Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PREDICTING LAND PRICES AND MEASURING UNCERTAINTY BY COMBINING SUPERVISED AND UNSUPERVISED LEARNING

Despite the popularity deep learning has been gaining, measuring the uncertainty within the result has not met expectations in many deep learning applications and this includes property valuation. In real-world tasks, however, rather than simply requiring predictions, assurance of the certainty of the predictions is also demanded. In this study, supervised learning is combined with unsupervised learning to bridge this gap. A method based on principal component analysis, a popular tool of unsupervised learning, was developed and used to represent the uncertainty in property valuation. Then, a neural network, a representative algorithm to implement supervised learning, was constructed, and trained to predict land prices. Finally, the uncertainty that was measured using principal component analysis was incorporated into the price predicted by the neural network. This hybrid approach is shown to be likely to improve the credibility of the valuation work. The findings of this study are expected to generate interest in the integration of the two learning approaches, thereby promoting the rapid adoption of deep learning tools in the property valuation industry.
Soft Option Transfer

Transferring learnt options in hierarchical RL can yield poor performance when they are even slightly misaligned to the new task. This paper introduces soft option transfer : the given options are treated as a prior to learn task-speciﬁc option posteriors. This combines the fast exploration of transferred options with the ﬂexibility to adjust them if need be. We investigate our approach in the taxi domain with varying option applicability and exploration complexity. The experiments demonstrate a clear advantage over ﬂat policies and ‘hard’ options augmented with primitive actions
Banking Supervision: The Perspective from Economics

Economists have extensively analyzed the regulation of banks and the banking industry, but have devoted considerably less attention to bank supervision as a distinct activity. Indeed, much of the banking literature has used the terms “supervision” and “regulation” interchangeably. This paper provides a heuristic review of the economics literature on microprudential bank supervision, highlighting broad findings and existing gaps, especially those related to work on supervision’s theoretical underpinnings. The theoretical literature examining the motivation for supervision (monitoring and oversight) as an activity distinct from regulation (rulemaking) is just now emerging and has considerable room to grow. Meanwhile, the empirical literature assessing the impact of supervision is more substantial. Initial results suggest that supervision reduces risk at banks without meaningfully reducing profitability. The evidence is more mixed about whether more intensive supervision reduces credit supply. The channels through which supervision achieves these results have yet to be fully explored, however. Finally, there is a body of work exploring how supervisory incentives—at both the individual and institutional levels—affect outcomes. Supervisory incentives are fundamentally entwined with the theoretical rationale for supervision as a distinct activity and with empirical assessments of its impact. Drawing these links more clearly is an additional area for fruitful future work.
Can Strategic Behaviour Facilitate Confusion Resolution? The Interplay Between Confusion and Metacognitive Strategies in Betty's Brain

Confusion may benefit learning when it is resolved or partially resolved. Metacognitive strategies (MS) may help learners to resolve confusion when it occurs during learning and problem solving. This study examined the relationship between confusion and MS that students evoked in Betty’s Brain, a computer-based learning-by-modelling environment where elementary and middle school students learn science by building causal maps. Participants were sixth graders. Emotion data were collected from real-time observations by trained researchers. MS and task performance information were determined by analyzing the action logs. Pre- and post-tests were used to assess learning gains. The results revealed that the use of MS was a function of the state of student confusion. However, confusion resolution was not related to MS behaviour, and MS did not moderate the effect of confusion on student task performance in Betty’s Brain or on learning gains.
Happiness and Personality Traits as Predictors of Optimism in School and College Teachers

The present research was aimed at investigating the predictive role of personality traits and happiness in forecasting optimism of teachers working in public and private schools and colleges. The participants of this study included 154 teachers (male = 80; female = 74) with age range of 26-50 years. Data were collected by using Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Argyle & Hills, 2002), Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver & Bridges, 1994), and International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 2006). Cronbach alpha of these scales on current sample was found good. Results revealed that happiness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness were significant positive correlates of optimism. Moreover, optimism was predicted by happiness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. Furthermore, teachers working in public schools and colleges had higher level of optimism as compared to teachers of private institutions. Furthermore, there were nonsignificant gender differences on optimism. Findings of present study has important implications for school and college teachers, administrators, and principals of educational institutions.
Overview of handcrafted features and deep learning models for leaf recognition

In this study, an automated system for classification of leaf species based on the global and local features is presented by concentrating on a smart and unorthodox decision system. The utilized global features consist of 11 features and separated into two categories; gross shape features (7) and moment based features (4), respectively. In case of local features, only the curve points on Bezier curves are accepted as discriminative features. With the purpose of reducing the search space and improving the performance of the system, firstly the class label of leaf object is determined by conducting the global features with respect to predefined threshold values. Once the target class is determined, the local features have performed in order to assign the leaf species into a unique class. In classification stage, the k-nearest neighbor (k-nn) algorithm has utilized based on the Hausdorff distance. The proposed classification scheme provides high accuracy rate as achieving the 96.78% performance on Flavia and the 94.66% on SLID dataset. The results of the experimental study reveal that the combination of these features is more effective than preferring a single feature for leaf recognition task.
Ion exchange technique (IET) to characterise Ag+ exposure in soil extracts contaminated with engineered silver nanoparticles

Environmental context Biosolid-amended soils are likely sinks for manufactured silver nanoparticles, the environmental toxicity of which is believed to be related to the release and accumulation of Ag+ ions. This study demonstrates how an ion exchange technique can be applied to soil extracts to provide Ag+ measurements at low, environmentally relevant levels. The technique is a valuable addition to existing analytical methods for tracking the behaviour of Ag nanoparticles and Ag+ ions in the terrestrial environment. Abstract The lack of silver speciation exposure data in toxicity studies investigating the effects of manufactured silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in natural soil media limits the ability to discern nano-specific effects from effects of the toxic Ag+ form, which may be released from the manufactured AgNPs contained in wastewater, biosolids or soil environment. Using samples containing Ag+ or mixtures of Ag+ and AgNPs, ranging in total Ag concentrations of 10–5 to 10–9 M, and prepared in de-ionised water and filtered soil extracts, the validity of the ion exchange technique (IET) to quantify Ag+ was investigated by comparing measurements to those of an Ag+ ion selective electrode (ISE) and to the dissolved fraction from single particle inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) analysis (SP-dissolved). When analysing samples in the filtered soil extract, IET and ISE gave comparable results down to 10–7 M, below which Ag+ activities were below the ISE detection limit. For water samples, SP-dissolved values were generally comparable or slightly greater (on average 65%) compared with IET-Ag+ at all concentrations. The high bias was likely due to inclusion of unresolved particles below the SP-ICP detection limit of 19nm. However, when analysing samples in the soil extract, SP-dissolved values were on average eight-fold greater than IET-Ag+, highlighting the effect that natural colloidal and dissolved soil constituents have on complexing Ag+, as well as the lack of specificity of the SP-dissolved analysis for the Ag+ species. IET is shown here to be a valid procedure to quantify Ag+ activity in soil extracts, and while the study highlights the limitations of using the SP-dissolved fraction to estimate this biologically relevant Ag fraction, it shows that combined, IET and SP-ICP-MS provide a valuable approach for investigating the behaviour of manufactured AgNPs in different matrixes.
Aberrant activation of the mentalizing brain system during eye gaze discrimination in bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with a range of social cognitive deficits. This study investigated the functioning of the mentalizing brain system in BD probed by an eye gaze perception task during fMRI. Compared with healthy controls (n = 21), BD participants (n = 14) showed reduced preferential activation for self-directed gaze discrimination in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), which was associated with poorer cognitive and social functioning. Aberrant functions of the mentalizing system should be further investigated as marker of social dysfunction and treatment targets.
Proteomic Profiling of MIS-C Patients Reveals Heterogeneity Relating to Interferon Gamma Dysregulation and Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction

Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is a major complication of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in pediatric patients. Weeks after an often mild or asymptomatic initial infection with SARS-CoV-2 children may present with a severe shock-like picture and marked inflammation. Children with MIS-C present with varying degrees of cardiovascular and hyperinflammatory symptoms. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the plasma proteome of more than 1400 proteins in children with SARS-CoV-2. We hypothesized that the proteome would reflect heterogeneity in hyperinflammation and vascular injury, and further identify pathogenic mediators of disease. Protein signatures demonstrated overlap between MIS-C, and the inflammatory syndromes macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). We demonstrate that PLA2G2A is a key marker of MIS-C that associates with TMA. We found that IFN{gamma} responses are dysregulated in MIS-C patients, and that IFN{gamma} levels delineate clinical heterogeneity.
Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of Ultra-Processed Foods (Ready to Eat + Fast Food): Fatty Acid Composition

Up to the 60% of the Western diet is characterized by consumption of high amounts of Ultra-processed foods (UPFs). From a nutritional standpoint, the high consumption of UPFs, including Fast-foods and Ready-to-Eat (RTE), emerges as a critical topic for public health linking nutritional quality and food safety. In the present work, we provide a systematic database of fatty acids composition of the most consumed UPFs in the US mid-western region. Saturate (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acids were predominant in both FF and RTE, while health-beneficial polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids were abundant only in seafood meals. Nutritional and non-nutritional attributes were correlated, finding positive correlation between caloric and sodium content. The significance of this study relies on providing new quantitative data for the most consumed UPFs, with the opportunity to define priority interventions for more advanced precision nutrition, especially for vulnerable populations.
Impaired antigen-specific memory B cell and plasma cell responses including lack of specific IgG upon SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccination among Kidney Transplant and Dialysis patients

Patients with kidney failure are at increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and effective vaccinations are needed. It is not known how efficient mRNA vaccines mount B and plasma cell responses in dialysis patients (DP) or kidney transplant recipients (KTR) compared to healthy controls (HC). We studied humoral and B cell responses of 25 HC, 44 DP and 40 KTR. Markedly impaired anti-BNT162b2 responses were identified among KTR and DP compared to 100% seroconversion in HC. In DP, the response was delayed (3-4 weeks after boost) and reduced with anti-S1 IgG positivity in 31 (70.5%) and anti-S1 IgA in 30 (68.2%) of 44, respectively. In contrast, KTR did not develop IgG response except one patient who had prior unrecognized infection and developed anti-S1 IgG. The majority of antigen-specific B cells (RBD+) were identified in the plasmablast or post-switch memory B cell compartments in HC, whereas these RBD+ B cells were enriched among pre-switch and naive B cells from DP and KTR. Single cell transcriptome and CITE-seq analyses found reduced frequencies of plasmablasts, TCF7+CD27+GZMK+ T cells and proliferating MKI67-expressing lymphocytes among KTR non-responders. Importantly, the frequency and absolute number of antigen-specific circulating plasmablasts in the whole cohort correlated with the Ig response, a characteristic not reported for other vaccinations. In conclusion, this data indicate that lack of T cell help related to immunosuppression results in impaired germinal center differentiation of B and plasma cell memory. There is an urgent need to improve vaccination protocols in patients after kidney transplantation or on chronic dialysis.
Reactive Rate Constants for the C+ + H2(v = 0, 1) Reaction: An Accurate State-to-state Quantum Dynamical Study

The accurately calculated thermal rate constants of the C+ + H2(v = 0, 1) reaction are important for estimating the CH+ emission spectra in different astronomical environments. In this study, reactive quantum dynamics of the C+ + H2(v = 0, 1) reaction have been investigated with the time-dependent wave packet method on the high-quality potential energy surface recently developed by Guo et al. The simulated total cross sections are compared in detail with previous experimental measurements and dynamical results. The calculated total rate constants are found to be in good agreement with previous quasi-classical results by Herráez-Aguilar et al., except for the v = 0 reaction at low temperatures. The ro-vibrational state-resolved rate constants show that the CH+ product, obtained from both the v = 0 and v = 1 reactions, is significantly populated in the vibrational ground but rotational excited states. In particular, for the v = 0 reaction, the CH+ product is preferably formed at j′ = 4, 5 rotational levels, while the CH+ product for the v = 1 reaction prefers rotational excitation j′ = 6–8. This finding varies with previous J-shifting calculations by Zanchet et al., owing to the different potential energy surface and methodology employed in the calculations.
Dependence of the IBEX Ribbon Geometry on Pitch-Angle Scattering outside the Heliopause

Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) observations of the “ribbon” of enhanced energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes show that it is a persistent feature that approximately forms a circle in the sky, likely formed from secondary ENAs whose source lies outside the heliopause. The IBEX ribbon's geometry (radius and center) depends on ENA energy and is believed to be influenced by the draping of the ISMF and the latitudinal structure of the SW. In this study, we demonstrate that the ribbon's geometry also depends on the pitch-angle scattering rate of ions outside the heliopause, which we simulate under strong and weak-scattering limits. The ribbon radius in the weak-scattering model is ∼4° larger than IBEX observations at most energies, and the strong-scattering model produces radii statistically consistent with IBEX at 1.1–2.7 keV. The simulated ribbon center is shifted between ∼2° and 5° along the B–V plane away from the IBEX center for the weak and strong limits, respectively, suggesting that the pristine ISMF far from the heliosphere is shifted ∼2°–5° away from our simulated ISMF toward the VLISM inflow direction. However, the magnitude needs to be decreased from ∼3 to 2 μG for the weak-scattering model to be consistent with the IBEX ribbon radius, which seems unlikely. We also find that the presence of interstellar He does not significantly affect the ribbon in the strong-scattering limit but yields weaker agreement with data in the weak limit. Our results slightly favor the strong-scattering limit for the ribbon's origin.
Lorentz–Lorenz Coefficient of Ice Molecules of Astrophysical Interest: N2, CO2, NH3, CH4, CH3OH, C2H4, and C2H6

This work calculates the Lorentz–Lorenz coefficient with the refractive index and density values of various molecules in their solid phase measured in our laboratory under astrophysical conditions. This was completed for a range of temperatures from 13 K to close to the sublimation temperature for each molecule. The studied molecules were N2, CO2, NH3, CH4, CH3OH, C2H4, and C2H6. For CO2, our results match those found in the unique similar previous work in the literature. The results obtained for NH3 and CH3OH are relevant because they confirm that the procedure adopted is applicable also to polar molecules. The study presented here updates the previous work on these molecules by focusing on their solid states under astrophysical conditions and at a range of temperatures. The knowledge of the Lorentz–Lorenz coefficient in a specific temperature range allows for calculating the density using only the refractive index.
Scintillation Arcs in Pulsar B0450–18

We report on Green Bank Telescope observations of interstellar scintillation from the pulsar B0450−18 at 340 and 825 MHz, revealing prominent arcs in the secondary spectra at both frequencies. The arcs are successfully modeled by one-dimensional angular brightness distributions, estimated by two independent techniques. The distributions do not follow the expected shape for a Kolmogorov plasma density spectrum, and their overall angular widths follow a scaling law, versus frequency, that is slightly slower than the inverse square law expected from plasma dispersion. They also exhibit discrete peaks that are the cause of the occasional reverse sub-arcs. Over a narrow (5%) frequency range these peaks do not participate in the overall spreading, having angular positions that are fixed on the sky. However, the peaks do evolve over a wider range of frequencies and cannot be traced from 825 to 340 MHz. Our conclusions add further evidence for a widespread distribution of highly localized regions of interstellar plasma with small-scale structure that is either elongated or flattened.
Productivity of organically manured wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) intercropping system under limited moisture

A field experiment on ―Productivity of organically manured wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) intercropping system under limited moisture‖ was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during rabi 2013-14 to compare the productivity of wheat and chickpea intercropping system with sole crops under limited moisture conditions and to find out the suitable planting ratio for wheat + chickpea intercropping system. The soil of the experimental field was loamy sand having normal pH, low organic carbon, low available nitrogen, high available phosphorus and medium available potassium. Farmyard manure was applied to the field to supply 80 kg N ha -1 . Nine combinations of wheat + chickpea row ratios along with sole wheat and chickpea were evaluated in randomized complete block design with four replications. The crops were sown by applying one pre-sowing irrigation and one post-sowing irrigation to the crops was given at the time of ear initiation in wheat. Number of tillers, chlorophyll index, effective tillers and grain protein content of wheat increased with chickpea intercropping. Wheat + chickpea row ratio of 2:1 gave significantly higher grain yield of wheat (54.6 q ha -1 ) than sole wheat (46.7 q ha -1 ), whereas wheat grain yields of wheat + chickpea row ratios of 1:1 and 3:1 were statistically at par with sole wheat. Chickpea gave significantly higher seed yield as sole crop than that of all the wheat + chickpea row ratios. Bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes populations were higher in wheat + chickpea intercropping system than sole wheat. Wheat + chickpea in 2:1 row ratio gave significantly higher gross returns, net returns, benefit cost ratio, wheat equivalent yield, water use efficiency and land equivalent ratio than sole wheat.
Experimental study of steam-gasification of municipal solid wastes (MSW) using Ni-Cu/γ-Al 2O3 nano catalysts

ABSTRACT There is an increasing interest in the conversion of municipal solid waste (MSW) due to its low cost and high potential for production of syngas and chemicals. Gasification is a promising thermochemical process to transform carbon-based fuels into a valuable fuel/syngas. In this article, an experimental study of air-gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW) using Ni-Cu/γ-Al2O3 nano catalysts was developed. The particle sizes were ranged from 0.3 mm to 0.35 mm and loaded into the Micro-FB system at the beginning of each experiment. The influence of type of catalysts, gasification temperature and catalyst loading on tar concentration, hydrogen yield, and char conversion was evaluated. Results showed that with increasing the gasification temperature, the hydrogen yield gradually increases from 25 to 34 g/kg fuel at 600°C and 24 to 32 g/kg fuel at 800°C when using Ni/γ-Al2O3 and Cu/γ-Al2O3 catalysts, respectively. It also found that the use of metal catalyst during the gasification process is an influential parameter affecting the evolution profiles of gasification products, especially for hydrogen.
WASSA@IITK at WASSA 2021: Multi-task Learning and Transformer Finetuning for Emotion Classification and Empathy Prediction

This paper describes our contribution to the WASSA 2021 shared task on Empathy Prediction and Emotion Classification. The broad goal of this task was to model an empathy score, a distress score and the overall level of emotion of an essay written in response to a newspaper article associated with harm to someone. We have used the ELECTRA model abundantly and also advanced deep learning approaches like multi-task learning. Additionally, we also leveraged standard machine learning techniques like ensembling. Our system achieves a Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 0.533 on sub-task I and a macro F1 score of 0.5528 on sub-task II. We ranked 1st in Emotion Classification sub-task and 3rd in Empathy Prediction sub-task.