Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Two-Stage Selective Fusion Framework for Joint Intent Detection and Slot Filling

Spoken language understanding (SLU) is the core of the speech-centric human–robot interaction system, which mainly involves intent detection and slot filling. The recent SLU research focuses on the joint modeling of the two tasks due to their correlation. Furthermore, the slot information consists of slot position and slot type. Although the slot types are semantically related to the intent, the slot positions of the same intent may vary a lot in different utterances due to the diversity of spoken language. Thus, the conventional one-stage slot filling task may introduce unrelated information for slot position prediction in the slot–intent interaction of the joint modeling. Therefore, we propose a novel two-stage selective fusion framework for joint intent detection and slot filling. Unlike the previous one-stage framework, the proposed framework decomposes the slot filling into two stages, i.e., the slot proposal and slot classification. The slot proposal network consisting of BERT and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM)-conditional random field (CRF) predicts the slot positions. Instead of the tokenwise fusion in the existing methods, the slot–intent feature fusion is only performed in the slot classification. A selective fusion mechanism is designed to facilitate the slot–intent interaction within each slot candidate for more accurate slot-type classification. Experiments on five standard benchmarks (i.e., ATIS, SNIPS, MixATIS, MixSNIPS, and DSTC4) show that the proposed framework achieves the best performance in comparison with several state-of-the-art methods.
Intracranial compliance in type 2 diabetes mellitus and its relationship with the cardiovascular autonomic nervous control

The intracranial compliance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and the association with cardiovascular autonomic control have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess intracranial compliance using the noninvasive intracranial pressure (niICP) and the monitoring of waveform peaks (P1, P2, and P3) and the relationship with cardiovascular autonomic control in T2DM patients. Thirty-two men aged 40-60 years without cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) were studied: T2DMG (n=16) and control group CG (n=16). The niICP was evaluated by a noninvasive extracranial sensor placed on the scalp. Cardiovascular autonomic control was evaluated by indices of the baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), from temporal series of R-R intervals of electrocardiogram and systolic arterial pressure, during supine and orthostatic positions. The participants remained in the supine position for 15 min and then 15 min more in orthostatism. T2DMG presented a decrease of the P2/P1 ratio during the orthostatic position (P<0.001). There was a negative moderate correlation between the P2 peak with cardiovascular coupling (K2 HP-SAPLF) in supine (r=-0.612, P=0.011) and orthostatic (r=-0.568, P=0.020) positions in T2DMG. We concluded that T2DM patients without CAN and cardiovascular complications presented intracranial compliance similar to healthy subjects. Despite preserved intracranial adjustments, T2DM patients had a response of greater magnitude in orthostatism. In addition, the decoupling between the heart period and blood pressure signal oscillations in low frequency appeared to be related to the worsening of intracranial compliance due to the increased P2 peak.
CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF COMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH GALLSTONES IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL.

BACKGROUND Gallstones are the presence of bile clay in the gallbladder or bile ducts. The disease can be asymptomatic or symptomatic and can lead to complications and consequently a worse prognosis, such as acute cholecystitis, choledocholithiasis, cholangitis, and acute pancreatitis. The risk of complications increases after the first episode of biliary colic. OBJECTIVE A clinical-epidemiological evaluation of patients admitted to a gastroenterology ward of a tertiary care hospital with gallstone-related complications. METHODS We evaluated 158 patients admitted through discharge reports and medical records analysis from January 1, 2013, to February 24, 2021. RESULTS The female sex was predominant (76.6%), and the mean age of patients was 51.6 years. Men were significantly older than women (P=0.005). Most (57.6%) had some comorbidity, the most frequent being systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity. The mean hospitalization time was 24 days, significantly longer in men (P=0.046) but without a direct relationship with age (P=0.414). The most frequent complication was choledocholithiasis, and 55.7% of patients without previous cholecystectomy had a report of biliary colic before admission, on average 1.5 years previously. A history of a prior cholecystectomy was present in 17.1% of those evaluated. Abdominal ultrasonography followed by magnetic resonance cholangiography was the most frequently performed exam for diagnostic definition. Regarding therapeutic measures, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was necessary for 47.3% of patients without previous cholecystectomy and 81.4% of patients who have already had a cholecystectomy. Among patients not yet cholecystectomized, 84% underwent the procedure before discharge. CONCLUSION The female patients were predominant. Men were significantly older than women and had more extended hospital stays. The most frequent complication was choledocholithiasis, and around half of the patients reported previous biliary colic. endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography has been necessary for the majority of the patients.
My Struggles with the Block Universe

This document is the second installment of three in the Cerro Grande Fire Series. Like its predecessor arXiv:quant-ph/0105039, "Notes on a Paulian Idea," it is a collection of letters written to various friends and colleagues, most of whom regularly circuit this archive. The unifying theme of all the letters is that each has something to do with the quantum. Particularly, the collection chronicles the emergence of Quantum Bayesianism as a robust view of quantum theory, eventually evolving into the still-more-radical "QBism" (with the B standing for no particular designation anymore), as it took its most distinctive turn away from various Copenhagen Interpretations. Included are many anecdotes from the history of quantum information theory: for instance, the story of the origin of the terms "qubit" and "quantum information" from their originator's own mouth, a copy of a rejection letter written by E. T. Jaynes for one of Rolf Landauer's original erasure-cost principle papers, and much more. Specialized indices are devoted to historical, technical, and philosophical matters. More roundly, the document is an attempt to provide an essential ingredient, unavailable anywhere else, for turning QBism into a live option within the vast spectrum of quantum foundational thought.
Study of CME properties using high resolution data

The joint use of high-resolution data from PROBA2 and SDO satellites and LASCO/SOHO coronographs enabled us to examine early stages of initiation and propagation of six limb CMEs registered in June 2010 - June 2011. For five events under consideration, the CME initiation is marked by filament (prominence) eruption or by a loop-like structure having another nature. Subsequently, several loop-like structures having higher brightness and following each other at different velocities appear in the region of the CME initiation. The CME frontal structure is formed by these loop-like structures. The time-dependent velocities and acceleration of the ejection front have been obtained for all CMEs under consideration. We have drawn a conclusion about the possible existence of two CME types dependent on the time profile of their velocity. The first CME type comprises the ejections whose velocity decreases abruptly by more than 100 km/s after having reached the maximum; it thereupon passes to slow deceleration/variation. The second CME type is formed by the ejections whose velocity varies insignificantly after reaching the maximum. The CME angular size is shown to increase up to threefold at the initial stage of propagation; it increases twofold 3.5-11 minutes after the first measurement of this parameter. When considering 3 CMEs, we see that their broadening exceeds their extension in the longitudinal direction during a certain period of time at the initial propagation stage.
Real‐world effectiveness and safety of insulin glargine 300 U/ml in insulin‐naïve people with type 2 diabetes in the Latin America region: A subgroup analysis of the ATOS

To evaluate the real‐world effectiveness and safety of insulin glargine 300 U/ml (Gla‐300) in achieving glycaemic goals in insulin‐naïve people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Mexico, Colombia and Peru (Latin America region) in the A Toujeo Observational Study (ATOS).
High-Order Above Threshold Ionization of Noble Gas Atoms using Sculpted Laser Pulses

We present theoretical studies of above threshold ionization (ATI) using sculpted laser pulses for noble gas atoms. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved to calculate the ATI energy spectrum, and a qualitative understanding of the electron motion after ionization is explored using a classical model that solves Newton’s equation of motion. Results are presented for Gaussian and Airy laser pulses with identical spectral intensities, but differing spectral phases. The simulations show that the third order spectral phase of the Airy pulse, which alters the temporal envelope of the electric field, causes changes to the timing of ionization and the dynamics of the rescattering process. Specifically, the use of Airy pulses in the ATI process results in a shift of the Keldysh plateau cutoff to lower energy due to a decreased pondermotive energy of the electron in the laser field. A reduced electron yield is also observed for the low-energy direct electrons liberated by an Airy pulse. Additionally, the side lobes of the Airy laser pulse change the number and timing of rescattering events, which results in changes to the high-order ATI plateau.
FaceTopoNet: Facial Expression Recognition Using Face Topology Learning

Prior work has shown that the order in which different components of the face are learned using a sequential learner can play an important role in the performance of facial expression recognition systems. We propose FaceTopoNet, an end-to-end deep model for facial expression recognition, which is capable of learning an effective tree topology of the face. Our model then traverses the learned tree to generate a sequence, which is then used to form an embedding to feed a sequential learner. The devised model adopts one stream for learning structure and one stream for learning texture. The structure stream focuses on the positions of the facial landmarks, whereas the main focus of the texture stream is on the patches around the landmarks to learn textural information. We then fuse the outputs of the two streams by utilizing an effective attention-based fusion strategy. We perform extensive experiments on four large-scale in-the-wild facial expression datasets—namely AffectNet, FER2013, ExpW, and real-world affective face database—and one lab-controlled dataset (Cohn–Kanade) to evaluate our approach. FaceTopoNet achieves state-of-the-art performance on three of the five datasets and obtains competitive results on the other two datasets. We also perform rigorous ablation and sensitivity experiments to evaluate the impact of different components and parameters in our model. Finally, we perform robustness experiments and demonstrate that FaceTopoNet is more robust against occlusions in comparison to other leading methods in the area.
Biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance and genotyping of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from retail chicken meats

ABSTRACT 1. The Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a hazardous zoonotic agent for chicken meat consumers. This study determined the serogroups and evaluated the virulence genes, antibiotic resistance, biofilm-forming profiles and genetic relationships of STEC isolates in chicken meat. 2. A total of 100 samples belonging to dressed-whole chicken and different parts of the chicken (wing, breast, thigh, drumstick) were collected between September and November 2019 from different retail markets in Kayseri, Türkiye. 3. Phenotypic (identification, disc diffusion test, Congo red agar and microtitre plate tests) and molecular tests (identification, serogrouping, virulence factors, biofilm, antibiotic susceptibility, 16S rRNA sequencing and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR for typing of the isolates) were carried out. 4. E. coli was isolated from 35% of the samples and 35% of the samples harboured at least one STEC. Among 35 STEC isolates, 3 (8.5%), 6 (17.1%), 2 (5.7%) and 3 (8.5%) were found to be positive for fliCH2, fliCH8, fliCH11, fliCH19 genes, respectively. Out of 35 STEC positive isolates, 4 (11.4%) were identified as E. coli O157, from which 2 (5.7%) were E. coli O157:H7. E. coli O157 was detected in two (10%), one (5%), one (5%) of the thigh, drumstick and whole chicken samples, respectively. 5. Biofilm-forming ability was reported in 33 (94.2%) of 35 E. coli isolates, whilst the biofilm-associated genes detected among 35 STEC isolates included csgA (88.5%), fimH (88.5%), bcsA (85.7%), agn43 (14.2%) and papC (8.5%). The STEC strains showed resistance against ampicillin (88.5%) and erythromycin (88.5%), followed by tetracycline (74.2%) and gentamicin (25.7%). However, the distribution of isolates harbouring bla CMY, ere(A), tet(A) and aac(3)-IV antibiotic resistance genes was found to be 17.1%, 11.4%, 85.7% and 5.7%, respectively. 6. ERIC-PCR showed that E. coli strains obtained from different parts and whole of chicken samples had genetic diversities. ERIC-PCR patterns grouped strains of 35 STEC into eight clusters designated A-H, with 73% similarity. Proper hygiene measures and staff training are essential for public health during poultry processing and in retail stores to control STEC.
Propofol attenuates kinesin-mediated axonal vesicle transport and fusion

Propofol is a widely used general anesthetic, yet the understanding of its cellular effects is fragmentary. General anesthetics are not as innocuous as once believed and have a wide range of molecular targets that include kinesin motors. Propofol, ketamine, and etomidate reduce the distances that Kinesin-1 KIF5 and Kinesin-2 KIF3 travel along microtubules in vitro. These transport kinesins are highly expressed in the CNS, and their dysfunction leads to a range of human pathologies including neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. While in vitro data suggest that general anesthetics may disrupt kinesin transport in neurons, this hypothesis remains untested. Here we find that propofol treatment of hippocampal neurons decreased vesicle transport mediated by Kinesin-1 KIF5 and Kinesin-3 KIF1A ∼25–60%. Propofol treatment delayed delivery of the KIF5 cargo NgCAM to the distal axon. Because KIF1A participates in axonal transport of presynaptic vesicles, we tested whether prolonged propofol treatment affects synaptic vesicle fusion mediated by VAMP2. The data show that propofol-induced transport delay causes a significant decrease in vesicle fusion in distal axons. These results are the first to link a propofol-induced delay in neuronal trafficking to a decrease in axonal vesicle fusion, which may alter physiological function during and after anesthesia.
Lucid dreaming increased during the COVID-19 pandemic: An online survey

The COVID-19 pandemic changed people’s lives all over the world. While anxiety and stress decreased sleep quality for most people, an increase in total sleep time was also observed in certain cohorts. Dream recall frequency also increased, especially for nightmares. However, to date, there are no consistent reports focusing on pandemic-related changes in lucid dreaming, a state during which dreamers become conscious of being in a dream as it unfolds. Here we investigated lucid dreaming recall frequency and other sleep variables in 1,857 Brazilian subjects, using an online questionnaire. Firstly, we found that most participants (64.78%) maintained their lucid dream recall frequency during the pandemic, but a considerable fraction (22.62%) informed that lucid dreams became more frequent, whereas a smaller subset (12.60%) reported a decrease in these events during the pandemic. Secondly, the number of participants reporting lucid dreams at least once per week increased during the pandemic. Using a mixed logistic regression model, we confirmed that the pandemic significantly enhanced the recall frequency of lucid dreams (p = 0.002). Such increase in lucid dreaming during the pandemic was significantly associated with an enhancement in both dream and nightmare recall frequencies, as well as with sleep quality and symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder. Pandemic-related increases in stress, anxiety, sleep fragmentation, and sleep extension, which enhance REM sleep awakening, may be associated with the increase in the occurrence of lucid dreams, dreams in general, and nightmares.
Distinct cerebral cortical perfusion patterns in idiopathic normal‐pressure hydrocephalus

The aims of the study are to evaluate idiopathic normal‐pressure hydrocephalus (INPH)‐related cerebral blood flow (CBF) abnormalities and to investigate their relation to cortical thickness in INPH patients. We investigated cortical CBF utilizing surface‐based early‐phase 18F‐florbetaben (E‐FBB) PET analysis in two groups: INPH patients and healthy controls. All 39 INPH patients and 20 healthy controls were imaged with MRI, including three‐dimensional volumetric images, for automated surface‐based cortical thickness analysis across the entire brain. A subgroup with 37 participants (22 INPH patients and 15 healthy controls) that also underwent 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET imaging was further analyzed. Compared with age‐ and gender‐matched healthy controls, INPH patients showed statistically significant hyperperfusion in the high convexity of the frontal and parietal cortical regions. Importantly, within the INPH group, increased perfusion correlated with cortical thickening in these regions. Additionally, significant hypoperfusion mainly in the ventrolateral frontal cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and temporal cortical regions was observed in the INPH group relative to the control group. However, this hypoperfusion was not associated with cortical thinning. A subgroup analysis of participants that also underwent FDG PET imaging showed that increased (or decreased) cerebral perfusion was associated with increased (or decreased) glucose metabolism in INPH. A distinctive regional relationship between cerebral cortical perfusion and cortical thickness was shown in INPH patients. Our findings suggest distinct pathophysiologic mechanisms of hyperperfusion and hypoperfusion in INPH patients.
Exploring the role of task on kinematic variability and assessing consistency in individual responses across repetitive manual tasks

Abstract To gain a greater understanding of motor variability (MV) as an individual trait, the effect of task type on MV and individual consistency in MV across three tasks was investigated. Twenty participants performed repetitive carrying, lifting, and simulated sawing tasks. MV was assessed using the linear measure of mean point-by-point standard deviation in three-dimensional upper body joint angles. Task type affected MV, where carrying showed higher MV compared to sawing (23–29%) and lifting (12–19%). Furthermore, MV was higher in lifting compared to sawing (12–25%). Poor to moderate individual consistency (ICC = 0.42–0.63) was found across tasks. Task type determined MV and only some support for MV as an individual trait across tasks was found. Based on this work, differences in degrees of freedom afforded by the task influence the opportunity to exploit MV, and possibly individual consistency in MV magnitude is specific to the degrees of freedom afforded by the task. Practitioner summary: In repetitive tasks, movement variability has been proposed as an individual characteristic independent of task characteristics, where repeaters show consistently low variability, while replacers show consistently high variability. In the current study, only moderate support was demonstrated for variability as a consistent individual characteristic across different manual tasks. Abbreviation MV: Motor variability; WRMSDs: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders; DOF: Degrees of freedom; meanSD: Mean standard deviation; SD: Standard deviation; H: Handle (of simulated sawing setup); T: Track (of simulated sawing setup); F: Frame (of simulated sawing setup); ICC: Intraclass correlation; UE: Upper extremity; MMH: Manual material handling; EMG: Electromyography
The Tarskian Turn: Deflationism and Axiomatic Truth

In The Tarskian Turn, Leon Horsten investigates the relationship between formal theories of truth and contemporary philosophical approaches to truth. The work of mathematician and logician Alfred Tarski (1901--1983) marks the transition from substantial to deflationary views about truth. Deflationism--which holds that the notion of truth is light and insubstantial--can be and has been made more precise in multiple ways. Crucial in making the deflationary intuition precise is its relation to formal or logical aspects of the notion of truth. Allowing that semantical theories of truth may have heuristic value, in The Tarskian Turn Horsten focuses on axiomatic theories of truth developed since Tarski and their connection to deflationism. Arguing that the insubstantiality of truth has been misunderstood in the literature, Horsten proposes and defends a new kind of deflationism, inferential deflationism, according to which truth is a concept without a nature or essence. He argues that this way of viewing the concept of truth, inspired by a formalization of Kripke's theory of truth, flows naturally from the best formal theories of truth that are currently available. Alternating between logical and philosophical chapters, the book steadily progresses toward stronger theories of truth. Technicality cannot be altogether avoided in the subject under discussion, but Horsten attempts to strike a balance between the need for logical precision on the one hand and the need to make his argument accessible to philosophers.