Auto-AVSR: Audio-Visual Speech Recognition with Automatic Labels

Audio-visual speech recognition has received a lot of attention due to its robustness against acoustic noise. Recently, the performance of automatic, visual, and audio-visual speech recognition (ASR, VSR, and AV-ASR, respectively) has been substantially improved, mainly due to the use of larger models and training sets. However, accurate labelling of datasets is time-consuming and expensive. Hence, in this work, we investigate the use of automatically-generated transcriptions of unlabelled datasets to increase the training set size. For this purpose, we use publicly-available pre-trained ASR models to automatically transcribe unlabelled datasets such as AVSpeech and VoxCeleb2. Then, we train ASR, VSR and AV-ASR models on the augmented training set, which consists of the LRS2 and LRS3 datasets as well as the additional automatically-transcribed data. We demonstrate that increasing the size of the training set, a recent trend in the literature, leads to reduced WER despite using noisy transcriptions. The proposed model achieves new state-of-the-art performance on AV-ASR on LRS2 and LRS3. In particular, it achieves a WER of 0.9% on LRS3, a relative improvement of 30% over the current state-of-the-art approach, and outperforms methods that have been trained on non-publicly available datasets with 26 times more training data.Comment: Accepted to ICASSP 202

Strongyloides stercoralis and Trypanosoma cruzi coinfections in a highly endemic area in Argentina

Background Strongyloidiasis and Chagas disease are endemic in northern Argentina. In this study we evaluate the association between S. stercoralis and T. cruzi infections in villages with diverse prevalence levels for these parasites. Further understanding in the relationship between these Neglected Tropical Diseases of South America is relevant for the design of integrated control measures as well as exploring potential biologic interactions. Methodology Community based cross-sectional studies were carried in different villages of the Chaco and Yungas regions in Argentina. Individuals were diagnosed by serology for S. stercoralis and T. cruzi. The association between S. stercoralis and T. cruzi, and between anemia and the two parasites was evaluated using two approaches: marginal (Ma) and multilevel regression (Mu). Results A total of 706 individuals from six villages of northern Argentina were included. A total of 37% were positive for S. stercoralis, 14% were positive for T. cruzi and 5% were positive for both. No association was found between infection with S. stercoralis and T. cruzi in any of the models, but we found a negative correlation between the prevalence of these species in the different villages (r =-0.91). Adults (> 15 years) presented association with S. stercoralis (Ma OR = 2.72; Mu OR = 2.84) and T. cruzi (Ma OR = 5.12; Mu OR = 5.48). Also, 12% and 2% of the variance of infection with S. stercoralis and T. cruzi, respectively, could be explained by differences among villages. On the other hand, anemia was associated with infection with S. stercoralis (Ma OR = 1.73; Mu OR = 1.78) and was more prevalent in adults (Ma OR = 2.59; Mu OR = 2.69). Conclusion We found that coinfection between S. stercoralis and T. cruzi is not more frequent than chance in endemic areas. However, the high prevalence for both parasites, raises the need for an integrated strategy for the control of STH and Chagas disease.Fil: Fleitas, Pedro Emanuel. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta; ArgentinaFil: Floridia Yapur, Noelia Aldana del Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Escuela de Biología. Cátedra de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Patología Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Instituto de Patología Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Nieves, Elvia Ester. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Echazú, Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Vargas, Paola Anahí. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Caro, Reynaldo Nicolás. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Aveldaño, Ramiro. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Walter. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Mariana. Asociación para el Desarrollo Sanitario Regional; ArgentinaFil: Crudo, Favio. Asociación para el Desarrollo Sanitario Regional; ArgentinaFil: Cimino, Rubén Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; ArgentinaFil: Krolewiecki, Alejandro Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Sede Regional Orán. Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales; Argentin

Clinical Role of CA125 in Worsening Heart Failure A BIOSTAT-CHF Study Subanalysis

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between antigen carbohydrate 125 (CA125) and the risk of 1-year clinical outcomes in patients with worsening heart failure (HF).BACKGROUND CA125 is a widely available biomarker that is up-regulated in patients with acute HF and has been postulated as a useful marker of congestion and risk stratification.METHODS hi a large multicenter cohort of patients with worsening HF, either in-hospital or in the outpatient setting, the independent associations between CA125 and 1-year death and the composite of death/HF readmission (adjusted for outcome-specific prognostic risk score [BIOSTAT risk score]) were determined by using the Royston-Parmar method (N = 2356). In a sensitivity analysis, the prognostic implications of CA125 were also adjusted for a composite congestion score (CCS). Data were validated in the B1OSTAT-CHF (Biology Study to Tailored Treatment in Chronic Heart Failure validation) cohort (N = 1,630).RESULTS Surrogates of congestion, such as N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and CCS, emerged as independent predictors of CA125. In muttivariabte survival analyses, higher CA125 was associated with an increased risk of mortality and the composite of death/HF readmission (p &lt;0.001 for both comparisons), even after adjustment for the CCS (p &lt;0.010 for both comparisons). The addition of CA125 to the B1OSTAT score led to a significant risk reclassification for both outcomes (category-free net reclassification improvement 0.137 [p &lt;0.001] and 0.104 [p 0.003] respectively). AR outcomes were confirmed in an independent validation cohort.CONCLUSIONS In patients with worsening HF, higher levels of CA125 were positively associated with parameters of congestion. Furthermore, CA125 remained independently associated with a higher risk of clinical outcomes, even beyond a predefined risk model and clinical surrogates of congestion. (C) 2020 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.</p

A new measure of socio-emotional skills: a pilot study with children, adolescents, and their families

Introduction: The teaching of socio-emotional skills has received greater attention, with ongoing theoretical discussions about these competences. Evaluating such characteristics and their development, however, is challenging because of a lack of consensus about theoretical and practical models, the difficulty in analyses that rely solely on self-reports, and the scarcity of robust Brazilian psychometric instruments. Objectives: Therefore, the present study sought to (1) verify the psychometric evidence of the instrument’s internal consistency in assessing socio-emotional skills, (2) identify differences in respondents’ answers, and (3) identify potential issues with questionnaire items via semi-structured interviews. Methods: This pilot study involved 32 responses from children and adolescents and 25 responses from their family members. The questionnaire assessed five socio-emotional skills: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision making. Descriptive analyses and Cronbach’s alpha calculations were applied to confirm internal consistency of the items in each subscale. Analyses of variance were also conducted to analyse responses from family members and children. Results: The results showed that self- awareness (α = 0.83, α = 0.76), self-management (α = 0.82, α = 0.79), and relationship skills (α = 0.71, α = 0.79) had adequate internal consistency in both children’s and family members’ versions. Significant differences were observed in scores between family members and children/adolescents in self-awareness (p = 0.0159), self-management (p = 0.0279). Conclusion: The present study underscores the importance and complexity of assessing responsible decision-making skills and suggests that the questionnaire can be useful for evaluating socio-emotional competencies

New scheme of intermittent benznidazole administration in patients chronically infected with Trypanosoma cruzi: Clinical, parasitological, and serological assessment after three years of follow-up

In a pilot study, we showed that the intermittent administration of benznidazole in chronic Chagas disease patients resulted in a low rate of treatment suspension and therapeutic failure, as assessed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) at the end of treatment. Here, a 3-year posttreatment follow-up study of the same cohort of patients is presented. The treatment scheme consisted of 12 doses of benznidazole at 5 mg/kg of body weight/day in two daily doses every 5 days. Parasite load, Trypanosoma cruzi-specific antibodies, and serum chemokine levels were measured prior to treatment and after a median follow-up of 36 months posttreatment by DNA minicircle kinetoplastid and nuclear DNA satellite sequence qPCR methods, conventional serological techniques, a Luminex-based assay with recombinant T. cruzi proteins, and a cytometric bead array. At the end of follow-up, 14 of 17 (82%) patients had negative qPCR findings, whereas three of 17 (18%) had detectable nonquantifiable findings by at least one of the qPCR techniques. A decline in parasite-specific antibodies at 12 months posttreatment was confirmed by conventional serological tests and the Luminex assays. Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 levels increased after treatment, whereas monokine induced by gamma interferon levels decreased. New posttreatment electrocardiographic abnormalities were observed in only one patient who had cardiomyopathy prior to treatment. Together, these data strengthen our previous findings by showing that the intermittent administration of benznidazole results in a low rate of treatment suspension, with treatment efficacy comparable to that of a daily dose of 5 mg/kg for 60 days.Fil: Alvarez, María Gabriela. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; ArgentinaFil: Ramirez Gomez, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Bertocchi, Graciela Luciana. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Marisa Liliana. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; ArgentinaFil: Hernandez Vasquez, Yolanda Maria. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; ArgentinaFil: Lococo, Bruno Edgardo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Albizu, Maria Constanza. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; ArgentinaFil: Schijman, Alejandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Checura, Cintia Carolina. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; ArgentinaFil: Abril, Marcelo. Fundación Mundo Sano; ArgentinaFil: Laucella, Susana Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; Argentina. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; ArgentinaFil: Tarleton, Rick L.. University of Georgia; Estados UnidosFil: Natale, Maria Ailen. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Castro Eiro, Melisa Daiana. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sosa-Estani, Sergio Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorio e Instituto de Salud “Dr. C. G. Malbrán”. Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr. Mario Fatala Chaben”; Argentina. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Viotti, Rodolfo Jorge. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; Argentin

Polarization in Disks

This white paper discusses how disk polarization observations can be used to study disk and grain properties during the planet formation process. Such studies require very sensitive and high resolution multi-wavelength observations.Fil: Stephens, Ian W.. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Li, Zhi Yun. University of Virginia; Estados UnidosFil: Yang, Haifeng. Tsinghua University; ChinaFil: Kataoka, Akimasa. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan; JapónFil: Looney, Leslie. University of Illinois at Urbana; Estados UnidosFil: Hull, Charles L. H.. National Astronomical Observatory Of Japan; JapónFil: Fernandez Lopez, Manuel. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; ArgentinaFil: Sadavoy, Sarah. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Kwon, Woojin. Korea Astronomy And Space Science Institute; Corea del SurFil: Satoshi, Ohashi. Riken Cluster For Pioneering Research; JapónFil: Tazaki, Ryo. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Li, Dan. National Optical Astronomy Observatory; Estados UnidosFil: Hoang, Thiem. Korea Astronomy And Space Science Institute; Corea del SurFil: Bertrang, Gesa H. M.. Max Planck Institute For Extraterrestrial Physics; AlemaniaFil: Carrasco Gonzalez, Carlos Eugenio. Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica; MéxicoFil: Dent, William. Atacama Large (sub)millimeter Array; ChileFil: Takahashi, Satoko. National Institutes Of Natural Sciences - National Astronomical Observatory Of Japan; JapónFil: Bacciotti, Francesca. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica; ItaliaFil: Alves, Felipe O.. Max Planck Institute For Extraterrestrial Physics; AlemaniaFil: Girart, Josep M.. Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio; España. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Zhang, Qizhou. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Rao, Ramprasad. Academia Sinica; ChinaFil: Pohl, Adriana. Max Planck Institute For Extraterrestrial Physics; AlemaniaFil: Padovani, Marco. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica; ItaliaFil: Galli, Daniele. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica; ItaliaFil: Lee, Chin Fei. Academia Sinica; ChinaFil: Segura Cox, Dominique. Max Planck Institute For Extraterrestrial Physics; AlemaniaAstro2020: APC Science White PapersEstados UnidosAmerica Astronomical Societ

Global genetic diversity of Aedes aegypti

Mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti, are becoming important models for studying invasion biology. We characterized genetic variation at 12 microsatellite loci in 79 populations of Ae. aegypti from 30 countries in six continents, and used them to infer historical and modern patterns of invasion. Our results support the two subspecies Ae. aegypti formosus and Ae. aegypti aegypti as genetically distinct units. Ae. aegypti aegypti populations outside Africa are derived from ancestral African populations and are monophyletic. The two subspecies co-occur in both East Africa (Kenya) and West Africa (Senegal). In rural/forest settings (Rabai District of Kenya), the two subspecies remain genetically distinct, whereas in urban settings, they introgress freely. Populations outside Africa are highly genetically structured likely due to a combination of recent founder effects, discrete discontinuous habitats and low migration rates. Ancestral populations in sub-Saharan Africa are less genetically structured, as are the populations in Asia. Introduction of Ae. aegypti to the New World coinciding with trans-Atlantic shipping in the 16th to 18th centuries was followed by its introduction to Asia in the late 19th century from the New World or from now extinct populations in the Mediterranean Basin. Aedes mascarensis is a genetically distinct sister species to Ae. aegypti s.l. This study provides a reference database of genetic diversity that can be used to determine the likely origin of new introductions that occur regularly for this invasive species. The genetic uniqueness of many populations and regions has important implications for attempts to control Ae. aegypti, especially for the methods using genetic modification of populations.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Global genetic diversity of Aedes aegypti

Mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti, are becoming important models for studying invasion biology. We characterized genetic variation at 12 microsatellite loci in 79 populations of Ae. aegypti from 30 countries in six continents, and used them to infer historical and modern patterns of invasion. Our results support the two subspecies Ae. aegypti formosus and Ae. aegypti aegypti as genetically distinct units. Ae. aegypti aegypti populations outside Africa are derived from ancestral African populations and are monophyletic. The two subspecies co-occur in both East Africa (Kenya) and West Africa (Senegal). In rural/forest settings (Rabai District of Kenya), the two subspecies remain genetically distinct, whereas in urban settings, they introgress freely. Populations outside Africa are highly genetically structured likely due to a combination of recent founder effects, discrete discontinuous habitats and low migration rates. Ancestral populations in sub-Saharan Africa are less genetically structured, as are the populations in Asia. Introduction of Ae. aegypti to the New World coinciding with trans-Atlantic shipping in the 16th to 18th centuries was followed by its introduction to Asia in the late 19th century from the New World or from now extinct populations in the Mediterranean Basin. Aedes mascarensis is a genetically distinct sister species to Ae. aegypti s.l. This study provides a reference database of genetic diversity that can be used to determine the likely origin of new introductions that occur regularly for this invasive species. The genetic uniqueness of many populations and regions has important implications for attempts to control Ae. aegypti, especially for the methods using genetic modification of populations.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Development of a Panel of Genome-Wide Ancestry Informative Markers to Study Admixture Throughout the Americas

Most individuals throughout the Americas are admixed descendants of Native American, European, and African ancestors. Complex historical factors have resulted in varying proportions of ancestral contributions between individuals within and among ethnic groups. We developed a panel of 446 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) optimized to estimate ancestral proportions in individuals and populations throughout Latin America. We used genome-wide data from 953 individuals from diverse African, European, and Native American populations to select AIMs optimized for each of the three main continental populations that form the basis of modern Latin American populations. We selected markers on the basis of locus-specific branch length to be informative, well distributed throughout the genome, capable of being genotyped on widely available commercial platforms, and applicable throughout the Americas by minimizing within-continent heterogeneity. We then validated the panel in samples from four admixed populations by comparing ancestry estimates based on the AIMs panel to estimates based on genome-wide association study (GWAS) data. The panel provided balanced discriminatory power among the three ancestral populations and accurate estimates of individual ancestry proportions (R2>0.9 for ancestral components with significant between-subject variance). Finally, we genotyped samples from 18 populations from Latin America using the AIMs panel and estimated variability in ancestry within and between these populations. This panel and its reference genotype information will be useful resources to explore population history of admixture in Latin America and to correct for the potential effects of population stratification in admixed samples in the region