nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Densely Connected Progressive Learning for LSTM-Based Speech Enhancement

Recently, we proposed a novel progressive learning (PL) framework for deep neural network (DNN) based speech enhancement to improve the performance in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environments. In this study, several new contributions are made to this framework. First, the advanced long short-term memory (LSTM) architecture is adopted to achieve better results, namely LSTM-PL, where each LSTM layer is guided to explicitly learn an intermediate target with a specific SNR gain. However, we observe that the performance of LSTM-PL architecture is easily degraded by increasing the number of intermediate targets due to the possible information loss when involving more target layers. Accordingly, we propose densely connected progressive learning in which the input and the estimations of intermediate targets are spliced together to learn the next target. This new structure can fully utilize the rich set of information from the multiple learning targets and alleviate the information loss problem. Experimental results demonstrate that the dense structure with deeper LSTM layers can yield significant gains of speech intelligibility measure for all noise types and levels. Moreover, the post-processing with more targets tends to achieve better performance.
Affective outcomes of virtual reality exposure therapy for anxiety and specific phobias: a meta-analysis.

Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is an increasingly common treatment for anxiety and specific phobias. Lacking is a quantitative meta-analysis that enhances understanding of the variability and clinical significance of anxiety reduction outcomes after VRET. Searches of electronic databases yielded 52 studies, and of these, 21 studies (300 subjects) met inclusion criteria. Although meta-analysis revealed large declines in anxiety symptoms following VRET, moderator analyses were limited due to inconsistent reporting in the VRET literature. This highlights the need for future research studies that report uniform and detailed information regarding presence, immersion, anxiety and/or phobia duration, and demographics.
An Architecture for Compiling UDF-centric Workflows

Data analytics has recently grown to include increasingly sophisticated techniques, such as machine learning and advanced statistics. Users frequently express these complex analytics tasks as workflows of user-defined functions (UDFs) that specify each algorithmic step. However, given typical hardware configurations and dataset sizes, the core challenge of complex analytics is no longer sheer data volume but rather the computation itself, and the next generation of analytics frameworks must focus on optimizing for this computation bottleneck. While query compilation has gained widespread popularity as a way to tackle the computation bottleneck for traditional SQL workloads, relatively little work addresses UDF-centric workflows in the domain of complex analytics. In this paper, we describe a novel architecture for automatically compiling workflows of UDFs. We also propose several optimizations that consider properties of the data, UDFs, and hardware together in order to generate different code on a case-by-case basis. To evaluate our approach, we implemented these techniques in TUPLEWARE, a new high-performance distributed analytics system, and our benchmarks show performance improvements of up to three orders of magnitude compared to alternative systems.
Second Language Perception of Mandarin Vowels and Tones.

This study examines the discrimination of Mandarin vowels and tones by native English speakers with varying amounts of Mandarin experience, aiming to investigate the relative difficulty of these two types of sounds for English speakers at different learning stages, and the source of their difficulty. Seventeen advanced learners of Mandarin (Ex group), eighteen beginning learners (InEx group), and eighteen English speakers naïve to Mandarin (Naïve group) participated in an AXB discrimination task. The stimuli were two Mandarin vowel contrasts, /li-ly/ and /lu-ly/, and two tonal contrasts, T1-T4 and T2-T3. The predicted difficulty for each contrast was hypothesized based on the assimilation of these sounds to English reported in previous work. The results showed that the Naïve group was more accurate with vowel contrasts than with tones, suggesting that non-tonal language speakers without any Mandarin training are less sensitive to tonal distinction than to vowels. The two learner groups, on the other hand, were highly accurate with all contrasts except for the T2-T3 pair, and achieved significantly higher accuracy than the Naïve group on /li-ly/ and T1-T4. This lends support to the view that experience in Mandarin improves English speakers' sensitivity to tonal distinction, helping them discriminate some tones as accurately as vowels. However, all three groups achieved low accuracy in discriminating T2 and T3, suggesting that this contrast may be inherently difficult and resistant to improvement. This study shows that various factors in addition to the native language experience may affect the perception of non-native vowels and tones.
MHz-frequency operation of flyback converter with monolithic self-synchronized rectifier (SSR)

Synchronous rectification offers an effective solution to improve efficiency of low-output-voltage flyback converters. Conventional synchronous flyback topologies using discrete synchronous rectifier face challenges in precise timing control on the secondary side. In this paper, MHz-frequency operation of a flyback DC-DC converter using a new monolithic self-synchronized rectifier (SSR) is investigated and demonstrated. The SSR IC, acting solely on its own drain-source voltage instead of external control signals, considerably simplifies converter design, improves system efficiency, and enables MHz operating frequency. Analysis, modeling, and experimental results are presented.
IT Control in the Australian Public Sector: An International Comparison

Despite widespread adoption of IT control frameworks, little academic empirical research has been undertaken to investigate their use. This paper reports upon research to benchmark the maturity levels of 15 key IT control processes from the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) in public sector organisations across Australia. It also makes a comparison against a similar benchmark for a mixed sector group from a range of nations, a mixed sector group from Asian-Oceanic nations, and for public sector organisations for all geographic areas. The Australian data were collected in a mail survey of the 387 non-financial public sector organisations identified as having more than 50 employees, which returned a 27% response rate. Patterns seen in the original international survey undertaken by the IS Audit and Control Association in 2002 were also seen in the Australian data. However, the Australian public sector performed better than sectors in all the international benchmarks for the 15 most important IT processes.
Feature analysis in early vision: evidence from search asymmetries.

In this article we review some new evidence relating to early visual processing and propose an explanatory framework. A series of search experiments tested detection of targets distinguished from the distractors by differences on a single dimension. Our aim was to use the pattern of search latencies to infer which features are coded automatically in early vision. For each of 12 different dimensions, one or more pairs of contrasting stimuli were tested. Each member of a pair played the role of target in one condition and the role of distractor in the other condition. Many pairs gave rise to a marked asymmetry in search latencies, such that one stimulus in the pair was detected either through parallel processing or with small increases in latency as display size increased, whereas the other gave search functions that increased much more steeply. Targets denned by larger values on the quantitative dimensions of length, number, and contrast, by line curvature, by misaligned orientation, and by values that deviated from a standard or prototypical color or shape were detected easily, whereas targets defined by smaller values on the quantitative dimensions, by straightness, by frame-aligned orientation, and by prototypical colors or shapes required slow and apparently serial search. These values appear to be coded by default, as the absence of the contrasting values. We found no feature of line arrangements that allowed automatic, preattentive detection; nor did connectedness or containment—the two examples of topological features that we tested. We interpret the results as evidence that focused attention to single items or to groups is required to reduce background activity when the Weber fraction distinguishing the pooled feature activity with displays containing a target and with displays containing only distractors is too small to allow reliable discrimination.
Design versus Assessment of Concrete Structures Using Stress Fields and Strut-and-Tie Models

Stress fields and strut-and-tie models are widely used for design and assessment of structural concrete members. Although they are often used in the same manner for both purposes, developing suitable stress fields and strut-and-tie models for the design of a new structure or for assessment of the strength of an existing one should not necessarily be performed following the same approach. For design, simple load-carrying models in equilibrium with the external actions can be considered. From the various possibilities, those leading to better behavior at serviceability limit state and to simple reinforcement layouts should be selected (or a combination of them). For the assessment of existing structures, however, avoiding unnecessary strengthening (or minimizing it) should be the objective. Thus, simple stress fields or strut-and-tie models are to be iteratively refined whenever the calculated strength of the member is insufficient with respect to the design actions. This can be done by accounting for kinematic considerations to calculate the higher possible strength of the member accounting for its actual geometry and available reinforcement (allowing to calculate the exact solution according to limit analysis). In this paper, the differences between the two approaches for design and assessment are clarified and explained on the basis of some examples. A number of strategies are comprehensibly presented to obtain suitable stress fields and strut-and-tie models in both cases. The results of exact solutions according to limit analysis (developed using elastic-plastic stress fields) are finally compared to 150 tests of the literature showing the consistency and generality of the presented approaches.  Currently, most codes for structural concrete are oriented to design of new structures. Yet assessing the strength of existing structures (and their retrofitting, if necessary) is becoming more and more a relevant task for structural engineers. This is influencing codes of practice, which start incorporating new concepts related to life cycle design
Finite-time posture control of a unicycle robot

This paper deals with the problem of posture control for a unicycle (single-wheel) robot by designing and analyzing a finite-time posture control strategy. The unicycle robot consists of a lower rotating wheel, an upper rotating disk, and a robot body. The rotating wheel enables the unicycle robot to move forward and backward to obtain pitch (longitudinal) balance. The rotating disk is used for obtaining roll (lateral) balance. Therefore, the unicycle robot can be viewed as a mobile inverted pendulum for the pitch axis and a reaction-wheel pendulum for the roll axis. The dynamics models for unicycle robots at roll and pitch axes are derived using the Lagrange equation. According to the dynamics models, two finite-time controller are designed, which includes the finite-time roll controller and the finite-time pitch controller. Moreover, the stability on the unicycle robot with the proposed finite-time posture control strategy is also analyzed. Finally, simulations are worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of the finite-time posture control strategy for the unicycle robot at roll and pitch axes.
A design process for embedding knowledge management in everyday work

Knowledge Management Software must be embedded in processes of knowledge workers' everyday practice. In order to attain a seamless design, regarding the special qualities and requirements of knowledge work, detailed studies of the existing work processes and analysis of the used knowledge are necessary. Participation of the knowledge owners and future users us an important factor for success of knowledge management systems. In this paper we describe characteristics of knowledge work motivating the usage of participatory design techniques. We suggest a design process for developing or improving knowledge management, which includes ethnographic surveys, user participation in cyclic improvement, scenario based design, and the use of multiple design artifacts and documents. Finally we explain the benefits of our approach. The paper is based on a case study we carried out to design and introduce a knowledge management system in a training company.
The effects of prosthetic foot stiffness on transtibial amputee walking mechanics and balance control during turning.

Little evidence exists regarding how prosthesis design characteristics affect performance in tasks that challenge mediolateral balance such as turning. This study assesses the influence of prosthetic foot stiffness on amputee walking mechanics and balance control during a continuous turning task.



Three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data were collected from eight unilateral transtibial amputees as they walked overground at self-selected speed clockwise and counterclockwise around a 1-meter circle and along a straight line. Subjects performed the walking tasks wearing three different ankle-foot prostheses that spanned a range of sagittal- and coronal-plane stiffness levels.



A decrease in stiffness increased residual ankle dorsiflexion (10-13°), caused smaller adaptations (<5°) in proximal joint angles, decreased residual and increased intact limb body support, increased residual limb propulsion and increased intact limb braking for all tasks. While changes in sagittal-plane joint work due to decreased stiffness were generally consistent across tasks, effects on coronal-plane hip work were task-dependent. When the residual limb was on the inside of the turn and during straight-line walking, coronal-plane hip work increased and coronal-plane peak-to-peak range of whole-body angular momentum decreased with decreased stiffness.



Changes in sagittal-plane kinematics and kinetics were similar to those previously observed in straight-line walking. Mediolateral balance improved with decreased stiffness, but adaptations in coronal-plane angles, work and ground reaction force impulses were less systematic than those in sagittal-plane measures. Effects of stiffness varied with the residual limb inside versus outside the turn, which suggests that actively adjusting stiffness to turn direction may be beneficial.
A Simple Model Predictive Power Control Strategy for Single-Phase PWM Converters With Modulation Function Optimization

This paper proposes a simple model predictive direct power control (MP-DPC) of single-phase pulsewidth-modulated rectifiers with constant switching frequency using modulation function optimization. The instantaneous active and reactive power theory for single-phase converters is discussed, on the basis of a second-order generalized integrator. The modulation function is resolved from the cost function of the MP-DPC scheme. The relationship between the instantaneous powers and ac-side inductance mismatch is discussed. The inductance mismatch has an effect on the reactive power, but not effect on active power. The quantitative expression of reactive power caused by inductance mismatch is shown and verified in the experimental test. An inductance parameter online estimation scheme is proposed to eliminate its effect on reactive power. Compared with the conventional proportional-integral-based instantaneous current control scheme and finite-control-set MP-DPC scheme, the proposed MP-DPC can provide these advantageous features: lower current harmonics and total harmonic distortion components, faster dynamic response, fewer adjusted parameters, and zero steady-state error. In addition, the proposed MP-DPC is free of the weighting factor selection in cost function. The effectiveness of the proposed MP-DPC scheme is verified by experimental results.
3-Dimensional Analysis on the GIDL Current of Body-tied Triple Gate FinFET

Triple gate FinFET is emerging as a promising candidate for the future CMOS device structures because of its immunity to short-channel effect. However, the suppression of GIDL is a significant challenge for its application. In this paper, we discuss the characteristics of GIDL on FinFET and extensively analyze the influence of the device technology on GIDL. The analysis is expected to give guidelines to the future development of triple gate FinFET
Making middleboxes someone else's problem: network processing as a cloud service

Modern enterprises almost ubiquitously deploy middlebox processing services to improve security and performance in their networks. Despite this, we find that today's middlebox infrastructure is expensive, complex to manage, and creates new failure modes for the networks that use them. Given the promise of cloud computing to decrease costs, ease management, and provide elasticity and fault-tolerance, we argue that middlebox processing can benefit from outsourcing the cloud. Arriving at a feasible implementation, however, is challenging due to the need to achieve functional equivalence with traditional middlebox deployments without sacrificing performance or increasing network complexity.
 In this paper, we motivate, design, and implement APLOMB, a practical service for outsourcing enterprise middlebox processing to the cloud.
 Our discussion of APLOMB is data-driven, guided by a survey of 57 enterprise networks, the first large-scale academic study of middlebox deployment. We show that APLOMB solves real problems faced by network administrators, can outsource over 90% of middlebox hardware in a typical large enterprise network, and, in a case study of a real enterprise, imposes an average latency penalty of 1.1ms and median bandwidth inflation of 3.8%.
Adaptive item-based learning environments based on the item response theory: possibilities and challenges

The popularity of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) is increasing rapidly. In order to make learning environments more efficient, researchers have been exploring the possibility of an automatic adaptation of the learning environment to the learner or the context. One of the possible adaptation techniques is adaptive item sequencing by matching the difficulty of the items to the learner’s knowledge level. This is already accomplished to a certain extent in adaptive testing environments, where the test is tailored to the person’s ability level by means of the item response theory (IRT). Even though IRT has been a prevalent computerized adaptive test (CAT) approach for decades and applying IRT in item-based ITSs could lead to similar advantages as in CAT (e.g. higher motivation and more efficient learning), research on the application of IRT in such learning environments is highly restricted or absent. The purpose of this paper was to explore the feasibility of applying IRT in adaptive item-based ITSs. Therefore, we discussed the two main challenges associated with IRT application in such learning environments: the challenge of the data set and the challenge of the algorithm. We concluded that applying IRT seems to be a viable solution for adaptive item selection in item-based ITSs provided that some modifications are implemented. Further research should shed more light on the adequacy of the proposed solutions.
The Semantic Web Vision: Where Are We?

Semantic Web developers have adopted OWL to represent knowledge. OWL, or a language with similar theoretical foundations, will lead the way in the semantic exploration of the Web. Currently, Web-based standards are the preferred way to represent knowledge. Furthermore, respondents mainly use ontologies to allow both humans and computers to understand knowledge and domain models. Web 3.0 can bring a new breed of spectacular applications compared to Web 2.0. with the same magnitude that separates Web 2.0 from Web 1.0.
Zero defections: quality comes to services.

Companies that want to improve their service quality should take a cue from manufacturing and focus on their own kind of scrap heap: customers who won't come back. Because that scrap heap can be every bit as costly as broken parts and misfit components, service company managers should strive to reduce it. They should aim for "zero defections"--keeping every customer they can profitably serve. As companies reduce customer defection rates, amazing things happen to their financials. Although the magnitude of the change varies by company and industry, the pattern holds: profits rise sharply. Reducing the defection rate just 5% generates 85% more profits in one bank's branch system, 50% more in an insurance brokerage, and 30% more in an auto-service chain. And when MBNA America, a Delaware-based credit card company, cut its 10% defection rate in half, profits rose a whopping 125%. But defection rates are not just a measure of service quality; they are also a guide for achieving it. By listening to the reasons why customers defect, managers learn exactly where the company is falling short and where to direct their resources. Staples, the stationery supplies retailer, uses feedback from customers to pinpoint products that are priced too high. That way, the company avoids expensive broad-brush promotions that pitch everything to everyone. Like any important change, managing for zero defections requires training and reinforcement. Great-West Life Assurance Company pays a 50% premium to group health-insurance brokers that hit customer-retention targets, and MBNA America gives bonuses to departments that hit theirs.
Design of compact circular disc circularly polarized antenna with Koch curve fractal defected ground structure

A circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna with Koch curve fractal defected ground structure (DGS) for mobile applications is presented. Asymmetric `+' shape slots are incorporated on circular patch for getting circular polarization. The advantages of incorporation of Koch curve fractal DGS for improvement of performance parameters of circular polarized antenna presented. It is shown that with every progressive stage of fractal DGS iteration, in addition to reduction in size of the patch, other performance parameters of the antenna such as 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth, 10 dB impedance bandwidth and radiation efficiency also show significant improvement in their values at cost of marginal reduction of the gain. The design, evaluation and comparison of the proposed antenna with conventional simple circular disc circular polarized antenna without DGS along with intermediate and final iterations of Koch curve fractal DGS are illustrated.