Hi,KIA: A Speech Emotion Recognition Dataset for Wake-Up Words

Wake-up words (WUW) is a short sentence used to activate a speech recognition system to receive the user's speech input. WUW utterances include not only the lexical information for waking up the system but also non-lexical information such as speaker identity or emotion. In particular, recognizing the user's emotional state may elaborate the voice communication. However, there is few dataset where the emotional state of the WUW utterances is labeled. In this paper, we introduce Hi, KIA, a new WUW dataset which consists of 488 Korean accent emotional utterances collected from four male and four female speakers and each of utterances is labeled with four emotional states including anger, happy, sad, or neutral. We present the step-by-step procedure to build the dataset, covering scenario selection, post-processing, and human validation for label agreement. Also, we provide two classification models for WUW speech emotion recognition using the dataset. One is based on traditional hand-craft features and the other is a transfer-learning approach using a pre-trained neural network. These classification models could be used as benchmarks in further research.Comment: Asia Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association Annual Summit and Conference (APSIPA), 202

Association between prostatic 18F-FDG uptake and lower urinary tract symptoms assessed by International Prostate Symptom Score

PURPOSEInflammation is known to induce prostatic growth and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) progression in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), but clinical indicators for intraprostatic inflammation other than biopsy have not yet been established. While 2-deoxy- 2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is a useful tool for investigating inflammatory conditions, prostatic FDG uptake in patients with BPH has not been elucidated. Therefore, we evaluated the association between prostatic FDG uptake and LUTS.METHODSA total of 391 men in their 50s who underwent FDG PET/CT during health examinations were included. Mean and maximal prostatic standard uptake values (SUVs) on FDG PET/CT were measured. Prostatic volume, focal FDG uptake, and calcification were also evaluated. The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) for LUTS was collected at baseline and follow- ups. The correlation between IPSS and other variables was analyzed.RESULTSThe mean age of the study participants was 51.7 years, and the mean follow-up interval was 39.7 months. The average of the mean and maximal SUV for prostatic FDG uptake was 1.8 and 2.6, respectively. The prostate volume was 18.5 cm3. The mean IPSS was 4.82 at baseline and 5.46 at follow-ups. Neither the mean SUV nor the maximal SUV of prostatic FDG uptake was correlated with IPSS at baseline or follow-ups. Conversely, prostate volume was associated with baseline IPSS and follow-up IPSS.CONCLUSIONProstatic FDG uptake did not show a significant association with IPSS on FDG PET/CT as well as at follow-ups. FDG uptake may not reflect prostatic growth in nonmalignant cases

Enhanced Immunogenicity of Engineered HER2 Antigens Potentiates Antitumor Immune Responses

For cancer vaccines, the selection of optimal tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) that can maximize the immunogenicity of the vaccine without causing unwanted adverse effects is challenging. In this study, we developed two engineered Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) antigens, K965 and K1117, and compared their immunogenicity to a previously reported truncated HER2 antigen, K684, within a B cell and monocyte-based vaccine (BVAC). We found that BVAC-K965 and BVAC-K1117 induced comparable antigen-specific antibody responses and antigen-specific T cell responses to BVAC-K684. Interestingly, BVAC-K1117 induced more potent antitumor activity than the other vaccines in murine CT26-HER2 tumor models. In addition, BVAC-K1117 showed enhanced antitumor effects against truncated p95HER2-expressing CT26 tumors compared to BVAC-K965 and BVAC-K684 based on the survival analysis by inducing T cell responses against intracellular domain (ICD) epitopes. The increased ICD epitope-specific T cell responses induced by BVAC-K1117 compared to BVAC-K965 and BVAC-K684 were recapitulated in human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-untyped human PBMCs and HLA-A*0201 PBMCs. Furthermore, we also observed synergistic antitumor effects between BVAC-K1117 and anti-PD-L1 antibody treatment against CT26-HER2 tumors. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that inclusion of a sufficient number of ICD epitopes of HER2 in cellular vaccines can improve the antitumor activity of the vaccine and provide a way to optimize the efficacy of anticancer cellular vaccines targeting HER2.Y

Performance of a silica-polyethyleneimine adsorbent for post-combustion CO2 capture on a 100 kg scale in a fluidized bed continuous unit

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Polyethyleneimine (PEI)/silica adsorbents have been considered as a promising candidate for post-combustion CO2 capture, but the limited process study has been performed on a pilot-scale unit. Herein we report the 150 h continuous test results using a 100 kg sample of silica-PEI on a fluidized bed continuous unit. The CO2 removal efficiency and dynamic sorption capacity were evaluated continuously by changing a number of variables. For the sorption reactor, the changing variables were inlet H2O concentrations of 0–8.3 vol%, inlet CO2 concentrations of 12.0–21.5 vol%, bed temperatures of 50–70 °C and the bed differential pressures of 176–370 mmH2O. For the desorption reactor operated at the bed temperature of 129–130 °C, inlet H2O concentrations of 8.0–13.5 vol%, inlet CO2 concentrations of 14.6–81.2 vol% and bed differential pressures of 430–580 mmH2O were used. During continuous operation, CO2 removal efficiencies of over 90% were achieved with dynamic sorption capacities of 7.5 wt%. Solid sample collected during continuous operation were analyzed by TGA and 13C NMR to identity the decrease of CO2 adsorption capacity and the extent of thermo-oxidative side reactions. Slow oxidative degradation of the silica-PEI occurred because the transporting adsorbent was exposure to the non-humidified air in the solid transport system

Inorganic Nanostructures for Energy Storage Applications

Pseudocapacitive energy storage is a promising energy storage mechanism which can lead to both high energy density and high power density. Based on current lithium ion battery technology, achieving high rate energy storage with high capacity is a very important challenge and pseudocapacitive materials are good candidates to solve this problem. The first part of this dissertation addresses two material systems for pseudocapacitive energy storages. The realization of pseudocapacitance in these materials is done by changing their physical properties. In the first system, MoO3, we created oxygen vacancies to modify the electrically insulating nature of MoO3. The effects of oxygen vacancies on the structural and electrochemical properties are examined. In the second system, MoO2, we synthesized nanoparticles to overcome diffusion limitations in the charge storage of bulk MoO2. The slow kinetics in bulk materials are generally from its size as well as from the phase transition during lithium insertion. Size-dependent electrochemical behavior in MoO2 are investigated and the use of reduced graphene oxide to solve the surface oxidation problem is demonstrated. The last part of the dissertation involves sodium ion batteries. Sodium ion batteries are promising not only because sodium ions have similar electrochemical intercalation properties as those of lithium, but also sodium is one of the most abundant elements on earth. However, sodium has certain intrinsic limitations such as being less electropositive than lithium and slow kinetics from its relatively large ion size. These features have limited the development of sodium ion batteries. In order to overcome these intrinsic limitations, we synthesized Na1.5VPO4.8F0.7 nanoparticles and the synthesis and electrochemical properties of this material were examined

Bioinstrumentation and Statistical Methods for Investigating Host-Microbial Interactions

Metabolic interactions between hosts and their associated microbiota, the latter referred to as the microbiome, contribute to the host phenotype and nutrient cycling within the ecosystem. There is broad diversity in the type and complexity of interactions for a given host and environment. Quantitative and qualitative resolution of the associations between hosts and the microbiome remain a key challenge in modern microbiology. The universal mechanism of interaction is the diffusive exchange of metabolites. In the first part of this thesis, I propose a microbial co-culture assay (“porous microplate”) that spatially controls diffusion mediated metabolite exchange. Using a model host alga Phaeodactylum tricornutum, I describe bacterial responses to algal metabolites in the porous microplate. I extend the findings to provide an insight into how different bacterial species partition host nutrients. The host-microbiota relationship requires proximity between the organisms, and it is strengthened by physical attachment. In the second part of this thesis, I utilize a microfluidic electrokinetic platform to characterize bacterial surfaces and their envelope components. The motivation for this is to ascertain the influence of surface charge on physical attachment. The results indicate that bacterial surface charge is correlated with the ability to attach to the algal host and the production of extracellular polymeric substances. Lastly, I introduce a multivariate analysis technique to visualize microbial community structure. I explain how statistical hypothesis testing can be simultaneously addressed while reducing its dimensionality. I verify the technique’s performance by comparing it to an existing dimensionality reduction method. Taken together, the combined microfluidic and data analysis approaches developed can help bridge several technological gaps in microbial ecology.Ph.D

Mesh Size Selectivity of Tie-Down Gillnets for the Blackfin Flounder (Glyptocephalus stelleri) in Korea

Although gillnet fisheries are increasingly common in Korea, few studies have conducted sea trials using tie-down gillnets. Here, we analyzed the mesh size selectivity using tie-down gillnets with four different mesh sizes (84, 90, 105, and 120 mm) to catch blackfin flounders. A total of 10 sea trials were conducted at depths of 100–140 m in the waters of Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, Korea, and the catching efficiency and mesh size selectivity were comparatively analyzed. The net with a mesh size of 84 mm showed the highest number of catches (373), followed by the 90-mm (363) and 105-mm (307) meshes. The results of the master curve estimation showed that the larger the mesh size, the higher the total length representing the same retention probability. Therefore, the catch rate of small fish decreased with the increasing mesh size. For the 84-mm net, the 50% selection length for small fish (total length ≤ 170 mm) was estimated at 186.9 mm, which was approximately 17 mm larger than the length limit. The results show that when using tie-down gillnets, the size of the fish caught changed according to the changes in the mesh size