Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topic Prediction in Dialogs using Convolutional Neural Networks

Dialog state tracking is an essential component in a modern spoken dialog system which directly influences the actions of such a system. For non-goal-oriented dialog applications, the conversation topic is a dialog state of high interest. In order to generate appropriate answers, the system has to be able to not only track the current topic but also make topic predictions for the subsequent turn. The goal of this work is to implement an approach to solve the three tasks of topic tracking, next topic prediction and topic change prediction. Therefore we employ three different architectures of convolutional neural networks which are a basic model, a multilayer network and a word embedding network. Optimization techniques such as dropout, L1 and L2 regularizations are applied to strengthen our models against overfitting. Since only unlabeled dialog data are available which are suited for our tasks, we manually annotate the data with appropriate topic labels to create a dialog corpus for training and testing our networks. Additionally, we also train several word models to generate vector representations which are employed to improve the overall performance on our given tasks. Our models are extensively evaluated on various model and training hyperparameters to find optimal values for each of them. The best performance is achieved by the basic model with a cross-validation F-score of 0.750 for tracking, 0.652 for next topic prediction and 0.818 for topic change prediction. Although the scores obtained for the prediction tasks are relatively high, it seems that making predictions for topic changes is still a very difficult task. Our topic prediction models are able to correctly predict 31% of the new topics and 56% of all topic changes. Despite the errors, we think that the performance of our networks can still be considered as good since making topic predictions in conversations is a task that is difficult even for human. Furthermore, the models for both prediction tasks are mostly accurate when no topic change takes place.
Tax Competition: Is it a Source of the Corporate Savings Glut?

This paper examines the determinants of corporate savings in a cross-country panel setting. Specifically, it employs firm-level data covering more than 540,000 firm-year observations for 12 advanced and emerging market economies. Panel regression results suggest that reductions in statutory corporate income tax rates can explain one-third of the rise in corporate savings (defined as net financial assets) in 2003-17. This finding is supported by a propensity scores matching analysis of the effects of changes in corporate income tax rates.
Mexican marital endogamy and educational homogamy in the USA, 1980-2000: a case of social closure?

The high rates of Mexican immigration into the United States in recent decades raises questions about marital assimilation and social closure. We use data for approximately two million couples aged 30-39 from the 1980, 1990 and 2000 IPUMS census samples for the USA to analyze the demographic and social dynamics of ethnic endogamy and educational homogamy (N = 2,019,754). Log-linear models leave no doubt that endogamy remains the rule among the Mexican-born, Mexican-origin and Non-Hispanic Whites—both at the national and local levels (~2,000 PUMAS). The increase in endogamy among the Mexican-born, while significant, does not portend the emergence of social closure, perhaps not even a trend. Post-secondary education substantially weakens the endogamy rule for all three groups. The gender squeeze (more Mexican born males than females) forces the ruleto be broken in a large fraction of cases. 2010 census microdata will provide an important test of these findings.
Safety and Efficacy of the combined use of ivermectin, dexamethasone, enoxaparin and aspirin against COVID-19

From the first outbreak in Wuhan (China) in December 2019, until today the number of deaths worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic exceeds eight hundred thousand people and the number of infected people arises to more than 25 million. No treatment tested worldwide has shown unquestionable efficacy in the fight against COVID 19, according to NICE reports. We have designed an experimental treatment called IDEA based on four affordable drugs already available on the market in Argentina, based on the following rationale: -Ivermectin solution at a relatively high dose to lower the viral load in all stages of COVID 19 -Dexamethasone 4-mg injection, as anti-inflammatory drug to treat hyperinflammatory reaction to COVID-infection -Enoxaparin injection as anticoagulant to treat hypercoagulation in severe cases. -Aspirin 250-mg tablets to prevent hypercoagulation in mild and moderate cases Except for Ivermection oral solution, which was used in a higher dose than approved for parasitosis, all other drugs were used in the already approved dose and indication. Regarding Ivermectin safety, several oral studies have shown it to be safe even when used at daily doses much higher than those approved already. A clinical study has been conducted on COVID-19 patients at Eurnekian Hospital in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The study protocol and its final outcomes are described in this article. Results were compared with published data and data from patients admitted to the hospital receiving other treatments. None of the patient presenting mild symptoms needed to be hospitalized. Only one patient died (0.59 % of all included patients vs. 2.1 % overall mortality for the disease in Argentina today; 3.1 % of hospitalized patients vs. 26.8 % mortality in published data). IDEA protocol appears to be a useful alternative to prevent disease progression of COVID-19 when applied to mild cases and to decrease mortality in patients at all stages of the disease with a favorable risk-benefit ratio.
Discovery and Analysis of Shale Gas in a Carboniferous Reservoir and its Enrichment Characteristics in the Northern Nanpanjiang Depression

Shale gas resources are considered to be extremely abundant in southern China, which has dedicated considerable attention to shale gas exploration in recent years. Exploration of Shale gas has considerably progressed and several breakthroughs have been made in China. However, shale gas explorations are still scarce. Summary and detailed analysis studies on black shale reservoirs are still to be performed for many areas. This lack of information slows the progress of shale gas explorations and results in low quantities of stored black shale. The Carboniferous Dawuba Formation, which is widely distributed and considerably thick, is one of the black shale formations targeted for shale gas exploration in southern China in the recent years. The acquisition and analysis of total organic carbon, vitrinite reflectance, types of organic matter, mineral composition, porosity, and permeability are basic but important processes. In addition, we analyzed the microscopic pores present in the shale. In this study, we also showed the good gas content of the Dawuba Formation, as well as the geological factors affecting its gas content and other characteristics. To understand the prospect of exploration, we compared this with other shale reservoirs which have been already successfully explored for gas. Our comparison showed that those shale reservoirs had similar but not identical geological characteristics.
Fiscal Policy under Secular Stagnation: An Optimal Pump Priming Strategy

This paper provides a new perspective on Â…scal policy. A permanent depression in aggregate demand results in multiple equilibria: a secular stagnation equilibrium characterized by a binding zero lower bound, low inÂ‡ation, and underemployment; and a neoclassical equilibrium where inÂ‡ation is suÂ¢ ciently high for the zero lower bound to be non-binding at the (very low) natural real interest rate, resulting in full employment. The optimal Â…scal policy under secular stagnation consists in moving the economy to the neoclassical equilibrium. This requires a temporary, but massive, amount of government spending to overheat the economy such as to raise the inÂ‡ation anchor. The lack of Â…scal space cannot prevent the government from pump priming the economy through Â…scal policy. It may in fact help spur inÂ‡ation. To keep a tight control over the price level, the government can Â…nance the stimulus through a sufficiently long maturity structure of government debt.
Recent shrinkage of the range of the Eastern Spadefoot Toad, Pelobates syriacus (Amphibia: Anura): archaeological evidence from the Bronze Age in Israel

Abstract The analysis of the remains collected in the Ara Burial Cave in Lower Galilee, Israel (Late Bronze Age II, c. 1300-1200 BCE), permitted the identification of 725 anuran remains belonging mostly to Bufo viridis but also to Pelobates cf. syriacus. The origin of the anuran assemblage in Ara cave appears to be intrusive, probably related to the need to find aestivation shelter during the dry and hot summer season. Despite the relative rarity of Pelobates remains (attributable to a single individual), their presence in the Ara cave testifies to a wider range of the taxon in the recent past, since the cave is located outside its present range. Pelobates remains are also found in several Israeli Late Pleistocene archaeological sites that lie outside the present fragmented range of the species and completely fill its main gap in this country. This suggests recent environmental modifications, which may be due to climatic fluctuations as well as anthropogenic impact. An accurate analysis of the range contraction evidenced by the zooarchaeological record, and of the environmental changes that recently occurred in the region, should be taken into consideration in the preparation of soundly based conservation or reintroduction plans in Israel.
Effects of Sample Preparation, Growth Stage, and Observer on Microhistological Analysis of Herbivore Diets

LYON, L. J. 1968. An evaluation of density sampling methods in a shrub community. J. Range Manage. 21:16-20. MCCULLOCH, C. Y. 1955. Utilization of winter browse on wilderness big game range. J. Wildl. Manage. 19:206-215. MERRILL, E. H. , H. F. MAYLAND, AND J. M. PEEK. 1980. Effects of a fall wildfire on herbaceous vegetation on xeric sites in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Idaho. J. Range Manage. 33:363-367. MUEGGLER, W. F. 1965. Ecology of seral shrub communities in cedar-hemlock zones of northern Idaho. Ecol. Monogr. 35:165-185. MUTCH, R. W. 1974. "I thought forest fires were black! " West. Wildlands 1(1):16-21. OHMANN, L. F. , AND D. F. GRIGAL. 1979. Early revegetation and nutrient dynamics following the 1971 Little Sioux Forest Fire in northeastern Minnesota. For. Sci. Monogr. 21. 80pp. PEEK, J. M. , D. L. URICH, AND R. J. MACKIE. 1976. Moose habitat selection and relationships to forest management in northeastern Minnesota. Wildl. Monogr. 48. 65pp. RUTHERFORD, M. C. 1979. Plant-based techniques for determining available browse and browse utilization: a review. Bot. Rev. 45:203-228. SIEGEL, S. 1956. Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, N.Y. 312pp. STEEL, R. G. D. , AND J. H. TORRIE. 1960. Principles and procedures of statistics. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, N.Y. 481pp. WRIGHT, H. A. 1978. The effect of fire on vegetation in ponderosa pine forests. Texas Tech. Univ., College Agr. Sci. Publ. T-9-199. 21pp.
Quality Of Cloudy Plum Juice Produced From Fresh Fruit Of Prunus Domestica L. – The Effect Of Cultivar And Enzyme Treatment

Abstract The quality of cloudy juices produced from two plum cultivars varied in chemical characteristics and native polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, and was studied in relation to specific pectinolytic activity of enzyme preparations used for fresh fruit maceration before pressing. Process effectiveness expressed as juice yield, turbidity and the rate of transfer of anthocyanins and polyphenols were determined for five different enzyme preparations, whose activity was also analysed. Juice yields obtained after 1 hour mash maceration (50 ºC, 100 g·t−1) were between 86.6 and 95.4%. The anthocyanins content of the obtained juices strongly depended on the cultivar and ranged from 26 to 50 mg·L−1 for ‘Promis’, and from 269 to 289 mg·L−1 for ‘Čačanska Najbolja’, which could be related to the differences in the measured PPO activity (175.4 and 79.8 nkat·g−1, respectively). The type of enzyme preparation strongly affected the degradation rate of anthocyanins during juice processing. Peonidin-3-rutinoside proved to be the most stable during plum juice production in contrast to cyanidin-3-glucoside. Irrespectively of the cultivar, the juice prepared with the mixture of Rohapect PTE + Rohament PL (2 : 1) showed the highest turbidity among the investigated combinations. The results suggest that for the production of cloudy plum juice use of a preparation with low pectin methyl esterase and polygalacturonase activities and high pectin lyase activity could be recommended.
Assessing the incidence of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) infection by fungi during harvest and storage in Cameroon

In most parts of Cameroon particularly the Menoua Division, common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is usually consumed immediately after harvest or after a few months of storage. Contamination of common bean by fungi usually occurs in the field and during storage. It is possible that the incidence of food contamination by fungi varies between field and storage. The study aimed at determining the incidence of common bean infection by fungi during harvest and during storage. Six common bean cultivars both during harvest and storage were evaluated. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference (P ˃ 0.05) between their incidences of infection by fungi during harvest. The incidence of common bean infection during storage was shown to differ significantly between each cultivar (P ≤ 0.05). A comparison of the mean incidence level of infection by fungi in the two groups of bean cultivars (cultivars during harvest and cultivars during storage) using the independent ttest analysis revealed a significant difference between their mean incidence of infection. The findings conclude that the incidence of common bean infection by fungi during storage is higher than during harvest in the Menoua Division. These findings will help to sensitise farmers on the improvement of bean storage conditions.
Survival Analysis of Risk Factors for Mortality in a Cohort of Patients with Tuberculosis

Identify the treatment effects and risk factors for mortality in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis receiving antituberculosis treatment under the Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) program to reduce the mortality rate of tuberculosis. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted on the outcomes of antituberculosis treatment of 7,032 patients with tuberculosis in the DOTS program, in the Tuberculosis Management Information System from 2014 to 2017 in Tianjin, China. The Kaplan–Meier method and multifactor Cox proportional risk regression model were used to analyze the risk factors for mortality during antituberculosis treatment under DOTS. The success rate of antituberculosis treatment was 90.24% and the mortality rate was 4.56% among 7,032 cases of tuberculosis in Tianjin. Cox regression analysis showed that advanced age, male sex, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positivity, first sputum positivity, retreated tuberculosis, and a delayed visit (≥14 days) were risk factors for mortality in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis receiving antituberculosis treatment under DOTS. The treatment effects in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis during antituberculosis treatment under DOTS were positive in Tianjin. Advanced age, male sex, HIV positivity, first sputum positivity, retreated tuberculosis, and a delayed visit (≥14 days) increased the risk for mortality during antituberculosis treatment.
Optimal Covariate Balancing Conditions in Propensity Score Estimation

Abstract Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) is a popular method for estimating the average treatment effect (ATE). However, empirical studies show that the IPTW estimators can be sensitive to the misspecification of the propensity score model. To address this problem, researchers have proposed to estimate propensity score by directly optimizing the balance of pretreatment covariates. While these methods appear to empirically perform well, little is known about how the choice of balancing conditions affects their theoretical properties. To fill this gap, we first characterize the asymptotic bias and efficiency of the IPTW estimator based on the covariate balancing propensity score (CBPS) methodology under local model misspecification. Based on this analysis, we show how to optimally choose the covariate balancing functions and propose an optimal CBPS-based IPTW estimator. This estimator is doubly robust; it is consistent for the ATE if either the propensity score model or the outcome model is correct. In addition, the proposed estimator is locally semiparametric efficient when both models are correctly specified. To further relax the parametric assumptions, we extend our method by using a sieve estimation approach. We show that the resulting estimator is globally efficient under a set of much weaker assumptions and has a smaller asymptotic bias than the existing estimators. Finally, we evaluate the finite sample performance of the proposed estimators via simulation and empirical studies. An open-source software package is available for implementing the proposed methods.
Analysis of Determinants of Adoption and Extent of Seed Treatment Technologies of Home-Saved Wheat Seeds among Wheat Farmers in Kenya: A Double Hurdle Model Approach

Seed quality is a necessity in all attempts at achieving the country’s agricultural development; particularly productivity. This study aimed at examining the determinants of adoption and extent of seed treatment of Home-saved wheat-seed among farmers in Kenya. This study was anchored on adoption theory. The study employed use of survey research design from a sample of 101 wheat farmers in Uasin Gishu County. Double huddle model was used to access determinants of uptake and the extent of adoption of seed treatment of Homesaved wheat seeds. The findings showed that majority of the farmers 91.1% were male while only 8.9% were female; most of the wheat farmers had primary level of education (50.5%) followed by secondary education(31.7%), college education (13.9%) and university education (4.0%). Some of the significant determinants of adoption decisions comprised of gender, education level, household size, access to extension services, land tenure and distance from home to the nearest seed treater. Significant determinants of the extent of adoption include total land size, availability of wheat seed treatment equipment, expected better wheat prices, access to credit and gross income from wheat production. The study recommended provision of more trainings, availing of treatment equipment, price incentives and diversification of income of wheat farmers.
Soil Profi le Water Content Determina on: Spa otemporal Variability of Electromagne

926 S of root water uptake, crop water use and water use effi ciency, irrigation methods and effi ciency, and soil hydrology all require accurate determination of the volumetric soil water content (θv, m 3 m−3) and of the water content considered as a depth, S (m), stored in a soil profi le. Most of these studies require knowledge of the change in water, ΔS, stored in a soil prism of given x, y, and z dimensions, known as the control volume, to which the soil water balance equation is applied, e.g.:
The Effects of Synthesized Semicarbazone Copper Complex on Blood Pressure in Normotensive and L-NAME Induced Hypertensive Rats

Hypertension has been for decades a major contributor to overall mortality and morbidity worldwide. This study was aimed towards evaluating changes in blood pressure in normotensive and L-NAME hypertensive induced rats subjected to treatment with a synthesized semicarbazone copper complex (CSCZ)**. CSCZ was synthesized from the reaction between di-2-pyridylketone semicarbazone (dpksc) and CuCl2.2H2O in refluxing ethanol and characterized from its spectroscopic and elemental analyses. The infrared and electronic absorption spectra are in accord with the proposed formulation of the complex. Animals were rendered hypertensive by oral administrations of Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) daily (dose 40 mg/kg body weight) for 5 weeks. Oral daily dosages (20 mg/kg body weight) of CSCZ was administered to the animals. A significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) at 132.91 ± 7.62 was observed in the L-NAME/CSCZ treated group (LCZ) when compared to the L-NAME group at 161.00 ± 5.34 while no significant changes were observed in heart rate (HR) and pulse pressure (PP). Treatment with CSCZ also seemingly normalised and prevented the development of L-NAME induced hypertension in the rats. A significant decrease in SBP and PP was also seen in the normotensive group treated with CSCZ at 91 ± 2.11 and 21.67 ± 1.43 respectively when compared to the control group at 130.63 ± 2.98 and 44.10 ± 5.15 respectively. These findings reveal the blood pressure lowering effects of CSCZ in normotensive rats and its ability to prevent L-NAME induced hypertension.
Domestic Interest Rate and Foreign Direct Investment under Institutional Uncertainty

It has been argued that foreign direct investment can exert upward or downward pressure on the domestic interest rate depending on foreign investors’ relative weights on internal and external finance with respect to the domestic economy. Additionally, a country’s level of institutional uncertainty can influence firms’ ability to obtain external finance. Using corruption to measure institutional uncertainty, we find that across countries a 1 percent increase in FDI inflows (outflows) is more likely to reduce the domestic interest rate by as much as 0.7 (1) percent. This empirical association between domestic interest rates and FDI flows is non-monotonically uncertainty-contingent. <br>
Retraction Retracted: Apoptosis and Molecular Targeting Therapy in Cancer

BioMed Research International has retracted the article titled “Apoptosis and Molecular Targeting Therapy in Cancer” [1]. The article was found to contain a substantial amount of material from previously published articles, including the following sources: (i) John C Reed. “Apoptosis-targeted therapies for cancer”, Cancer Cell, 2003. 10.1016/S1535-6108(02)00241-6. [2] (Not Cited) (ii) DB Longley, PG Johnston. “Molecular mechanisms of drug resistance”, The Journal of Pathology, 2005. 10.1002/ path.1706. [3] (Not Cited) (iii) Suparna Mazumder, Dragos Plesca and Alexandru Almasan. “A Jekyll and Hyde Role of Cyclin E in the Genotoxic Stress Response: Switching from Cell Cycle Control to Apoptosis Regulation”, Cell Cycle, 06/15/2007. 10.4161/ cc.6. 12.4432. [4] (Not Cited) (iv) Plati, Jessica, Octavian Bucur, and Roya KhosraviFar. “Apoptotic cell signaling in cancer progression and therapy”, Integrative Biology, 2011. DOI: 10.1039/ C0IB00144A. [5] (Not Cited) (v) C. Gullo, M. Au, G. Feng, and G. Teoh, “The biology of Ku and its potential oncogenic role in cancer,” Biochimica et Biophysica Acta—Reviews on Cancer, vol. 1765, no. 2, pp. 223–234, 2006. 10.1016/j.bbcan. 2006.01. 001. [6] (Cited as reference 222)
Metabolic Costs Associated with the Ingestion of Plant Phenolics by Microtus pennsylvanicus

We measured the basal metabolic rate of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus , before and after incorporating the phenol gallic acid (6% by dry mass) into the diet. After phenolics were added, basal metabolic rates increased by 13.6–22.6%. This indicates that there are measurable metabolic costs associated with feeding on plants that contain phenolics. These costs may be associated with detoxification and tissue repair, but their cause is not known.