Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
May the torcher light our way: A negative-accelerated active learning framework for image classification

Uncertainty sampling is one of the most widely used strategy for pool-based active learning, however, there exists the problem that selected images do not reflect the desired training distribution and need additional labeling cost. To deal with this problem, from aspects of image classification and visual perception, we improve the traditional entropy-based sampling strategy by introducing bag-of-visual-words classification method and negative-accelerated learning principle from Rescorla-Wagner perceptive model. Differs from previous researches that treated sampling and classifying process separately, under the unified negative-accelerated learning model, we combine the two processes as a uniform model, named as negative-accelerated uncertainty sampling strategy with BoVW (NUSB) by proposing a new evolving sample selection measure, which takes category distribution into consideration. Classifier is trained to provide category distribution for the sampling process, reducing additional cost of annotation. Also, transfer test is utilized to prevent over-fitting and further evaluate the performance of different sampling strategies. Experimental results on real world datasets show that our active sampling framework outperforms both baseline active sampling strategies and state-of-the-art active learning based image classification method.
Efficient Spectral-Galerkin Methods IV. Spherical Geometries

Fast spectral-Galerkin algorithms are developed for elliptic equations on the sphere. The algorithms are based on a double Fourier expansion and have quasi-optimal (optimal up to a logarithmic term) computational complexity. Numerical experiments indicate that they are significantly more efficient and/or accurate when compared with the algorithms based on spherical harmonics and on finite difference. Extensions to problems in spherical layers and to vector equations are also discussed.
Plant-Derived Phenolics Inhibit the Accrual of Structurally Characterised Protein and Lipid Oxidative Modifications

Epidemiological data suggest that plant-derived phenolics beneficial effects include an inhibition of LDL oxidation. After applying a screening method based on 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine- protein carbonyl reaction to 21 different plant-derived phenolic acids, we selected the most antioxidant ones. Their effect was assessed in 5 different oxidation systems, as well as in other model proteins. Mass-spectrometry was then used, evidencing a heterogeneous effect on the accumulation of the structurally characterized protein carbonyl glutamic and aminoadipic semialdehydes as well as for malondialdehyde-lysine in LDL apoprotein. After TOF based lipidomics, we identified the most abundant differential lipids in Cu++-incubated LDL as 1-palmitoyllysophosphatidylcholine and 1-stearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. Most of selected phenolic compounds prevented the accumulation of those phospholipids and the cellular impairment induced by oxidized LDL. Finally, to validate these effects in vivo, we evaluated the effect of the intake of a phenolic-enriched extract in plasma protein and lipid modifications in a well-established model of atherosclerosis (diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in hamsters). This showed that a dietary supplement with a phenolic-enriched extract diminished plasma protein oxidative and lipid damage. Globally, these data show structural basis of antioxidant properties of plant-derived phenolic acids in protein oxidation that may be relevant for the health-promoting effects of its dietary intake.
Observation of mesospheric air inside the arctic stratospheric polar vortex in early 2003

During several balloon flights inside the Arctic polar vortex in early 2003, unusual trace gas distributions were observed, which indicate a strong influence of mesospheric air in the stratosphere. The tuneable diode laser (TDL) instrument SPIRALE (Spectroscopie InFrarouge par Absorption de Lasers Embarques) measured unusually high CO values (up to 600 ppb) on 27 January at about 30 km altitude. The cryosampler BONBON sampled air masses with very high molecular Hydrogen, extremely low SF6 and enhanced CO values on 6 March at about 25 km altitude. Finally, the MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectrometer showed NOy values which are significantly higher than NOy* (the NOy derived from a correlation between N2O and NOy under undisturbed conditions), on 21 and 22 March in a layer centred at 22 km altitude. Thus, the mesospheric air seems to have been present in a layer descending from about 30 km in late January to 25 km altitude in early March and about 22 km altitude on 20 March. We present corroborating evidence from a model study using the KASIMA (KArlsruhe Simulation model of the Middle Atmosphere) model that also shows a layer of mesospheric air, which descended into the stratosphere in November and early December 2002, before the minor warming which occurred in late December 2002 lead to a descent of upper stratospheric air, cutting of a layer in which mesospheric air is present. This layer then descended inside the vortex over the course of the winter. The same feature is found in trajectory calculations, based on a large number of trajectories started in the vicinity of the observations on 6 March. Based on the difference between the mean age derived from SF6 (which has an irreversible mesospheric loss) and from CO2 (whose mesospheric loss is much smaller and reversible) we estimate that the fraction of mesospheric air in the layer observed on 6 March, must have been somewhere between 35% and 100%.
Examining the Predictive Validity of the Public Safety Assessment

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive validity of the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), an actuarial pretrial assessment instrument, administered to 15,931 individuals in Volusia County, Florida, between 2016 and 2017. A series of logistic regression models analyzed the influence of the PSA’s risk scores for Failure to Appear (FTA) and New Criminal Activity (NCA), as well as gender, race, and the length of time spent in pretrial custody on incidents of failure to appear and new pretrial arrest. The findings suggest that while both the FTA and NCA scales predicted pretrial failure fairly well, the variation explained by the models suggest that there is much that we do not understand about predicting pretrial failure to appear and new pretrial arrest, indicating the need for further research and refinement of pretrial assessment instruments.
Conversing With Kalamazoo Promise Scholars: An Inquiry Into the Beliefs, Motivations, and Experiences of Tuition-Free College Students

This qualitative inquiry explores students’ (N=20) perceptions of Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise), how perceptions influence student motivation, and by what means students are covering remaining costs. Responses indicated deep appreciation of KPromise, built through community efforts. Perceptions of KPromise have developed into strong motivation to perform and in times of underperformance drove guilt. As KPromise scholars assume uncovered costs, most are doing so via work. Half of the participants possess student loan debt, mostly to pay for larger up-front costs or emergencies. KPromise students still expeience financial distress; however, when put into context with non-Promise peers, these students recognize how KPromise eases such. Discussion centers on using this research in giving voice to students within tuition-free discourse and in helping institutional stakeholders better understand tuition-free students’ experiences.
Gendering the elites: an ethnographic approach to elite women's lives and the re-production of inequality

Transfers between generations are a key driver of social and economic inequalities, ensuring that wealth is not redistributed, but accumulated instead in the hands of a small elite, sometimes described as ‘the super-rich’. It is crucial to understand how this accumulated capital is socialized and passed down the generations through a labour that I argue is gendered in nature, heavily reliant on women, and currently under-researched. In this paper I address this gap ethnographically, focusing on the gendered labour that women perform to sustain and reproduce the dynastic projects of elite families. I compare and contrast the symbolically distant categories of mothers/wives (Ostrander 1984) and “girls” – young women who socialize on the VIP scene, as defined by Mears (2015). Both groups involve biologically female bodies deeply involved in the reproduction of elites but the categories they inhabit, the selves that are both ascribed to them and which they choose to present could not be any more different. In light of this data, elite London emerges as a social space structured around strong hierarchies not just of class but also gender. I therefore argue that it is essential to understand more about the interplay of these two structuring principles within elite spaces, focusing on the ‘invisible’ labour performed by elite women.
On the mathematical theory of superfluidity

We provide a general operator algebraic formulation of the theory of superfluidity in Bose systems, with the aim of investigating the relationships of this phenomenon both to off-diagonal long range order (ODLRO) and to a mathematically precise version of Landau's picture of elementary excitations. Our principal results are that ODLRO leads both to rotational superfluidity and to Goldstone excitations, while the neo-Landau picture accounts for the translational superfluidity of flow along a pipe. The latter picture is realized by the Lieb–Liniger–Girardeau model. Open problems are briefly discussed.
Enzyme Hydrolysates from Stichopus horrens as a New Source for Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitory Peptides

Stichopus horrens flesh was explored as a potential source for generating peptides with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory capacity using 6 proteases, namely alcalase, flavourzyme, trypsin, papain, bromelain, and protamex. Degree of hydrolysis (DH) and peptide profiling (SDS-PAGE) of Stichopus horrens hydrolysates (SHHs) was also assessed. Alcalase hydrolysate showed the highest DH value (39.8%) followed by flavourzyme hydrolysate (32.7%). Overall, alcalase hydrolysate exhibited the highest ACE inhibitory activity (IC50 value of 0.41 mg/mL) followed by flavourzyme hydrolysate (IC50 value of 2.24 mg/mL), trypsin hydrolysate (IC50 value of 2.28 mg/mL), papain hydrolysate (IC50 value of 2.48 mg/mL), bromelain hydrolysate (IC50 value of 4.21 mg/mL), and protamex hydrolysate (IC50 value of 6.38 mg/mL). The SDS-PAGE results showed that alcalase hydrolysate represented a unique pattern compared to others, which yielded potent ACE inhibitory peptides with molecular weight distribution lower than 20 kDa. The evaluation of the relationship between DH and IC50 values of alcalase and flavourzyme hydrolysates revealed that the trend between those parameters was related to the type of the protease used. We concluded that the tested SHHs would be used as a potential source of functional ACE inhibitory peptides for physiological benefits.
Spillover and Crossover Effects of Work-Family Conflict among Married and Cohabiting Couples

The present study uses Wave 8 of the German Family Panel to test the spillover and crossover effects of work-family conflict on job satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and mental health for individuals (actor effects) as well as their spouses/partners (partner effects) in dual-earning couples. We further contribute by assessing whether the results vary by gender and union type. Results suggest that among married couples, for job satisfaction, there are no gender differences in actor effects (but gender differences in partner effects), and actor and partner effects remain distinct. For relationship satisfaction, there are no gender differences in actor or partner effects, but both effects remain distinct. For mental health, however, there are gender differences in actor effects (but not in partner effects), and both effects remain distinct. Among cohabitors, there are no differences in actor effects by gender, and adding in partner effects does not significantly improve the models predicting all three outcomes. Some results also suggest differences in relationship dynamics between married and cohabiting couples.
HIV/AIDS and the Agricultural Sector: Implications for Policy in Eastern and Southern Africa

This paper draws upon development economics theory, demographic projections, and empirical evidence to consider the likely consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic for the agricultural sector of the hardest-hit countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. We identify four processes that have been underemphasized in previous analysis: 1) the momentum of long-term population growth rates; 2) substantial underemployment in these countries’ informal sectors; 3) steady declines in land-to-person ratios in the smallholder farming sectors; and 4) effects of food and input marketing reforms on shifts in cropping patterns. The paper concludes that the conventional wisdom encouraging prioritisation of labour-saving technology or crops has been over-generalised, although labour-saving agricultural technologies may be appropriate for certain types of households and regions. The most effective means for agricultural policy to respond to HIV/AIDS will entail stepping up support for agricultural science and technology development, extension systems, and input and crop market development to improve the agricultural sector’s potential to raise living standards in highly affected rural communities. Agricultural productivity growth may also help to overcome povertyrelated factors that may interact with the disease to magnify its effects.
Confidence Intervals for Partially Identified Parameters

Recently a growing body of research has studied inference in settings where parameters of interest are partially identified. In many cases the parameter is real-valued and the identification region is an interval whose lower and upper bounds may be estimated from sample data. For this case confidence intervals (CIs) have been proposed that cover the entire identification region with fixed probability. Here, we introduce a conceptually different type of confidence interval. Rather than cover the entire identification region with fixed probability, we propose CIs that asymptotically cover the true value of the parameter with this probability. However, the exact coverage probabilities of the simplest version of our new CIs do not converge to their nominal values uniformly across different values for the width of the identification region. To avoid the problems associated with this, we modify the proposed CI to ensure that its exact coverage probabilities do converge uniformly to their nominal values. We motivate this modified CI through exact results for the Gaussian case. Copyright The Econometric Society 2004.
Topic Modeling Using Distributed Word Embeddings

We propose a new algorithm for topic modeling, Vec2Topic, that identifies the main topics in a corpus using semantic information captured via high-dimensional distributed word embeddings. Our technique is unsupervised and generates a list of topics ranked with respect to importance. We find that it works better than existing topic modeling techniques such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation for identifying key topics in user-generated content, such as emails, chats, etc., where topics are diffused across the corpus. We also find that Vec2Topic works equally well for non-user generated content, such as papers, reports, etc., and for small corpora such as a single-document.
Boosted parametric model for human detection

In this paper we discuss the issue of classifiers combined with histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) descriptors for human detection. And we present a method that combines AdaBoost learning with HOG descriptors. The weak learners used in our algorithm are based on weighted modified quadratic discriminant functions (MQDF) which is a parametric model. We evaluate our algorithm on the INRIA person dataset. And the experimental results show that our approach achieves a comparable performance with the state of art methods both on accuracy and speed.
Do Bank Loan Rates Exhibit a Countercyclical Mark-up?

Based on a switching-cost model, we examine empirically the hypotheses that bank loan mark-ups are countercyclical and asymmetric in their responsiveness to recessionary and expansionary impulses. The first econometric model treats changes in the mark-up as a continuous variable. The second treats them as an ordered categorical variable due to the discrete nature of prime rate changes. By allowing the variance to switch over time as a Markov process, we present the first conditionally heteroskedastic discrete choice (ordered probit) model for time-series applications. This feature yields a remarkable improvement in the likelihood function. Specifications that do not account for conditional heteroskedasticity find evidence of both countercyclical and asymmetric mark-up behavior. In contrast, the heteroskedastic ordered probit finds the mark-up to be countercyclical but not significantly asymmetric. We explain why controlling for conditional heteroskedasticity may be important when testing for downward stickiness in loan rates.
Parallelizing Gaussian Process Calculations in R

We consider parallel computation for Gaussian process calculations to overcome computational and memory constraints on the size of datasets that can be analyzed. Using a hybrid parallelization approach that uses both threading (shared memory) and message-passing (distributed memory), we implement the core linear algebra operations used in spatial statistics and Gaussian process regression in an R package called bigGP that relies on C and MPI. The approach divides the covariance matrix into blocks such that the computational load is balanced across processes while communication between processes is limited. The package provides an API enabling R programmers to implement Gaussian process-based methods by using the distributed linear algebra operations without any C or MPI coding. We illustrate the approach and software by analyzing an astrophysics dataset with n = 67, 275 observations.
A practical implementation of automatic text categorisation and correction for the conversion of noisy OCR documents into braille and large print

A novel text categorisation method called Cmeasure is applied to the problem of automatically correcting standard blocks of noisy OCR text within structured documents such as credit card statements and standardised letters. The blocks of text in the scanned image are first identified then classified using the C-Measure algorithm against a small set of known correct text. The text block is subsequently replaced with the text judged to be the most similar. Results show that almost all OCR errors can be removed from the recognition process therefore significantly reducing the need for manual intervention.
Demand to Act and Use of Mental Contrasting

Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality fosters selective goal pursuit: People pursue feasible desired futures and let go from unfeasible ones. We investigated whether people spontaneously use mental contrasting when the demand to act toward their desired future is high. Study 1 provided correlational evidence: The participants who planned to act most immediately were also those who used mental contrasting. Studies 2 and 3 added experimental evidence: Imagining an immediate (vs. no immediate) action and being confronted with the opportunity to perform an instrumental (vs. noninstrumental) action, respectively, led participants to mentally contrast. The findings have theoretical implications by suggesting that people initiate mental contrasting as a problem-solving strategy; they have applied implications for interventions teaching mental contrasting.
Examining the Moderating Role of Anxiety Symptoms on Insistence on Sameness in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) have been a core symptom of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) since discovered in the 1940’s (Kanner, 1943). More specifically, insistence on sameness, which is considered a subtype of RRBs, has been shown to affect children with considered higher verbal skills in this population. In addition, it is well documented that anxiety symptoms commonly co-occur with ASD, and anxiety symptoms (AS) and IS have been linked through previous research. Using archival data, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the conditional effect on anxiety symptoms on the relation between developmental status (DS) and insistence on sameness (IS) in children with ASD with verbal abilities greater than 85. The sample included 108 individuals (ages 3:0 – 6:11) and was comprised of two groups. The first group was the ASD group, which consisted of 36 children diagnosed with ASD (Male = 27, Female = 9), and the second group was comprised of 72 typically developing (TD) children (Male = 44, Female = 28). All participants were involved in a greater study called the Study of Autism and Self-Regulation (STAR). Findings revealed a significant interaction between DS and IS (B = .06, SE = .03, p = .04, ΔR = .36) at low, moderate, and high levels of anxiety symptomatology. Developmental status was shown to have a main effect on IS (B = -5.78, SE = 1.71, p = .001). Additionally, verbal ability and age were significantly correlated with developmental status. The relations between anxiety symptoms and DS, AS and VA, and AS and IS were insignificant. Interestingly, and contrary to expectations, only children with typical development varied in frequency of ANXIETY AND INSISTENCE ON SAMENESS IN AUTISM viii their IS behaviors based on their level of anxiety symptoms. Anxiety symptom levels had no impact on IS in the ASD group. This suggests that anxiety in general may onset behavior problems with sameness in populations’ non-specific to ASD. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the potential relations among ASD, AS and IS in children. ANXIETY AND INSISTENCE ON SAMENESS IN AUTISM 1
Recurrent Oral Cancer: Current and Emerging Therapeutic Approaches

Oral cavity cancer (OCC) is associated with high incidence of loco-regional recurrences, which account for the majority of treatment failures post-surgery and radiotherapy. The time-course of relapse manifestation and metastasis are unpredictable. Relapsed OCC represents a major clinical challenge in part due to their aggressive and invasive behaviors. Chemotherapy remains the only option for advanced OCC whenever salvage surgery or re-irradiation is not feasible, but its efficacy is limited as a result of the drug resistance development. Alternatives to use of different permutations of standard cytotoxic drugs or combinations with modulators of drug resistance have led to incremental therapeutic benefits. The introduction of targeted agents and biologics against selective targets that drive cancer progression has opened-up optimism to achieve superior therapeutic activity and overcome drug resistance because, unlike the non-selective cytotoxic, the target can be monitored at molecular levels to identify patients who can benefit from the drug. This review discusses the multifactorial aspects of clinical drug resistance and emerging therapeutic approaches in recurrent OCC, emphasizing recent advances in targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and potential relevance of new concepts such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell hypothesis to drug resistance.