Leveraging native language information for improved accented speech recognition

Recognition of accented speech is a long-standing challenge for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, given the increasing worldwide population of bi-lingual speakers with English as their second language. If we consider foreign-accented speech as an interpolation of the native language (L1) and English (L2), using a model that can simultaneously address both languages would perform better at the acoustic level for accented speech. In this study, we explore how an end-to-end recurrent neural network (RNN) trained system with English and native languages (Spanish and Indian languages) could leverage data of native languages to improve performance for accented English speech. To this end, we examine pre-training with native languages, as well as multi-task learning (MTL) in which the main task is trained with native English and the secondary task is trained with Spanish or Indian Languages. We show that the proposed MTL model performs better than the pre-training approach and outperforms a baseline model trained simply with English data. We suggest a new setting for MTL in which the secondary task is trained with both English and the native language, using the same output set. This proposed scenario yields better performance with +11.95% and +17.55% character error rate gains over baseline for Hispanic and Indian accents, respectively.Comment: Accepted at Interspeech 201

The effect of occupational stress, psychological stress and burnout on employee performance: Evidence from banking industry

This paper presents an empirical investigation on the effects of occupational stress, psychological stress as well as job burnout on women’s employee performance in city of Karaj, Iran. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among all female employees who worked for Bank Maskan in this city. In our survey, employee performance consists of three parts of interpersonal performance, job performance as well as organizational performance. Cronbach alpha has been used to verify the overall questionnaire, all components were within acceptable levels, and the implementation of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test has indicated that the data were not normally distributed. Using Spearman correlation ratio as well as regression techniques, the study has determined that while psychological stress influenced significantly on all three components of employee performance including interpersonal performance, job performance as well as organizational performance, the effect on job performance was greater than the other components. In addition, occupational stress only influences on organizational as well as interpersonal performance. Finally, employee burnout has no impact on any components of employee performance

Utjecaj djelomične zamjene šećera sirupom od smokava na preživljavanje bakterije Bacillus coagulans i fizikalno-kemijska svojstva probiotičkog sladoleda

Research background. Various sectors of the food industry demand the enrichment of food with functional compounds. Probiotic products with valuable nutritional and therapeutic properties have attracted great attention in the fields of industry, nutrition and medicine. The aim of the present study is to investigate the sensory and physicochemical properties of probiotic ice cream containing fig syrup and to evaluate the survival of Bacillus coagulans after 90 days of storage at -18 °C. Experimental approach. In this study, four experimental groups of ice cream were produced as follows: plain dairy ice cream (without additives), ice cream containing 109 CFU/g B. coagulans, ice cream containing 25 % fig syrup as sugar substitute and ice cream containing 25 % fig syrup as sugar substitute and 109 CFU/g B. coagulans. They were stored at -18 °C for 3 months. Texture, pH, acidity and viscosity were analysed and microbial counts were determined after 1, 30, 60 and 90 days of storage. The organoleptic evaluation was carried out on days 1 and 90. Results and conclusions. The results showed that during the initial freezing process and the transformation of the mixture into ice cream, the number of B. coagulans decreased from 109 to 107 CFU/g, without significant changes observed over the 90-day period. No significant changes were found in the sensory and textural properties of the samples either. Replacement of 25 % sugar with fig syrup reduced the pH, increased the acidity of the ice cream and improved their viscosity. In conclusion, the production of functional ice cream using fig syrup and B. coagulans is recommended for their health benefits. Novelty and scientific contribution. The results of this study can be used to prepare functional and healthy foods. Our results suggest that fig syrup has the potential to be used as a natural sweetener or sugar substitute in various products.Pozadina istraživanja. U različitim se granama prehrambene industrije pojavila potreba za obogaćivanjem hrane funkcionalnim sastojcima. Probiotički proizvodi s vrijednim hranjivim i terapeutskim svojstvima su od velikog interesa za prehrambenu industriju, nutricionizam i medicinu. Svrha je ovoga rada bila ispitati senzorska i fizikalno-kemijska svojstva probiotičkog sladoleda koji sadržava sirup od smokve, te procijeniti preživljavanje bakterije Bacillus coagulans u dobivenom sladoledu nakon 90 dana skladištenja pri -18 °C. Eksperimentalni pristup. U ovom su istraživanju pripremljene četiri skupine sladoleda, i to: obični mliječni sladoled bez dodataka, sladoled s dodatkom 109 CFU/g bakterije B. coagulans, sladoled s dodatkom 25 % sirupa od smokava kao zamjenom za šećer i sladoled s dodatkom 25 % sirupa od smokava i 109 CFU/g bakterije B. coagulans. Svi su uzorci skladišteni na –18 °C tijekom 3 mjeseca. Ispitani su sljedeći parametri: tekstura, pH-vrijednost, kiselost i viskoznost dobivenih sladoleda, a broj je mikroorganizama određivan nakon 1, 30, 60 i 90 dana skladištenja. Organoleptičko ispitivanje je provedeno tijekom prvog i devedesetog dana skladištenja. Rezultati i zaključci. Rezultati pokazuju da se tijekom prve faze zamrzavanja smjese i nastanka sladoleda broj bakterija B. coagulans smanjio s 109 na 107 CFU/g, te se nakon toga nije mijenjao tijekom 90 dana skladištenja. Također nisu uočene bitne promjene senzorskih svojstava niti teksture uzoraka. Zamjenom 25 % šećera sirupom od smokava smanjila se pH-vrijednost, a povećala kiselost te poboljšala viskoznost sladoleda. Zaključno, možemo preporučiti proizvodnju funkcionalnog sladoleda s dodatkom sirupa od smokve i bakterijom B. coagulans zbog njihovog pozitivnog učinka na zdravlje. Novina i znanstveni doprinos. Dobiveni rezultati mogu se primijeniti u pripremi funkcionalne i zdrave hrane. Naši rezultati pokazuju da bi se sirup od smokava mogao koristiti kao prirodni zaslađivač ili zamjena za šećer u različitim proizvodima

Acute and chronic toxicity of ammonia in Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus, fingerlings

In the present study, susceptibility of Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus, to un-ionized ammonia (UIA) was studied. Fish with an average weight of 5.52±0.45 g were exposed to different concentrations of un-ionized ammonia (UIA) to determine median lethal concentration (96-h-LC50). The fish were exposed to six different concentrations of UIA (control, 0.16, 0.31, 0.62, 0.94 and 1.25 mg/l UIA). The control group was not challenged with ammonia (0.0008 mg/l UIA). The results showed that the 96-h-LC50 of UIA in Persian sturgeon was 0.46 mg/l. According to 96-h-LC50,mid-term exposure to sub-lethal UIA was examined. In the chronic examination, the fish were exposed to different levels of sub-lethal ammonia; control (0.0008 mg/l UIA), 10% of LC50 (0.05 mg/l UIA), 5% of LC50 (0.025 mg/l UIA) and 1% of LC50 (0.005 mg/l UIA) for 30 days. Final length, final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, daily weight gain and body weigh index decreased significantly in the fish exposed to 0.05 and 0.025 mg/l UIA. According to the results, conversion ratio and condition factor indices were higher in the fish exposed to 0.005 mg/l UIA and control group compared with the fish exposed to 0.05 and 0.025 mg/l UIA

Solution of the space-fractional telegraph equations by using HAM

In this study by using the Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM) obtained approximate solutions for the space and time-fractional telegraph equations. In Caputo sense (Yildirim, 2010)these equations considered. Examples are solved and the obtained results show to be more accurate than Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM) and are more efficient and commodious

Is a Single dose of Prophylactic Antibiotics Sufficient in Patients with Acute Non-Complicated Appendicitis?

Background: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common acute surgery events. Its main treatment is surgery. However medical management before and after the surgery has an important impact on the treatment. Objective: The aim of study was evaluating the outcomes of single dose and quadruple doses of prophylactic antibiotic therapy in patients with acute non-complicated appendicitis. Methods: This randomized double blind clinical trial was carried out on 294 patients in single dose (136 patients) and the quadruple doses (158 patients) groups. In single dose group, a dose of 1g Cefazolin + 500mg Metronidazole was prescribed intravenously about half an hour before surgery. The quadruple doses group received three more doses after surgery.  Two groups were followed for fever, erythema, seroma, wound infection, intra-abdominal abscess formation and readmissions within one month after discharge. Results: The mean age of patients was 31±5.14 years. 203(69%) of patients were men while 91(31%) were women. There were no significant statistical differences between groups in age, sex and body mass index (BMI) variables. No significant statistical differences were observed during surgery and hospitalization period between two groups. In the single dose group, wound infection was 8(5.9%), while it was 6(3.8%) in the quadruple doses group; hence, there were no significant statistical differences in this regard. There was no abdominal abscess in groups. There were significant statistical differences regarding erythema, seroma and antibiotics consumption costs between groups. Conclusion: A single dose of prophylactic antibiotics is sufficient in patients with acute suppurative non-complicated appendicitis

Synthesis and characterization of a novel chemically designed (Globo)3–DTPA–KLH antigen

In recent years, many experiments have been conducted for the production and evaluation of anticancer glycoconjugated vaccines in developed countries and many achievements have been accomplished with Globo H derivatives. In the current experiment, a new chemically designed triplicate version of (Globo H)3–diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)–KLH antigen was synthesized and characterized. Immunization with (Globo H)3-DTPA-KLH, a hexasaccharide that is a member of a family of antigenic carbohydrates that are highly expressed in various types of cancers conjugated with DTPA and KLH protein, induced a high level of antibody titer along with an elevated level of IL-4 in mice. Treatment of tumors with the collected sera from immunized mice decreased the tumor size in nude mice as well. None of the immunized mice illustrated any sign of tumor growth after injection of MCF-7 cells compared to the control animals. These findings, based on the newly presented structure of the Globo H antigen, lend exciting and promising evidence for clinical advancement in the development of a therapeutic vaccine in the future