Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Momentum Ensures Convergence of SIGNSGD under Weaker Assumptions

Sign Stochastic Gradient Descent ( SIGN SGD) is a communication-efficient stochastic algorithm that only uses the sign information of the stochastic gradient to update the model’s weights. However, the existing convergence theory of SIGN SGD either requires increasing batch sizes during training or assumes the gradient noise is symmetric and unimodal. Error feedback has been used to guarantee the convergence of SIGN SGD under weaker assumptions at the cost of communication overhead. This paper revisits the convergence of SIGN SGD and proves that momentum can remedy SIGN SGD under weaker assumptions than previous techniques; in particular, our convergence theory does not require the assumption of bounded stochastic gradient or increased batch size. Our results resonate with echoes of previous empirical results where, unlike SIGN SGD, SIGN SGD with momentum maintains good performance even with small batch sizes. Another new result is that SIGN SGD with momentum can achieve an improved convergence rate when the objective function is second-order smooth. We further extend our theory to SIGN SGD with major vote and federated learning.
Airborne particulate matter and their health effects

Airborne particulate matter is one of the main air pollutants. Most of their health effects have now been known for many years. Their impact on mortality, the occurrence of pulmonary and cardiovascular complications, have been the subject of numerous studies. It has also been shown that long-term effects are more serious than short-term effects. Finally, the socio-economic cost of this pollution is considerable and preventive measures are still insufficient.
Beyond the Tipping Point: Understanding Perceptions of Abrupt Climate Change and Their Implications

This article explores the inﬂuence of personal values and ontological beliefs on people’s perceptions of possible abrupt changes in the Earth’s climate system and on their climate change mitigation preferences. The authors focus on four key areas of risk perception: concern about abrupt climate change as distinct to climate change in general, the likelihood of abrupt climate changes, fears of abrupt climate changes, and preferences in how to mitigate abrupt climate changes. Using cultural theory as an interpretative framework, a multi- methodological approach was adopted in exploring these areas: 287 respondents at the University of East Anglia (UK) completed a three-part quantitative questionnaire, with 15 returning to participate in qualitative focus groups to discuss the issues raised in more depth. Supporting the predictions of cultural theory, egali-tarians’ values andbeliefs were consistentlyassociated with heightened perceptions ofthe risksposed byabrupt climate change. Yet many believed abrupt climate change to be capricious, irrespective of their psychometrically attributed worldviews or ‘‘ways of life. ’’ Mitigation preferences—across all ways of life—were consistent with the ‘‘hegemonic myth’’ dominating climate policy, with many advocating conventional regulatory or market-based approaches. Moreover, a strong fatalistic narrative emerged from within abrupt climate change discourses, with frequent referrals to helplessness, societal collapse, and catastrophe.
xcelligence system for real-time label-free monitoring of growth and viability of cell lines from hematological malignancies

: The xCELLigence system is a new technological approach that allows the real-time cell analysis of adherent tumor cells. To date, xCELLigence has not been able to monitor the growth or cytotoxicity of nonadherent cells derived from hematological malignancies. The basis of its technology relies on the use of culture plates with gold microelectrodes located in their base. We have adapted the methodology described by others to xCELLigence, based on the pre-coating of the cell culture surface with specific substrates, some of which are known to facilitate cell adhesion in the extracellular matrix. Pre-coating of the culture plates with fibronectin, compared to laminin, collagen, or gelatin, significantly induced the adhesion of most of the leukemia/lymphoma cells assayed (Jurkat, L1236, KMH2, and K562). With a fibronectin substrate, nonadherent cells deposited in a monolayer configuration, and consequently, the cell growth and viability were robustly monitored. We further demonstrate the feasibility of xCELLigence for the real-time monitoring of the cytotoxic properties of several antineoplastic agents. In order to validate this technology, the data obtained through real-time cell analysis was compared with that obtained from using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide method. This provides an excellent label-free tool for the screening of drug efficacy in nonadherent cells and discriminates optimal time points for further molecular analysis of cellular events associated with treatments, reducing both time and costs.
Distribution of biomass on the planet

What does the biosphere represent on Earth? How is the biomass distributed between oceans and continents? While hiking in the mountains, in the forest or while scuba diving, we appreciate the diversity of nature: the colorful flora of an alpine meadow, the incredible diversity of the fauna of a lagoon and the discreet tracks of animals in a forest! The contrast between biomes{end-text}A set of ecosystems characteristic of a biogeographic area. A biome is the expression of the ecological conditions of the place (climate, soils, etc.); it is defined by a vegetation presenting a dominant form of life (trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants) which remains stable over generations. Tropical or temperate deciduous forests (i.e. populated by very large deciduous trees), mangroves, tundra are examples of biomes. {end-tooltip} marine and terrestrial is striking, but quantifying these differences remains difficult. Our vision of the species that inhabit the planet is biased. We notice the most visible organisms - or the largest - but we are far from imagining the importance of "the invisible majority" [1], the prokaryotes{end-text}Microorganisms (generally unicellular) with a simple cell structure, with no nucleus, and almost never any internal compartmentalization (an exception being the thylakoids in cyanobacteria). Two of the three groups constituting life are prokaryotes, the Archaea and the Bacteria {end-tooltip} or more broadly the microorganisms, especially in soils. How to correctly estimate the global biomass of all living organisms and quantify the abundance of the biosphere's constituents? This is a fundamental question in biology. The quantification of the biomass of living organisms on Earth presented here - broken down by major taxonomic groups{end-text}Relates to taxonomy or taxonomy, the branch of biological sciences that involves describing living organisms and organizing them into hierarchical categories called taxa. Generally the term "taxon" is used at the specific (the species) and subspecific (the subspecies) levels. {end-tooltip}, ecological strategies and global environments - provides a basis for exploring today's major environmental issues.
Neuroimaging in eating disorders

: Neuroimaging techniques have been useful tools for accurate investigation of brain structure and function in eating disorders. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and voxel-based morphometry have been the most relevant technologies in this regard. The purpose of this review is to update the existing data on neuroimaging in eating disorders. The main brain changes seem to be reversible to some extent after adequate weight restoration. Brain changes in bulimia nervosa seem to be less pronounced than in anorexia nervosa and are mainly due to chronic dietary restrictions. Different subtypes of eating disorders might be correlated with specific brain functional changes. Moreover, anorectic patients who binge/purge may have different functional brain changes compared with those who do not binge/ purge. Functional changes in the brain might have prognostic value, and different changes with respect to the binding potential of 5-HT 1A , 5-HT 2A , and D 2 /D 3 receptors may be persistent after recovering from an eating disorder.
Brentuximab vedotin for relapsed or refractory cD30 + hodgkin lymphoma: a multicenter analysis from asia

Introduction: Brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35), an anti-cluster of differentiation (CD)-30 antibody conjugated to the anti-tubulin agent monomethyl auristatin E, has demonstrated promising efficacy and tolerability in relapsed and heavily treated Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). In this study, we report the Asian experience with brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory CD30-positive (CD30 + ) HL. Methods: This is an observational, multicenter, retrospective study. Between October 2011 and June 2013, a total of 22 patients were treated with brentuximab vedotin under a named patient program in Asia. Patients received a 30 min infusion of brentuximab vedotin at a dose of 1.8 mg/kg of body weight every 3 weeks. Results: Four patients (18.2%) showed a complete response, and the overall response rate was 72.7%. The median duration of response was 4.4 months (range 1.0–17.4). The median progres-sion-free survival was 5.7 months, and the median overall survival has not yet been reached. The 1-year expected survival rate was 67.2%. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were neutropenia (n = 7; 31.8%). No patients experienced grade 3/4 sensory neuropathy. Conclusions: These results confirm that brentuximab vedotin as a single agent is also effective and well tolerated when used in Asian patients with relapsed and refractory CD30 + HL.
The Relationship between Entrepreneurial Self‐Efficacy and Firm Performance: A Meta‐Analysis of Main and Moderator Effects*

Entrepreneurial self‐efficacy (ESE) is an important construct in entrepreneurship research. It captures entrepreneurs’ specific self‐efficacy in accomplishing entrepreneurial tasks. Because various empirical results exist in past studies of the ESE‐firm performance relationship, we employed meta‐analysis to review and synthesize the current literature concerning this relationship and to address moderators that influence it. We meta‐analyzed 27 samples from 26 studies with a total sample size of 5,065 firms and found that the corrected ESE‐firm performance correlation is 0.309. We found that the firm performance measurement is a significant moderator and we suggest scholars to further identify moderators.
Short term exposure to cooking fumes and pulmonary function

Background: Exposure to cooking fumes may have different deleterious effects on the respiratory system. The aim of this study was to look at possible effects from inhalation of cooking fumes on pulmonary function. Methods: Two groups of 12 healthy volunteers (A and B) stayed in a model kitchen for two and four hours respectively, and were monitored with spirometry four times during twenty four hours, on one occasion without any exposure, and on another with exposure to controlled levels of cooking fumes. Results: The change in spirometric values during the day with exposure to cooking fumes, were not statistically significantly different from the changes during the day without exposure, with the exception of forced expiratory time (FET). The change in FET from entering the kitchen until six hours later, was significantly prolonged between the exposed and the unexposed day with a 15.7% increase on the exposed day, compared to a 3.2% decrease during the unexposed day (p-value = 0.03). The same tendency could be seen for FET measurements done immediately after the exposure and on the next morning, but this was not statistically significant. Conclusion: In our experimental setting, there seems to be minor short term spirometric effects, mainly affecting FET, from short term exposure to cooking fumes. Background Exposure to cooking fumes is abundant both in domestic homes and in professional cooks and entails a possible risk of deleterious health effects. When food is cooked at temperatures up to 300°C, carbohydrates, proteins, and fat are reduced to toxic products, such as aldehydes and alkanoic acids[1-4] which can cause irritation of the airway mucosa[5-8]. Cooking fumes also contains carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic compounds[13,9-13]. Exposure to cooking fumes has also been associated in several studies with an increased risk of respiratory cancer[14-18]. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified emissions from high temperature frying as probably carcinogenic to humans[19]. Published: 4 May 2009 Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2009, 4:9 doi:10.1186/1745-6673-4-9 Received: 28 January 2009 Accepted: 4 May 2009 This article is available from: http://www.occup-med.com/content/4/1/9 © 2009 Svedahl et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
An analysis of the rapidly rotating Bp star HD 133880

HD 133880 is a rapidly rotating chemically peculiar B-type (Bp) star (v sin i≃ 103 km s−1) and is host to one of the strongest magnetic fields of any Ap/Bp star. A member of the Upper Centaurus Lupus association, it is a star with a well-determined age of 16 Myr. 12 new spectra, four of which are polarimetric, obtained from the FEROS, ESPaDOnS and HARPS instruments, provide sufficient material from which to re-evaluate the magnetic field and obtain a first approximation to the atmospheric abundance distributions of He, O, Mg, Si, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pr and Nd. An abundance analysis was carried out using zeeman, a program which synthesizes spectral line profiles for stars with permeating magnetic fields. The magnetic field structure was characterized by a colinear multipole expansion from the observed variations of the longitudinal and surface fields with rotational phase. Both magnetic hemispheres are clearly visible during the stellar rotation, and thus a three-ring abundance distribution model encompassing both magnetic poles and magnetic equator with equal spans in colatitude was adopted. Using the new magnetic field measurements and optical photometry together with previously published data, we refine the period of HD 133880 to P= 0.877 476 ± 0.000 009 d. Our simple axisymmetric magnetic field model is based on a predominantly quadrupolar component that roughly describes the field variations. Using spectrum synthesis, we derived mean abundances for O, Mg, Si, Ti, Cr, Fe and Pr. All elements, except Mg, are overabundant compared to the Sun. Mg appears to be approximately uniform over the stellar surface, while all other elements are more abundant in the negative magnetic hemisphere than in the positive magnetic hemisphere. In contrast to most Ap/Bp stars which show an underabundance in O, in HD 133880 this element is clearly overabundant compared to the solar abundance ratio. In studying the Hα and Paschen lines in the optical spectra, we could not unambiguously detect information about the magnetosphere of HD 133880. However, radio emission data at both 3 and 6 cm suggest that the magnetospheric plasma is held in rigid rotation with the star by the magnetic field and further supported against collapse by the rapid rotation. Subtle differences in the shapes of the optically thick radio light curves at 3 and 6 cm suggest that the large-scale magnetic field is not fully axisymmetric at large distances from the star.
Review: Antiplatelet Therapy in Acute Coronary Syndromes

Antiplatelet therapy is integral to the acute and long-term management of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) and for minimizing the thrombotic complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This article reviews the most commonly used antiplatelet agents in ACS therapy—aspirin, adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-receptor blockers, and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors. More recent data are also reviewed on novel ADP-receptor blockers and thrombin inhibitors before addressing issues of adherence to antiplatelet regimens.
"The determinants of export performance of firms in selected MENA countries: Comparison to CEE countries, Israel and Turkey"

text the research paper for the FEMISE project FEM 41-12 entitled: "The determinants of export performance of firms in MENA countries. Comparison to CEE countries and Turkey", in return for a financial contribution in the of the Commission-FEMISE contract Abstract In this paper we study the determinants of export performance of firms in selected MENA countries jointly and separately and compare them to the performance of firms from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The analysis is based on information on individual firms contained in the BEEPS V data base, and covers the period of 2011-2014. We estimate the probability of exports controlling for country and sector specific effects using the probit model. We find that in both groups of countries similar variables affect firm export performance. Our empirical results obtained for the MENA and CEE countries indicate that the probability of exporting is positively related to the level of productivity, firm size, spending on research and development, the share of university graduates in productive employment and the internationalization of firms. State ownership and the perception of corruption by firms are mostly not statistically significant. The results obtained for the two groups of countries are statistically not very different, but enough to have some policy implications while results for particular countries and sub-groups of countries reveal a large degree of heterogeneity. on the Bank and Enterprise and The The countries, economic performance key
To flee or not to flee: how range dynamic of alpine species are changing through time

iv Acknowledgements . v List of Figures . vii List of Tables . viii List of Supplementary Figures and Tables . ix Introduction . 1 Methods . 8 Species selection and dataset development . 8 Data filtration . 12 Are herbaria collections of endemic alpine flora spatially structured through time? 14 How are range dynamics of alpine species changing through time? 15 Results . 16 Are herbaria collections of endemic alpine flora spatially structured through time? 16 How are range dynamics of alpine species changing through time? 21 Discussion . 26 References . 31 Appendix . 36
Clinical and behavioral factors associated with management outcome in hospitalized patients with diabetic foot ulcer

Objectives: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) has been linked to high mortality and morbidity in diabetic patients. In spite of the increasing prevalence of diabetes and its complications, this issue has not been adequately studied in Iran. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study we attempt to describe the prevalence of diabetic foot amputation in patients admitted to our training hospitals in Urmia, Iran, and also to determine the associated demographic, behavioral, and clinical factors. Results: Of 94 patients with DFU, 34 (32%) had amputation. Those with amputation were significantly older and were also less educated than those without amputation, had longer duration of diabetes (hence were more likely to suffer from complications), and had high-risk wounds plus a poor glycemic control. On logistic regression analysis two variables were associated with amputation: Wagner classification $ 3 and HbA 1c . On a receiver operating characteristics curve, the HbA 1c cutoff point of 9.7% significantly discriminated to predict increasing risk of amputation. Conclusion: Both glycemic control and promoting the knowledge of patients and health care professionals in order to diagnose DFU in the early stages and to prevent development of the high-grade wounds would be a significant step in reducing the burden of DFU and its effect on quality of life in Iran.
Development and validation of lumbar spine finite element model

The functional biomechanics of the lumbar spine have been better understood by finite element method (FEM) simulations. However, there are still areas where the behavior of soft tissues can be better modeled or described in a different way. The purpose of this research is to develop and validate a lumbar spine section intended for biomechanical research. A FE model of the 50th percentile adult male (AM) Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) v6.1 was used to implement the modifications. The main modifications were to apply orthotropic material properties and nonlinear stress-strain behavior for ligaments, hyperelastic material properties for annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus, and the specific content of collagenous fibers in the annulus fibrosus ground substance. Additionally, a separation of the nucleus pulposus from surrounding bones and tissues was implemented. The FE model was subjected to different loading modes, in which intervertebral rotations and disc pressures were calculated. Loading modes contained different forces and moments acting on the lumbar section: axial forces (compression and tension), shear forces, pure moments, and combined loading modes of axial forces and pure moments. The obtained ranges of motion from the modified numerical model agreed with experimental data for all loading modes. Moreover, intradiscal pressure validation for the modified model presented a good agreement with the data available from the literature. This study demonstrated the modifications of the THUMS v6.1 model and validated the obtained numerical results with existing literature in the sub-injurious range. By applying the proposed changes, it is possible to better model the behavior of the human lumbar section under various loads and moments.
Stable Isotope Geochemistry and Paleohydrology of the Poison Strip Sandstone, Early Cretaceous, Eastern Utah

The Poison Strip Sandstone Member is a unique unit in the early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah. A previous chemostratigraphic study of the Poison Strip Sandstone at the Ruby Ranch Road (RRR) section east of Green River, Utah produced a noteworthy dataset with interesting δ 18 O results (Ludvigson et al., 2015). The Poison Strip at the type section of the Ruby Ranch Member contains poikilotopic calcite cements that yield δ 18 O values that range between -16 and -13.5‰ VPDB (Ludvigson et al, 2015). These isotopic values represent a major departure from the typical δ 18 O values of about -8‰ VPDB documented during earlier studies of the Cedar Mountain formation and have either major paleoclimatic or later diagenetic implications for the unit. Through detailed petrographic, diagenetic, and stable isotopic analysis, we were able to determine that that the atypical δ 18 O values produced from the poikilotopic calcite cements of the Poison Strip Sandstone are the result of deep burial diagenesis. The precipitation of poikilotopic calcite cements were likely influenced by petroleum migration through the basin and may have also been impacted by hydrothermal fluids. Preliminary temperature and depth estimates of 2 – 3km and 73 to 90° C were calculated from the intergranular volumes and isotopic data.