Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-condition Gaussian probabilistic linear discriminate analysis in automatic speaker recognition

Automatic Speaker Recognition Systems (ASRSs) are being used in forensic investigations to help experts to appreciate the measure of confidence related to real vocal comparison cases. Accuracy is an important aspect in such kind of applications where the existing recognition approaches are known to be sensitive to recording conditions mismatch, the utterances lengths mismatch, and the linguistic variation effects. This paper proposes a recognition strategy based on the use of Multi-condition Gaussian Probabilistic Linear Discriminate Analysis (MGPLDA) to compensate the effects of this type of perturbation sources. Experiments using an Algerian Speaker Recognition Database collected in different recording conditions have shown that the proposed approach successfully improves the system performances in terms of discrimination and calibration quality.
Software Evolution of Legacy Systems - A Case Study of Soft-migration

Software ages. It does so in relation to surrounding software components: as those are updated and modernized, static software becomes evermore outdated relative to them. Such legacy systems are either tried to be kept alive, or they are updated themselves, e.g., by re-factoring or porting—they evolve. Both approaches carry risks as well as maintenance cost profiles. In this paper, we give an overview of software evolution types and drivers; we outline costs and benefits of various evolution approaches; and we present tools and frameworks to facilitate so-called “soft” migration approaches. Finally, we describe a case study of an actual platform migration, along with pitfalls and lessons learned. This paper thus aims to give software practitioners—both resource-allocating managers and choice-weighing engineers—a general framework with which to tackle software evolution and a specific evolution case study in a frequently-encountered Java-based setup.
Invasive front in oral squamous cell carcinoma: image and flow cytometric analysis with clinicopathologic correlation.

OBJECTIVE Pathologists have drawn attention to the invasive tumor front (ITF) in the determination of the biologic aggressiveness of oral cancer. We have attempted to discover the prognostic significance of cancer cells with abnormal DNA content at the ITF of oral squamous cell carcinoma. STUDY DESIGN A comparative DNA analysis by means of image cytometry and flow cytometry was conducted to confirm the usefulness of image cytometry in detecting cancer cells having abnormal DNA content at the ITF. The prognostic value of cancer cells with abnormal DNA content ws examined by a multivariate analysis for 195 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. RESULTS In the comparative DNA analysis, it was suggested that image cytometry is useful for detecting cancer cells with abnormal DNA content (4c exceeding rate [4cER]), which is associated with poor prognosis of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. In the multivariate analysis, 3 independent factors were found to significantly influence cause-specific survival. These are, in decreasing order of influence, (1) abnormal DNA content (4cER), (2) clinical stage, and (3) growth type. CONCLUSION The presence of cancer cells with abnormal DNA content of the ITF in conjunction with clinical findings (clinical stage and growth type) can give additional useful information when selecting treatment strategies for oral cancer patients.
Dynamics of Subcutaneous Tissue Response to the Implantation of Tetracycline-Treated or Untreated Membrane of Demineralized Bovine Cortical Bone in Rats

This study aims to conduct a histological evaluation of tissue response to a membrane obtained from demineralized bovine cortical bone, associated or not, to tetracycline (TTC). TTC treated and untreated bovine membranes were implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of rats (n = 120). The animals were killed 1, 3, 7, 15, 30, and 60 days after surgery. The tissue around the material was fixed in 10% buffered formalin for 24 h. Sections of 6 mm were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. In general, moderate to intense inflammatory response was observed in the initial periods (1 and 3 days), moderate response in the 7- and 15-day periods, and that was remarkably reduced at 30 and 60 days. Resorptions of the membranes by mononuclear cells (fibroblasts and macrophages) and multinucleated giant cells were observed 15 days after implantation. Only the remnants of the material could be detected in some animals in 60 days. Both membranes were tolerated by the tissue and were completely resorbed after 30-60 days. While the association of TTC apparently accelerated the biodegradability of the membrane substrate, no significant differences were found in the tissue response behavior between the two groups tested.
Affine Parameterization of Cascade Control with Time Delays

Abstract The cascade control architecture is a standard solution in control engineering practice for industrial plants with considerable time delays. In this paper, the set of all stabilizing cascade controllers in parametric form is presented for such plants. The parameterization is based on the use of the so-called RQ meromorphic functions expressing the time delay character of the plant and the controller. The parameter enters any closed-loop transfer function in an affine manner. The performance is specified in terms of disturbance rejection and the “slave” controller gain is considered as the key parameter of the affine parameterization. Unlike in most literature on the subject, the primary controlled output is not considered to be directly dependent on the secondary controlled variable. The disturbance rejection potentials are discussed for various options of controlled plants with delays and the varying role of the secondary controlled output option is investigated.
Listeria Pathogenesis and Molecular Virulence Determinants

SUMMARY The gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a highly fatal opportunistic foodborne infection. Pregnant women, neonates, the elderly, and debilitated or immunocompromised patients in general are predominantly affected, although the disease can also develop in normal individuals. Clinical manifestations of invasive listeriosis are usually severe and include abortion, sepsis, and meningoencephalitis. Listeriosis can also manifest as a febrile gastroenteritis syndrome. In addition to humans, L. monocytogenes affects many vertebrate species, including birds. Listeria ivanovii, a second pathogenic species of the genus, is specific for ruminants. Our current view of the pathophysiology of listeriosis derives largely from studies with the mouse infection model. Pathogenic listeriae enter the host primarily through the intestine. The liver is thought to be their first target organ after intestinal translocation. In the liver, listeriae actively multiply until the infection is controlled by a cell-mediated immune response. This initial, subclinical step of listeriosis is thought to be common due to the frequent presence of pathogenic L. monocytogenes in food. In normal indivuals, the continual exposure to listerial antigens probably contributes to the maintenance of anti-Listeria memory T cells. However, in debilitated and immunocompromised patients, the unrestricted proliferation of listeriae in the liver may result in prolonged low-level bacteremia, leading to invasion of the preferred secondary target organs (the brain and the gravid uterus) and to overt clinical disease. L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are facultative intracellular parasites able to survive in macrophages and to invade a variety of normally nonphagocytic cells, such as epithelial cells, hepatocytes, and endothelial cells. In all these cell types, pathogenic listeriae go through an intracellular life cycle involving early escape from the phagocytic vacuole, rapid intracytoplasmic multiplication, bacterially induced actin-based motility, and direct spread to neighboring cells, in which they reinitiate the cycle. In this way, listeriae disseminate in host tissues sheltered from the humoral arm of the immune system. Over the last 15 years, a number of virulence factors involved in key steps of this intracellular life cycle have been identified. This review describes in detail the molecular determinants of Listeria virulence and their mechanism of action and summarizes the current knowledge on the pathophysiology of listeriosis and the cell biology and host cell responses to Listeria infection. This article provides an updated perspective of the development of our understanding of Listeria pathogenesis from the first molecular genetic analyses of virulence mechanisms reported in 1985 until the start of the genomic era of Listeria research.
Biomechanical analysis of the Rolled (RLD) leaf phenotype of maize.

The pleiotropic effects of the Rld1-O/+ mutation of Zea mays (Poaceae) on leaf phenotype include a suppression of normal transverse unrolling, a reversed top/bottom epidermal polarity, and an apparently straighter longitudinal shape. According to engineering shell theory, there might be mechanical coupling between transverse and longitudinal habit, i.e., the leaf rolling itself might produce the longitudinal straightening. We tested this possibility with quantitative curvature measurements and mechanical uncoupling experiments. The contributions of elastic bending under self weight, mechanical coupling, and rest state of leaf parts to the longitudinal and transverse habit were assessed in Rld1-O/+ mutants and a population of sibling +/+ segregants. Elastic bending and curvature coupling are shown to be relatively unimportant. The Rld1-O/+ mutation is shown to alter not only the unrolling process, but also the developmental longitudinal curving in the growing leaf, leading to a straighter midrib and a rolled lamina. The Rld1-O/+ mutant is thus a suitable model to study the relation between tissue polarity and differential curvature development in the maize leaf. Since on the abaxial side of the leaf, more abundant sclerenchyma is found in +/+ than in Rld1-O/+, a gradient in sclerification may contribute to the development of midrib curvature.
BinPro: A Tool for Binary Backdoor Accountability in Code Audits

BinPro: A Tool for Binary Backdoor Accountability in Code Audits Dhaval Miyani Master of Applied Science Graduate Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Toronto 2016 Highly security sensitive organizations often perform source code audits on software they use. However, after the audit is performed, they must still perform a binary code audit to ensure the binary provided to them matches the source code that was audited. BinPro seeks to reduce the manual effort required to perform the binary audit by accounting for the binary versions of functions in a given source code. To do this, BinPro combines static analysis, graph matching and machine learning. Over a corpus of 10 applications, BinPro is able to match 74% of binary functions with their source code counterparts, and thus determine that they are free of malicious backdoors if their source code version is. When evaluated on applications that backdoors inserted into their binaries, BinPro detects that they do not match any function in the source code.
Nutrient and pharmacological stimulation of insulin‐secreting cells: marked differences in the onset of electrical activity

Whole‐cell current clamp experiments with the patch‐clamp technique have been used to investigate the electrical activity of insulin‐secreting (RINm5F) cells. When challenged with either glucose (10 mM), glyceraldehyde (10 mM), L‐alanine (5 mM) or tolbutamide (100 microM) the cells depolarized and this led to the generation of spike potentials. Marked differences in the lag times between stimulation and the onset of electrical activity were observed. Both tolbutamide and L‐alanine evoked spike potentials within on average 7 s of stimulation, whilst the effects of glucose and glyceraldehyde were only observed over a much longer delay. These variations may be explained by differences in the routes through which closure of ATP‐sensitive K+ channels is brought about.
A C language extension for programming real-time applications

One of the most diffused approaches in programming real-time applications is using the C language supported by suited operating system calls. Due to the differences in the real-time operating systems, the source code produced using this approach cannot easily be ported to other platforms. Moreover since the concurrent structure and the real-time constraints of the application are dispersed among the parameters of the system calls, program maintenance and upgrades end up being complex and costly activities. We propose a small set of extensions for the C language arising from our experience in programming real-time applications. Constructs for expressing tasks, shared resources, communication channels, interrupt handling, and real-time constraints are provided. The primary goal of the proposed language extensions is to enhance the programs concurrent and real-time structure and increase the number of static checks on source code, while retaining most of the C language flexibility.
Nonuniform Changes in the Distribution of Visual Attention from Visual Complexity and Action: A Driving Simulation Study

Researchers acknowledge the interplay between action and attention, but typically consider action as a response to successful attentional selection or the correlation of performance on separate action and attention tasks. We investigated how concurrent action with spatial monitoring affects the distribution of attention across the visual field. We embedded a functional field of view (FFOV) paradigm with concurrent central object recognition and peripheral target localization tasks in a simulated driving environment. Peripheral targets varied across 20–60 deg eccentricity at 11 radial spokes. Three conditions assessed the effects of visual complexity and concurrent action on the size and shape of the FFOV: (1) with no background, (2) with driving background, and (3) with driving background and vehicle steering. The addition of visual complexity slowed task performance and reduced the FFOV size but did not change the baseline shape. In contrast, the addition of steering produced not only shrinkage of the FFOV, but also changes in the FFOV shape. Nonuniform performance decrements occurred in proximal regions used for the central task and for steering, independent of interference from context elements. Multifocal attention models should consider the role of action and account for nonhomogeneities in the distribution of attention.
Design methodologies for robust nano-positioning

In this paper, we present a systematic control design and analysis for a two-dimensional nano-positioner. The primary emphasis of the paper is on the robustness of the closed-loop device as these flexure-stage-based, piezoactuated nano-positioners are nonlinear and operate in diverse conditions. To this end, we have used many tools from modern control theory to model devices and to quantify device resolution, bandwidth, and robustness. The implementation of this procedure for the simultaneous achievement of the objectives of robustness, high precision and high bandwidth is presented. The merits of the paradigm are demonstrated through experimental results.
Isolated cardiac cells for electropharmacological studies.

Single cardiac myocytes provide a model widely used to characterize the electrophysiological properties of drugs and to identify new therapeutic targets. This review focuses on isolation procedures to obtain single cardiac myocytes from several mammal species, including humans, and on patch-clamp technique as a useful method to investigate the molecular mechanism of druy actions.
Core Outcome Sets

‘Clinical trials are only as credible as their outcomes. ’1 Clinical trials guide clinical practice. They do this by demonstrating beneficial or detrimental effects of an intervention on patients: the outcomes of the trial. The reliability of trial findings can be reduced by poor research practices such as inadequate allocation concealment or lack of blinding.2 The CONSORT standards were developed to alleviate the problems caused by poor trial reporting.3 Problems can also be caused by the selection, measurement and reporting of outcomes for clinical trials:
Antithrombotic Therapy in Patients With Heart Valve Prostheses

Heart valve prostheses carry a risk for thrombosis and require an antithrombotic strategy to prevent stroke, systemic embolism, and prosthetic valve thrombosis. Contemporary randomized trials to guide the clinician on the optimal anticoagulant treatment are scarce, and the validity of the historical data for current recommendations can be questioned in view of the changes in valve prostheses, the patient population, and antithrombotic therapies. This limited evidence from clinical trials translates into divergent recommendations from the different scientific societies on the optimal intensity of oral anticoagulation and on the indication for antiplatelet therapy. The availability of new antithrombotic agents and the unclear thrombotic risk of the currently used prostheses underscore the need to redefine antithrombotic treatment in patients with heart valve prostheses.
CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ABNORMAL MICRO‐LESIONS AT THE ORO‐HYPOPHARYNX DETECTED BY A MAGNIFYING NARROW BAND IMAGING SYSTEM

Background: Narrow band imaging (NBI) with magnifying endoscopy (NBI‐ME) allows the detection of abnormal micro‐lesions smaller than 5 mm in diameter in the oro‐hypopharynx that could not be visualized previously. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the clinicopathological characteristics of abnormal micro‐lesions of the oro‐hypopharynx detected by NBI‐ME
Distributed MIMO techniques in wireless sensor networks with relays

In this paper we propose new solution for improving performance of the wireless sensor networks with relay stations, through distributed Multiple Input-Multiple Output implementation, i.e. by creating virtual Orthogonal Space Time Block Coding systems. The considered scheme provides creating virtual 2×1 Multiple Input-Single Output channel. This system besides sensor nodes includes one base station, and one relay station equipped with two antennas, or two relay stations each equipped with a single antenna. The simulation results show that the proposed solution can provide evidently better Bit Error Rate performance.
Kydonas-an autonomous hybrid robot: walking and climbing

Kydonas is an autonomous walking robot, making use of three wheels and three legs for moving in a free navigation space. More specifically, it employs autonomous wheels to move around in an environment where the surface is smooth with no unevenness. However, in the case that there are small height obstacles, stairs, or small height unevenness in the navigation environment, the robot makes use of both wheels and legs to efficiently travel through. Simulated results of Kydonas' traveling for several cases are provided.
PHIGS+ functional description revision

This is a set of proposed extensions to the proposed PHIGS graphics standard (dpANS X3.144-198x. DIS 9592) to cover the areas of lighting, shading and advanced primitives which have thus far not been addressed by that standard. This document is organized to promote its eventual integration with the existing PHIGS documentation and is therefore not tutorial in nature. It assumes that the reader is familiar with PHIGS. with rendering and with curves and surfaces. This specification has been made available to standards bodies for their consideration.
An Efficient Bulk Updating Method for Finite Automaton Based XML Filtering Systems

In structure-oriented XML filtering systems, approaches that use event-based parsing techniques and automatons are proved to have sufficiently high performance. Many of these filtering systems are based on Finite Automaton (FA). In this paper, we study the updating techniques for the FA-based filtering engine, which is the most important component of an XML filtering system and propose an efficient bulk updating method which considers common prefixes among the new arriving queries. Experiments show that our method provides significantly better scalability and performance when compared to existing methods.
VEGF/VEGFR signalling as a target for inhibiting angiogenesis

VEGFs and a respective family of tyrosine kinases receptors (VEGFRs) are key proteins modulating angiogenesis, the formation of new vasculature from an existing vascular network. There has been considerable evidence in vivo, including clinical observations, that abnormal angiogenesis is implicated in a number of disease conditions, which include rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation, cancer, psoriasis, degenerative eye conditions and others. Antiangiogenic therapies based on inhibition of VEGF/VEGFR signalling were reported to be powerful clinical strategies in oncology and ophthalmology. Current efforts have yielded promising clinical data for several antiangiogenic therapeutics. In this review, the authors elucidate key aspects of VEGFR signalling, as well as clinically relevant strategies for the inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis, with an emphasis on small-molecule VEGFR inhibitors.
Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups influence the Friedreich’s ataxia phenotype

3 Diabetes mellitus or carbohydrate intolerance is frequently described. 1 The age of onset is variable. The disease usually comes at puberty but several cases have become symptomatic after 40 years. 4 The mole- cular defect that occurs in Friedreich's ataxia is the trinucleotide GAA expansion in the first intron of the X25 gene. This gene encodes for a 210 aa mitochondrial protein called frataxin. 5 Levels of frataxin mRNA and protein are severely reduced as a result of this expansion. 5 Although the exact physiological function of frataxin is not known, its involvement in iron-sulphur (Fe-S) cluster biogenesis 6 has been suggested. The Friedreich's ataxia phenotype shows a variable expression with respect to the age of onset and the presence of some signs or symptoms. Disease duration has been proposed to influence dysarthria, decreased vibration sense, optic atrophy, and diabetes. 7 Some Friedreich's ataxia phenotype features are strongly correlated with GAA expan- sion size. An inverse relationship has been demonstrated between GAA repeat size and the age of onset. 78 Friedreich's ataxia with retained reflexes or absence of cardiomyopathy was associated with shorter expansions. In a previous report, we demonstrated that GAA size accounts for about 70% of the onset age variance, 8
VISUAL DISTORTION IN AMBLYOPIA*

To assess accurately the vision of an amblyopic eye is in itself a problem. In an earlier investigation (Pugh, 1954), the recording of visual acuity in the amblyopic eye gave difficulty in every one of 150 patients. The usual test with a Snellen chart gave inconsistent results when tested on five or six consecutive charts during one examination. The patient's ability to read the letters appeared to alter with the shape of the letters, with the number of letters in the row, and also with the position of the letter in that row. These apparently erratic answers were given by good and less good observers alike. When visual acuity was very poor, this was understandable because the patient might be experiencing difficulty in holding a central fixation, but the same discrepancies occurred when the visual acuity had improved to 6/12 or better and central fixation appeared to be held without any difficulty. A detailed analysis of such inconsistencies has therefore been made.