Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic speech to text transformation of spontaneous job interviews on the HuComTech database

Automatic recognition of spontaneous speech speech to text transformation is one of the most challenging tasks today. Whilst the recognition of read or formal speech (e.g. dictation) is possible for several languages by high accuracy rates allowing also commercial exploitation, the automatic recognition of spontaneous speech is a harder task, yielding at most about 50% accuracy. This is due to the characteristics of spontaneous speech, which shows an ‘irregular’ behaviour: insertions, abbreviations, truncations, uncompleted sentences, higher variability of both the acoustic and the linguistic features of speech. In this paper, automatic speech recognition of spontaneous and semi-spontaneous speech is evaluated and compared, using two speech databases to train the acoustic models and using statistical language models adapted for spontaneous speech and covering spontaneous and semi spontaneous job interview tasks. The involved speech databases are the HuComTech multi-modal database (training of acoustic and language models for spontaneous speech) and the Hungarian Reference Speech Database (training of non spontaneous acoustic models). Results show as expected that the recognition of spontaneous speech is less effective even in case of adapted language models and that considerable difference of speech recognition accuracy can be traced back both to the acoustic and language models, depending on the type and characteristics of the database they come from.
Family Structure and Children's Use of Ambulatory Physician Services

The purpose of this article is to examine children's use of ambulatory physician services in relation to three dimensions of family life: maternal employment, single-parent versus two-parent households, and the presence of a nuclear or extended family. Data from the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey show that maternal employment has no relationship to children's experience of disability days, and although children of mothers employed full-time are less likely to have a physician contact than are other children, this is attributable to a lower probability of seeing a doctor for children in good health (i.e., no disability days). Multivariate analysis confirms that although maternal employment decreases the likelihood of an ambulatory physician visit (among children with no disability days), it does not affect the total number of ambulatory physician visits or the likelihood of a telephone consultation with the child's physician. Children in single-parent families are more likely to see a physician when they have no disability days, than are children in families with two parents present. Children in nuclear rather than extended families do not differ in patterns of use, even when the mother works. Aside from other characteristics that might be expected to affect use (e.g., age, health status, insurance coverage, a usual source of care), there is a clear relationship between likelihood and volume of use by mothers and children.
Métodos bayesianos para la predicción de variables macroeconómicas en Venezuela

En este trabajo se evalua el uso de metodos bayesianos en el modelaje y prediccion de variables macroeconomicas en Venezuela, mediante un estudio comparativo de dos modelos VAR bayesianos (BVAR): el de densidades a priori de Minnesota y el del muestreador de Gibbs. Se realizan predicciones de variables objetivas de la politica economica: PIB, inflacion y demanda de dinero. Se compara el desempeno predictivo en diferentes horizontes de tiempo, de los dos modelos bayesianos con un VAR tradicional estimado solo a partir de la informacion muestral por medio del error medio cuadratico y el coeficiente U de Theil. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el desempeno predictivo de los BVAR, en sus dos modalidades de estimacion, es superior a los VAR tradicionales
In vivo immune response to a T-cell-dependent antigen by cultures of disassociated murine Peyer's patch.

The first line of defense against pathogens that enter the host by the oral route appears to involve the gut-associated lymphoreticular tissue-e.g., Peyer's patches (PP). Although animals can readily be immunized by orally administered antigen that mobilizes the secretory immune system, there is a total lack of local antibody synthesis in the PP and the cellular basis for this deficiency remains a mystery. A lymphoreticular cell population, obtained when murine PP were treated with a neutral protease (Dispase), consisted of accessory cells [macrophages (MPhi)] and T and B lymphocytes. In vitro cultures of these PP cell preparations with the thymic-dependent antigen sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) resulted in good anti-SRBC plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses. The time courses of these responses were identical to those seen with spleen cell cultures. Submitogenic concentrations of concanavalin A (Con A) and optimal doses of N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (MDP) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) enhanced in vitro responses of PP cell cultures to SRBC. PP possess fully functional antigen-presenting MPhi because incubation of optimal proportions of splenic T and B cells with purified populations of PP MPhi supported good in vitro immune responses. Murine PP possess all of the necessary elements for an IgA immune response because PP cell cultures derived from mice orally primed with SRBC and immunized with SRBC in vitro gave high IgA anti-SRBC PFC responses. All of the adjuvants tested (LPS, MDP, and Con A) enhanced IgA responses in PP cell cultures from orally primed mice; however, Con A induced the greatest enhancement. These results demonstrate that murine PP possess MPhi capable of accessory cell functions for in vitro immune responses and that oral priming with antigen induces the precursor T- and B-cell populations necessary for IgA responses, that are potentiated by adjuvants, in PP cell cultures. Thus, murine PP possess the lymphoreticular cells required for antibody responses; however, the tissue architecture likely prevents local responses in vivo. The finding that enzymatically dissociated PP contain all of the necessary cellular components for antibody synthesis, whereas the in vivo tissue architecture prevents the complex interactions necessary for this response, suggests that the initial inductive events take place in situ, and additional cell interactions are required for final differentiation of IgA-synthesizing plasma cells to occur at distant mucosal sites.
Areca nut contributes to oral malignancy through facilitating the conversion of cancer stem cells

Oral cancer is one of the most frequent malignant diseases worldwide, and areca nut is a primary carcinogen causing this cancer in Southeast Asia. Previous studies to examine the effects of this carcinogen often used short‐term and high‐dose treatment of area nut extract as a research model, which do not recapitulate the conditions of patients with long‐term and habitual use of this substance. To approach authentic mechanism of areca nut‐induced oral carcinogenesis that occurs in human, we established four isogenic sublines of oral cells which were chronic exposed to areca nut extract. Without eliciting cytotoxicity or senescence, these four sublines cells exhibited significant increase in invasive ability, along with epithelial‐mesenchymal transition. These cells also showed resistance to chemotherapeutic drug and irradiation, accompanying with the augmentation of ABCG2 protein efflux and increased ROS clearance. Moreover, these sublines possessed the characteristics of cancer stemness, as demonstrated by enriched CD24−/CD44+ and CD133+ sub‐populations, enhanced spheroid cell formation, and induced expressions of pluripotent stemness regulators, including Gp96, Grp78, Slug, Sox9, Snail, and Foxc2. These stemness regulators were further shown up‐regulations in oral cancer patients with areca nut‐chewing habit, and were statistically correlated with CD44 expression, a stemness marker. In conclusion, our findings suggested that areca nut contributes to oral malignancy through facilitating the conversion of cancer stem cells. This study may further contribute to clinical applications in disease prevention, risk assessment or molecular therapeutics on areca nut‐ associated diseases. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Right cerebral hemispheric sensitivity to pH and physiological ions in fixed post-mortem Wistar rat brains

Post-mortem human neural tissues fixed in ethanol and aldehyde-based solutions express modulated frequency-dependent microvolt potentials when probed by chemical and electrical stimuli. These observations run contrary to the assumption that basic tissue functions are irreversibly impaired upon fixation, in the absence of nutrients and sufficient concentrations of physiological ions. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relative effects of pH and specific charged particles relevant to normal cell physiology upon electric potentials associated with fixed post-mortem rat brain tissue. We identified a positive relationship between the total time the brains had been immersed in ethanol–formalin–acetic acid and high-frequency microvolt potentials within the dorsal right hemisphere of the rat cerebrum. Measuring the pH of the fixative solution surrounding the brains indicated that as time increased, a logarithmic trend toward alkalinity could be observed. Further experiments revealed that highfrequency microvolt potentials were related to pH changes within the right hemisphere only. The right ventral cerebrum displayed a unique response to potassium chloride in ways uncounted for by pH alone. The results suggest that the fixed post-mortem right cerebrum of the rat is particularly sensitive to pH and physiological ions which explains a subset of previous findings with respect to stimulus–response patterns in human coronal brain sections. A concluding hypothesis is presented which suggests that brain tissue expresses material properties independent of metabolic activity though perhaps relevant to living brain function.
The dachsous gene, a member of the cadherin family, is required for Wg-dependent pattern formation in the Drosophila wing disc

The dachsous (ds) gene encodes a member of the cadherin family involved in the non-canonical Wnt signaling pathway that controls the establishment of planar cell polarity (PCP) in Drosophila. ds is the only known cadherin gene in Drosophila with a restricted spatial pattern of expression in imaginal discs from early stages of larval development. In the wing disc, ds is first expressed distally, and later is restricted to the hinge and lateral regions of the notum. Flies homozygous for strong ds hypomorphic alleles display previously uncharacterized phenotypes consisting of a reduction of the hinge territory and an ectopic notum. These phenotypes resemble those caused by reduction of the canonical Wnt signal Wingless (Wg) during early wing disc development. An increase in Wg activity can rescue these phenotypes, indicating that Ds is required for efficient Wg signaling. This is further supported by genetic interactions between ds and several components of the Wg pathway in another developmental context. Ds and Wg show a complementary pattern of expression in early wing discs, suggesting that Ds acts in Wg-receiving cells. These results thus provide the first evidence for a more general role of Ds in Wnt signaling during imaginal development, not only affecting cell polarization but also modulating the response to Wg during the subdivision of the wing disc along its proximodistal (PD) axis.
GD3 Prevalence in Adult Rat Retina Correlates with the Maintenance of a High GD3‐/GM2‐Synthase Activity Ratio Throughout Development

Unlike neurons from avian retina and other regions of avian and mammalian brain, neurons from mammalian retina not only contain gangliosides of the gangliotetraosyl ceramide series but also maintain a prevalence of GD3, a gangliosidc of the lactosylceramidc series characteristic of proliferative neural cells, when they are fully differentiated. We show here that GD3 is prevalent at all developmental periods of the rat retina from birth [50% of total gangliosidic N‐acetylneuraminic acid (Neu NAc)] to adult (30% of total gangliosidic Neu NAc). GD3‐synthase specific activity increased about 1.5‐fold from birth to day 7 and essentially plateaued thereafter. The GD3‐/GM2‐synthase specific activity ratio was compared in rat and chicken retina at early and late developmental stages. In chicken retina the ratio was about 0.7 at early (when GD3 is prevalent) and decreased to 0.07 at late (when GDI a is prevalent) developmental stages. In rat retina the ratio was about 13 and 6 at, respectively, early and late developmental stages. These findings suggest that the prevalence of GD3 and of other “b” pathway gangliosides in adult rat retina neurons could be due in part to the maintenance of a high GD3‐/GM2‐synthase activity ratio throughout development of the tissue.
BM6, a new semi-synthetic vinca alkaloid, exhibits its potent in vivo anti-tumor activities via its high binding affinity for tubulin and improved pharmacokinetic profiles

The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-tumor activities and to establish the mechanism of the action of 3-decarboxyl-acetyloxylmethyl-anhydrovinblastine (BM6), a new semi-synthetic Vinca alkaloid, in an effort towards finding the favorable therapeutics of Vinca alkaloid derivatives. BM6 was characterized by its superior in vivo activity to vinorelbine in preclinical tumor models, though BM6 exerted in vitro cytotoxic activity against a wide spectrum of tumor cell lines with IC50 values generally 10-fold higher than the classic Vinca alkaloids. Of note, BM6 displayed more potent cytotoxic activity against multidrug-resistant sublines. We further found that BM6 shared the mitotic arresting and tubulin-interacting properties comparable with other Vinca alkaloids. BM6 also induced significant cell cycle arrested in mitosis and cytoskeleton disruption via interacting with the Vinca binding site on tubulin. Encouragingly, the features in term of its higher tubulin binding affinities and better pharmacokinetic profiles highlight BM6 distinct from other Vinca alkaloids, which help provide more data for exploiting new semi-synthetic Vinca alkaloids.
Development and characterization of antibodies directed against the mouse D4 dopamine receptor

Polyclonal antibodies against the mouse D4 dopamine receptor have been developed in order to investigate the anatomical localization of this receptor in the mouse brain. Two antibodies were generated against specific peptides corresponding to predicted extracellular and intracellular regions of the D4 protein. Specificity of these antibodies was demonstrated on human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) cells transfected with different dopamine receptor subtypes; immunoreactivity was detected only in cells transfected with the mouse D4 dopamine receptor cDNA. Following in vitro transcription/translation of the mouse D4 cDNA, a single protein band of 36 kDa was selectively immunoprecipitated with the anti‐D4 antibodies. The antibodies also detected a single protein of 36 kDa in Western blot of HEK 293 cells transiently transfected with the mouse D4 receptor. These antibodies were able to detect the D4 receptor in several regions of the mouse brain. In the regions examined, D4 immunoreactivity was found in neurones located in layers II–VI of the frontal and piriform cortices, with the highest concentration in layer II; in scattered neurones in the caudate putamen and in larger neurones in the globus pallidus. In all experiments, both antibodies exhibit the same specificity, and all immunoreactivity could be abolished by preincubation with the corresponding peptide antigen.
RITA: A framework based on multi-evaluation techniques for user interface evaluation: Application to a transport network supervision system

Since several years, the HCI community has proposed numerous techniques, tools, concepts, guidelines, patterns and approaches for the evaluation of interactive systems. The evaluation related techniques are so various which makes the choice of the appropriate one difficult for the evaluator. Each technique can be defined by its specificities and its particular aspects. However, several works recommend the use of more than one evaluation technique to obtain better evaluation results and cover larger specter of inspected aspects in the evaluation process. In this paper, we suggest combining between three different techniques for user interface evaluation. These techniques are exploited through an evaluation framework. The proposed framework is based on the questionnaire, the electronic informer and the ergonomic quality inspection as complementary evaluation techniques. Then, the evaluation process presented by the proposed evaluation framework covers the user interface information display to the user, the analysis of the interaction between the user interface interaction and the user satisfaction about the evaluated user interface. The proposed evaluation deducts then a broad outfit of utility and usability problems in the evaluated interface.
SERT and NET polymorphisms, temperament and antidepressant response

Abstract Background: The genetic variations in norepinephrine transporter (NET) and serotonin transporter (SERT) genes have been associated with personality traits, several psychiatric disorders and the efficacy of antidepressant treatment. Aims: We investigated the separate effects and possible interactions between NET T-182C (rs2242446) and SERT 5-HTTLPR (rs4795541) polymorphisms on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) treatment response and temperamental traits assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in a clinical sample of subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: Our sample of 97 patients with major depression completed the 107-item TCI temperament questionnaire (version IX) at the initial assessment of the study and after 6 weeks of follow-up. All subjects received selective SSRI medications. Temperament dimension scores at baseline (1) and endpoint (2) during antidepressant treatment were analyzed between NET and SERT genotypes. Results: SS-genotype of 5-HTTLPR was associated with higher baseline Persistence scores than SL- or LL-genotype. A corresponding but weaker association was found at endpoint. No differences were found between 5-HTTLPR genotypes and other temperament dimensions and 5-HTTLPR genotypes had no effect on treatment response. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the SS-genotype of 5-HTTLPR is associated with Persistence scores in patients with MDD. Higher Persistence could be viewed as a negative trait when recovering from stress and its association with short and “weaker” S-allele may be related to less efficient serotonin neurotransmission, possibly resulting in less effective coping strategies on a behavioral level.
Management of Internal Fistulas in Crohn's Disease

Internal fistulas occur in 5–10% of patients with Crohn's disease. The clinical presentation of each of the three main types of internal fistulas–enteroenteric, enterovaginal, and enterovesical fistulas–is important in determining the best management. Asymptomatic fistulas usually require no treatment, but fistulas that cause severe or persistent symptoms necessitate intervention. Previously regarded as a surgical condition requiring resection, some internal fistulas are amenable to a more conservative approach involving medical therapy, surgical repair, or both. So far, there have not been any prospective studies designed specifically to assess the efficacy of a medical treatment of internal fistulas, and information about treatment results is gleaned from trials in which patients with internal fistulas have been included and from retrospective reports. Drugs that have been reported to close internal fistulas partially or completely include azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, and infliximab. Reparative surgical techniques include transrectal and transvaginal mucosal advancement flaps, cutaneous advancement flap, and anal stricturectomy in combination with a rectal mucosal advancement sleeve. Prospective trials of medical therapy and combination medical and surgical therapy for internal fistulas are needed to provide evidence to support the use of these new therapeutic approaches.
Accumulation and speciation of Cd in Avicennia marina tissues

ABSTRACT Avicennia marina is a high-Cd-tolerant species in the mangrove wetlands. A hydroponic experiment was carried out to research the accumulation and chemical form distribution of Cd in the tissues of A. marina under different concentrations and durations of Cd stress. It was found that the concentrations of Cd in plant tissues followed the order of root > stem > leaf. The data suggested that root activity decreased, Cd accumulation ability weakened in roots, and the translocation factor increased in stems and leaves with the increase of stress duration. With a proactive defense mechanism, most Cd was bound to pectates, organic acids, and protein, especially in roots and stems with the most proportion of 88.51 and 78.91%, respectively, having lower biological activities. The Cd bounded to water-soluble organic acid and free inorganic aminophenol–Cd showed the lowest concentration. The pectates, organic acids, and protein-integrated Cd seem the most important in affecting Cd detoxification for A. marina; this mechanism of change in Cd biological activities decreases the toxicity of this aggressive pollutant and presents new knowledge about the tolerance of mangrove plants.
Short-term efficacy of methylphenidate: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial among survivors of childhood cancer.

PURPOSE Children surviving acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and malignant brain tumors (BTs) have a higher incidence of attention and learning problems in school than do their healthy peers. The present study tests the hypothesis that the psychostimulant methylphenidate (MPH) improves cognitive and social functioning among these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We report on 83 long-term survivors of ALL and BT identified as having attentional deficits on behavioral testing and parent or teacher report, and problems with academic achievement. The 47 male and 36 female patients ranged from 0.6 to 14.3 years (median, 5.4 years) of age at diagnosis and 6.7 to 17.9 years (median, 11.9 years) of age at participation. The patients (40 ALL, 43 BT) participated in a randomized, double-blind, 3-week home cross-over trial of placebo (bid), low-dose MPH (0.3 mg/kg; maximum dose, 10 mg bid), and moderate-dose MPH (0.6 mg/kg; maximum dose, 20 mg bid). The primary end points were weekly teacher and parent reports on the Conners' Rating Scales and Social Skills Rating System. RESULTS Compared to placebo, significant improvement with MPH was reported by teachers and parents on the Conners' Rating Scales and by teachers on the Social Skills Rating System. However, no consistent advantage of moderate dose over low dose was observed. Of those participating, 66 (79.5%) of the 83 patients continued on best clinical management. CONCLUSION Treatment with MPH can at least temporarily reduce some attentional and social deficits among survivors of childhood ALL and BT. Long-term follow-up will reveal those subsets of patients who are more likely to benefit from MPH.