Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Training Deep Neural Networks on Noisy Labels with Bootstrapping

Current state-of-the-art deep learning systems for visual object recognition and detection use purely supervised training with regularization such as dropout to avoid overfitting. The performance depends critically on the amount of labeled examples, and in current practice the labels are assumed to be unambiguous and accurate. However, this assumption often does not hold; e.g. in recognition, class labels may be missing; in detection, objects in the image may not be localized; and in general, the labeling may be subjective. In this work we propose a generic way to handle noisy and incomplete labeling by augmenting the prediction objective with a notion of consistency. We consider a prediction consistent if the same prediction is made given similar percepts, where the notion of similarity is between deep network features computed from the input data. In experiments we demonstrate that our approach yields substantial robustness to label noise on several datasets. On MNIST handwritten digits, we show that our model is robust to label corruption. On the Toronto Face Database, we show that our model handles well the case of subjective labels in emotion recognition, achieving state-of-the- art results, and can also benefit from unlabeled face images with no modification to our method. On the ILSVRC2014 detection challenge data, we show that our approach extends to very deep networks, high resolution images and structured outputs, and results in improved scalable detection.
Hyperhomocysteinemia and the MTHFR C677T mutation in central retinal vein occlusion.

BACKGROUND Hyperhomocysteinemia is a factor that predisposes to thrombosis, and the C677T mutation in methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is known to give increased plasma homocysteine. We wanted to investigate if these factors were overrepresented in a group of patients with central retinal vein occlusion. METHODS 116 patients with a history of central retinal vein occlusion were examined for the presence of hyperhomocysteinemia and the MTHFR C677T mutation. RESULTS Compared to the control groups, there was no significant increase, neither in plasma homocysteine nor in the frequency of the MTHFR C677T mutation in the patients. Even when we looked selectively at the young patients, age less than 50 years, no difference could be detected. CONCLUSION It seems that neither hyperhomocysteinemia nor the MTHFR C677T mutation is an important risk factor for the aetiology of central retinal vein occlusion.
Fabrication of hollow hydroxyapatite spherical granules for hard tissue regeneration and alternative method for drug release test

Hollow hydroxyapatite spherical granules were fabricated using template method. Alginate beads were used as template and they were coated with hydroxyapatite slurry. The coated beads were rapidly frozen using liquid nitrogen and burned out during sintering process. The size of the granules is the range of 1.0–1.5 mm. The shell is about 150 mm thick and the size of pores is about 10 mm in diameter, arranged in radial shape. The inner space and surface of granules were connected by pore channels which were formed by sublimation of water. Simulated body fluid was used to form apatite layer inner wall of granules and evaluated difference of fluid migration rate as concentration of slurry as an alternative drug release test. The possibilities of hollow hydroxyapatite spherical granules as bone grafts and drug carriers were discussed.
Research data supporting "High-performance light-emitting diodes based on carbene-metal-amides"

This dataset includes the experimental results of optical spectroscopy (cryogenic transient photoluminescence, transient absorption, ultrafast transient photoluminescence, transient electroluminescence, steady-state emission/absorption and Raman), OLED device characterization, electrochemistry, as well as data associated with quantum chemical (DFT) calculations.
Impulsivity: A Predisposition Toward Risky Behaviors

The construct of impulsivity is significantly important in research and clinical fields concerning risky behaviors and some mental disorders. Although, according to DSM and ICD, impulsivity is recognized as a diagnostic criterion for several disorders (1), but the way it influences mental disorders and development of risky behaviors is not yet clear. Disagreement over the definition of impulsiveness, its main components, and measurement techniques could be considered as major causes that make forming a comprehensive theory regarding impulsivity development and its role in psychopathology impossible.
Barriers to blood donation in African communities in Australia: the role of home and host country culture and experience

BACKGROUND: An influx of African migrants and refugees can strain a host country's blood services, because often migrants have unique blood needs that cannot be sourced from local donors. To increase blood donation by the new migrants, host country blood services need to understand how blood and blood donations are viewed by immigrant communities, because recruitment models that are not culturally adapted may have limited success.
Preparation and Chemical Composition of the Cell Membranes of Developmental Reticulate Forms of Meningopneumonitis Organisms

The outer limiting membranes of developmental reticulate forms of the meningopneumonitis organism were purified by a combination of differential centrifugation, trypsin digestion, and sodium dodecyl sulfate treatment, and their physical and chemical properties were compared with those of outer envelopes of mature dense forms of this organism. Reticulate bodies were easily disrupted by short periods of sonic treatment and were lysed by trysin digestion, in contrast to the dense bodies which were resistant to these treatments. In electron micrographs, reticulate body membranes were seen as very thin, flattened structures, whereas dense-body envelopes showed folding rigid membranes. The results of chemical fractionation of 32P-labeled purified preparations indicated that reticulate body membranes have smaller amounts of phospholipid, and are more dense than cell walls of the mature forms. The analysis of amino acid composition of reticulate body cell membranes showed that they do not contain cystine or methionine, both of which were found in cell walls of dense bodies. These results clearly show that there are significant differences in the chemical and physical properties of the outer envelopes of the developmental and mature forms of this organism.
Estimation of Space–Time Branching Process Models in Seismology Using an EM–Type Algorithm

Maximum likelihood estimation of branching point process models via numerical optimization procedures can be unstable and computationally intensive. We explore an alternative estimation method based on the expectation-maximization algorithm. The method involves viewing the estimation of such branching processes as analogous to incomplete data problems. Using an application from seismology, we show how the epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model can, in fact, be estimated this way, and we propose a computationally efficient procedure to maximize the expected complete data log-likelihood function. Using a space–time ETAS model, we demonstrate that this method is extremely robust and accurate and use it to estimate declustered background seismicity rates of geologically distinct regions in Southern California. All regions show similar declustered background intensity estimates except for the one covering the southern section of the San Andreas fault system to the east of San Diego in which a substantially higher intensity is observed.
The pedagogical value of a student-run community-based experiential learning project: The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Public Health Screening.

INTRODUCTION We assessed the pedagogical value of a student-led community-based experiential learning project called the Public Health Screening (PHS) run by medical and nursing students of the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS YLLSoM). MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered anonymised questionnaire on medical and nursing students who participated in PHS using the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Survey Instrument. Participants also gave an overall score for their learning experience at the PHS. RESULTS The participation rate was 93.1% (576/619) for medical students and 100% (37/37) for nursing students. All participants gave the PHS learning experience a high rating (median = 8 out of maximum of 10, inter-quartile range, 7 to 9). A majority of participants felt that PHS had helped them to improve across all domains surveyed. For medical students, those in preclinical years and females were independently more likely to feel that PHS had helped them to improve in communication skills, teamwork, ability to identify social issues, taking action, and gaining and applying their knowledge than those in clinical years and males. Improved ability to interact with patients (β=1.64, 95%CI, 1.01-2.27), appreciation of challenges to healthcare faced by Singaporeans from lower income groups (β=0.93, 95%CI, 0.49-1.37), thinking of others (β=0.70, 95%CI, 0.04-1.37) and tolerance of different people (β =0.63, 95%CI, 0.17-1.10) were strongly associated with the overall rating score. CONCLUSION PHS was a positive learning experience in a wide range of domains for all students involved. This suggests that student-organised community-based experiential learning projects have potential educational value for both medical and nursing students.
Implications of Intravital Imaging of Murine Germinal Centers on the Control of B Cell Selection and Division

Intravital imaging of antibody optimization in germinal center (GC) reactions has set a new dimension in the understanding of the humoral immune response during the last decade. The inclusion of spatio-temporal cellular dynamics in the research on GCs required analysis using the agent-based mathematical models. In this study, we integrate the available intravital imaging data from various research groups and incorporate these into a quantitative mathematical model of GC reactions and antibody affinity maturation. Interestingly, the integration of data concerning the spatial organization of GCs and B cell motility allows to draw conclusions on the strength of the selection pressure and the control of B cell division by T follicular helper cells.
Comparative effects of GH, IGF‐I and insulin on serum sex hormone binding globulin

OBJECTIVE The serum level of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) changes inversely with that of both insulin and Insulin‐like growth factor (IGF‐I), during several nutritional conditions, as well as In response to GH treatment. However, with exogenous IGF‐I administration, endogenous IGF‐I increases, while insulin decreases. In order to study the separate roles of these hormones in controlling SHBG metaboilsm, we compared SHBG levels in patients treated with IGF‐I and GH.
Endothelial Function Is Associated With Pulse Pressure, Pulse Wave Velocity, and Augmentation Index in Healthy Humans

Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of mortality and is regulated by a number of factors, including vascular smooth muscle tone. However, the relationship between endothelial function and definitive measures of arterial stiffness and wave reflections has not been described in healthy individuals. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that endothelial function is inversely correlated with aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), central pulse pressure, and augmentation index in healthy individuals. Peripheral and central pulse pressure and augmentation index were determined at rest, and global endothelial function was measured using pulse wave analysis and administration of sublingual nitroglycerin and inhaled albuterol. Aortic PWV was also determined at baseline in a subset of 89 subjects. In a separate group of subjects (n=89), aortic PWV was measured and brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation assessed as a measure of conduit artery endothelial function. Global endothelial function was significantly and inversely correlated with aortic PWV (r=−0.69; P<0.001), augmentation index (r=−0.59; P<0.001), and central (r=−0.34; P<0.001) and peripheral pulse pressure (r=−0.15; P=0.03). Moreover, there was a stronger correlation between central rather than peripheral pulse pressure. After adjusting for potential confounders, global endothelial function remained independently and inversely associated with aortic PWV and augmentation index. There was also a significant, inverse relationship between conduit artery endothelial function and aortic PWV (r=0.39, P<0.001), which remained independent after adjusting for confounding factors. In healthy individuals, a decline in endothelial function is associated with increased large artery stiffness, wave reflections, and central pulse pressure.
New methods for determining the ages of PMS stars

Abstract We present three new methods for determining the age of groups of pre-main-sequence stars. The first, creating empirical isochrones allows us to create a robust age ordering, but not to derive actual ages. The second, using the width of the gap in colour-magnitude space between the pre-main-sequence and main-sequence (the radiative convective gap) has promise as a distance and extinction independent measure of age, but is as yet uncalibrated. Finally we discuss τ2 fitting of the main sequence as the stars approach the terminus of the main sequence. This method suggests that there is a factor two difference between these “nuclear” ages, and more conventional pre-main-sequence contraction ages.
Comparative Study of Somatostatin-Human Serum Albumin Fusion Proteins and Natural Somatostatin on Receptor Binding, Internalization and Activation

Albumin fusion technology, the combination of small molecular proteins or peptides with human serum albumin (HSA), is an effective method for improving the medicinal values of natural small molecular proteins or peptides. However, comparative studies between HSA-fusion proteins or peptides and the parent small molecules in biological and molecular mechanisms are less reported. In this study, we examined the binding property of two novel somatostatin-HSA fusion proteins, (SST14)2-HSA and (SST28)2-HSA, to human SSTRs in stably expressing SSTR1-5 HEK 293 cells; observed the regulation of receptor internalization and internalized receptor recycling; and detected the receptors activation of HSA fusion proteins in stably expressing SSTR2- and SSTR3-EGFP cells. We showed that both somatostatin-HSA fusion proteins had high affinity to all five SSTRs, stimulated the ERK1/2 phosphorylation and persistently inhibited the accumulation of forskolin-stimulated cAMP in SSTR2- and SSTR3-expressing cells; but were less potent than the synthetic somatostatin-14 (SST-14). Our experiments also showed that somatostatin-HSA fusion proteins did not induce the receptors internalization; rather, they accelerated the recycling of the internalized receptors induced by SST-14 to the plasma membrane. Our results indicated that somatostatin-HSA fusion proteins, different from SST-14, exhibit some particular properties in binding, regulating, and activating somatostatin receptors.
Predicting Researchers' Future Activities Using Visualization System for Co-authorship Networks

This paper proposes a visualization system for getting insight into future research activities from co-authorship networks. A bibliographic network such as a co-authorship network and a citation network is important information for researchers when doing a research survey. In particular, there are many requests on research survey that relate with researchers' future activities, such as identification of remarkable of researchers including growing researchers and supervisors. Although a citation network has received many attentions from researchers, it is not suitable for such surveys because it reflects researchers' past activities. Since collaboration of researchers is essential for researchers' activities, co-authorship network is suitable for predicting future activities. In order to get insights into future research activities by discriminating growing research areas from grown-up areas, the proposed visualization system provides the function for identifying research areas and that for identifying time variation of both network structure and keyword distribution. As a basis for getting insights into future research activities, this paper focuses on the task of discriminating growing researchers from supervisors. The effectiveness of the proposed system is evaluated through the detailed analysis of two participants' analyzing process of InfoVis 2004 Contest dataset.
When is Limited Feedback for Transmit Beamforming Useful ?

Multi-antenna systems have been shown to offer tremendous c apacity increase in ideal rich scattering conditions. Transmit beamforming an d receive combining are low complexity techniques that help in achieving the full diver sity afforded by the multiantenna channel. Even if complete channel knowledge at the r eceiver maybe a realistic assumption in these systems, the same may not be true at the tr ansmitter side. Thus, quantized beamforming with limited feedback on a reverse li nk has been a topic that has attracted great attention recently. But almost all of th e work to date has focussed on modeling the channel with independent, identically distri buted (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading between antenna pairs. In this report, we first review the ear lier works which focus on Grassmannian line packing. We then consider the correlated channel case, and show that Grassmannian line packing is an artificial artifact of t he i.i. d. assumption. We show that there are dominant peaks in the eigen-domain when c orrelation is imposed and the code-book construction should be matched to the corr lation in the channel, which renders the problem in this case easier than for the i.i . d. channels.
Gene Replacement of Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphate Aldolase Supports the Hypothesis of a Single Photosynthetic Ancestor of Chromalveolates

ABSTRACT Plastids (photosynthetic organelles of plants and algae) are known to have spread between eukaryotic lineages by secondary endosymbiosis, that is, by the uptake of a eukaryotic alga by another eukaryote. But the number of times this has taken place is controversial. This is particularly so in the case of eukaryotes with plastids derived from red algae, which are numerous and diverse. Despite their diversity, it has been suggested that all these eukaryotes share a recent common ancestor and that their plastids originated in a single endosymbiosis, the so-called “chromalveolate hypothesis. ” Here we describe a novel molecular character that supports the chromalveolate hypothesis. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) is a glycolytic and Calvin cycle enzyme that exists as two nonhomologous types, class I and class II. Red algal plastid-targeted FBA is a class I enzyme related to homologues from plants and green algae, and it would be predicted that the plastid-targeted FBA from algae with red algal secondary endosymbionts should be related to this class I enzyme. However, we show that plastid-targeted FBA of heterokonts, cryptomonads, haptophytes, and dinoflagellates (all photosynthetic chromalveolates) are class II plastid-targeted enzymes, completely unlike those of red algal plastids. The chromalveolate enzymes form a strongly supported group in FBA phylogeny, and their common possession of this unexpected plastid characteristic provides new evidence for their close relationship and a common origin for their plastids.
Investigation of the Effect of Titanium Dioxide on Optical Aspects and Physical and Mechanical Characteristics of ABS Polymer

Acrylonitryl-butadiene-styrene (ABS) is an engineering polymer with intrinsic yellowness and translucency due to blue wavelength absorption and partial light transmission, respectively. Generally, using titanium dioxide pigment helps to whiten ABS polymer and reduce its intrinsic yellowness. Also, it can impart opacity to polymeric parts. However, it must be considered that this pigment may cause some unfavorable effects in ABS parts. In this article, effects of surface treatment type and content of TiO2 pigment on optical aspects of a general purpose ABS have been investigated. In addition, physical and mechanical characteristics including tensile strength, izod impact strength and Rockwell hardness of the polymer have been studied. By adding titanium dioxide pigment opacity and whitening index increased and yellowness index decreased. It is important to note that surface treatment type of titanium dioxide pigment had no considerable effect on optical properties of titanium dioxide pigmented ABS polymer. The results showed that arising content of organic and inorganic surface treated TiO2 pigments up to 0.5% and 1.5%, respectively, causes to increase impact strength and decrease yield stress and maximum strain of pigmented ABS samples. Above these percentages, impact strength decreased due to agglomeration and decreasing inter-particle spacing. Also hardness of all the ABS samples reduced in the presence of inorganic and organic treated titanium dioxide pigments.
Clonal expansion precedes anergy and death of Vβ8+ peripheral T cells responding to staphylococcal enterotoxin B in vivo

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) selectively stimulates T cells bearing T cell receptor Vβ8 domains and hence provides a useful model to study immunity and tolerance in vivo. We show here that Vβ8+ T cells in both CD4+ and CD8+ subsets expand dramatically (fivefold) in lymphoid tissues of mice 2–4 days following injection with SEB. This initial clonal expansion, which is accompanied by a transient hyper‐reactivity to SEB, is followed by a rapid decrease in Vβ8+ cells and a concomitant induction of specific non‐responsiveness which persists for at least 30 days. Selective death of Vβ8+ cells occurs during this latter phase. Taken together, our data indicate that clonal expansion, anergy and death can occur as sequential stages of an immune response in vivo.
Expression of LIN28 and its regulatory microRNAs in adult adrenocortical cancer

LIN28 control cells reprogramming and pluripotency mainly through miRNA regulation and has been overexpressed in many advanced cancers. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic role of LIN28 and its regulatory miRNAs in a large cohort of adrenocortical tumours (ACTs).
Effect Of Palm Bunch, Sorghum Spike And Maize Cob Ashes On Root Growth And Potassium Status Of Cassava

The paper examines the effect of different sources of Organic manure as key nutrient (Potassium) on tuber yield of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Ashes obtained from Empty Fresh Bunches (EFB) of oil palm, Maize Cobs (MC), and Sorghum Spikes (SS) were subjected to chemical analyses in the laboratory and discovered to contain high percentage of potassium nutrient. EFB Ash had the highest percentage of K, when compared with Ash of MC and SS. These organic K supplements were applied in different combinations using NPKF as control in an experiment conducted on a sandy loam soil in Ilorin to determine the best treatment that will supply high amount of potassium needed for cassava production. Results indicate that applying Ash of EFB two months after planting gave the highest root yield per plot, among the sole organic treatments applications. Also the treatment of EFB+MC+SS gave optimum yield of cassava root better than EFB treatment. However, the combination of EFB+MC+SS+NPKF was significantly different (5%) among all treatments, an indication that Potassium is highly responsible for root development. Laboratory analysis also showed that the ash of EFB was significantly different from all other ash sources in terms of K nutrient present. Thus, the EFB+MC+SS treatment was recommended as a soil amendment for organically cultivated cassava. A combination of at least two of the organic manure with NPKF was also suggested for optimum crop yield, soil pH control and improved soil fertility.