Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Binary Bayesian Neural Networks for Efficient Uncertainty Estimation Leveraging Inherent Stochasticity of Spintronic Devices

In the age of automation, machine learning systems for real-time critical decisions in various domains such as autonomous driving are at an all-time high. Predictive uncertainty allows a machine learning system to make more insightful decisions by avoiding blind predictions. Algorithmically, Bayesian neural networks (BayNNs) based on dropout are principled methods for estimating predictive uncertainty in a machine learning application. However, the computational cost and power consumption make the use of BayNNs on embedded hardware unattractive. Hardware accelerators with emerging non-volatile resistive memories (NVMs) such as Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) in conjunction with quantized models are an interesting option for efficient implementations of such a system. Binary BayNNs are a desirable alternative that can provide predictive uncertainty efficiently by combining the benefits of quantization and hardware acceleration. In this paper, propose for the first time the binary bayesian neural network (BayBNN) using dropout-based approximation, and we leverage the inherent randomness of spin-tronic devices for in-memory Bayesian inference. Our proposed method can detect up-to 100% of the out-of-distribution data, improve inference accuracy by 15% for corrupted data, and ~ 2% for in-distribution data.
Statistical Weight Refresh System for CTT-Based Synaptic Arrays

Charge-trap transistors (CTTs) are compute-in-memory devices that are used to model synaptic arrays in neuromorphic systems. CTTs enable non von Neumann architectures, thus, eliminating the energy spent on compute-memory communication. Synaptic weights can be stored in CTTs by shifting the threshold voltage of the devices in an analog manner. CTTs are, however, susceptible to unintentional de-trapping of charge over time due to threshold voltage instability, leading to loss of the stored synaptic weights. The proposed weight refresh system performs statistical refresh of the CTT array to replenish the charge of individual CTT devices (restore synaptic weights) based on characterization of threshold voltage instability in high-k dielectrics.
Exploring the factors behind the shift in unwanted childbearing rate in Bangladesh between 2007 and 2017/2018: a cross-sectional study

Objectives This study aimed at exploring the factors associated with the reduction in the proportion of women reporting unwanted births in Bangladesh between 2007 and 2017/2018. Design and setting A cross-sectional analysis of the data collected by the 2007 and 2017/2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys by using a two-stage stratified sampling covering the entire population in Bangladesh. Participants Our analysis included 4810 (2007) and 7403 (2017/2018) weighted ever-married women aged 15–49 years reporting at least one birth in the 5 years preceding each of the surveys. Results The proportion of women reporting unwanted births declined by 26.2% between 2007 and 2017/2018. Overall changes in women’s behaviour and their proportions with distinct characteristics explained 66.2% (0.051 points decrease, 95% CI −0.071 to –0.031, p<0.001) and 45.5% (0.035 points decrease, 95% CI −0.051 to –0.019, p<0.001) of the overall reduction in the proportion reporting unwanted births, respectively. Behavioural changes among those being visited by family planning (FP) workers (0.004 points decrease, 95% CI −0.008 to –0.000, p=0.047), having complete secondary education or higher (0.009 points decrease, 95% CI −0.016 to –0.003, p=0.002), and earning in kind (0.002 points decrease, 95% CI −0.005 to –0.000, p=0.035) were associated with a reduction in unwanted childbearing. Increases in the proportions of women married at age 18 or older (0.008 points decrease, 95% CI −0.010 to –0.005, p<0.001), and having some secondary education (0.013 points decrease, 95% CI −0.019 to –0.008, p<0.001) were negatively associated with unwanted childbearing. Conversely, an increase in the proportion expressing preference for a balanced sex composition of the family was positively associated with unwanted childbearing (0.013 points increase, 95% CI 0.008 to 0.017, p<0.001). Conclusions Women’s behavioural changes driven by the FP programmes and other external factors, and changes in their characteristics, could reduce the incidence of unwanted childbearing in Bangladesh, and thereby contribute to improvements in maternal health.
POWER AND SAMPLE SIZE FOR MATCHED CASE-CONTROL STUDIES

The problem of sample size for matched case-control studies is approached without any advance information. In current practice, the probability of exposure 0 of matched controls and the correlation coefficient 0 between outcomes of a matched pair have to be available as in Dupont (1988, Biometrics 43, 1157-1168); the probability of discordant pairs is required in Schlesselman (1982, Case-Control Studies: Design, Conduct, Analysis) and Parker and Bregman (1986, Biometrics 42, 919-926). The measure of association w between a case's and the matched control's exposure status and 0 are also needed in Fleiss (1988, Proceedings of the XIVth International Biometrics Conference, 29-44). For a test of Ho: 7P 1 against the alternative hypothesis, H1: If = 7o > 1, sample sizes are determined without requiring any advance information both for pair-matching and for multiple matching using the model of Ejigou and McHugh (1977, Biometrics 33, 552-556; 1981, Biometrika 68, 85-91) and the results in Ejigou (1990, Biometricss 46, 61-69). The weakness of Ury's rule (1975, Biometrics 31, 643-649) is reviewed and alternatives are proposed. As in current procedures, our method enables one to determine power for a given HI, test size, and sample size. In addition, it also provides a solution to the problem of the number of controls to be matched to each case to achieve a desired level of power. This is also a new feature of our method.
Comfort evaluation of orthotics based on simulation analysis: Effect of materials on function of orthotics

To establish a three-dimensional finite element model of foot-orthotic-ground, and to use this model to analyze the equivalent stress changes of orthotic when the human body is standing with two feet and wearing orthotic devices of different materials, so as to reflect the influence of materials on the comfort of orthotic devices. Methods: Based on the three-dimensional point cloud data of the left foot of volunteers, the foot was reconstructed geometrically and meshes were divided, and a complete finite element model was established to complete the construction of foot-orthodontist-ground finite element model. Different orthopedic materials were selected for static simulation of human standing state. Results: The finite element analysis results showed that, compared with the other two materials, the pressure peak value of EVA orthotics was reduced, the comfort of EVA orthotics was better than that of the other two materials, which has certain reference significance for the comfort evaluation and functional design of flat foot orthotics.
DRC Violation Prediction with Pre-global-routing Features Through Convolutional Neural Network

Design Rule Checking (DRC) is one of the most important metrices in physical design procedure to evaluate quality of a detail route. The prediction of DRC violation (DRV) in the early stage can reduce the iterations of design procedure and improve the efficiency of the physical design closure. Several researchers have applied machine-learning techniques to predict the DRVs of a detail route at different design stages with various input features. In this paper, we proposed a machine learning model to predict DRVs with the information obtained after placement stage. Specifically, we build a ResNet-like CNN model to predict whether a DRV may occur in a targeted grid after detail route. Our features consist of not only quantified placement information but also layout-image features to take pin accessibility into account for better prediction result. Moreover, we apply an under-sampling technique to select critical training samples to improve the training efficiency. A series of experiments have been conducted and the results show that compared with previous works, our prediction result can outperform Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) based approaches.
Monitoring of antibiotic use in broiler turkey flocks in the Warmia and Mazury province in 2019–2021

Abstract Introduction The increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics has obliged the EU Member States to reduce by 50% the use of antibiotics in animal production by 2030. This study was undertaken with the aim to analyse the use of antibiotics in flocks of broiler turkeys reared in the Warmia and Mazury province in a two-year period. Material and Methods From data from 238 production records of turkey flocks provided by the County Veterinary Inspectorates, the use of antibiotics (mg/kg) was analysed in turkey flocks reared in 2019–2021. The data provided the year of rearing, turkey sex and immunoprophylactic measures. Results A significant decrease in antimicrobial use was reported in the male turkey flocks in 2021 (157 mg/kg body weight) in comparison to 2020 (241 mg) and 2019 (299 mg). In both male and female turkeys, the use of antimicrobials gradually decreased from 2019 to 2021. Significantly lower antibiotic use was reported in turkey flocks using autogenous vaccines. Conclusion The positive trend shown in this study proves the possibility of meeting the EU recommendations for 50% reduction in the use of antibiotics in animal production by 2030. More emphasis should be placed on minimising the risk of infectious diseases requiring antibiotic therapy with welfare, biosecurity, immunomodulation and specific prophylaxis measures.
College students’ aesthetic affection and prosocial behaviour: The role of empathy

Two studies were conducted to explore the influence of college students’ aesthetic affection on prosocial behaviour and the role of empathy. In Study 1, 343 college students completed the Chinese College Students Aesthetic Affection Questionnaire (CCSAAQ), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C), and the Measure of Prosocial Tendencies (PTM-C). The results showed that students with higher aesthetic affection and trait empathy also had higher prosocial behaviour. Trait empathy partially mediated the relationship between aesthetic affection and prosocial behaviour. More specifically, aesthetic affection can directly promote prosocial behaviour and can indirectly promote prosocial behaviour through trait empathy. In Study 2, 121 students completed a behavioural “Dictator Game” experiment (two factors between-subject design) with manipulation of aesthetic affection (high group/low group) and state empathy (induction group/control group) to investigate effects on helping behaviour. The results suggested that induction state empathy and high aesthetic affection can lead to more helping behaviour (donation amount) and that state empathy can promote the helping behaviour of college students with low aesthetic affection. Based these findings, we conclude that empathy plays an important role in strengthening the relationship between aesthetic affection and prosocial behaviour.
Sustainable solutions for reducing air-conditioning costs and tailpipe emissions from heavy-duty transportation across Europe

Abstract Heavy-duty trucks emit >25% of the CO2 of the European road transport sector despite representing ≈2.5% of its fleet. Escalating temperatures associated to global warming will increase the use of air-conditioning (AC) in heavy-duty trucks, further raising their fuel consumption and emissions. Thus, sustainable solutions are needed to reduce the thermal loads affecting the truck cabins, to minimize the need for AC and decrease the sector’s costs and environmental footprint. We assessed the economic and environmental impact of AC use in the European heavy-duty transportation fleet, for realistic environmental conditions throughout the year, across the different European regions. Potential reductions were estimated for various changes in the optical properties of the cabin external paints and glazing elements (windshield and side-windows). The use of high-reflectivity paints in the cabin external surfaces and low-transmissivity glazing can reduce fuel costs by ≈€195 million/year across Europe (i.e., ≈0.1% of the total fuel costs of the European heavy-duty fleet), and decrease CO2 emissions by 1% of the reduction target set for 2025. These potential reductions highlight the importance of engaging with transportation stakeholders (e.g., workers unions, vehicle manufacturers, policymakers, and regulating bodies), to raise awareness about the potential benefits for the European transportation sector and the environment, and to promote the necessary adaptation in the transportation fleets.
No Wolbachia protection against Plasmodium falciparum infection in the major malaria mosquito Anopheles moucheti

Since the discovery of natural malaria vector populations infected by the endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia, a renewed interest has arisen for using this bacterium as an alternative for malaria control. Among naturally infected mosquitoes, Anopheles moucheti, a major malaria mosquito in Central Africa, exhibits one of the highest prevalences of Wolbachia infection. To better understand whether this maternally inherited bacterium could be used for malaria control, we investigated Wolbachia influence in An. moucheti populations naturally infected by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. To this end, we collected mosquitoes in a village from Cameroon, Central Africa, where this mosquito is the main malaria vector. We found that the prevalence of Wolbachia bacterium was almost fixed in the studied mosquito population, and was higher than previously recorded. We also quantified Wolbachia in whole mosquitoes and dissected abdomens, confirming that the bacterium is also elsewhere than in the abdomen, but at lower density. Finally, we analyzed the impact of Wolbachia presence and density on P. falciparum infection. Wolbachia density was slightly higher in mosquitoes infected with the malaria parasite than in uninfected mosquitoes. However, we observed no correlation between the P. falciparum and Wolbachia densities. In conclusion, our study indicates that naturally occurring Wolbachia infection does not affect P. falciparum development within An. moucheti mosquitoes.
Schwann cell release of p11 induces sensory neuron hyperactivity in Fabry disease

Patients with Fabry disease suffer from chronic debilitating pain and peripheral sensory neuropathy with minimal treatment options, but the cellular drivers of this pain are unknown. Here, we propose a novel mechanism by which altered signaling between Schwann cells and sensory neurons underlies the peripheral sensory nerve dysfunction we observe in a genetic rat model of Fabry disease. Using in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, we demonstrate that Fabry rat sensory neurons exhibit pronounced hyperexcitability. Schwann cells likely contribute to this finding as application of mediators released from cultured Fabry Schwann cells induces spontaneous activity and hyperexcitability in naïve sensory neurons. We examined putative algogenic mediators using proteomic analysis and found that Fabry Schwann cells release elevated levels of the protein p11 (S100-A10) which induces sensory neuron hyperexcitability. Removal of p11 from Fabry Schwann cell media causes hyperpolarization of neuronal resting membrane potential, indicating that p11 contributes to the excessive neuronal excitability caused by Fabry Schwann cells. These findings demonstrate that rats with Fabry disease exhibit sensory neuron hyperexcitability caused in part by Schwann cell release of the protein p11. Graphical Abstract
A potent MAPK13–14 inhibitor prevents airway inflammation and mucus production

Common respiratory diseases continue to represent a major public health problem, and much of the morbidity and mortality is due to airway inflammation and mucus production. Previous studies indicated a role for mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 (MAPK14) in this type of disease, but clinical trials are unsuccessful to date. Our previous work identified a related but distinct kinase known as MAPK13 that is activated in respiratory airway diseases and is required for mucus production in human cell-culture models. Support for MAPK13 function in these models came from effectiveness of MAPK13 versus MAPK14 gene-knockdown and from first-generation MAPK13-14 inhibitors. However, these first-generation inhibitors were incompletely optimized for blocking activity and were untested in vivo. Here we report the next generation and selection of a potent MAPK13-14 inhibitor (designated NuP-3) that more effectively down-regulates type-2 cytokine-stimulated mucus production in air-liquid interface and organoid cultures of human airway epithelial cells. We also show that NuP-3 treatment prevents respiratory airway inflammation and mucus production in new minipig models of airway disease triggered by type-2 cytokine challenge or respiratory viral infection. The results thereby provide the next advance in developing a small-molecule kinase inhibitor to address key features of respiratory disease. New and noteworthy This study describes the discovery of a potent MAPK13-14 inhibitor and its effectiveness in models of respiratory airway disease. The findings thereby provide a scheme for pathogenesis and therapy of lung diseases (e.g., asthma, COPD, Covid-19, post-viral and allergic respiratory disease) and related conditions that implicate MAPK13-14 function. The findings also refine a hypothesis for epithelial and immune cell functions in respiratory disease that features MAPK13 as a possible component of this disease process.
A Fast Method for the Computation of the Capacitance of the Geometrically Symmetric Dielectric Coated Metallic Bodies Isolated in the Free Space

ABSTRACT The method of moments based electrostatic modelling in the form of the capacitance estimation of the dielectric coated isolated metallic structure with finite size requires matrix inversion. The inversion of a large sized matrix consumes most of the simulation time apart from filling the sub-matrices related to the distance vector. The analysis of the literature reveals the symmetric nature of the charge density for the geometrically symmetric structures. This property is exploited to form a matrix of the reduced size in the paper. The pulse basis function and the point matching are used to form the set of simultaneous equations, resulting into a matrix equation. The matrix inversion is carried out to solve the matrix equation for the unknown charge density for the reduced sized matrix. The moment method analysis is coupled with the symmetry property of the charge density to achieve the faster convergence to compute the capacitance. The results of the capacitance obtained using the method presented are compared with the results computed with the method published in the literature.
A configural context signal simultaneously but separably drives positioning and orientation of hippocampal place fields

Effective self-localization requires that the brain can resolve ambiguities in incoming sensory information arising from self-similarities (symmetries) in the environment structure. We investigated how place cells use environmental cues to resolve the ambiguity of a rotationally symmetric environment, by recording from hippocampal CA1 in rats exploring a ‘2-box’. This apparatus comprises two adjacent rectangular compartments, identical but with directionally opposed layouts (cue card at one end and central connecting doorway) and distinguished by their odor contexts (lemon vs. vanilla). Despite the structural and visual rotational symmetry of the boxes, no place cells rotated their place fields. The majority remapped their fields between boxes but some repeated them, maintaining a translational symmetry and thus adopting a relationship to the layout that was conditional on the odor. In general, the place field ensemble maintained a stable relationship to environment orientation as defined by the odors, but sometimes the whole ensemble rotated its firing en bloc, decoupling from the odor context cues. While the individual elements of these observations – odor remapping, place field repetition, ensemble rotation and decoupling from context – have been reported in isolation, the combination in the one experiment is incompletely explained within current models. We redress this by proposing a model in which odor cues enter into a three-way association with layout cues and head direction, creating a configural context signal that facilitates two separate processes: place field orientation, and place field positioning. This configuration can subsequently still function in the absence of one of its components, explaining the ensemble decoupling from odor. We speculate that these interactions occur in retrosplenial cortex, because it has previously been implicated in context processing, and all the relevant signals converge here.
Coupling and uncoupling of midline morphogenesis and cell flow in amniote gastrulation

Large-scale cell flow characterizes gastrulation in animal development. In amniote gastrulation, particularly in avian gastrula, a bilateral vortex-like counter-rotating cell flow, called ‘polonaise movements’, appears along the midline. Here, through experimental manipulations, we addressed relationships between the polonaise movements and morphogenesis of the primitive streak, the earliest midline structure in amniotes. Suppression of the Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling pathway maintains the polonaise movements along a deformed primitive streak. Mitotic arrest leads to diminished extension and development of the primitive streak and maintains the early phase of the polonaise movements. Ectopically induced Vg1, an axis-inducing morphogen, generates the polonaise movements, aligned to the induced midline, but disturbs the stereotypical cell flow pattern at the authentic midline. Despite the altered cell flow, induction and extension of the primitive streak are preserved along both authentic and induced midlines. Finally, we show that ectopic axis-inducing morphogen, Vg1, is capable of initiating the polonaise movements without concomitant PS extension under mitotic arrest conditions. These results are consistent with a model wherein primitive streak morphogenesis is required for the maintenance of the polonaise movements, but the polonaise movements are not necessarily responsible for primitive streak morphogenesis. Our data describe a previously undefined relationship between the large-scale cell flow and midline morphogenesis in gastrulation.
EMT induces cell-cycle-dependent changes of Rho GTPases and downstream effectors

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key cellular transformation for many physiological and pathological processes ranging from cancer over wound healing to embryogenesis. Changes in cell migration, cell morphology and cellular contractility were identified as hallmarks of EMT. These cellular properties are known to be tightly regulated by the actin cytoskeleton. EMT-induced changes of actin-cytoskeletal regulation were demonstrated by previous reports of cell-cycle-dependent changes of actin cortex mechanics in conjunction with characteristic modifications of cortex-associated f-actin and myosin. However, at the current state, the changes of upstream actomyosin signalling that lead to corresponding mechanical and compositional changes of the cortex are not well understood. In this work, we show in breast epithelial cancer cells MCF-7 that EMT results in characteristic changes of the cortical signalling of Rho-GTPases Rac1, RhoA and RhoC and downstream actin regulators cofilin, mDia1 and Arp2/3. In the light of our findings, we propose that cell-cycle-dependent EMT-induced changes in cortical mechanics rely on two hitherto unappreciated signalling paths - i) a cell-cycle-dependent interaction between Rac1 and RhoC and ii) an inhibitory effect of Arp2/3 activity on cortical association of myosin II.