Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EmoWOZ: A Large-Scale Corpus and Labelling Scheme for Emotion Recognition in Task-Oriented Dialogue Systems

The ability to recognise emotions lends a conversational artificial intelligence a human touch. While emotions in chit-chat dialogues have received substantial attention, emotions in task-oriented dialogues remain largely unaddressed. This is despite emotions and dialogue success having equally important roles in a natural system. Existing emotion-annotated task-oriented corpora are limited in size, label richness, and public availability, creating a bottleneck for downstream tasks. To lay a foundation for studies on emotions in task-oriented dialogues, we introduce EmoWOZ, a large-scale manually emotion-annotated corpus of task-oriented dialogues. EmoWOZ is based on MultiWOZ, a multi-domain task-oriented dialogue dataset. It contains more than 11K dialogues with more than 83K emotion annotations of user utterances. In addition to Wizard-of-Oz dialogues from MultiWOZ, we collect human-machine dialogues within the same set of domains to sufficiently cover the space of various emotions that can happen during the lifetime of a data-driven dialogue system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large-scale open-source corpus of its kind. We propose a novel emotion labelling scheme, which is tailored to task-oriented dialogues. We report a set of experimental results to show the usability of this corpus for emotion recognition and state tracking in task-oriented dialogues.
CosSGD: Communication-Efficient Federated Learning with a Simple Cosine-Based Quantization

Federated learning is a promising framework to mitigate data privacy and computation concerns. However, the communication cost between the server and clients has become the major bottleneck for successful deployment. Despite notable progress in gradient compression, the existing quantization methods require further improvement when low-bits compression is applied, especially the overall systems often degenerate a lot when quantization are applied in double directions to compress model weights and gradients. In this work, we propose a simple cosine-based nonlinear quantization and achieve impressive results in compressing round-trip communication costs. We are not only able to compress model weights and gradients at higher ratios than previous methods, but also achieve competing model performance at the same time. Further, our approach is highly suitable for federated learning problems since it has low computational complexity and requires only a little additional data to recover the compressed information. Extensive experiments have been conducted on image classification and brain tumor semantic segmentation using the CIFAR-10, and BraTS datasets where we show state-of-the-art effectiveness and impressive communication efficiency.
Siamese, Indian, and Brazilian Rosewoods: A Review on Phytochemistry, Applications, and Pharmacology

For the first time, the current review fully provides information on the phytochemicals, applications, and pharmacological aspects relating to 3 Dalbergia species, Siamese Rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre ex Laness.), Indian Rosewood (D sissoo Roxb.), and Brazilian Rosewood (D nigra (Vell.) Benth. ). Based on chromatographic separation, phytochemical studies on these plants have, to date, resulted in the isolation and structural elucidation of 136 secondary metabolites. Among them, flavonoids and simple phenols are major components, whereas terpenoids, quinones, benzofurans, benzophenols, phytosterols, stilbenes, phthalates, xanthones, and lignans have been also detected. Dalbergia rosewoods are heavy and strong, taking an outstanding polish, and are very suitable for furniture. They are also used as natural dyes, raw materials for removing contaminants from water, and might be a rich resource of essential oils, polysaccharides, and active glycosidase enzymes. Dalbergia crude extracts and their secondary metabolites have a wide range of pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-aging, anti-bacterial, anti-nociceptive, anti-diarrheal, anti-pyretic, gastrointestinal, biocontrol activities, but sexual and anti-osteoporosis activities are the most valuable.
Impact of Different Drying Temperatures on In Vitro Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Activities and Phenolic Compounds of Wild Guava Leaves Collected in the Central Highland of Vietnam

Most biologically natural compounds are very sensitive and easily degradable under drying conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of drying temperature on the contents of phenolic compounds and in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of wild guava leaves. Wild guava leaves were dried at 40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C, 70 °C, and 80 °C, as well as sun drying (SD). The total phenolic and flavonoid contents (TPC and TFC) were measured using the colorimetric method. Antioxidant activity was determined by the 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activity assays. In vitro antidiabetic activity was measured by assessing α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities. The contents of individual phenolic compounds were determined using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). The principal component analysis (PCA) results revealed that hot air drying at different temperatures had significantly different effects on the bioactive compounds and biological properties of guava leaves. Drying at high or low temperatures resulted in a higher degradable rate of bioactive compounds leading to a weakening of the biological properties. Drying at 50 °C resulted in high TPC and TFC as well as the highest in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. Furthermore, the highest contents of gallic acid, catechin, rutin, quercetin, apigenin, quercitrin, vitexin, and apigenin-7-O-D-glucopyranoside were found in samples dried at 50 °C, whereas the highest contents of chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, and ellagic acid were observed in samples dried at 60 °C. Therefore, drying at 50 °C was the suitable temperature for retaining valuable biological compounds in wild guava leaves.
Phytochemistry and Antioxidant Activities of Rhus tripartitum (Ucria) Grande Leaf and Fruit Phenolics, Essential Oils, and Fatty Acids

Rhus tripartitum (Ucria) Grande leaves and fruits were investigated for their contents in phenolic compounds, essential oils, and fatty acids. Chemical composition and antioxidant potential of these secondary metabolites were investigated using chromatographic tools and different antioxidant tests. Results displayed high amounts of phenolic compounds in leaves, concomitant with important antioxidant potentialities, probably due to their richness in phenolic acids and flavonoids as identified by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Amounts of essential oils were higher in leaves. Oxygenated sesquiterpenes are exclusively synthesized by the fruits, expressing better antioxidant activities.
Reader Response: Thrombectomy vs Medical Management in Low NIHSS Acute Anterior Circulation Stroke

The study by Volny et al. adds to the recent literature showing similar outcomes between mechanical thrombectomy (MT) and medical management (MM) in patients with minor stroke.1 However, a closer look at most of these studies shows selection bias in included patients. A significantly higher proportion of patients undergoing thrombectomy had ICA/proximal M1 occlusions relative to M2 occlusions in patients selected for medical management. Further, there was an 8.6% (95% CI − 8.8% to 26.1%) higher rate of excellent outcome after mechanical thrombectomy in the propensity-matched group.
Population Ecology and Human Disturbance Effects on Two Caiman Species in the Southern Brazilian Amazon

Abstract. Although caiman populations are being conserved in some protected areas, they face threats related to human pressure, which may ultimately influence their distribution, abundance, and behavior. In this study, we investigated the population ecology (encounter rate, size structure, sex ratio, and injury frequency) and the effects of human disturbance on Melanosuchus niger and Caiman crocodilus populations in Cantão State Park, southern Brazilian Amazon, Central Brazil. We assessed human pressure on both populations, testing the human disturbance–abundance and human disturbance–size structure relationships. We sampled waterbodies within (lakes) and adjacent to (river) protected areas via nocturnal surveys and captures. Human pressure in the river was assessed and categorized via transects with low, medium, and high levels of disturbance. Our results indicate that C. crocodilus was more abundant than M. niger, with populations of both species mainly composed of juvenile males. We also observed that injuries were more prevalent in juveniles and males. Human disturbance negatively affected C. crocodilus abundance, but no effect was found for M. niger. We found no significant effect of human disturbance on size structure for either species; however, the response for each species differed. Snout–vent length (SVL) decreased with increasing human pressure level in the C. crocodilus population, whereas M. niger showed a greater SVL at higher human pressure levels. Our results suggest that human disturbance related to boat traffic, pollution, riverine population, land use, and human activities negatively influence crocodilian populations in their distribution through a distance–abundance relationship. Additionally, the proximity of settlements and accessibility to protected areas are factors related to human disturbance and should be considered in government decisions and the management of protected areas by environmental agencies. Our results improve our understanding caiman population responses to human disturbance.
Relationships of Brain Glucocorticoid Receptors and Commonly Used Stress Parameters with Body Condition of Juvenile American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)

Abstract. Crocodilians in aquacultural settings exhibit variations in growth and condition. The underlying cause of this has yet to be elucidated, but corticosterone (CORT, the main crocodilian stress hormone) is thought to play a role in this. In this study, we measured baseline plasma CORT, heterophil-lymphocyte (H/L) ratios, relative glucocorticoid receptor (GR) levels in the forebrain, and body condition index (BCI) of juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Both univariate and multivariate analyses were used to investigate underlying relationships. In univariate analysis, BCI was negatively related with GR levels, but not by plasma CORT. Multivariate analysis revealed that both relative forebrain GR levels and plasma CORT were negatively related with alligator BCI: alligators with higher body condition had lower levels of CORT and GRs. However, H/L ratios were unrelated to BCI. Our results implicate dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as an important factor influencing crocodilian body condition.
Inhaled Antibiotics and Airway Bacterial Decolonization for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The Rationale and Future

According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become the third leading cause of death all over the world. The high prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) of COPD make it a significant challenge for health-care system. [1] More importantly, it has been proved that severe exacerbations of COPD are associated with the worse survival outcome and the mortality can even increase with the frequency of severe exacerbations. [2] Therefore, the prevention of acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) is urgently needed.
The effects of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) seeds on the growth performance, growth hormone, antibacterial capacity, and immune response of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Abstract Coriander seeds are among the functional herbal supplements, but their effects on aquatic animals are still lacking. Herein we evaluated the effects of coriander seeds on the growth performance, growth hormone, antibacterial capacity, and immune response of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Fish with initial mean weights of 5.08 ± 0.12 g/fish were allocated in four groups (in triplicate) and fed dietary coriander at 0, 5, 10, and 20 g/kg for 150 days. The growth performance, feed utilization, and survival rate of fish-fed dietary coriander meaningfully increased (P<0.05). The protein efficiency ratio gradually increased (P<0.05) in fish-fed coriander seeds compared with the control. On the other hand, the feed conversion ratio was gradually decreased (P<0.05) in fish-fed coriander seeds comparing with the control. The survival rate was markedly increased (P<0.05) in European sea bass fed dietary coriander regardless of the inclusion level. Further, no differences were seen among fish fed varying levels of coriander (P<0.05). The level of blood growth hormone was markedly higher (P<0.05) in European sea bass fed dietary coriander at 20 g/kg than fish-fed 0 and 5 g/kg. The abundance of intestinal Vibrio spp. and fecal coliform were obviously lower (P<0.05) in fish fed 10 and 20 g/kg than fish fed the coriander-free diet. Further, fish fed 20 g/kg had lower (P<0.05) Vibrio spp. and Faecal Coliform counts than fish fed 10 g/kg. Fish fed dietary coriander had significantly higher (P<0.05) hematocrit, hemoglobin, red blood cells (RBCs), and white blood cells (WBCs) than fish fed the control. The lysozyme and phagocytic activities were meaningfully increased (P<0.05) in fish fed 10 and 20 g/kg compared with fish fed 0 and 5 g/kg of dietary coriander. In conclusion, dietary coriander could be included in the diets at 10–20 g/kg to improve the growth performance, growth hormone, feed utilization, and immune response of European sea bass.
Restricted Delaunay Triangulation for Explicit Surface Reconstruction

The task of explicit surface reconstruction is to generate a surface mesh by interpolating a given point cloud. Explicit surface reconstruction is necessary when the point cloud is required to appear exactly on the surface. However, for a non-perfect input, such as lack of normals, low density, irregular distribution, thin and tiny parts, and high genus, a robust explicit reconstruction method that can generate a high-quality manifold triangulation is missing. We propose a robust explicit surface reconstruction method that starts from an initial simple surface mesh, alternately performs a Filmsticking step and a Sculpting step of the initial mesh, and converges when the surface mesh interpolates all input points (except outliers) and remains stable. The Filmsticking is to minimize the geometric distance between the surface mesh and the point cloud through iteratively performing a restricted Voronoi diagram technique on the surface mesh, whereas the Sculpting is to bootstrap the Filmsticking iteration from local minima by applying appropriate geometric and topological changes of the surface mesh. Our algorithm is fully automatic and produces high-quality surface meshes for non-perfect inputs that are typically considered to be challenging for prior state of the art. We conducted extensive experiments on simulated scans and real scans to validate the effectiveness of our approach.
Evaluating Realism in Example-based Terrain Synthesis

We report two studies that investigate the use of subjective believability in the assessment of objective realism of terrain. The first demonstrates that there is a clear subjective feature bias that depends on the types of terrain being evaluated: Our participants found certain natural terrains to be more believable than others. This confounding factor means that any comparison experiment must not ask participants to compare terrains with different types of features. Our second experiment assesses four methods of example-based terrain synthesis, comparing them against each other and against real terrain. Our results show that, while all tested methods can produce terrain that is indistinguishable from reality, all also can produce poor terrain; that there is no one method that is consistently better than the others; and that those who have professional expertise in geology, cartography, or image analysis are better able to distinguish real terrain from synthesized terrain than the general population, but those who have professional expertise in the visual arts are not.
Revisiting regulatory decoherence and phenotypic integration: accounting for temporal bias in co-expression analyses

Environment can alter the degree of phenotypic variation and covariation, potentially influencing evolutionary trajectories. However, environment-driven changes in phenotypic variation remain understudied. In an effort to exploit the abundance of RNASequencing data now available, an increasing number of ecological studies rely on population-level correlation to characterize the plastic response of the entire transcriptome and to identify environmentally responsive molecular pathways. These studies are fundamentally interested in identifying groups of genes that respond in concert to environmental shifts. We show that population-level differential co-expression exhibits biases when capturing changes of regulatory activity and strength in rice plants responding to elevated temperature. One possible cause of this bias is regulatory saturation, the observation that detectable co-variance between a regulator and its target may be low as their transcript abundances are induced. This phenomenon appears to be particularly acute for rapid-onset environmental stressors. However, our results suggest that temporal correlations may be a reliable means to detect transient regulatory activity following rapid onset environmental perturbations such as temperature stress. Such temporal bias is likely to confound the studies of phenotypic integration, where high-order organismal traits are hypothesized to be more integrated with strong correlation under stressful conditions, while recent transcriptome studies exhibited weaker coexpression between genes under stressful conditions. Collectively, our results point to the need to account for the nuances of molecular interactions and the possibly confounding effects that these can introduce into conventional approaches to study transcriptome datasets.
Extensive uORF translation from HIV-1 transcripts conditions DDX3 dependency for expression of main ORFs and elicits specific T cell immune responses in infected individuals

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) is a complex retrovirus which relies on alternative splicing, translational and post-translational mechanisms to produce more than 15 functional proteins from its single ∼10kb transcriptional unit. Here, we have applied ribosome profiling and nascent protein labeling at different time points during infection of CD4+ T lymphocytes to characterize the translational landscape of cellular and viral transcripts during the course of infection. Our results indicate a strong impact of viral infection on host cellular transcript levels but a modest impact on global translation rates. Analysis of ribosome profiling reads from viral transcripts reveals extensive and productive non-AUG translation of small peptides from multiple upstream open reading-frames (uORFs) located in the 5’ long terminal repeat. Remarkably, these uORFs derived peptides elicit specific T cell responses in HIV-infected individuals. uORFs are conserved among other retroviruses and, together with the TAR sequence, condition the dependency on DDX3 for efficient translation of the main viral open-reading frames.
A family of unusual immunoglobulin superfamily genes in an invertebrate histocompatibility complex

Most colonial marine invertebrates are capable of allorecognition, the ability to distinguish between themselves and conspecifics. One long-standing question is whether invertebrate allorecognition genes are homologous to vertebrate histocompatibility genes. In the cnidarian Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, allorecognition is controlled by at least two genes, Allorecognition 1 (Alr1) and Allorecognition 2 (Alr2), which encode highly polymorphic cell surface proteins that serve as markers of self. Here, we show that Alr1 and Alr2 are part of a family of 41 Alr genes, all of which reside a single genomic interval called the Allorecognition Complex (ARC). Using sensitive homology searches and highly accurate structural predictions, we demonstrate that the Alr proteins are members of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) with V-set and I-set Ig domains unlike any previously identified in animals. Specifically, their primary amino acid sequences lack many of the motifs considered diagnostic for V-set and I-set domains, yet they adopt secondary and tertiary structures nearly identical to canonical Ig domains. Thus, the V-set domain, which played a central role in the evolution of vertebrate adaptive immunity, was present in the last common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians. Unexpectedly, several Alr proteins also have immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs) and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs) in their cytoplasmic tails, suggesting they could participate in pathways homologous to those that regulate immunity in humans and flies. This work expands our definition of the IgSF with the addition of a family of unusual members, several of which play a role in invertebrate histocompatibility. Significance Statement The immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) is one of the largest and most functionally versatile domain families in animal genomes. Although their amino acid sequences can vary considerably, IgSF domains have been traditionally defined by conserved residues at several key positions in their fold. Here, we sequenced an invertebrate histocompatibility complex and discovered a family of IgSF genes with amino acid sequences that lack most of these residues yet are predicted to adopt folds virtually identical to canonical V-set and I-set IgSF domains. This work broadens the definition of the IgSF and shows that the V-set domain was present earlier in animal evolution than previously appreciated.