Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of heterogeneity on decorrelation mechanisms in spiking neural networks: a neuromorphic-hardware study

High-level brain function such as memory, classiﬁcation or reasoning can be realized by means of recurrent networks of simpliﬁed model neurons. Analog neuromorphic hardware constitutes a fast and energy eﬃcient substrate for the implementation of such neural computing architectures in technical applications and neuroscientiﬁc research. The functional performance of neural networks is often critically dependent on the level of correlations in the neural activity. In ﬁnite networks, correlations are typically inevitable due to shared presynaptic input. Recent theoretical studies have shown that inhibitory feedback, abundant in biological neural networks, can actively suppress these shared-input correlations and thereby enable neurons to ﬁre nearly independently. For networks of spiking neurons, the decorrelating eﬀect of inhibitory feedback has so far been explicitly demonstrated only for homogeneous networks of neurons with linear sub-threshold dynamics. Theory, however, suggests that the eﬀect is a general phenomenon, present in any system with suﬃcient inhibitory feedback, irrespective of the details of the network structure or the neuronal and synaptic properties. Here, we investigate the eﬀect of network heterogeneity on correlations in sparse, random networks of inhibitory neurons with non-linear, conductance-based synapses. Emulations of these networks on the analog neuromorphic hardware system Spikey allow us to test the eﬃciency of decorrelation by inhibitory feedback in the presence of hardware-speciﬁc heterogeneities. The conﬁgurability of the hardware substrate enables us to modulate the extent of heterogeneity in a systematic manner. We selectively study the eﬀects of shared input and recurrent connections on correlations in membrane potentials and spike trains. Our results conﬁrm that shared-input correlations are actively suppressed by inhibitory feedback also in highly heterogeneous networks exhibiting broad, heavy-tailed ﬁring-rate distributions. In line with former studies, cell heterogeneities reduce shared-input correlations. Overall, however, correlations increase with the level of heterogeneity as a consequence of diminished eﬀective negative feedback.
Full-density multi-scale account of structure and dynamics of macaque visual cortex

We present a multi-scale spiking network model of all vision-related areas of macaque cortex that represents each area by a full-scale microcircuit with area-specific architecture. The layer-and population-resolved network connectivity integrates axonal tracing data from the CoCoMac database with recent quantitative tracing data, and is systematically refined using dynamical constraints. Simulations reveal a stable asynchronous irregular ground state with heterogeneous activity across areas, layers, and populations. Elicited by large-scale interactions, the model reproduces longer intrinsic time scales in higher compared to early visual areas. Activity propagates down the visual hierarchy, similar to experimental results associated with visual imagery. Cortico-cortical interaction patterns agree well with fMRI resting-state functional connectivity. The model bridges the gap between local and large-scale accounts of cortex, and clarifies how the detailed connectivity of cortex shapes its dynamics on multiple scales.
Critical Crashes

: The authors argue that the word “critical” in the title is not purely literary. Based on their and other previous work on nonlinear complex dynamical systems, they summarize present evidence, on the Oct. 1929, Oct. 1987, Oct. 1987 Hong-Kong, Aug. 1998 global market events and on the 1985 Forex event, for the hypothesis advanced three years ago that stock market crashes are caused by the slow buildup of long-range correlations between traders leading to a collapse of the stock market in one critical instant.
Implementation and evolution of the horizontal integration at shiraz medical school

Introduction: General medical education starts with basic sciences which usually continue about 2.5 to 3 years. In this period, the students study basic medical sciences and then start the clinical stage in which they deal with diagnoses, care, and cure of disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the integration of basic sciences period with the clinical period at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: The present study is a descriptive one. The sample of the study consisted of all students entered Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in January, 2009, and November, 2009, professors of basic sciences courses, and some clinical professors. To evaluate the integration program, we devised various instruments. The collected data were analyzed, using SPSS software. Result: The findings showed that in spite of the students’ objections new educational methods in the first year of implementation, they felt more satisfied as the drawbacks were removed over time. Conclusion: The assessment of educational curricula is an important step to identify educational problems and promote the students’ learning. This issue can help the curriculum planners to design the educational programs so that students, particularly medical students, will be able to acquire the required knowledge and skill and integrate them for the promotion and maintenance of society’s health. Keywords: Evaluation, Basic sciences, Horizontal integration
TYPES OF MAXILLARY TUMOURS AND THE RESULTING POST-SURGICAL DEFECTS IN PATIENTS AT A TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objective: To report the frequency of the types of maxillary tumours and the resulting post-surgical defects Methodology: A pre-structured proforma was used for data collection. Data recorded included patients' age, gender, type of maxillary tumour, type of maxillectomy and approach for resection, Post-surgical defect based on Aramany classification for acquired maxillary defects, neck dissection, radiotherapy, and prosthetic rehabilitation. Data were computed for descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and mean values. Results : Patients (n=53) had a male to female ratio of 1.7. Some 26.4% patients belonged to the age group of 31-40 years. Maxillectomy was done for inverted papilloma, a benign tumour in 1.9% patients as compared to malignant squamous cell carcinoma in 66% patients. Maxillary resection for fibrous dysplasia was done in 3.8% patients who were relatively younger. Maxillectomy in all cases was performed using Weber-Fergusson incision approach. Surgical resection resulted in Armanay class I defect in 73.58% patients. In 92.5% patients a surgical obturator was provided to patients at the time of maxillectomy. Conclusion : Maxillectomy was mainly performed for resecting malignant tumours using Weber-Fergusson incision with the fitting of immediate surgical obturator. The resulting defect was mainly Aramany Class I defects. based on Aramany classification. Study design, duration and setting: This descriptive study was done during the period of 5 years (2005-11) at the Otorhinolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery Unit, Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar.
3F2(1) hypergeometric function and quadratic R-matrix algebra

We construct a class of representations of the quadratic R -matrix algebra given by the reﬂection equation with the spectral parameter, R ( u − v ) T (1) ( u ) R ( u + v ) T (2) ( v ) = T (2) ( v ) R ( u + v ) T (1) ( u ) R ( u − v ) , in terms of certain ordinary diﬀerence operators. These operators turn out to act as parameter shifting operators on the 3 F 2 (1) hypergeometric function and its limit cases and on classical orthogonal polynomials. The relationship with the factorisation method will be discussed.
Bose-Einstein condensate and Spontaneous Breaking of Conformal Symmetry on Killing Horizons

Local scalar QFT (in Weyl algebraic approach) is constructed on degenerate semi-Riemannian manifolds corresponding to Killing horizons in spacetime. Covariance properties of the $C^*$-algebra of observables with respect to the conformal group $PSL(2,\bR)$ are studied.It is shown that, in addition to the state studied by Guido, Longo, Roberts and Verch for bifurcated Killing horizons, which is conformally invariant and KMS at Hawking temperature with respect to the Killing flow and defines a conformal net of von Neumann algebras, there is a further wide class of algebraic (coherent) states representing spontaneous breaking of $PSL(2,\bR)$ symmetry. This class is labeled by functions in a suitable Hilbert space and their GNS representations enjoy remarkable properties. The states are non equivalent extremal KMS states at Hawking temperature with respect to the residual one-parameter subgroup of $PSL(2,\bR)$ associated with the Killing flow. The KMS property is valid for the two local sub algebras of observables uniquely determined by covariance and invariance under the residual symmetry unitarily represented. These algebras rely on the physical region of the manifold corresponding to a Killing horizon cleaned up by removing the unphysical points at infinity (necessary to describe the whole $PSL(2,\bR)$ action). Each of the found states can be interpreted as a different thermodynamic phase, containing Bose-Einstein condensate,for the considered quantum field. It is finally suggested that the found states could describe different black holes.
Frequency and Clinical Characteristics of Symptomatic Hypoglycemia in Neonates

Background: Hypoglycemia in neonates is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of symptomatic hypoglycemia in neonates. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Department of Pediatrics Neonatology, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, from April 2009 to March 2010. A total of 150 neonates with signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia were admitted. Gestational age, birth weight and clinical features were recorded on questionnaire. Blood glucose level was checked and any value less than 40mg/dl was considered as hypoglycemia. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 11. Results: Out of 150 symptomatic neonates, 44(29.3%) were found to be hypoglycemic. Hypoglycemia was more common in males 34(32.7%) as compared to females 10(21.7 %), p=0.04, and was more frequent in first seven days of life 40(31.7%) than late neonatal age 4(16.6%), p=0.04. Hypoglycemia was present in 12(34%) small-for-gestational age, 31(30%) appropriate-for-gestational age and 1(8.3%) in large-for-gestational age babies (p>0.05). Hypoglycemia was seen in 11(32.3%) preterm and 33(29%) term babies (p>0.05). Feeding difficulty was the most common symptom of hypoglycemia 32(72.7%) cases followed by jitteriness in 28(62.7%) cases. Conclusion: Symptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia is more common in male babies and in the early neonatal age. Blood glucose estimation is mandatory in neonates with signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia.
Fasting consequences during Ramadan on lipid profile and dietary patterns

Introduction: The aim was to assess the effects on lifestyle and lipid profile while fasting during holy month of Ramadan. Material and Methods: An interventional cohort study designed with 160 subjects who were fasting during Ramadan recruited from different mosques in Kermanshah. Data were collected in three stages at the beginning and at the end of Ramadan as well as one month following Ramadan using demographic and FFQ questionnaires. Blood pressure was measured and a 5 ml blood sample was collected in order to measure BUN, Creatinine, and lipid profile analysis. Results: Significant increases was observed in total cholesterol (P=0.02), LDL-C (P=0.001), HDL-C (P=0.001), and BUN (P=0.002) following Ramadan compared with earlier measurements. Triglyceride (TG) level decreased following Ramadan (P=0.04) but returned to the same level one month later. Systolic blood pressure increased and diastolic blood pressure decreased during fasting period. There was a significant decrease in cereals, dairy products, and meat consumption while consumption of fruits and vegetables have been increased during Ramadan (P=0.003). Conclusion: Our results revealed increased levels of T-Chol and LDL-C in fasting as well as HDL-C. Increased HDL-C may prevent the side effects of T-Chol and LDL-C in healthy subjects. Given the metabolic changes that occurred during Ramadan, healthy eating and intake of low fat and low sugar diet during Ramadan are highly recommended.
D1-D3 (or $\bar{\textrm{D}3}$) Systems with Fluxes

In this article we study D1-D3 (or $\bar{\textrm{D}3}$) brane systems with generic constant electric and magnetic fluxes in IIB string theory. We work out all possible supersymmetric configurations and find out via T-duality all of them and corresponding supersymmetry conditions could be related to the supersymmetric intersecting D1-D1 pairs. And we do D1-D3 (or $\bar{\textrm{D}3}$) open string quantization for a class of configurations. We find that there are many near massless states in NS sector for near-BPS configurations. Furthermore we calculate open string pair creation rate in generic nonsupersymmetric configurations.
MTRNet: A Generic Scene Text Eraser

Text removal algorithms have been proposed for unilingual scripts with regular shapes and layouts. However, to the best of our knowledge, a generic text removal method which is able to remove all or user-specified text regions regardless of font, script, language or shape is not available. Developing such a generic text eraser for real scenes is a challenging task, since it inherits all the challenges of multi-lingual and curved text detection and inpainting. To fill this gap, we propose a mask-based text removal network (MTRNet). MTRNet is a conditional adversarial generative network (cGAN) with an auxiliary mask. The introduced auxiliary mask not only makes the cGAN a generic text eraser, but also enables stable training and early convergence on a challenging large-scale synthetic dataset, initially proposed for text detection in real scenes. What’s more, MTRNet achieves state-of-the-art results on several real-world datasets including ICDAR 2013, ICDAR 2017 MLT, and CTW1500, without being explicitly trained on this data, outperforming previous state-of-the-art methods trained directly on these datasets. Keywords-Text Removal, Inpainting, Image Translation, Mask
Scalable Semantic Matching of Queries to Ads in Sponsored Search Advertising

Sponsored search represents a major source of revenue for web search engines. The advertising model brings a unique possibility for advertisers to target direct user intent communicated through a search query, usually done by displaying their ads alongside organic search results for queries deemed relevant to their products or services. However, due to a large number of unique queries, it is particularly challenging for advertisers to identify all relevant queries. For this reason search engines often provide a service of advanced matching, which automatically finds additional relevant queries for advertisers to bid on. We present a novel advance match approach based on the idea of semantic embeddings of queries and ads. The embeddings were learned using a large data set of user search sessions, consisting of search queries, clicked ads and search links, while utilizing contextual information such as dwell time and skipped ads. To address the large-scale nature of our problem, both in terms of data and vocabulary size, we propose a novel distributed algorithm for training of the embeddings. Finally, we present an approach for overcoming a cold-start problem associated with new ads and queries. We report results of editorial evaluation and online tests on actual search traffic. The results show that our approach significantly outperforms baselines in terms of relevance, coverage and incremental revenue. Lastly, as part of this study, we open sourced query embeddings that can be used to advance the field.
G A ] 1 3 A ug 2 01 9 Early blackhole seeds in the first billion years

Supermassive black holes with billion solar masses are in place already within the first Gyr, however, their origin and growth in such a short lapse of time is extremely challenging to understand. Here, we discuss the formation paths of early black-hole seeds, showing the limits of light blackhole seeds from stellar origin and the features of heavy/massive black-hole seeds originated by gas direct collapse in peculiar primordial conditions. To draw conclusions on the possible candidates and the role of the environment, we use results from N-body hydrodynamic simulations including atomic and molecular non-equilibrium abundance calculations, cooling, star formation, feedback mechanisms, stellar evolution, metal spreading of several heavy elements from SNII, AGB and SNIa, and multifrequency radiative transfer over 150 frequencies coupled to chemistry and SED emission for popII-I and popIII stellar sources. Standard stellar-origin light black holes are unlikely to be reliable seeds of early supermassive black holes, because, under realistic assumptions, they cannot grow significantly in less than a billion years. Alternatively, massive black-hole seeds might originate from direct collapse of pristine gas in primordial quiescent mini-haloes that are exposed to stellar radiation from nearby star forming regions. However, the necessary conditions required to form these heavy seeds must be complemented with information on the complex features of the local environment and a very fine balance between chemistry evolution and radiative transfer.
Linking Aboveground Traits to Root Traits and Local Environment: Implications of the Plant Economics Spectrum

The plant economics spectrum proposes that ecological traits are functionally coordinated and adapt along environmental gradients. However, empirical evidence is mixed about whether aboveground and root traits are consistently linked and which environmental factors drive functional responses. Here we measure the strength of relationships between aboveground and root traits, and examine whether community-weighted mean trait values are adapted along gradients of light and soil fertility, based on the seedling censuses of 57 species in a subtropical forest. We found that aboveground traits were good predictors of root traits; specific leaf area, dry matter, nitrogen and phosphorus content were strongly correlated with root tissue density and specific root length. Traits showed patterns of adaptation along the gradients of soil fertility and light; species with fast resource-acquisitive strategies were more strongly associated with high soil phosphorus, potassium, openness, and with low nitrogen, organic matter conditions. This demonstrates the potential to estimate belowground traits from known aboveground traits in seedling communities, and suggests that soil fertility is one of the main factors driving functional responses. Our results extend our understanding of how ecological strategies shape potential responses of plant communities to environmental change.
Thyroid Hormone Status Regulates Skeletal Muscle Response to Chronic Motor Nerve Stimulation

Although both exercise and thyroid hormone (TH) status can cause cellular and metabolic changes in skeletal muscle, the impact of TH status on exercise-associated changes is not well understood. Here, we examined the effects of TH status on muscle fiber type, cell signaling, and metabolism in a rabbit model of exercise training – chronic motor nerve stimulation (CMNS). Five rabbits were rendered hypothyroid for 7–8 weeks and three rabbits were made hyperthyroid for 2 weeks prior to CMNS of the left peroneal nerve for 10 days. We then measured markers of muscle fiber type, autophagy, and nutrient- or energy-sensing proteins, and metabolic intermediates. CMNS increased MHC-I expression in hypothyroid rabbits, whereas it was unchanged in hyperthyroid rabbits. CMNS also increased p-AMPK, p-ATGL, CPT-1α, p-Akt, GLUT4, and p-70S6K in hypothyroid rabbits. In contrast, p-AMPK and p-AKT were increased at baseline in hyperthyroid rabbits, but CMNS did not further increase them or any of the other markers. CMNS also increased TCA cycle and acylcarnitine metabolites in hypothyroid rabbits; whereas, acylcarnitines were already elevated in hyperthyroid rabbits, and were only slightly increased further by CMNS. In summary, CMNS effects on cell signaling and metabolism of skeletal muscle were more pronounced in the hypothyroid than the hyperthyroid state. Interestingly, in the hypothyroid state, CMNS caused concomitant activation of two signaling pathways that are usually reciprocally regulated – AMPK and mTOR signaling – which manifested as increased β-oxidation, MHC-I expression, and protein synthesis. Thus, our findings provide insight into the role of TH status on exercise response in muscle. Our observations suggest that TH status of patients may be an important determinant and predictor of their response to exercise training in skeletal muscle.
Systematic Identification and Analysis of Acinetobacter baumannii Type VI Secretion System Effector and Immunity Components

Many Gram-negative bacteria use a type VI secretion system (T6SS) for microbial warfare and/or host manipulation. Acinetobacter baumannii is an important nosocomial pathogen and many A. baumannii strains utilize a T6SS to deliver toxic effector proteins to surrounding bacterial cells. These toxic effectors are usually delivered together with VgrG proteins, which form part of the T6SS tip complex. All previously identified A. baumannii T6SS effectors are encoded within a three- or four-gene locus that also encodes a cognate VgrG and immunity protein, and sometimes a chaperone. In order to characterize the diversity and distribution of T6SS effectors and immunity proteins in this species, we first identified all vgrG genes in 97 A. baumannii strains via the presence of the highly conserved VgrG domain. Most strains encoded between two and four different VgrG proteins. We then analyzed the regions downstream of the identified vgrG genes and identified more than 240 putative effectors. The presence of conserved domains in these effectors suggested a range of functions, including peptidoglycan hydrolases, lipases, nucleases, and nucleic acid deaminases. However, 10 of the effector groups had no functionally characterized domains. Phylogenetic analysis of these putative effectors revealed that they clustered into 32 distinct groups that appear to have been acquired from a diverse set of ancestors. Corresponding immunity proteins were identified for all but two of the effector groups. Effectors from eight of the 32 groups contained N-terminal rearrangement hotspot (RHS) domains. The C-terminal regions of these RHS proteins, which are predicted to confer the toxic effector function, were very diverse, but the N-terminal RHS domains clustered into just two groups. While the majority of A. baumannii strains contained an RHS type effector, no strains encoded two RHS effectors with similar N-terminal sequences, suggesting that the presence of similar N-terminal RHS domains leads to competitive exclusion. Together, these analyses define the extreme diversity of T6SS effectors within A. baumannii and, as many have unknown functions, future detailed characterization of these effectors may lead to the identification of proteins with novel antibacterial properties.