Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Local training in speaker verification for PLDA

For i-vector model, normalization approach is Probabilistic linear discriminant analysis and has a significant performance for verification of speaker. However it requires a huge development data which cost a lot in many cases. Unsupervised adaption method is a possible approach, which use unlabeled data to adapt PLDA scattering matrices to the target domain. In this paper, ‘local training’ approach is adapted to train the PLDA model. In this approach local labels discriminate the speaker within a single conversion and therefore easy to obtain as compare to normal ‘global labels’. Proposed approach can deliver better performance and improvement, particularly with limited globally-labeled data.
Relation between complications of type I diabetes mellitus and collagen-linked fluorescence.

Nonenzymatically glycosylated proteins gradually form fluorescent cross-linked protein adducts--a process termed "browning. " The rate of this reaction increases with the glucose concentration. Assaying for the presence of browning products in long-lived proteins should therefore provide information on long-term metabolic control. We measured collagen-linked fluorescence typical for nonenzymatic browning in skin-biopsy specimens from 41 subjects with longstanding Type I diabetes and from 25 controls. Fluorescence correlated with age and (weakly) with the duration of diabetes. Mean age-adjusted fluorescence values were twice as high in diabetic subjects as in control subjects (P less than 0.0001) and increased with the severity of retinopathy, nephropathy, and arterial and joint stiffness. The correlation was significant for retinopathy (r = 0.42; P less than 0.01), arterial stiffness (r = 0.41; P less than 0.01), joint stiffness (r = 0.34; P less than 0.05), and the sum of all complications (r = 0.47; P less than 0.01). Fluorescence also correlated with systolic (r = 0.42; P less than 0.01) and diastolic (r = 0.36; P less than 0.05) blood pressures. If one can assume that the fluorescence results from a browning product of glucose, our data suggest that there is an overall correlation between the severity of diabetic complications and cumulative glycemia over many years.
Transports «informels» et adaptations à la métropolisation en Asie du Sud-Est

Le processus de metropolisation place les grandes villes d'Asie du Sud-Est dans une situation de mixite economique et fonctionnelle. La multiplicite et la variete des modes de transports locaux qu'on y rencontre constituent des formes d'ajustement aux nouvelles configurations urbaines et un enjeu majeur de l'integration, individuelle ou collective, aux circuits de l'economie moderne. Elles sont aussi un indicateur de l'intensite du processus de metropolisation.
Azo dyes and human health: A review

ABSTRACT Synthetic azo dyes are widely used in industries. Gerhardt Domagk discovered that the antimicrobial effect of red azo dye Prontosil was caused by the reductively cleaved (azo reduction) product sulfanilamide. The significance of azo reduction is thus revealed. Azo reduction can be accomplished by human intestinal microflora, skin microflora, environmental microorganisms, to a lesser extent by human liver azoreductase, and by nonbiological means. Some azo dyes can be carcinogenic without being cleaved into aromatic amines. However, the carcinogenicity of many azo dyes is due to their cleaved product such as benzidine. Benzidine induces various human and animal tumors. Another azo dye component, p-phenylenediamine, is a contact allergen. Many azo dyes and their reductively cleaved products as well as chemically related aromatic amines are reported to affect human health, causing allergies and other human maladies.
A biomechanical investigation of right-forward lunging step among badminton players

ABSTRACT This study presents the kinematics and plantar pressure characteristics of eight elite national-level badminton athletes and eight recreational college-level badminton players while performing a right-forward lunge movement in a laboratory-simulated badminton court. The hypothesis was that recreational players would be significantly different from elite players in kinematics and plantar pressure measures. Vicon® motion capture and Novel® insole plantar pressure measurement were simultaneously taken to record the lower extremity kinematics and foot loading during stance. Recreational players showed significantly higher peak pressure in the lateral forefoot (P = 0.002) and force time integral in the lateral forefoot (P = 0.013) and other toes (P = 0.005). Elite athletes showed higher peak pressure in the medial forefoot (P = 0.003), hallux (P = 0.037) and force time integral in the medial forefoot (P = 0.009). The difference in landing techniques for the lunge step between elite athletes and recreational players was observed with peak ankle eversion (−38.2°±2.4° for athletes and −11.1°±3.9° for players, P = 0.015); smaller knee range of motion in the coronal and transverse planes, with differences in peak knee adduction (28.9°±6.8° for athletes and 15.7°±6.2° for players, P = 0.031); peak knee internal rotation (20.3°±1.3° for athletes and 11.8°±3.2° for players, P = 0.029) and peak hip flexion (77.3°±4.1° for athletes and 91.3°±9.3° for players, P = 0.037).
Adaptive Reconfiguration Moves for MCMC inference in Dirichlet Process Mixtures

Bayesian mixture models are widely applied for unsupervised learning and exploratory data analysis. Markov chain Monte Carlo based on Gibbs sampling and split-merge moves are widely used for inference in these models. However, both methods are restricted to limited types of transitions and suffer from torpid mixing and low accept rates even for problems of modest size. We propose a method that considers a broader range of transitions that are close to equilibrium by exploiting multiple chains in parallel and using the past states adaptively to inform the proposal distribution. The method significantly improves on Gibbs and split-merge sampling as quantified using convergence diagnostics and acceptance rates. Adaptive MCMC methods which use past states to inform the proposal distribution has given rise to many ingenious sampling schemes for continuous problems and the present work can be seen as an important first step in bringing these benefits to partition-based problems.
SMRT corepressor interacts with PLZF and with the PML-retinoic acid receptor α (RARα) and PLZF-RARα oncoproteins associated with acute promyelocytic leukemia

Retinoic acid receptors (RARs) are hormone-regulated transcription factors that control key aspects of normal differentiation. Aberrant RAR activity may be a causal factor in neoplasia. Human acute promyelocytic leukemia, for example, is tightly linked to chromosomal translocations that fuse novel amino acid sequences (denoted PML, PLZF, and NPM) to the DNA-binding and hormone-binding domains of RARα. The resulting chimeric receptors have unique transcriptional properties that may contribute to leukemogenesis. Normal RARs repress gene transcription by associating with ancillary factors denoted corepressors (also referred to as SMRT, N-CoR, TRAC, or RIP13). We report here that the PML-RARα and PLZF-RARα oncoproteins retain the ability of RARα to associate with corepressors, and that this corepressor association correlates with certain aspects of the leukemic phenotype. Unexpectedly, the PLZF moiety itself can interact with SMRT corepressor. This interaction with corepressor is mediated, in part, by a POZ motif within PLZF. Given the presence of POZ motifs in a number of known transcriptional repressors, similar interactions with SMRT may play a role in transcriptional silencing by a variety of both receptor and nonreceptor transcription factors.
Low cost wireless sensor network for salinity monitoring in mangrove forests

Mangrove forests play an important role in fragile environments for coastal protecting, water quality and sediment filters. They provide habitat for birds, reptiles or fish. In last 25 years, this area has been severely depleted by the conversion to agricultural crops, aquaculture and pollution. The increased use of fertilizer and long periods of high salinity levels has considerably reduced the population of mangroves. Thus, this paper proposes the development of a low cost wireless salinity sensor network to control floodgates of fresh water from lakes and reservoirs which reach the mangrove area. The system consists of a set of programmable nodes able to communicate with the control gate system. These nodes send the water characteristics to the systems that open the floodgates of fresh water. The system helps us to control and get lower salinity levels and avoid the water logging. Having low cost sensors will facilitate the deployment of wireless sensor networks.
The Design and Construction of a Chinese Sarcasm Dataset

As a typical multi-layered semi-conscious language phenomenon, sarcasm is widely existed in social media text for enhancing the emotion expression. Thus, the detection and processing of sarcasm is important to social media analysis.However, most existing sarcasm dataset are in English and there is still a lack of authoritative Chinese sarcasm dataset. In this paper, we presents the design and construction of a largest high-quality Chinese sarcasm dataset, which contains 2,486 manual annotated sarcastic texts and 89,296 non-sarcastic texts. Furthermore, a balanced dataset through elaborately sampling the same amount non-sarcastic texts for training sarcasm classifier. Using the dataset as the benchmark, some sarcasm classification methods are evaluated.
Biogas production potential in Algeria: Waste to energy opportunities

Biogas is a renewable fuel and an energy source that can be applied in many different settings. It is defined as a combustible gas mixture produced by the anaerobic fermentation of biomass by bacteria and takes several days to form. In fact, the anaerobic digestion is a biological process, so valorizing organic matter, usually fatal, produces a renewable energy source and digestates that can be used as a fertilizer. Indeed, in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic digestion) and protected from light, organic matter is partially degraded by the combined action of several types of micro-organisms, a series of biological reactions leading to the formation of biogas composed of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Nitrogen N2, Hydrogen H2, Oxygen O2, Water vapor H2O, Hydroxide Sulfur H2S and the energy recoverable portion Methane CH4 but very harmful to the environment, or even 22 times more harmful than CO2 which is a greenhouse gas (GHG). Therefore, Waste-to-energy provides a solution for two problems: waste management and energy generation. This biogas opportunity has appeared as one of the most interesting applications to help many municipalities in different countries to produce clean energy and even to manage wastes. It can be applied on the wastes of the agricultural fields as well as in the farms, in the food industry or simply in the municipal landfills. Numerous biogas installations have been built all over the world. Initially, the main objective was to produce biogas to generate energy, but quickly the environment aspect has appeared as an additional reason to build such facilities. This study covers the sustainable development area in which we will estimate the potential to produce biogas starting from the annual organic wastes data given by the concerning ministries and organizations in Algeria.
Islet cell damage associated with tacrolimus and cyclosporine: morphological features in pancreas allograft biopsies and clinical correlation.

BACKGROUND The introduction of the potent immunosuppressive drugs tacrolimus (FK) and cyclosporine (CSA) has markedly improved the outcome of solid organ transplantation. However, these drugs can cause posttransplantation diabetes mellitus. Abnormalities in the glucose metabolism are of particular significance in pancreas transplantation. METHODS We studied 26 pancreas allograft biopsies, performed 1-8 months posttransplantation, from 20 simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant recipients, randomized to receive either FK or CSA. The biopsies were studied by light microscopy, immunoperoxidase stains for insulin and glucagon, in situ DNA-end labeling for detection of apoptosis, and electron microscopy. The islet morphology was correlated with the mean and peak levels of CSA and FK in serum, with corticosteroid administration and with glycemia. RESULTS On light microscopy cytoplasmic swelling, vacuolization, apoptosis, and abnormal immunostaining for insulin were seen in biopsies from patients receiving either FK or CSA. The islet cell damage was more frequent and severe in the group receiving FK than in the group receiving CSA (10/13 and 5/13, respectively) but the differences were not statistically significant. Significant correlation was seen between the presence of islet cell damage and serum levels of CSA or FK during the 15 days previous to the biopsy, as well as with the peak level of FK. Toxic levels of CSA or FK and administration of pulse steroids were associated with hyperglycemia when these occurred concurrently (P=0.005). Toxic levels of CSA or FK by themselves were associated with hyperglycemia in a minority of cases (8 and 26%, respectively). Electron microscopy showed cytoplasmic swelling and vacuolization, and marked decrease or absence of dense-core secretory granules in beta cells; the changes were more pronounced in patients on FK. Serial biopsies from two hyperglycemic patients receiving FK and evidence of islet cell damage demonstrated reversibility of the damage when FK was discontinued. CONCLUSIONS The structural damage to beta cells demonstrated in this study is similar to morphological and functional abnormalities previously described in experimental animal models and can at least partially account for the glucose metabolism abnormalities seen in patients receiving these drugs. Toxic levels of CSA or FK and higher steroid doses potentiate each others' diabetogenic effects.
Iron Age Archaeological sites in the Chobi Sector of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

Summary The Chobi sector of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, is rich in archaeological material, particularly pottery, which litters the banks of the Victoria Nile. Three major pottery types are represented: Urewe ware belonging to the Early Iron Age and dated to the third century A.D.; a hitherto undescribed type designated Chobi ware, which is probably partly contemporary with and partly later than Urewe ware; and roulette decorated pottery of recent type. Late Stone Age lithic material is also common in the area but is not described in detail.
Processing South Asian Languages Written in the Latin Script: the Dakshina Dataset

This paper describes the Dakshina dataset, a new resource consisting of text in both the Latin and native scripts for 12 South Asian languages. The dataset includes, for each language: 1) native script Wikipedia text; 2) a romanization lexicon; and 3) full sentence parallel data in both a native script of the language and the basic Latin alphabet. We document the methods used for preparation and selection of the Wikipedia text in each language; collection of attested romanizations for sampled lexicons; and manual romanization of held-out sentences from the native script collections. We additionally provide baseline results on several tasks made possible by the dataset, including single word transliteration, full sentence transliteration, and language modeling of native script and romanized text.
Effect of immediate hemoglobin A1c results on treatment decisions in office practice.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of an immediately available hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) result on glycemic control and physician decisions about pharmacologic therapy in an office practice. METHODS In a 1-year retrospective review of medical records, HbA1c results were analyzed in 115 patients beyond the age of 65 years, who had type 2 diabetes and were referred for the first time to a private endocrinology practice between April 1, 1997, and March 31, 1998. These patients were classified into two groups: group A (N = 93, insured by standard Medicare) had immediate HbA1c results (during the patient encounter) and group B (N = 22, insured by Medicare health maintenance organization [HMO]) had commercial laboratory HbA1c results available within 2 to 3 days. We reviewed the changes in the HbA1c level during the 12-month period and the presence or absence of a change in therapy at each visit. HbA1c levels were measured by ion-exchange low-pressure liquid chromatography in group A and by one of three capitated commercial laboratories (depending on HMO contracts) in group B. RESULTS At the end of the 12 months, the mean HbA1c decrease was 1.03 +/- 0.33% in group A and 0.33 +/- 0.83% in group B. During the first visit, 52% of the patients in group A had pharmacologic treatment interventions, whereas only 27% in group B had such interventions. CONCLUSION Rapid availability of the HbA1c results during the clinical encounter improves the ability of the physician to make appropriate therapeutic decisions and results in improved glycemic control.
Implementation of physical activity programs after COPD hospitalizations

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), following an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been found effective in some studies in reducing readmission rates as and has recently been recommended by the PR guidelines. However, very recent reports suggested that PR is not feasible after a hospital admission for a COPD exacerbation. The objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge gap on the underlying reasons for nonparticipation in PR in the posthospitalization period. We qualitatively analyzed the responses of 531 patients hospitalized for a COPD exacerbation who were not interested in participating in either PR (home or center based) or physical activity monitoring program after being discharged from the hospital. The responses were coded thematically, and independent reviewers compiled the raw data into themes. The characteristics of the 531 subjects (45% male) who declined the intervention are as follows: age was 70 ± 10 years, mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1%) predicted 40 ± 16, and age, dyspnea, and airflow obstruction index 6.0 ± 1.6 (scale 0–10). The themes for not attending include lack of interest (39%), the perception of “being too ill or frail or disabled” (24%), the perception of being “too busy or having too much to do” (11%), distance or the need of travel (11%), commitment issues (7%), comorbidities (6%), and lack of social support (2%). We identified barriers for PR or just physical activity programs after a hospitalization that may affect implementation of such programs. Implementing posthospitalizations program in COPD may require patient engagement and mindful and compassionate professionals who may individualize program components to focus specific deficits and particularly patients’ preferences.
Identifying Cognates in English-Dutch and French-Dutch by means of Orthographic Information and Cross-lingual Word Embeddings

This paper investigates the validity of combining more traditional orthographic information with cross-lingual word embeddings to identify cognate pairs in English-Dutch and French-Dutch. In a first step, lists of potential cognate pairs in English-Dutch and French-Dutch are manually labelled. The resulting gold standard is used to train and evaluate a multi-layer perceptron that can distinguish cognates from non-cognates. Fifteen orthographic features capture string similarities between source and target words, while the cosine similarity between their word embeddings represents the semantic relation between these words. By adding domain-specific information to pretrained fastText embeddings, we are able to obtain good embeddings for words that did not yet have a pretrained embedding (e.g. Dutch compound nouns). These embeddings are then aligned in a cross-lingual vector space by exploiting their structural similarity (cf. adversarial learning). Our results indicate that although the classifier already achieves good results on the basis of orthographic information, the performance further improves by including semantic information in the form of cross-lingual word embeddings.
Design and Evaluation of SentiEcon: a fine-grained Economic/Financial Sentiment Lexicon from a Corpus of Business News

In this paper we present, describe, and evaluate SentiEcon, a large, comprehensive, domain-specific computational lexicon designed for sentiment analysis applications, for which we compiled our own corpus of online business news. SentiEcon was created as a plug-in lexicon for the sentiment analysis tool Lingmotif, and thus it follows its data structure requirements and presupposes the availability of a general-language core sentiment lexicon that covers non-specific sentiment-carrying terms and phrases. It contains 6,470 entries, both single and multi-word expressions, each with tags denoting their semantic orientation and intensity. We evaluate SentiEcon’s performance by comparing results in a sentence classification task using exclusively sentiment words as features. This sentence dataset was extracted from business news texts, and included certain key words known to recurrently convey strong semantic orientation, such as “debt”, “inflation” or “markets”. The results show that performance is significantly improved when adding SentiEcon to the general-language sentiment lexicon.
Somatic symptoms beyond those related to a whiplash injury are increased in chronic whiplash : The Hordaland Health Study ( HUSK )

1 Faculty of medicine and dentistry, University of Bergen (UoB), 2 Research Unit on Mental Health Epidemiology, Department of Health Promotion and Development, Faculty of Psychology, UoB, 3 Division of Psychiatry, St Olav University Hospital, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 4 Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Mental Health, Department of Public Mental Health, Bergen, Norway