Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic Metric Learning with Adaptive Margin for Top-K Recommendation

Personalized recommender systems are playing an increasingly important role as more content and services become available and users struggle to identify what might interest them. Although matrix factorization and deep learning based methods have proved effective in user preference modeling, they violate the triangle inequality and fail to capture fine-grained preference information. To tackle this, we develop a distance-based recommendation model with several novel aspects: (i) each user and item are parameterized by Gaussian distributions to capture the learning uncertainties; (ii) an adaptive margin generation scheme is proposed to generate the margins regarding different training triplets; (iii) explicit user-user/item-item similarity modeling is incorporated in the objective function. The Wasserstein distance is employed to determine preferences because it obeys the triangle inequality and can measure the distance between probabilistic distributions. Via a comparison using five real-world datasets with state-of-the-art methods, the proposed model outperforms the best existing models by 4-22% in terms of recall@K on Top-K recommendation.
Interpretability is a Kind of Safety: An Interpreter-based Ensemble for Adversary Defense

While having achieved great success in rich real-life applications, deep neural network (DNN) models have long been criticized for their vulnerability to adversarial attacks. Tremendous research efforts have been dedicated to mitigating the threats of adversarial attacks, but the essential trait of adversarial examples is not yet clear, and most existing methods are yet vulnerable to hybrid attacks and suffer from counterattacks. In light of this, in this paper, we first reveal a gradient-based correlation between sensitivity analysis-based DNN interpreters and the generation process of adversarial examples, which indicates the Achilles's heel of adversarial attacks and sheds light on linking together the two long-standing challenges of DNN: fragility and unexplainability. We then propose an interpreter-based ensemble framework called X-Ensemble for robust adversary defense. X-Ensemble adopts a novel detection-rectification process and features in building multiple sub-detectors and a rectifier upon various types of interpretation information toward target classifiers. Moreover, X-Ensemble employs the Random Forests (RF) model to combine sub-detectors into an ensemble detector for adversarial hybrid attacks defense. The non-differentiable property of RF further makes it a precious choice against the counterattack of adversaries. Extensive experiments under various types of state-of-the-art attacks and diverse attack scenarios demonstrate the advantages of X-Ensemble to competitive baseline methods.
Evaluation of ensiled whole-crop legumes for ruminants

Experiments evaluating the production methods and nutritive values of ensiled whole-crop legumes for ruminants were conducted. The initial experiment studied the effect of direct-cutting or wilting and additive type on ensiling profile and nutritive value of whole-crop pea (WCP) and bean silages differing in condensed tannin (CT) content. All treatments produced lactic-type silages with a mean DM, pH, CP and NH3-N content of 209 g kg-1, 4.1, 158 g kg-1 DM and 80 g kg-1 TN respectively. Mean WCP had a higher (P In subsequent experiments degradation characteristics of WCP silages differing in CT content were determined. In addition, the effect of dietary inclusion of WCP on lamb growth rate, nitrogen balance and dairy cow milk production were investigated. WCP had a greater (P0.001) nitrogen degradation and higher (P<0.050) effective degradability compared to grass silage (GS). Lambs were fed diets containing GS or GS/WCP supplemented with barley, with or without an additional 200 g d-1 soya-bean meal (SBM). Feeding WCP silage increased (P<0.050) mean growth rate by 21.9 g d-1 but forage DM intake was not affected, equating to a SBM replacement equivalent of 95 g d-1. Including WCP silage in diets did not affect lamb nitrogen balance (mean 11.3 g d-1) or microbial protein synthesis (mean 14.8 g N d-1). WCP silage was added to dairy cow rations which were supplemented with either 1.1 kg d-1 of SBM or wheat. Performance was evaluated against a control diet supplemented with SBM. Feeding WCP silage in dairy rations increased (P<0.050) forage DM intake in contrast to the control diet. However, no effect on milk or milk component yield (mean 24.0 kg, 1.02 kg fat and 0.83 kg protein d-1 respectively) was observed, equating to a daily SBM replacement of 1.1 kg.
A study on serotyping of Cytophaga psychrophila isolated from fishes in Japan

The serological characteristics of the strains of Cytophaga psychrophila isolated from different fishes in different areas were compared by the microtiter method. Included were 3 strains from coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Miyagi Prefecture, 4 from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Nagano and Tokyo Pref. , 6 from ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis) in Tokushima and Wakayama Pref. In addition to these Japanese strains, 3 strains from coho salmon in USA were used as references. Three antisera were prepared with the type strain NCMB1947 from coho salmon in USA, FPC828 from coho salmon in Miyagi, and FPC840 from ayu in Tokushima. In the comparison of C. psychrophila strains by using these antisera, all were positively agglutinated by each of the antisera, indicating the presence of common antigen (s). On the basis of the absorption analysis with thermostable antigens, two distinct serotypes (O-1 and O-2) were recognized. The strains from coho salmon in Japan and USA belonged to serotype O-1. Serotype O-2 occurred only in Japan, and was distributed among rainbow trout as well as ayu.
Certifiable Robustness of Graph Convolutional Networks under Structure Perturbations

Recent works show that message-passing neural networks (MPNNs) can be fooled by adversarial attacks on both the node attributes and the graph structure. Since MPNNs are currently being rapidly adopted in real-world applications, it is thus crucial to improve their reliablility and robustness. While there has been progress on robustness certification of MPNNs under perturbation of the node attributes, no existing method can handle structural perturbations. These perturbations are especially challenging because they alter the message passing scheme itself. In this work we close this gap and propose the first method to certify robustness of Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) under perturbations of the graph structure. We show how this problem can be expressed as a jointly constrained bilinear program - a challenging, yet well-studied class of problems - and propose a novel branch-and-bound algorithm to obtain lower bounds on the global optimum. These lower bounds are significantly tighter and can certify up to twice as many nodes compared to a standard linear relaxation.
Evidence for the Existence of Two Antibodies for Crystalline Insulin

Conclusions Evidence is presented indicating the presence of two antibodies for crystalline insulin in the serum of a patient who was both allergic and resistant to crystalline insulin. It was also shown that the patient was allergic but not resistant to a preparation of human insulin. The relation of the two antibodies to the patient's response to crystalline and human insulin is discussed.
Effective Transfer Learning for Identifying Similar Questions: Matching User Questions to COVID-19 FAQs

People increasingly search online for answers to their medical questions but the rate at which medical questions are asked online significantly exceeds the capacity of qualified people to answer them. This leaves many questions unanswered or inadequately answered. Many of these questions are not unique, and reliable identification of similar questions would enable more efficient and effective question answering schema. COVID-19 has only exacerbated this problem. Almost every government agency and healthcare organization has tried to meet the informational need of users by building online FAQs, but there is no way for people to ask their question and know if it is answered on one of these pages. While many research efforts have focused on the problem of general question similarity, these approaches do not generalize well to domains that require expert knowledge to determine semantic similarity, such as the medical domain. In this paper, we show how a double fine-tuning approach of pretraining a neural network on medical question-answer pairs followed by fine-tuning on medical question-question pairs is a particularly useful intermediate task for the ultimate goal of determining medical question similarity. While other pretraining tasks yield an accuracy below 78.7% on this task, our model achieves an accuracy of 82.6% with the same number of training examples, an accuracy of 80.0% with a much smaller training set, and an accuracy of 84.5% when the full corpus of medical question-answer data is used. We also describe a currently live system that uses the trained model to match user questions to COVID-related FAQs.
Morphometric Characterization of Maize Hybrids and their Parents Using Dus Guidelines

Maize is one of the economically important crop in the world. Protection of Plant varieties and Farmers Right Act (2001) insists on distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) characterization of extant, farmers and new varieties and recommends the registration of varieties for any one specific novel character. Studies initiated to verify morphological characters in two hybrids including GH-0727, Arjun and five parents CI-4, CI-5, KDMI-15, KDMI-16 and CI-4XCI- 5 of UAS, Dharwad, Kranataka, India. The results revealed that the 7 genotypes have variation for different morphological characters like tassel attitude of lateral branches, tassel angle, ear shape, plant height, tassel density of spikelet's and thousand seed weight.
Two forms of isometric muscle function: Interpersonal motor task supports a distinction between a holding and a pushing isometric muscle action

In sports and movement sciences isometric muscle function is measured by pushing against a stable resistance. However, subjectively one can hold or push isometrically. Several investigations suggest a distinction of those forms. The aim of this study was to investigate, whether or not these two forms of isometric muscle action can be distinguished by objective parameters in an interpersonal setting. 20 subjects were grouped in 10 same sex pairs, in which one partner should perform the pushing isometric muscle action (PIMA) and the other partner executed the holding isometric muscle action (HIMA). The partners were coupled by an interface including a strain gauge and an acceleration sensor. The mechanical oscillations of the triceps brachii (MMGtri) muscle, its tendon (MTGtri) and the abdominal muscle (MMGobl) were recorded by piezoelectric-sensor-based measurement system (mechanomyography (MMG); mechanotendography (MTG)). Each partner performed three 15s (80% MVIC) and two fatiguing trials (90% MVIC) during PIMA and HIMA, respectively (tasks changed in the couple). Regarded parameters to compare PIMA and HIMA were (1) the mean frequency, (2) the normalized mean amplitude, (3) the amplitude variation, (4) the power in the frequency range of 8 to 15 Hz and (5) a special power-frequency ratio and the number of task failures during HIMA or PIMA (partner who quit the task). A “HIMA failure” occurred in 87.5% of trials (p<0.000). No significant differences between PIMA and HIMA were found for the mean frequency and normalized amplitude. The MMGobl showed a significantly higher values of the amplitude variation (15s: p 0.013; fatigue: p=0.007) and of the power-frequency-ratio (15s: p = 0.040; fatigue: p = 0.002) during HIMA and a higher power in the range of 8 to 15 Hz during PIMA (15s: p=0.001; fatigue: p=0.011). MMGtri and MTGtri showed no significant differences. Based on the findings it is suggested that a holding and a pushing isometric muscle action can be distinguished objectively, whereby a more complex neural control is assumed for HIMA.
Effect of thinning on natural regeneration and growth of Quercus wutaishanicasaplings

【Objective】 In this paper,the effect of thinning intensity on natural regeneration and growth of Quercus wutaishanica saplings was studied to provide a reference for cutting operation and management after felling of Q.wutaishanica forest. 【Method】 The natural regeneration and development status of true seedlings,stem sprouts,and root sprouts saplings of Q.wutaishanica were investigated during 4 successive years on permanent plots of close-to-natural plantation thinning to 13.4% stocking(light thinning),30.0% stocking(heavy thinning) and closed tending sites(CK) in the central China Loess Plateau. 【Result】 The age of Q.wutaishanica saplings from different originations were similar.With the increase of saplings age,the saplings quantity decreased.The quantity of true seedling was more than that of sprout seedling.Approximately 20%-45% saplings were originated from root or stem sprouts.Seedling density was higher in thinning plot than that of block foster site,while the density of root and stem sprouts didn't show significant difference among three treatments.During the study period,the survival rate of root sprout was the highest,the stem sprout the second,and the true seedling the lowest.The saplings growth rate was higher in thinning plots than that of closed tending sites.Root and stem sprouts seedlings growth rate was higher than that of true seedlings. 【Conclusion】 Whether in thinning stands,or in closed tending woodland,Q.wutaishanica saplings were abundant.It suggests that Q.wutaishanica can successfully regenerate.Q.wutaishanica existed with two breeding strategies between seedlings and seedling sprouts among different tending practices.Close-to-natural plantation thinning to 13.4% stocking was more advantageous to natural regeneration and growth for Q.wutaishanica seedlings.Vegetative regeneration was an important mode of post-logging regeneration.
Maternal Immune Activation and the Development of Dopaminergic Neurotransmission of the Offspring: Relevance for Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses

Prenatal infections have been linked to the development of schizophrenia (SCZ) and other neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring, and work in animal models indicates that this is to occur through the maternal inflammatory response triggered by infection. Several studies in animal models demonstrated that acute inflammatory episodes are sufficient to trigger brain alterations in the adult offspring, especially in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system, involved in the pathophysiology of SCZ and other disorders involving psychosis. In the current review, we synthesize the literature on the clinical studies implicating prenatal infectious events in the development of SCZ. Then, we summarize evidence from animal models of maternal immune activation (MIA) and the behavioral and molecular alterations relevant for the function of the DAergic system. Furthermore, we discuss the evidence supporting the involvement of maternal cytokines, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and leptin (a hormone with effects on inflammation) in mediating the effects of MIA on the fetal brain, leading to the long-lasting effects on the offspring. In particular, IL-6 has been involved in mediating the effects of MIA animal models in the offspring through actions on the placenta, induction of IL-17a, or triggering the decrease in non-heme iron (hypoferremia). Maternal infection is very likely interacting with additional genetic and environmental risk factors in the development of SCZ; systematically investigating how these interactions produce specific phenotypes is the next step in understanding the etiology of complex psychiatric disorders.
Managing and coping with names of pleomorphic fungi in a period of

An explanation is provided of the recent changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants relating to the ending of the separate naming of different statesoffungiwithapleomorphiclife-cycle. �Issuesrelatingtotheirimplementationarediscussed,� includingproblemsofdefining� "widelyused",�authorcitations,�proofsofholomorphy,�typification,� the� preparationof�"Listsofacceptedandrejectednames"�(withapossibletimetable),�relationshipto� the existing processes of sanctioning and conservation or rejection, and steps to be considered for thefuture. �Thismaterialispresentedheretostimulatedebateontheactionsthatshouldbetaken� by individuals, and responsible committees, in the current period of transition to a system of fungal nomenclaturefitforthe�21 st �century.
A Potent Antioxidant Endogenous Neurohormone Melatonin, Rescued MCAO by Attenuating Oxidative Stress-Associated Neuroinflammation

Ischemic stroke is an acute neurological syndrome either due to permanent or temporary obstruction of blood. Such obstruction immediately triggers abrupt pathological cascading processes, which collectively lead to neuronal cell death. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in ischemic stroke are critical regulating events that ultimately lead to neuronal death. Complicated interplay exists between the two processes which occur through several stages. Most often, oxidative stress precedes the inflammatory mechanisms and includes several interconnected cascades that underlie the ischemic stroke pathology. In continuation of the previously published data, here, we further ruled out the protective role of melatonin in focal cerebral ischemic injury model. Administration of 5 mg/kg dose of melatonin 30 min prior to ischemia reduced brain infarction associated with sequentially rescued neuronal apoptosis. Furthermore, melatonin attenuated neuroinflammatory markers and reactive oxygen species (ROS), induced by ischemic stroke, via halting the key players of mitogen stress family (p38/JNK). Besides, melatonin modulated the endogenously produced antioxidant enzyme, thioredoxin (Trx) pathway. These broader therapeutic efficacies of melatonin suggest that melatonin could be further investigated for its diverse therapeutic actions with multiple targets in recovering, preventing and halting the detrimental outcomes of MCAO, such as elevated oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration.
Antioxidant Phytoconstituents From Onosma bracteata Wall. (Boraginaceae) Ameliorate the CCl4 Induced Hepatic Damage: In Vivo Study in Male Wistar Rats

Onosma bracteata Wall. (Boraginaceae) is a highly valuable medicinal herb that is used for the treatment of fever, bronchitis, asthma, rheumatism, stomach irritation, and other inflammatory disorders. The present study aims to explore the hepatoprotective potential of ethanolic extract (Obeth) from O. bracteata aerial parts against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) which causes hepatic damage in the male Wistar rats. Obeth showed effective radical quenching activity with an EC50 of 115.14 and 199.33 µg/mL in superoxide radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation analyses respectively along with plasmid DNA protective potential in plasmid nicking assay. The Obeth modulated mutagenicity of 2 Aminofluorine (2AF) in the pre-incubation mode of investigation (EC50 10.48 µg/0.1 mL/plate) in TA100 strain of Salmonella typhimurium. In in vivo studies, pretreatment of Obeth (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) had the potential to normalize the biochemical markers aggravated by CCl4 (1mL/kg b.wt.) including liver antioxidative enzymes. Histopathological analysis also revealed the restoration of CCl4-induced liver histopathological alterations. Immunohistochemical studies showed that the treatment of Obeth downregulated the expression levels of p53 and cyclin D in hepatocytes. and downregulation in the Western blotting analysis revealed the downregulation of p-NF-kB, COX-2, and p53. HPLC data analysis showed the supremacy of major compounds namely, catechin, kaempferol, epicatechin, and Onosmin A in Obeth. The present investigation establishes the hepatoprotective and chemopreventive potential of O. bracteata against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity via antioxidant defense system and modulation of the expression of proteins associated with the process of carcinogenesis in hepatic cells.
Baroreflex Modulation During Acute High-Altitude Exposure in Rats

Baroreflex (BR) control is critically dependent of sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation. It has been documented that during acute hypobaric hypoxia there is a BR control impairment, however, the effect of a natural hypoxic environment on BR function is limited and controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of acute High-Altitude exposure on sympathetic/parasympathetic modulation of BR control in normal rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly allocated into Sea-Level (n = 7) and High-Altitude (n = 5) (3,270 m above sea level) groups. The BR control was studied using phenylephrine (Phe) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) through sigmoidal analysis. The autonomic control of the heart was estimated using heart rate variability (HRV) analysis in frequency domain. Additionally, to determine the maximum sympathetic and parasympathetic activation of BR, spectral non-stationary method analysis, during Phe (0.05 μg/mL) and SNP administration (0.10 μg/mL) were used. Compared to Sea-Level condition, the High-Altitude group displayed parasympathetic withdrawal (high frequency, 0.6–2.4 Hz) and sympathoexcitation (low frequency, 0.04–0.6 Hz). Regarding to BR modulation, rats showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) of curvature and parasympathetic bradycardic responses to Phe, without significant differences in sympathetic tachycardic responses to SNP after High-Altitude exposure. In addition, the non-stationary analysis of HRV showed a reduction of parasympathetic activation (Phe) in the High-Altitude group. Our results suggest that acute exposure to High-Altitude produces an autonomic and BR control impairment, characterized by parasympathetic withdrawal after 24 h of high-altitude exposure.
The Living Tundra.

1. Introduction 2. What is the tundra? 3. Temperature and humidity in the tundra 4. The diversity of tundra landscapes 5. Snow and its role in the life of the tundra 6. Adaptation of living organisms to conditions in the tundra zone 7. Distribution of animals and plants 8. Interrelationships between organisms 9. Man and the tundra.