Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase-space representation of speech

Speech production is essentially a nonlinear dynamic process. Motivated by ideas in dynamic system research, this paper seeks to recast the speech representation problem (front-end) as an attempt to reconstruct the phase space of the production process, or articulatory conﬁgurations. We point out that the use of the delta and double delta features, common in current ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) systems, corresponds to time-delayed embedding, a technique in nonlinear time series analysis for phase space reconstruction. The traditional delta and double features also impose a suboptimal linear transform in the reconstructed space. We show that a signiﬁcant improvement in recognition accuracy can be achieved by choosing the transform in a data-driven fashion.
Periodic control of helicopter rotors for attenuation of vibrations in forward flight

The paper is devoted to the design of a control system for the attenuation of vibrations in the main rotor of a helicopter in forward flight. The problem can be formulated as the one of rejecting a periodic disturbance of known frequency acting at the output of a linear time-periodic system. A solution inspired to optimal control design methods is proposed. A major preliminary issue is the estimation of the characteristics of the disturbance, for which two methods are worked out. The performance of the obtained control system is assessed by means of several simulation trials.
A Discretization Algorithm of Continuous Attributes Based on Supervised Clustering

Many machine learning algorithms can be applied only to data described by categorical attributes. So discretizatioti of continuous attributes is one of the important steps in preprocessing of extracting knowledge. Traditional discretization algorithms based on clustering need a pre-determined clustering number k, also typically are applied in an unsupervised learning framework. This paper describes such an algorithm, called SX-means (Supervised X-means), which is a new algorithm of supervised discretization of continuous attributes on clustering. The algorithm modifies clusters with knowledge of the class distribution dynamically. And this procedure can not stop until the proper k is found. For the number of clusters k is not pre-determined by the user and class distribution is applied, the random of result is decreased greatly. Experimental evaluation of several discretization algorithms on six artificial data sets show that the proposed algorithm is more efficient and can generate a better discretization schema. Comparing the output of C4.5, resulting tree is smaller, less classification rules, and high accuracy of classification.
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—Conventional low bandwidth Phase lock loop use an external Capacitor together with a big on chip ripple capacitor. A new architecture of a Phase lock loop is proposed which eliminates the need for an external capacitor. Also the value of the on chip capacitor is reduced to about one fifth, reducing the chip size. The PLL architecture proposed uses very low power.
ATTITUDES ABOUT AGING AND GENDER AMONG YOUNG, MIDDLE AGE, AND OLDER COLLEGE-BASED STUDENTS

Using an updated version of the Aging Semantic Differential, 534 younger, middle age, and older participants from a college community rated female and male targets categorized as ages 21–34 and 75–85. Participants also provided views about their own aging. Repeated measures of analysis of variance examined attitudinal differences by age and gender of targets, and by participant age and gender. Female targets were viewed more positively than males by most rater groups. Older targets were viewed more positively by older participants than by other age groups. Older participants had more positive views about their own aging than did participants of younger or middle ages.
A New Composite Gastric Seromuscular and Omental Pedicle Flap

ObjectiveThe authors performed a study to see if gastric seromuscular patch elevation is anatomically feasible and to estimate the maximum size of the patch relative to its blood supply. Summary Background DataA flap composed of greater omentum and a full-thickness segment of the greater curvature of the stomach, based on the right gastroepiploic artery, was first described in 1977. Elevation of the greater omentum along with a seromuscular patch of stomach has not been reported previously. MethodsAngiography was performed via the right gastroepiploic artery in a stomach obtained from ten patients who underwent gastrectomy, then india ink was injected. The stomach was then fixed in 10% formalin, and histochemical examination was performed to determine if seromuscular patch elevation was possible. ResultResults of the angiography and injection experiment of india ink indicated that the territory of a single gastric ramus was approximately 5 cm X 5 cm in both anterior and posterior walls of the stomach. Histology revealed that the gastric rami lay between the muscular layer and the mucosa. ConclusionThe authors believed that a composite gastric seromuscular patch and omental pedicle flap would be clinically applicable. The authors also believed that the maximum size of the patch was 10 cm X 10 cm. They used this flap to successfully treat three patients with chronic soft-tissue defects—two bronchopleural fistulae and a radiation ulcer.
Cytotoxic enhancement of hexapeptide-conjugated micelles in EGFR high-expressed cancer cells

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop the hexapeptide-conjugated active targeting micelles for delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX) to EGFR high-expressed cancer cells. Methods: A hexapeptide, which mimicked the EGFR, was applied as a targeting ligand. The active targeting micelles were prepared using the synthesized poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)–PEG copolymer conjugated with the hexapeptide. The micelles were used for encapsulating DOX and/or PTX, and the cellular uptake, in vitro drug release and cellular viability of drug-loaded peptide-conjugated and peptide-free micelles were investigated. Results: The particle size of drug-loaded peptide-conjugated and peptide-free micelles was < 150 nm with narrow size distribution. The uptake of peptide-conjugated micelles was more efficient in EGFR high-expressed MDA-MB-468 and SKOV3 cells than in EGFR low-expressed HepG2 cells. The in vitro release of DOX and PTX was faster in pH 4.0 (500 U lipase) than in pH 7.4 release medium. The cytotoxicity in terms of IC50 of DOX/PTX-loaded peptide-conjugated micelles was 4.8-folds lower than that of peptide-free micelles and 18.2-folds lower than DOX/PTX drug solution in SOKV3 cells. Conclusion: The peptide-conjugated micelles acted as a nanocarrier to increase intracellular accumulation of anticancer drugs in EGFR high-expressed SKOV3 cancer cells to enhance cell cytotoxicity.
Virtual Realization using 3 D Password

Current authentication systems suffer from many wea knesses. Textual passwords are commonly used; howev er, users do not follow their requirements. Users tend to choose meaningful words from dictionaries, which make textual passwords easy to break and vulnerable to dictionar y o brute force attacks. Many available graphical passwords have a password space that is less than or equal to the te xtual password space. Smart cards or tokens can be stolen. Many biometric authentications have been proposed; however, users t nd to resist using biometrics because of their in trusiveness and the effect on their privacy. Moreover, biometrics canno t be revoked. In this paper, we present and evaluat e our contribution, i.e., the 3D password. The 3D password is a multifactor a uthentication scheme. To be authenticated, we prese nt a 3D virtual environment where the user navigates and interacts with various objects. The sequence of actions and i teractions toward the objects inside the 3D environment constructs the us er’ 3D password. The 3D password can combine most existing authentication schemes such as textual passwords, g raphical passwords, and various types of biometrics nto a 3D virtual environment. The design of the 3D virtual environme nt and the type of objects selected determine the 3 D password key space.
Inter- and intralimb adaptations to a sensory perturbation during activation of the serotonin system after a low spinal cord transection in neonatal rats

Activation of the serotonin system has been shown to induce locomotor activity following a spinal cord transection. This study examines how the isolated spinal cord adapts to a sensory perturbation during activation of the serotonergic system. Real-time and persistent effects of a perturbation were examined in intact and spinal transected newborn rats. Rats received a spinal surgery (sham or low thoracic transection) on postnatal day 1 and were tested 9 days later. At test, subjects were treated with the serotonergic receptor agonist quipazine (3.0 mg/kg) to induce stepping behavior. Half of the subjects experienced range of motion (ROM) restriction during stepping, while the other half did not. Differences in stepping behavior (interlimb coordination) and limb trajectories (intralimb coordination) were found to occur in both intact and spinal subjects. Adaptations were seen in the forelimbs and hindlimbs. Also, real-time and persistent effects of ROM restriction (following removal of the perturbation) were seen in ROM-restricted subjects. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of the isolated spinal cord to sensory feedback in conjunction with serotonin modulation.
School-age children talking about humor: Data from focus groups

Abstract School-age children use humor to form relationships with peers and adults, to celebrate life through expressions of joy and laughter, to play with words to develop cognitive and linguistic competence, and as a way of coping with the psychological, social, and physical constraints of growing up. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into school-age children's understanding of humor and explore ways the children use humor to cope with daily life stressors using focus group methodology. In this study, eleven focus groups were conducted with four to six participants in each group at a local elementary and middle school. As anticipated, the developmental level influenced the type of humor the child thought was funny ranging from recalled riddles of second graders to more complex jokes and humorous observations of fourth graders to elaborate jokes and spontaneous witticisms from the sixth graders. Gender also played a role, with tickling being a common theme among the girls and the minor misfortunes of others among the boys. The children used humor to help them cope with the daily life stressors associated with interpersonal relationships, school and after-school activities, and life at home.
Open Data as a Foundation for Innovation: The Enabling Effect of Free Public Sector Information for Entrepreneurs

Public open data access has a direct impact on future IT entrepreneurs' perception of ability to execute their business plans. Using high quality (50%-98% response rate) survey data from 138 Swedish IT-entrepreneurs, we find that access to public open data is considered very important for many IT-startups; 43% find open data essential for the realization of their business plan and 82% claim that access would support and strengthen the business plan. The survey also indicates a significant interest in, and willingness to pay for, public sector information data from companies that do not intend to commercialize data themselves but intend to use it to support or test other business models. From the survey, it is possible to infer that the previous discourse on open data, viewing it as a means for government accountability or e-government, or as the foundation for the commercialization of public sector information data is too limited. Open data should instead be seen as an enabler of innovation outside these traditional sectors. This also indicates that the previously calculated societal values of open data might be underestimated.
Planned Encounters Between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis: A Social‐Psychological Perspective

Several ideas derived from Social Identity Theory are used to analyze intergroup processes taking place in planned encounters between Jews and Palestinians in Israel. In addition to the interpersonal dimension of such encounters, the article focuses on the importance of intergroup variables (e.g., power and status differences) in understanding psychological and behavioral reactions of majority and minority group members. The theoretical analysis brought here is used to suggest ways that can improve the management of structured Jewish-Palestinian meetings.
After Admission: From College Access to College Success

sities. Title IX, faculty children, Asian Americans, and Congress are discussed in greater detail. Golden’s most compelling case is made in chapter 9, “The Challenge of Wealth Blind Admissions,” when Golden provides examples of universities, such as Cal Tech, Cooper Union, and Berea, that serve students and the public without compromising admissions standards for legacies or other special cases. All have survived throughout the years, raising money from donors who expect nothing in return and from government grants which aid the American public. However, the reader needs to question whether the schools highlighted in Golden’s book are representative of all institutions across the country. For one, most of the schools mentioned are private institutions, with very little evidence to support the same claims to their public school counterparts. The reader wonders how prevalent legacy and other privileged applicants infiltrate the entire higher education system. Second, as a native of the East Coast, Golden has gathered most of his information from schools located in the Northeast. Focusing on schools in this geographic area does not provide for a diversified argument or one that could be used when speaking generally. Lastly, the Ivy League schools are a major focus in this book but only represent a small percentage of the students who enroll in higher education. Golden is clear to communicate his overarching theme which argues for anti-legacy policies and emphasizes the accountability necessary to facilitate an equal playing field within the admissions process. He closes by explaining the heart of the matter revolves around students earning their right to a spot in an elite university, academically, athletically or otherwise, on their own merits and not someone else’s. His final chapter, Golden offers suggestions for reform which leaves the reader a bit unsatisfied and immobile to the deeply rooted “traditions” of some of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious institutions. To be fair, Golden rightfully urges a call for action for an intolerably significant and pressing issue. The Price of Admission would be appropriate for anyone interested in college or university admissions. Parents and their high school students would also benefit from learning the harsh realities at some of the nations most prestigious schools. Hopefully by reading this, admissions counselors would be challenged to evaluate their current admission policies. The practices discussed in this book should also be incorporated in courses for graduate students studying higher education as they would benefit from learning the challenges they may face as future universities leaders.
Cultural Intelligence

Cultural intelligence has various meanings that can be looked on as complementary. On one hand, it refers to behaviors that are considered intelligent from the point of view of people in specific cultures. Such behaviors can include quick application of previously learned information in some cultures, getting along with kin in other cultures, and slow and deliberate consideration of alternative courses of action in still other cultures. On the other hand, cultural intelligence can also refer to the traits and skills of people who adjust quickly, with minimal stress, when they interact extensively in cultures other than the ones where they were socialized. The two uses of the term are related because people who want to be sensitive to other scan examine intelligence as it is defined and demonstrated in other cultures and can make adjustments in their own behaviors during their cross-cultural experiences.
Cognitive Processing in New and Practiced Discrete Keying Sequences

This study addresses the role of cognitive control in the initiation and execution of familiar and unfamiliar movement sequences. To become familiar with two movement sequences participants first practiced two discrete key press sequences by responding to two fixed series of 6-key specific stimuli. In the ensuing test phase they executed these two familiar and also two unfamiliar keying sequences while there was a two-third chance a tone was presented together with one randomly selected key specific stimulus in each sequence. In the counting condition of the test phase participants counted the low pitched (i.e., target) tones. By and large the results support the dual processor model in which the prime role of the cognitive processor shifts from executing to initiating sequences while the gradual development of motor chunks allows a motor processor to execute the sequences. Yet, the results extend this simple model by suggesting that with little practice sequence execution is based also on some non-cognitive (perhaps associative) learning mechanism and, for some participants, on the use of explicit sequence knowledge. Also, after extensive practice the cognitive processor appears to still contribute to slower responses. The occurrence of long interkey intervals was replicated suggesting that fixed 6-key sequences include several motor chunks. Yet, no indication was found that the cognitive processor is responsible for concatenating these chunks.
SOME NEW CYTOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN THE HETEROTRICHOUS CILIATE, BLEPHARISMA

During the course of an experimental, fine structural study of Blepharisma, certain aspects of the normal anatomy of the cell came to our attention. Although Blepharisma is the subject of two recent reports (9, 10), these features have, to our knowledge, hitherto been neglected in the literature. Furthermore, we feel that the present report may serve to clarify some of the recent work on the closely allied form, Spirostomum (7, 15).
Head-to-Head Comparison of Inflammation and Neovascularization in Human Carotid Plaques: Implications for the Imaging of Vulnerable Plaques

Background— Inflammation and intraplaque neovascularization are acknowledged to be 2 features of plaque vulnerability, although their temporal expression and their respective value in predicting clinical events are poorly understood. To determine their respective temporal associations, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of inflammation and intraplaque neovascularization in the carotid plaque of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Methods and Results— Thirty patients with severe carotid stenosis underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomographic imaging. Plaque 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-uptake, indicative of inflammation, was measured by calculating the target:background ratio. The presence of intraplaque neovascularization during contrast-enhanced ultrasound was judged semiquantitatively; low-grade contrast enhancement (CE) suggested its absence, and high-grade CE, the presence of neovascularization. Carotid surgery was performed 1.6±1.8 days after completing both imaging modalities in all patients, and the presence of macrophages and neovessels was quantified by immunohistochemistry. We identified a significant correlation between the target:background ratio and macrophage quantification (R=0.78; P<0.001). The number of vessels was also significantly higher in carotid plaque with high-CE (P<0.001). Surprisingly, immunohistochemistry showed that high-CE and vessel number were neither associated with an elevated target:background ratio (P=0.28 and P=0.60, respectively) nor macrophage infiltration (P=0.59 and P=0.40, respectively). Finally, macrophage infiltration and target:background ratio were higher in the carotid plaque of symptomatic patients (P=0.021 and P=0.05, respectively), whereas CE grade and the presence of neovessels were not. Conclusions— Inflammation and intraplaque neovascularization are not systematically associated in carotid plaques, suggesting a temporal separation between the 2 processes. Inflammation seems more pronounced when symptoms are present. These data highlight the challenges that face any imaging strategy designed to assess plaque vulnerability.
Language Accent Classi cation in American EnglishxLevent

It is well known that speaker variability caused by accent is one factor that degrades performance of speech recognition algorithms. If knowledge of speaker accent can be estimated accurately, then a modiied set of recognition models which addresses speaker accent could be employed to increase recognition accuracy. In this study, the problem of language accent classiication in American English is considered. A database of foreign language accent is established that consists of words and phrases that are known to be sensitive to accent. Next, isolated word and phoneme based accent classiication algorithms are developed. The feature set under consideration includes Mel-cepstrum coeecients and energy, and their rst order diierences. It is shown that as test utterance length increases, higher classiication accuracy is achieved. Isolated word strings of 7-8 words uttered by the speaker results in an accent classiication rate of 93% among four diierent language accents. A subjective listening test is also conducted in order to compare human performance with computer algorithm performance in accent discrimination. The results show that computer based accent classiication consistently achieves superior performance over human listener responses for classiication. It is shown however, that some listeners are able to match algorithm performance for accent detection. Finally, an experimental study is performed to investigate the innuence of foreign accent on speech recognition algorithms. It is shown that training separate models for each accent rather than using a single model for each word can improve recognition accuracy dramatically. PACS Code 43.72 z Permission is hereby granted to publish this abstract separately.
Can an algorithm predict a voiding contraction in unconscious rats?

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a very common and serious disorder which can be classified in stress and urge incontinence, the latter mainly caused by an overactive bladder (OAB). A definitive treatment for OAB does not exist yet due to its complex nature. Therefore, more attention must be focused on improving the patient's quality of life. A device able to alert the patient to development of a voiding contraction would be highly desirable, enabling actions to avoid incontinence. The main hypothesis of this work is that a voiding contraction is preceded by a consistent change in the pattern of intravesical pressure (pves). We developed an algorithm based on frequency analysis of pves recordings of two strains of rats whose bladders were first filled with saline (S fillings) and then with acetic acid (AA fillings); the latter was used as model for OAB in rats. The algorithm was designed to provide an alarm when an increase in the range 0.2-0.6Hz of the amplitude spectrum was detected. The accuracy of the algorithm has been tested and quantified, successful alarms were those taking place within fifty seconds before the start of voiding. Although the results are still very preliminary, due to the low number of tested animals, they seem encouraging since, in five rats, only one showed a percentage of success lower than 50%, with one rat reaching 100%. The accuracy of the algorithm is affected by the choice of the values for the controlling parameters, which have been set the same for all rats; future developments might include individual values for each rat.