Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methods for binaural recording and reproduction

Summary The term binaural technique is used as a headline for methods for sound recording, synthesis and reproduction, where the sound pressure signals recorded (or synthesized) are the eardrum signals of the listener, and where successful reproduction is achieved, if these are truely reproduced in the ears of the li stener. This paper shortly summarizes the main results of a series of investigations that are the current basis for the utilization of the binaural technique at Aalborg University and possibly elsewhere, including investigations on sound transmission in the ear canal, measurements of HRTFs (head-related transfer functions), calibration of headphones and local ization experiments in real life and with binaural recordings from real heads and artificial heads.
International Conference on Electricity Distribution Prague , 8-11 June 2009 Paper 0358 BENEFITS OF ENERGY STORAGE IN POWER SYSTEMS WITH HIGH LEVEL OF INTERMITTENT GENERATION

The world has witnessed increasing growth in wind power in recent years. In 2007, the UK government unveiled a plan for what could be one of the most ambitious expansions in wind power generation the world has ever seen. Through construction of hundreds of offshore turbines, the country hopes to power the equivalent of all the UK’s homes by 2020. However, a major problem associated with wind power is its intermittency. Even if it were predictable, it is still difficult to match the generation with demand. This paper focuses on the adoption of energy storage to alleviate the intermittency problem and the extra value which energy storage would add by capturing the wind power during times when transmission lines are congested and transmitting it at other times. In the paper a methodology is proposed to analyse the ability of energy storage to accommodate the intermittency of wind power generation. The model helps estimate the amount of wind energy that would have to be curtailed and the amount of electrical demand would have been left unsatisfied by using wind power alone. By reviewing a number of reports on development and integration of large scale energy storage in power system, the paper concludes that it is important now for the relevant regulator to develop a mechanism to encourage investment in energy storage. However, the development of such a mechanism requires a clear understanding of the benefits of energy storage, and the level of such benefits in monetary terms. In this paper, models for quantifying the technical, economic and environmental benefits of energy storage in an example power system with high level of wind power generation have been developed. Simulation results based on the model power system show that energy storage is able to mitigate power fluctuation and improve the wind plant capacity factor.
PRIVACY PRESERVING ACCESS CONTROL WITH AUTHENTICATION FOR SECURING A DATA IN CLOUD STORAGE

In the off-site to third-party cloud storage services so as to reduce data management costs. However, it must provide security guarantees for the outsourced data, which is now maintained by third parties. In design and implement FADE, a secure overlay cloud storage system that achieves fine-grained, policy-based access control and file assured deletion. It associates outsourced files with file access policies, and assuredly deletes files to make them unrecoverable to anyone upon revocations of file access policies. In wireless communications, fading is deviation of the attenuation affecting a signal over certain propagation media. The fading may vary with time, geographical position or radio frequency, and is often modeled as a random process. A fading channel is a communication channel comprising fading. In wireless systems, fading may either be due to multipath propagation, referred to as multipath induced fading, or due to shadowing from obstacles affecting the
In vivo comparison of probiotic bacteriaâs with their DNA:As augmenter of immune efficacy

The recent increase in the incidence of infectious diseases or immunological disorders raises a need to find new immunomodulators. Probiotics have been shown to be one of the alternative agents which strengthen the immune response of the body. But recently bacterial DNA is also being explored as an immune enhancer. Present study was conducted to compare the in vivo immunomodulating capacity of three probiotic strains as live bacteria with their genomic DNA. Probiotic bacteria’s (109 cells ml-1) were administered orally whereas their extracted DNA’s (75 μg mL-1) were injected into the tibialis anterior muscle in 3 doses over a span of 17 days. The animals were sacrificed after the completion of experimental period i.e. 17 days. Immune status of the treated animals was assessed by employing the tests for Humoral Immune Response and Cell Mediated Immune Response as Delayed Type Hypersensitivity, Nitroblue Tetrazolium Reduction test, Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase and Bactericidal activity was studied in SRBC immunized mice. Levamisole (25mgkg-1) was used as the standard drug. Overall, these results demonstrated that a substantial augmentation in immune efficacy was observed in the animals receiving genomic DNA over the group receiving viable bacteria. It is concluded that genomic DNA of probiotics should be exploited as a potent immune enhancer and as a biotherapeutic agent
Termediator-II: Identification of Interdisciplinary Term Ambiguity Through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis

Termediator-II: Identification of Interdisciplinary Term Ambiguity Through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Owen Riley School of Technology, BYU Master of Science Technical disciplines are evolving rapidly leading to changes in their associated vocabularies. Confusion in interdisciplinary communication occurs due to this evolving terminology. Two causes of confusion are multiple definitions (overloaded terms) and synonymous terms. The formal names for these two problems are polysemy and synonymy. Termediator-I, a web application built on top of a collection of glossaries, uses definition count as a measure of term confusion. This tool was an attempt to identify confusing cross-disciplinary terms. As more glossaries were added to the collection, this measure became ineffective. This thesis provides a measure of term polysemy. Term polysemy is effectively measured by semantically clustering the text concepts, or definitions, of each term and counting the number of resulting clusters. Hierarchical clustering uses a measure of proximity between the text concepts. Three such measures are evaluated: cosine similarity, latent semantic indexing, and latent Dirichlet allocation. Two linkage types, for determining cluster proximity during the hierarchical clustering process, are also evaluated: complete linkage and average linkage. Crowdsourcing through a web application was unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a viable clustering threshold by public consensus. An alternate metric of polysemy, convergence value, is identified and tested as a viable clustering threshold. Six resulting lists of terms ranked by cluster count based on convergence values are generated, one for each similarity measure and linkage type combination. Each combination produces a competitive list, and no clear combination can be determined as superior. Semantic clustering successfully identifies polysemous terms, but each similarity measure and linkage type combination provides slightly different results.
Onset of End-Stage Renal Disease and Prevalence of Vascular Diseases at the Start of Dialysis in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Diabetic and Vascular Nephropathy

Background: End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in type 2 diabetic patients with renal disease can be observed after a varying duration of diabetes. The aim of the study was to investigate differences between type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy (dNP) versus Vascular Nephropathy (vNP). Patients and Methods: We investigated 90 uremic type 2 diabetic patients before start of dialysis. According to clinical diagnosis 66 patients had dNP (72%) and 20 patients vNP (24%) and four patients a chronic glomerulo nephritis was diagnosed (4%). The clinical diagnose was confirmed by histological findings in 40 patients, of them in 28 patients with dNP and in 12 subjects a histological finding was available. In 14 cases a kidney biopsy performed and in 26 patients a post-mortem biopsy at autopsy. Differences in the onset of ESRD in the presence of dNP and vNP were evaluated. Additionally, at the start of dialysis we investigated the prevalence of vascular diseases in relation to renal disease and diabetes duration. Results: The patients were divided into 3 groups, depending on the duration of diabetes. In group 1 diabetes duration was 20 years (n=16). The majority of the patients with dNP had diabetes for 15-20 years (50%) while most of those with vNP usually had diabetes for <15 years (55%). The prevalence of vascular diseases was similar in both groups. The prevalence of coronary artery disease was slightly higher in patients with dNP but not significant. Conclusion: In patients with dNP the duration of diabetes until onset of ESRD was longer than in patients with vNP, however, marked variationts were found. At onset of ESRD the prevalence of vascular diseases was similarin patients with dNP and vNP, though in thevNP group the diabetes duration was significantly longer. This can be explained by a higher age of the patients with vNP Diabetes – end-stage renal disease – diabetic nephropathyvascular nephropathy – vascular diseases.
Social Presence within the Community of Inquiry Framework.

The role of social presence as defined by the community of inquiry (CoI) framework is critiqued through a review of recent literature. Evidence is presented that questions the actual extent of knowledge co-construction that occurs in most higher education settings and therefore challenges the framework’s underlying assumption of the need for sustained, contiguous, two-way communication in higher-level online learning environments. The CoI framework has evolved from the description of a learning process within a social constructivist paradigm to an empirically testable construct in an objectivist paradigm. Related research results indicate that social presence does not impact cognitive presence in a meaningful way and that best teaching practices suggested by CoI-based studies are informed by objectivist, cognitively oriented learning theories. These suggest that higher-order cognition may be achieved through wide and varied combinations of learner–teacher, learner–content, and learner–learner interaction. Controlled studies can and should be undertaken to compare learning outcomes using sustained, contiguous, two-way communication to other learning models. To facilitate this, subcategories of social and teaching presences need to be revamped and analysis adjusted to separate processes that support explicitly group-based learning activities from those used by individual students.
Comparison of in vitro digestive fluid extraction and traditional in vivo approaches as measures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon bioavailability from sediments

The bioavailability of particle‐associated contaminants was measured by a new approach that employs the digestive fluid of deposit feeders to solubilize contaminants in vitro. The proportion of contaminant solubilized by digestive fluid of the polychaete Arenicola brasiliensis was considered a measure of bioavailability and was contrasted with other, more traditional measures (i.e., uptake clearance, bioaccumulation factor, and absorption efficiency). There was generally good agreement among the four methods on the relative bioavailability of benzo[a]pyrene from six sandy sediments. Measures of phenanthrene bioavailability did not show strong correlations due to both a more limited data set and perhaps greater importance of uptake from the dissolved phase. The bioavailability of spiked polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) differed from that of equivalent in situ–contaminated PAH but not in a predictable and consistent manner. By direct measurement of PAH content of recently ingested sediments collected from the foregut, we were able to quantify the importance of particle‐selective feeding in increasing PAH content of ingested material relative to the bulk, ambient sediments. In most instances, the effect of selective feeding by A. brasiliensis was minimal, increasing PAH content of ingested material <20% above the ambient sediments. Absorption efficiencies of PAH during gut passage were determined by direct measurement of PAH concentration in sediments at various points along the digestive tract. Overall digestive absorption efficiencies were similar to the extent of in vitro solubilization by digestive fluids from the same sediments. These data suggest that extent of solubilization of sediment‐bound contaminants during gut passage is a critical constraint on uptake and that absorption efficiency, with respect to the solubilized fraction, approaches 100%.
Homogenizing GPS Integrated Water Vapour Time Series: Methodology and Benchmarking the Algorithms on Synthetic Datasets

R. Van Malderen, E. Pottiaux, A. Klos, O. Bock, J. Bogusz, B. Chimani, M. Elias, M. Gruszczynska, J. Guijarro, S. Zengin Kazancı and T. Ning 1 Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, Brussels, roeland.vanmalderen@meteo.be 2 Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 3 Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland 4 IGN LAREG, University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris, France 5 Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, Austria 6 Research Institute of Geodesy, Topography and Cartography, Czech Republic 7 AEMET (Spanish Meteorological Agency), Spain 8 Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey 9 Lantmäteriet (Swedish Mapping, Cadastre and Land Registration Authority), Sweden
Weak Expansions: A Distinctive Feature of the Business Cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean

Using two standard cycle methodologies (classical and deviation cycle) and a comprehensive sample of 83 countries worldwide, including all developing regions, we show that the Latin American and Caribbean cycle exhibits two distinctive features. First, and most important, its expansion performance is shorter and, for the most part, less intense than that of the rest of the regions considered; in particular, that of East Asia and the Pacific. East Asia's and the Pacific's expansions last five years longer than those of Latin American and the Caribbean, and its output gain is 50 percent greater. Second, the Latin American and Caribbean region tends to exhibit contractions that are not significantly different from those other regions in terms of duration and amplitude. Both these features imply that the complete Latin American and Caribbean cycle has, overall, the shortest duration and smallest amplitude in relation to other regions. The specificities of the Latin American and Caribbean cycle are not confined to the short run. These are also reflected in variables such as productivity and investment, which are linked to long-run growth. East Asia's and the Pacific's cumulative gain in labor productivity during the expansionary phase is twice that of Latin American and the Caribbean. Moreover, the evidence also shows that the effects of the contraction in public investment surpass those of the expansion, leading to a declining trend over the entire cycle. In this sense, we suggest that policy analysis needs to increase its focus on the expansionary phase of the cycle. Improving our knowledge of the differences in the expansionary dynamics of countries and regions can further our understanding of the differences in their rates of growth and levels of development. We also suggest that, while the management of the cycle affects the short-run fluctuations of economic activity and therefore volatility, it is not trend neutral. Hence, the effects of aggregate demand management policies may be more persistent over time, and less transitory, than currently thought.
Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Cow Milk Using Culture and PCR methods

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the cau se of Johns disease also called paratuberculosis. This is economically one of the important infectious diseases in cattle and ruminant husbandry. This disease is manifested as granulomatosis entrocolitis, lymphadenitis and inflammation local lymphatic vessels. The typical sign of this disease is progressive loss of weight. Considering the importance of detection of this disease in this study, two methods, culture and PCR, were used for the identification of this microorganism . In this study 100 milk samples from apparently healthy cows and 100 milk samples respectively. The results of this study showed that culture and PCR analyses methods are important in the identification of the causes of this disease. Therefore, considering the frequency of the disease in the studied region, either of those methods can be used in the microorganism identification.
Use of Daptomycin in the Treatment of Prosthetic Joint Infections

This prospective, observational study evaluated daptomycin, a lipopeptide antibiotic active against most Gram-positive bacteria, in prosthetic joint infections. Thirty patients received daptomycin for a mean of 37 days. Most patients received daptomycin 4 or 6 mg/kg/day as secondor third-line therapy after failing prior therapy; three patients with reduced renal capacity at baseline received 4 mg/kg q48h. At 6 to 12 months' posttreatment follow-up, 20 patients (66%) had no clinical, laboratory, or radiographic signs of recurrent infection. Ten patients (33%), all of whom were infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, failed therapy with daptomycin. Daptomycin was discontinued in one patient due to an elevated level of creatinine phosphokinase. These results suggest daptomycin is a viable alternative to vancomycin or vancomyin-containing combination regimens for prosthetic joint infections. Sources of support: Suresh J. Antony, MD: Travel Grant from Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Editorial assistance was provided by Phase Five Communications, Inc. New York, supported by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Study of the Tail Dependence Structure in Global Financial Markets Using Extreme Value Theory

The presence of tail dependencies invalidates the multivariate normality assumptions in portfolio risk management. The identification of tail (in)dependencies has drawn major attention in empirical financial studies. Yet it is still a challenging issue both theoretically and practically. Previous studies based on either a restrictive model or the null hypothesis of tail (perfect) dependence does not well describe or interpret extreme co-movements in financial markets. This paper examines tail dependence structures underlying a broad range of financial asset classes employing the newly developed tail quotient correlation coefficients. In theory, the original tail quotient correlation coefficient proposed in (Zhang 2008) is adapted to incorporate cases with varying data driven random thresholds. Our empirical results demonstrate different tail dependence structures underlying various global financial markets. Either omission or unanimous treatment of the tail dependence structures for different financial markets will lead to erroneous conclusions or suboptimal investment choices. The multivariate extreme value theory framework in this study has the potential to serve as an useful tool in exploiting arbitrage opportunities, optimizing asset allocations, and building robust risk management strategies
The effect of age of acquisition and imageability on reading words aloud

The age at which words are learned appears to affect the speed at which they can be accessed in various tasks. This age of acquisition (AoA) effect is argued by some to be a semantic one; however, more explicitly semantic variables such as imageability are rarely found to have an effect on reading words aloud, and only under particular circumstances. This study explores the potential interaction between the two variables. AoA estimates by adult readers were found to be reliable for different word sets with different levels of imageability. Words varying on AoA and imageability but matched on other variables in a factorial design were then read aloud by skilled adult readers in either mixed blocks, or in pure blocks of high or low imageability. An AoA effect was found when words were presented in the mixed blocks, but no imageability effect was found. By contrast, an imageability effect was found across the pure blocks, and the AoA effect was significant within the high imageability block. The results are discussed in terms of two hypotheses relating to strategic control of processing in pure and mixed blocks, the route emphasis account and input gain.
Monitoring wildlife richness — Finnish applications based on wildlife triangle censuses

Studying human impact on ecological communities may require monitoring of wildlife communities on many spatial scales. Monitoring based on early and sensitive indicators of ecological change can be used administratively in ensuring the sustainability of populations. Wildlife richness is a multispecies concept which describes a general change in the abundance of an assemblage of wildlife species with reference to time and space. This is measured with the wildlife richness index (WRI), which is a sum of changes in the abundance of individual wildlife species. In this study, we present the administrative background of the needs for developing the multispecies monitoring. In order to meet the administrative need for ecological information, we introduce several applications, which are based on the interplay between the wildlife triangle scheme (WTS) and the concept of the WRI. In addition, we illustrate the usability of these applications with wildlife triangle data.
The cost of avoiding crime: the case of Bogota

We use hedonic price models to estimate the value households are willing to pay to avoid violent crime in the city of Bogota. We find that households living in the highest socioeconomic level (stratum 6) pay up to 7.2% of their house values in order to prevent average homicide rates from increasing in one standard deviation. Households in stratum 5 pay up to 2.4% of their house values to prevent homicide rates from increasing. The results indicate the willingness to pay for security by households in Bogota, and additionally, reveal that a pure public good like security, ends up creating urban private markets that auction security. These markets imply different levels of access to public goods among the population, and actually, the exclusion of the poorest. We find as well evidence of negative capitalization of the rate of attacks against life, and positive capitalization of the presence of police authority.
Psychometric evaluation of the authenticity scale on the sample of students in Serbia

The aim of this study, conducted at two time points, was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Serbian translation of the Authenticity Scale on the sample of students. The paper presents the results of testing the validity construct of the Authenticity Scale by confirmatory factor analysis at two time points, on the initial sample of 706 students and on the test-retest sample of 206 students within a 10-week interval. The model in which there are three separate, mutually related dimensions with the superordinate factor of authenticity best describes the scale structure. The test-retest sample was used to test the convergent validity of the Authenticity Scale by evaluating its relation to the measures of both positive and negative affect, self-esteem, psychological distress and psychological well-being and mental health index. The results showed that the Serbian translation of the Authenticity Scale represents a reliable and valid measure of authenticity.