Semisupervised Speech Data Extraction from Basque Parliament Sessions and Validation on Fully Bilingual Basque–Spanish ASR

In this paper, a semisupervised speech data extraction method is presented and applied to create a new dataset designed for the development of fully bilingual Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems for Basque and Spanish. The dataset is drawn from an extensive collection of Basque Parliament plenary sessions containing frequent code switchings. Since session minutes are not exact, only the most reliable speech segments are kept for training. To that end, we use phonetic similarity scores between nominal and recognized phone sequences. The process starts with baseline acoustic models trained on generic out-of-domain data, then iteratively updates the models with the extracted data and applies the updated models to refine the training dataset until the observed improvement between two iterations becomes small enough. A development dataset, involving five plenary sessions not used for training, has been manually audited for tuning and evaluation purposes. Cross-validation experiments (with 20 random partitions) have been carried out on the development dataset, using the baseline and the iteratively updated models. On average, Word Error Rate (WER) reduces from 16.57% (baseline) to 4.41% (first iteration) and further to 4.02% (second iteration), which corresponds to relative WER reductions of 73.4% and 8.8%, respectively. When considering only Basque segments, WER reduces on average from 16.57% (baseline) to 5.51% (first iteration) and further to 5.13% (second iteration), which corresponds to relative WER reductions of 66.7% and 6.9%, respectively. As a result of this work, a new bilingual Basque–Spanish resource has been produced based on Basque Parliament sessions, including 998 h of training data (audio segments + transcriptions), a development set (17 h long) designed for tuning and evaluation under a cross-validation scheme and a fully bilingual trigram language model.This work was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (OPEN-SPEECH project, PID2019-106424RB-I00) and by the Basque Government under the general support program to research groups (IT-1704-22)

Using cross-decoder phone coocurrences in phonotactic language recognition

Phonotactic language recognizers are based on the ability of phone decoders to produce phone sequences containing acoustic, phonetic and phonological information, which is partially dependent on the language. Input utterances are de-coded and then scored by means of models for the target lan-guages. Commonly, various decoders are applied in parallel and fused at the score level. A kind of complementarity ef-fect is expected when fusing scores, since each decoder is assumed to extract different (and complementary) informa-tion from the input utterance. This assumption is supported by the performance improvements attained when fusing sys-tems. However, decodings are processed in a fully uncou-pled way, their time alignment (and the information that may be extracted from it) being completely lost. In this paper, a simple approach is proposed, which takes into account time alignment information, by considering cross-decoder phone coocurrences at the frame level. To evaluate the approach, a choice of open software (BUT front-end and phone decoders, SRI-LM toolkit, libSVM, FoCal) is used, and experiments are carried out on the NIST LRE2007 database. Adding phone coocurrences to the baseline phonotactic systems pro-vides slight performance improvements, revealing the poten-tial benefit of using cross-decoder dependencies for language modeling

Search on speech from spoken queries: the Multi-domain International ALBAYZIN 2018 Query-by-Example Spoken Term Detection Evaluation

[Abstract] The huge amount of information stored in audio and video repositories makes search on speech (SoS) a priority area nowadays. Within SoS, Query-by-Example Spoken Term Detection (QbE STD) aims to retrieve data from a speech repository given a spoken query. Research on this area is continuously fostered with the organization of QbE STD evaluations. This paper presents a multi-domain internationally open evaluation for QbE STD in Spanish. The evaluation aims at retrieving the speech files that contain the queries, providing their start and end times, and a score that reflects the confidence given to the detection. Three different Spanish speech databases that encompass different domains have been employed in the evaluation: MAVIR database, which comprises a set of talks from workshops; RTVE database, which includes broadcast television (TV) shows; and COREMAH database, which contains 2-people spontaneous speech conversations about different topics. The evaluation has been designed carefully so that several analyses of the main results can be carried out. We present the evaluation itself, the three databases, the evaluation metrics, the systems submitted to the evaluation, the results, and the detailed post-evaluation analyses based on some query properties (within-vocabulary/out-of-vocabulary queries, single-word/multi-word queries, and native/foreign queries). Fusion results of the primary systems submitted to the evaluation are also presented. Three different teams took part in the evaluation, and ten different systems were submitted. The results suggest that the QbE STD task is still in progress, and the performance of these systems is highly sensitive to changes in the data domain. Nevertheless, QbE STD strategies are able to outperform text-based STD in unseen data domains.Centro singular de investigación de Galicia; ED431G/04Universidad del País Vasco; GIU16/68Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TEC2015-68172-C2-1-PMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y Competitividad; RTI2018-098091-B-I00Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/0

ALBAYZIN 2018 spoken term detection evaluation: a multi-domain international evaluation in Spanish

[Abstract] Search on speech (SoS) is a challenging area due to the huge amount of information stored in audio and video repositories. Spoken term detection (STD) is an SoS-related task aiming to retrieve data from a speech repository given a textual representation of a search term (which can include one or more words). This paper presents a multi-domain internationally open evaluation for STD in Spanish. The evaluation has been designed carefully so that several analyses of the main results can be carried out. The evaluation task aims at retrieving the speech files that contain the terms, providing their start and end times, and a score that reflects the confidence given to the detection. Three different Spanish speech databases that encompass different domains have been employed in the evaluation: the MAVIR database, which comprises a set of talks from workshops; the RTVE database, which includes broadcast news programs; and the COREMAH database, which contains 2-people spontaneous speech conversations about different topics. We present the evaluation itself, the three databases, the evaluation metric, the systems submitted to the evaluation, the results, and detailed post-evaluation analyses based on some term properties (within-vocabulary/out-of-vocabulary terms, single-word/multi-word terms, and native/foreign terms). Fusion results of the primary systems submitted to the evaluation are also presented. Three different research groups took part in the evaluation, and 11 different systems were submitted. The obtained results suggest that the STD task is still in progress and performance is highly sensitive to changes in the data domain.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN2015-64282-R,Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; RTI2018-093336-B-C22Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TEC2015-65345-PXunta de Galicia; ED431B 2016/035Xunta de Galicia; GPC ED431B 2019/003Xunta de Galicia; GRC 2014/024Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/04Agrupación estratéxica consolidada; GIU16/68Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TEC2015-68172-C2-1-

Evaluación de la socialización en jóvenes jugadores de baloncesto de la Fundación Real Madrid

La promoción y el fomento de valores educativos en las Escuelas Sociodeportivas de Baloncesto de la Fundación Real Madrid es una de las finalidades más importantes sobre la que hemos estado trabajando los últimos años. El proyecto de trabajo "Por una Educación Real: Valores y Deporte" incluye varias líneas de actuación dirigidas al profesorado, familias y alumnado. Para valorar la evolución del alumnado en relación a uno de los contenidos pedagógicos que intentamos fomentar, la socialización, hemos utilizado la escala "GR-SIPPEL" (Ruiz, Graupera, Moreno y Rico, 2010), en la que se evalúan las siguientes dimensiones: cooperación, competición, individualismo y afiliación. El objetivo principal del trabajo ha sido: describir las preferencias de interacción social de los chicos y chicas de categoría benjamín (8-10 años) de las Escuelas Sociodeportivas de Baloncesto de la Fundación Real Madrid. Los participantes que formaron parte del estudio fueron un total de 129 jugadores y jugadoras (87 niños, 75.2%; y 42 niñas, 24.8%). El análisis descriptivo global de los datos nos mostró que, en general, se alcanzaron valores más altos en las dimensiones cooperación (M = 3.368; SD = 0.421) y afiliación (M = 3.132; SD = 0.548), mientras que en las dimensiones de competición (M = 2.351; SD=0.843) e individualismo (M = 1.903; SD=0.680) obtuvieron los más bajos.The promotion and encouragement of educational values in Real Madrid Foundation Social Sport Basketball Schools is one of the most important goals on which we have been working in recent years. The work project "For a Real Education: Values and Sport" includes several lines of action aimed at teachers, families and students. To assess the progress of students in relation to one of the educational content we try to promote, as for example, the socialization, we used the "GR-SIPPEL" scale (Ruiz, Graupera, Moreno and Rico, 2010), in which the following dimensions are evaluated: cooperation, competition, individualism and affiliation. The main objective of the study was to: describe the social interaction preferences of boys and girls in the youngest category (8-10 years) of Real Madrid Foundation Social Sport Basketball Schools. Participants who took part in the study were 129 male and female players (87 boys, 75.2%; and 42 girls, 24.8%). The overall descriptive analysis of the data showed that in general, higher values are reached in the dimensions of cooperation ( M = 3.368 , SD = 0.421 ) and affiliation ( M = 3.132 , SD = 0.548 ), while in the dimensions of competition (M = 2.351 , SD = 0.843 ) and individualism (M = 1.903 , SD = 0.680 ) had the lowest values

Glucose homeostasis changes and pancreatic β-cell proliferation after switching to cyclosporin in tacrolimus-induced diabetes mellitus

AbstractBackgroundSwitching to cyclosporin A may result in a reversion of tacrolimus-induced diabetes mellitus. However, mechanisms underlying such a reversion are still unknown.MethodsObese Zucker rats were used as a model for tacrolimus-induced diabetes mellitus. A cohort of 44 obese Zucker rats received tacrolimus for 11 days (0.3mg/kg/day) until diabetes development; then, (a) 22 rats were euthanized at day 12 and were used as a reference group (tacrolimus-day 12), and (b) 22 rats on tacrolimus were shifted to cyclosporin (2.5mg/kg/day) for 5 days (tacrolimus-cyclosporin). An additional cohort of 22 obese Zucker rats received the vehicle for 17 days and was used as a control group. All animals underwent an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test at the end of the study.Resultsβ-Cell proliferation, apoptosis and Ins2 gene expression were evaluated. Compared to rats in tacrolimus-day 12 group, those in tacrolimus-cyclosporin group showed a significant improvement in blood glucose levels in all assessment points in intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. Diabetes decreased from 100% in tacrolimus-day-12 group to 50% in tacrolimus-cyclosporin group. Compared to tacrolimus-day-12 group, rats in tacrolimus-cyclosporin group showed an increased β-cell proliferation, but such an increase was lower than in rats receiving the vehicle. Ins2 gene expressions in rats receiving tacrolimus-cyclosporin and rats receiving the vehicle were comparable.ConclusionAn early switch from tacrolimus to cyclosporin in tacrolimus-induced diabetes mellitus resulted in an increased β-cell proliferation and reversion of diabetes in 50% of cases

An Overview of the IberSpeech-RTVE 2022 Challenges on Speech Technologies

Evaluation campaigns provide a common framework with which the progress of speech technologies can be effectively measured. The aim of this paper is to present a detailed overview of the IberSpeech-RTVE 2022 Challenges, which were organized as part of the IberSpeech 2022 conference under the ongoing series of Albayzin evaluation campaigns. In the 2022 edition, four challenges were launched: (1) speech-to-text transcription; (2) speaker diarization and identity assignment; (3) text and speech alignment; and (4) search on speech. Different databases that cover different domains (e.g., broadcast news, conference talks, parliament sessions) were released for those challenges. The submitted systems also cover a wide range of speech processing methods, which include hidden Markov model-based approaches, end-to-end neural network-based methods, hybrid approaches, etc. This paper describes the databases, the tasks and the performance metrics used in the four challenges. It also provides the most relevant features of the submitted systems and briefly presents and discusses the obtained results. Despite employing state-of-the-art technology, the relatively poor performance attained in some of the challenges reveals that there is still room for improvement. This encourages us to carry on with the Albayzin evaluation campaigns in the coming years.This work was partially supported by Radio Televisión Española through the RTVE Chair at the University of Zaragoza, and Red Temática en Tecnologías del Habla (RED2022-134270-T), funded by AEI (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación); It was also partially funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant 101007666; in part by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union “NextGenerationEU”/ PRTR under Grants PDC2021-120846C41 PID2021-126061OB-C44, and in part by the Government of Aragon (Grant Group T3623R); it was also partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (OPEN-SPEECH project, PID2019-106424RB-I00) and by the Basque Government under the general support program to research groups (IT-1704-22), and by projects RTI2018-098091-B-I00 and PID2021-125943OB-I00 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and ERDF) as well

Evaluation of Adipose Tissue Zinc-Alpha 2-Glycoprotein Gene Expression and Its Relationship with Metabolic Status and Bariatric Surgery Outcomes in Patients with Class III Obesity

Zinc-α2 glycoprotein (ZAG) is an adipokine involved in adipocyte metabolism with potential implications in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) ZAG expression and metabolic parameters in patients with class III obesity, along with the impact of basal ZAG expression on short- and medium-term outcomes related to bariatric surgery. 41 patients with class III obesity who underwent bariatric surgery were included in this study. ZAG gene expression was quantified in SAT and VAT. Patients were classified into two groups according to SAT and VAT ZAG percentile. Anthropometric and biochemical variables were obtained before and 15 days, 45 days, and 1 year after surgery. The lower basal SAT ZAG expression percentile was associated with higher weight and waist circumference, while the lower basal VAT ZAG expression percentile was associated with higher weight, waist circumference, insulin, insulin resistance, and the presence of metabolic syndrome. Basal SAT ZAG expression was inversely related to weight loss at 45 days after surgery, whereas no associations were found between basal VAT ZAG expression and weight loss after surgery. Additionally, a negative association was observed between basal SAT and VAT ZAG expression and the decrease of gamma-glutamyl transferase after bariatric surgery. Therefore, lower SAT and VAT ZAG expression levels were associated with an adverse metabolic profile. However, this fact did not seem to confer worse bariatric surgery-related outcomes. Further research is needed to assess the clinical significance of the role of ZAG expression levels in the dynamics of hepatic enzymes after bariatric surgeryThis study has been co-funded by FEDER funds (“A way to make Europe”). M.M. and L.G.S. are also supported by UMA18-FEDERJA-285 and UMA20-FEDERJA-144, co-funded by Malaga University, Junta de Andalucía and FEDER funds, CB06/03/0018, PI-0297-2018 and PI-0194-2017, co-funded by FEDER funds and Consejería de Salud y Familias, Junta de Andalucía, and CP17/00133, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Spain Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Hepatitis B surface antigen loss after discontinuing nucleos(t)ide analogue for treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients is persistent in White patients

[Objective]: The objective of this study was to determine the long-term clinical outcome and persistence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss after discontinuation of treatment. [Background]: The prognosis of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) who discontinue treatment after loss of HBsAg remains largely unknown, particularly in White patients. [Patients and methods]: We analysed a cohort of patients with CHB who discontinued NA treatment after loss of HBsAg. A total of 69 patients with hepatitis-B-e antigen-positive or hepatitis-B-e antigen-negative CHB with undetectable HBsAg during NA treatment were included after discontinuation of treatment, and followed up for a median period of 37.8 months (interquartile range: 23.8–54.6 months). [Results]: At the end of follow-up, none of the patients showed spontaneous reappearance of HBsAg and only one patient had detectable hepatitis B virus DNA (22 IU/ml). Another patient negative for HBsAg and anti-HBs developed hepatitis B virus reactivation without elevated transaminases after treatment with corticosteroids and vincristine for dendritic cell neoplasm, 38 months after withdrawal of the antiviral treatment. Regarding clinical outcome, a patient with cirrhosis developed hepatocellular carcinoma, 6.6 years after discontinuing treatment. None of the patients had hepatic decompensation or underwent liver transplantation. [Conclusion]: HBsAg clearance after discontinuing NAs in patients with CHB is persistent and associated with good prognosis. The risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma persists among patients with cirrhosis

Evaluation of socialization in young basketball players of the real madrid foundation

La promoción y el fomento de valores educativos en las Escuelas Sociodeportivas de Baloncesto de la Fundación Real Madrid es una de las finalidades más importantes sobre la que hemos estado trabajando los últimos años. El proyecto de trabajo “Por una Educación Real: Valores y Deporte” incluye varias líneas de actuación dirigidas al profesorado, familias y alumnado. Para valorar la evolución del alumnado en relación a uno de los contenidos pedagógicos que intentamos fomentar, la socialización, hemos utilizado la escala “GR-SIPPEL” (Ruiz, Graupera, Moreno y Rico, 2010), en la que se evalúan las siguientes dimensiones: cooperación, competición, individualismo y afiliación. El objetivo principal del trabajo ha sido: describir las preferencias de interacción social de los chicos y chicas de categoría benjamín (8-10 años) de las Escuelas Sociodeportivas de Baloncesto de la Fundación Real Madrid. Los participantes que formaron parte del estudio fueron un total de 129 jugadores y jugadoras (87 niños, 75.2%; y 42 niñas, 24.8%). El análisis descriptivo global de los datos nos mostró que, en general, se alcanzaron valores más altos en las dimensiones cooperación (M = 3.368; SD = 0.421) y afiliación (M = 3.132; SD = 0.548), mientras que en las dimensiones de competición (M = 2.351; SD=0.843) e individualismo (M = 1.903; SD=0.680) obtuvieron los más bajos.The promotion and encouragement of educational values in Real Madrid Foundation Social Sport Basketball Schools is one of the most important goals on which we have been working in recent years. The work project "For a Real Education: Values and Sport" includes several lines of action aimed at teachers, families and students. To assess the progress of students in relation to one of the educational content we try to promote, as for example, the socialization, we used the "GR-SIPPEL" scale (Ruiz, Graupera, Moreno and Rico, 2010), in which the following dimensions are evaluated: cooperation, competition, individualism and affiliation. The main objective of the study was to: describe the social interaction preferences of boys and girls in the youngest category (8-10 years) of Real Madrid Foundation Social Sport Basketball Schools. Participants who took part in the study were 129 male and female players (87 boys, 75.2%; and 42 girls, 24.8%). The overall descriptive analysis of the data showed that in general, higher values are reached in the dimensions of cooperation ( M = 3.368 , SD = 0.421 ) and affiliation ( M = 3.132 , SD = 0.548 ), while in the dimensions of competition (M = 2.351 , SD = 0.843 ) and individualism (M = 1.903 , SD = 0.680 ) had the lowest values