Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CSI: Novelty Detection via Contrastive Learning on Distributionally Shifted Instances

Novelty detection, i.e., identifying whether a given sample is drawn from outside the training distribution, is essential for reliable machine learning. To this end, there have been many attempts at learning a representation well-suited for novelty detection and designing a score based on such representation. In this paper, we propose a simple, yet effective method named contrasting shifted instances (CSI), inspired by the recent success on contrastive learning of visual representations. Specifically, in addition to contrasting a given sample with other instances as in conventional contrastive learning methods, our training scheme contrasts the sample with distributionally-shifted augmentations of itself. Based on this, we propose a new detection score that is specific to the proposed training scheme. Our experiments demonstrate the superiority of our method under various novelty detection scenarios, including unlabeled one-class, unlabeled multi-class and labeled multi-class settings, with various image benchmark datasets.
Statistical Analysis of the Relation between Coronal Mass Ejections and Solar Energetic Particles

To improve the forecasting capability of impactful solar energetic particle (SEP) events, the relation between coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and SEP events needs to be better understood. Here we present a statistical study of SEP occurrences and timescales with respect to the CME source locations and speeds, considering all 257 fast (vCME ≥ 900 km s−1) and wide (angular width ≥60°) CMEs that occurred between 2006 December and 2017 October. We associate them with SEP events at energies above 10 MeV. Examination of the source region of each CME reveals that CMEs more often accompany a SEP event if they originate from the longitude of E20–W100 relative to the observer. However, an SEP event could still be absent if the CME is <2000 km s−1. For the associated CME–SEP pairs, we compute three timescales for each of the SEP events, namely the timescale of the onset (TO), the rise time (TR), and the duration (TD). They are correlated with the longitude of the CME source region relative to the footpoint of the Parker spiral (ΔΦ) and vCME. The TO tends to be short for 60°. This trend is weaker for TR and TD. The SEP timescales are only weakly correlated with vCME. Positive correlations of both TR and TD with vCME are seen in poorly connected (large ) events. Additionally, TO appears to be negatively correlated with vCME for events with small .
RIS-Assisted MISO Communication: Optimal Beamformers and Performance Analysis

We study a multiple-input single-output (MISO) communication system assisted by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). A base station (BS) having multiple antennas is assumed to be communicating to a single-antenna user equipment (UE), with the help of a RIS. We assume that the system operates in an environment with line-of-sight (LoS) between the BS and RIS, whereas the RIS-UE link experiences Rayleigh fading. We present a closed form expression for the optimal active and passive beamforming vectors at the BS and RIS respectively, which require only the knowledge of the cascaded (BS-RIS-UE) channel at the BS. Then, by characterizing the statistical properties of the received SNR at the UE, we apply them to derive analytical approximations for different system performance measures, including the outage probability, average achievable rate and average symbol error probability (SEP). Our results, in general, demonstrate that the gain due to RIS can be substantial, and can be significantly greater than the gains reaped by using multiple BS antennas.
Efeitos genéticos e fenotípicos sobre características de produção e reprodução de ovinos deslanados no Distrito Federal

This study aims to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for the Morada Nova, Santa Ines e crossbred Texel x Morada Nova in Federal District of Brazil. Data were available on 2337 lambings over a period of 14 years (1986 to 1999) from a commercial holding for meat production. The herd had no fixed breeding season. The effects of sex, number of lambs per lambing, month and year of lambing were determined for weights at birth, 30, 120 and 210 days of age as well as lambing interval and age at first lambing using analysis of variance procedures in the SAS program. Heritability, repeatability as well as genetic and phenotypic correlations for the Morada Nova sheep in the herd were estimated using MTDFREML. The generation interval was 952 days, with a mean litter size of 1.25 lambs. Lambings were distributed throughout the year, but 77% occurred between March and September, indicating a possible influence of day length or food availability on reproductive traits. Direct heritabilities for birth weight, weight at 30, 120 and 210 days were, respectively, 0.15, 0.11, 0.07, and 0.21 for Morada Nova sheep. The correlations between these traits were positive (0.19 at 0.64). The heritability for lambing interval was 0.17 and 0.93 for number of lambs per litter. The results indicate that the breed and birth weight were highly significant for all weights studied. Lambing number and birth month affect all the traits examined.
Poly(A)-Specific Ribonuclease PARN

Degradation of the mRNA 3’-end located poly(A) tail is an important step for mRNA decay in mammalian cells. Thus, to understand mRNA decay in detail, it is important to identify the catalytic activities involved in degrading poly(A). We identified and purified a 54-kDa polypeptide responsible for poly(A)-specific 3’ exonuclease activity in calf thymus extracts. The 54-kDa polypeptide is a proteolytic fragment of the poly(A)-specific ribonuclease (PARN) 74-kDa polypeptide. PARN is a divalent metal ion dependent, poly(A)-specific, oligomeric, processive and cap interacting 3’ exonuclease. An active deadenylation complex, consisting of the poly(A)-tailed RNA substrate and PARN, has been identified. The interaction with the 5’-end cap structure stimulates PARN activity and also amplifies the processivity of the deadenylation reaction. Furthermore, the cap binding site and the active site of PARN are separate from each other. To characterise the active site of PARN, we performed side-directed mutagenesis, Fe 2+ -mediated hydroxyl radical cleavage and metal ion switch experiments. We have demonstrated that the conserved acidic amino acid residues D28, E30, D292 and D382 of human PARN are essential for PARN activity and that these amino acid residues are directly involved in the co-ordination of at least two metal ions in the active site of PARN. Phosphorothioate modification on RNA substrates revealed that the pro-R oxygen atom of the scissile phosphate group interacts directly with the metal ion(s). Based on our studies, we propose a model for the action of PARN. Similarly to what has been observed for ribozymes, aminoglycoside antibiotics inhibit PARN activity, most likely by the displacement of catalytically important divalent metal ions. Among the aminoglycoside antibiotics tested, neomycin B is the most potent inhibitor. We speculate that inhibition of enzymes using similar catalytic mechanisms as PARN could be a reason for the toxic side effects caused by aminoglycoside antibiotics in clinical practice.
Migrating low-mass planets in inviscid dusty protoplanetary discs

Disc-driven planet migration is integral to the formation of planetary systems. In standard, gas-dominated protoplanetary discs, low-mass planets or planetary cores undergo rapid inwards migration and are lost to the central star. However, several recent studies indicate that the solid component in protoplanetary discs can have a significant dynamical effect on disc-planet interaction, especially when the solid-to-gas mass ratio approaches unity or larger and the dust-on-gas drag forces become significant. As there are several ways to raise the solid abundance in protoplanetary discs, for example through disc winds and dust-trapping in pressure bumps, it is important to understand how planets migrate through a dusty environment. To this end, we study planet migration in dust-rich discs via a systematic set of high-resolution, two-dimensional numerical simulations. We show that the inwards migration of low-mass planets can be slowed down by dusty dynamical corotation torques. We also identify a new regime of stochastic migration applicable to discs with dust-to-gas mass ratios $\gtrsim 0.3$ and particle Stokes numbers $\gtrsim 0.03$. In these cases, disc-planet interaction leads to the continuous development of small-scale, intense dust vortices that scatter the planet, which can potentially halt or even reverse the inwards planet migration. We briefly discuss the observational implications of our results and highlight directions for future work.
MOVEMENTS AND SURVIVAL OF LARK BUNTING FLEDGLINGS

Abstract We quantified post-fledging pre-independence behavior and survival in Lark Buntings (Calamospiza melanocorys) using radio-telemetry. Brood division was recorded in six broods and was maintained throughout the observed fledgling care period. Chicks were capable of short flights (up to 25 m) by fledgling day 6 and longer flights (to 100 m) by fledgling day 13. During the first three weeks after fledging, juveniles moved as far as 800 m from nests. Nine of 23 (39%) monitored fledglings died within 15 days of fledging, primarily due to predation by raptors. Daily survival rates were 0.953 ± 0.019 for fledgling days 0–9, 0.955 ± 0.038 for fledgling days 10–20, and 0.953 ± 0.015 for fledgling days 0–20. The probability of surviving fledgling days 0–20 was 0.367. More quantification of juvenile survival is clearly needed to understand the role of post-fledging mortality in source-sink dynamics. Los Movimientos y Supervivencia de los Volantones de Calamospiza melanocorys Resumen. Cuantificamos la conducta y la supervivencia de volantones de Calamospiza melanocorys antes de independizarse de sus padres usando telemetría de radio. La división de la nidada se registró en seis nidadas y se mantuvo a través del período del cuidado de los volantones. Tras seis días de haber abandonado el nido, los polluelos eran capaces de realizar vuelos cortos (de hasta 25 m) y para el día trece ya realizaban vuelos más largos (a 100 m). Durante las primeras tres semanas después de salir del nido, los juveniles se movieron hasta 800 m de los nidos. Nueve de 23 (39%) volantones se murieron en los primeros 15 días fuera del nido, principalmente debido a depredación por aves rapaces. Las tasas diarias de supervivencia fueron de 0.953 ± 0.019 para los días 0 a 9, 0.955 ± 0.038 para los días 10 a 20, y 0.954 ± 0.015 para días 0 a 20. La probabilidad de sobrevivir entre los días 0 y 20 fue de 0.367. Se necesita más cuantificacion de la sobrevivencia en la etapa juvenil para entender el papel de la mortalidad tras la salida del nido en la dinámica de fuente-sumideros.
Sparsity-Agnostic Lasso Bandit

We consider a stochastic contextual bandit problem where the dimension $d$ of the feature vectors is potentially large, however, only a sparse subset of features of cardinality $s_0 \ll d$ affect the reward function. Essentially all existing algorithms for sparse bandits require a priori knowledge of the value of the sparsity index $s_0$. This knowledge is almost never available in practice, and misspecification of this parameter can lead to severe deterioration in the performance of existing methods. The main contribution of this paper is to propose an algorithm that does \emph{not} require prior knowledge of the sparsity index $s_0$ and establish tight regret bounds on its performance under mild conditions. We also comprehensively evaluate our proposed algorithm numerically and show that it consistently outperforms existing methods, even when the correct sparsity index is revealed to them but is kept hidden from our algorithm.
RIS-Assisted Coverage Enhancement in Millimeter-Wave Cellular Networks

The use of millimeter-wave (mmWave) bandwidth is one key enabler to achieve the high data rates in the fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems. However, mmWave signals suffer from significant path loss due to high directivity and sensitivity to blockages, limiting its adoption within small-scale deployments. To enhance the coverage of mmWave communication in 5G and beyond, it is promising to deploy a large number of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) that passively reflect mmWave signals towards desired directions. With this motivation, in this work, we study the coverage of an RIS-assisted large-scale mmWave cellular network using stochastic geometry, and derive the peak reflection power expression of an RIS and the downlink signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) coverage expression in closed forms. These analytic results clarify the effectiveness of deploying RISs in the mmWave SIR coverage enhancement, while unveiling the major role of the density ratio between active base stations (BSs) and passive RISs. Furthermore, the results show that deploying passive reflectors are as effective as equipping BSs with more active antennas in the mmWave coverage enhancement. Simulation results confirm the tightness of the closed-form expressions, corroborating our major findings based on the derived expressions.
Isolation and Characterization of Phenolic Compounds from Magnoliae Cortex Produced in China.

A chemical examination of Magnoliae Cortex produced in China (Magnolia officinalis REHD. et WIL S., Magnoliaceae) has led to the isolation of eighteen new lignans and related compounds [four monoterpenyl-lignans : piperitylmagnolol (3), dipiperitylmagnolol (4), piperitylhonokiol (5) and bornylmagnolol (6); seven lignans : magnaldehydes B(8), C(9), magnolignans A(10), B(11), C(12), D(13) and E(14); three norlignans : magnatriol B(16), magnaldehydes D(17) and E(18); and four dilignans : magnolignans F(19), G(20), H(21) and I(22)], together with randainal (7), randaiol (15), sinapic aldehyde, syringaresinol, syringaresinol 4'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and 6'-O-methylhonokiol. Their structures were determined by the chemical and spectral methods.
Quantifying the global parameter tensions between ACT, SPT, and 
Planck

The overall cosmological parameter tension between the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2020 (ACT) and Planck 2018 data within the concordance cosmological model is quantified using the suspiciousness statistic to be 2.6$\sigma$. Between ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) we find a tension of 2.4$\sigma$, and 2.8$\sigma$ between ACT and Planck+SPT combined. While it is unclear whether the tension is caused by statistical fluctuations, systematic effects or new physics, caution should be exercised in combining these cosmic microwave background datasets in the context of the $\Lambda$CDM standard model of the universe.
Statistical model for filamentary structures of molecular clouds

We propose a new statistical model that can reproduce the hierarchical nature of the ubiquitous filamentary structures of molecular clouds. This model is based on the multiplicative random cascade, which is designed to replicate the multifractal nature of intermittency in developed turbulence. We present a modified version of the multiplicative process where the spatial fluctuations as a function of scales are produced with the wavelet transforms of a fractional Brownian motion realisation. This simple approach produces naturally a log-normal distribution function and hierarchical coherent structures. Despite the highly contrasted aspect of these coherent structures against a smoother background, their Fourier power spectrum can be fitted by a single power law. As reported in previous works using the multiscale non-Gaussian segmentation (MnGSeg) technique, it is proven that the fit of a single power law reflects the inability of the Fourier power spectrum to detect the progressive non-Gaussian contributions that are at the origin of these structures across the inertial range of the power spectrum. The mutifractal nature of these coherent structures is discussed, and an extension of the MnGSeg technique is proposed to calculate the multifractal spectrum that is associated with them. Using directional wavelets, we show that filamentary structures can easily be produced without changing the general shape of the power spectrum. The cumulative effect of random multiplicative sequences succeeds in producing the general aspect of filamentary structures similar to those associated with star-forming regions. The filamentary structures are formed through the product of a large number of random-phase linear waves at different spatial wavelengths. Dynamically, this effect might be associated with the collection of compressive processes that occur in the interstellar medium.
A high redshift population of galaxies at the North Ecliptic Pole

Context. Dusty high-z galaxies are extreme objects with high star formation rates (SFRs) and luminosities. Characterising the properties of this population and analysing their evolution over cosmic time is key to understanding galaxy evolution in the early Universe. Aims. We select a sample of high-z dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) and evaluate their position on the main sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies, the well-known correlation between stellar mass and SFR. We aim to understand the causes of their high star formation and quantify the percentage of DSFGs that lie above the MS. Methods. We adopted a multi-wavelength approach with data from optical to submillimetre wavelengths from surveys at the North Ecliptic Pole to study a submillimetre sample of high-redshift galaxies. Two submillimetre selection methods were used, including: sources selected at 850 μm with the Sub-millimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2) SCUBA-2 instrument and Herschel-Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) selected sources (colour-colour diagrams and 500 μm risers), finding that 185 have good multi-wavelength coverage. The resulting sample of 185 high-z candidates was further studied by spectral energy distribution fitting with the CIGALE fitting code. We derived photometric redshifts, stellar masses, SFRs, and additional physical parameters, such as the infrared luminosity and active galactic nuclei (AGN) contribution. Results. We find that the Herschel-SPIRE selected DSFGs generally have higher redshifts (z = 2.57−0.09+0.08) than sources that are selected solely by the SCUBA-2 method (z = 1.45−0.06+0.21). We find moderate SFRs (797−50+108 M⊙ yr−1), which are typically lower than those found in other studies. We find that the different results in the literature are, only in part, due to selection effects, as even in the most extreme cases, SFRs are still lower than a few thousand solar masses per year. The difference in measured SFRs affects the position of DSFGs on the MS of galaxies; most of the DSFGs lie on the MS (60%). Finally, we find that the star formation efficiency (SFE) depends on the epoch and intensity of the star formation burst in the galaxy; the later the burst, the more intense the star formation. We discuss whether the higher SFEs in DSFGs could be due to mergers.
Dry mass costs of deploying leaf area in relation to leaf size

Summary 1The leaf size–twig size spectrum is an important spectrum of variation between species, although the costs and benefits of larger vs smaller leaf size are poorly understood. This study quantified the dry mass costs of deploying leaf area in relation to leaf size, across 70 species from four sites contrasted on the basis of rainfall and soil nutrients in east-temperate Australia. 2Leaf mass fraction beyond 10 mm2 of conductive cross-section (LMF10) varied threefold and was strongly positively correlated with leaf size, both across all species and within each habitat. This and other key correlations were significant both across species and as evolutionary divergences. 3An LMF10 advantage for larger-leaved species should translate into a proportional advantage in dry mass acquisition, yet species with small leaves persist and sustain populations. This raises the question as to what factors might counterbalance an LMF advantage associated with larger leaf size. 4Within some sites, specific leaf area (SLA) decreased with leaf size, which counterbalanced the LMF10 advantage. Within other sites, and across all sites, SLA did not decline with leaf size. In these comparisons other factors, such as avoidance of overheating, must counterbalance the LMF10 advantage to larger-leaved species. 5Wood density was negatively correlated with leaf size. However, the relationship was weaker within sites in the lower rainfall zone, and species in these sites had generally higher wood density. Sapwood cross-sectional area per unit leaf area (Huber value) varied approximately ninefold across all species, and was correlated with both leaf size and SLA across all species, but not within sites.
An Ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Audio Classification

Research in sound classification and recognition is rapidly advancing in the field of pattern recognition. One important area in this field is environmental sound recognition, whether it concerns the identification of endangered species in different habitats or the type of interfering noise in urban environments. Since environmental audio datasets are often limited in size, a robust model able to perform well across different datasets is of strong research interest. In this paper, ensembles of classifiers are combined that exploit six data augmentation techniques and four signal representations for retraining five pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs); these ensembles are tested on three freely available environmental audio benchmark datasets: (i) bird calls, (ii) cat sounds, and (iii) the Environmental Sound Classification (ESC-50) database for identifying sources of noise in environments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most extensive study investigating ensembles of CNNs for audio classification. The best-performing ensembles are compared and shown to either outperform or perform comparatively to the best methods reported in the literature on these datasets, including on the challenging ESC-50 dataset. We obtained a 97% accuracy on the bird dataset, 90.51% on the cat dataset, and 88.65% on ESC-50 using different approaches. In addition, the same ensemble model trained on the three datasets managed to reach the same results on the bird and cat datasets while losing only 0.1% on ESC-50. Thus, we have managed to create an off-the-shelf ensemble that can be trained on different datasets and reach performances competitive with the state of the art.
Distributed Reinforcement Learning of Targeted Grasping with Active Vision for Mobile Manipulators

Developing personal robots that can perform a diverse range of manipulation tasks in unstructured environments necessitates solving several challenges for robotic grasping systems. We take a step towards this broader goal by presenting the first RL-based system, to our knowledge, for a mobile manipulator that can (a) achieve targeted grasping generalizing to unseen target objects, (b) learn complex grasping strategies for cluttered scenes with occluded objects, and (c) perform active vision through its movable wrist camera to better locate objects. The system is informed of the desired target object in the form of a single, arbitrary-pose RGB image of that object, enabling the system to generalize to unseen objects without retraining. To achieve such a system, we combine several advances in deep reinforcement learning and present a large-scale distributed training system using synchronous SGD that seamlessly scales to multi-node, multi-GPU infrastructure to make rapid prototyping easier. We train and evaluate our system in a simulated environment, identify key components for improving performance, analyze its behaviors, and transfer to a real-world setup.