Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sparse Gaussian Process Regression Beyond Variational Inference

The combination of inducing point methods with stochastic variational inference has enabled approximate Gaussian Process (GP) inference on large datasets. Unfortunately, the resulting predictive distributions often exhibit substantially underestimated uncertainties. Notably, in the regression case the predictive variance is typically dominated by observation noise, yielding uncertainty estimates that make little use of the input-dependent function uncertainty that makes GP priors attractive. In this work we propose two simple methods for scalable GP regression that address this issue and thus yield substantially improved predictive uncertainties. The first applies variational inference to FITC (Fully Independent Training Conditional; Snelson et.~al.~2006). The second bypasses posterior approximations and instead directly targets the posterior predictive distribution. In an extensive empirical comparison with a number of alternative methods for scalable GP regression, we find that the resulting predictive distributions exhibit significantly better calibrated uncertainties and higher log likelihoods--often by as much as half a nat per datapoint.
Searching for primordial black holes with stochastic gravitational-wave background in the space-based detector frequency band

Assuming that primordial black holes compose a fraction of dark matter, some of them may accumulate at the center of galaxy and perform a prograde or retrograde orbit against the gravity pointing towards the center exerted by the central massive black hole. If the mass of primordial black holes is of the order of stellar mass or smaller, such extreme mass ratio inspirals can emit gravitational waves and form a background due to incoherent superposition of all the contributions of the Universe. We investigate the stochastic gravitational-wave background energy density spectra from the directional source, the primordial black holes surrounding Sagittarius A$^\ast$ of the Milky Way, and the isotropic extragalactic total contribution, respectively. As will be shown, the resultant stochastic gravitational-wave background energy density shows different spectrum features such as the peak positions in the frequency domain for the above two kinds of sources. Detection of stochastic gravitational-wave background with such a feature may provide evidence for the existence of primordial black holes. Conversely, a null searching result can put constraints on the abundance of primordial black holes in dark matter.
Cranial cruciate disease: current status of diagnosis, surgery, and risk for disease

Summary The hypothesis of this study is concerned with the age of onset of cranial cruciate disease (CCD). We believe that dogs are presenting with CCD at a much younger age. We also believe there are other predictable factors that influence whether a dog suffers CCD. In this study we used data from the national companion animal study (NCAS) to compare not only age but body condition score (BCS), sex, diet, and breed. A survey form was given to referral hospitals that also provided information on diagnostic tests, surgical procedures and extent of damage. By using this data we were better able to establish an age at time of diagnoses, BCS, type of injuries and repair methods as well as correlation to type of diet fed. This study found that the average age at diagnosis is slightly younger than previously thought. Most dogs that suffer CCD are of greater than ideal body condition. We were also able to show a relationship between diet and CCD. Spayed females are most affected by CCD followed by neutered males. Those dogs fed a premium or therapeutic diet have a higher incidence of CCD. We were also able to establish baseline information regarding extent of injuries and the current methods of diagnosis and repair. This paper now provides a baseline for the tracking of future data regarding CCD parameters such as age at onset, breed, sex, BCS, methods of diagnosis and repair as well as nutritional factors.
ICES CM 2001 / N : 06 SURVIVAL OF LESSER SPOTTED DOGFISH ( Scyliorhinus canicula , L . ) DISCARDED BY TRAWLERS

Discards of up to 35% represent a significant percentage of the catches in the trawl fishery. The estimated average annual dogfish catch in ICES area VIIIc is approximately 1,500 tn, from which 80% is discarded. Different experiments have been carried out in order to estimate the survival rate of the lesser spotted dogfish caught by trawlers in the Cantabrian Sea (North of Spain). Survival estimates based on tagging surveys have provided a mean value of 90% while estimates based on commercial trawlers gave 78%. No significant differences were found between males and females, and with the currently available data there was no strong relationship between survival rate and depth, sorting time or haul duration. Also, survival rate was not dependent on the length. The survival rate was estimated to be close to 0.42 based on length distributions from the total catch mortality (Z) caused by trawlers.
Ischemic Heart Diseases: The unrecognized killer in the Jordanian community

This is an original article that represents important work related to understanding the recognition of ischemic heart diseases in a Middle Eastern community. In this study efforts were directed toward evaluating Jordanian adults’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about ischemic heart diseases. Findings may positively contribute to the international efforts to overcome cardiac diseases, as well as decreasing burden of cardiac diseases. It should help nurses on regional and international basis to develop new, or refine existing prevention programs. Future research can help determine the extent to which the findings are relevant not only to Jordanians but to other Eastern countries and Jordanians who have immigrated to other countries.
Development of a Targeted Drug Delivery System for treatment of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death with a 5-year survival of less than 6%. The only potential cure for pancreatic cancer is by surgical removal of the tumor. However, most patients present with an advanced and metastasized disease at the time of diagnosis, leaving only around 15% of patients eligible for surgery. For the majority of patients, palliative chemotherapeutic treatment is the only option. Gemcitabine, a nucleoside analogue, has been the standard chemotherapeutic treatment for pancreatic cancer in both the palliative and adjuvant settings. However, the use of gemcitabine is problematic, as it presents several drawbacks such as a short half-life (~15 min), drug resistance, deficient drug delivery, poor cellular uptake and hence, a suboptimal therapeutic response. The aim of this thesis was to develop a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system for a targeted and improved delivery of gemcitabine for treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. To address this issue, we used a liposomal drug delivery system as the delivery system of choice. In a first stage, we developed and extensively characterized the liposomal system by use of several measurement techniques, such as DLS, cryo-TEM, nES GEMMA and AF4, evaluated the system stability and studied the biodistribution profile of the liposomal system by use of radiolabeled liposomes and SPECT/CT imaging. In a second stage, we proceeded to develop a targeted treatment. We first identified a potential targeting protein, MUC4, which is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer but not expressed in the healthy pancreas and studied its clinical impact on resected pancreatic cancer patients. Finally, we developed a MUC4-targeted immunoliposome (iGemLip). iGemLip showed a significantly higher binding affinity, cellular uptake and antiproliferative effect on a MUC4-positive pancreatic cancer cell line, Capan-1, compared to both free and liposomal gemcitabine.
ASPECTS OF IMAGE RESHADING

Old images are often used in the creation of new images, either to enhance the appearance of the result or to achieve a manual or computational savings. Without ample care this practice can lead to missing or conflicting visual cues in the result, since an old image may exhibit shading artifacts that are inconsistent with the scene it is incorporated into. Therefore there is a need to process a source image so that it is consistent with the way it is to be used. Current methods for altering the shading artifacts found in an image are largely ad hoc , pixel based and are somewhat unintuitive. This work explores methods for enabling a user to manipulate 3D shading artifacts in an image, that is, performing image editing operations that relate to physical processes such as moving and dimming a light source, or changing the reflectance properties of objects in an image-without having full knowledge of the scene properties. We call this goal one of image reshading, and it is closely tied between the disciplines of computer graphics and computational vision as it involves generating images and inferring properties of the scene that give rise to an image. Image reshading is an enormous problem of its own, and this work explores only a few aspects of it. The first is the detection and removal of specular highlights from image data alone. Current techniques are explored and applied to textured images that are commonly used in computer graphics. The second image reshading task examined is to solve for the geometry of a light source illuminating a scene given an image of the scene and the geometry of the visible objects. A series of constraints formed by the shading of Lambertian and Phong reflectors is presented and a strategy for determining the position, orientation, and size of a rectangular source is demonstrated. Finally, given an image, a geometric model of the objects in the image, and the light source distribution, a method for solving for the relative emissive strengths and the reflectance parameters of surfaces in the image is given. This final reshading operation allows a large number of useful image editing operations to be performed.
Forest management and maintenance of ectomycorrhizae: A case study of green tree retention in south-coastal British Columbia

Assessment of ectomycorrhizal (EM) colonization was carried out in a variable green tree retention experimental block near Powell River, British Columbia. We hypothesized that increasing retention level enhances colonization of EM fungi onto seedlings in harvested areas. We also investigated the role of isolated trees in EM maintenance. Transects were established in treatments where 0% (a clearcut), 5%, 10%, and 30% of trees were retained. Douglas-fir seedlings (Pseudotsuga menziesii) were planted at 5, 15, 25 and 45 m from the remaining forest edge and excavated 18 months later for analysis of EM colonization. Within the forest, soil cores and sporocarp surveys provided information on EM species potentially available for colonization of seedlings. We observed a total of 85 EM morphotypes. The edge effects—declines with distance from the forest, observed in the 0% retention treatment—were diminished in the higher-retention treatments. EM richness and root colonization increased insignificantly with increasing tree retention when the influence of ubiquitous early-stage EM fungi and inherent microsite differences were accounted for. EM diversity next to isolated trees was greater than at 10 m from the trees, but lower than at 5 m from the forest edge. We discuss the implications of these relationships and the role of isolated trees in the context of these exploratory findings. While these results suggest certain trends, they are for a single installation and their applicability to forests elsewhere in the region needs further study.
Preliminary Results of a Shape Analysis of Redfish Otoliths: Comparis on of Areas and Species

This paper represents a preliminary otolith shape analysis of North Atlantic redfish, comparing sampling areas and species. Differences in univariate morphometric descriptors such as otolith length, breadth and weight could not be observed. Elliptical Fourier Analysis (EFA) was applied to describe digitised otolith outlines. The resulting Fourier descriptors were used as the basis for multivariate analysis to investigate dissimilarities in otolith shapes between samples. While the comparison of Sebastes mentella otolith shapes did not reveal any differences between samp ling areas, the comparison of S. mentella, S. marinus and S. viviparus resulted in a considerable grouping of samples by species. The clearest separation was observed between S. mentella and S. viviparus. An inverse EFA of the mean Fourier shape descriptors within species illustrated this interspecific variation in otolith shapes, identifying the rostrum area as contributing most to the observed shape differences. Reproduced outlines of S. mentella otoliths, averaged over sampling areas, did not show any differences between supposed stock units. Effects of different length and age groups on otolith shapes have not been considered and might be confounding the observed shape variation. Ongoing shape analyses of Sebastes otoliths will first focus on the comparison of all available species, possibly including Pacific rockfish, before studying between-stock variation in more detail.
Asset Pricing With and Without Garbage: Resurrecting Aggregate Consumption

This paper challenges the view that alternative consumption measures (garbage, fourth quarter, unfiltered consumption) can address the shortcomings of consumption-based asset pricing. When the CRRA model is confronted with the cross-section of asset returns and the risk-free rate volatility, the fit of the alternative consumption processes is poor. Further, when I introduce a novel discount factor with disappointment aversion that improves the accuracy of the consumption-based framework, the canonical measure of aggregate consumption has a better fit than the alternative ones. I conclude that non-standard preferences are more important in improving the performance of consumption-based models than non-standard consumption measures.
Narcissism and Social Media Usage: Is There No Longer a Relationship?

In previous studies, narcissism has been found to relate to social media behaviors, such as how often one posts and how many friends or followers one has (McCain & Campbell, 2016; Singh, Farley, and Donahue, 2018). The present study attempted to create a model of social media use predicted by narcissism and selfconsciousness. A sample of 397 adults with a mean age of 29 years was collected using MTurk. Participants completed a social media use survey, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Hall, 1979) and the Self-Consciousness Scale (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Results showed that while narcissism and selfconsciousness were correlated, narcissism was not significantly related to social media use. Several explanations for the present study’s findings are discussed.
Sodium status in preeclampsia ...

Background: Preeclampsia is a form of high blood pressure manifested during pregnancy. It is a common major complication causing significant morbidity and mortality; however, its etiology is unknown. Moreover, data on cation pattern during pregnancy are conflicting, and its relation with endothelial derived nitric-oxide and sex hormones have not been described adequately. Objective: to demonstrate the pattern of sodium during preeclampsia with respect to normal pregnancy, and the correlation of the above parameter with nitric-oxide pathway. Subject and methods: the present study is a cross-sectional case-control study includes measurement of nitric oxide NO), nitric oxide synthase (NOS) , serum and urinary sodium in 60 patients with preeclampsia. They were classified into two groups according to the gestational age:  Preeclamptics in the second trimester G1: (n=30).  Preeclamptics in the third trimester G2: (n=30,). The results were compared with 60 apparently healthy pregnant women (as controls). They were classified according to the gestational age into two groups:  Pregnants in the second trimester G3: (n=30).  Pregnants in the third trimester G4: (n=30). Results: showed a significant reduction in serum NO and NOS in the preeclamptics with significant increase in serum sodium accompanied by urinary retention of this cation (expressed as urinary sodium per urinary creatinine ), as compared to the controls. The regulatory effect of NO on fluid balance is supported by the positive correlation between NO and urinary sodium excretion indicating that NO had different effects on renal tubular reabsorption of sodium. Conclusion: preeclamptics (in different gestational age groups) experienced vasospasm (manifested by low s.nitrite)s and altered sodium status when compared with healthy pregnant women matched with their age and gestational age.
EFFECT OF IRRIGATION FREQUENCY ON THE YIELD AND VEGETATIVE GROWTH OF TWO OLIVE CULTIVARS ( CVS . KORONEIKI AND PICHOLINE ) IN ARID LANDS

A field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of tree irrigation frequency on the vegetative growth and yield of two introduced olive cultivars (Olea europaea L. cvs. Koroneiki and Picholine). The trials took place in 2014. There were four different irrigation treatments, which were irrigating every other day (T0), every 4 days (T1), every 8 days (T2) and scheduling irrigation according to farmer experience (FM). Vegetative tree responses, such as shoot growth, basal diameter and number of leaves, were evaluated. Olive fruit morphological characteristics (olive length, olive diameter and weight) and yields were also determined. The vegetative growth of both cultivars was directly associated with water availability throughout the experiment. The Picholine cultivar had better growth-related parameters than Koroneiki. However, Picholine did not have an autumnal growth period. Furthermore, it only produced a significant yield under well irrigated conditions. Koroneiki tree yields were higher than Picholine yields for all irrigation frequencies. Irrigation treatment T2 had the most water depressive effect on the Koroneiki cultivar because a 50% reduction in the water supply reduced the yield by 43%. The olive characteristics of both cultivars were not affected by watering frequency.
BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers

Abstract This article addresses the psychological distress, internal and external coping resources, and coping strategies of carriers of the BRCA1/2 mutations based on a retrospective study conducted in the Oncogenetic Clinic at Rambam Medical Center in northern Israel. All women referred to the clinic between 1999 and December 2000 were genotyped for the three predominant Ashkenazi mutations in BRCA1/2 genes, then counseled and asked to participate in the study. Of the 390 eligible women, 276 (70%) agreed to participate. To examine the independent effect of mutation carrier status (yes/no) as well as its interaction effect with breast cancer status (yes/no), the 276 participants were divided into four groups according to their BRCA1/2 mutation carrier status: 42 (15%) were carriers with breast cancer, 96 (34%) were noncarriers with breast cancer, 36 (13%) were carriers without breast cancer, and 102 (38%) were noncarriers without breast cancer. The psychological assessment included the Brief Symptom Inventory, Sense of Coherence, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Multidimensional Coping Inventory. Data analyses indicated that the mutation carriers without breast cancer reported the highest levels of distress (F= 8.9; p< .01) and the lowest levels of internal and external coping resources (F= 4.7, p< .05, and F= 4.9, p< .01, respectively), findings that call for further research and clinical attention to be focused on this group of women.
Title : Chirally Coupled Nanomagnets

Magnetically coupled nanomagnets have multiple applications in non-volatile memories, logic gates, and sensors. The most effective coupling has been found to occur between the magnetic layers in a vertical stack. Here we achieve strong coupling of laterally adjacent nanomagnets employing the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. This coupling is mediated by chiral domain walls between out-of-plane and in-plane magnetic regions and dominates the behavior of nanomagnets below a critical size. We utilize this concept to realize lateral exchange bias, field-free current-induced switching between multistate magnetic configurations, as well as synthetic antiferromagnets, skyrmions, and artificial spin ices covering a broad range of length scales and topologies. Our work provides a platform to achieve allelectric control of planar logic gates and memory devices. This document is the accepted manuscript version of the following article: Luo, Z. , Dao, P. T. , Hrabec, A. , Vijayakumar, J., Kleibert, A. , Baumgartner, M. , . Gambardella, P. (2019). Chirally coupled nanomagnets. Science, 363(6434), 1435-1439. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau7913
ROLE OF ISCHEMIA MODIFIED ALBUMIN AND TOTAL OXIDATIVE STRESS AS A BIOMARKER IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN PAKISTANI POPULATION

Objective of study was to evaluate the serum level of Ischemia Modified Albumin (IMA) and total oxidative stress as a biomarker for diagnosis of ischemic heart disease prone to myocardial infarction. The present study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Karachi with assistance of Liaquat National Hospital and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi-Pakistan. Subjects were grouped according to selection criteria, three case group and control group. Total of 250 subjects, 100 in control group and 150 in case group (50 subjects in each group A, B and C) was included. Mean age (years) in control group was 47.41 ± 5.91, in group-A was 49.1 ± 5.8, in group-B was 49.0 ± 5.69 and in group-C was 51.1 ± 6.68. High mean ± SD values of IMA (μm/L) were observed for group C (97.58 ± 14.13) followed by group B (89.12 ± 5.48) and group A (84.68 ± 16.38) as compare to control group (22.49 ± 11.05). Statistically significant results were observed for IMA, troponin-I, SOD and TAC between group A, B, C and control group. Key-words: Ischemia Modified Albumin, Cardiac Troponin-I, Ischemic Heart Diseases, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Myocardial Infarction
An Application of Convolutional Neural Networks on Human Intention Prediction

Due to the rapidly increasing need of human-robot interaction (HRI), more intelligent robots are in demand. However, the vast majority of robots can only follow strict instructions, which seriously restricts their flexibility and versatility. A critical fact that strongly negates the experience of HRI is that robots cannot understand human intentions. This study aims at improving the robotic intelligence by training it to understand human intentions. Different from previous studies that recognizing human intentions from distinctive actions, this paper introduces a method to predict human intentions before a single action is completed. The experiment of throwing a ball towards designated targets are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the method. The proposed deep learning based method proves the feasibility of applying convolutional neural networks (CNN) under a novel circumstance. Experiment results show that the proposed CNN-vote method out competes three traditional machine learning techniques. In current context, the CNN-vote predictor achieves the highest testing accuracy with relatively less data needed.
If Work Makes People with Mental Illness Sick, What Do Unemployment, Poverty, and Social Isolation Cause?

Excerpt] The importance of high expectations has been well established as a tool in successful goal achievement and life advancement. The challenge for helpers is ensuring that this pressure of high expectation is initially borne more by rehabilitation staff members who are charged with assisting people with a psychiatric disability to realize success and not merely transferred through as an added burden to the clients they serve.