Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation, Automatic Generation and Use of Broad Phonetic Transcriptions

Broad phonetic transcriptions represent the pronunciation of words as strings of characters from specifically designed symbol sets. In everyday life, broad phonetic transcriptions are often used as aids to pronounce (foreign) words. In addition, broad phonetic transcriptions are often used for linguistic research, and for the development of computer-driven speech applications such as computer assisted pronunciation training, automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech synthesis. This thesis contains studies on the generation, the validation and the use of broad phonetic transcriptions. Linguistic research and computer-driven speech applications require large amounts of phonetically transcribed speech. Unfortunately, employing human experts for the transcription of such large amounts of speech is time-consuming, expensive, and practically impossible. This thesis describes an automatic transcription procedure that is capable of approximating the quality of manually verified phonetic transcriptions. Therefore, this transcription procedure offers a quick and cheap alternative to employing human experts for the same task. Broad phonetic transcriptions are usually validated by means of a comparison with a human-made reference transcription. This thesis shows that such a validation procedure does not necessarily offer an optimal indication of a transcription’s suitability for the development of automatic speech recognition systems. This result implies that reference transcriptions should no longer be considered the self-evident gold standard to compare phonetic transcriptions with, and that the validity of transcriptions should preferably be tested by using the evaluation criterion of the application for which the transcriptions will be used. In this thesis it was also investigated to what extent broad phonetic transcriptions can be used for classifying speakers according to their age, gender, regional background and level of education. Finally, the transcriptions in the Spoken Dutch Corpus were used to investigate the factors that affect the deletion of sounds and syllables in spontaneous speech.
Signal processing for hyperspectral image exploitation

Electro-optical remote sensing involves the acquisition of information about an object or scene without coming into physical contact with it. This is achieved by exploiting the fact that the materials comprising the various objects in a scene reflect, absorb, and emit electromagnetic radiation in ways characteristic of their molecular composition and shape. If the radiation arriving at the sensor is measured at each wavelength over a sufficiently broad spectral band, the resulting spectral signature, or simply spectrum, can be used (in principle) to uniquely characterize and identify any given material. An important function of hyperspectral signal processing is to eliminate the redundancy in the spectral and spatial sample data while preserving the high-quality features needed for detection, discrimination, and classification. This dimensionality reduction is implemented in a scene-dependent (adaptive) manner and may be implemented as a distinct step in the processing or as an integral part of the overall algorithm. The most widely used algorithm for dimensionality reduction is principal component analysis (PCA) or, equivalently, Karhunen-Loeve transformation.
How to identify “hidden securities assets” in the Balance of Payments: methods of Bank of France

In International Investment Position (IIP) statistics, there is a significant discrepancy between the asset and the liability sides of portfolio investments. This reflects the difficulties faced by Balance of Payments (BOP) national compilers to cover investments of non-financial corporations and households located in other countries (“third party holdings”). Building on this, the economic literature has used the existing gap between assets and liabilities to measure “hidden” investments. The insight of this stream of research has provided various estimates for the “hidden” wealth of the wealthiest households. While these results clearly point out the importance of these amounts, the differences between estimation methods also justify some caution when considering how this research can be used for statistical purposes. Given these considerations, this paper will (i) discuss the gap between assets and liabilities in IIP statistics and how it has been used by the economic literature to identify “hidden” wealth, (ii) assess the relevance of these estimations from a statistical point of view, (iii) present the French methodology for estimating investments in securities not covered by national reportings, and (iv) stress the need for an internationally coordinated effort to improve the coverage of third party holdings.
Researching policy and learning: perspectives on complexity

This special issue contains a stunningly good set of research papers. Even so, writing published commentaries on other people’s research is a problematic process. There are two major dangers, and one difficult choice. One danger is to use the space to be critical of parts of the work, knowing that I have the last word, and that the writers of the various papers in this special issue have nowhere to respond. The second linked danger is to use the paper to write more about my work than about the papers I have been asked to comment on. The choice is whether or not to comment on each paper separately, or to take the collection as a whole. Let me deal with the choice first. Because the set of papers here all come from one project, because of the degree of synergy between them, and because I have little but admiration for the detailed work in all of them, I have chosen to respond to the collection as a whole. In so doing, I have tried to avoid both dangers, though at times I have probably failed. However, what I cannot do is separate myself from the position from which I read these contributions. I was invited to write this because I was one of the directors of another large Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP)-funded project on learning in FE, the Transforming Learning Cultures in FE (TLC) project. Rather than work for a pretended neutral position, I have decided to focus on some of the ways in which the project reporting here is complementary to the work done in the TLC, upon some key similarities and differences between the two projects, and upon the tricky issue of integrating their respective findings. To help avoid the second danger, I have chosen not to reference the TLC materials or their further literature sources, in what follows.1
Front-Running and Collusion in Forex Trading

This paper examines the market-wide effects of front-running and information-sharing by dealers in a quantitative microstructure model of Forex trading. Recent investigations by government regulators and court proceedings reveal that there has been widespread sharing of information among Forex dealers working at major banks, as well as the regular front-running of large customer orders. I use the model to study the effects of unilateral front-running, where individual dealers trade ahead of their own customer orders; and collusive front-running where individual dealers trade ahead of another dealer's customer order based on information that was shared among a group of dealers. I find that both forms of front-running create an information externality that significantly affects order flows and Forex prices by slowing down the process through which inter-dealer trading aggregates information from across the market. Font-running reduces dealers' liquidity provision costs by raising the price customers pay to purchase Forex, and lowering the price they receive when selling Forex. These cost reductions are substantial; they lower costs by more than 90 percent. Front-running also affects other market participants that are not directly involved in front-running trades. The information externality makes these participants less willing to speculate on their private information when trading with dealers. This indirect effect of front-running can reduce participants' expected returns by as much as 10 percent. My analysis also shows that collusive front-running has larger effects on order flows than unilateral front-running because information-sharing reduces the risks dealers face when trading ahead of customer orders. However, in other respects, the effects of collusive and unilateral front-running are quite similar. Greater collusion lowers the costs of providing liquidity and it reduces other participants' expected returns, but the effects are small.
A trend analysis of the low-vision literature

An account is given of the design and compilation of a freely-available database, updated on a monthly schedule, listing journals, books, conference proceedings and online publications concerned with any and every aspect of low vision. Specific topic areas can be located by means of keywords and through other bibliographical details such as the author’s name, year of publication, etc. The authors present a summary historical analysis revealing that there has been an unprecedented rise over the last few decades in the number and diversity of journals and other literature sources addressing issues to do with low vision. Among the opportunities provided by the database are searches to ascertain not only what is currently being practiced and researched but also to identify the changes in the priorities being given to the multitude of topics of interest to optometrists, ophthalmologists, paediatricians, psychologists, educators, rehabilitation practitioners, epidemiologists, gerontologists and other professional workers.
A Web Content Suggestion System for Distance Learning

Nowadays the information technology is developing quickly, the information technology changes with each passing day. The accessibility of the World Wide Web and the ease of use of the tools to browse the resources on the web have made this technology extremely popular and the method of choice for distance learning. There are many studies have been done regarding distance learning, many studies focus more on system instruction and in curriculum organization. These do not help the E-learner to study according to his or her interest. Nevertheless, the goal of this research is somewhat different from other works. This research tries to make the extension of the lecture teaching. The instructor prepares the course content related information as supplementary reading or knowledge, and composes them into the format of web pages, and the online students can browse the web content. Then, according to students’ navigation activities and the properties of the web content, our system can suggest the web content might interest them but has not been read to them. Our Web Content Suggestion System for Distance Learning makes suggestions to students in two ways: (1) collaborative filtering matches one’s tastes or needs to those of the other students who share his likes and dislikes and suggests web content that they have read and liked but he hasn’t read; (2) content-based filtering suggests web pages similar to those one prefer based on a comparison of web content. The web content suggestion can enlarge student’s learning space and widespread their interests that lecture teaching hardly offers. Through this system, we can further dig out or induce students’ interests, thus widen their knowledge scope.
Taking every opportunity to save lives: The role of modern quality improvement in enhancing maternal newborn and child health programs. A synthesis of USAID Health Care Improvement Project field experience.

This paper discusses the role modern quality improvement approaches can play in improving MNCH outcomes and describes specific applications across the continuum of MNCH care including ANC essential obstetric and newborn care infant and child care and post-partum family planning. Drawing on examples from the work of the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI) in Africa Asia and Latin America the paper shows how quality gaps in the services addressing the antenatal intra partum postnatal neonatal and child periods can be closed through modern QI approaches.
Evaluating the interaction between Protein Kinase C and Meprins in Diabetic Nephropathy

Meprin metalloproteinases have been shown to play a role in the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN) in both mice and humans. However, the mechanisms involved are not fully understood. Protein Kinase C (PKC) family members are a group of phospholipid-dependent serine/threonine kinases that regulate signaling pathways involved in cellular growth, proliferation, differentiation, and cell death. PKC signaling pathways have also been implicated in diseases such as DN. Specifically, PKCα has been shown to play a role in the development of albuminuria in mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine whether PKC is a meprin substrate. To this end, activated forms of purified recombinant meprin A and B were incubated for 0-4 h with cytosolic-enriched proteins from either protein lysates extracted from Mardin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells (which do not express meprins) or meprin αβ double knockout mouse kidneys (which lack endogenous meprins). The levels of PKCα were determined by Western blot analysis using anti-PKCα specific antibodies. Incubation with meprin B significantly reduced the levels of PKCα present in the kidney and MDCK lysates. This decrease was not observed in proteins incubated with meprin A or control reactions lacking meprins, suggesting isoform-specific degradation of PKCα. To confirm the degradation, human PKCα was expressed in yeast, purified by GSTaffinity chromatography, and incubated with the activated meprins. To determine whether meprin cleavage of PKCα occurs in models of diabetes, immunohistological analysis was conducted using mouse kidney tissues from STZ-diabetes induced mice. These data suggest that meprin B may impact kidney function via proteolysis of PKCα.
Lessons Learned From Field Deployment of the Hemaapp: ANon-Invasive Hemoglobin Measurement tool

The Hemaapp [1] is a smart phone application that measures the hemoglobin level in your finger by using the phone’s built-in camera and flash. The hemoglobin measurement is done noninvasively, by placing the finger of the patient on the camera of the phone. The light from the flash allows the camera to record the absorption of light by the blood, while the Hemaapp application analyzes the images to determine the level of hemoglobin. The application was developed at the University of Washington’s Ubiquitous Computing Laboratory. The University of Washington team worked with the NGO, Asociacion Red Innova, to test the innovative technology in the field. The team conducted a field deployment in a variety of diverse settings in Peru, including two communities in the Amazon region, an urban-slum community in Lima, and three clinics in Lima. The following report was drafted to reflect the lessons learned in the field.
Plexiform neurofibroma: An uncommon cause of conductive-type hearing loss

Abstract Plexiform neurofibromas (PNs) are slow-growing, vascularised, limited, non-capsular benign tumours. They may cause functional impairments, cosmetic problems, and issues with pain or a sense of pressure. Involvement of the external ear canal, which can trigger conductive-type hearing loss and cosmetic problems, is rare. A 14-year-old male diagnosed with, and under follow-up for, type 1 neurofibromatosis presented with hearing loss and an auricle deformity caused by a mass on the postauricular region of the mastoid bone. This mass had grown gradually over the past 5 years and at the time of consultation completely filled the external ear canal, pushing the auricle forward. It was surgically removed. Postoperative histological examination allowed diagnosis of a plexiform neurofibroma. The external ear canal was successfully cleared, affording a good cosmetic outcome. Audiometric tests revealed that the air-bone gap had closed.
QuAL: Quality Assurance Language

Distributed multimedia applications are sensitive to the Quality of Services (QoS) provided by their computing and communication environment. For example, scheduling of processing activities or network queueing delays may cause excessive jitter in a speech stream, rendering it difficult to understand. It is thus important to establish effective technologies to ensure delivery of QoS required by distributed multi-
MEMBRANE COMPUTING: NON DETERMINISTIC TECHNIQUE TO CALCULATE EXTINGUISHED MULTISETS OF OBJECTS.

Within the membrane computing research field, there are many papers about software simulations and a few about hardware implementations. In both cases, algorithms are implemented. These algorithms implement membrane systems in software and hardware that try to take advantages of massive parallelism. P-systems are parallel and non deterministic systems which simulate membranes behavior when processing information. This papers describes the evolution rules application process and it presents software techniques for calculating maximal multisets on every evolutionary step. These techniques improve the best performance achieved by the p-systems when applying evolution rules. Algorithms could stop being useful when the number of objects "n" in which they depends on, increases. By using this technique, that specific problem can be overcome. The output can be given under a constant complexity order. The complexity order might be constant under certain conditions, regardless the value "n". In order to do this, the proper use of memory is essential. This work will provide the details for building a structure. This structure will allow us to improve performance in terms of time. Moreover this structure can be allocated in the random access memory and/or the virtual memory
Significance of Application of Total Parenteral Nutrition Associated with Alanyl-glutamine on Patients with Acute Severe Pancreatitis

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of total parenteral nutrition(TPN) associated with alanyl-glutamine on patients with acute severe pancreatitis(SAP). Methods Forty-eight patients with SAP were randomly divided into two groups according to different therapeutic programs.25 cases in group Ⅰ were treated by traditional method combined with TPN,23 cases in group Ⅱ were treated by TPN and glutamine-supplemented TPN.The concentration of serum albumin and plasmal glutamine,nitrogen balance,the transforming rate of T lymphocyte in each group were observed respectively.Results After 2 weeks of treatment,the concentration of serum albumin and plasmal glutamine,nitrogen balance,the transforming rate of T lymphocyte in group Ⅱ were higher than those of group Ⅰ. Conclusions Combined with conventional therapy,TPN and glutamine-supplemented TPN therapy can improve the nutrition and immunity state of patients and accelerate the recovery of nitrogen balance,so reduce the mortality and morbidity of complications.
Implementación de un sensor de electroencefalograma (EEG) en aplicaciones domóticas

INTRODUCCION Hoy dia las personas que sufren de discapacidades motoras severas ven limitada su capacidad de accion a movimientos de cabeza, labios y ojos, algunos casos puntuales restringen la movilidad unicamente a los ojos, mas sin embargo en la gran mayoria de estos casos las funciones cerebrales operan normalmente. Por tal motivo es importante buscar una forma de brindar una mejor calidad de vida a las personas con dichas limitaciones.
La conception à l'ère de l'Internet des Objets : modèles et principes pour le design de produits aux fonctions augmentées par des applications.

L'Internet des Objets, dont la vision et les technologies provoquent la rencontre des mondes physique et numerique, amene aujourd'hui a la creation de nouveaux types d'applications permettant d'interoperer les services du World Wide Web avec les produits du quotidien. Ces applications « orientees produit », capables de representer, controler ou de completer les fonctions d'artefacts integrant des capacites de traitement de l'information, remettent en cause les principes et conventions etablies par les metiers de la conception. Elles prefigurent l'emergence de produits connectes a Internet, dont l'offre fonctionnelle peut etre « augmentee » et modifiee au cours du temps, de maniere a repondre aux besoins changeants des utilisateurs. Cette recherche, menee a l'intersection des sciences de la conception, de l'informatique ubiquitaire et des interactions homme-machine, vise a etudier les enjeux que suscitent ces applications lors la conception de produits. Elle met en exergue la necessite d'etablir un modele descriptif des applications orientees produit facilitant leur figuration par les utilisateurs, ainsi que d'explorer les problemes pragmatiques resultant de leur integration dans les produits. Elle conduit egalement a l'elaboration et l'evaluation, par la pratique, de principes pour le design de la forme et des interactions des produits augmentes. Elle decrit plus particulierement la ductilite de futurs produits, le nouveau rapport entre fonction, comportement et structure qu'ils etablissent, et leurs possibles evolutions. Cette recherche contribue aux travaux sur l'Internet des Objets en proposant un nouveau cadre de discussion, et en offrant aux chercheurs et aux praticiens des outils qui peuvent etre employes durant le processus de conception.
A bibliometric analysis of event detection in social media

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the research status and development trend of the field of event detection in social media (ED in SM) through a bibliometric analysis of academic publications. Design/methodology/approach First, publication distributions are analyzed including the trends of publications and citations, subject distribution, predominant journals, affiliations, authors, etc. Second, an indicator of collaboration degree is used to measure scientific connective relations from different perspectives. A network analysis method is then applied to reveal scientific collaboration relations. Furthermore, based on keyword co-occurrence analysis, major research themes and their evolutions throughout time span are discovered. Finally, a network analysis method is applied to visualize the analysis results. Findings The area of ED in SM has received increasing attention and interest in academia with Computer Science and Engineering as two major research subjects. The USA and China contribute the most to the area development. Affiliations and authors tend to collaborate more with those within the same country. Among the 14 identified research themes, newly emerged themes such as Pharmacovigilance event detection are discovered. Originality/value This study is the first to comprehensively illustrate the research status of ED in SM by conducting a bibliometric analysis. Up-to-date findings are reported, which can help relevant researchers understand the research trend, seek scientific collaborators and optimize research topic choices.
Parallel Band Two-Sided MatrixBidiagonalization for Multicore Architectures

The objective of this paper is to extend, in the context of multicore architectures, the concepts of algorithms-by-tiles [Buttari et al., 2007] for Cholesky, LU, QR factorizations to the family of two- sided factorizations. In particular, the bidiagonal reduction of a general, dense matrix is very often used as a pre-processing step for calculating the singular value decomposition. Furthermore, in the last Top500 list from June 2008, 98% of the fastest parallel systems in the world were based on multicores. The manycore trend has increasingly exacerbated the problem, and it becomes critical to eciently integrate existing or new numerical linear algebra algorithms suitable for such hardware. By exploiting the concept of algorithms-by-tiles in the multicore environment (i.e., high level of parallelism with ne granularity and high performance data representation combined with a dynamic data driven execution), the band bidiagonal reduction presented here achieves 94 G op/s on a 12000 12000 matrix with 16 Intel Tigerton 2:4 GHz processors.