Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of pretreatment of plantain (Musa Parasidiaca) flour on the pasting and sensory characteristics of Biscuit Product

The effect of pre-treatment on the pasting and sensory characteristics of plantain biscuit was investigated. The plantain flour was produced using different treatments; the use of sodium metabisulphite (Na 2S2O5), blanching at 80°C for 10min and unblanched plantain flour. The protein, fat and carbohydrate content of the flour samples are significantly difference (p<0.05) and the unblanched sample ha d the highest value (6.04%) in protein. Result showed that there were significant difference (P< 0.05) in the b ulk densities and water absorption capacity. The plantain treated with sodium metabisulphite had the highest value (1.05mg/100g) in sodium content. Pasting time and the final viscosity are significantly difference. The sensory evaluation results showed a s ignificance difference in the appearance, colour, taste, flavour, aroma, crispiness, and the overall acceptability, but plantain treated with sodium metabisulphite was rated the high est by the panelist.
Ab Interno Goniotomy Combined with Ab Externo Trabeculotomy in Advanced Primary Congenital Glaucoma Patients: 2-Year Follow-Up

Introduction Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) is a challenging disease that needs to be surgically managed with more innovative methods. Conventional incisional surgery, such as goniotomy and trabeculotomy, has a primary high success rate, but does not seem to be a very effective treatment in advanced stages. Design A prospective clinical case study. Purpose To qualify the outcome, in terms of success rate, of goniotomy combined with trabeculotomy as a surgical option to treat eyes affected by PCG with a corneal diameter larger than 14 mm. Patients and Methods This study included 50 eyes of 50 patients diagnosed with PCG with corneal diameter larger than 14 mm who underwent ab interno goniotomy combined with ab externo trabeculotomy. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured preoperatively and 24 months postoperatively. A statistical analysis was performed to detect correlations between the success rate and corneal diameter, preoperative IOP, age of onset, axial length, and consanguinity. The main outcome was reduction in IOP; secondary outcomes were factors affecting the success rate, complications, and the need for additional surgical intervention to control IOP. Results The mean age of the patients was 18.86±9.94 months. Males made up 52% of cases and females 48% of cases. Positive consanguinity was present in 38% of cases. Axial length ranged between 20 and 22 mm, with a mean of 20.98±0.8 mm. Mean preoperative IOP was 29.56±3.36 mmHg, which decreased postoperatively to 12.6±2.5, 14.1±3.2, 16.8±5.5, 14.4±2.3, 14.3±1.6, 14.3±1.6, 14.3±1.6, 14.3±1.7, and 14.3±1.7 mmHg at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24 months respectively (p˂0.001). Use of medical treatment was decreased from 2.7±0.4 preoperatively to 1.4±0.7 postoperatively (p˂0.001). Hyphema was the only complication that appeared, occurring in 47% of cases. The success rate was 94%. Complete success (IOP <21 mmHg without treatment) was achieved in 70% of cases, 24% were considered a qualified success (IOP <21 mmHg with treatment), while failure was documented in 6% of cases (IOP >21 mmHg with treatment). The success rate was significantly related to preoperative IOP, corneal diameter, axial length, consanguinity, and age of onset (p˂0.001). All cases were followed for 24 months. Conclusion Ab interno goniotomy combined with ab externo trabeculotomy improves the success rate of buphthalmos surgery. A significant correlation was detected between success rate and preoperative IOP, corneal diameter, axial length, consanguinity, and age of onset.
Electroencephalographic Theta-Band Oscillatory Dynamics Represent Attentional Bias to Subjective Preferences in Value-Based Decisions

Background Previous studies have shown that people always pay more attention to highly preferred items of choice, which is well defined by behavioral measurements and eye-tracking. However, less is known about the neural dynamics underlying the role that visual attention plays in value-based decisions, especially in those characterized by the “relative value” (ie, value difference) between two items displayed simultaneously in a binary choice. Purpose This study examined the neural temporal and neural oscillatory features underlying selective attention to subjective preferences in value-based decision making. Methods In this study, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) measurements while participants performed a binary choice task in which they were instructed to respond to their preferred snack in high value difference (HVD) or low value difference (LVD) conditions. Results Behaviorally, participants showed faster responses and lower error rates in the HVD condition than in the LVD condition. In parallel, participants exerted a reduced prefrontal N2 component and attenuated frontal theta-band synchronization in the HVD condition as opposed to the LVD condition. Crucially, participants showed greater N2pc component and theta-band synchronization over the human posterior cortex in the HVD condition than in the LVD condition. Moreover, there was a direct correlation between frontal and posterior theta-band synchronization. Conclusion The results show that theta-band oscillatory dynamics may represent attentional bias to subjective preferences, and this effect can be modulated by the level attentional bias to subjective preferences, and this effect can be modulated by the level of value difference. Our research provides insights into a new avenue via which the processing of selective attention and value representation in the value-based decisions can be implicated in an integrative neural oscillatory mechanism.
Detection and monitoring of insect traces in bioaerosols

Studies on bioaerosols have primarily focused on their chemical and biological compositions and their impact on public health and the ecosystem. However, most bioaerosol studies have only focused on viruses, bacteria, fungi, and pollen. To assess the diversity and composition of airborne insect material in particulate matter (PM) for the first time, we attempted to detect DNA traces of insect origin in dust samples collected over a two-year period. These samples were systematically collected at one-month intervals and categorized into two groups, PM2.5 and PM10, based on the aerodynamic diameter of the aerosol particles. Cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) was the barcoding region used to identify the origins of the extracted DNA. The airborne insect community in these samples was analyzed using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The most abundant insect sequences belonged to the order Hemiptera (true bugs), whereas order Diptera were also detected in both PM2.5 and PM10 samples. Additionally, we inferred the presence of particulates of insect origin, such as brochosomes and integument particles, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This provided additional confirmation of the molecular results. In this study, we demonstrated the benefits of detection and monitoring of insect information in bioaerosols for understanding the source and composition. Our results suggest that the PM2.5 and PM10 groups are rich in insect diversity. Lastly, the development of databases can improve the identification accuracy of the analytical results.
How to select patients requiring coronary revascularisation using coronary physiology

The coronary angiogram is an indicator of flow limiting coronary artery disease but coronary physiology at the time of angiography is vital in assessing the true functional significance of coronary artery disease. With advances in guidewire technology and the greater use of physiology within the catheter laboratory, there is now a slow evolution of physiological indices in being able to reliably assess the functional significance of individual lesions and also the adequacy of revascularization in a growing range of clinical scenarios. As co-registration of physiology with the angiogram and intravascular imaging will become easier, we will find ourselves increasingly in an era of ‘Precision PCI’.
Shortcut methods for nonideal multicomponent distillation: 3. Extractive distillation columns

Extractive distillation is a common process for the separation of homogeneous azeotropic mixtures with a minimum boiling azeotrope. In this process entrainer feed flow rate and reflux ratio of the extractive column represent the crucial design degrees of freedom that govern feasibility and operating cost. In this work feasibility and operational stability of the extractive column are related to the nonlinear analysis of the extractive section. A fully automated conceptual shortcut design method for the simultaneous determination of minimum entrainer feed flow rate and minimum reflux ratio is presented. The method is applicable to arbitrary multicomponent mixtures and allows direct screening of design alternatives and comparison of different entrainers. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50: 1129–1149, 2004
The Clinical Features and Survival Outcome of 107 Newly Diagnosed Advanced Stage Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma Cases: A Triple-Center Study

Objective Advanced stage extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is a distinct type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the prognosis of ENKTL is poor with current treatment. This study aimed to investigate the clinical features, treatment strategy and survival outcome in patients with advanced stage ENKTL. Patients and Methods A total of 107 patients with newly diagnosed advanced stage ENKTL between January 2010 and December 2014 were reviewed from three cancer centers. Survival probability was calculated using Kaplan-Meier and the survival curves were compared by Log rank test. Cox regression analyses was performed to investigate the prognostic factors in ENKTL. Results The median patient age in our cohort was 42.0 years, with a male to female ratio of around 2.3:1. Over half of the patients had B symptoms (n = 61), high IPI scores (≥ 2, n = 60) and high Prognostic Index of Natural Killer Lymphoma (PINK) scores (≥ 3, n = 69). Elevated LDH level was present in around half of the patients (44/91). Most patients (n = 88) in our cohort originated in upper aerodigestive tract and the remaining 19 cases presented with non-upper aerodigestive tract involvement at first diagnosis. Chemotherapy regimens used in our study mainly include CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) (n = 26), L-asparaginase (L-asp) containing chemotherapy (GELOXD (gemcitabine, l-asparaginase, oxaliplatin and dexamethasone) and SMILE (L-asparaginase, methotrexate, ifosfamide, etoposide, and dexamethasone)) (n = 66). No significant difference between the baseline clinical characteristics was found between the L-asp and CHOP group. The CR rate after treatment was 39.3% (42/107) for the whole cohort. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 41.0% and 41.5%, respectively. The 3-year PFS (49.2% vs 26.5%, P = 0.048) and 3-year OS (49.4% vs 26.0%, P = 0.030) was significantly higher in the L-asp group than the CHOP group. Patient CR status and PINK score were proved to be significant independent factors affecting OS and PFS by multivariate analysis. The grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity (P = 0.0003) and non-hematologic toxicity (P = 0.0002) occurred more frequently in the SMILE group than the GELOXD group. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that L-asp containing chemotherapy could provide favorable survival outcomes in patients with advanced stage ENKTL.
Brain atrophy and clinical characteristics predicting SDMT performance in multiple sclerosis: A 10-year follow-up study

Objectives To identify Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), clinical and demographic biomarkers predictive of worsening information processing speed (IPS) as measured by Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Methods Demographic, clinical data and 1.5 T MRI scans were collected in 76 patients at time of inclusion, and after 5 and 10 years. Global and tissue-specific volumes were calculated at each time point. For the primary outcome of analysis, SDMT was used. Results Worsening SDMT at 5-year follow-up was predicted by baseline age, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), SDMT, whole brain volume (WBV) and T2 lesion volume (LV), explaining 30.2% of the variance of SDMT. At 10-year follow-up, age, EDSS, grey matter volume (GMV) and T1 LV explained 39.4% of the variance of SDMT change. Conclusion This longitudinal study shows that baseline MRI-markers, demographic and clinical data can help predict worsening IPS. Identification of patients at risk of IPS decline is of importance as follow-up, treatment and rehabilitation can be optimized.
Bregman Finito/MISO for Nonconvex Regularized Finite Sum Minimization without Lipschitz Gradient Continuity

We introduce two algorithms for nonconvex regularized finite sum minimization, where typical Lipschitz differentiability assumptions are relaxed to the notion of relative smoothness. The first one is a Bregman extension of Finito/MISO, studied for fully nonconvex problems when the sampling is randomized, or under convexity of the nonsmooth term when it is essentially cyclic. The second algorithm is a low-memory variant, in the spirit of SVRG and SARAH, that also allows for fully nonconvex formulations. Our analysis is made remarkably simple by employing a Bregman Moreau envelope as Lyapunov function. In the randomized case, linear convergence is established when the cost function is strongly convex, yet with no convexity requirements on the individual functions in the sum. For the essentially cyclic and low-memory variants, global and linear convergence results are established when the cost function satisfies the Kurdyka-\L ojasiewicz property.
Catalytic Entanglement

Quantum entanglement of pure states is usually quantified via the entanglement entropy, the von Neumann entropy of the reduced state. Entanglement entropy is closely related to entanglement distillation, a process for converting quantum states into singlets, which can then be used for various quantum technological tasks. The relation between entanglement entropy and entanglement distillation has been known only for the asymptotic setting, and the meaning of entanglement entropy in the single-copy regime has so far remained open. Here we close this gap by considering entanglement catalysis. We prove that entanglement entropy completely characterizes state transformations in the presence of entangled catalysts. Our results suggest that catalysis is useful for a broad range of quantum information protocols, giving asymptotic results an operational meaning also in the single-copy setup.
Large-width functional asymptotics for deep Gaussian neural networks

In this paper, we consider fully connected feed-forward deep neural networks where weights and biases are independent and identically distributed according to Gaussian distributions. Extending previous results (Matthews et al., 2018a;b; Yang, 2019) we adopt a function-space perspective, i.e. we look at neural networks as infinite-dimensional random elements on the input space $\mathbb{R}^I$. Under suitable assumptions on the activation function we show that: i) a network defines a continuous Gaussian process on the input space $\mathbb{R}^I$; ii) a network with re-scaled weights converges weakly to a continuous Gaussian process in the large-width limit; iii) the limiting Gaussian process has almost surely locally $\gamma$-H\"older continuous paths, for $0<\gamma<1$. Our results contribute to recent theoretical studies on the interplay between infinitely wide deep neural networks and Gaussian processes by establishing weak convergence in function-space with respect to a stronger metric.
Towards an extended/higher correspondence

Abstract In this short paper, we will review the proposal of a correspondence between the doubled geometry of Double Field Theory and the higher geometry of bundle gerbes. Double Field Theory is T-duality covariant formulation of the supergravity limit of String Theory, which generalises Kaluza-Klein theory by unifying metric and Kalb-Ramond field on a doubled-dimensional space. In light of the proposed correspondence, this doubled geometry is interpreted as an atlas description of the higher geometry of bundle gerbes. In this sense, Double Field Theory can be interpreted as a field theory living on the total space of the bundle gerbe, just like Kaluza-Klein theory is set on the total space of a principal bundle. This correspondence provides a higher geometric interpretation for para-Hermitian geometry which opens the door to its generalisation to Exceptional Field Theory. This review is based on, but not limited to, my talk at the workshop Generalized Geometry and Applications at Universität Hamburg on 3rd of March 2020.
A construction of the left-curtain coupling

In a martingale optimal transport (MOT) problem mass distributed according to the law $\mu$ is transported to the law $\nu$ in such a way that the martingale property is respected. Beiglb\"ock and Juillet (On a problem of optimal transport under marginal martingale constraints, Annals of Probability, 44(1):42-106, 2016) introduced a solution to the MOT problem which they baptised the left-curtain coupling. The left-curtain coupling has been widely studied and shown to have many applications, including to martingale inequalities and the model-independent pricing of American options. Beiglb\"ock and Juillet proved existence and uniqueness, proved optimality for a family of cost functions, and proved that when $\mu$ is a continuous distribution, mass at $x$ is mapped to one of at most two points, giving lower and upper functions. Henry-Labord\`ere and Touzi (An explicit martingale version of Brenier`s theorem, Finance and Stochastics, 20:635-668, 2016) showed that the left-curtain coupling is optimal for an extended family of cost functions and gave a construction of the upper and lower functions under an assumption that $\mu$ and $\nu$ are continuous, together with further simplifying assumptions of a technical nature. In this article we construct these upper and lower functions in the general case of arbitrary centred measures in convex order, and thereby give a complete construction of the left-curtain coupling. In the case where $\mu$ has atoms these upper and lower functions are to be interpreted in the sense of a lifted martingale.
Dealing with Non-Stationarity in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning via Trust Region Decomposition

Non-stationarity is one thorny issue in multi-agent reinforcement learning, which is caused by the policy changes of agents during the learning procedure. Current works to solve this problem have their own limitations in e ﬀ ectiveness and scalability, such as centralized critic and decentralized actor (CCDA), population-based self-play, modeling of others and etc. In this paper, we novelly introduce a δ - stationarity measurement to explicitly model the stationarity of a policy sequence, which is theoretically proved to be proportional to the joint policy divergence. However, simple policy factorization like mean-ﬁeld approximation will mislead to larger policy divergence, which can be considered as trust region decomposition dilemma. We model the joint policy as a general Markov random ﬁeld and propose a trust region decomposition network based on message passing to estimate the joint policy divergence more accurately. The M ulti-A gent M irror descent policy algorithm with T rust region decomposition, called MAMT , is established with the purpose to satisfy δ -stationarity. MAMT can adjust the trust region of the local policies adaptively in an end-to-end manner, thereby approximately constraining the divergence of joint policy to alleviate the non-stationary problem. Our method can bring noticeable and stable performance improvement compared with baselines in coordination tasks of di ﬀ erent complexity.
TOXICITY OF COMPOST TEA FROM SPENT MUSHROOM SUBSTRATE AND SEVERAL FUNGICIDES TOWARDS AGARICUS BISPORUS

The control methods used against fungal diseases in mushroom crops usually involve the application of fungicides and strict hygiene practices. The availability of fungicides within the mushroom industry is limited not only by strict regulations (Directive 91/414/ECC) but also by the fact that both pathogen and crop are fungi. The use of aqueous extracts (compost tea) made from agricultural wastes has been proposed as a potential biological control method to reduce the use of chemical products [1, 2]. In the present investigation, we evaluate the toxicity of several fungicides (carbendazim, iprodione, thiophanate-methyl, prochloraz and thiabendazole) used during mushroom production, and the resulting residue levels. The toxicity of spent mushroom compost tea, applied to the casing using different irrigation programmes, was also examined. A mushroom crop cycle was run and the yield and earliness of the crop were evaluated. All the fungicides, except thiabendazole, led to reductions in yields that varied from 4% (carbendazim) to 15% (iprodione). Higher MRL values than are permitted were detected with carbendazim, iprodione and thiophanate-methyl, while no such problem was observed with prochloraz and thiabendazole. Mushroom production fell by between 4% (one application) and 10% (three applications) when compost tea was used. Compost tea also slightly delayed the production - by one day when three applications were made. Regardless of this, the less pronounced decrease in yield and the absence of any residue-related problems suggest that compost tea is suitable for mushroom cultivation. Its effectiveness observed in vitro for controlling L. fungicola would also suggest that spent mushroom compost tea can be considered a suitable biocontrol substance for use against dry bubble disease.
The flow tree formula for Donaldson–Thomas invariants of quivers with potentials

We prove the flow tree formula conjectured by Alexandrov and Pioline, which computes Donaldson–Thomas invariants of quivers with potentials in terms of a smaller set of attractor invariants. This result is obtained as a particular case of a more general flow tree formula reconstructing a consistent scattering diagram from its initial walls.
Restorable Shortest Path Tiebreaking for Edge-Faulty Graphs

The restoration lemma by Afek, Bremler-Barr, Kaplan, Cohen, and Merritt [Dist. Comp. '02] proves that, in an undirected unweighted graph, any replacement shortest path avoiding a failing edge can be expressed as the concatenation of two original shortest paths. However, the lemma is tiebreaking-sensitive: if one selects a particular canonical shortest path for each node pair, it is no longer guaranteed that one can build replacement paths by concatenating two selected shortest paths. They left as an open problem whether a method of shortest path tiebreaking with this desirable property is generally possible. We settle this question affirmatively with the first general construction of restorable tiebreaking schemes. We then show applications to various problems in fault-tolerant network design. These include a faster algorithm for subset replacement paths, more efficient fault-tolerant (exact) distance labeling schemes, fault-tolerant subset distance preservers and +4 additive spanners with improved sparsity, and fast distributed algorithms that construct these objects. For example, an almost immediate corollary of our restorable tiebreaking scheme is the first nontrivial distributed construction of sparse fault-tolerant distance preservers resilient to three faults.