Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hippocampal Formation Breaks Combinatorial Explosion for Reinforcement Learning: A Conjecture

There is surmounting evidence that reinforcement learning (RL) is a good model for the dopamine system of the brain and the prefrontal cortex. RL is also promising from the algorithmic point of view, because recent factored RL algorithms have favorable convergence and scaling properties and can counteract the curse of dimensionality problem, the major obstacle of practical applications of RL methods. Learning in navigation tasks then separates (i) to the search and the encoding of the factors, such as position, direction, and speed, and (ii) to the optimization of RL decision making by using these factors. We conjecture that the main task of the hippocampal formation is to separate factors and encode into neocortical areas the different lowdimensional conjunctive representations of them to suit factored RL value estimation. The mathematical framework is sketched. It includes convergent factored RL model and autoregressive (AR) hidden process model that finds factors including the hidden causes. The AR model is mapped to the hippocampal formation.
A feasibility study evaluating the relationship between dose and focal liver reaction in stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for liver cancer based on intensity change of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance images

Purpose In order to evaluate the relationship between the dose to the liver parenchyma and focal liver reaction (FLR) after stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), we suggest a novel method using a three-dimensional dose distribution and change in signal intensity of gadoxetate disodium-gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hepatobiliary phase images. Materials and Methods In our method, change of the signal intensity between the pretreatment and follow-up hepatobiliary phase images of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI was calculated and then threshold dose (TD) for developing FLR was obtained from correlation of dose with the change of the signal intensity. For validation of the method, TDs for six patients, who had been treated for liver cancer with SABR with 45–60 Gy in 3 fractions, were calculated using the method, and we evaluated concordance between volume enclosed by isodose of TD by the method and volume identified as FLR by a physician. Results The dose to normal liver was correlated with change in signal intensity between pretreatment and follow-up MRI with a median R2 of 0.935 (range, 0.748 to 0.985). The median TD by the method was 23.5 Gy (range, 18.3 to 39.4 Gy). The median value of concordance was 84.5% (range, 44.7% to 95.9%). Conclusion Our method is capable of providing a quantitative evaluation of the relationship between dose and intensity changes on follow-up MRI, as well as determining individual TD for developing FLR. We expect our method to provide better information about the individual relationship between dose and FLR in radiotherapy for liver cancer.
Corporate Social Disclosures and Accounting Theories An Investigation

This study reviews the use of accounting theory in explaining corporate social disclosure behaviour. The synthesis research of accounting disclosure and corporate social responsibility research is examined. Specifically the use of the positive accounting theory is analysed, but also critical studies on the use of this theory. Also legitimacy theory was used in the past as the theoretical basis for corporate social disclosures, which is also discussed on its merits. Voluntary accounting disclosure research, which has not been used to explain social disclosures in the past, is examined for its usefulness. The combination of social disclosures behaviour and voluntary accounting disclosures turns out to be a promising new field of research. Preface Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its related disclosures have been on the research agenda since many years. The CSR-research was stimulated by the hopes that society could benefit from it (Margolis and Walsh 2003). The more than 30-year 1 search for a relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) has not brought much consistent proof of any clear motive for corporations to get involved in CSR. This could have fed the hope for society that companies really were willing to do well for society. According to Margolis and Walsh (2001), the lack of clear proof is due to a non-existing theoretical foundation of the empirically revealed relations between CSP and CFP. The questionable quality of the performed research was also mentioned by Margolis and Walsh. They reviewed all kinds of possible studies on relationships between CSP and CFP. They refer to the tension between the different roles of the corporation, while pursuing financial or social goals. Margolis and Walsh look at this problem from an organisational perspective, but they also included accounting related studies in their review. They refer to CSR as a broad concept for which an overall theory is needed. Their article has not often been identified in the social accounting research branch. In contrary to Ullmann (1985), whose 3 critical article has often been cited in social accounting and disclosures research studies. Ullmann has a narrower focus, the financial accounting approach to the CSP-CFP-social disclosure relation, which is useful for this paper.
Bayesian statistics in educational research: a look at the current state of affairs

Abstract The ability of a scientific discipline to build cumulative knowledge depends on its predominant method of data analysis. A steady accumulation of knowledge requires approaches which allow researchers to consider results from comparable prior research. Bayesian statistics is especially relevant for establishing a cumulative scientific discipline, because the incorporation of background (or prior) knowledge is fundamentally anchored in its basic principles. The aim of the current systematic review is to provide insights into the current state of methodological affairs in educational research, with a focus on Bayesian statistics and the use of prior information. An analysis of publication histories of the 224 educational journals currently listed in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Report 2015 indicates that Bayesian statistics is primarily used to solve methodological problems, rather than used to build cumulative knowledge based on a combination of study results with comparable prior research. The utilisation of Bayesian statistics is motivated by its flexibility: models are estimated which would not be estimable with frequentist approaches, thus expanding the methodological repertoire of educational researchers and producing knowledge which otherwise would not have been available. Lastly, the predominant use of noninformative prior distributions indicates that one of the biggest advantages of Bayesian statistics, namely the combination of study results with comparable prior research, remains underutilised in educational research. Practical implications of these findings for educational research are illustrated and discussed.
FISH analysis comparing genome organization in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) to that of the Mongolian wild horse (E. przewalskii)

Przewalski’s wild horse (E. przewalskii, EPR) has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 66 while the domestic horse (E. caballus, ECA) has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 64. Discussions about their phylogenetic relationship and taxonomic classification have hinged on comparisons of their skeletal morphology, protein and mitochondrial DNA similarities, their ability to produce fertile hybrid offspring, and on comparison of their chromosome morphology and banding patterns. Previous studies of GTG-banded karyotypes suggested that the chromosomes of both equids were homologous and the difference in chromosome number was due to a Robertsonian event involving two pairs of acrocentric chromosomes in EPR and one pair of metacentric chromosomes in ECA (ECA5). To determine which EPR chromosomes were homologous to ECA5 and to confirm the predicted chromosome homologies based on GTG banding, we constructed a comparative gene map between ECA and EPR by FISH mapping 46 domestic horse-derived BAC clones containing genes previously mapped to ECA chromosomes. The results indicated that all ECA and EPR chromosomes were homologous as predicted by GTG banding, but provide new information in that the EPR acrocentric chromosomes EPR23 and EPR24 were shown to be homologues of the ECA metacentric chromosome ECA5.
Verifying speakers in emotional environments

This work is devoted to proposing, implementing and evaluating a two-stage approach to verify speakers in emotional environments using their emotions (emotion-dependent speaker verification problem) based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). The results of this work show that verifying speakers from their emotions gives promising results with a significant improvement over emotion-independent speaker verification. The emotional environments in this work are composed of six basic emotions. These emotions are: neutral, angry, sad, happy, disgust and fear. The results obtained based on the proposed approach are close to those obtained in subjective assessment by human judges.
BRAND ATTITUDE MEDIATES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF BRAND CONNECTION AND PRODUCT INVOLVEMENT: A CASE OF ADOLESCENT CONSUMERS

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the mediating relationship between self-brand connection, brand attitude, and involvement among adolescents consumers in India. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 800 adolescent consumers were conducted and the data was analyzed using various statistical tools such as regression, correlation, and mediation. Findings – The results of the study suggest that there is a strong relationship between self-brand connection, brand attitude and involvement among adolescents in India and it further identifies that brand attitude plays a mediating role between self-brand connection and product involvement. Originality/value – The paper discusses the relationship between self-brand connection, brand attitude and product involvement and that too among the adolescent consumers particularly in developing country like India.
Chemical evolution of local galaxies in a hierarchical model

We investigate the chemical properties of local galaxies within a cosmological framework in the hierarchical picture of galaxy formation. To this aim, we use a hierarchical semi-analytic model which includes the contribution from (i) low- and intermediate-mass stars, relevant producers of some important elements, such as C and N; (ii) Type Ia supernovae (SNe), for which a continuous delay-time distribution is assumed and which are important for the production of Fe and (iii) massive stars, dying as core-collapse Type II SNe and which produce the α elements. In this way, we can study abundances for a large set of chemical elements and in various galactic types, comparing our predictions with available observations in the Milky Way (MW), in local dwarf galaxies and in local ellipticals. For MW-like galaxies, we can successfully reproduce the major observational constraints, i.e. the [O―Fe] versus [Fe/H] relation observed in disc stars and the stellar metallicity distribution (SMD). For dwarf galaxies, the stellar metallicity versus mass relation is reproduced by assuming that a substantial fraction of the heavy elements is lost through metal-enhanced outflows and a Type Ia SN realization probability lower than the one of MW-like galaxies. The predicted abundance ratios for dwarf galaxies are comparable to observations derived locally for dwarf spheroidals. The SMDs predicted for dwarf galaxies are in agreement with the local observations. We predict a substantial presence of extremely low metallicity stars [Fe/H] < -2.5, which have been recently observed in ultrafaint dwarf galaxies. In ellipticals, the observations indicate higher [α/Fe] values in larger galaxies. Several previous attempts to model the [α/Fe] versus σ in ellipticals based on Λ cold dark matter galaxy formation models predicted an anticorrelation between [α/Fe] versus σ, indicating too much extended star formation histories in high-mass galaxies. Our results computed with a standard Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) indicate a flat [α/Fe] versus σ relation. However, we suggest a possible solution to this problem and show how, by assuming a star-formation-dependent IMF with a slope x = 1.35 in systems with star formation rates < 100 M ⊙ yr ―1 and slightly flatter (i.e. with x = 1) in object with stronger star formation, the observed correlation between [α/Fe] and σ can be accounted for on a large velocity dispersion range. Fundamental roles are played also by interaction-triggered starbursts and active galactic nuclei feedback. Finally, a star-formation-dependent IMF seems necessary also to reproduce the stellar metallicity―σ relation observed in local early-type galaxies.
Ensembles of cascading trees

We introduce a new method, called CS4, to construct committees of decision trees for classification. The method considers different top-ranked features as the root nodes of member trees. This idea is particularly suitable for dealing with high-dimensional bio-medical data as top-ranked features in this type of data usually possess similar merits for classification. To make a decision, the committee combines the power of individual trees in a weighted manner. Unlike Bagging or Boosting which uses bootstrapped training data, our method builds all the member trees of a committee using exactly the same set of training data. We have tested these ideas on UCI data sets as well as recent bio-medical data sets of gene expression or proteomic profiles that are usually described by more than 10,000 features. All the experimental results show that our method is efficient and that the classification performance are superior to C4.5 family algorithms.
The functions of psychiatric diagnosis

Psychiatric diagnoses are ubiquitous, but historically have been seen as problematic, even contested, categories. Calls for new models of mental distress have originated from psychiatry, clinical psychology, and the service user movement. However these proposals are limited in their scope. Taking a social constructionist critical realist epistemological approach, the thesis framed psychiatric diagnoses as active categories; constructed to meet particular needs and functions. The central research question of the thesis was to explore, from multiple perspectives, the functions of psychiatric diagnosis. Theoretical questions addressed the conceptual underpinnings of diagnostic categories, how they are used in practice, and their implications. Three methodologies were used. A textual examination of chapters of the DSM-5 analysed the heterogeneity across diagnostic criteria and explored diagnostic classification as a protocol for practice. Semi-structured interviews with clinicians (GPs, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists) and individuals who had received psychiatric diagnoses were used to examine the practices of diagnosis within and beyond the clinic. Finally, Freedom of Information Act requests made to NHS mental health trusts in the north of England were used to explore the uses of diagnosis in service entry and eligibility criteria. The findings revealed that psychiatric diagnoses performed multiple clinical, social, and administrative functions in multiple contexts, and acted as a proxy for various factors, with tensions arising across these functions. These functions invoked different underpinning conceptualisations, which were inconsistent across contexts. Diagnostic practices were found to be often at odds with the use prescribed by diagnostic manuals. Although clinicians used diagnosis as a flexible tool, categories were reified beyond the clinic with important implications for those diagnosed. The thesis structure reflects the tensions that arose as a result of these multiple functions, through a process of diagnostic categories travelling from the text of the classification itself, to clinicians, services, and beyond the clinic to the individuals who received them. These multiple uses and changing conceptualisations meant that the utility of one function could result in harmful costs elsewhere. At the intersection of these functions were the people diagnosed, for whom diagnostic categories had potentially damaging consequences. Diagnosis-focused clinicians and administrative structures such as benefits payments placed limitations on the extent to which individuals could publicly reject their diagnosis should they choose to. In contrast with previous proposals focused on replacing specific aspects of psychiatric diagnosis (such as taxonomy or individual assessment), a broader programme of system reform is advocated. Recommendations include the use of psychosocial and descriptive codes of the International Classification of Diseases and competency-based services.
Testing for monotone increasing hazard rate

A test of the null hypothesis that a hazard rate is monotone nondecreasing, versus the alternative that it is not, is proposed. Both the test statistic and the means of calibrating it are new. Unlike previous approaches, neither is based on the assumption that the null distribution is exponential. Instead, empirical information is used to effectively identify and eliminate from further consideration parts of the line where the hazard rate is clearly increasing; and to confine subsequent attention only to those parts that remain. This produces a test with greater apparent power, without the excessive conservatism of exponential-based tests. Our approach to calibration borrows from ideas used in certain tests for unimodality of a density, in that a bandwidth is increased until a distribution with the desired properties is obtained. However, the test statistic does not involve any smoothing, and is, in fact, based directly on an assessment of convexity of the distribution function, using the conventional empirical distribution. The test is shown to have optimal power properties in difficult cases, where it is called upon to detect a small departure, in the form of a bump, from monotonicity. More general theoretical properties of the test and its numerical performance are explored.
Hypervelocity Stars. II. The Bound Population

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) are stars ejected completely out of the Milky Way by three-body interactions with the massive black hole in the Galactic center. We describe 643 new spectroscopic observations from our targeted survey for HVSs. We find a significant (3.5 σ) excess of B-type stars with large velocities +275 km s-1 < vrf < 450 km s-1 and distances d > 10 kpc that are most plausibly explained as a new class of HVSs: stars ejected from the Galactic center on bound orbits. If a Galactic center ejection origin is correct, the distribution of HVSs on the sky should be anisotropic for a survey complete to a fixed limiting apparent magnitude. The unbound HVSs in our survey have a marginally anisotropic distribution on the sky, consistent with the Galactic center ejection picture.
Improvement in the traditional processing method and nutritional quality of traditional extruded cassava-based snack (modified Ajogun)

This study was carried out to investigate and improve the traditional processing method and nutritional quality of the traditional cassava snack (Ajogun). Cassava root (Manihot esculenta Crantz L.) of TME 419 variety was processed into mash (40% moisture content). The cassava mash was mixed into different blends to produce fried traditional “Ajogun”, fried and baked extrudates (modified Ajogun) as snacks. These products were analyzed to determine the proximate composition including carbohydrate, fat, protein, fiber, ash, and moisture contents and functional properties such as bulk density. The results obtained for the moisture, fat, protein, and ash contents showed significant difference (P < 0.05) between the control sample and the extrudates. However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the carbohydrate and fiber contents between the three samples. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the bulk density of the snacks. Also, sensory evaluation was carried out on the cassava-based snacks using the 9-point hedonic scale to determine the degree of acceptability. Results obtained showed significant difference (P < 0.05) between the extrudates and control sample in terms of appearance, taste, flavor, color, aroma, texture, and overall acceptability. The highest acceptability level of the product was at 8.04 for the control sample (traditional Ajogun). This study has shown that “Ajogun”, which is a lesser known cassava product, is rich in protein and fat.
Measuring verbal working memory capacity: A reading span task for laboratory and web-based use

Typically, working memory (WM) capacity as a source of individual differences is assessed by complex span tasks which combine a processing and a storage task. However, there are no standardized open-source versions, and the tasks that are used are not easily comparable. We introduce a browser-based version of the reading span task, which yielded normally distributed recall performance scores. Next, we provide a within-participant comparison of this task to two other complex span tasks. Finally, we introduce a web-based version of the reading span task. WM scores were comparable to those obtained in the laboratory, but web participants were also faster and made more mistakes in the processing task. We conclude that the task introduced here is an adequate way to measure verbal WM capacity in the laboratory. In addition, it may prove to be a useful, time-efficient online tool, for instance to extract extreme groups from a larger sample.
Sensitization of Cancer Cells through Reduction of Total Akt and Downregulation of Salinomycin-Induced pAkt, pGSk3β, pTSC2, and p4EBP1 by Cotreatment with MK-2206

MK-2206 is an inhibitor of Akt activation. It has been investigated as an anticancer drug in clinical trials assessing the potential of pAkt targeting therapy. The purpose of this study was to identify conditions that increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to MK-2206. We found that the treatment of cancer cells with a high concentration of salinomycin (Sal) reduced total Akt protein levels but increased activated Akt levels. When cancer cells were cotreated with MK-2206 and Sal, both pAkt and total Akt levels were reduced. Using microscopic observation, an assessment of cleaved PARP, FACS analysis of pre-G1 region, and Hoechst staining, we found that Sal increased apoptosis of MK-2206-treated cancer cells. These results suggest that cotreatment with MK-2206 and Sal sensitizes cancer cells via reduction of both pAkt and total Akt. Furthermore, cotreatment of cancer cells with Sal and MK-2206 reduced pp70S6K, pmTOR, and pPDK1 levels. In addition, Sal-induced activation of GSK3β, TSC2, and 4EBP1 was abolished by MK-2206 cotreatment. These results suggest that cotreatment using MK-2206 and Sal could be used as a therapeutic method to sensitize cancer cells through targeting of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Our findings may contribute to the development of MK-2206-based sensitization therapies for cancer patients.