Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DP-BART for Privatized Text Rewriting under Local Differential Privacy

Privatized text rewriting with local differential privacy (LDP) is a recent approach that enables sharing of sensitive textual documents while formally guaranteeing privacy protection to individuals. However, existing systems face several issues, such as formal mathematical flaws, unrealistic privacy guarantees, privatization of only individual words, as well as a lack of transparency and reproducibility. In this paper, we propose a new system 'DP-BART' that largely outperforms existing LDP systems. Our approach uses a novel clipping method, iterative pruning, and further training of internal representations which drastically reduces the amount of noise required for DP guarantees. We run experiments on five textual datasets of varying sizes, rewriting them at different privacy guarantees and evaluating the rewritten texts on downstream text classification tasks. Finally, we thoroughly discuss the privatized text rewriting approach and its limitations, including the problem of the strict text adjacency constraint in the LDP paradigm that leads to the high noise requirement.
Statistical design of autoregressive-moving average digital filters

Procedures are presented for the systematic design of digital filters that contain poles and zeros. The procedures are simple, fast, and effective. All of the important algorithms are of the Levinson-type. The first key idea in the paper is that one may begin a design by posing a linear prediction problem for a stochastic sequence. The second is that a high-order "whitening" filter may be constructed for this sequence and "inverted" to yield a high-order all-pole filter whose spectrum approximates the spectrum of the stochastic sequence. The third key idea is that the all-pole filter may be used to generate consistent unit-pulse and covariance sequences for use in the Mullis-Roberts algorithm. This algorithm is then used to obtain a low-order digital filter, with poles and zeros, that approximates the high-order all-pole filter. The results demonstrate that the Mullis-Roberts algorithm, together with the design philosophy of this paper, may be used with profit to reduce filter or stochastic model complexity and to design spectrum-matching digital filters.
On-Demand Communication for Asynchronous Multi-Agent Bandits

This paper studies a cooperative multi-agent multi-armed stochastic bandit problem where agents operate asynchronously -- agent pull times and rates are unknown, irregular, and heterogeneous -- and face the same instance of a K-armed bandit problem. Agents can share reward information to speed up the learning process at additional communication costs. We propose ODC, an on-demand communication protocol that tailors the communication of each pair of agents based on their empirical pull times. ODC is efficient when the pull times of agents are highly heterogeneous, and its communication complexity depends on the empirical pull times of agents. ODC is a generic protocol that can be integrated into most cooperative bandit algorithms without degrading their performance. We then incorporate ODC into the natural extensions of UCB and AAE algorithms and propose two communication-efficient cooperative algorithms. Our analysis shows that both algorithms are near-optimal in regret.
How to Train Your DRAGON: Diverse Augmentation Towards Generalizable Dense Retrieval

Various techniques have been developed in recent years to improve dense retrieval (DR), such as unsupervised contrastive learning and pseudo-query generation. Existing DRs, however, often suffer from effectiveness tradeoffs between supervised and zero-shot retrieval, which some argue was due to the limited model capacity. We contradict this hypothesis and show that a generalizable DR can be trained to achieve high accuracy in both supervised and zero-shot retrieval without increasing model size. In particular, we systematically examine the contrastive learning of DRs, under the framework of Data Augmentation (DA). Our study shows that common DA practices such as query augmentation with generative models and pseudo-relevance label creation using a cross-encoder, are often inefficient and sub-optimal. We hence propose a new DA approach with diverse queries and sources of supervision to progressively train a generalizable DR. As a result, DRAGON, our dense retriever trained with diverse augmentation, is the first BERT-base-sized DR to achieve state-of-the-art effectiveness in both supervised and zero-shot evaluations and even competes with models using more complex late interaction (ColBERTv2 and SPLADE++).
Penetrative Downdraughts in Cumuli

Observations of cumuli have shown that the adiabatic model is quite inadequate, and that dry air must mix with the condensing upcurrent. Theories of the interaction between cumuli and their environment are discussed. The hypothesis that dry air enters these clouds chiefly from above is examined quantitatively. It is found that, as a result of evaporative cooling, such air could penetrate several kilometres into a growing cloud. This hypothesis accounts for the fine structure which is observed, and provides a natural and simple explanation for the fact that the lapse rate in cumuli is steeper than the wet adiabatic, and indeed approximates closely to that of the environment. Unlike alternative theories, it provides a means whereby the liquid water content may be automatically self-limiting, as the observations seem to require, for the motions which introduce dry air deep into the cloud depend for their energy supply on the presence of liquid water, and have velocities which are roughly proportional to its concentration. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1958. tb02025.x
Accuracy and Interrater Agreement of Registered Nurses’ Assignment of Apgar Scores to Standardized Clinical Vignettes

The purpose of our study was to test whether registered nurses assign the correct Apgar score when provided all pertinent data, whether they assign an Apgar score even if all pertinent data are not provided, and to evaluate the Apgar score’s interrater agreement. We conducted a REDCap survey and provided nurses with color photograph/vignette combinations of neonates, some of which lacked pertinent data points needed to correctly assign Apgar scores. Over 90% of study participants assigned Apgar scores even if data points for heart rate or respiratory effort were omitted. Participants’ correct assignment of the component score for respiratory effort was affected by the description of the respiratory effort and whether neonatal heart rate was known. Interrater agreement was generally low to moderate. Our findings are consistent with earlier findings and support the conclusion that the Apgar score requires significant revision or needs to be retired and replaced.
Wave–Mean Flow Feedback and the Persistence of Simulated Zonal Flow Vacillation

Abstract The structure of eddies forcing the vacillation of the southern midlatitude tropospheric zonal-mean zonal wind and the significance of wave–mean flow feedbacks on its persistence are assessed using a 100-yr 8-h dataset simulated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Mark 2 general circulation model. Using time-lagged regression and composite analyses relative to the vacillation index, it is shown that high-frequency (HF) eddy momentum flux anomalies near the mean jet latitude provide much of the forcing of the zonal-mean anomalies, as in observations. Low-frequency (LF) eddies also contribute, while the cross-frequency flux enhances short-term variation of the index. The HF band also provides a positive feedback, which is partly countered by an LF negative feedback. High- and low-index composites of representative midtropospheric waves (zonal wavenumbers 7 for HF and 3 for LF) are constructed, including those for waves phase shifted relative to the wave at th.
Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Endoscopic Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors in the Stomach

Background/Aims Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors in the stomach. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of endoscopic treatment for gastric GISTs. Methods This is a single center, retrospective study that enrolled 135 cases of gastric subepithelial tumors (SETs) resected by endoscopic procedures and confirmed as GISTs by histopathology from March 2005 to July 2019. The immediate and long-term clinical outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. Results The mean patient age was 57.9 years, and the mean tumor size was 2.1 cm. Of the tumors, 43.0% were located in the body, followed by the fundus (26.7%) and cardia (17.0%). Most tumors (85.2%) were resected by endoscopic submucosal dissection, followed by endoscopic mucosal resection (6.7%), submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (5.9%), and endoscopic full-thickness resection (2.2%). Macroperforation occurred in 4.4% and microperforation in 6.7% of the cases. The R0 resection rate was 15.6%. However, the rate of complete resection by the endoscopic view was 90.4%, of which 54.8% of cases were in the very-low-risk group, followed by the low-risk group (28.1%), intermediate-risk group (11.9%), and high-risk group (5.2%). During 36.5 months of follow-up, recurrence was found in four (3.4%) of the 118 patients who were monitored for more than 6 months (low-risk group, 1/37 [2.7%]; intermediate-risk group, 2/11 [18.2%]; high-risk group, 1/6 [16.7%]). Conclusions Endoscopic treatment of a GIST appears to be a feasible procedure in selected cases. However, additional surgery should be considered if the pathologic results correspond to intermediate- or high-risk groups.
A Student-Centered, Entrepreneurship Development (ASCEND) Undergraduate Summer Research Program: Foundational Training for Health Research

Increasing the participation of students of African descent and other minoritized populations in the scientific workforce is imperative in generating a more equitable biomedical research infrastructure and increasing national research creativity and productivity. Undergraduate research training programs have shown to be essential tools in retaining underrepresented minority (URM) students in the sciences and attracting them into STEM and biomedical careers. This paper describes an innovative approach to harness students’ entrepreneurial desire for autonomy and creativity in a Summer Research Institute (SRI) that has served as an entry point into a multiyear, National Institutes of Health Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (NIH BUILD)-funded research training program. The SRI was designed as an 8-week, student-centered and course-based research model in which students select their own research topics. We test here the effects of SRI training on students’ science self-efficacy and science identity, along with several other constructs often associated with academic outcomes in the sciences. The data shown here comprise analysis of four different training cohorts throughout four subsequent summers. We show significant gains in students’ science self-efficacy and science identity at the conclusion of SRI training, as well as academic adjustment and sense of belonging. SRI participants also displayed substantially improved retention in their science majors and graduation rates.
Eco-innovation influence on business performance in Jordanian micro, small and medium enterprises operating in the food processing sector

Innovative performance is a fundamental asset for building competitive advantage of micro, small and medium enterprises MSMEs. This research empirically examines the direct and indirect relationship between eco-innovation and business performance in Jordanian MSMEs enterprises working in the food processing sector. This research draws on the resource-based view theory to investigate the inter-relationships among three types of eco-innovation (process, product, organizational) and their relative impact on business performance. Furthermore, the researchers used structural equation modelling of 86 samples collected from Jordanian MSMEs operating in the food processing sector. The major contribution of this research is providing a holistic view that explains the inter-relationship among eco-process, eco-product, and eco-organizational innovation. The research reveals the impact of eco-innovation variables on business performance. The greatest is the impact of eco-process on business performance followed by eco-product and eco-organizational respectively. Regarding the effect of eco-organizational and eco-process innovation on eco-product, the findings of the study showed that the greatest is the effect of eco-organizational followed by eco-process. According to the post hoc, the mean differences show that there is statically significant difference in the responses of the respondents towards eco- process regarding different organization age.
Ultrasound images of the os calcis: a new method of assessment of bone status

A complete assessment of the broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) distributions within the os calcis was made, using an ultrasonic mechanical scanning device with focused transducers. Measurements were performed on 12 os calces removed from fresh female cadavers. To date, we present the first parametric ultrasonic images of the os calcis. Reasonably high quality images were obtained when compared to computed tomography. The resolution provided by the focused transducers was approximately 4 or 5 mm in the focal zone. As for dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) or quantitative computed tomography, ultrasound images of the os calcis give the possibility of controlling the placement, size and shape of the region of interest and using multiple measurement sites
Energy and Mass Transfer Phenomena in Natural Draft Cooling Towers

In this paper, the development of natural draft cooling towers diagnostics is presented. Diagnostic method is based on measurements of velocity and temperature fields of the airflow in the entire surface area of cooling tower and the raised phenomenological model of heat and mass transfer in a selected reference vertical segment of cooling tower. Velocity and temperature fields of the airflow were measured with the aid of a remote control mobile robot unit that was developed to enable measurements in an arbitrary measurement point above the spray zones over the entire cooling tower area. Topological structures of the humid air velocity profiles and temperature profiles above the spray zones were obtained at constant integral parameters of a power plant. Measurement results of temperature and mass flow characteristics of the air and water flows in a selected reference vertical segment of cooling tower are presented in the form of phenomenological dependence. Phenomenological dependence links local cooling tower efficiency, geometrical characteristics of spray elements, and air and water flow rates. In the concluding part, both methods are applied together on a selected segment of cooling tower, and local and integral cooling tower efficiency can be determined.
Differences in the immunogenicity of engineered circular RNAs

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are single-stranded RNAs that are covalently closed and lack free ends. While relatively little is known about the roles of circRNAs in innate immunity, several studies suggest that endogenous circRNAs are immunosuppressive in nature. But whether engineered circRNAs produced exogenously and then delivered into cells are immunostimulatory has been a debated question in recent years. In this perspective, we review and compare the investigations on engineered circRNA immunogenicity. We discuss the possible factors that may alter the immunogenic potential of a circRNA, such as its generation, purification, primary sequence, secondary structure, and RNA modifications. We also suggest approaches for designing a circRNA with immunostimulatory or immune-evasive properties and recommend future areas for the field to investigate. A clear understanding of the immune effects from engineered circRNAs would offer insight into fundamental principles of how cells differentiate between self and non-self RNAs as well as provide a foundation for translating circRNAs into therapies.
COVID-19 Test Allocation Strategy to Mitigate SARS-CoV-2 Infections across School Districts

In response to COVID-19, schools across the United States closed in early 2020; many did not fully reopen until late 2021. Although regular testing of asymptomatic students, teachers, and staff can reduce transmission risks, few school systems consistently used proactive testing to safeguard return to classrooms. Socioeconomically diverse public school districts might vary testing levels across campuses to ensure fair, effective use of limited resources. We describe a test allocation approach to reduce overall infections and disparities across school districts. Using a model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools fit to data from a large metropolitan school district in Texas, we reduced incidence between the highest and lowest risk schools from a 5.6-fold difference under proportional test allocation to 1.8-fold difference under our optimized test allocation. This approach provides a roadmap to help school districts deploy proactive testing and mitigate risks of future SARS-CoV-2 variants and other pathogen threats.
The Stability of Synthetic Cathinones and the Study of Potential Intake Biomarkers in the Biological Material from a Case of 3-CMC Poisoning

Abstract The objective of the present study was to identify the metabolites of synthetic cathinone (SC), 3-chloromethcathinone (3-CMC), and to select a potential intake biomarker for this compound. The basis of the experiment was the analysis of blood and urine samples from a case of fatal poisoning with this substance. We also evaluated the stability of 3-CMC and the selected potential biomarker, the dihydro-3-CMC metabolite, depending on the time elapsed since the autopsy as well as the storage conditions of the biological material. Studies have shown that 3-CMC shows low stability in the biological material. However, acidification of the biological material or storage at low temperatures has a great impact on maintaining its stability. It is crucial to monitor the presence of the dihydro-3-CMC metabolite in the biological material during analysis, which showed high stability under all of the given storage conditions. SCs might not be detected in the biological material and, if they are, the determined concentrations at the time of testing may not correspond to the actual concentrations at the time of the event or death. Consequently, the interpretation of the results obtained for 3-CMC and dihydro-3-CMC in terms of assessing their toxicity and possible cause of death is difficult. The area of research into the search for other intake biomarkers of unstable halogen derivatives of SCs remains open.
Long‐term outcomes of total colectomy for severe constipation

Surgery for constipation is usually reserved for patients with severe and refractory symptoms because of concerns about perioperative morbidity and unpredictable functional outcomes. The aim of this paper is to identify the long‐term outcomes of patients who have undergone total colectomy and ileorectal anastomosis for severe constipation.
Evaluation of Platelet Parameters in Patients With Secondary Failure of Platelet Recovery and Cytomegalovirus Infection After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of changes in platelet parameters in patients with secondary failure of platelet recovery (SFPR) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods In this retrospective study, 79 patients who had undergone allogeneic HSCT (allo-HSCT), including 40 patients with SFPR and 39 patients without SFPR, were recruited. The evaluated parameters were platelet count (PLT), plateletcrit (PCT), platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), the incidence of CMV infection after allo-HSCT, and the correlation of SFPR and CMV infection in patients who had undergone allo-HSCT. The control group included 107 healthy donors. Results The SFPR group had significantly lower megakaryocyte counts, PLT, and PCT and significantly higher P-LCR, MPV, and PDW than the healthy donor and non-SFPR groups. The incidence of CMV infection was higher in SFPR patients than in non-SFPR patients. Among the patients with SFPR, P-LCR, MPV, and PDW were lower in those with CMV DNA >8000 copies/mL than in those with CMV DNA <8000 copies/mL (P < .05 for all); the CMV viral load was slightly negatively correlated with MPV (P = .0297) and P-LCR (P = .0280). Conclusion We demonstrate for the first time that the level of platelet activation in SFPR patients, which was closely related to CMV infection, was higher than that in that in non-SFPR patients, and higher CMV load was associated with the inhibition of platelet activation.
A systematic review of economic evaluations of whole-genome sequencing for the surveillance of bacterial pathogens

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has unparalleled ability to distinguish between bacteria, with many public health applications. The generation and analysis of WGS data require significant financial investment. We describe a systematic review summarizing economic analyses of genomic surveillance of bacterial pathogens, reviewing the evidence for economic viability. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021289030). Six databases were searched on 8 November 2021 using terms related to ‘WGS’, ‘population surveillance’ and ‘economic analysis’. Quality was assessed with the Drummond–Jefferson checklist. Following data extraction, a narrative synthesis approach was taken. Six hundred and eighty-one articles were identified, of which 49 proceeded to full-text screening, with 9 selected for inclusion. All had been published since 2019. Heterogeneity was high. Five studies assessed WGS for hospital surveillance and four analysed foodborne pathogens. Four were cost–benefit analyses, one was a cost–utility analysis, one was a cost-effectiveness analysis, one was a combined cost-effectiveness and cost–utility analysis, one combined cost-effectiveness and cost–benefit analyses and one was a partial analysis. All studies supported the use of WGS as a surveillance tool on economic grounds. The available evidence supports the use of WGS for pathogen surveillance but is limited by marked heterogeneity. Further work should include analysis relevant to low- and middle-income countries and should use real-world effectiveness data.
Numerical simulation of converging nonlinear wavefronts

The propagation of a two-dimensional weakly nonlinear wavefront into a polytropic gas in a uniform state and at rest has been studied. Successive positions of the wavefront and the distribution of amplitude on it are obtained by solving a system of conservation forms of the equations of weakly nonlinear ray theory (WNLRT) using a TVB scheme based on the Lax–Friedrichs flux. The predictions of the WNLRT are found to be qualitatively quite different from the predictions of the linear theory. The linear wavefronts leading to the formation of caustics are replaced by nonlinear wavefronts with kinks. By varying the initial shape of the wavefront and the amplitude distribution on it, the formation and separation of kinks on the wavefront has been studied.
A Study of Contamination in 127I2 Cells Using Laser-Induced Fluorescence

An experimental method has been tested to compare impurity levels in iodine cells used in the saturated-absorption stabilization of lasers. The method is based on the use of the Stern-Volmer formula where the laser-induced fluorescence of iodine is studied as a function of pressure. Measurements of a number of iodine cells are included as a demonstration and test of this experimental method. The frequency shift has been measured for each cell using beat frequencies and saturated absorption, and has been related empirically to the Stern-Volmer formula. It is found that the method is appropriate for cells with low to moderate concentration of impurities.