Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Data Adaptive Regularization for Abdominal Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping

Purpose: To improve repeatability and reproducibility across acquisition parameters and reduce bias in quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) of the liver, through development of an optimized regularized reconstruction algorithm for abdominal QSM. Theory and Methods: An optimized approach to estimation of magnetic susceptibility distribution is formulated as a constrained reconstruction problem that incorporates estimates of the input data reliability and anatomical priors available from chemical shift-encoded imaging. The proposed data-adaptive method was evaluated with respect to bias, repeatability, and reproducibility in a patient population with a wide range of liver iron concentration (LIC). The proposed method was compared to the state-of-the-art approach in liver QSM for two multi-echo SGRE protocols with different acquisition parameters at 3T. Results: The data-adaptive method produced susceptibility maps with higher subjective quality due to reduced shading artifacts. For both acquisition protocols, higher linear correlation with both $R_2$ and $R_2^*$-based measurements were observed for the data-adaptive method ($r^2=0.74/0.72$ for $R_2$, $0.98/0.99$ for $R_2^*$) than the standard method ($r^2=0.62/0.67$ and $0.84/0.91$). For both protocols, the data-adaptive method enabled better test-retest repeatability (repeatability coefficients 0.14/0.14ppm for the data-adaptive method, 0.26/0.31ppm for the standard method) and reproducibility across protocols (reproducibility coefficient 0.25ppm vs 0.36ppm) than the standard method. Conclusions: The proposed data-adaptive QSM algorithm may enable quantification of liver iron concentration with improved repeatability/reproducibility across different acquisition parameters as 3T.
Transcranial ultrasound simulations: a review.

Transcranial ultrasound is more and more used for therapy and imaging of the brain. However, the skull is a highly attenuating and aberrating medium, with different structures and acoustic properties between samples and even within a sample. Thus, case-specific simulations are needed to perform transcranial focused ultrasound interventions safely. In this article, we provide a review of the different methods used to model the skull and to simulate ultrasound propagation through it. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
SecretGen: Privacy Recovery on Pre-Trained Models via Distribution Discrimination

Transfer learning through the use of pre-trained models has become a growing trend for the machine learning community. Consequently, numerous pre-trained models are released online to facilitate further research. However, it raises extensive concerns on whether these pre-trained models would leak privacy-sensitive information of their training data. Thus, in this work, we aim to answer the following questions:"Can we effectively recover private information from these pre-trained models? What are the sufficient conditions to retrieve such sensitive information? "We first explore different statistical information which can discriminate the private training distribution from other distributions. Based on our observations, we propose a novel private data reconstruction framework, SecretGen, to effectively recover private information. Compared with previous methods which can recover private data with the ground true prediction of the targeted recovery instance, SecretGen does not require such prior knowledge, making it more practical. We conduct extensive experiments on different datasets under diverse scenarios to compare SecretGen with other baselines and provide a systematic benchmark to better understand the impact of different auxiliary information and optimization operations. We show that without prior knowledge about true class prediction, SecretGen is able to recover private data with similar performance compared with the ones that leverage such prior knowledge. If the prior knowledge is given, SecretGen will significantly outperform baseline methods. We also propose several quantitative metrics to further quantify the privacy vulnerability of pre-trained models, which will help the model selection for privacy-sensitive applications. Our code is available at: https://github.com/AI-secure/SecretGen.
Semiparametric Estimation on Multi-treatment Causal Effects via Cross-Fitting

Causal inference is a critical research area with multi-disciplinary origins and applications, ranging from statistics, computer science, economics, psychology to public health. In many scientific research, randomized experiments provide a golden standard for estimation of causal effects for decades. However, in many situations, randomized experiments are not feasible in practice so that practitioners need to rely on empirical investigation for causal reasoning. Causal inference via observational data is a challenging task since the knowledge of the treatment assignment mechanism is missing, which typically requires non-testable assumptions to make the inference possible. For several years, great effort has been devoted to the research of causal inference for binary treatments. In practice, it is also common to use observational data on multiple treatment comparisons. Within the potential outcomes framework, we propose a generalized cross-fitting estimator (GCF), which generalizes the doubly robust estimator with cross-fitting for binary treatment to multiple treatment comparisons and provides rigorous proofs on its statistical properties. This estimator permits the use of more flexible machine learning methods to model the nuisance parts, and based on relatively weak assumptions, while there is still a theoretical guarantee for valid statistical inference. We show the asymptotic properties of the GCF estimators, and provide the asymptotic simultaneous confidence intervals that achieve the semiparametric efficiency bound for average treatment effect. The performance of the estimator is accessed through simulation study based on the common evaluation metrics generally considered in the causal inference literature.
Evaluating the Accuracy of Stochastic Geometry Based Models for LEO Satellite Networks Analysis

This letter investigates the accuracy of recently proposed stochastic geometry-based modeling of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks. In particular, we use the Wasserstein Distance-inspired method to analyze the distances between different models, including Fibonacci lattice and orbit models. We propose an algorithm to calculate the distance between the generated point sets. Next, we test the algorithm’s performance and analyze the distance between the stochastic geometry model and other more widely acceptable models using numerical results.
VizWiz-FewShot: Locating Objects in Images Taken by People With Visual Impairments

We introduce a few-shot localization dataset originating from photographers who authentically were trying to learn about the visual content in the images they took. It includes nearly 10,000 segmentations of 100 categories in over 4,500 images that were taken by people with visual impairments. Compared to existing few-shot object detection and instance segmentation datasets, our dataset is the first to locate holes in objects (e.g., found in 12.3\% of our segmentations), it shows objects that occupy a much larger range of sizes relative to the images, and text is over five times more common in our objects (e.g., found in 22.4\% of our segmentations). Analysis of three modern few-shot localization algorithms demonstrates that they generalize poorly to our new dataset. The algorithms commonly struggle to locate objects with holes, very small and very large objects, and objects lacking text. To encourage a larger community to work on these unsolved challenges, we publicly share our annotated few-shot dataset at https://vizwiz.org .
Soft decoding without soft demapping with ORBGRAND

For spectral efficiency, higher order modulation symbols confer information on more than one bit. As soft detection forward error correction decoders assume the availability of information at binary granularity, however, soft demappers are required to compute per-bit reliabilities from complex-valued signals. Here we show that the recently introduced universal soft detection decoder ORBGRAND can be adapted to work with symbol-level soft information, obviating the need for energy expensive soft demapping. We establish that doing so reduces complexity while retaining the error correction performance achieved with the optimal demapper.
Validation and Verification of Turbulence Mixing due to Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability of an air/SF$_6$ interface

Turbulent mixing due to hydrodynamic instabilities occurs in a wide range of science and engineering applications such as supernova explosions and inertial confinement fusion. The experimental, theoretical and numerical studies help us to understand the dynamics of hydrodynamically unstable interfaces between fluids in these important problems. In this paper, we present an increasingly accurate and robust front tracking method for the numerical simulations of Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability (RMI) to estimate the growth rate. The single-mode shock tube experiments of Collins and Jacobs 2002 for two incident shock strengths ($M=1.11$ and $M=1.21$) are used to validate the RMI simulations. The simulations based on the classical fifth order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme of Jiang and Shu 1996 with Yang's artificial compression are compared with Collins and Jacobs 2002 shock tube experiments. We investigate the resolution effects using front tracking with WENO schemes on the two-dimensional RMI of an air/SF$_6$ interface. We achieve very good agreement on the early time interface displacement and amplitude growth rate between simulations and experiments for Mach number $M=1.11$. A 4% discrepancy on early-time amplitude is observed between the fine grid simulation and the $M=1.21$ experiments of Collins and Jacobs 2002.
Towards Complex Document Understanding By Discrete Reasoning

Document Visual Question Answering (VQA) aims to answer questions over visually-rich documents. In this work, we introduce a new Document VQA dataset, named TAT-DQA, which consists of 3,067 document pages comprising semi-structured table(s) and unstructured text as well as 16,558 question-answer pairs. The documents are sampled from financial reports and contain lots of numbers, which means discrete reasoning capability is demanded to answer the questions. Based on TAT-DQA, we further develop a novel model named MHST that takes into account the information in multi-modalities to intelligently address different types of questions with corresponding strategies, i.e., extraction or reasoning. The experiments show that MHST model significantly outperforms the baseline methods, demonstrating its effectiveness. However, the performance still lags far behind that of expert humans. We expect that our TAT-DQA dataset would facilitate the research on understanding of visually-rich documents, especially for scenarios that require discrete reasoning. Also, we hope the proposed model would inspire researchers to design more advanced Document VQA models in future.
Concurrent Active Learning in Autonomous Airborne Source Search: Dual Control for Exploration and Exploitation

A concurrent learning framework is developed for source search in an unknown environment using autonomous platforms equipped with onboard sensors. Distinct from the existing solutions that require significant computational power for Bayesian estimation and path planning, the proposed solution is computationally affordable for onboard processors. A new concept of concurrent learning using multiple parallel estimators is proposed to learn the operational environment and quantify estimation uncertainty. The search agent is empowered with the dual capability of exploiting current-estimated parameters to track the source and probing the environment to reduce the impacts of uncertainty, namely Concurrent Learning based Dual Control for Exploration and Exploitation (CL-DCEE). In this setting, the control action not only minimizes the tracking error between future agent's position and estimated source location, but also the uncertainty of predicted estimation. More importantly, the rigorous proven properties, such as the convergence of CL-DCEE algorithm, are established under mild assumptions on noises, and the impact of noises on the search performance is examined. Simulation results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed CL-DCEE algorithm. Compared with the information-theoretic approach, CL-DCEE not only guarantees convergence, but produces better search performance and consumes much less computational time.
A G ] 2 5 Ju l 2 02 2 On the Tate Conjecture in Codimension One for Varieties with h 2 , 0 = 1 over Finite Fields

We prove that the Tate conjecture over finite fields is “generically true” for mod p reductions of complex projective varieties with h = 1, under a mild assumption on moduli. By refining this general result, we prove in characteristic p ≥ 5 the BSD conjecture for a height 1 elliptic curve E over a function field of genus 1, under the generic assumption that the singular fibers in its minimal compactification are all irreducible. We also prove the Tate conjecture over finite fields for admissible algebraic surfaces with pg = K = 1 in characteristic p ≥ 5 and even dimensional Gushel-Mukai varieties in characteristic p ≥ 3.
The Active Galactic Nuclei in the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Survey (HETDEX). II. Luminosity Function

We present the Lyα emission line luminosity function (LF) of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the first release of the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Survey (HETDEX) AGN catalog. The AGN are selected either by emission line pairs characteristic of AGN or by a single broad emission line, free of any photometric preselections (magnitude/color/morphology). The sample consists of 2346 AGN spanning 1.88 < z < 3.53, covering an effective area of 30.61 deg2. Approximately 2.6% of the HETDEX AGN are not detected at >5σ confidence at r ∼ 26 in the deepest r-band images we have searched. The Lyα line luminosity ranges from ∼1042.3 to 1045.9 erg s−1. Our Lyα LF shows a turnover luminosity with opposite slopes on the bright end and the faint end: The space density is highest at LLyα∗=1043.4 erg s−1. We explore the evolution of the AGN LF over a broader redshift range (0.8 < z < 3); constructing the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) LF with the 1450 Å monochromatic luminosity of the power-law component of the continuum (M1450) from M 1450 ∼ −18 to −27.5. We divide the sample into three redshift bins (z ∼ 1.5, 2.1, and 2.6). In all three redshift bins, our UV LFs indicate that the space density of AGN is highest at the turnover luminosity M1450* with opposite slopes on the bright end and the faint end. The M 1450 LFs in the three redshift bins can be well fit with a luminosity evolution and density evolution model: the turnover luminosity ( M1450* ) increases, and the turnover density (Φ*) decreases with increasing redshift.
hepatocytes: isolation, cryopreservation, and applications to in vitro drug metabolism studies. Pharmacology Research and Perspectives, 4 (5).

Despite reports of the successful isolation of primary equine hepatocytes, there are no published data regarding the successful cryopreservation of these isolated cells. In this study, a detailed description of the procedures for isolation, cryopreservation, and recovery of equine hepatocytes are presented. Furthermore, the intrinsic clearance (Cl int ) and production of metabolites for three drugs were compared between freshly isolated and recovered cryopreserved hepatocytes. Primary equine hepatocytes were isolated using a two-step collagenase perfusion method, with an average cell yield of 2.47 (cid:1) 2.62 9 10 6 cells/g of perfused liver tissue and viability of 84.1 (cid:1) 2.62%. These cells were cryopreserved with William’s medium E containing 10% fetal bovine serum with 10% DMSO. The viability of recovered cells, after a 30% Percoll gradient, was 77 (cid:1) 11% and estimated recovery rate was approximately 27%. These puriﬁed cells were used to determine the in vitro Cl int of three drugs used in equine medicine; omeprazole, ﬂunixin, and phenylbutazone, via the substrate depletion method. Cryopreserved suspensions gave a comparable estimation of Cl int compared to fresh cells for these three drugs as well as producing the same metabolites. This work paves the way for establishing a bank of cryopreserved equine hepatocytes that can be used for estimating pharmacokinetic parameters such as the hepatic metabolic in vivo clearance of a drug as well as producing horse-speciﬁc drug metabolites.
Effect of Ripening Stage of Banana and Drying Methods on Properties of Flour for Mixed Banana Powder Drink

Natural drink has increasingly interested consumers. To develop the natural drink, the effect of ripening stage and drying methods on quality of banana powder were investigated. Banana at the ripening stage I, II and III was steamed at 100°C for 20 min prior to hot-air drying. Also, banana paste was dried by a rotary drum dryer at 150°C. Qualities of flour were affected by the ripening stage and drying methods. Flour from stage II banana with drum drying provided the best qualities to formulate the mixed powder drink. A mixture of 85% drum dried and stage II banana flour with 10% oat grain and 5% sesame powder obtained the highest liking scores in the case of serving at ambient temperature.
Training of nursing technicians/assistants in mobile pre-hospital healthcare: results from nursing records

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a program for capacitation of associate degree nurses and licensed practical nurses in improving the documentation of respiratory care for children less than 5 years old in pre-hospital mobile units. Methods: A quasi-experimental, prospective, and comparative onegroup before and after design was used to conduct the study. The study was conducted in the Pre-Hospital Mobile Units of Recife. The sample consisted of 148 children’s records in 2006 before the initiation of the program of capacitation and 113 children’s records in 2007 and 2008 after the implementation of the program. Results: There was a statistical significant change after the implementation of the program regarding to quality documentation and the frequency of respiratory system assessment, such as the use of the accessory respiratory muscle, nose flaring, agitation, xiphoid process retraction, and wheezes (p < .01). Conclusions: The implementation of the program of capacitation of associate degree nurses and licensed practical nurses improved communication, nursing care, documentation, and respiratory assessment of children in pre-hospital mobile units.
The management of occupational noise–induced hearing loss in the mining sector in Africa: A systematic review – 1994 to 2016

Literature into exposure to occupational noise in developing countries suggests that the prevalence of occupational noise–induced hearing loss is still high. There is also evidence that the mining industry is aware of this epidemic; however, the efforts to curb occupational noise–induced hearing loss are currently unsuccessful. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore and document current evidence reflecting trends in the management of occupational noise–induced hearing loss in the mining industry in Africa from 1994 to 2016. A systematic literature review was conducted in line with the Cochrane collaboration guidelines and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Electronic bibliographic databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed and Scopus MEDLINE were searched. A total of 1212 titles and abstracts were identified; of which only nine papers formed part of this study. The results indicated that there is a dearth of research on the management of occupational noise–induced hearing loss in Africa. The limited research on the management of occupational noise–induced hearing loss focuses on some aspects of the hearing conservation programme pillars and not on all the pillars as suggested by some scholars in the field. Furthermore, these studies had small sample sizes thereby, minimizing their generalization. There is therefore a need for more studies on the management of occupational noise–induced hearing loss in the mining sector, as there is evidence to suggest that occupational noise–induced hearing loss in African countries is still on the rise.
Steady streaming in a channel with permeable walls

We study steady streaming in a channel between two parallel permeable walls induced by oscillating (in time) injection/suction of a viscous fluid at the walls. We obtain an asymptotic expansion of the solution of the Navier–Stokes equations in the limit when the amplitude of normal displacements of fluid particles near the walls is much smaller than both the width of the channel and the thickness of the Stokes layer. It is shown that the steady part of the flow in this problem is much stronger than the steady flow produced by vibrations of impermeable boundaries. Another interesting feature of this problem is that the direction of the steady flow is opposite to what one would expect if the flow was produced by vibrations of impermeable walls.
Project Influence of mechanical stress on the expression of osteopontin in human periodontal ligament cells.

Background: Mechanical stress such as orthodontic forces can produce mechanical damage and inflammatory reaction in periodontium. Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional cytokine that found to be correlated with periodontal disease progression. As periodontal ligaments (PDL) can be affected by stress and PDL cells are involved in periodontal destruction and remodeling, we aimed to investigate the influence of mechanical stress on the expression and regulation of OPN in human PDL (HPDL) cells. Methods: The mechanical stress was generated by continuous compressive force and the expression of OPN was examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western analysis. The application of inhibitors was used to examine the mechanism involved. Results: Both mRNA and protein expression of OPN significantly increased in a force-dependent manner. Increase of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) was also observed. Interestingly, application of indomethacin could abolish the induction of RANKL but not that of OPN, suggesting the cyclooxygenase (COX)-independent mechanism for stress-induced OPN expression. In addition, the up-regulation of OPN was diminished by Rho kinase inhibitor, but not by cytochalasin B. Conclusions: Mechanical stress affects OPN expression in HPDL cells via Rho kinase pathway. Since OPN participates in bone resorption and remodeling induced by mechanical and biological signals, these results suggest the significance of stress-induced OPN in HPDL cells in alveolar bone resorption and remodeling.