Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Backdoor Attacks on Network Certification via Data Poisoning

—Certiﬁers for neural networks have made great progress towards provable robustness guarantees against evasion attacks using adversarial examples. However, introducing certi-ﬁers into deep learning systems also opens up new attack vectors, which need to be considered before deployment. In this work, we conduct the ﬁrst systematic analysis of training time attacks against certiﬁers in practical application pipelines, identifying new threat vectors that can be exploited to degrade the overall system. Using these insights, we design two backdoor attacks against network certiﬁers, which can drastically reduce certiﬁed robustness when the backdoor is activated. For example, adding 1% poisoned data points during training is sufﬁcient to reduce certiﬁed robustness by up to 95 percentage points, effectively rendering the certiﬁer useless. We analyze how such novel attacks can compromise the overall system’s integrity or availability. Our extensive experiments across multiple datasets, model architectures, and certiﬁers demonstrate the wide applicability of these attacks. A ﬁrst investigation into potential defenses shows that current approaches only partially mitigate the issue, highlighting the need for new, more speciﬁc solutions.
Microlocal analysis of d-plane transform on the Euclidean space

We study the basic properties of d-plane transform on the Euclidean space as a Fourier integral operator, and its application to the microlocal analysis of streaking artifacts in its filtered back-projection. The d-plane transform is defined by integrals of functions on the n-dimensional Euclidean space over all the d-dimensional planes, where 0<d<n. This maps functions on the Euclidean space to those on the affine Grassmannian G(d,n). This is said to be X-ray transform if d=1 and Radon transform if d=n-1. When n=2 the X-ray transform is thought to be measurements of CT scanners. In this paper we obtain concrete expression of the canonical relation of the d-plane transform and quantitative properties of the filtered back-projection of the product of the images of the d-plane transform. The latter one is related to the metal streaking artifacts of CT images, and some generalization of recent results of Park-Choi-Seo (2017) and Palacios-Uhlmann-Wang (2018) for the X-ray transform on the plane.
Existence and stability results for an isoperimetric problem with a non-local interaction of Wasserstein type

The aim of this paper is to prove the existence of minimizers for a variational problem involving the minimization under volume constraint of the sum of the perimeter and a non-local energy of Wasserstein type. This extends previous partial results to the full range of parameters. We also show that in the regime where the perimeter is dominant, the energy is uniquely minimized by balls.
Nonparametric identification is not enough, but randomized controlled trials are

We argue that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are special even among settings where average treatment effects are identified by a nonparametric unconfoundedness assumption. This claim follows from two results of Robins and Ritov (1997): (1) with at least one continuous covariate control, no estimator of the average treatment effect exists which is uniformly consistent without further assumptions, (2) knowledge of the propensity score yields a uniformly consistent estimator and honest confidence intervals that shrink at parametric rates with increasing sample size, regardless of how complicated the propensity score function is. We emphasize the latter point, and note that successfully-conducted RCTs provide knowledge of the propensity score to the researcher. We discuss modern developments in covariate adjustment for RCTs, noting that statistical models and machine learning methods can be used to improve efficiency while preserving finite sample unbiasedness. We conclude that statistical inference has the potential to be fundamentally more difficult in observational settings than it is in RCTs, even when all confounders are measured.
Bias Mitigated Learning from Differentially Private Synthetic Data: A Cautionary Tale

Increasing interest in privacy-preserving machine learning has led to new models for synthetic private data generation from undisclosed real data. However, mechanisms of privacy preservation introduce artefacts in the resulting synthetic data that have signiﬁcant impact on downstream tasks such as learning predictive models or inference. In particular, bias can affect all analyses as the synthetic data distribution is an inconsistent estimate of the real-data distribution. We propose several bias mitigation strategies using privatized likelihood ratios that have general applicability to differentially private synthetic data generative models. Through large scale empirical evaluation we show that bias mitigation provides simple and effective privacy-compliant augmentation for general applications of synthetic data. However, the work highlights that even after bias correction signiﬁcant challenges remain on the usefulness of synthetic private data generators for tasks such as prediction and inference.
Musical Potential and Receptive ESL Ability of Native Japanese Speakers

Established musical ability and its relationship to second language skills has become of interest recently (Chobert, & Besson, 2013; Moreno, et al. 2008; Nakata, 2002; Slevc, & Miyake, 2006; Tallal, Gaab 2006; Zeromskaite, 2014). Many studies have conflicting results as to music’s influences with most concluding there is some correlation. However, one’s musical potential—undeveloped musical skills one possesses regardless of musical training—and its relation to second language skills has not been researched. This study investigated whether native Japanese speakers’ musical potential influenced their receptive phonology abilities in their L2, English. The results show that among 130 female first-year university students a positive correlation between them could not be demonstrated and acquired musical ability based on training, as described in other studies, is a more reliable predictor of receptive phonology ability. However, it was found that an upper limit in phonological recognition scores positively correlated with musical potential scores which indicates the need for further studies into this area of research.
Gene selection for studying frugivore-plant interactions: a review and an example using Queensland fruit fly in tomato

Fruit production is negatively affected by a wide range of frugivorous insects, among them tephritid fruit flies are one of the most important. As a replacement for pesticide-based controls, enhancing natural fruit resistance through biotechnology approaches is a poorly researched but promising alternative. The use of quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) is an approach to studying gene expression which has been widely used in studying plant resistance to pathogens and non-frugivorous insect herbivores, and offers a starting point for fruit fly studies. In this paper, we develop a gene selection pipe-line for known induced-defense genes in tomato fruit, Solanum lycopersicum, and putative detoxification genes in Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, as a basis for future RT-qPCR research. The pipeline started with a literature review on plant/herbivore and plant/pathogen molecular interactions. With respect to the fly, this was then followed by the identification of gene families known to be associated with insect resistance to toxins, and then individual genes through reference to annotated B. tryoni transcriptomes and gene identity matching with related species. In contrast for tomato, a much better studied species, individual defense genes could be identified directly through literature research. For B. tryoni, gene selection was then further refined through gene expression studies. Ultimately 28 putative detoxification genes from cytochrome P450 (P450), carboxylesterase (CarE), glutathione S-transferases (GST), and ATP binding cassette transporters (ABC) gene families were identified for B. tryoni, and 15 induced defense genes from receptor-like kinase (RLK), D-mannose/L-galactose, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), lipoxygenase (LOX), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) pathways and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), proteinase inhibitors (PI) and resistance (R) gene families were identified from tomato fruit. The developed gene selection process for B. tryoni can be applied to other herbivorous and frugivorous insect pests so long as the minimum necessary genomic information, an annotated transcriptome, is available.
Trinitrophenol treatment in a hollow fiber membrane biofilm reactor

Treatment of recalcitrant wastewaters in traditional suspended growth systems is ineffective due to the required large contact times and large aeration basins. Hollow-fiber gas permeable membranes are being investigated as a novel approach to overcome oxygen and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) mass transfer limitations of conventional fixed film systems. Three independent hollow fiber biofilm reactors using bubbleless membrane aeration technology were used to treat TNP. The reactors contained 14, 30, or 57 fibers, with a fiber spacing of 3, 2.7, or 2.1 mm, respectively, which resulted in a packing factor of 0.5%, 1% and 2%. A pure culture of Nocardioides simplex (strain Nb), which has been shown to mineralize TNP, was immobilized on the surface of 281.5 (m outer diameter microporous fibers. Pure oxygen was supplied through the lumen of the fibers and diffused throughout the biofilm and into the reactor. Removal of TNP in the 14, 30, and 57 fiber reactors was 99.1, 83.2, and 85.4%, respectively at a contact time of approximately 14 hours and a TNP loading of 40 mg/day. Results indicate TNP diffusion into the biofilm limited performance at high substrate concentrations.
Detection of COVID-19 from chest x-ray images using transfer learning

Abstract. Purpose: The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a fully automated, deep learning-based method for detection of COVID-19 infection from chest x-ray images. Approach: The proposed model was developed by replacing the final classifier layer in DenseNet201 with a new network consisting of global averaging layer, batch normalization layer, a dense layer with ReLU activation, and a final classification layer. Then, we performed an end-to-end training using the initial pretrained weights on all the layers. Our model was trained using a total of 8644 images with 4000 images each in normal and pneumonia cases and 644 in COVID-19 cases representing a large real dataset. The proposed method was evaluated based on accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, ROC curve, and F1-score using a test dataset comprising 1729 images (129 COVID-19, 800 normal, and 800 pneumonia). As a benchmark, we also compared the results of our method with those of seven state-of-the-art pretrained models and with a lightweight CNN architecture designed from scratch. Results: The proposed model based on DenseNet201 was able to achieve an accuracy of 94% in detecting COVID-19 and an overall accuracy of 92.19%. The model was able to achieve an AUC of 0.99 for COVID-19, 0.97 for normal, and 0.97 for pneumonia. The model was able to outperform alternative models in terms of overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Conclusions: Our proposed automated diagnostic model yielded an accuracy of 94% in the initial screening of COVID-19 patients and an overall accuracy of 92.19% using chest x-ray images.
Dynamic Coordination Phase and Joint Profiles: Cluster and Fixed-point Shift Techniques

This study aims to represent a more preferential bilateral movement template by introducing empirical measures of cluster (Experiment 1) and fixed-point shift (Experiment 2) during the bimanual coordination. We showed how the phase dynamics can be calculated using the cluster method (analysis 1). Relatively stable patterns defined by the cluster process were employed for the fixed-point shift calculation to compare three joint oscillations (wrist, elbow, and shoulder; Analysis 2). The analysis revealed that (i) anti-phase coordination was less stable underlying the cluster phase and amplitude analysis; a significance that was mainly driven by higher radial variability. (ii) The three joint couplings and noise oscillations showed that they were wider for the distal (wrist) than the proximal (shoulder) areas. (iii) Repetition with one joint (i.e., wrist) may be significantly associated with trial effects; thus, using data of pick only one joint (wrist) but collecting data from different (three) joints seems more reliable to be a typical dependent variable for the trial effect. Observations and suggestions derived from this aspect represent how the bilateral movement calculation methods can be applied to measure the type of coordination stability eliminating of the learning effect stemming from numerous trials.
Work Value Orientation and TVET Students’ Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: The Mediating Role of Academic Major Satisfaction

Graduates should know how technical and vocational education and training (TVET) can increase their employability and set them on a path to a professional career. However, graduate underemployment continues to be a severe and rising issue in many countries due to graduates’ lack of readiness to make a future career decision. The present study assessed the influence of work value orientation on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDMSE) and the mediating role of Academic Major Satisfaction (AMS) on the relationship between work value orientation and CDMSE of TVET students. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, involving 223 full-time Malaysian Skills Certificate (MSC) students who were randomly selected from TVET public institutions in Selangor, Malaysia. This study found that work value orientation was positively correlated with CDMSE. Extrinsic work values have more impact than intrinsic values in serving as precursors to students’ career decision-making. Besides, AMS satisfaction mediated the relationship between work value orientation and CDMSE.
Evaluation of Chemiluminescence as a Measurement Option for Industrial Flame Monitoring and Process Control

Evaluation of chemiluminescence as a measurement option for industrial flame monitoring and process control Philip James Geddis Master of Applied Science Graduate Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Toronto 2009 Ultraviolet-visible chemiluminescent emission features in laboratory-scale flames have been shown by several researchers to correlate well with the flame’s equivalence ratio, and it has been suggested that this relation could be used to actively control flames. This study investigated the feasibility of extending this knowledge to the industrial setting. Radiative emissions from basic oxygen furnace (BOF) and thermal generating station burner flames were mainly characterized by thermally-induced greybody spectra; emissions from electronically excited species of OH*, CH*, and CO2* were generally weak and did not offer any unique information that could be used as part of a flame diagnostic system. A sub-study which assessed the impact of biomass cofiring demonstrated that emissions of SO2, NOx, and fossil-CO2 could be reduced with direct fuel replacement. The sensor system could be used as a pyrometer, and as part of a burner balancing strategy to counter increased CO emissions and decreased efficiency.
International Journal of Medical Science and Current Research (IJMSCR)

ABSTRACT Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) defined by 0.3 mg/dl increase in serum creatinine (SCr) (Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria) is a serious complication following on pump cardiac surgeries. There are limited clinical studies on the effect of dexmedetomidine (DEX) on postoperative renal function. We conducted the present study to evaluate the effect of intraoperative DEX infusion on postoperative SCr concentration. Materials and methods: In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 40 patients were randomly allocated to either DEX (20 patients received 0.5μg/kg/h of DEX infusion intraoperatively) or normal saline (NS) (20) groups. Patient demographics and various perioperative clinical parameters were noted and assessed. Postoperative AKI was diagnosed based on AKIN criteria. Data were analysed with independent Student t-test and Chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Paired t-test was used to compare pre-operative and post-operative SCr values. A p value of < 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Except for the preoperative EuroSCORE, duration of surgery and ionotropic score, all other parameters assessed were comparable in both the groups. The burden of AKI in DEX and NS groups were 25% and 15% respectively and the severity was confined to AKIN stage 1. There was no significant difference in pre and postoperative serum creatinine concentrations in both DEX and NS groups. Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine offers no additional advantage over normal saline group in reducing the incidence of AKI measured in terms of serum creatinine.
Trapped in the COVID-19 pandemic: The effect of risk concern and emotions on burnout among health care workers

The COVID-19 pandemic poses critical challenges for the health care workers (HCWs) around the world due to the increasing demands imposed on health care systems. This study aims to investigate how risk concern impacts burnout via positive and negative affect. Further, the moderating role of risk exposure (low, medium, and high) in this parallel mediation model is examined. A sample of 257 Portuguese HCWs answered a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was applied. Results showed that risk concern positively influences negative affect – but not positive affect – and, consequently, burnout. Contrary to our expectations, this indirect effect was not greater for individuals in the high-risk group (vs. low-risk group), which can be explained by individual and organizational factors' buffering role. These findings draw healthcare organizations' attention to the hazardous effects of risk concern on HCWs' well-being.
The association of reactive balance control and spinal curvature under lumbar muscle fatigue

Background Although low back fatigue is an important intervening factor for physical functioning among sedentary people, little is known about its possible significance in relation to the spinal posture and compensatory postural responses to unpredictable stimuli. This study investigates the effect of lumbar muscle fatigue on spinal curvature and reactive balance control in response to externally induced perturbations. Methods A group of 38 young sedentary individuals underwent a perturbation-based balance test by applying a 2 kg load release. Sagittal spinal curvature and pelvic tilt was measured in both a normal and Matthiass standing posture both with and without a hand-held 2 kg load, and before and after the Sørensen fatigue test. Results Both the peak anterior and peak posterior center of pressure (CoP) displacements and the corresponding time to peak anterior and peak posterior CoP displacements significantly increased after the Sørensen fatigue test (all at p < 0.001). A lumbar muscle fatigue led to a decrease of the lumbar lordosis in the Matthiass posture while holding a 2 kg load in front of the body when compared to pre-fatigue conditions both without a load (p = 0.011, d = 0.35) and with a 2 kg load (p = 0.000, d = 0.51). Also the sacral inclination in the Matthiass posture with a 2 kg additional load significantly decreased under fatigue when compared to all postures in pre-fatigue conditions (p = 0.01, d = 0.48). Contrary to pre-fatigue conditions, variables of the perturbation-based balance test were closely associated with those of lumbar curvature while standing in the Matthiass posture with a 2 kg additional load after the Sørensen fatigue test (r values in range from −0.520 to −0.631, all at p < 0.05). Conclusion These findings indicate that lumbar muscle fatigue causes changes in the lumbar spinal curvature and this is functionally relevant in explaining the impaired ability to maintain balance after externally induced perturbations. This emphasizes the importance for assessing both spinal posture and reactive balance control under fatigue in order to reveal their interrelations in young sedentary adults and predict any significant deterioration in later years.
Calcium amendment for improved germination, plant growth, and leaf photosynthetic electron transport in oat (Avena sativa) under NaCl stress

Calcium (Ca2+) is an essential nutrient element for plants as it stabilizes the membrane system structure and controls enzyme activity. To investigate the effects of Ca2+ on plant growth and leaf photosynthetic electron transport in oat (Avena sativa) under NaCl stress, oat seeds and plants were cultivated in nutrient solutions with single NaCl treatment and NaCl treatment with CaCl2 amendment. By measuring the seed germination rate, plant growth, Na+ and Cl- accumulation in leaves, ion leakage in seedlings and leaves, prompt chlorophyll a fluorescence (PF) transient (OJIP), delayed chlorophyll a fluorescence (DF), and modulated 820 nm reflection (MR) values of the leaves at different growth phases, we observed that Ca2+ alleviated the inhibition of germination and plant growth and decreased Na+ and Cl- accumulation and ion leakage in the leaves under NaCl stress. NaCl stress changed the curves of the OJIP transient, induced PF intensity at P-step (FP) decrease and PF intensity at J-step (FJ) increase, resulted in obvious K and L bands, and altered the performance index of absorption (PIABS), the absorption of antenna chlorophyll (ABS/RC), electron movement efficiency (ETo/TRo), and potential maximum photosynthetic capacity (FV/FM) values. With the time extension of NaCl stress, I1 and I2 in the DF curve showed a decreasing trend, the lowest values of MR/MRO curve increased, and the highest points of the MR/MRO curve decreased. Compared with NaCl treatment, the extent of change induced by NaCl in the values of OJIP, DF and MR was reduced in the NaCl treatment with CaCl2 amendment. These results revealed that Ca2+ might improve the photosynthetic efficiency and the growth of salt-stressed plants by maintaining the integrity of oxygen-evolving complexes and electron transporters on the side of the PSI receptor and enhancing the relationship between the functional units of the photosynthetic electron transport chain. The findings from this study could be used for improving crop productivity in saline alkali lands.