Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pushing the bounds of dropout

We show that dropout training is best understood as performing MAP estimation concurrently for a family of conditional models whose objectives are themselves lower bounded by the original dropout objective. This discovery allows us to pick any model from this family after training, which leads to a substantial improvement on regularisation-heavy language modelling. The family includes models that compute a power mean over the sampled dropout masks, and their less stochastic subvariants with tighter and higher lower bounds than the fully stochastic dropout objective. We argue that since the deterministic subvariant's bound is equal to its objective, and the highest amongst these models, the predominant view of it as a good approximation to MC averaging is misleading. Rather, deterministic dropout is the best available approximation to the true objective.
Hunter College 11-27-2017 mRNA Processing Factor CstF-50 and Ubiquitin Escort Factor p 97 Are BRCA 1 / BARD 1 Cofactors Involved in Chromatin Remodeling during the DNA Damage Response

The cellular response to DNA damage is an intricate mechanism that involves the interplay among several pathways. In this study, we provide evidence of the roles of the polyadenylation factor cleavage stimulation factor 50 (CstF-50) and the ubiquitin (Ub) escort factor p97 as cofactors of BRCA1/BARD1 E3 Ub ligase, facilitating chromatin remodeling during the DNA damage response (DDR). CstF-50 and p97 formed complexes with BRCA1/BARD1, Ub, and some BRCA1/BARD1 substrates, such as RNA polymerase (RNAP) II and histones. Furthermore, CstF-50 and p97 had an additive effect on the activation of the ubiquitination of these BRCA1/BARD1 substrates during DDR. Importantly, as a result of these functional interactions, BRCA1/ BARD1/CstF-50/p97 had a specific effect on the chromatin structure of genes that were differentially expressed. This study provides new insights into the roles of RNA processing, BRCA1/BARD1, the Ub pathway, and chromatin structure during DDR.
Forward-Search Temporal Planning with Simultaneous Events Removed for blind review

In this paper we describe STP, a novel algorithm for temporal planning. Similar to several existing temporal planners, STP relies on a transformation from temporal planning to classical planning, and constructs a temporal plan by finding a sequence of classical actions that solve the problem while satisfying a given set of temporal constraints. Our main contribution is that STP can solve temporal planning problems that require simultaneous events, i.e. the temporal actions have to be scheduled in such a way that two or more of their effects take place concurrently. To do so, STP separates each event into three phases: one phase in which temporal actions are scheduled to end, one phase in which simultaneous effects take place, and one phase in which temporal actions are scheduled to start. Experimental results show that STP significantly outperforms state-of-the-art temporal planners in a domain requiring simultaneous events.
Surface Electromyography signal processing and application: a review

Electromyography (EMG) is a study of muscles function through analysis of electrical activity produced from muscles. This electrical activity which is displayed in form of signal is the result of neuromuscular activation associated with muscle contraction. The most common techniques of EMG signal recording are by using surface and needle/wire electrode where the latter is usually used for interest in deep muscle. This paper will focus on surface electromyography (SEMG) signal. During SEMG recording, several problems had to be encountered such as noise, motion artifact and signal instability. Thus, various signal processing techniques had been implemented to produce a reliable signal for analysis. There are also broad applications of SEMG signal particularly in biomedical field. The SEMG signal had been analyzed and studied for various interests such as neuromuscular disease, enhancement of muscular function and human-computer interface.
Perspectives on an integrated computer learning environment

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva. nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
TRANSMISSION EFFICIENT PROTOCOL USING POPULATION-BASED METAHEURISTIC TECHNIQUE WITH MOBILE SINK FOR LIFETIME ENHANCEMENT OF HETEROGENEOUS WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Wireless sensor Networks are small sized devices which work on the small batteries which cannot be recharged again, due to this optimization of battery resources are the most important design criteria for wireless sensor networks A hybrid algorithm incorporating social insect colony and double cluster head approach, with improved Mobile Balanced Energy Efficient Network Integrated is proposed to improve the intra and inter cluster organization of the existing four level heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. The social insect colony algorithm reduces the energy loss due to long distance transmission within the cluster by introducing layered multi hop transmission. The double cluster head approach helps in load balancing. The burden of the cluster head is shared by the vice cluster head which will reduce the energy loss in cluster heads due to long distance transmissions. The proposed algorithm increases the life time, throughput and stability of the network by reducing the energy losses due to long distance transmissions.
Des patrons de conception pour assurer l'analyse d'architectures : un exemple avec l'analyse d'ordonnancement

Pierre DISSAUX Ellidiss Technologies / invité Jérôme HUGUES Maître de Conférences, ISAE / examinateur Laurent PAUTET Professeur, Télécom ParisTech / rapporteur Alain PLANTEC Maître de Conférences, Université de Bretagne Occidentale / examinateur (co-directeur de thèse) José RUFINO Enseignant-Chercheur, Université de Lisbonne / examinateur Frank SINGHOFF Professeur, Université de Bretagne Occidentale / examinateur (directeur de thèse) Jean-Pierre TALPIN Professeur, INRIA Rennes / rapporteur Yvon TRINQUET Professeur, Université de Nantes / examinateur THÈSE / UNIVERSITÉ DE BRETAGNE OCCIDENTALE Sous le sceau de l'Université Européenne de Bretagne
Investigating students' behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile learning in higher education in East Africa

Recent penetration of mobile technologies and its services in East Africa has provided a new platform for institutions to widen access to education through mobile learning. Mobile technologies provide learners with flexibility and ubiquity to learn anytime and anywhere via wireless Internet. However, far too little research has been conducted to investigate factors that contribute towards students' adoption and use of mobile learning in East Africa. We applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to investigate students’ behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile learning in higher education in East Africa. A sample of 823 students selected from five higher learning institutions was collected and tested against the research model using regression analysis. The results showed that, four factors: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions had significant positive effects on students’ mobile learning acceptance with performance expectancy being the strongest predictor. These findings will enable those who are involved in the implementation of mobile learning to develop mobile services that are relevant and acceptable to learners in higher education in East Africa.
Stacking fault energy and microstructure effects on torsion texture evolution

A series of experiments and simulations that vary the texture and microstructure simultaneously are used to establish the role of the microstructure in texture formation in FCC metals. The stacking fault energy (SFE) of the metal, which is known to have a strong impact on texture and microstructure, is the vital parameter used to make these variations. It was determined that the wide variety of textures and microstructures observed as a function of SFE and temperature was developed by slip processes alone; twinning was not necessary, as previously thought. The different textures are caused by (i) variations in local slip patterns within a single grain, as revealed by grain subdivision into differently deforming cell blocks; and (ii) more subtly by the cell–block shape. The local selection of slip systems creating the lattice rotations within a cell block is altered by the planarity of slip. Slip planarity is controlled by the SFE and temperature. It is hypothesized that the new texture components, that are distinct from the generally accepted ideal components, are created by the different slip processes occurring as a result of low SFE and low temperature. A more subtle effect of grain subdivision is related to the cell–block shapes that develop as a function of SFE and temperature and correspond to the different textures observed. The shape of the cell block is related to the level of constraint required by the deformation. The slip pattern changes and cell–block shapes correlate with the presence or absence of certain ideal texture components whose evolution is not simulated. Materials and conditions with similar deformation microstructures developed similar textures in the experiments.
Mixed culture of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) and flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) in floating cages

The study explored the possibility of integrating the grey mullet Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) along with Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) in floating cage culture in Godavary Estuary, India. Post-larvae (PL 12) of L. vannamei (3 lakhs nos.), were acclimatised and nursed in five hapas for 28 days at a density of 3333 nos. m-2, with survival of 60%. L. vannamei juveniles having mean weight of 0.86 g, stocked at a density of 1060 nos. m-2, were cultured along with and without pre-stocked M. cephalus, in three floating cages each. Six thousand fry of M. cephalus (mean length 4.17 cm; mean weight 1.22 g) were stocked in three cages at uniform density of 23.5 nos. m-3, three months prior to stocking of L. vannamei. Shrimps were fed commercial pellets @ 3-8% of body weight, four times daily and harvested after 68 days. Fishes were fed with pelleted feed and after five months attained mean length of 23.7 cm and mean weight of 274.1 g. Survival was 46.4% and the average production obtained was 250.2 kg. At harvest, L. vannamei in monoculture system attained mean weight of 13.3 g and in the mixed culture system, average weight obtained for the shrimps was 13.5 g. Survival, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and production of L. vannamei from monoculture were 64.7%, 2.0 and 258.9 kg and from mixed culture 76.8%, 1.6 and 311.5 kg respectively. Daily weight increment and specific growth rate (SGR) of L. vannamei was 0.18 g and 4.06 for monoculture and 0.19 g and 4.01 for mixed culture, resepectively. Feed conversion, survival and production of L. vannamei were significantly (p<0.05) better in mixed culture, confirming technical superiority of mixed culture over monoculture.
Effect of a Local Vision Care Center on Eyeglasses Use and School Performance in Rural China: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Visual impairment is common among children in rural China, but fewer than one-third of children with poor vision own and wear eyeglasses. Objective To study the effect of hospital-based vision centers on academic performance, ownership of eyeglasses, and eyeglasses-wearing behavior in rural Chinese children. Design, Setting, and Participants Cluster randomized, investigator-masked, clinical trial from September 2014 through June 2015. A vision center capable of providing refractive services was established in the Hospital of Yongshou County, a nationally designated poor county in rural Shaanxi Province, western China. All 31 rural primary schools in Yongshou County participated; participants were all children in grades 4 through 6 (aged approximately 10-12 years) with uncorrected visual acuity of Snellen 6/12 or worse in either eye (2613 children). Data analysis was conducted March through May 2016, and data were analyzed by the intention-to-treat principle. Interventions After teacher-led vision screening early in the school year (September-October 2014), schools were randomly assigned to either early referral (December 2014-February 2015) to the vision center for refraction and free eyeglasses if needed or late referral (March-June 2015) for the identical intervention. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was score on a study-administered mathematics test (June 2015) adjusted for baseline score. Secondary outcomes were self-reported eyeglasses ownership and wear at final examination (June 2015). Results All 2613 children evaluated were of Han Chinese race/ethnicity, and 1209 (46.3%) were female. Twelve hundred children (45.9%) met the vision criteria. Among these, 543 (45.3%) were randomized to early screening and 657 (54.7%) to late screening; 433 (79.7%) of the early screening group and 516 (78.5%) of the late screening group completed the study. Of eligible children, 120 (27.7%) owned eyeglasses at baseline. The adjusted effect on test scores comparing early and late groups was 0.25 SD (95% CI, 0.01-0.48; 1-sided P = .04), with the point estimate equivalent to half a semester of additional learning. At the end of the study, 347 of the 433 participants in the early group (80%) reported owning eyeglasses and 326 (75%) reported wearing eyeglasses; among the 516 participants in the late group, 371 (61%) reported owning and 286 (55%) reported wearing eyeglasses. Conclusions and Relevance In this study, early provision of free eyeglasses was seen to improve children’s academic performance and wearing of spectacles. These findings suggest that a county hospital–based vision center may be an effective way to improve children’s educational opportunities in rural China. Trial Registration isrctn.org Identifier: ISRCTN03252665
Genetic and Molecular Approach to Verticillium dahliae Infecting Sunflower

Abstract Verticillium leaf mottle and wilt caused by the fungus Verticillium dahliae is a major disease of sunflower in Argentina and the USA. In the summer of 2013, an important outbreak of the disease occurred in one field in the Southwest of Spain. The determination of vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) of V. dahliae is used in the genetic characterization of the fungus. Molecular markers have also been developed and applied for the analysis of V. dahliae, particularly for those isolates infecting artichoke, cotton and olive tree. The objective of this work was to determine the genetic and molecular features of V. dahliae of sunflower. Three V. dahliae isolates, one from Argentina collected in 2012 and two collected in Spain in 2013, were analysed. The VCGs were determined by complementation between nit mutants of the isolates from sunflower and the VCGs reference strains. Molecular characterization was conducted by polymerase chain reaction using primer pairs that are diagnostic of either V. dahliae species, defoliating or non-defoliating pathotypes, or VCGs. Complementation tests between nit mutants and reference strains clearly showed that the three isolates from sunflower belong to the VCG2B. The VCG2B has been identified in V. dahliae from crops as cotton, artichoke, eggplant, pepper and tomato among others. When molecularly analysed, the three V. dahliae isolates infecting sunflower had the same molecular pattern than the one found for non-defoliating isolates of V. dahliae pathogenic to artichoke or cotton. The results of this work show the closeness between non-defoliating isolates of V. dahliae infecting artichoke, cotton and sunflower and suggest that any of these three species can serve as carrier and source of inoculum for Verticillium outbreaks in them.
Overview of TAC KBP 2015 Event Nugget Track

This paper describes three TAC KBP Event Nugget tasks: (1) Event Nugget Detection, (2) Event Nugget Detection and Coreference, and (3) Event Nuggest Coreference. The evaluation corpus, prepared by LDC, consists of 202 documents from newswire and discussion forum. Participating systems detect event nuggets, event types and subtypes, and Realis values. For task 1, 38 runs were submitted by 14 teams; for task 2, 19 runs were submitted by 8 teams; for task 3, 16 runs were submitted by 6 teams. After the scoring algorithms and their results, we provide some analyses of these tasks.
Capitalization on chance in variable-length classification tests employing the Sequential Probability Ratio Test

The sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) is a popular termination criterion for variable-length classification tests. The SPRT is often paired with cut-based item selection in which item information is maximized at the cut point. However, items are chosen on the basis of their parameter estimates, and capitalization on chance may occur. We investigated the effects of capitalization on chance on test length and classification accuracy in several variable-length test simulations. In addition to capitalizing on large discrimination estimates, the item selection criterion chose items with difficulty estimates systematically higher or lower than their true difficulty values. This capitalization on chance had non-negligible effects on both test length and classification accuracy and induced an inverse relationship between them, though the particular effects were highly sensitive to the cut location. The results also indicate that implementing item exposure control effectively reduced the effects of capitalization on chance on testing outcomes.
ACCORD: Enabling Associativity for Gigascale DRAM Caches by Coordinating Way-Install and Way-Prediction

Stacked-DRAM technology has enabled high bandwidth gigascale DRAM caches. Since DRAM caches require a tag store of several tens of megabytes, commercial DRAM cache designs typically co-locate tag and data within the DRAM array. DRAM caches are organized as a direct-mapped structure so that the tag and data can be streamed out in a single access. While direct-mapped DRAM caches provide low hit-latency, they suffer from low hit-rate due to conflict misses. Ideally, we want the hit-rate of a set-associative DRAM cache, without incurring additional latency and bandwidth costs of increasing associativity. To address this problem, way prediction can be applied to a set-associative DRAM cache to achieve the latency and bandwidth of a direct-mapped DRAM cache. Unfortunately, conventional way prediction policies typically require per-set storage, causing multi-megabyte storage overheads for gigascale DRAM caches. If we can obtain accurate way prediction without incurring significant storage overheads, we can efficiently enable set-associativity for DRAM caches. This paper proposes Associativity via Coordinated Way-Install and Way-Prediction (ACCORD), a design that steers an incoming line to a "preferred way" based on the line address and uses the preferred way as the default way prediction. We propose two way-steering policies that are effective for 2-way caches. First, Probabilistic Way-Steering (PWS), which steers lines to a preferred way with high probability, while still allowing lines to be installed in an alternate way in case of conflicts. Second, Ganged Way-Steering (GWS), which steers lines of a spatially contiguous region to the way where an earlier line from that region was installed. On a 2-way cache, ACCORD (PWS+GWS) obtains a way prediction accuracy of 90% and retains a hit-rate similar to a baseline 2-way cache while incurring 320 bytes of storage overhead. We extend ACCORD to support highly-associative caches using a Skewed Way-Steering (SWS) design that steers a line to at-most two ways in the highly-associative cache. This design retains the low-latency of the 2-way ACCORD while obtaining most of the hit-rate benefits of a highly associative design. Our studies with a 4GB DRAM cache backed by non-volatile memory shows that ACCORD provides an average of 11% speedup (up to 54%) across a wide range of workloads.
Role of Nutrition in Female and Male Fertility

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: One of the sustainable development goals is universal access to reproductive services by 2030. Reproductive disorders is an important neglected component in reproductive health. Some factors, like type of nutrition effects on fertility. The aim of this study is to determine role of nutrition in female and male fertility. METHODS: This study is a narrative review article. Search was conducted by using relevant keywords such as: infertility, fertility, nutrition and diet. Results were limited to 39 articles published in Iranian and international journals in SID, Magiran, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, Elsevier databases, in the period 2011-2016. Also nutrition guidelines for infertile couples in scientific nutritional and university sites was used. FINDINGS: The results showed that unsaturated fatty acids, fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy, for improving women's reproductive recommended. Factors that reduce male fertility include: high consumption of red and processed meats, high intake of saturated fat, low intake of unsaturated fats, antioxidants, fruits and vegetables. CONCLUSION: Following a balanced diet is one of promising and valuable interventions in maintaining reproductive health. However, Identification of a suitable fertility diet is "Important achievement" in the management of fertility.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LIPID METABOLISM TRAITS IN CARCASS AND MUSCLE ADIPOSE TISSUES

The relationships between lipid synthesis and degradation pathways were studied in order to understand the biological mechanisms involved in carcass and muscle fat deposition. A total of 120 animals from three synthetic lines (A, V and R) at two slaughter ages (9 and 13 weeks) were used. Perirenal fat adipose tissue (PF) and two muscles, Longissimus dorsi (LM) and Semimembranosus proprius (SP) were studied. Residual correlations were calculated after line and age effects were removed from the data. There was a relationship between lipogenic activity and fat content in perirenal fat tissue, r=0.37 for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and r= 0.28 for malic enzyme (ME). The amount of PF has an influence on its fatty acid (FA) composition, showing positive correlations between PF content and saturated FA (SFA) (r=0.29) and monounsaturated FA (MUFA) percentage (r=0.33) and negative with polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) percentage (r=-0.55). Lipogenic enzyme activities were also related to FA composition of PF tissue, with positive correlations between lipogenic enzymes and SFA and negative with MUFA and PUFA. No association was found between IMF content of LM and its lipogenic activity. However, there was a relationship between IMF of LM and lipogenic activity of SP muscle (r>0.42). As in PF tissue, IMF content was positively related to SFA (r=0.35) and MUFA percentages (r=0.29) and negatively related to PUFA percentages (r=-0.43). In LM catabolic enzymes were also studied. There was no relationship between IMF and HAD, CS and LDH. Anabolic and catabolic pathways were related in muscle and the coordinated use of both pathways was determinant for IMF deposition. No relationship was observed among glycolytic, oxidative and lipolytic activities in LM. Moreover, the present study showed a lack of relationship between PF and IMF adipose tissues (r=-0.02). This correlation supports the idea of independence between IMF and carcass fat, suggesting the possibility of increasing intramuscular adipose tissue without increasing overall adiposity carcass.