gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Parameter clustering and sharing in variable-parameter HMMs for noise robust speech recognition (2008)

Recently we proposed a cubic-spline-based variableparameter hidden Markov model (CS-VPHMM) whose mean and variance parameters vary according to some cubic spline functions of additional environment-dependent parameters. We have shown good properties of the CS-VPHMM and demonstrated on the Aurora-3 corpus that MCE-trained CSVPHMM greatly outperforms the MCE-trained conventional HMM at the cost of increased total number of model parameters. In this paper, we propose to share spline functions across different Gaussian mixture components to reduce the total number of model parameters and develop a clustering algorithm to do so. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our parameter clustering and sharing algorithm for the CSVPHMM on Aurora-3 corpus and show that proper parameter sharing can reduce the number of parameters from 4 times of that used in the conventional HMM to 1.13 times and still get 18% relative WER reduction over the MCE trained conventional HMM under the well-matched condition. Effective parameter sharing makes the CS-VPHMM an attractive model for noise robustness.
Ventriculosinus shunt: a pilot study to investigate new technology to treat hydrocephalus and mimic physiological principles of cerebrospinal fluid drainage (2023)

These findings indicate that the outlet device can remain patent and has the capability to mimic physiological drainage by diverting CSF to the intracranial sinus. Additional confirmation of its potential as part of a new VS shunt system and ultimately as a viable alternative for ventriculoperitoneal and ventriculoatrial shunting to reduce complication rates requires further clinical trials.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulator with controllable pulse parameters (cTMS) (2010)

We describe a novel transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device that uses a circuit topology incorporating two energy-storage capacitors and two insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) to generate near-rectangular electric field E-field) pulses with adjustable number, polarity, duration, and amplitude of the pulse phases. This controllable-pulse-parameter TMS (cTMS) device can induce E-field pulses with phase widths of 5-200 µs and positive/negative phase amplitude ratio of 1-10. Compared to conventional monophasic and biphasic TMS, cTMS reduces energy dissipation by 78-82% and 55-57% and decreases coil heating by 15-33% and 31-41%, respectively. We demonstrate repetitive TMS (rTMS) trains of 3,000 pulses at frequencies up to 50 Hz with E-field pulse amplitude and width variability of less than 1.7% and 1%, respectively. The reduced power consumption and coil heating, and the flexible pulse parameter adjustment offered by cTMS could enhance existing TMS paradigms and could enable novel research and clinical applications with potentially enhanced potency.
Implementation and Testing of Ankle-Foot Prosthesis With a New Compensated Controller (2019)

In this study, a powered ankle-foot prosthesis driven by a nonlinear parallel elastic actuator (PEA) is developed and tested. A finite state impedance controller is utilized to identify the state of the prosthesis and then generate the reference for the control of the actuator. Note that the finite state machine used in the impedance controller is improved. Specifically, the transition between controlled dorsiflexion and the push-off phase is triggered not by a fixed condition but by the motion of users, which enables the maximum flexion angle of the prosthesis to be changed according to the gait of users. A PD controller with a compensation part (steady-state output) is used to regulate the motor current. Besides, a drive circuit with two working modes is proposed for the motor used in the prosthesis to enable the prosthesis to work properly in both powered and passive (powered-off) modes. Clinical trials indicate that the developed prosthesis can reproduce the desired function when working in both powered and passive modes. The powered prosthesis can deliver a net positive work of 11 J in each cycle to the subjects for facilitating forward propulsion, which is helpful for improving the symmetry of ground reaction forces of the sound and prosthetic sides. Consequently, the peak impact force on the sound side is reduced. In addition, the powered prosthesis can decrease the subjects' metabolic cost by 15%, compared with the subjects' original passive prostheses.
Surface plasmon lasers and ultrafast nonlinear nanoplasmonic effects (2004)

Nanoplasmonic phenomena are based on the resonant excitation of surface plasmons leading to the highly enhanced local optical fields on nanoscale. We consider both the delivery of the laser radiation energy to nanoscale and direct generation of the local optical fields on nanoscale: surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (SPASER).
Marker Layout for Optimizing the Overlay Alignment in a Photolithography Process (2019)

In the photolithography process of wafer fabrication, a mask pattern is transferred to a wafer in a layer-by-layer fashion, and the pattern alignment of adjacent layers is critical to the wafer yield. To enhance the alignment precision, an overlay metrology system measures the overlay error at some markers on the wafer, and the error information is used for constructing an overlay correction model. During the overlay alignment, the layout of the markers has a significant impact on the correction of the overlay error. After the maximum number of available markers has been determined based on the quality and turn-around time of the target device, the positions of those markers should be determined in such a way that the overlay error correction model shows robust performance for future wafers. In this paper, we propose a sparse particle swarm optimization algorithm to find an optimal marker layout in terms of robust performance characterized by the overlay error prediction and irregularity of marker positions. In the experiment, the performance of the marker layouts suggested by several search algorithms was tested on three different layers, and the proposed algorithm demonstrated superiority over the other algorithms.
Actuators Based on Photomechanical Polymer (2006)

New light-driven actuators based on films of polymer polyvinylidene fluoride are described. The actuators employ the photomechanical bending of the polymer film caused by low power (10mW and less) laser radiation. The photomechanical effect combines various physical mechanisms, such as anisotropic thermal expansion, converse piezoelectric mechanism along with photovoltaic and pyroelectric ones, while the mechanism of thermal expansion is dominant for slow motion. Mechanical vibrations of the strips of the photomechanical polymer were observed with periodic pulsed laser excitation. The resonance frequency is inversely proportional to the square of the length of the strip, in full agreement with the theory. Resonance frequency measurements were used to determine the modulus of elasticity of the films, which was close to 3.0x10 9 Pa. Two possible applications were discussed: photonic switch and adaptive mirror. The proposed actuators have a potential of being used as the components of future light-driven micro/nano systems.
Activation of heme biosynthesis by a small molecule that is toxic to fermenting <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (2013)

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant infectious threat to global public health. Acquisition or synthesis of heme is required for S. aureus to capture energy through respiration, but an excess of this critical cofactor is toxic to bacteria. S. aureus employs the heme sensor system (HssRS) to overcome heme toxicity; however, the mechanism of heme sensing is not defined. Here, we describe the identification of a small molecule activator of HssRS that induces endogenous heme biosynthesis by perturbing central metabolism. This molecule is toxic to fermenting S. aureus, including clinically relevant small colony variants. The utility of targeting fermenting bacteria is exemplified by the fact that this compound prevents the emergence of antibiotic resistance, enhances phagocyte killing, and reduces S. aureus pathogenesis. Not only is this small molecule a powerful tool for studying bacterial heme biosynthesis and central metabolism; it also establishes targeting of fermentation as a viable antibacterial strategy.
Multiprocessor scheduling implementation of the simultaneous multiple volume (SMV) navigator method (2004)

The simultaneous multiple volume (SMV) approach in navigator-gated MRI allows the use of the whole motion range or the entire scan time for the reconstruction of final images by simultaneously acquiring different image volumes at different motion states. The motion tolerance range for each volume is kept small, thus SMV substantially increases the scan efficiency of navigator methods while maintaining the effectiveness of motion suppression. This article reports a general implementation of the SMV approach using a multiprocessor scheduling algorithm. Each motion state is regarded as a processor and each volume is regarded as a job. An efficient scheduling that completes all jobs in minimal time is maintained even when the motion pattern changes. Initial experiments demonstrated that SMV significantly increased the scan efficiency of navigator-gated MRI.
Production of Fine Short-Length Metal Fibres Using Self-Excited Vibration of an Elastic Tool (1983)

Fine short-length metal fibres are considered to have various applications such as fibrous comosite materials, but existing methods of producing such fibres are inefficient and costly. A new manufacturing process, named “Chatter Machining”, of fine short-length metal fibzes using self-excited vibration of an elastic tool during lathe turning is proposed here. This Chatter Machining makes it possible to produce fine metal fibres, with diameter varying from 10µm to 500µm and with length from 0.5mm to 250mm, directly from most kinds of rod-shape metal efficiently and inexpensively. The mechanism of fibre formation in Chatter Machining is described, based on experimental results.
Index Structures for Matching XML Twigs Using Relational Query Processors (2005)

Various index structures have been proposed to speed up the evaluation of XML path expressions. However, existing XML path indices suffer from at least one of three limitations: they focus only on indexing the structure (relying on a separate index for node content), they are useful only for simple path expressions such as root-to-leaf paths, or they cannot be tightly integrated with a relational query processor. Moreover, there is no unified framework to compare these index structures. In this paper, we present a framework defining a family of index structures that includes most existing XMLpath indices.We also propose two novel index structures in this family, with different space-time tradeoffs, that are effective for the evaluation of XML branching path expressions (i.e., twigs) with value conditions. We also show how this family of index structures can be implemented using the access methods of the underlying database system. Finally, we present an experimental evaluation that shows the performance tradeoff between index space and matching time. The experimental results show that our novel indices achieve orders ofmagnitude improvement in performance for evaluating twig queries, albeit at a higher space cost, over the use of previously proposed XML path indices that can be tightly integrated with a relational query processor.
Selective hydrogenation catalysts and processes; Bench to industrial scale (1994)

Kinetic studies of hydrogenation reactions associated with an expertise in catalytic materials and surface science has permitted substantial progress in improving selective hydrogenation reactions. This has resulted in several new and improved hydrogenation catalysts. In parallel, research in process engineering aspects of hydrogenation reactions has enabled the rapid transformation of the knowledge gained in fundamental studies to industrial reality. Among the various hydrogenation processes on steam cracker or fluidized catalytic cracker olefinic feeds, three newly improved or developed catalysts and processes are detailed: propylene cut selective hydrogenation with a bimetallic catalyst, butadiene-rich cut selective hydrogenation to either 1-butene or 2-butenes by using tailored catalysts, and selective hydrogenation of FCC C 4 and C 5 cuts on a thioresistant catalyst
Increasing Uniformity of Biosurfactant Production in Starmerella bombicola via the Expression of Chimeric Cytochrome P450s (2018)

Sophorolipids are one of the best known microbial biosurfactants and are produced by several yeast species. The best studied producer is Starmerella bombicola, a non-pathogenic yeast associated in nature with bumblebees. Sophorolipids are built up of the rare disaccharide sophorose, which is attached to a fatty acid through a glyosidic bound. Sophorolipids produced by S. bombicola mainly contain oleic acid as the incorporated hydrophobic group. Other chain lengths can, to a certain content, be incorporated by feeding the yeast with substrates of alternative chain lengths. However, the efficiency for such substrates is low as compared to the preferred C18 chain length and defined by the substrate specificity of the first enzymatic step in sophorolipid biosynthesis, i.e., the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP52M1. To increase product uniformity and diversity at the same time, a new strain of S. bombicola was developed that produces sophorolipids with a palmitic acid acyl chain. This was achieved by heterologous expression of the cytochrome P450 cyp1 gene of Ustilago maydis and feeding with palmitic acid. Optimization of the production was done by protein and process engineering.
Cost effective antenna for LEO-satellites communication system using a homogeneous lens (2004)

This work presents a low-cost, multi-beam antenna system, using a dielectric homogeneous lens as a focusing system. First, the design methodology of the antenna system, combining a homogeneous lens and its primary source, is described. Then, aberration phenomena generated by the lens are characterized. Finally, the primary source, used to correct these aberrations, is briefly described and measurement results of the global antenna system are presented.
Novel Drug Delivery Technologies and Targets for Renal Disease (2022)

The burden of acute and chronic kidney diseases to the health care system is exacerbated by the high mortality that this disease carries paired with the still limited availability of comprehensive therapies. A reason partially resides in the complexity of the kidney, with multiple potential target cell types and a complex structural environment that complicate strategies to protect and recover renal function after injury. Management of both acute and chronic renal disease, irrespective of the cause, are mainly focused on supportive treatments and renal replacement strategies when needed. Emerging preclinical evidence supports the feasibility of drug delivery technology for the kidney, and recent studies have contributed to building a robust catalog of peptides, proteins, nanoparticles, liposomes, extracellular vesicles, and other carriers that may be fused to therapeutic peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, or small molecule drugs. These fusions can display a precise renal uptake, an enhanced circulating time, and a directed intraorgan biodistribution while protecting their cargo to improve therapeutic efficacy. However, several hurdles that slow the transition towards clinical applications are still in the way, such as solubility, toxicity, and sub-optimal renal targeting. This review will discuss the feasibility and current limitations of drug delivery technologies for the treatment of renal disease, offering an update on their potential and the future directions of these promising strategies.
Cracking of Residual Oils over Nickel Ores (1975)

Studies have been made on cracking of residual oils over nickel ores. It has become apparent that the nickel ores have catalytic activity of dehydrogenation which accelerates coking of a heavy fraction containing most of vanadium and nickel in the feed, resulting in low metal content in oil products. It has been found that the product oil thus obtained by cracking of the residual oil over the nickel ore can be hydrodesulfurized more easily than the atmospheric residual oil. It has also been found that most of nickel contained in the nickel ore used for the cracking reaction can be extracted with aqueous solution of ammonium carbonate. This suggests that the cracking process can be utilized as a pretreatment in the nickel leaching process.
Nonaffinity Purification of Recombinant gp120 for Use in AIDS Vaccine Development (1993)

The gene encoding the major envelope glycoprotein of the HIV-SF2 isolate was engineered for the secretion of recombinant gp120 (rgp120SF2) from permanent Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines. Cellular production methods were scaled up and a method for purification of the secreted glycoprotein was devised. Mild purification conditions were selected in order to preserve the native structure of the protein. rgp120SF2 exhibits a molecular weight of 120 kDa in reduced or nonreduced SDS gels; thus the polypeptide chain is intact. Deglycosylated rgp120SF2 has the predicted molecular weight of the polypeptide backbone, 54 kDa. Gel-filtration HPLC in a nondenaturing buffer at neutral pH yields a molecular weight estimate of approximately 120 kDa. Purified rgp120 closely resembles authentic viral gp120 by several physical, chemical, and immunochemical tests. rgp120SF2 reacts strongly with human HIV-positive sera, monoclonal antibodies reactive with HIV-SF2 and HIV-MN viral envelope, and a human virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibody that maps to a conserved discontinuous epitope on HIV-1 gp120. Purified rgp120SF2 forms a 1:1 molecular complex with soluble recombinant human CD4 (rCD4) receptor, as demonstrated by gel-filtration HPLC; binding is high affinity (Kd approximately 2 x 10(-9) M).
Comparison of N and P Type Ribbon Grown Multi-Crystalline Silicon Wafers using Photoluminescence Imaging (2006)

Photoluminescence imaging is used to compare similarly grown n-type and p-type string ribbon mc-Si wafers at two stages of solar cell processing. Key advantages of the PL imaging technique are that it is fast, contact-less, requires no sample preparation and is negligibly influenced by trapping artifacts, which can dominate lifetime measurements made by other methods on multicrystalline materials at low and moderate injection levels. We observe that after the light phosphorous diffusion step, the average minority carrier lifetime in the p-type samples is significantly lower than in the n-type samples, with considerable continuity of good and bad grains along the growth direction in both n-type and p-type samples. Striking differences are also found in the effect of SiN passivation on n-type and p-type wafers
Evaluation of an automated method to assist with error detection in the ACCORD central laboratory (2010)

The results of this study suggest that continuous Bayesian networks, suitably constructed, may serve as an effective tool to assist experts in the review of voluminous laboratory data by flagging unlikely results for more thorough review.
A novel integrin (alpha E beta 4) from human epithelial cells suggests a fourth family of integrin adhesion receptors. (1989)

A new member of the integrin superfamily of adhesion receptors was isolated from human epithelial cells. Analogously to other integrins, this molecule is a heterodimer comprised of structurally unrelated subunits, both glycosylated. Unequivocal amino-acid sequence homologies were observed between these subunits and integrin alpha and beta chain sequences, indicating that this epithelial heterodimer is a novel integrin. No obvious serologic cross-reactivities were detected with other integrins. The beta chain of the epithelial integrin displayed a mol. wt significantly higher than other integrin beta chains, possibly due to a large sialic acid content. Integrin heterodimers are grouped into three families, based on which of three beta chains (beta 1, beta 2 and beta 3) they contain. Therefore, the epithelial integrin may represent the prototype of a fourth integrin family, because it contains a structurally distinct beta chain. The designation alpha E beta 4 is proposed for this novel human integrin.
Synthesis and characterization of soluble copoly(ether ketone)s containing double bonds (2002)

Abstract A series of copoly(ether ketone)s containing double bonds along the polymer chains were synthesized from the condensation polymerization of hydroquinone with 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone and 4,5‐bis(4‐fluorobenzoyl)‐1‐methylcyclohexene in sulfolane containing anhydrous potassium carbonate. The presence of methylcyclohexene in the polymer chains resulted in an improvement in the solubility of poly(ether ketone)s in organic solvents such as chloroform, chlorobenzene, and sulfolane. As a result, the conditions for synthesizing these polymers were much milder than those for poly(ether ether ketone). The new copoly(ether ketone)s also showed good tensile properties and reasonable thermal stability. New polyethers containing pyrazine unites were obtained from the cyclization reaction of these copoly(ether ketone)s with hydrazine. The hydrazine cycloderivatives led to an increase in the glass‐transition temperatures and a decrease in solubility in organic solvents. © 2002 Government of Canada. Exclusive world‐wide publication rights in the article have been transferred to Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3449–3454, 2002
Neural decoding of attentional selection in multi-speaker environments without access to separated sources (2017)

People who suffer from hearing impairments can find it difficult to follow a conversation in a multi-speaker environment. Modern hearing aids can suppress background noise; however, there is little that can be done to help a user attend to a single conversation without knowing which speaker is being attended to. Cognitively controlled hearing aids that use auditory attention decoding (AAD) methods are the next step in offering help. A number of challenges exist, including the lack of access to the clean sound sources in the environment with which to compare with the neural signals. We propose a novel framework that combines single-channel speech separation algorithms with AAD. We present an end-to-end system that 1) receives a single audio channel containing a mixture of speakers that is heard by a listener along with the listener's neural signals, 2) automatically separates the individual speakers in the mixture, 3) determines the attended speaker, and 4) amplifies the attended speaker's voice to assist the listener. Using invasive electrophysiology recordings, our system is able to decode the attention of a subject and detect switches in attention using only the mixed audio. We also identified the regions of the auditory cortex that contribute to AAD. Our quality assessment of the modified audio demonstrates a significant improvement in both subjective and objective speech quality measures. Our novel framework for AAD bridges the gap between the most recent advancements in speech processing technologies and speech prosthesis research and moves us closer to the development of cognitively controlled hearing aids.