Evaluation framework for context-aware speaker recognition in noisy smart living environments

The integration of voice control into connected devices is expected to improve the efficiency and comfort of our daily lives. However, the underlying biometric systems often impose constraints on the individual or the environment during interaction (e.g., quiet surroundings). Such constraints have to be surmounted in order to seamlessly recognize individuals. In this paper, we propose an evaluation framework for speaker recognition in noisy smart living environments. To this end, we designed a taxonomy of sounds (e.g., home-related, mechanical) that characterize representative indoor and outdoor environments where speaker recognition is adopted. Then, we devised an approach for off-line simulation of challenging noisy conditions in vocal audios originally collected under controlled environments, by leveraging our taxonomy. Our approach adds a (combination of) sound(s) belonging to the target environment into the current vocal example. Experiments on a large-scale public dataset and two state-of-the-art speaker recognition models show that adding certain background sounds to clean vocal audio leads to a substantial deterioration of recognition performance. In several noisy settings, our findings reveal that a speaker recognition model might end up to make unreliable decisions. Our framework is intended to help system designers evaluate performance deterioration and develop speaker recognition models more robust to smart living environments

Characterization methodology for re-using marble slurry in industrial applications

Nowadays calcium carbonate has a great importance in different industrial fields and currently there is the opportunity of appreciate the potential value of marble waste and convert it into marketable products. Marble slurry samples, collected from different dimension stone treatment plants in Orosei marble district (Sardinia - Italy), were chemically, physically, mineralogically, and morphologically analyzed and the obtained data were evaluated for compatibility with the marketable micronized CaCO3 specifications required by some industrial sectors, estimating the prospects of recovered CaCO3 utilization. Besides the economic benefits, transforming a waste into an important economic resource involves environmental advantages, due to reduced marble waste landfills, and sustainability promotion

The Impacts of Dry Dynamic Cores on Asymmetric Hurricane Intensification

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-16-0055.1The fundamental pathways for tropical cyclone (TC) intensification are explored by considering axisym- metric and asymmetric impulsive thermal perturbations to balanced, TC-like vortices using the dynamic cores of three different nonlinear numerical models. Attempts at reproducing the results of previous work, which used the community WRF Model, revealed a discrepancy with the impacts of purely asymmetric thermal forcing. The current study finds that thermal asymmetries can have an important, largely positive role on the vortex intensification, whereas other studies find that asymmetric impacts are negligible. Analysis of the spectral energetics of each numerical model indicates that the vortex response to asym- metric thermal perturbations is significantly damped in WRF relative to the other models. Spectral kinetic energy budgets show that this anomalous damping is primarily due to the increased removal of kinetic energy from the vertical divergence of the vertical pressure flux, which is related to the flux of inertia–gravity wave energy. The increased kinetic energy in the other two models is shown to originate around the scales of the heating and propagate upscale with time from nonlinear effects. For very large thermal amplitudes (50 K), the anomalous removal of kinetic energy due to inertia–gravity wave activity is much smaller, resulting in good agreement between models. The results of this paper indicate that the numerical treatment of small-scale processes that project strongly onto inertia–gravity wave energy can lead to significant differences in asymmetric TC intensification. Sensitivity tests with different time integration schemes suggest that diffusion entering into the implicit solution procedure is partly responsible for the anomalous damping of energy.Institute of Geophysics, Planetary Physics and Signatures (IGPPS) at Los Alamos National LaboratoryOffice of Naval Research through program element PE-0602435Institute of Geophysics, Planetary Physics and Signatures (IGPPS) at Los Alamos National LaboratoryOffice of Naval Research through program element PE-060243

The role of bifidobacteria in predictive and preventive medicine: A focus on eczema and hypercholesterolemia

Bifidobacteria colonize the human gastrointestinal tract early on in life, their interaction with the host starting soon after birth. The health benefits are strain specific and could be due to the produced polysaccharides. The consumption of probiotics may prevent obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema or atopic dermatitis, and asthma. Non-replicative strains of Bifidobacterium longum (NCC3001 and NCC2705) promote the differentiation of normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs), inducing a high expression of differentiation markers (keratin —KRT1—, and transglu-taminase —TGM1—) and pro-regeneration markers (cathepsins), including β-defensin-1, which plays an important role in modulating the cutaneous immune response. Strains belonging to the genera Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus can increase tight-junction proteins in NHEKs and enhance barrier function. Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli may be used as prophylactic or therapeutic agents towards enteric pathogens, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, lactose intolerance, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, colorectal cancer, cholesterol reduction, and control of obesity and metabolic disorders. Bifidobacterium bifidum showed an in vitro capability of lowering cholesterol levels thanks to its absorption into the bacterial membrane. Several strains of the species Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, L. casei, and L. gasseri led to a reduced amount of serum cholesterol due to their ability to assimilate cholesterol (in vitro). Lactococcus lactis KF147 and Lactobacillus plantarum Lp81 have also been shown to reduce cholesterol levels by 12%. Clarifying the specific health mechanisms of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains in preventing high-cost pathologies could be useful for delineating effective guidelines for the treatment of infants and adults

An experimental study investigating the effect of pain relief from oral analgesia on lumbar range of motion, velocity, acceleration and movement irregularity

Background Movement alterations are often reported in individuals with back pain. However the mechanisms behind these movement alterations are not well understood. A commonly cited mechanism is pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pain reduction, from oral analgesia, on lumbar kinematics in individuals with acute and chronic low back pain. Methods A prospective, cross-sectional, experimental repeated-measures design was used. Twenty acute and 20 chronic individuals with low back pain were recruited from General Practitioner and self-referrals to therapy departments for low back pain. Participants complained of movement evoked low back pain. Inertial sensors were attached to the sacrum and lumbar spine and used to measure kinematics. Kinematic variables measured were range of motion, angular velocity and angular acceleration as well as a determining movement irregularity (a measure of deviation from smooth motion). Kinematics were investigated before and after administration of oral analgesia to instigate pain reduction. Results Pain was significantly reduced following oral analgesia. There were no significant effects on the kinematic variables before and after pain reduction from oral analgesia. There was no interaction between the variables group (acute and chronic) and time (pre and post pain reduction). Conclusion The results demonstrate that pain reduction did not alter lumbar range of motion, angular velocity, angular acceleration or movement irregularity questioning the role of pain in lumbar kinematics

Differential regulation of cardiac sodium channels by intracellular fibroblast growth factors

Voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels are responsible for the initiation and propagation of action potentials. In the heart, the predominant NaV1.5 α subunit is composed of four homologous repeats (I-IV) and forms a macromolecular complex with multiple accessory proteins, including intracellular fibroblast growth factors (iFGF). In spite of high homology, each of the iFGFs, iFGF11-iFGF14, as well as the individual iFGF splice variants, differentially regulates NaV channel gating, and the mechanisms underlying these differential effects remain elusive. Much of the work exploring iFGF regulation of NaV1.5 has been performed in mouse and rat ventricular myocytes in which iFGF13VY is the predominant iFGF expressed, whereas investigation into NaV1.5 regulation by the human heart-dominant iFGF12B is lacking. In this study, we used a mouse model with cardiac-specific Fgf13 deletion to study the consequences of iFGF13VY and iFGF12B expression. We observed distinct effects on the voltage-dependences of activation and inactivation of the sodium currents (INa), as well as on the kinetics of peak INa decay. Results in native myocytes were recapitulated with human NaV1.5 heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and additional experiments using voltage-clamp fluorometry (VCF) revealed iFGF-specific effects on the activation of the NaV1.5 voltage sensor domain in repeat IV (VSD-IV). iFGF chimeras further unveiled roles for all three iFGF domains (i.e., the N-terminus, core, and C-terminus) on the regulation of VSD-IV, and a slower time domain of inactivation. We present here a novel mechanism of iFGF regulation that is specific to individual iFGF isoforms and that leads to distinct functional effects on NaV channel/current kinetics

Про конституційно-правові засади національного суверенітету в Україні

Розглядаються характеристики народу та нації як суб’єктів конституційно-правових відносин, зв’язок етнічного і політичного чинників у змісті національного суверенітету.Рассматриваются характеристики народа и нации как субъектов конституцион­но-правовых отношений, связь этнического и политического в содержании националь­ного суверенитета.Describe the nations and the peoples as subjects of constitutionals law relatios, the con­nection between ethnos and political in content of national sovereignty