gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Analysing Bias in Spoken Language Assessment Using Concept Activation Vectors (2021)

A significant concern with deep learning based approaches is that they are difficult to interpret, which means detecting bias in network predictions can be challenging. Concept Activation Vectors (CAVs) have been proposed to address this problem. These use representations - perturbations of activation function outputs - of interpretable concepts to analyse how the network is influenced by the concept. This work applies CAVs to assess bias in a spoken language assessment (SLA) system, a regression task. One of the challenges with SLA is the wide range of concepts that can introduce bias in training data, for example L1, age, acoustic conditions, and particular human graders, or the grading instructions. Simply generating large quantities of expert marked data to check for all forms of bias is impractical. This paper uses CAVs applied to the training data to identify concepts that might be of concern, allowing a more targeted dataset to be collected to assess bias. The ability of CAVs to detect bias is assessed on the BULATS speaking test using both a standard system and a system to which bias was artificially introduced. A strong bias identified by CAVs on the training data matches the bias observed in expert marked held-out test data.
Quantum serial turbo-codes (2008)

We present a theory of quantum serial turbo-codes and study their performance numerically on a depolarization channel. These codes can be considered as a generalization of classical serial turbo-codes. As their classical cousins, they can be iteratively decoded and with well chosen constituent convolutional codes, we observe an important reduction of the word error rate as the number of encoded qubits increases. Our construction offers several advantages over quantum LDPC codes. First, the Tanner graph used for decoding can be chosen to be free of 4-cycles that deteriorate the performances of iterative decoding. Secondly, the iterative decoder makes explicit use of the code's degeneracy. Finally, there is complete freedom in the code design in terms of length, rate, memory size, and interleaver choice. We address two issues related to the encoding of convolutional codes that are directly relevant for turbo-codes, namely the character of being recursive and non-catastrophic. We define a quantum analogue of a state diagram that provides an efficient way to verify these properties on a given quantum convolutional encoder. Unfortunately, we also prove that all recursive quantum convolutional encoder have catastrophic error propagation. In our constructions, the convolutional codes have thus been chosen to be non-catastrophic and non-recursive. While the resulting families of turbo-codes have bounded minimum distance, from a pragmatic point of view the effective minimum distances of the codes that we have simulated are large enough for not degrading iterative decoding performance up to reasonable word error rates and block sizes.
Transgenic switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) targeted for reduced recalcitrance to bioconversion: a 2‐year comparative analysis of field‐grown lines modified for target gene or genetic element expression (2016)

Transgenic Panicum virgatum L. silencing (KD) or overexpressing (OE) specific genes or a small RNA (GAUT4-KD, miRNA156-OE, MYB4-OE, COMT-KD and FPGS-KD) was grown in the field and aerial tissue analysed for biofuel production traits. Clones representing independent transgenic lines were established and senesced tissue was sampled after year 1 and 2 growth cycles. Biomass was analysed for wall sugars, recalcitrance to enzymatic digestibility and biofuel production using separate hydrolysis and fermentation. No correlation was found between plant carbohydrate content and biofuel production pointing to overriding structural and compositional elements that influence recalcitrance. Biomass yields were greater for all lines in the second year as plants establish in the field and standard amounts of biomass analysed from each line had more glucan, xylan and less ethanol (g/g basis) in the second- versus the first-year samples, pointing to a broad increase in tissue recalcitrance after regrowth from the perennial root. However, biomass from second-year growth of transgenics targeted for wall modification, GAUT4-KD, MYB4-OE, COMT-KD and FPGS-KD, had increased carbohydrate and ethanol yields (up to 12% and 21%, respectively) compared with control samples. The parental plant lines were found to have a significant impact on recalcitrance which can be exploited in future strategies. This summarizes progress towards generating next-generation bio-feedstocks with improved properties for microbial and enzymatic deconstruction, while providing a comprehensive quantitative analysis for the bioconversion of multiple plant lines in five transgenic strategies.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Field-Effect Transistor Performance of Carboxylate-Functionalized Polythiophenes with Increased Air Stability (2005)

Synthetic strategies to access both regiorandom and regioregular polythiophenes containing electron-withdrawing carboxylate substituents have been developed. Although these polymers have extended conjugation lengths, they provide better oxidative doping stability than conventional polythiophenes due to the lowering of the HOMO energy levels by approximately 0.5 eV. These materials are highly crystalline and exhibit very small π−π-stacking distances in the solid state. High charge mobilities are observed as a result of the close ordering of the polymer chains, and top-contact organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) fabricated entirely in air had measured mobilities averaging 0.06 cm2/V·s with on/off ratios >105. Off currents in these devices remained low over a period of months, demonstrating the low propensity of these materials toward p-doping by molecular oxygen.
Arteriovenous Fistula Toxicity (2011)

The arteriovenous fistula (AVF) has been a mainstay of hemodialysis treatments and the preferred access route since its inception in the 1960s, due to its longevity and resistance to infection. However, the AVF is not benign. There is significant primary failure, as well as cardiac, vascular, and other, less well recognized, complications. Together, they represent toxicity, to which considerable morbidity and mortality can be attached. Official policy, based on guidelines where AVF toxicity is given short shrift, drives an increase in use of these devices, and may have undesired consequences.
Abstract A058: GITRL-Fc, an immunotherapeutic agent that stimulates T-cell-mediated antitumor immune response (2016)

Abstract GITRL, (Glucocorticoid-Induced Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Ligand, TNFSF18) is a member of the TNF family of ligands and naturally exists as a membrane-anchored type II protein that self assembles as a trimer. GITRL activates the co-stimulatory receptor GITR. A novel single-gene linkerless GITRL trimer was shown to be functional when fused to either the N- or C-terminus of an immunoglobulin Fc domain, offering a flexible strategy that may also be amenable to the production of bispecific agents. GITRL-Fc activated GITR signaling more effectively than prototype GITR agonist antibody DTA-1. GITRL-Fc promoted a robust anti-tumor immune response in several murine tumor graft models, including the apparent total regression of some treated tumors. GITRL-Fc potentiated tumor specific T-cell responses, particularly of the Th1 type, increased antigen-specific CD8 response, and promoted a reduction in Treg-mediated immune-suppressive activity. Citation Format: Fumiko Axelrod, Hyun-Bae Jie, Erin Mayes, Jorge Monteon, Minu Srivastava, Rui Yun, Inkyung Angie Park, Austin Gurney. GITRL-Fc, an immunotherapeutic agent that stimulates T-cell-mediated antitumor immune response. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A058.
Regulation of human telomerase splicing by RNA:RNA pairing (2014)

Telomerase adds telomeric repeats onto chromosome ends and is almost universally upregulated in human cancers. Here we demonstrate that RNA:RNA pairing regulates splicing of the catalytic subunit of human telomerase (TERT). Human alleles contain a variable number of 38 bp repeats within TERT intron 6 (>1 kb from exon-intron junctions). At least nine repeats are required for generating the major non-functional 'minus beta' isoform, which skips exons 7 and 8. RNA:RNA pairing between the repeats and the pre-mRNA might bring exons 6 and 9 closer, thereby promoting exon skipping. To demonstrate this, we show that mutations within the repeat that abolish exon skipping are corrected by compensatory mutations in the pre-mRNA. This study thus identifies RNA:RNA pairing by repetitive sequences as a novel form of alternative splicing regulation in a gene crucial for cancer survival and sheds new light on functional roles for short repetitive sequences embedded deep within introns throughout the genome.
Old fibroblasts secrete inflammatory cytokines that drive variability in reprogramming efficiency and may affect wound healing between old individuals (2018)

Abstract Age-associated chronic inflammation (inflammaging) has emerged as a central hallmark of aging 1-3 , but its impact on specific cells is still largely unknown. Fibroblasts are present in all tissues and contribute to wound healing 4-6 . They are also the cell type that is mostly used for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) reprogramming 7 – a process that has implications for regenerative medicine and rejuvenation strategies 8-17 . Here we show that primary fibroblasts from old mice secrete inflammatory cytokines and that there is an increased variability in reprogramming efficiency between fibroblast cultures from old individuals. Individual-to-individual variability is emerging as a key feature of old age 18-21 , which could reflect distinct aging trajectories, but the underlying causes remain unknown. To identify drivers of this variability, we perform a multi-omic assessment of young and old fibroblast cultures with different reprogramming efficiency. This approach, coupled with single cell transcriptomics, reveals that old fibroblast cultures are heterogeneous and show a greater proportion of ‘activated fibroblasts’ that secrete inflammatory cytokines, which correlates with reprogramming efficiency. We experimentally validate that activated fibroblasts express inflammatory cytokines in vivo and that their presence is linked to enhanced reprogramming efficiency in culture. Conditioned-media swapping experiments show that extrinsic factors secreted by activated fibroblasts are more critical than intrinsic factors for the individual-to-individual variability in reprogramming efficiency, and we identify TNFα as a key inflammatory cytokine underlying this variability. Interestingly, old mice also exhibit variability in wound healing efficiency in vivo and old wounds show an increased subpopulation of activated fibroblasts with a unique TNFα signature. Our study shows that a switch in fibroblast composition, and the ratio of inflammatory cytokines they secrete, drives variability in reprogramming in vitro and may influence wound healing in vivo . These findings could help identify personalized strategies to improve iPSC generation and wound healing in older individuals.
Addressing design margins through error-tolerant circuits (2009)

We review adaptive design techniques with particular emphasis on error-tolerant techniques. We compare and contrast traditional adaptive approaches with error-tolerant techniques and analyze the margins eliminated by each of them. We discuss the applications of the latter to on-chip communication and signal-processing. Finally, we focus on a specific example of an error-tolerant technique for general-purpose computing called Razor.
Cognitive DF generalized order relay selection networks with imperfect channel estimation and interference from primary user (2014)

Few papers in literature deal with interference in cognitive relay networks (CRNs) in both directions, i.e., interference from secondary user (SU) on the primary user (PU) and interference from PU on the SU. In this paper, we study the outage performance of cognitive decode-and-forward (DF) generalized order relay selection operating in secondary network with interference from PU transmitter on the SU receivers and assuming Rayleigh fading channels. Furthermore, we study the effect of imperfect channel estimation (ICE) on the system performance. Also, to get more insights about the system behavior, the performance is studied at the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. Monte-Carlo simulations are given to validate the achieved results. Findings illustrate that with fixed interference power, the diversity order of the secondary system linearly increases with decreasing the order of the selected relay, and vice versa decreases. Also, the diversity order linearly decreases with decreasing the number of relays, and vice versa increases. Furthermore, results show that the interference from the PU transmitter at the SU relays is more severe on the system performance compared to the interference at the SU destination. Finally, when the interference at the SU relays or the SU destination or at both scales with SNR, the system achieves a zero diversity order due to the effect of interference on the system behavior.
Effect of Al3+Contaminant on Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Performance (2013)

To correlate the cationic contaminant uptake of the catalyst coated membrane (CCM) with the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) performance, CCMs were contaminated by saturating in varying concentrations of H2SO4 and Al2(SO4)3 solution, establishing ex-situ equilibrium cation uptake. The CCMs were then assembled and tested in single cell hardware to determine the performance as a function of cationic contamination level. Smaller CCM coupons were also saturated at the same time as the full-size CCM and were characterized by acid site titration to determine the cationic occupation fraction. It is found that the acid site occupation in the CCM increased and the cell performance decreased with increased Al ion concentration in the solution. With less than 10% occupation, the cell performance dropped from 1000 mA/cm2 to 100 mA/cm2 at 0.6 V. Upon re‑protonation of the CCM with H2SO4, it is found the cell performance was fully recovered.
A study on invariant points of semi-active suspension (2016)

Active suspension is commonly considered under the framework of vertical vehicle dynamics control aimed at improvements in ride comfort. This paper uses a collocation-type control variable optimization method to analyze to which extent the fully active suspension (FAS) application can be broaden to the tasks of vehicle handling/cornering control and braking distance reduction. The emphasis is on integrated control systems, where the FAS control action supports other actuators such as active brakes and active steering. The analysis is extended to the ride control task for the case of emphasized, discrete road disturbances such as high-magnitude bumps and potholes. The main control objective is to provide a favorable trade-off of ride comfort and road holding capability, as well as a robustness against wheel damage, e.g. at the pothole trailing edge. The optimization is based on a nonlinear 10-DOF vehicle dynamics model, including a combined-slip tire model, and it is subject to various, generally nonlinear equality and inequality constraints.
Additional data transmission scheme for the ATSC terrestrial DTV systems based on a low rate systematic irregular repeat-accumulate code (2011)

In this paper, we propose an additional data transmission scheme for the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) terrestrial DTV (digital television) systems based on a low rate systematic irregular repeat-accumulate (SIRA) code. Unlike the previously proposed additional data transmission scheme using TxID (transmitter identification) signals, the proposed scheme conjuncted with a DTV VSB signal cancellation technique is suitable for high data transmission. Compared to the previous additional data transmission scheme based on a low rate systematic repeat-accumulate code, the BER performance of the proposed scheme is significantly improved. The additional data is encoded with a simplified IRA channel coding scheme and injected to the conventional VSB signals with the bury ratio (BR) of -27 dB. With the proposed scheme, an additional data of rate up to 1 Mbps can be transmitted along with the ATSC terrestrial DTV signals by minimizing the detrimental effects on the ATSC terrestrial DTV systems.
Cover Picture: Chemical and Genetic Wrappers for Improved Phage and RNA Display (ChemBioChem 17/2008) (2008)

The cover picture shows a section of the M13 filamentous bacteriophage, widely used for the display and manipulation of proteins in both academic and industrial laboratories. The negatively charged outer surface of conventional phage (red coat proteins at the bottom third of the phage) results in nonspecific binding to high-pI target proteins such as colicin E9 DNase (green) and lysozyme (purple). All too often such nonspecific binding results in failed screens, assays and selections. As shown on p. 2846 ff., G. Weiss et al. solve this problem by inserting a genetically encoded positively charged peptide into the phage coat (blue coat proteins in the middle of the phage). A chemical approach with oligolysine wrappers can also mask the negatively charged surface (top third of the phage) to allow experiments with previously inaccessible target proteins. Cover art by Denise Der and Jorge Lamboy from a design by Gregory Weiss.
Automatic speech recognition improved by two-layered audio-visual integration for robot audition (2009)

The robustness and high performance of ASR is required for robot audition, because people usually speak to each other to communicate. This paper presents two-layered audio-visual integration to make automatic speech recognition (ASR) more robust against speaker's distance and interfering talkers or environmental noises. It consists of Audio-Visual Voice Activity Detection (AV-VAD) and Audio-Visual Speech Recognition (AVSR). The AV-VAD layer integrates several AV features based on a Bayesian network to robustly detect voice activity, or speaker's utterance duration. This is because the performance of VAD strongly affects that of ASR. The AVSR layer integrates the reliability estimation of acoustic features and that of visual features by using a missing-feature theory method. The reliability of audio features is more weighted in a clean acoustic environment, while that of visual features is more weighted in a noisy environment. This AVSR layer integration can cope with dynamically-changing environments in acoustics or vision. The proposed AV integrated ASR is implemented on HARK, our open-sourced robot audition software, with an 8 ch microphone array. Empirical results show that our system improves 9.9 and 16.7 points of ASR results with/without microphone array processing, respectively, and also improves robustness against several auditory/visual noise conditions.
Changes in premenstrual symptoms in women starting or discontinuing use of oral contraceptives (2019)

It is not clear whether oral contraceptive (OC) treatment affects premenstrual symptoms in women. The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in premenstrual symptoms (PMS) in women starting to use or discontinuing the use of OCs. Twenty-four healthy women with no previous diagnosis of premenstrual dysphoric disorder were included in this study with a prospective crossover design. Nineteen women completed daily ratings of somatic and mood symptoms during two hormonally different cycles, during a normal menstrual cycle and while using OCs. The menstrual cycle phases were hormonally verified and the low-dose, monophasic OCs were used in a 21/7 regimen. The onset of OC use significantly decreased premenstrual somatic symptoms, but it did not affect mood symptoms. In the women who discontinued OC use, no significant changes in neither somatic nor mood symptoms appeared in the premenstrual phase.
Who are you talking to? Considerations on designing gender ambiguous voice user interfaces. (2022)

With the widespread availability of Voice Assistants in smart devices, the usage of Voice User Interfaces has highly increased in the recent years. Although the anthropomorphized Voice Assistants present in these systems can aid users in many tasks, it also activates harmful gender bias and stereotypes. Since the usage of Gender Ambiguous voice agents in these interfaces is considered as solution for mitigating these gender effects, this paper analyzed different studies in the field of Voice User Interface design, while proposing a theoretical framework to design gender ambiguous voice agents, considering the type of recording, method of sound manipulation, method of evaluation for gender identification and contextual characteristics.
Ligand Exchange in Mixed Organocuprate(I) π-Complexes (2012)

π-Complexes of mixed organocuprate(I) reagents with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds can undergo ligand exchange to give the corresponding homocuprate–olefin π-complexes. The mechanism of this metathesis, which has profound implications for synthetic applications, involves a second-order reaction of the mixed cuprate with the mixed cuprate–olefin π-complex.
A beat-tracking robot for human-robot interaction and its evaluation (2008)

Human-robot interaction through music in real environments is essential for humanoids, because such a robot makes people enjoyable. We thus developed a beat-tracking robot which steps, sings, and scats according to musical beats predicted by using a robot-embedded microphone, as a first step to realize a robot which makes a music session with people. This paper first describes the beat-tracking robot, and then evaluated it in detail at the following three points: adaptation to tempo changes, robustness of environmental noises including periodic noises generated by stepping, singing and scatting, and human-robot interaction by using a clapping sound. The results showed that our beat-tracking robot improved noise-robustness and adaptation to tempo changes drastically so that it can make a simple sound session with people.