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CB-25 Enhancing Text-to-Speech Synthesis with Topological Data Analysis and Deep Neural Networks
No full textText-to-speech (TTS) systems have significantly advanced with deep neural networks (DNNs), yet challenges remain in achieving natural and high-quality speech synthesis. This paper presents a novel DNN-based TTS model that incorporates topological data analysis (TDA) to enhance output quality. Traditional TTS models often struggle with prosody, pronunciation variability, and smooth transitions between phonemes, leading to unnatural speech synthesis. Our approach leverages topological structures to better capture the underlying patterns of speech waveforms, improving both clarity and expressiveness.
By integrating TDA in the feature extraction and synthesis stages, our model identifies persistent homological features within speech representations, allowing for a more structured understanding of phonetic and prosodic variations. The architecture combines convolutional and recurrent neural networks, optimizing both short-term and long-term speech dependencies. Experimental evaluations on benchmark datasets demonstrate that our topology-enhanced TTS model outperforms conventional architectures in terms of speech intelligibility, naturalness, and smoothness. Subjective listening tests and objective metrics indicate reduced artifacts, improved tone variations, and better generalization across different speakers and linguistic styles.
Our findings highlight the potential of incorporating topology into TTS frameworks, providing a novel perspective for improving speech synthesis quality. This research paves the way for more expressive, human-like synthetic speech and opens new directions for enhancing neural TTS systems with advanced mathematical techniques
FA-4 PATHOLOGIES OF TRUST: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SOCIAL EPISTEMOLOGY
No full textThis project centers on the philosophy and epistemology of trust. In particular, I aim to sketch a pathological model of trust construing it along the lines of a disease that spreads in and influences a population. One interesting development in epistemology—philosophical work on what makes beliefs justified or rational—over the past few decades has been an explosion in work on social epistemology. We are bombarded with information in our social environment and some of it ends up influencing what and how we believe: our intellectual lives are thoroughly social. Our epistemological theories needs to reflect this fact.
Plausibly, something like intellectual or epistemic trust helps explain how others around us cause us to have many of the beliefs that we do because we trust them, at least sometimes. This presentation describes a new account of trust within (social) epistemology. To begin, we focus on the social formation of beliefs. A few recent approaches to this utilize a contagion-based metaphor, understanding beliefs as analogous to a disease one catches from others in one’s environment. Instead of having beliefs as the disease, I argue that we should see them as the symptom of the real disease. What we really catch is trust and, from that, beliefs arise as its symptoms.
I deploy this pathological model of trust in two ways First, I use epidemiological concepts to extend it. Taking an epidemiological model seriously invites implications for topics like quarantine, terminal and systemic illness, immunity, and super-spreaders for our intellectual lives—not just our physical ones. Second, I take the pathological model of epistemic trust developed and apply it to various burgeoning topics in social epistemology: conspiracy theories, fake news, echo chambers, and belief polarization. What results is a new model for understanding the social aspects of our believing; one that is illuminated by its connections to central epidemiological concepts and one that has interesting implications for a range of timely topics in social epistemology
NS-4 Investigating gene expression pattern during early sea urchin embryo development
No full textBackground: The sea urchin embryo model is a beneficial tool to understand signaling events during human embryo development. Early embryo development requires apoptosis of unwanted cells. This study aims to measure apoptotic gene expression at different stages of sea urchin embryo development to study when apoptotic events occur. This study also measures apoptotic gene expression in the presence of PAF, a signaling molecule that modulates apoptosis.
Methods: Gametes were collected from gravid sea urchins (Lytechinus variegatus) following the injection of 0.5 M KCl. Oocytes were fertilized with spermatozoa and cultured to the 2-cell stage in filtered sea water and were subsequently cultured for up to 24-hours. Individual microdrops were collected at each progressing cell stage (from 2 Cell to Pluteus) and stored at -20oC until assayed. The test group of embryos were treated with 10-7M PAF which was added after an hour of normal culture. RNA was purified from the different stage sea urchin embryos. Real-time PCR was used to assess expression of apoptotic genes. Genes showing differential expression were further assessed in other embryo samples using gene specific TaqMan primers.
Results: Initial results revealed that caspase gene expression in the control group spiked at around 2 hours and maintained a sinusoidal pattern over time.
Conclusions: Apoptotic gene expression varies during early sea urchin embryo development. This initial study uncovered a fluctuating pattern of caspase gene expression during sea urchin development. Further research will focus on assessing the expression of other apoptotic genes identified in the gene array study
The Efficacy and Usability of Motivational Interviewing Just-In-Time Trainings for Youth Mentors
No full textUsing youth mentors to deliver evidence-based psychosocial services has been proposed to increase the reach of treatments, in part given the affordability and ubiquity of mentors in youth settings. Further, tests of mentor-delivered motivational interviewing (MI) have shown increases in youth mentees\u27 academic performance and wellbeing. Yet, traditional methods of training mentors to use MI can be costly and time-consuming. Previous work has suggested the value of asynchronous, brief, just-in-time training (JITT) to help offset these challenges; however, MI JITT for mentors has not yet been formally evaluated. As such, here, we report on a preliminary study of MI JITT videos for youth mentors. Mentors in the program were randomly assigned to training-as-usual or training-as-usual plus JITT. MI attitudes, knowledge, and skills were measured via self-report pre- and post-intervention. Results indicate that assignment to the JITT video condition was associated with significantly improved reflection skills. Effect size analyses also suggest moderate improvements in understanding MI mechanisms and theory, and in other MI skills (e.g., asking open-ended questions). Mentors found the JITT videos acceptable and usable and reported understanding their content. The article concludes with a discussion of considerations for future research and implementation
Evolutive Regime Assertion for the International Military Laws of Outer Space: U.S. Legal Problems and Solutions Relating to the International Law of Space Warfare
No full textThis article has three interrelated purposes. It 1) makes several novel contributions to and unite problematically disparate pieces of space law scholarship, 2) illustrates a disconnection between U.S. strategic space policies and the U.S. practice of military operations in outer space, 3) offers a new framework for international military space law, Evolutive Regime Assertion, that could remedy that connection and advance U.S. strategic interests while enhancing the safety of space operations for all the world. Evolutive Regime Assertion is mostly a prescriptive framework, but some of its elements are descriptive as well. In advancing the utility of the framework, this article illustrates two significant and one minor problem the U.S. has in squaring its space military operations and international law under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (OST): the jus ad bellum, the jus in bello, and the “peaceful purposes” clause of OST Article IV. This article discusses the following aspects of Evolutive Regime Assertion: theory, elements, justifications (including how aspects of Evolutive Regime Assertion have already been implemented), and methods of implementation of the framework. The article relatedly recommends changes to U.S. space policy to ameliorate the U.S.’s international military-legal problems in outer space, including the introduction of another novel space law concept: inverse proportionality
A 12,800-Year-Old Layer With Cometary Dust, Microspherules, and Platinum Anomaly Recorded in Multiple Cores From Baffin Bay
No full textThe Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) posits that ~12,800 years ago Earth encountered the debris stream of a disintegrating comet, triggering hemisphere-wide airbursts, atmospheric dust loading, and the deposition of a distinctive suite of extraterrestrial (ET) impact proxies at the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB). Until now, evidence supporting this hypothesis has come only from terrestrial sediment and ice-core records. Here we report the first discovery of similar impact-related proxies in ocean sediments from four marine cores in Baffin Bay that span the YDB layer at water depths of 0.5–2.4 km, minimizing the potential for modern contamination. Using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and laser ablation ICP-MS, we detect synchronous abundance peaks of metallic debris geochemically consistent with cometary dust, co-occurring with iron- and silica-rich microspherules (4–163 μm) that are predominantly of terrestrial origin with minor (\u3c 2 wt%) ET contributions. These microspherules were likely formed by low-altitude touchdown airbursts and surface impacts of comet fragments and were widely dispersed. In addition, single-particle ICP-TOF-MS analysis reveals nanoparticles (\u3c 1 μm) enriched in platinum, iridium, nickel, and cobalt. Similar platinum-group element anomalies at the YDB have been documented at dozens of sites worldwide, strongly suggesting an ET source. Collectively, these findings provide robust support for the YDIH. The impact event likely triggered massive meltwater flooding, iceberg calving, and a temporary shutdown of thermohaline circulation, contributing to abrupt Younger Dryas cooling. Our identification of a YDB impact layer in deep marine sediments underscores the potential of oceanic records to broaden our understanding of this catastrophic event and its climatological impacts
“I Laughed Along for Years But Hated It Inside:” Understanding Nuance in Peer Teasing Experiences Using a Thematic Analysis
No full textIntroduction
Peer teasing is ubiquitous, yet ambiguous in nature. Despite recent attempts to delineate and clarify differences in teasing experienced as playful versus harmful, there remains overlap and complexity in these interactions. In the current study, we present a conceptual model of teasing, which includes many nested features that dynamically interact within a teasing episode. Using this conceptual model to guide our work, the goal of the current study was to use qualitative inquiry to bring further conceptual clarity to the overlap between teasing that is experienced as playful versus harmful. Method
Using semi-structured interviews, we asked university students (N = 27; 63% female, 18–25 years old) in Ontario, Canada, to describe a teasing interaction from their adolescence that they experienced as 1) harmful and 2) playful, with prompts to fully explore the specifics and context of the interaction. Results
Using thematic analysis, six primary themes were identified: reciprocity versus repetition, the role of power, factors that amplify harm, the interaction between targets\u27 and perpetrators\u27 responses, the need for social skills, and the lasting impacts of teasing. Conclusions
These themes demonstrate the various mechanistic patterns that are involved in complex teasing interactions and play an important role in the experience of teasing as either harmful or playful. Implications for teachers, parents, and youth themselves in managing social relationships are discussed
Functional Characterizations of Port Wine Birthmark IPSC-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Laser-Resistant Endothelial Phenotypes
No full textVascular malformations (VMs) are a group of congenital vascular anomalies characterized by abnormal development of the vascular system. Capillary malformation (CM), also known as Port-wine Birthmark or Stain (PWB, or PWS), is a cutaneous capillary disorder with an estimated prevalence of 0.3% to 0.5% in newborns. PWB with brain neurocutaneous disorder involvement is known as Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS). Pathologically, PWB is manifested by progressively dilated vasculature, hypertrophic collagens, proliferating endothelial cells (ECs) and increased exocytosis. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) is the gold standard therapy for PWB. Increased Collagen V was found in PWB lesions. In order to investigate the effects of upregulated Collagen V in ECM, a 3D-toroids assay was applied to examine the human dermal microvascular endothelial cell (hDMVECs) migration. An increase in Collagen V in the ECM results in a smaller size of hDMVECs-formed toroids, demonstrating an increased cell migration rate. Our results show that upregulation of Collagen V can impair capillary ECM compositions in PWB lesions, thus promoting hDMVECs migration through activation of the ERK signaling pathway. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are intercellular signaling mediators, facilitating the transfer of bioactive molecules and promoting intercellular communications. PWB lesional ECs exhibit increased EVs secretion and exocytosis. We treated the hDMVEC or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived ECs with PWB iPSC-derived EVs for 7 days, followed by ICG-PDT (Indocyanine Green Photodynamic Therapy). The hDMVECs and control iPSC-derived ECs acquired a “laser-resistant” tendency induced by laser-resistant iPSC-derived EVs. In addition, PWB iPSC-derived EVs incubated hDMVECs formed enlarged and perfused capillaries in a Xenograft Mouse Model, resulting in PWB-like xenografted vasculatures. A PWB clinical related literature mining was conducted to compare clinical efficacies between PDL and PDT. PubMed records were searched for all relevant studies of PWB and HMME-PDT. The overall CI (C0) was used to evaluate the final efficacy. The clearance rates in PDL is nearly achieved statistical significance compared with HMME-PDT, in young children (\u3c 3 years old). The outcomes revealed that evidence still supports PDL as the first choice of treatment for PWBs, especially for young children less than three years old