Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Bayesian Learning with Stochastic Natural Gradient Expectation Propagation and the Posterior Server

This paper makes two contributions to Bayesian machine learning algorithms. Firstly, we propose stochastic natural gradient expectation propagation (SNEP), a novel alternative to expectation propagation (EP), a popular variational inference algorithm. SNEP is a black box variational algorithm, in that it does not require any simplifying assumptions on the distribution of interest, beyond the existence of some Monte Carlo sampler for estimating the moments of the EP tilted distributions. Further, as opposed to EP which has no guarantee of convergence, SNEP can be shown to be convergent, even when using Monte Carlo moment estimates. Secondly, we propose a novel architecture for distributed Bayesian learning which we call the posterior server. The posterior server allows scalable and robust Bayesian learning in cases where a data set is stored in a distributed manner across a cluster, with each compute node containing a disjoint subset of data. An independent Monte Carlo sampler is run on each compute node, with direct access only to the local data subset, but which targets an approximation to the global posterior distribution given all data across the whole cluster. This is achieved by using a distributed asynchronous implementation of SNEP to pass messages across the cluster. We demonstrate SNEP and the posterior server on distributed Bayesian learning of logistic regression and neural networks. Keywords: Distributed Learning, Large Scale Learning, Deep Learning, Bayesian Learn- ing, Variational Inference, Expectation Propagation, Stochastic Approximation, Natural Gradient, Markov chain Monte Carlo, Parameter Server, Posterior Server.
[Effects of fenvalerate on reproductive and endocrine systems of male rats].

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impairment of fenvalerate on reproductive and endocrine systems and clarify the mechanism of action. METHODS Different doses of fenvalerate (0, 2, 4, 12, 60 mg/kg) were orally treated to the adult male SD rats for 15 days and 30 days, respectively. The levels of serum follicle stimulating hormone(FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone(T) and testis homogenate T were determined by radioimmunoassay(RIA). Besides, the activity of testicular marked enzymes such as acid phosphatases(ACP) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase(gamma-GT) were examined, and sperm head counts were measured to explain the changes of daily sperm production(Spr). RESULTS In fifteen days, serum FSH levels markedly increased in rats exposed to fenvalerate of < or = 12 mg/kg groups(P < 0.01) and serum levels of LH increased in 12 mg/kg group(P < 0.01). In addition, T levels in testis homogenates decreased after treated with the doses of > or = 12 mg/kg groups compared with the control group(P < 0.01). In thirty days, serum contents of FSH were significantly elevated in the doses of > or = 12 mg/kg groups(P < 0.01) and homogenate levels of T were diminished in the low dose group(2.4 mg/kg) (P < 0.05). Activity of ACP increased in 12 mg/kg group after fifteen days(P < 0.05) and was restrained in the high dose group(60 mg/kg) in thirty days(P < 0.05), but the contents of gamma-GT were arrested with different doses dependently in the testis(P < 0.05). Fenvalerate caused dose-dependent reduction in sperm head counts and daily sperm production, which markedly reduced at the doses of > or = 12 mg/kg groups(P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Fenvalerate has obvious reproductive toxicity on male rats and can change their serum and testis homogenate levels of sex hormone or activity of testicular marked enzymes, which may be correlated with the impairment of Sertoli cell and spermatogenic epithelium.
Top-Down Control of Herbivory by Birds and Bats in the Canopy of Temperate Broad-Leaved Oaks (Quercus robur)

The intensive foraging of insectivorous birds and bats is well known to reduce the density of arboreal herbivorous arthropods but quantification of collateral leaf damage remains limited for temperate forest canopies. We conducted exclusion experiments with nets in the crowns of young and mature oaks, Quercus robur, in south and central Germany to investigate the extent to which aerial vertebrates reduce herbivory through predation. We repeatedly estimated leaf damage throughout the vegetation period. Exclusion of birds and bats led to a distinct increase in arthropod herbivory, emphasizing the prominent role of vertebrate predators in controlling arthropods. Leaf damage (e.g., number of holes) differed strongly between sites and was 59% higher in south Germany, where species richness of vertebrate predators and relative oak density were lower compared with our other study site in central Germany. The effects of bird and bat exclusion on herbivory were 19% greater on young than on mature trees in south Germany. Our results support previous studies that have demonstrated clear effects of insectivorous vertebrates on leaf damage through the control of herbivorous arthropods. Moreover, our comparative approach on quantification of leaf damage highlights the importance of local attributes such as tree age, forest composition and species richness of vertebrate predators for control of arthropod herbivory.
Target Detection and Localization Using MIMO Radars and Sonars

In this paper, we propose a new space-time coding configuration for target detection and localization by radar or sonar systems. In common active array systems, the transmitted signal is usually coherent between the different elements of the array. This configuration does not allow array processing in the transmit mode. However, space-time coding of the transmitted signals allows to digitally steer the beam pattern in the transmit in addition to the received signal. The ability to steer the transmitted beam pattern, helps to avoid beam shape loss. We show that the configuration with spatially orthogonal signal transmission is equivalent to additional virtual sensors which extend the array aperture with virtual spatial tapering. These virtual sensors can be used to form narrower beams with lower sidelobes and, therefore, provide higher performance in target detection, angular estimation accuracy, and angular resolution. The generalized likelihood ratio test for target detection and the maximum likelihood and Cramer-Rao bound for target direction estimation are derived for an arbitrary signal coherence matrix. It is shown that the optimal performance is achieved for orthogonal transmitted signals. Target detection and localization performances are evaluated and studied theoretically and via simulations
Lossless compression of high-volume numerical data from simulations

Summary form only given. We propose a lossless algorithm of delta compression (a variant of predictive coding) that attempts to predict the next point from previous points using higher-order polynomial extrapolation. In contrast to traditional predictive coding our method takes into account varying (non-equidistant) domain (typically, time) steps. To save space and guarantee lossless compression, the actual and predicted values are converted to 64-bit integers. The residual (difference between actual and predicted values) is computed as difference of integers. The unnecessary bits of the residual are truncated, e.g., 1111110101 is replaced by 10101. The length of the bit sequence (5/sub 10/=(000101)/sub 2/) is prepended.
Validated preoperative computed tomography risk estimation for postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence

AIM To develop and validate a risk estimation of tumor recurrence following curative resection of operable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS Data for 128 patients with operable HCC (according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer imaging criteria) who underwent preoperative computed tomography (CT) evaluation at our hospital from May 1, 2013 through May 30, 2014 were included in this study. Follow-up data were obtained from hospital medical records. Follow-up data through May 30, 2016 were used to retrospectively analyze preoperative multiphasic CT findings, surgical histopathology results, and serum α-fetoprotein and thymidine kinase-1 levels. The χ2 test, independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze data. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS During the follow-up period, 38 of 128 patients (29.7%) had a postoperative HCC recurrence. Microvascular invasion (MVI) was associated with HCC recurrence (χ2 = 13.253, P < 0.001). Despite postoperative antiviral therapy and chemotherapy, 22 of 44 patients with MVI experienced recurrence after surgical resection. The presence of MVI was 57.9% sensitive, 75.6% specific and 70.3% accurate in predicting postoperative recurrence. Of 84 tumors without MVI, univariate analysis confirmed that tumor margins, tumor margin grade, and tumor capsule detection on multiphasic CT were associated with HCC recurrence (P < 0.05). Univariate analyses showed no difference between groups with respect to hepatic capsular invasion, Ki-67 proliferation marker value, Edmondson-Steiner grade, largest tumor diameter, necrosis, arterial phase enhanced ratio, portovenous phase enhanced ratio, peritumoral enhancement, or serum α-fetoprotein level. CONCLUSION Non-smooth tumor margins, incomplete tumor capsules and missing tumor capsules correlated with postoperative HCC recurrence. HCC recurrence following curative resection may be predicted using CT.
What is the Proximal Cause of Aging?

In spite of exciting new insights into regulatory mechanisms that modulate the aging process, the proximal cause of aging remains one of the unsolved big problems in biology. An evolutionary analysis of aging provides a helpful theoretical framework by establishing boundary conditions on possible mechanisms of aging. The fundamental insight is that the force of natural selection diminishes with age (Medawar, 1952; Comfort, 1956; Williams, 1957). This does not preclude senescence (age-related decrease in individual fitness) from occurring in natural populations (Nussey et al., 2012). Senescence can develop because some genes have non-separable, but typically different or opposite, functions in reproductive-age and in old individuals (antagonistic pleiotropy; Williams, 1957). Such genes, selected according to their “youthful” function, may thus impose a distinct senescent phenotype in old age. In general, however, unless a controversial formulation of group selection (Nowak et al., 2010; Wilson, 2012) is invoked, traits that would become manifest only in old age cannot evolve. This precludes the evolutionary emergence of aging programs, which have been sometimes postulated to exist (Goldsmith, 2012; Mitteldorf, 2012) in analogy to developmental and other biological programs. (By the same token, selective pressure that diminishes with age would also prevent extreme longevity from evolving, if “extreme” denotes a potential life span much longer than that imposed by extrinsic mortality in a given environment.) This and other arguments against the existence of an aging program have been discussed previously (e.g., Zimniak, 2008; Kirkwood and Melov, 2011).
Performance Analysis of a Proposed Pre-FEC Structure for a DVB-C2 Receiver

To increase the spectral efficiency of HFC network, the standard of digital video broadcasting for cable systems (DVB-C2) was completed in 2010 and products that support the DVB-C2 is expected to be released within years. Before making products for DVB-C2 receiver, the performance of them should be investigated under various channel conditions first. Thus, we show the performance of the proposed structure for a pre-FEC in DVB-C2 receiver considering the channel model including additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), a frequency offset, and echo channels to provide information about the implementation of DVB-C2 receiver. Based on the simulation results, we implement the pre-FEC using two field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and show the measured symbol error rate (SER) between the transmitted and received quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols with respect to various symbol timing estimations (STEs) of synchronization (SYNC) and powers of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input. Because the STE makes the received pilot symbols in preamble rotated and these rotated pilot symbols are used in channel estimation, it affects the channel estimation and SER of pre-FEC. In addition, the channel estimation impaired by the STE causes the received QAM symbols to have biased mean values compared with the transmitted 4096QAM symbols. Since this degrades the performance of pre-FEC, the automatic gain control (AGC) is added after zero-forcing linear equalizer (ZF-LE) to improve the performance of pre-FEC. As the power of ADC input decreases, the SER increases due to the noise enhancement of ZF-LE.
Blogging as a Viable Research Methodology for Young People With Arthritis: A Qualitative Study

Background The development of services that are responsive to the needs of users is a health policy priority. Finding ways of engaging young people in research to gain insights into their particular experiences, perspectives, and needs is vital but challenging. These data are critical to improving services in ways that meet the needs of young people. Objective Our aim was to evaluate Web-based blogging as a viable method for understanding the daily experiences and condition management strategies of young people with juvenile arthritis. Methods To meet the objectives of the study, a qualitative approach was required to gather information on the experiences and perspectives of young people regarding the management of their condition and its daily impact. In collaboration with a group of young people with arthritis, a custom website was developed. This website provided the opportunity for young people (aged 11-19) with arthritis from a United Kingdom pediatric hospital to contribute blogs. It was designed so that young people were free to write about whatever was important to them, but the site also included some structure and prompts to facilitate the writing of blogs. Qualitative analytical procedures were employed, supported by NVivo software. Results Engagement in the study by young people was variable in terms of their participation rates, frequency of website visits, and the length of their blogs. Young people used the site in different ways, some responding to the website categories and prompts that the team created, while others used it as a diary to record their experiences and thoughts. In line with principles of qualitative inquiry, the data collection was participant-led. Young people were in control of what, how much, and how often they wrote. However, some young people expressed difficulty regarding knowing what they should blog about. For a number of reasons, discussed here, the blogs may also not be fully reflective of experiences and perspectives of the participants. However, the data obtained provided insights into young people’s experiences of living with arthritis and their use of medicines in the context of their daily lives. Conclusions Web-based research with young people presents opportunities and challenges for researchers. Web-based blogging methodology has the potential to give young people and parents the space and empowerment to express their own ideas and concerns. However, this project suggests that it might not be the best way to engage a large diverse group of young people and might most effectively be combined with other approaches. Despite these limitations, the study provided valuable data about the experience and impact of living with a long-term condition from the perspectives of young people with arthritis.
Six-month exercise training program to treat post-thrombotic syndrome: a randomized controlled two-centre trial

Background Exercise training may have the potential to improve post-thrombotic syndrome, a frequent, chronic complication of deep venous thrombosis. We conducted a randomized controlled two-centre pilot trial to assess the feasibility of a multicentre-based evaluation of a six-month exercise training program to treat post-thrombotic syndrome and to obtain preliminary data on the effectiveness of such a program. Methods Patients were randomized to receive exercise training (a six-month trainer-supervised program) or control treatment (an education session with monthly phone follow-ups). Levels of eligibility, consent, adherence and retention were used as indicators of study feasibility. Primary outcomes were change from baseline to six months in venous disease-specific quality of life (as measured using the Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study Quality of Life [VEINES-QOL] questionnaire) and severity of post-thrombotic syndrome (as measured by scores on the Villalta scale) in the exercise training group versus the control group, assessed by t tests. Secondary outcomes were change in generic quality of life (as measured using the Short-Form Health Survey-36 [SF-36] questionnaire), category of severity of post-thrombotic syndrome, leg strength, leg flexibility and time on treadmill. Results Of 95 patients with post-thrombotic syndrome, 69 were eligible, 43 consented and were randomized, and 39 completed the study. Exercise training was associated with improvement in VEINES-QOL scores (exercise training mean change 6.0, standard deviation [SD] 5.1 v. control mean change 1.4, SD 7.2; difference 4.6, 95% CI 0.54 to 8.7; p = 0.027) and improvement in scores on the Villalta scale (exercise training mean change −3.6, SD 3.7 v. control mean change −1.6, SD 4.3; difference −2.0, 95% CI −4.6 to 0.6; p = 0.14). Most secondary outcomes also showed greater improvement in the exercise training group. Interpretation Exercise training may improve post-thrombotic syndrome. It would be feasible to definitively evaluate exercise training as a treatment for post-thrombotic syndrome in a large multicentre trial.
Chromosomal Locus for Cadmium Resistance in Pseudomonas putida Consisting of a Cadmium-Transporting ATPase and a MerR Family Response Regulator

ABSTRACT Pseudomonads from environmental sources vary widely in their sensitivity to cadmium, but the basis for this resistance is largely uncharactarized. A chromosomal fragment encoding cadmium resistance was cloned from Pseudomonas putida 06909, a rhizosphere bacterium, and sequence analysis revealed two divergently transcribed genes, cadA and cadR. CadA was similar to cadmium-transporting ATPases known mostly from gram-positive bacteria, and to ZntA, a lead-, zinc-, and cadmium-transporting ATPase from Escherichia coli. CadR was related to the MerR family of response regulators that normally control mercury detoxification in other bacterial systems. A related gene, zntR, regulateszntA in E. coli, but it is not contiguous withzntA in the E. coli genome as cadAand cadR were in P. putida. In addition, unlike ZntA and other CadA homologs, but similar to the predicted product of gene PA3690 in the P. aeruginosa genome, the P. putida CadA sequence had a histidine-rich N-terminal extension. CadR and the product of PA3689 of P. aeruginosa also had histidine-rich C-terminal extensions not found in other MerR family response regulators. Mutational analysis indicated that cadA and cadR are fully responsible for cadmium resistance and partially for zinc resistance. However, unlike zntA, they did not confer significant levels of lead resistance. The cadA promoter was responsive to Cd(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II), while the cadR promoter was only induced by Cd(II). CadR apparently represses its own expression at the transcriptional level. However, CadR apparently does not represscadA. Homologs of the cadmium-transporting ATPase were detected in many other Pseudomonas species.
Firing properties of single human motor units on maintained maximal voluntary effort.

The discharge properties on maintained maximal voluntary effort, axonal conduction velocity (a.c.v.) and contraction time (c.t.) of single human motor units were studied. Electromyographic (EMG) techniques were used and sufficient selectivity was obtained after repeated lesions to the terminal nerve twigs and consequent collateral sprouting, or by blocking the main muscle nerve in subjects with an accessory nerve supplying just one or a few units, or using high impedance wire electrodes. Most units with a.c. v. above 45 m/s and c.t. below 50 ms had maximal voluntary firing rates of about 50 Hz. On prolonged maximal effort, however, their rates rapidly decreased and after some seconds to a minute they ceased to respond tonically. As long as their motoneurons fired their EMG potentials were mainly intact and their twitch tension was significant. Most units with a.c. v. below 40 m/s and c.t. above 60 ms fired initially at 30 Hz, decreased slowly in firing rate and continued at 20 Hz for some minutes. We conclude that there is a central fatigue of units with short c.t. and high a.c. v. which protects their peripheral regions from severe exhaustion, but that there is no significant central fatigue of units with long c.t. and low a.c. v. We emphasize, however, that most units are intermediate in their properties.
Understanding the determinants of cloud computing adoption

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect the adoption of cloud computing by firms belonging to the high‐tech industry. The eight factors examined in this study are relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, top management support, firm size, technology readiness, competitive pressure, and trading partner pressure. , – A questionnaire‐based survey was used to collect data from 111 firms belonging to the high‐tech industry in Taiwan. Relevant hypotheses were derived and tested by logistic regression analysis. , – The findings revealed that relative advantage, top management support, firm size, competitive pressure, and trading partner pressure characteristics have a significant effect on the adoption of cloud computing. , – The research was conducted in the high‐tech industry, which may limit the generalisability of the findings. , – The findings offer cloud computing service providers with a better understanding of what affects cloud computing adoption characteristics, with relevant insight on current promotions. , – The research contributes to the application of new technology cloud computing adoption in the high‐tech industry through the use of a wide range of variables. The findings also help firms consider their information technologies investments when implementing cloud computing.