Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Neural Network for Factoid Question Answering over Paragraphs

Text classification methods for tasks like factoid question answering typically use manually defined string matching rules or bag of words representations. These methods are ineective when question text contains very few individual words (e.g., named entities) that are indicative of the answer. We introduce a recursive neural network (rnn) model that can reason over such input by modeling textual compositionality. We apply our model, qanta, to a dataset of questions from a trivia competition called quiz bowl. Unlike previous rnn models, qanta learns word and phrase-level representations that combine across sentences to reason about entities. The model outperforms multiple baselines and, when combined with information retrieval methods, rivals the best human players.
Global Value Chains and the Productivity of Firms in MENA countries: Does Connectivity Matter?

We provide new evidence on the participation of firms within Global Value Chains (GVCs) for a large pool of MENA countries included in the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES). Making use of several firm-level GVC participation indices, we find a positive association with firm productivity gains. Based on this result, we further investigate the complexity of GVC relationships and examine how sector/country connectivity affects firm productivity. Using a multi-level model, we augment our analysis by including centrality indicators calculated on the intermediate trade network, constructed from the EORA input-output tables. Positioning within the network structure of trade in intermediate products also plays a role. Our results indicate a positive effect of the connectivity of the sector on the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of firms. Results remain robust after we control for the endogeneity between firm productivity and participation in GVCs.
Momentum and the Cross-Section of Stock Volatility

Recent literature shows that momentum strategies exhibit significant downside risks over certain periods, or called "momentum crashes. " We find that the high uncertainty of momentum strategies is sourced from the cross-sectional volatility of individual stocks. Stocks with high realised volatility over the formation period tend to lose momentum effect, while stocks with low realised volatility show strong momentum. A new approach, generalised risk-adjusted momentum (GRJMOM), is introduced to mitigate the negative impact of high momentum risks. GRJMOM is proven to be more profitable and less risky than the existing momentum ranking approaches in multiple asset classes, including the UK stock, commodity, global equity index, and fixed income markets.
The effect of ischaemic preconditioning on central motor output and contractile properties in healthy males following fatiguing isokinetic exercise

1 The effect of ischaemic preconditioning on central motor output and contractile properties in healthy males following fatiguing isokinetic exercise Laura Borg, Malene Krogh & Stine Brock Rasmussen (2019) Aalborg University, Sport Science, 10 semester Abstract Ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) is a procedure in which tissue is exposed to brief, alternating periods of ischaemia and reperfusion. IPC has been shown to delay the development of fatigue, which is suggested to be caused by changes in central motor output; however, this remains speculative. We hypothesised that IPC would delay the development of fatigue by changing the central motor output, resulting in a smaller inhibition of corticospinal excitability, voluntary activation and contractile properties. Ten healthy males completed a fatiguing protocol consisting of 90 isokinetic contractions of the dorsiflexor muscles following treatment of either IPC (4x5 min 250 mmHg) or sham (4x5 min 20 mmHg) on two occasions separated by a minimum of seven days. Supramaximal stimulation of the common peroneal nerve was utilized to examine voluntary activation (VA) and potentiated twitch torque (PT) during maximal voluntary contractions at baseline, preceding the fatigue protocol (pre) and after the fatigue protocol (post). Transcranial magnetic stimulation was utilized to examine corticospinal excitability at baseline, pre and post. Tissue oxygenation using near-infrared spectroscopy and surface electromyographic activity was measured during the intervention. Across conditions, the maximal torque was significantly decreased by 49.8% from baseline and 48.2% from pre compared to post (p < 0.001) but no difference was found between the conditions (p = 0.981). VA and PT showed no significant differences. Corticospinal excitability was decreased at post measurements compared to baseline (all intensities, p’s ≤ 0.048) and pre (intensities 110140% resting motor threshold, p’s ≤ 0.02). The fatigue protocol was divided into 10 intervals as a mean power output of three contractions at each interval throughout the protocol. Power output during the fatigue protocol decreased from interval 1 to interval 6-10 (p’s ≤ 0.04), from interval 2 to interval 3-10 (p’s ≤ 0.026) and from interval 3 to interval 4 and 6-10 (p’s ≤ 0.048). The oxygenation during the fatigue protocol showed no differences for oxygenated or deoxygenated haemoglobin between conditions or interval, but total haemoglobin was higher for IPC than sham (p = 0.003) and total haemoglobin rose during the fatigue protocol. These findings indicate that IPC did not delay the development of fatigue nor alter central motor output. Thus, IPC may not have important implications for central motor output during fatiguing exercise.
Association Between Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Helicobacter Pylori Infection

Human genetic polymorphism has been reported in the susceptibility and clinical development of infection. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the link between Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism and H. pylori infection. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 224 adult patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms who underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy between July 2017 and May 2019 in two major university hospitals. All patients were evaluated for helicobacter pylori infection. Two gastric antral biopsy specimens were taken from each patient. One of those Biopsy specimens was evaluated for histopathology examination and the other one was immersed in a saline solution ready for genomic DNA extraction. There were statistically significant differences between different genotypes of VDR rs7975232 polymorphism between H. pylori infected and non-infected groups (CC was higher in H. pylori negative and AC and AA were the most common in H. pylori positive group). There were statistical differences between different genotypes of VDR rs2228570 between H. pylori infected and non-infected groups (TT was higher in H. pylori negative and CT and CC were the most common in H. pylori positive group). Regarding VDR rs 7975232 gene polymorphisms; the (A) allele was significantly higher H. pylori infected, while (C) allele was significantly higher in uninfected patients. Regarding VDR rs 2228570 gene polymorphisms; the (C) allele was significantly higher H. pylori infected, while (T) allele was significantly higher in uninfected patients. There is a possible association between the FokI and Apal VDR polymorphism and H. pylori infection.
Non-native Speech Processing by Children with Phonological Disorders

Non-native Speech Processing by Children with Phonological Disorders Dong Sun Yim*(Dept. of Communication Disorders, EWHA Womans University) This study examined how children with and without Phonological Disorders (PD) process accented speech spoken by a non-native speaker. Two research questions were asked in this project. The first was to compare how children with and without PD perform on accented speech over non-accented speech. The second was to investigate which variables (age, speech, and language skills) correlate and best predict the performance of non-native speech processing. Children were aged from 3 to 8 years old and were native English speakers. Twenty children with PD and 35 children without PD participated. The task was to identify the final words of sentences on each condition. Both quantitative (accuracy) and qualitative (RT) methods were used to collect the data. Overall, both groups performed similarly on both conditions; speech spoken by a non-native speaker which was accented was harder than the non-accented speech. Additionally, there was group by condition interaction effect in which typical children were faster on non-accented speech. Correlation analysis showed that age was highly correlated with speech processing performance whether it was accented or not. Additionally, it was the accuracy of non-accented speech, and RT of accented speech that best predicted the performance for non-native speech processing performance. These results indicated that sound representation in children with PD are less stable than typically-developing children.
Detection of Seed Mycoflora of Soybean by Seed Health Testing Methods

An investigation was conducted to detect the associated seed mycoflora in soybean and its control. A total of 5 varieties of soybean seed were collected from Oilseeds Research Station, Latur and Seed Processing Unit (National Seed Project) VNMKV, Parbhani. Standard agar plate methods and modified PDA method were used for detection of seed mycoflora of soybean seeds. Across the two methods adopted, a total of six fungal genera including Fusarium verticillioides, Macrophomina phaseolina, Alternaria alternata, Aspergillusniger, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus stolonifer with the seeds of soybean were detected. The fungi detected were identified based on their cultural and morphological characteristics. Among the six fungal species detected the occurrence of Fusarium verticillioides was observed (38.00, 26.00, 28.10, 29.50 and 15.00%, respectively) with MAUS-71, MAUS-158, MAUS-162, MAUS-612 and JS-335 followed by followed by the fungi M. phaseolina (32.00, 15.00, 19.75, 22.00 and 12.50 %, respectively) in Standard agar plate method. In modified PDA method maximum frequency of F. verticillioides was observed (27.50, 25.00, 30.00, 32.50 and 28.00%, respectively) with MAUS-71, MAUS-158, MAUS-162, MAUS-612 and JS-335 followed by followed by the fungi A. flavus (37.50, 12.50, 2.50, 7.50 and 35.75 %, respectively). Per cent infectivity of seed mycoflora varied across the methods adopted and varieties tested. The highest per cent infectivity of 38.00% was observed with the fungus F. verticillioides on MAUS-71 in Standard agar plate methods. In modified PDA method the highest per cent infectivity of 35.75% was observed with the fungus A. flavus on JS-335.
Correlation and path coefficient analysis of various sorghum genotypes (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) for quality traits

The study was conducted on 25 sorghum genotypes grown in Randomized Block Design during Kharif 2015 to evaluate, categorize and classify them for fodder yield and quality traits. Correlation and path analysis studies were conducted to determine the association among various fodder yield and its component traits, and the direct and indirect contribution towards fodder yield in 25 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) genotypes grown at forage section in CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana, India) during Kharif, 2015. Plant height up to the base of flag leaf was positively associated with green fodder yield (0.30), dry fodder yield(0.91), digestible dry matter(0.96), IVDMD(0.54), and negatively associated with the time of panicle emergence. The number of tillers per plant was found to be positively associated with the number of leaves(0.37), crude protein(0.25), green fodder yield(0.26), dry fodder yield(0.30), and lignin content and negatively with stem girth. Green fodder yield was positively associated with plant height(0.30), the no. of leaves(0.27), stem girth, dry fodder yield, IVDMD, DDM and protein yield. Dry fodder yield was positively associated with GFY, plant height, stem girth, the no. of tillers, IVDMD, DDM and protein yield and negatively with panicle length visible above sheath. Lignin was positively associated with plant height and the no. of tillers and negatively with ADF, IVDMD and stem girth. The IVDMD content was positively associated with GFY, DFY, the no. of leaves, DDM and protein yield while, negatively with lignin. Crude protein was positively associated with the no. of leaves, stem girth, the no. of tillers, lignin, IVDMD and protein yield and negatively with ADF. The NDF was positively associated with crude protein. The DDM was positively associated with GFY, stem girth, DFY, IVDMD and protein yield. Protein yield was positively associated with GFY, the no. of leaves, stem girth, DFY, IVDMD, crude protein and DDM and negatively with stigma length. Therefore, these traits could be considered as the best selection criteria in sorghum breeding programmes for the development of high yielding varieties.
Study of Lethal Congenital Malformations at a Tertiary-Care Referral Centre in North India

Lethal congenital malformations (LCMs) are fatal birth defects that are an important cause of fetal/neonatal death. There is a lack of informative data about these malformations in India, a country that shares the maximum burden of neonatal mortality due to congenital birth defects. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective analysis to know the prevalence of LCMs in late pregnancy, to find out associated factor/variables and to evaluate fetal/neonatal outcome of such anomalies; at a tertiary-care referral centre in North India. All deliveries with LCMs after 24 weeks of gestation were included in the study. Data about antepartum history (maternal age, parity, education, socioeconomic status, consanguineous marriage, folic acid intake, any chronic medical disorder, availability of anomaly scan, unplanned pregnancy); intrapartum events (gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery); postpartum events (weight of the baby, gender of the baby); newborn evaluation; and details of hospital stay were recorded from medical record sheet over the duration of one year. We found that anencephaly, severe meningomyelocele, multicystic dysplastic kidneys and non-immune hydrops with major cardiac defects were more prevalent among all LCMs. On the evaluation of the various studied variables, maximum babies with LCMs were born to mothers who were between 20 and 35 years of age, those who were illiterate, belonged to middle/lower socio-economic class, multigravida, and those who had no detailed anomaly scan. We feel that there is an urgent need to formulate a universally accepted definition of LCMs, to identify preventable risk factors and to formulate management strategy for both mother and liveborn baby with LCMs, in order to minimize the hidden burden of these defects in stillbirth/ perinatal/ neonatal mortality statistics.
University of Birmingham Inter-individual variability in the production of flavan-3-ol colonic metabolites

27 Purpose: There is much information on the bioavailability of (poly)phenolic compounds following 28 acute intake of various foods. However, there are only limited data on the effects of repeated and 29 combined exposure to specific (poly)phenol food sources and the inter-individual variability in their 30 bioavailability. This study evaluated the combined urinary excretion of (poly)phenols from green tea 31 and coffee following daily consumption by healthy subjects in free-living conditions. The inter32 individual variability in the production of phenolic metabolites was also investigated. 33 Methods: Eleven participants consumed both tablets of green tea and green coffee bean extracts daily 34 for 8 weeks and 24-h urine was collected on five different occasions. The urinary profile of phenolic 35 metabolites and a set of multivariate statistical tests were used to investigate the putative existence of 36 characteristic metabotypes in the production of flavan-3-ol microbial metabolites. 37 Results: (Poly)phenolic compounds in the green tea and green coffee bean extracts were absorbed and 38 excreted after simultaneous consumption, with green tea resulting in more inter-individual variability 39 in urinary excretion of phenolic metabolites. Three metabotypes in the production of flavan-3-ol 40 microbial metabolites were tentatively defined, characterized by the excretion of different amounts of 41 trihydroxyphenyl-γ-valerolactones, dihydroxyphenyl-γ-valerolactones, and hydroxyphenylpropionic 42 acids. 43 Conclusions: The selective production of microbiota-derived metabolites from flavan-3-ols and the 44 putative existence of characteristic metabotypes in their production represent an important 45 development in the study of the bioavailability of plant bioactives. These observations will contribute 46 to better understand the health effects and individual differences associated with consumption of 47 flavan-3-ols, arguably the main class of flavonoids in the human diet. 48 49
Isoprenoid emission response to changing light conditions of English oak, European beech and Norway spruce

Abstract. Light is an important environmental factor controlling biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions, but in natural conditions its impact is hard to separate from other influential factors such as temperature. We studied the light response of foliar BVOC emissions, photosynthesis and stomatal conductance on three common European tree species, namely English oak (Quercus robur), European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and two provenances of Norway spruce (Picea abies) in Taastrup, Denmark. Leaf scale measurements were performed on the lowest positioned branches of the tree in July 2015. Light intensity was increased in four steps (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 µmol m−2 s−1), whilst other chamber conditions such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels were fixed. Whereas the emission rate differed between individuals of the same species, the relative contributions of compounds to the total isoprenoid emission remained similar. Whilst some compounds were species specific, the compounds α-pinene, camphene, 3-carene, limonene and eucalyptol were emitted by all of the measured tree species. Some compounds, like isoprene and sabinene, showed an increasing emission response with increasing light intensity, whereas other compounds, like camphene, had no significant emission response to light for most of the measured trees. English oak and European beech showed high light-dependent emission fractions from isoprene and sabinene, but other emitted compounds were light independent. For the two provenances of Norway spruce, the compounds α-pinene, 3-carene and eucalyptol showed high light-dependent fractions for many of the measured trees. This study highlights differences between compound emissions in their response to a change in light and a possible light independence for certain compounds, which might be valid for a wider range of tree species. This information could be of importance when improving emission models and to further emphasize the discussion regarding light or temperature dependencies for individual compounds across species.
Supplementary Information: Polar Pattern Formation in Driven Filament Systems Requires Non-Binary Particle Collisions

Ryo Suzuki, Christoph A. Weber, 3 Erwin Frey, 4 and Andreas R. Bausch 4 Lehrstuhl für Biophysik (E27), Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80333 Munich, Germany corresponding author
When “Structural Change” meets “Transaction Cost” in Volatility Timing

We propose a new volatility timing strategy that are particularly favourable in the presence of both structural changes in covariance matrix and transaction costs. The approach relies on an assumption that the return covariance matrix changes sparsely over time, along with a novel regularized rolling window technique for tracking the significant changes. The new strategy strikes a good balance between reducing portfolio risk exposure and turnovers, earning larger out-of-sample certainty equivalent returns after transaction costs, compared with a set of commonly used alternatives. These gains are robust to economic states, large scale portfolios, investment horizons and investor’s risk aversion. JEL classification:C13, C51, C61, G11
Pork quality of male hybrids from Lithuanian Wattle pigs and wild boar intercross

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of meat from hybrid (Lithuanian indigenous wattle pigs x wild boar intercross) intact and castrated males. A total of 39 intact and castrated male hybrids from 1/4 and 1/2 wild boar genotype were included in the study. The hybrids from 1/4 wild boar genotype had lower eye loin area (P<0.05) and carcass cooling loss (P<0.001) than those from 1/2 wild boar genotype. Intact boars had lower carcass dressing percentage (P<0.05), backfat thickness (P<0.001) and higher loin area (P<0.001) than castrates. No differences were found as regards technological meat quality, but the taste panel study showed higher acceptability of pork from 1/4 wild boar genotype and castrates than that from 1/2 wild boar genotype and intact boars. A significant correlation was found between the age of intact boars and odour and juiciness (P<0.05). The concentration of testosterone in plasma was correlated with pork and fat odour.
Trust Me If You Can: Voluntary Sustainability Programs in the Uranium Industry

In 2018, the European Commission stated that the EU aims to be generating 95% of its electricity supply from lowcarbon energy sources by 2050 (European Commission, 2018). Of these 95%, a share of 15% is supposed to be derived from nuclear energy (European Commission, 2018). It is generally emphasized that nuclear energy offers a number of benefits, which could enhance the speed of our low-carbon transition (UNECE, 2018; World Nuclear Association, 2019b). [1] But nuclear energy will only be considered as a serious alternative for achieving greener electricity, be it in the EU, in South-East Asia or in other parts of the world (Schneider & Froggatt, 2019), if the ways to get the commodities which fuel the power plants, are sustainable and economically viable as well (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2019).
Diversity analysis for yield traits and sheath blight resistance in rice genotypes

Genetic diversity play a crucial role in crop improvement as progeny from divergent parents show greater heterosis and provide a wide range of variability in segregating generation. It also provides a chance to obtain new recombination of genes in the gene pool. The present study was conducted with 29 genotypes and observations were recorded for plant height, the number of tillers/plant, the number of productive tillers/ plant, panicle length, grain number/panicle, test weight and grain yield/ plant. Genetic divergence among the genotypes was estimated by Mahalanobis D analysis. The genotypes were grouped into six clusters. The maximum number of genotypes (eight) was found in cluster 4, followed by seven in cluster 2, six in cluster 3, four in cluster 1, three in cluster 5 and one in cluster 6. Maximum intra-cluster D value was recorded in cluster 4 (166.93) and minimum in cluster 6 (0.00). The D value of inter-cluster ranged from 204.20 to 1861.92. Maximum inter-cluster D value was found between cluster 4 and 5 (1861.92), followed by cluster 5 and 6 (1548.42). It indicated a very wide range of genetic diversity among genotypes. These genotypes may be utilized for the hybridization programme for sustaining rice production. Moreover, from this study, we also recommend crossing of genotypes belong to cluster 5 and two genotypes of cluster 4 (Ngonolasha and Phougak) for developing high yielding genotype with sheath blight resistance.