2-ME and docetaxel. In this study, we established a positive correlation between cyclin B1 protein and apoptosis induced by chemotherapy in prostate cancer cells. There is minimal cyclin B1 and induction of apoptosis by chemotherapy in nontransformed cells. LNCaP and PC-3 prostate cancer cells stably overexpressing cyclin B1 are more sensitive to apoptosis induced by chemotherapy. LNCaP cells expressing cyclin B1 small interfering RNA to lower cyclin B1 protein or dominant negative cyclin-dependent kinase 1 to inhibit cyclin B1 kinase show a decrease in apoptosis. Increased sensitivity to apoptosis by overexpression of cyclin B1 may be due to lower Bcl-2, higher p53, and decreased neuroendocrine differentiation. We suggest that a cancer-specific mechanism whereby 2-ME and docetaxel may exert anti–prostate cancer activity is the deregulated activation of cyclin B1 kinase, leading to the induction of apoptotic cell death. Our results also suggest that higher levels of cyclin B1 in prostate cancer cells may be a good prognostic marker for chemotherapy. [Mol Cancer Ther 2007;6(5):1534–43]
A Mutant of Arabidopsis Lacking the Triose-Phosphate/Phosphate Translocator Reveals Metabolic Regulation of Starch Breakdown in the Light1[w]

The chloroplast envelope triose-phosphate/phosphate translocator (TPT) is responsible for carbohydrate export during photosynthesis. Using measurements of carbohydrates, partitioning of assimilated 14CO2, photosynthetic gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence, we show that a mutant of Arabidopsis lacking the TPT increases synthesis of starch compared to the wild type, thereby compensating for a deficiency in its ability to export triose-phosphate from the chloroplast. However, during growth under high light, the capacity for starch synthesis becomes limiting so that the chloroplastic phosphate pool is depleted, resulting in a restriction on electron transport, a reduction in the rate of photosynthesis, and slowed plant growth. Under the same conditions but not under low light, we observe release of 14C label from starch, indicating that its synthesis and degradation occur simultaneously in the light. The induction of starch turnover in the mutant specifically under high light conditions leads us to conclude that it is regulated by one or more metabolic signals, which arise as a result of phosphate limitation of photosynthesis.