snu-aidas/HVMap-dataset huggingface dataset:
Advanced Beamformers for Cochlear Implant Users: Acute Measurement of Speech Perception in Challenging Listening Conditions

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the performance of monaural and binaural beamforming technology with an additional noise reduction algorithm, in cochlear implant recipients.


METHOD
This experimental study was conducted as a single subject repeated measures design within a large German cochlear implant centre. Twelve experienced users of an Advanced Bionics HiRes90K or CII implant with a Harmony speech processor were enrolled. The cochlear implant processor of each subject was connected to one of two bilaterally placed state-of-the-art hearing aids (Phonak Ambra) providing three alternative directional processing options: an omnidirectional setting, an adaptive monaural beamformer, and a binaural beamformer. A further noise reduction algorithm (ClearVoice) was applied to the signal on the cochlear implant processor itself. The speech signal was presented from 0° and speech shaped noise presented from loudspeakers placed at ±70°, ±135° and 180°. The Oldenburg sentence test was used to determine the signal-to-noise ratio at which subjects scored 50% correct.


RESULTS
Both the adaptive and binaural beamformer were significantly better than the omnidirectional condition (5.3 dB±1.2 dB and 7.1 dB±1.6 dB (p<0.001) respectively). The best score was achieved with the binaural beamformer in combination with the ClearVoice noise reduction algorithm, with a significant improvement in SRT of 7.9 dB±2.4 dB (p<0.001) over the omnidirectional alone condition.


CONCLUSIONS
The study showed that the binaural beamformer implemented in the Phonak Ambra hearing aid could be used in conjunction with a Harmony speech processor to produce substantial average improvements in SRT of 7.1 dB. The monaural, adaptive beamformer provided an averaged SRT improvement of 5.3 dB.
Who Do I Look Like? Determining Parent-Offspring Resemblance via Gated Autoencoders

Recent years have seen a major push for face recognition technology due to the large expansion of image sharing on social networks. In this paper, we consider the difficult task of determining parent-offspring resemblance using deep learning to answer the question "Who do I look like?" Although humans can perform this job at a rate higher than chance, it is not clear how they do it [2]. However, recent studies in anthropology [24] have determined which features tend to be the most discriminative. In this study, we aim to not only create an accurate system for resemblance detection, but bridge the gap between studies in anthropology with computer vision techniques. Further, we aim to answer two key questions: 1) Do offspring resemble their parents? and 2) Do offspring resemble one parent more than the other? We propose an algorithm that fuses the features and metrics discovered via gated autoencoders with a discriminative neural network layer that learns the optimal, or what we call genetic, features to delineate parent-offspring relationships. We further analyze the correlation between our automatically detected features and those found in anthropological studies. Meanwhile, our method outperforms the state-of-the-art in kinship verification by 3-10% depending on the relationship using specific (father-son, mother-daughter, etc.) and generic models.
Peppermint oil for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.

22 AM J HEALTH-SYST PHARM | VOLUME 73 | NUMBER 2 | JANUARY 15, 2016 Peppermint oil for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder that affects 5–15% of people worldwide. Typically, patients with IBS experience abdominal pain or discomfort and constipation or diarrhea with other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal distention and bloating; these symptoms reduce quality of life and can be difficult to control with currently available prescription agents. For these reasons, patients are often compelled to try nonprescription therapies, including natural products. In studies conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom, about 20–50% of patients with IBS reported using complementary and alternative medicines. Thus, it is important that healthcare professionals are knowledgeable of these therapies, including dietary supplements such as peppermint oil. Historically, the ingestion of peppermint oil has been associated with effects on the gastrointestinal tract. It is a classic essential oil known to have carminative properties (i.e., it is a naturally occurring remedy thought to help decrease bloating and gas by allowing passage of flatus) and may even be beneficial as an antiemetic. Peppermint oil comes from a perennial herb (Mentha × piperita), a plant found across North America and Europe. Mentha × piperita is a sterile hybrid of two herbs, spearmint (Menthaspicata) and water mint (Menthaaquatica). The main constituents of peppermint oil include menthol (35–55%), menthone (20–31%), menthyl acetate (3–10%), isomenthone, 1,8-cineole, limonene, b-myrcene, and carvone. Peppermint oil may be obtained through steam distillation of flowering parts that grow aboveground. It is a volatile oil, with menthol accounting for a majority of its potency. Due to the various constituents of peppermint oil, it has a variety of uses, including topical application as an antiseptic and for aches and pains, inhalation as aromatherapy, and oral formulations for flavoring or for use as digestive aids. Relaxation of intestinal muscle, both in vivo and in vitro, and relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter have been reported with the use of peppermint oil, which is thought of as an antispasmodic that may confer benefits in conditions such as IBS. Several clinical studies of the use of peppermint oil for the treatment of
An Algorithm for Drawing General Undirected Graphs Tomihisa Kamada and Satoru Kawai

Graphs (networks) are very common data structures which are handled in computers. Diagrams are widely used to represent the graph structures visually in many information systems. In order to automatically draw the diagrams which are, for example, state graphs, data-flow graphs, Petri nets, and entity-relationship diagrams, basic graph drawing algorithms are required. The state of the art in automatic drawing is surveyed comprehensively in [7,19]. There have been only a few algorithms for general undirected graphs. This paper presents a simple but successful algorithm for drawing undirected graphs and weighted graphs. The basic idea of our algorithm is as follows. We regard the desirable "geometric" (Euclidean) distance between two vertices in the drawing as the "graph theoretic" distance between them in the corresponding graph. We introduce a virtual dynamic system in which every two vertices are connected by a "spring" of such desirable length. Then, we regard the optimal layout of vertices as the state in which the total spring energy of the system is minimal. The "spring" idea for drawing general graphs was introduced in [6], and similar methods were used for drawing planar graphs with fixed boundary [2,20]. This paper brings a new significant result in graph drawing based on the spring model.
Biodynamic Excisional Skin Tension Lines for Cutaneous Surgery
ADAM: Detecting Intrusions by Data Mining

Intrusion detection systems have traditionally been based on the characterization of an attack and the tracking of the activity on the system to see if it matches that characterization. Recently, new intrusion detection systems based on data mining are making their appearance in the field. This paper describes the design and experiences with the ADAM ( Audit Data Analysis and Mining) system, which we use as a testbed to study how useful data mining techniques can be in intrusion detection. Keywords—Intrusion Detection, Data Mining, Association Rules, Classifiers.
Speaker Identification using Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient and BPNN

Speech processing is emerged as one of the important application area of digital signal processing. Various fields for research in speech processing are speech recognition, speaker recognition, speech synthesis, speech coding etc. The objective of automatic speaker recognition is to extract, characterize and recognize the information about speaker identity. Feature extraction is the first step for speaker recognition. Many algorithms are suggested/developed by the researchers for feature extraction. In this work, the Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient (MFCC) feature has been used for designing a text dependent speaker identification system. BPNN is used for identification of speaker after training the feature set from MFCC. Some modifications to the existing technique of MFCC for feature extraction are also suggested to improve the speaker recognition efficiency. Information from speech recognition can be used in various ways in state-of-the-art speaker recognition systems. This includes the obvious use of recognized words to enable the use of text-dependent speaker modeling techniques when the words spoken are not given. Furthermore, it has been shown that the choice of words and phones itself can be a useful indicator of speaker identity. Also, recognizer output enables higher-level features, in particular those related to prosodic properties of speech. Keywords— Speaker identification, BPNN, MFCC, speech processing, feature extraction, speech signal
How Important is Weight Symmetry in Backpropagation?

Gradient backpropagation (BP) requires symmetric feedforward and feedback connections—the same weights must be used for forward and backward passes. This “weight transport problem” [1] is thought to be one of the main reasons of BP’s biological implausibility. Using 15 different classification datasets, we systematically study to what extent BP really depends on weight symmetry. In a study that turned out to be surprisingly similar in spirit to Lillicrap et al.’s demonstration [2] but orthogonal in its results, our experiments indicate that: (1) the magnitudes of feedback weights do not matter to performance (2) the signs of feedback weights do matter—the more concordant signs between feedforward and their corresponding feedback connections, the better (3) with feedback weights having random magnitudes and 100% concordant signs, we were able to achieve the same or even better performance than SGD. (4) some normalizations/stabilizations are indispensable for such asymmetric BP to work, namely Batch Normalization (BN) [3] and/or a “Batch Manhattan” (BM) update rule. This work was supported by the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines (CBMM), funded by NSF STC award CCF 1231216. ar X iv :1 51 0. 05 06 7v 3 [ cs .L G ] 2 D ec 2 01 5
Impact of dietary fiber intake on glycemic control, cardiovascular risk factors and chronic kidney disease in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Fukuoka Diabetes Registry

BACKGROUND
Dietary fiber is beneficial for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, although it is consumed differently in ethnic foods around the world. We investigated the association between dietary fiber intake and obesity, glycemic control, cardiovascular risk factors and chronic kidney disease in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients.


METHODS
A total of 4,399 patients were assessed for dietary fiber intake using a brief self-administered diet history questionnaire. The associations between dietary fiber intake and various cardiovascular risk factors were investigated cross-sectionally.


RESULTS
Body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, triglyceride and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein negatively associated with dietary fiber intake after adjusting for age, sex, duration of diabetes, current smoking, current drinking, total energy intake, fat intake, saturated fatty acid intake, leisure-time physical activity and use of oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin. The homeostasis model assessment insulin sensitivity and HDL cholesterol positively associated with dietary fiber intake. Dietary fiber intake was associated with reduced prevalence of abdominal obesity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome after multivariate adjustments including obesity. Furthermore, dietary fiber intake was associated with lower prevalence of albuminuria, low estimated glomerular filtration rate and chronic kidney disease after multivariate adjustments including protein intake. Additional adjustments for obesity, hypertension or metabolic syndrome did not change these associations.


CONCLUSION
We demonstrated that increased dietary fiber intake was associated with better glycemic control and more favorable cardiovascular disease risk factors including chronic kidney disease in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetic patients should be encouraged to consume more dietary fiber in daily life.
Mobile apps for science learning: Review of research

This review examined articles on mobile apps for science learning published from 2007 to 2014. A qualitative content analysis was used to investigate the science mobile app research for its mobile app design, underlying theoretical foundations, and students' measured outcomes. This review found that mobile apps for science learning offered a number of similar design features, including technology-based scaffolding, location-aware functionality, visual/audio representations, digital knowledge-construction tools, digital knowledge-sharing mechanisms, and differentiated roles. Many of the studies cited a specific theoretical foundation, predominantly situated learning theory, and applied this to the design of the mobile learning environment. The most common measured outcome was students' basic scientific knowledge or conceptual understanding. A number of recommendations came out of this review. Future studies need to make use of newer, available technologies; isolate the testing of specific app features; and develop additional strategies around using mobile apps for collaboration. Researchers need to make more explicit connections between the instructional principles and the design features of their mobile learning environment in order to better integrate theory with practice. In addition, this review noted that stronger alignment is needed between the underlying theories and measured outcomes, and more studies are needed to assess students' higher-level cognitive outcomes, cognitive load, and skill-based outcomes such as problem solving. Finally, more research is needed on how science mobile apps can be used with more varied science topics and diverse audiences. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A complete formalized knowledge representation model for advanced digital forensics timeline analysis

Having a clear view of events that occurred over time is a difficult objective to achieve in digital investigations (DI). Event reconstruction, which allows investigators to understand the timeline of a crime, is one of the most important step of a DI process. This complex task requires exploration of a large amount of events due to the pervasiveness of new technologies nowadays. Any evidence produced at the end of the investigative process must also meet the requirements of the courts, such as reproducibility, verifiability, validation, etc. For this purpose, we propose a new methodology, supported by theoretical concepts, that can assist investigators through the whole process including the construction and the interpretation of the events describing the case. The proposed approach is based on a model which integrates knowledge of experts from the fields of digital forensics and software development to allow a semantically rich representation of events related to the incident. The main purpose of this model is to allow the analysis of these events in an automatic and efficient way. This paper describes the approach and then focuses on the main conceptual and formal aspects: a formal incident modelization and operators for timeline reconstruction and analysis. © 2014 Digital Forensics Research Workshop. Published by Elsevier Limited. All rights
Three Models for the Description of Language

The grammar of a language is a device that describes the structure of that language. The grammar is comprised of a set of rules whose goal is twofold: first these rules can be used to create sentences of the associated language and only these, and second they can be used to classify whether a given sentence is an element of the language or not. The goal of a linguist is to discover grammars that are simple and yet are able to fully span the language. In [1] Chomsky describes three possible options of increasing complexity for English grammars: Finite-state, Phrase Structure and Transformational. This paper briefly present these three grammars and summarizes Chomsky’s analysis and results which state that finite-state grammars are inadequate because they fail to span all possible sentences of the English language, and phrase structure grammar is overly complex.
Stakeholder engagement, social auditing and corporate sustainability

Purpose – To identify the applicability of social auditing as an approach of engaging stakeholders in assessing and reporting on corporate sustainability and its performance. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the framework of AA1000 and the social auditing studies, this paper links stakeholder engagement, social auditing and corporate sustainability with a view to applying dialogue-based social auditing to address corporate sustainability. Findings – This paper identifies a “match” between corporate sustainability and social auditing, as both aim at improving the social, environmental and economic performance of an organisation, considering the well-being of a wider range of stakeholders and requiring the engagement of stakeholders in the process. This paper suggests that social auditing through engaging stakeholders via dialogue could be applied to build trusts, identify commitment and promote co-operation amongst stakeholders and corporations. Research limitations/implications – This research requires further empirical research into the practicality of social auditing in addressing corporate sustainability and the determination of the limitations of dialogue-based social auditing. Practical implications – Social auditing has been identified as a useful mechanism of balancing differing interests among stakeholders and corporations in a democratic business society. The application of social auditing in developing and achieving corporate sustainability has apparently practical implications. Originality/value – This paper examines the applicability of dialogue-based social auditing in helping business to move towards sustainability. Social auditing as a process of assessing and reporting on corporate social and environmental performance through engaging stakeholders via dialogue could be applied to build trusts, identify commitment and promote cooperation amongst stakeholders and corporations.
Do cheerfulness , exhilaration , and humor production moderate pain tolerance ? A FACS study

Prior studies have shown that watching a funny film leads to an increase in pain tolerance. The present study aimed at separating three factors considered potentially essential (mood, behavior, and cognition related to humor) and examined whether they are responsible for this effect. Furthermore, the study examined whether trait cheerfulness and trait seriousness, as measured by the State-TraitCheerfulness-Inventory (STCI; Ruch et al. 1996), moderate changes in pain tolerance. Fifty-sixty female subjects were assigned randomly to three groups, each having a different task to pursue while watching a funny film: (1) get into a cheerful mood without smiling or laughing (”Cheerfulness”); (2) smile and laugh extensively (”Exhilaration”); and (3) produce a humorous commentary to the film (”Humor production”). Pain tolerance was measured using the cold pressor test before, immediately after, and twenty minutes after the film. Results indicated that pain tolerance increased for participants from before to after watching the funny film and remained high for the twenty minutes. This effect was moderated by facial but not verbal indicators of enjoyment of humor. Participants low in trait seriousness had an overall higher pain tolerance. Subjects with a high score in trait cheerfulness showed an increase in pain tolerance after producing humor while watching the film whereas subjects low in trait cheerfulness showed a similar increase after smiling and laughter during the film. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.2004.009 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-77579 Originally published at: Zweyer, K; Velker, B; Ruch, Willibald (2004). Do cheerfulness, exhilaration, and humor production moderate pain tolerance? A FACS study. HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research, 17(12):85-119. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.2004.009 Do cheerfulness, exhilaration, and humor production moderate pain tolerance? A FACS study KAREN ZWEYER, BARBARA VELKER, and WILLIBALD RUCH
Kalman filtering over a packet-delaying network: A probabilistic approach

In this paper, we consider Kalman filtering over a packet-delaying network. Given the probability distribution of the delay, we can characterize the filter performance via a probabilistic approach. We assume that the estimator maintains a buffer of length D so that at each time k, the estimator is able to retrieve all available data packets up to time k−D+1. Both the cases of sensorwith andwithout necessary computation capability for filter updates are considered. When the sensor has no computation capability, for a givenD, we give lower and upper bounds on the probability forwhich the estimation error covariance is within a prescribed bound. When the sensor has computation capability, we show that the previously derived lower and upper bounds are equal to each other. An approach for determining the minimum buffer length for a required performance in probability is given and an evaluation on the number of expected filter updates is provided. Examples are provided to demonstrate the theory developed in the paper. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Idiopathic isolated clitoromegaly: A report of two cases

BACKGROUND: Clitoromegaly is a frequent congenital malformation, but acquired clitoral enlargement is relatively rare. METHODS: Two acquired clitoromegaly cases treated in Ataturk Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey are presented. RESULTS: History from both patients revealed clitoromegaly over the last three years. Neither gynecological nor systemic abnormalities were detected in either patient. Karyotype analyses and hormonal tests were normal. Abdominal and gynaecological ultrasound did not show any cystic lesion or other abnormal finding. Computerized tomography scan of the adrenal glands was normal. Clitoroplasty with preservation of neurovascular pedicles was performed for the treatment of clitoromegaly. CONCLUSION: The patients were diagnosed as "idiopathic isolated" clitoromegaly. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no detailed report about idiopathic clitoromegaly in the literature.
An 82.4% efficiency package-bondwire-based four-phase fully integrated buck converter with flying capacitor for area reduction

Multi-phase converters have become a topic of great interest due to the high output power capacity and output ripple cancellation effect. They are even more beneficial to nowadays high-frequency fully integrated converters with output capacitor integrated on-chip. As one of the dominant chip area consumers, reducing the size of the on-chip decoupling capacitors directly leads to cost down. It is reported that a 5× capacitor area reduction can be achieved with a four-phase converter compared to a single-phase one [1]. However, the penalty is obvious. Every extra phase comes with an inductor, which is also counted as cost and becomes more dominant with increase in the number of phases.