Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Optimal Algorithm for Online Non-Convex Learning

In many online learning paradigms, convexity plays a central role in the derivation and analysis of online learning algorithms. The results, however, fail to be extended to the non-convex settings, while non-convexity is necessitated by a large number of recent applications. The Online Non-Convex Learning (ønco) problem generalizes the classic Online Convex Optimization (øco) framework by relaxing the convexity assumption on the cost function (to a Lipschitz continuous function) and the decision set. The state-of-the-art result for the ønco demonstrates that the classic online exponential weighting algorithm attains a sublinear regret of $O(\sqrtTłog T )$. The regret lower bound for the øco, however, is $Ømega(\sqrtT )$, and to the best of our knowledge, there is no result in the context of the ønco problem achieving the same bound. This paper proposes the Online Recursive Weighting (\rw) algorithm with regret of $O(\sqrtT )$, matching the tight regret lower bound for the øco problem, and fills the regret gap between the state-of-the-art results in the online convex and non-convex optimization problems.
Memory‐Based Deception Detection: Extending the Cognitive Signature of Lying From Instructed to Self‐Initiated Cheating

Abstract From a cognitive perspective, lying can be regarded as a complex cognitive process requiring the interplay of several executive functions. Meta‐analytic research on 114 studies encompassing 3,307 participants (Suchotzki, Verschuere, Van Bockstaele, Ben‐Shakhar, & Crombez, 2017) suggests that computerized paradigms can reliably assess the cognitive burden of lying, with large reaction time differences between lying and truth telling. These studies, however, lack a key ingredient of real‐life deception, namely self‐initiated behavior. Research participants have typically been instructed to commit a mock crime and conceal critical information, whereas in real life, people freely choose whether or not to engage in antisocial behavior. In this study, participants (n = 433) engaged in a trivia quiz and were provided with a monetary incentive for high accuracy performance. Participants were randomly allocated to either a condition where they were instructed to cheat on the quiz (mimicking the typical laboratory set‐up) or to a condition in which they were provided with the opportunity to cheat, yet without explicit instructions to do so. Assessments of their response times in a subsequent Concealed Information Test (CIT) revealed that both instructed cheaters (n = 107) and self‐initiated cheaters (n = 142) showed the expected RT‐slowing for concealed information. The data indicate that the cognitive signature of lying is not restricted to explicitly instructed cheating, but it can also be observed for self‐initiated cheating. These findings are highly encouraging from an ecological validity perspective.
Cinacalcet therapy for achievement of the NKF/K-DOQITM clinical practice guidelines for bone and mineral metabolism in individuals under regular hemodialysis

Introduction: Cinacalcet (CNL) suppresses the secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Objective: To consider the effect of CNL administration on achievement of K/DOQITM (Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative) targets in a group of hemodialysis (HD) patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). Patients and Methods: Patients undergoing HD who had initiated CNL enrolled in the study. Data were collected at the baseline and after 12 months. This data consisted of serum calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), intact PTH (iPTH), proportion of calcium in dialysate, administered doses of CNL and proportion of administered phosphate binders and proportion of patients attaining K/DOQITM targets were gathered. Results: Twenty HD patients enrolled in the study. The proportions of individuals attaining K/DOQITM targets at month 12 were 35% for iPTH, 65% for P, 60% for Ca and 80% for Ca×P product, compared with 0%, 45%, 55% and 50% at the baseline respectively. Around 35% of individuals had attained the combined K/DOQITM targets for Ca, P and iPTH compared with 0% at the starting point. Conclusion: CNL ameliorates attainment of K/DOQITM targets in individuals with SHPT. This result is consistent with findings from other studies.
Cenozoic deformation in the Otway Basin, southern Australian margin: implications for the origin and nature of post‐breakup compression at rifted margins

There is growing recognition that pulses of compressive tectonic structuring punctuate the post‐breakup subsidence histories of many ‘passive’ rifted continental margins. To obtain new insights into the nature and origin of compression at passive margins, we have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the post‐breakup (<43 Ma) deformation history of the offshore Otway Basin, southern Australian margin, using a regional seismic database tied to multiple wells. Through mapping of a number of regional intra‐Cenozoic unconformities we have determined growth chronologies for a number of major anticlinal structures, most of which are ˜NE–SW‐trending folds that developed during mild inversion of syn‐rift normal faults or through buckling of the post‐rift succession. These chronologies are supplemented by onshore structural evidence and by thermochronological data from key wells. Whilst our analysis confirms the occurrence of a well‐documented pulse of late Miocene–early Pliocene compression, post‐breakup deformation is not restricted to this time interval. We highlight the growth of a number of structures during the mid‐late Eocene and the Oligocene‐early Miocene, with evidence for considerable temporal and spatial migration of strain within the basin. Our results indicate a long‐lived ˜NW–SE maximum horizontal stress orientation since the mid‐late Eocene, consistent with contemporary stress observations but at variance with previous suggestions that this stress orientation was initiated in the late Miocene by increased coupling of the Australian‐Pacific plate boundary. We attribute the observed record of deformation to a compressional intraplate stress field, coupled to the progressive evolution of the boundaries of the Indo‐Australian Plate, ensuring that this margin has been subject to ongoing compressional forcing since mid‐Eocene breakup. Our results indicate that compressional deformation at passive margins may be more common than is generally assumed, and that passive margin basins with evidence for protracted post‐breakup deformation histories can provide useful natural laboratories for obtaining improved understanding of the evolution of intraplate stress fields over geological timescales.
Isolation and identification of endophytic fungi from cocoa plant resistante VSD M.05 and cocoa plant Susceptible VSD M.01 in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

The main Indonesian cocoa producing region is the island of Sulawesi which accounts for around 75 percent of Indonesia's total cocoa production. As Indonesia s cocoa productivity per hectare has been lagging behind that of other cocoa-producing countries, the government started a five-year cocoa revitalization program in 2009 to boost production through intensification, rehabilitation and rejuvenation activities, covering a total area of 450 thousand hectares. Factors that are hampering progress in the cocoa industry are aging trees (planted in the 1980s), insufficient improved planting materials and little farm maintenance. More investment in this sector is needed to reach the government's one million tonnes annual production target by 2013-2014. Main obstacle of cocoa growing is pest and disease infestations such as cocoa pod borer ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 2 (2014) pp. 459-467 http://www.ijcmas. com
Cholecalciferol versus calcitriol to manage secondary hyperparathyroidism in hemodialysis patients

Introduction: Secondary hyperparathyroidism, is a matter of concern in hemodialysis patients that cause renal osteodystrophy eventually. Objectives: The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy of cholecalciferol with calcitriol for treating secondary hyperparathyroidism. Materials and Methods: This study is a randomized, controlled study. Around 80 patients with hyperparathyroidism (PTH >300 ρg/ mL) and 25(OH)D level <20 ng/mL were divided into two groups to receive cholecalciferol 50 000 IU/3 times in one week or calcitriol 0.25 μg/daily for 12 weeks. Additionally calcium carbonate 1000-1500 mg/d/tablets is prescribed for both groups. Reduction of parathyroid hormone (PTH), changes of plasma albumin-corrected calcium and phosphorus and levels of 25(OH)D were analyzed. Results: Around 40 patients were randomized into each group. At baseline, plasma albumin-corrected calcium, phosphorus and intact PTH and 25(OH)D had no difference between groups. At week 12, intact PTH levels in cholecalciferol and calcitriol groups were 242.38±16.38 ρg/mL and 237.84±13.65 ρg/mL in respectively. Patients who achieved target intact PTH of <300 ρg/mL were 90% in the cholecalciferol and 95% in the calcitriol group (P = 0.447). Serum calcium and phosphorus were not significantly different in both groups. Serum calcium; 9.07±0.36 mg/dL versus 9.00 ± 0.38 mg/dL (P = 0.607), phosphorus; 4.81±0.55 mg/dL versus 4.15 ± 0.42 mg/dL (P = 0.126) in cholecalciferol and calcitriol groups respectively. Furthermore, serum 25(OH)D levels significantly rise in cholecalciferol group. Serum 25(OH)D levels were 62.98 ±21.03 ng/mL in cholecalciferol group and 18.95±22.70 ng/mL in calcitriol group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: cholecalciferol can be administered to control secondary hyperparathyroidism and vitamin D(25OH) deficiency in hemodialysis patients . The two drugs are equally efficacious and lead to similar changes in calcium and phosphorus levels.
Mechanisms blocking Pinus sylvestris colonization of Mediterranean mountain meadows

Abstract In southern Mediterranean Pinus sylvestris forests there are grassy meadows that resist invasion of trees despite the proximity to seed sources. In this study, we investigate the mechanisms blocking colonization by Pinus sylvestris of the meadows. Two experiments were conducted in which seeds were sown either at 1 cm depth or on the surface to simulate dispersal, and three treatments of vegetation removal were applied: Disturbed (where the herbaceous layer was eliminated, exposing the mineral soil), Clipped (vegetation cut at ground level) and Control (no disturbance of the herbaceous layer). In addition, the effect of seed predators was controlled by using wire cages in the case of the surface sown experiment. When seeds were sown at 1 cm depth, seedling emergence was not reduced by the herbaceous layer. In contrast, when seeds were surface sown and predators were excluded, the rate of emergence was low in the Control treatment, intermediate in Clipped and high in Disturbed. Seedling emergence was, however, minimal when predators were not excluded, irrespective of the disturbance level. Seedling survival and growth after three years of study were similar among treatments. The results show that the seed predation and the physical barrier created by the herbaceous layer are the two mechanisms blocking the encroachment of Pinus sylvestris onto these Mediterranean mountain meadows, limiting the regeneration and potential expansion of the forest. Nomenclature: Tutin et al. (1964–1980).
Bayesian Model Averaging Continual Reassessment Method in Phase I Clinical Trials

The continual reassessment method (CRM) is a popular dose-finding design for phase I clinical trials. This method requires that practitioners prespecify the toxicity probability at each dose. Such prespecification can be arbitrary, and different specifications of toxicity probabilities may lead to very different design properties. To overcome the arbitrariness and further enhance the robustness of the design, we propose using multiple parallel CRM models, each with a different set of prespecified toxicity probabilities. In the Bayesian paradigm, we assign a discrete probability mass to each CRM model as the prior model probability. The posterior probabilities of toxicity can be estimated by the Bayesian model averaging (BMA) approach. Dose escalation or deescalation is determined by comparing the target toxicity rate and the BMA estimates of the dose toxicity probabilities. We examine the properties of the BMA-CRM approach through extensive simulation studies, and also compare this new method and its variants with the original CRM. The results demonstrate that our BMA-CRM is competitive and robust, and eliminates the arbitrariness of the prespecification of toxicity probabilities.
Phenazine , a dual Substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Nitrogen Heterocycle

The matrix-isolation technique has been employed to measure the mid-infrared spectra of phenazine (Cl Z H ~ N ~ ) , a dual substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Nitrogen Heterocycle (PANH), in the neutral, cationic and anionic forms. The experimentally measured band frequencies and intensities are tabulated and compared with their calculated values as well as those of the nonsubstituted parent molecule, anthracene. The theoretical band positions and intensities were calculated using both the 3-3 1 G as well as the larger 6-3 lG* Basis Sets. A comparison of the results can be found in the tables. The spectroscopic properties of phenazine and its cation are similar to those observed in mono-substituted PANHs, with one exception. The presence of a second nitrogen atom results in an additional enhancement of the cation's total integrated intensity, for the 1500-1000 cm" (6.7 to 10 pm) region, over that observed for a monosubstituted PANH cation. The significance of this enhancement and the astrobiological implications of these results are discussed. https://ntrs.nasa. gov/search.jsp? R=20050157869 2019-06-01T14:07:17+00:00Z
Dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in seafood : dietary exposure amongst Malaysian adult populations and its association with sociodemographic factors

Seventeen polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (dioxins) as well as twelve dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) congeners were analysed in the seafood samples (prawn, squid, fish, processed seafood and dried anchovy). The average sum of dioxins and dl-PCBs in the seafood samples were 2.577 WHO2005-TEQ (pg g -1 fw). Mean exposure to dioxins and PCBs (in pg TEQ kg-1 body weight day-1) was assessed to be 0.333 and 0.643, respectively in the adult population (aged 18-59 years). Although the monthly dietary exposure of female was higher than male, but there is no significant difference found between the genders. Adults from rural area were reported to have the highest monthly exposure to dioxins and PCBs. Across the ethnicity, the highest exposure was found among the Malay, followed by Chinese and Indian. The daily, weekly and monthly exposure to all groups of the population were lower in comparison with the corresponding tolerable limits. However, the results obtained in this study indicated that there is a health risk to high consumer (those who consumes the amount of food corresponding to the 97.5th percentile of the consumption data) and caution of reducing the consumption of seafood should be taken.
Investigating the Relationship among the Level of Mobbing Experience, Job Satisfaction and Burnout Levels of Primary and Secondary School Teachers

The aim of this study is to examine the level of mobbing experienced by primary and secondary school teachers and to determine how and to what extent this affects their job satisfaction and burnout levels. This research used a relational survey model. As a result of the study, it has been determined that there is a negative and medium-level relationship between the teachers' level of exposure to mobbing towards their profession or social relationships and their job satisfaction levels; a positive and medium-level relationship between the teachers' level of exposure to mobbing towards their profession or social relationships and their burnout levels; and a negative and low-level relationship between their internal and external job satisfaction levels and their burnout perceptions. According to the results of the path analysis, the teachers' job satisfaction level decrease in line with an increase in their mobbing experiences related to their profession and social relationships, and thus, their burnout levels also increase. However, it has also been determined in the study that in line with an increase in the internal and external job satisfaction levels of teachers, their burnout perceptions decrease. Accordingly, it has been concluded that mobbing towards their profession and social relationships is a stronger predictor of burnout level in comparison to job satisfaction.
River Ice Segmentation with Deep Learning CMPUT 617 Project Report

This report deals with the problem of computing surface ice concentration for two different types of ice from river ice images. It presents the results of applying several state of the art semantic segmentations methods utilizing deep CNNs for solving this problem. This task presents two main challenges very limited availability of labeled training data and the great difficulty of visually distinguishing the two types of ice, even for humans. The results are used to analyze the extent to which some of the best deep learning methods currently in existence can handle these challenges.
Bank Market Power and the Risk Channel of Monetary Policy

This paper investigates the risk channel of monetary policy through banks' lending standards. We modify the classic costly state verification (CSV) problem by introducing a risk-neutral monopolistic bank, which maximizes profits subject to borrower participation. While the bank can diversify idiosyncratic default risk, it bears the aggregate risk. We show that, in partial equilibrium, the bank prefers a higher leverage ratio of borrowers, when the profitability of lending increases, e.g. after a monetary expansion. This risk channel persists when we embed our contract in a standard New Keynesian DSGE model. Using a factor-augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) approach, we find that the model-implied impulse responses to a monetary policy shock replicate their empirical counterparts.
Nitrogen‐fixation strategies and Fe requirements in cyanobacteria

Diazotrophic (nitrogen‐fixing) cyanobacteria are important contributors of new nitrogen to oligotrophic environments and greatly influence oceanic productivity. We investigated how iron availability influences the physiology of cyanobacterial diazotrophs with different strategies for segregating nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis. We examined growth, photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and Fe requirements of the filamentous nonheterocystous Trichodesmium, the filamentous heterocystous Anabaena, and the unicellular Cyanothece under a range of Fe concentrations. Under similar Fe concentrations the three species differed in N2‐fixation rates, photosynthetic activity, the relative abundance of the photosynthetic units PSI : PSII, elemental stoichiometry, and Fe use efficiency. Complex colonial forms such as Trichodesmium and Anabaena are more likely to be Fe limited in their natural environments and are more efficient at utilizing Fe than unicellular diazotrophs such as Cyanothece. The varied physiological responses to Fe availability of the three cyanobacteria reflect their nitrogen fixation strategies, cell size, unicellular or colonial organization, and may explain, at least in part, the ecological distribution of these photosynthetic bacteria.
Large-scale oceanographic fluctuations drive Antarctic petrel survival and reproduction

Polar Regions are experiencing environmental changes at unprecedented rates. These changes can spread throughout entire food webs from lower trophic levels to apex predators. As many top predators forage over large areas, these indirect effects may be associated with large-scale patterns of climate variability. Using global climate indices that are known to impact the Southern Ocean ecosystem (the El Nino Southern Oscillation and Antarctic Oscillation Indices) we assessed their efficacy to predict variation in the demographic parameters of Antarctic seabirds. First, we used a long-term dataset on adult survival (estimated from capture–mark–recapture data) and reproduction of Antarctic petrel Thalassoica antarctica, from the largest known breeding colony (Svarthamaren, Dronning Maud Land) and examined whether large-scale oceanographic fluctuations impact survival and reproduction. Second, we conducted an exhaustive literature review to determine whether the effects of large-scale environmental variability on Antarctic seabirds have a coherent fingerprint across the Antarctic continent and nearby islands. We found that most of the variation in both reproductive success, timing of hatching, and survival of Antarctic petrels can be accurately modeled using the two modes of large-scale climate variability in Antarctica. The literature review, combined with the results from our field study, suggests that while the anticipated trends in the global patterns of climatic variability will generally have detrimental effects on populations of top predators in the Southwest Atlantic, these conclusions cannot be extrapolated to all seabird populations in Antarctica without additional data.
Attention Biases Associated with Vulnerability to Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is associated with significant social and occupational impairments, as well as increased risk for substance abuse and suicide. More research is needed to identify potential mechanisms associated with vulnerability to the disorder. Previous research has identified altered processing of emotional information in bipolar and bipolar-prone individuals, including attentional biases which appear to differ based on the current affective state of the individual. The current study applied a sensitive measure of attention (i.e., eye-tracking) to assess whether vulnerability to bipolar disorder, as indexed by hypomanic personality traits, would be correlated with biases in attention to emotional facial stimuli, independent of mood state. Hypomanic personality traits were hypothesized to be associated with greater attention to happy and angry faces, as indexed by faster initial orientation, more frequent gazes, and longer gaze duration for these stimuli. Participants completed self-report measures assessing current mood symptoms, positive and negative affect, and hypomanic personality traits. They then completed two tasks assessing attention for emotional faces. The first was an eye-tracking task, which measured latency to first fixation, total gaze duration and total number of gazes for each emotional face category. The second was a spatial cueing task which assessed both attentional engagement with emotional faces, and ability to disengage attention from this material. Hypomanic personality traits were significantly negatively correlated with latency to orient attention to happy faces. A trend toward decreased latency to orient to angry faces with higher hypomanic personality traits was also demonstrated. Hypomanic traits were not correlated with attention to sad faces. Furthermore, hypomanic traits were associated only with differences in initial orientation of attention, not with continued engagement or disengagement. The results of this study suggest that individuals with higher levels of hypomanic personality traits, who are hypothesized to be at greater risk of developing bipolar disorder, are characterized by differences in their initial orientation of attention to positive emotional stimuli, independent of their current mood state. This finding is indicative of biased information processing in individuals with vulnerability to bipolar disorder. Such a bias may have important clinical implications for individuals with a vulnerability to bipolar disorder, as it may represent a mechanism by which vulnerability leads to increased, and at times problematic, engagement with rewarding stimuli.