Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Quintessence of a Waveform: Focus and Context for Audio Track Displays

Oscilloscope-style waveform plots offer great insight into the properties of the audio signal. However, their use is impeded by the huge spread of timescales extending from fractions of a millisecond to several hours. Hence, waveform plots often require zooming in and out. This work introduces a graphical representation through a synthesized quintessential waveform that shows the spectrum of the traditional waveform plot but does so at a much larger timescale. The quintessential waveform can reveals details about single periods at zoom levels where a regular waveform plot only indicates the signal’s envelope. Compression renders the enormous ranges of frequencies and amplitudes more legible.
High-Dimensional $L_2$Boosting: Rate of Convergence

Boosting is one of the most significant developments in machine learning. This paper studies the rate of convergence of $L_2$Boosting, which is tailored for regression, in a high-dimensional setting. Moreover, we introduce so-called \textquotedblleft post-Boosting\textquotedblright. This is a post-selection estimator which applies ordinary least squares to the variables selected in the first stage by $L_2$Boosting. Another variant is \textquotedblleft Orthogonal Boosting\textquotedblright\ where after each step an orthogonal projection is conducted. We show that both post-$L_2$Boosting and the orthogonal boosting achieve the same rate of convergence as LASSO in a sparse, high-dimensional setting. We show that the rate of convergence of the classical $L_2$Boosting depends on the design matrix described by a sparse eigenvalue constant. To show the latter results, we derive new approximation results for the pure greedy algorithm, based on analyzing the revisiting behavior of $L_2$Boosting. We also introduce feasible rules for early stopping, which can be easily implemented and used in applied work. Our results also allow a direct comparison between LASSO and boosting which has been missing from the literature. Finally, we present simulation studies and applications to illustrate the relevance of our theoretical results and to provide insights into the practical aspects of boosting. In these simulation studies, post-$L_2$Boosting clearly outperforms LASSO.
Experimental Evaluation of a GPU-based Frequent Subgraph Miner Using Synthetic Databases

Frequent subgraph mining, i.e. enumeration of subgraphs appearing frequently in graph databases, is one of the most fundamental problems in graph mining. Several optimization techniques as well as parallel implementations are developed to alleviate the problem that subgraph miners require a long computation time if target databases are huge or given frequency threshold is low. In this paper, we investigate on a GPU-based implementation of subgraph miner developed recently. In order to obtain significant insights for further performance improvements, we re-implement the GPU-based subgraph miner with a few modifications, and conduct a series of intensive experiments by using synthetic graph databases.
Word Sense Clustering and Clusterability

Word sense disambiguation and the related field of automated word sense induction traditionally assume that the occurrences of a lemma can be partitioned into senses. But this seems to be a much easier task for some lemmas than others. Our work builds on recent work that proposes describing word meaning in a graded fashion rather than through a strict partition into senses; in this article we argue that not all lemmas may need the more complex graded analysis, depending on their partitionability. Although there is plenty of evidence from previous studies and from the linguistics literature that there is a spectrum of partitionability of word meanings, this is the first attempt to measure the phenomenon and to couple the machine learning literature on clusterability with word usage data used in computational linguistics.We propose to operationalize partitionability as clusterability, a measure of how easy the occurrences of a lemma are to cluster. We test two ways of measuring clusterability: (1) existing measures from the machine learning literature that aim to measure the goodness of optimal k-means clusterings, and (2) the idea that if a lemma is more clusterable, two clusterings based on two different “views” of the same data points will be more congruent. The two views that we use are two different sets of manually constructed lexical substitutes for the target lemma, on the one hand monolingual paraphrases, and on the other hand translations. We apply automatic clustering to the manual annotations. We use manual annotations because we want the representations of the instances that we cluster to be as informative and “clean” as possible. We show that when we control for polysemy, our measures of clusterability tend to correlate with partitionability, in particular some of the type-(1) clusterability measures, and that these measures outperform a baseline that relies on the amount of overlap in a soft clustering.
The Association between Platelet/Lymphocyte Ratio and Coronary Artery Disease Severity in Asymptomatic Low Ejection Fraction Patients

Background and Objectives Coronary angiography (CAG) is generally needed in the setting of systolic heart failure (HF) with an unidentified etiology as a part of diagnostic strategy. On the other hand, the clinical value of this invasive strategy is largely unknown. Platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has recently emerged as a novel inflammatory index that may serve as an important predictor of inflammatory state and overall mortality. The present study aimed to search the predictive value of PLR in determining the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic low ejection fraction (EF) patients. Subjects and Methods 156 asymptomatic heart failure (HF) subjects (without angina or HF symptoms, mean age: 58 years; to male: 71.2%) were enrolled, and thereafter a CAG was performed. Gensini Score was used to determine the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) on CAG. According to this scoring system, the overall study group was categorized into three distinct subgroups: control group with the score 0, mild atherosclerosis group with the score 0 to 20 and severe atherosclerosis group with the score of >20. Thereafter, a comparison was made among groups with regard to mean values of PLR. Results The severe atherosclerosis group had a substantially higher level of mean PLR in comparison to other groups (p<0.001). Pre-CAG PLR levels as well as a variety of clinical variables including age, low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol demonstrated an independent correlation with Gensini score through a multivariate analysis. Conclusion These findings suggest the potential association of high PLR levels with severe atherosclerosis in the setting of asymptomatic systolic HF. A simple measurement of PLR helps to identify the severity of coronary atherosclerosis prior to conducting coronary angiography.
Analysis of the role of Arabidopsis class I TCP genes AtTCP7, AtTCP8, AtTCP22, and AtTCP23 in leaf development

TCP family of plant-specific transcription factors regulates plant form through control of cell proliferation and differentiation. This gene family is comprised of two groups, class I and class II. While the role of class II TCP genes in plant development is well known, data about the function of some class I TCP genes is lacking. We studied a group of phylogenetically related class I TCP genes: AtTCP7, AtTCP8, AtTCP22, and AtTCP23. The similar expression pattern in young growing leaves found for this group suggests similarity in gene function. Gene redundancy is characteristic in this group, as also seen in the class II TCP genes. We generated a pentuple mutant tcp8 tcp15 tcp21 tcp22 tcp23 and show that loss of function of these genes results in changes in leaf developmental traits. We also determined that these factors are able to mutually interact in a yeast two-hybrid assay and regulate the expression of KNOX1 genes. To circumvent the issue of genetic redundancy, dominant negative forms with SRDX repressor domain were used. Analysis of transgenic plants expressing AtTCP7-SRDX and AtTCP23-SRDX indicate a role of these factors in the control of cell proliferation.
The effects of psychological factors on efficacy of Spinal Cord Stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) appears to be an effective treatment for neuropathic pains, but long-term benefit of more than one year is only found in a proportion of patients treated. This thesis hypothesised that psychological factors may be important as determinants of outcome. A literature review in this field, whilst demonstrating lack of reliable psychological predictors of SCS treatment, suggested that those thought to be predictive such as depression were more complex. Whilst depression was associated with lower efficacy of treatment by SCS, the treatment itself improved depression. Therefore, depression should not necessarily be seen as a contra indicator, especially when pain and depression interact. A prospective study with one year follow up of patients implanted with spinal cord stimulator was conducted. Forty patients were included in the final analysis. Functional pain and psychological measures were recorded at six and 12 months, psychological predictors were not significant at six months but significant predictors were found at 12 months. Greater catastrophising, paired with greater anxiety and less perceived control were associated with a < 30 % reduction in pain. A qualitative study of the experience of SCS using semi-structured interviews one year following SCS implantation revealed similar findings. Thirteen patients reported coping, lack of control and helplessness as impacting upon pain experience. A demand for clearer information systems was discussed in relation to SCS preparation. Information is needed to reduce unexpected experiences including potentially painful trial and body image concerns related to the implantable SCS device. Implications for practice included preparation with expert patients and a tailored preparatory CBT course. The findings from the two studies demonstrate the necessity to improve the preparation process for patients prior to SCS. Results from both studies conclude that perception of control over pain is important for SCS efficacy and support with anxiety and catastrophic thoughts and behaviours may be advantageous. The predictive equation generated from this study needs to be tested prospectively on further cohorts of SCS patients in order to test reliability. In addition, evaluation of the impact of a tailored CBT course upon outcome needs investigation.
PriorityMAC: A Priority-Enhanced MAC Protocol for Critical Traffic in Industrial Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks

This paper proposes PriorityMAC, a priority-enhanced medium access control protocol, designed for critical traffic in industrial wireless sensor and actuator networks (IWSAN). A notable trend in industrial automation in recent years has been the replacement of wired communication by IWSANs. Exceeding the required delay bound for unpredictable and emergency traffic could lead to system instability, economic and material losses, system failure, and, ultimately, a threat to human safety. Guaranteeing the timely delivery of the IWSAN critical traffic and its prioritization over regular traffic (e.g., noncritical monitoring traffic) is a significant challenge. Therefore, we present the design, implementation, performance analysis, and evaluation of PriorityMAC. A series of novel mechanisms (e.g., high priority indication space) are proposed to enable high-priority traffic to hijack the transmission bandwidth of the low-priority traffic. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first priority-enhanced MAC protocol compatible with industrial standards for IWSAN. PriorityMAC is implemented in TinyOS and evaluated on a testbed of Telosb motes. The experimental results indicate that PriorityMAC efficiently handles different traffic categories with different latency requirements, thereby achieving a significant improvement in the delivery latency compared with the current industrial standards.
Interactive Simulation of the Human Eye Depth of Field and Its Correction by Spectacle Lenses

This paper describes a fast rendering algorithm for verification of spectacle lens design. Our method simulates refraction corrections of astigmatism as well as myopia or presbyopia. Refraction and defocus are the main issues in the simulation. For refraction, our proposed method uses per‐vertex basis ray tracing which warps the environment map and produces a real‐time refracted image which is subjectively as good as ray tracing. Conventional defocus simulation was previously done by distribution ray tracing and a real‐time solution was impossible. We introduce the concept of a blur field, which we use to displace every vertex according to its position. The blurring information is precomputed as a set of field values distributed to voxels which are formed by evenly subdividing the perspective projected space. The field values can be determined by tracing a wavefront from each voxel through the lens and the eye, and by evaluating the spread of light at the retina considering the best human accommodation effort. The blur field is stored as texture data and referred to by the vertex shader that displaces each vertex. With an interactive frame rate, blending the multiple rendering results produces a blurred image comparable to distribution ray tracing output.
Influence of dental materials on hardness and Young's modulus of the surface layers of tooth enamel formed as a result of friction.

PURPOSE The purpose of this work was to determine the influence of dental materials used as permanent fillings on the mechanical properties of the tooth enamel surface layer subjected to friction with these materials. METHODS Dental composite materials (five types) were differentiated in terms of size and shape of the filler particles and matrix type over the course of tests on the chewing simulator under two different loads set during friction. Next, it was measured values of wear and nanoindentation for the resulting friction rates on the enamel (3 different load ranges). RESULTS It was found that the enamel's resistance to tribological wear is significantly higher than that of the tested dental materials. It is also important to note that, depending on the penetration depth of the indenter (depends on the indenter pressure), different hardness values and Young's modulus of enamel were obtained after friction with different dental materials. This demonstrates the formation of a surface layer with different properties than the native material. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of the obtained results suggests the existence of different tribological wear mechanisms, as evidenced by significant differences in the wear values of dental materials and enamel. The data show that the enamel surface layer modified by the contacting dental material is shaped to a certain depth, and different thickness ranges of the changed layer have different properties.
Safety and Efficacy of Sodium Hyaluronate Gel and Chitosan in Preventing Postoperative Peristomal Adhesions After Defunctioning Enterostomy

AbstractPeristomal adhesions complicate closure of defunctioning enterostomy. The efficacy and safety of sodium hyaluronate gel and chitosan in preventing postoperative adhesion have not been extensively studied. This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of sodium hyaluronate gel and chitosan in the prevention of postoperative peristomal adhesions.This was a prospective randomized controlled study. One hundred and fourteen patients undergoing defunctioning enterostomy were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to receive sodium hyaluronate gel (SHG group) or chitosan (CH group) or no antiadhesion treatment (CON group) during defunctioning enterostomy. The safety outcomes included toxicities, stoma-related complications, and short-term and long-term postoperative complications. Eighty-seven (76.3%) of the 114 patients received closure of enterostomy, during which occurrence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions were visually assessed by a blinded assessor.Incidence of adhesion appears to be lower in patients received sodium hyaluronate gel or chitosan but differences did not reach a significant level (SHG group vs CH group vs CON group: 62.1% vs 62.1% vs 82.8%, P = 0.15). Compared with the CON group, severity of postoperative adhesion was significantly decreased in the SHG and CH group (SHG group vs CH group vs CON group: 31.0% vs 27.6% vs 62.1%; P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in the occurrence of postoperative complications and other safety outcomes among the 3 groups.Sodium hyaluronate gel or chitosan smeared around the limbs of a defunctioning enterostomy was safe and effective in the prevention of postoperative peristomal adhesions.
The Physical Natures of Class I and Flat-Spectrum Protostellar Photospheres: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Study

We present high-resolution (R ≃ 18,000), high signal-to-noise ratio, 2 μm spectra of 52 IR-selected Class I and flat-spectrum young stellar objects in the Taurus-Auriga, ρ Ophiuchi, Serpens, Perseus, and Corona Australis dark clouds. We detect key absorption lines in 41 objects and fit synthetic spectra generated from pre-main-sequence models to deduce the effective temperatures, surface gravities, near-IR veilings, rotation velocities, and radial velocities of each of these 41 sources. We find these objects to span ranges in effective temperature, surface gravity, and stellar luminosity that appear similar to those of late spectral type Class II sources and classical T Tauri stars. However, because of significant but uncertain corrections for scattering and extinction, the derived luminosities for the embedded protostellar objects must be regarded as being highly uncertain. We determine that the mean 2 μm veiling of Class I and flat-spectrum objects is significantly higher than that of Class II objects in the same region where both types of objects are extensively observed (ρ Oph). We find that a significant fraction of our protostellar sample also exhibits emission lines. Twenty-three objects show H2 emission, which is usually indicative of the presence of energetic outflows. Thirty-four sources show H I Brγ emission, and a number of these exhibit profile asymmetries consistent with infall. Eight sources show significant Δv = 2 CO emission suggestive of emission from a circumstellar disk. Overall, these observations indicate that Class I and flat-spectrum objects are self-embedded protostars undergoing significant mass accretion, although the objects appear to span a broad range of mass accretion activity.
Long-Term Transcriptomic Effects of Prebiotics and Synbiotics Delivered In Ovo in Broiler Chickens

In ovo delivery of prebiotics and synbiotics in chickens allows for the development of intestinal microflora prior to hatching, which boosts their robustness. The goal of this study was to determine the transcriptomic profile of the spleen (S), cecal tonsils (CT), and large intestine (LI) of adult chickens injected with prebiotics and synbiotics in ovo. On day 12 of embryo development, incubating eggs were injected with prebiotics: inulin alone (P1) or in combination with Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis IBB2955 (S1), galactooligosaccharides (GOS) alone (P2) or in combination with Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris IBB477 (S2); control group (C) was mock injected with physiological saline. Gene expression analysis was conducted using an Affymetrix Chicken Gene 1.1 ST Array Strip. Most of the differentially expressed genes (DEG) were detected in the cecal tonsils of P2 (378 DEG), and were assigned to gene ontology categories: lymphocyte proliferation, activation and differentiation, and cytokine production. Ingenuity pathway analysis of the DEG (CT of P2) indicated the inhibition of humoral and cellular immune responses, e.g., role of NFAT in regulation of immune responses, phagocytosis, production of nitric oxide, NF-κB, IL-8, and CXCR4 signaling. The DEG with the highest up-regulation from S1 and P2 were involved in gene expression (PAPOLA, RPL27A, RPLP1, and RPS29) from P1 and P2 in transport (BEST4, SLC9A3, and SLC13A2), metabolism (OGT, ALPP, CA4, and CA7), signaling (FGG, G3BP2, UBB, G3BP2, CACNA1G, and ATP6V0A4), and immune responses (MSMB, LGALS3, CABIN1, CXCR5, PAX5, and TNFRSF14). Two DEG influencing the complement system (SERPING1 and MIR1674) were down-regulated in P2 and S1. In conclusion, GOS injected in ovo provided the most potent stimulation of the host transcriptome. This is likely due to its strong bifidogenic effect, which triggers proliferation of indigenous embryonic microflora in ovo, and indirectly influences gene expression regulation in host tissues, especially cecal tonsils.
A New Catalog of Radio Compact H II Regions in the Milky Way

We use new VLA Galactic plane catalogs at 5 and 1.4 GHz covering the first Galactic quadrant (350° ≤ l ≤ 42°, |b| ≤ 0.°4) in conjunction with the MSX6C Galactic plane catalog to construct a large sample of ultracompact H II regions. A radio catalog of this region was first published by Becker et al., but we have added new observations and rereduced the data with significantly improved calibration and mosaicking procedures, resulting in a tripling of the number of 5 GHz sources detected. Comparison of the new 5 GHz catalog and the MSX6C Galactic plane catalog resulted in a sample of 687 matches, out of which we estimate only 15 to be chance coincidences. Most of the matches show red Midcourse Space Experiment colors and a thermal radio spectrum. The scale height of their Galactic latitude distribution is very small (FWHM of 16′ or ∼40 pc). These properties suggest that the sample is dominated by young ultracompact H II regions, most of which are previously uncataloged.
Creating Impressionistic Effects from Video and Still Images

The aim of this research is to automatically process video and still images such that they display the qualities of a traditional impressionist painting. The research discusses the implementation of the techniques put forth in [1]. In addition, some of the techniques put forth in [1] have been adapted or extended, and some small innovations are presented. The techniques discussed include using gradient information to orientate individual brush strokes, clipping each brush stroke to the edges found in the image, and using optical flow to move brush strokes across multiple frames in video sequences.
A comparative study of tonal acoustic features for a symbolic level music-to-score alignment

In this paper we review the acoustic features used for music-to-score alignment and study their influence on the performance in a challenging alignment task, where the audio data is polyphonic and may contain percussion. Furthermore, as we aim at using “real world” scores, we follow an approach which does exploit the rhythm information (considered unreliable) and test its robustness to score errors. We use a unified framework to handle different state-of-the-art features, and propose a simple way to exploit either a model of the feature values, or an audio synthesis of a musical score, in an audio-to-score alignment system. We confirm that chroma vectors drawn from representations using a logarithmic frequency scale are the most efficient features, and lead to a good precision, even with a simple alignment strategy. Robustness tests also show that the relative performance of the features do not depend on possible musical score degradations.