Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conditionally independent data generation

Conditional independence (CI) is a fundamental concept with wide applications in machine learning and causal inference. Although the problems of testing CI and estimating divergences have been extensively studied, the complementary problem of generating data that satisﬁes CI has received much less attention. A special case of the generation problem is to produce conditionally independent predictions. Given samples from an input data distribution, we formulate the problem of generating samples from a distribution that is close to the input distribution and satisﬁes CI. We establish a characterization of CI in terms of a general divergence identity. Based on one version of this identity, an architecture is proposed that leverages the capabilities of generative adversarial networks (GANs) to enforce CI in an end-to-end differentiable manner. As one illustration of the problem formulation and architecture, we consider applications to notions of fairness that can be written as CIs, speciﬁcally equalized odds and conditional statistical parity. We demonstrate conditionally independent prediction that trades off adherence to fairness criteria against classiﬁcation accuracy.
The association between vitamin D levels and glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients in Najran Area, Saudi Arabia

Submit Date: 2020-03-23 Revise Date: 2020-04-30 Accept Date: 2020-05-02 ABSTRACT Background: Recently there are various non-skeletal diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The main target of this study is to investigate whether there is any relationship between serum Vitamin D levels and the glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Methods: The study was carried out in Najran University Hospital, this study involved 275 type 2 diabetic patients and 136 healthy control. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c and 25(OH) vitamin D were analyzed. Results: The results showed (8%) of diabetic patients presented with severe Vitamin D deficiency, (27. 6%) presented with moderate deficiency, (19.6%) presented with insufficiency and (44.7%) presented with sufficient levels. HbA1c % and FBG were negatively correlated with Vitamin D levels. The mean levels of vitamin D showed a highly significant difference p > 0.001 between diabetic patients (27.84 ± 14.847 ng/ml) and healthy control subjects (53.99 ± 11.401 ng/ml), Also results showed a highly significant difference p > 0.001 in vitamin D level between controlled and uncontrolled diabetic patients the level of vitamin D was (46.4 ± 17.5; 28.2 ± 14.9) respectively. Conclusion: The findings suggested that there was a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in type 2 diabetic patients and there was an inverse relationship between Vitamin D and FBG and HbA1c.
SUPPLEMENTATION HOT PEPPER FOR IMPROVING UTILIZATION OF CORN GLUTEN MEAL IN BROILER CHICKS DIETS.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of hot pepper and corn gluten meal (CGM) on growth performance, carcass traits, intestinal villi histo-morphometry and in broiler chicks reared for 42 days were evaluated. A total number of 180 unsexed one day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were weighed individually, randomly allocated to six dietary treatments of three replicates each. Chicks were fed ad libitum during starter, grower and finisher stage. The experimental design consists of the following groups; the first group and the second were fed the basal diet containing 5% or 10% corn gluten meal without hot pepper and both served as controls, respectively. The third and fourth groups were fed the control diet (5% CGM) supplemented with 0.1 or with 0.2 % hot pepper, respectively. The fifth and sixth groups were fed on the control diet(10% CGM) supplemented with 0.1 or with 0.2 % hot pepper, respectively. The results obtained could be summarized as follows: at 6 weeks of age, among the levels of dietary corn gluten meal, control diet with (5% CGM) improved significantly (P < 0.05) live body weight , body weight gain, feed conversion, dressing %, and abdominal fat % compared to the control with (10% CGM) with no significantly differences for feed intake, liver %, gizzard %, and heart %. Chicks fed diets containing hot pepper (0.1% with 5% CGM), hot pepper (0.2% with 5% CGM) and hot pepper (0.2% with 10% CGM) recorded the heaviest (P<0.01) body weight and body wight gain than hot pepper (0.1% and 10% CGM) and control (10% CGM), with no significant differences between each other. The feed intake value , feed conversion , dressing % , abdominal fat % for hot pepper diets were significantly (P < 0.01) less than those of control diets (10% CGM). No significant differences were observed in liver % , gizzard %, and heart % between broiler chicks fed hot pepper diets and control diets. There were significant increments in intestinal villi length associate with significant reduction in crypt depth due to feeding hot pepper compared with two levels of corn gluten meal. It could be concluded that, adding hot pepper into diets containing high level of corn gluten meal (10%) improves broiler performance by improving intestinal health, resulting from increased villi length, and increasing absorptive surface of the small intestine. Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (5) 2020 52-71
Characterization of a Novel FLT3 BiTE® Antibody Construct for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Bettina Brauchle 1,2,† , Rebecca L. Goldstein 3,† , Christine M. Karbowski 4 , Anja Henn 5 , Chi-Ming Li 3 , Veit L. Bücklein 1,2 , Christina Krupka 1,2 , Michael C. Boyle 4 , Priya Koppikar 4 , Sascha Haubner 1,2 , Joachim Wahl 5 , Christoph Dahlhoff 5 , Tobias Raum 5 , Matthew J. Rardin 3 , Christine Sastri 3 , Dan A. Rock 3 , Michael von Bergwelt-Baildon 1,2,6 , Brendon Frank 3 , Klaus H. Metzeler 2,6 , Ryan Case 3 , Matthias Friedrich 5 , Mercedesz Balazs 3 , Karsten Spiekermann 2,6,7 , Angela Coxon 5 , Marion Subklewe 1,2,6,* , Tara Arvedson 3,*
Factors Associated with Bacteriological Cure of S. aureus in Bovine Mastitis in Mid Rift Valley of Ethiopia

A study was conducted with the objective of evaluating risk factors those play role in the treatment failure of bovine mastitis. During the study, animals were randomly selected from California mastitis test positive cases and assigned to treatment with intramammary infusion (Meltjet, Ashish life science). Both bacteriological and cytological analysis took place to observe change in the somatic cell count and bacteriological status, before and after treatment. The study revealed that bacteriological cure was influenced by poor bedding hygiene, rough floor surface, soil floor, previous treatment for mastitis, poor animal body hygiene, previous cure failure, multiple parity and late lactation stage. Biofilm formation and presence of MRSA were amongst the other contributory pathogen factors for bacteriological cure failure. Overall, bacteriological cure rate was influenced by bacteriological, environmental and pathogen factors in the study.
Tracking linear deformable objects using slicing method

Abstract In this paper, an efficient novel method for tracking the linear deformable objects (LDOs) in real time is proposed. The method is developed based on recursively slicing a pointcloud into smaller pointclouds with sufficiently small variance. The performance of this method is investigated through a series of experiments with various camera resolutions in simulation when a robot end effector tracking an LDO using an RGBD camera, and in real word when the camera tracks a rope during a swing. The performance of the proposed method is compared with another state-of-the-art technique and the outcome is reported here.
Role of CT using modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST criteria) in evaluation of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive tumor that the growth pattern of it poses unique difficulties in measurement and response assessment. however, robust and reproducible assessment of response is critically important in the conduct, interpretation, and reporting of clinical trials. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the value of CT and modified RECIST criteria in follow up patients of malignant pleural mesothelioma patient during treatment with chemotherapy. Patients and methods: We evaluated 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients undergoing to chemotherapy. Tumor thickness is measures perpendicular to the chest wall or mediastinum in two positions at three separate levels on thoracic CT scans. The sum of the six measurements defined a pleural unidimensional measure. A reduction of at least 30% on two occasions 6 weeks apart defined a partial response; an increase of 20% over the nadir measurement known as progressive disease. Patients who fulfilled the criteria for neither PR nor PD called CD. The validity of the modified criteria was gauged by clinical evaluation. Results: In our study, CT and modified RECIST criteria were used as the method of choice in response evaluation of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Our study showed as follow up results of each group and comparison between clinical evaluation and modified RECIST criteria show over all accuracy 73.3% with P value = 0.03 and these results confirm accuracy of CT with modified RECIST criteria as good predictor of disease outcome. Conclusion: These Modified RECIST criteria for tumor response correlate with clinical evaluation and can be used to measure outcome in pleural mesothelioma.
SOCIAL MEDIA DATA TO DETERMINE LOAN DEFAULT PREDICTING METHOD IN AN ISLAMIC ONLINE

Financial technology is growing rapidly in Indonesia. One of main types of financial technologies are online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms. Islamic online P2P lending is also emerging. However, credit risk is still a major concern for this platform. To address this issue, social media assessments have been developed. Therefore, in this paper
Financial evaluation with methodology of real investment options for production and sale of organic coffee

In Mexico, coffee farming is a highly relevant activity due to the generation of foreign exchange, jobs and the ecological importance of the crop; however, due to the uncertainty that the price provides, in the last 10 years the production of cherry coffee decreased at an average annual rate of 6%. An alternative to face this crisis is to differentiate the product and produce organic coffee. The present investigation was carried out in 2018 in the municipality of Ixhuatlan, Veracruz. The profitability of the production and sale of organic coffee was calculated through the evaluation of traditional financial investment projects for producers and cooperative (NPV= 1 504 372 and 283 566 respectively), complemented with the real options methodology; through binomial trees, which contemplates the volatility of prices and the change in decisions that the manager can make throughout the project. The analysis of the results showed that there are greater benefits when considering the expansion-abandonment option through the calculation of the total NPV of the production and sale of organic coffee with the real options methodology (1 959 111 and 411 455, respectively).
Validation of a Saliva-Based Test for the Molecular Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic, clinicians and researchers have been searching for alternative tests to improve screening and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Currently, the gold standard for virus identification is the nasopharyngeal (NP) swab. Saliva samples, however, offer clear practical and logistical advantages but due to lack of collection, transport, and storage solutions, high-throughput saliva-based laboratory tests are difficult to scale up as a screening or diagnostic tool. With this study, we aimed to validate an intra-laboratory molecular detection method for SARS-CoV-2 on saliva samples collected in a new storage and inactivating solution, comparing the results to NP swabs to determine the difference in sensitivity between the two tests. Methods: In this study, 156 patients (cases) and 1005 asymptomatic subjects (controls) were enrolled and tested simultaneously for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 viral genome by RT-PCR on both NP swab and saliva samples. Saliva samples were collected in a preservative and inhibiting saline solution (Biofarma Srl). Internal method validation was performed to standardize the entire workflow for saliva samples. Results: The identification of SARS-CoV-2 conducted on saliva samples showed a clinical sensitivity of 95.1% and specificity of 97.8% compared to NP swabs. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 81% while the negative predictive value (NPV) was 99.5%. Test concordance was 97.6% (Cohen's Kappa=0.86; 95% CI 0.81-0.91). The LoD of the test was 5 viral copies for both samples. Conclusions: RT-PCR assays conducted on a stored saliva sample achieved similar performance to those on NP swabs and this may provide a very effective tool for population screening and diagnosis. Collection of saliva in a stabilizing solution makes the test more convenient and widely available; furthermore, the denaturation properties of the solution reduces the infective risks belonging to sample manipulation.
Causal effect of C-reactive protein and vitamin D on human cerebral anatomy observed among genetically correlated biomarkers in blood

Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are commonly associated with structural brain alterations affecting the cortex, which frequently vary with clinically relevant factors including antipsychotic treatment, duration of illness and age of onset. While the underlying variables mediating these structural changes are poorly understood, recent genetic evidence suggests circulating metabolites and other biochemical traits play a causal role in a number of psychiatric disorders which could be mediated by changes in the cerebral cortex. In the current study, we leveraged publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) data to explore shared genetic architecture and evidence for causal relationships between a panel of 50 biochemical traits and measures of cortical thickness and surface area at both the global and regional levels. Linkage disequilibrium score regression identified a total of 20 significant and 156 suggestive genetically correlated biochemical-cortical trait pairings, of which six exhibited strong evidence for causality in a latent causal variable model. Interestingly, a negative causal relationship was identified between a unit increase in serum C-reactive protein levels and thickness of the lingual and lateral occipital regions that was also supported by Mendelian randomisation, while circulating vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels exhibited a positive causal effect on temporal pole thickness. Taken together, our findings suggest a subset of biochemical traits exhibit shared genetic architecture and potentially causal relationships with cortical thickness in functionally distinct regions, which may contribute to alteration of cortical structure in psychiatric disorders.
Pulse energy and wavelength-dependent ultrafast dynamics of SnSe2 thin film studied by transient absorption

The ultrafast carrier dynamics in SnSe2 film and their influencing factors are studied using femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. Nano-scale SnSe2 sample films are prepared by pulsed laser deposition on the SiO2 substrate. The observed carrier dynamics are influenced by the film thickness and pulse energy. All carrier ultrafast dynamics can be perfectly fitted with a tri-exponential decay model, which means that the carriers have undergone the process of carrier scattering, carrier recombination and diffusion. The influence of the surface reorganization process and the deep defect state in the material makes the carrier lifetime longer in the thicker film. Moreover, the defect state intensifies the state filling effect, leading to the production of bleaching signal in thin thinner film. With the increase of the pump pulse energy, the carrier lifetime becomes longer. This is due to the influence of the pulse energy on the carrier concentration and the temperature difference between the carrier temperature and the lattice temperature. And the influence of pump pulse energy of band gap reconstruction makes the peak in TA spectrum move with the change of pulse energy. The results reveal the carrier dynamics in SnSe2 thin film at different pump pulse energy and identify the critical role of the pump pulse in photo-generated phenomena.
The far-field plasma characteristics of LHT40 low-power Hall thruster for commercial aerospace applications

To achieve a better insight into the far-field plasma spatial distribution and evolution characteristics of the 300 W class low-power Hall thruster (LHT) for commercial aerospace applications, a dedicated and integrated plasma diagnostic system composed of seventeen Faraday cups (FC) and two triple Langmuir probes (TLP) is established to investigate the time-averaged in situ spatial distribution characteristics of far-field ions and electrons. The ion current density (ICD), plasma potential, plasma density, and electron temperature at 1000 mm downstream of 300 W class LHT for commercial aerospace applications in the azimuthal angle range of −90° to 90° were investigated under the conditions of different anode mass flow rates and discharge voltages. The results demonstrated that ICD, beam divergence angle, and mass utilization efficiency increased with increasing anode mass rate. The double-wings phenomenon was observed in the spatial distribution of ICD at large angles from the thruster axis, which is attributed to charge exchange collisions at increasing vacuum backpressure. The plasma electron temperature, electron density, and plasma potential parameters derived from the TLP decreased rapidly in the angle range from 0° to 30° and did not exhibit significant variations above 30°, which was also in good agreement with the results of the measured divergence angle of the FC. The discrepancy of average ion speed was calculated. The maximum error is better than 31.5% which checks the consistency between the TLP’s results and that of FC to some extent.
Physical light-matter interaction in hermite-gauss space

Our purpose in this paper is two-fold: introduce a computationally-tractable decomposition of the coherence properties of light; and, present a general-purpose light-matter interaction framework for partially-coherent light. In a recent publication, Steinberg and Yan [2021] introduced a framework that generalises the classical radiometry-based light transport to physical optics. This facilitates a qualitative increase in the scope of optical phenomena that can be rendered, however with the additional expressibility comes greater analytic difficulty: This coherence of light, which is the core quantity of physical light transport, depends initially on the characteristics of the light source, and mutates on interaction with matter and propagation. Furthermore, current tools that aim to quantify the interaction of partially-coherent light with matter remain limited to specific materials and are computationally intensive. To practically represent a wide class of coherence functions, we decompose their modal content in Hermite-Gauss space and derive a set of light-matter interaction formulae, which quantify how matter scatters light and affects its coherence properties. Then, we model matter as a locally-stationary random process, generalizing the prevalent deterministic and stationary stochastic descriptions. This gives rise to a framework that is able to formulate the interaction of arbitrary partially-coherent light with a wide class of matter. Indeed, we will show that our presented formalism unifies a few of the state-of-the-art scatter and diffraction formulae into one cohesive theory. This formulae include the sourcing of partially-coherent light, scatter by rough surfaces and microgeometry, diffraction grating and interference by a layered structure.
Do You Like Your Teachers? A Quantitative Research on Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Gender Characteristics

This paper explored Chinese high school students’ preferences towards their teachers’ characteristics by gender, and verified some traditional gender stereotypes in line with students’ preferences. As a quantitative study, questionnaire in Likert-scale has been used and 874 valid responses are collected to identify students’ preferences of their male and female teachers. The characteristics addressed by survey do partially verify some gender stereotypes and bias but not extremely obvious. Moreover, the results show that students commonly think female teachers are more considerate and sharp-eyed than male teachers, and most of students prefer male teachers teach science-related class. Furthermore, they do not enjoy old teachers’ classes especially old female teachers’ classes. Generally, students tend to support their same-gender teachers in classroom. All findings offer an insight into the students’ gender preferences and a lack of gender education in the high school stage.
Multimodal Discourse on BRICS Produced by Diverse Stakeholders: Identifying Attitudes, Cultures and Perspectives

The paper explores the conceptual vision of BRICS in the contemporary world. The study focuses on language and images that are used within BRICS-related institutional communication. We argue that the research is important because of the increasing impact of BRICS on the development of the multilateral and multipolar world. The research aims to offer preliminary considerations with regard to key topics, features and tools of multimodal discourse that comes from the BRICS nations and representatives of other international/regional organisations. This area has not been subject to academic analysis so far. This confirms the novelty of the present study. The research material includes 600 image-text correlated items from BRICS official sources of information and from organisation and institutions, which are not affiliated with the BRICS and refer to national or international actors. The research combined theoretical analysis of literature, empirical investigation of materials within qualitative paradigm, through content-based analysis and manual coding on thematic and pragmatic criteria. The findings reveal different approaches to BRICS that are introduced by different actors through specific coordination of verbal and visual tools, in explicit and implicit ways. The findings show that BRICS sources contain proportioned use of texts and photos of high-ranking official events, socio-cultural features of BRICS countries, and pictures of youth with regard to BRICS mission, values, goals, and policies. This strengthens the concept of equality and human rights provision in the modern world in general and leads to the understanding of the need to include the issues of youth rights and their equality on the BRICS agenda in an explicit way.
RMHP_A_244344 559..569

Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn Medical School at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Pharmacoepidemiology and Statistics Research Center (PESRC), Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Clinical Epidemiology and Clinical Statistic Center, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand