Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CRNet: A Fast Continual Learning Framework With Random Theory

Artificial neural networks are prone to suffer from catastrophic forgetting. Networks trained on something new tend to rapidly forget what was learned previously, a common phenomenon within connectionist models. In this work, we propose an effective and efficient continual learning framework using random theory, together with Bayes’ rule, to equip a single model with the ability to learn streaming data. The core idea of our framework is to preserve the performance of old tasks by guiding output weights to stay in a region of low error while encountering new tasks. In contrast to the existing continual learning approaches, our main contributions concern (1) closed-formed solutions with detailed theoretical analysis; (2) training continual learners by one-pass observation of samples; (3) remarkable advantages in terms of easy implementation, efficient parameters, fast convergence, and strong task-order robustness. Comprehensive experiments under popular image classification benchmarks, FashionMNIST, CIFAR-100, and ImageNet, demonstrate that our methods predominately outperform the extensive state-of-the-art methods on training speed while maintaining superior accuracy and the number of parameters, in the class incremental learning scenario. Code is available at https://github.com/toil2sweet/CRNet.
Contact-line dynamics of a diffuse fluid interface

An investigation is made into the moving contact line dynamics of a Cahn–Hilliard–van der Waals (CHW) diffuse mean-field interface. The interface separates two incompressible viscous fluids and can evolve either through convection or through diffusion driven by chemical potential gradients. The purpose of this paper is to show how the CHW moving contact line compares to the classical sharp interface contact line. It therefore discusses the asymptotics of the CHW contact line velocity and chemical potential fields as the interface thickness ε and the mobility κ both go to zero. The CHW and classical velocity fields have the same outer behaviour but can have very different inner behaviours and physics. In the CHW model, wall–liquid bonds are broken by chemical potential gradients instead of by shear and change of material at the wall is accomplished by diffusion rather than convection. The result is, mathematically at least, that the CHW moving contact line can exist even with no-slip conditions for the velocity. The relevance and realism or lack thereof of this is considered through the course of the paper. The two contacting fluids are assumed to be Newtonian and, to a first approximation, to obey the no-slip condition. The analysis is linear. For simplicity most of the analysis and results are for a 90° contact angle and for the fluids having equal dynamic viscosity μ and mobility κ. There are two regions of flow. To leading order the outer-region velocity field is the same as for sharp interfaces (flow field independent of r) while the chemical potential behaves like r−ξ, ξ = π/2/max{θeq, π − θeq}, θeq being the equilibrium contact angle. An exception to this occurs for θeq = 90°, when the chemical potential behaves like ln r/r. The diffusive and viscous contact line singularities implied by these outer solutions are resolved in the inner region through chemical diffusion. The length scale of the inner region is about 10√μκ – typically about 0.5–5 nm. Diffusive fluxes in this region are O(1). These counterbalance the effects of the velocity, which, because of the assumed no-slip boundary condition, fluxes material through the interface in a narrow boundary layer next to the wall. The asymptotic analysis is supplemented by both linearized and nonlinear finite difference calculations. These are made at two scales, experimental and nanoscale. The first set is done to show CHW interface behaviour and to test the qualitative applicability of the CHW model and its asymptotic theory to practical computations of experimental scale, nonlinear, low capillary number flows. The nanoscale calculations are carried out with realistic interface thicknesses and diffusivities and with various assumed levels of shear-induced slip. These are discussed in an attempt to evaluate the physical relevance of the CHW diffusive model. The various asymptotic and numerical results together indicate a potential usefullness for the CHW model for calculating and modelling wetting and dewetting flows.
Preparation of supported ultrafine platinum nanocatalysts by ethylene glycol assisted photochemical method and application of catalytic 4-NP

Abstract Ultrafine Pt nanoparticles (Pt/SWCNTs) supported on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were prepared by a photochemical method assisted by ethylene glycol (EG) as a reducing agent without the addition of stabilizing agents. the application in the reduction of 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) was also explored. XRD diffraction patterns show that the content of Pt (111) crystal planes is higher, which is beneficial for improving the catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles. TEM results showed that Pt/SWCNTs-E3 prepared under Ultra Violet (UV) light irradiation had a small-size particle with an average particle size of about 2.2 nm. XPS results showed that the prepared Pt nanoparticles mainly existed in the form of Pt0. The catalytic performance test results showed that the Pt/SWCNTs prepared under the UV condition of 395 nm had the highest activity for catalyzing the reduction of 4-NP, and the apparent rate constant was k = 0.34 min−1, indicating that it had good catalytic activity. After seven cycles, the conversion rate remains about 83%, which has good reusability and stability. The results show that the aggregation of Pt intermediates can be effectively controlled by photo-induced and strong metal − support interaction (SMSI) to obtain ultrafine nanoparticles dominated by Pt0.
The Role of Villagers' Social Innovations in Advocacy Village Tourism Through Involvement of Study Activities in Village Tourism

This study aims to determine the positive relationship between social innovation, involvement, and advocacy tourism in the villagers Community. Active support from the village community can be very important for successful tourism development if villagers become more aware of the attractive characteristics of the area and are involved in developing sustainable tourism promotion in Village. In this study, a hypothesis test of the relationship between social innovation and advocacy tourism through community involvement will be conducted. To get a comprehensive picture, the researcher will collect a research sample of 100 villagers who have the criteria for the age of 18 to 50 years and are familiar with social media. Respondents will fill out a questionnaire and answers from respondents will be analyzed using path analysis to test hypotheses. The results of this study succeeded in proving that social innovation has a positive effect on the involvement and advocacy of residents. The involvement of tourism village can mediate positively and significantly between social innovation and tourism advocacy in village. it needs to be prioritized increasing social innovation of the residents of Village by encouraging and giving freedom to them to take more initiative, get used to digitalization, and be active in social media as an effort to provide information about tourism to prospective tourists on social media.
Clinical Profile and Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Comparison between the First and Second Pandemic Waves

Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, Brazil has become one of the countries most affected by this disease. A year into the pandemic, a second wave of COVID-19 emerged, with a rapid spread of a new SARS-CoV-2 lineage of concern. Several vaccines have been granted emergency-use authorization, leading to a decrease in mortality and severe cases in many countries. However, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants raises the alert for potential new waves of transmission and an increase in pathogenicity. We compared the demographic and clinical data of critically ill patients infected with COVID-19 hospitalized in Rio de Janeiro during the first and second waves between July 2020 and October 2021. In total, 106 participants were included in this study; among them, 88% had at least one comorbidity, and 37% developed severe disease. Disease severity was associated with older age, pre-existing neurological comorbidities, higher viral load, and dyspnea. Laboratory biomarkers related to white blood cells, coagulation, cellular injury, inflammation, renal, and liver injuries were significantly associated with severe COVID-19. During the second wave of the pandemic, the necessity of invasive respiratory support was higher, and more individuals with COVID-19 developed acute hepatitis, suggesting that the progression of the second wave resulted in an increase in severe cases. These results can contribute to understanding the behavior of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and may be helpful in predicting disease severity, which is a pivotal for guiding clinical care, improving patient outcomes, and defining public policies.
New Method of Measuring Reverberation Time

A new method of measuring reverberation time is described. The method uses tone bursts (or filtered pistol shots) to excite the enclosure. A simple integral over the tone‐burst response of the enclosure yields, in a single measurement, the ensemble average of the decay curves that would be obtained with bandpass‐filtered noise as an excitation signal. The smooth decay curves resulting from the new method improve the accuracy of reverberation‐time measurements and facilitate the detection of nonexponential decays.
Feasibility of Measuring Physiological Responses to Breakthrough Infections and COVID-19 Vaccine Using a Wearable Ring Sensor

Continuous monitoring using commercial-grade wearable technology was used to quantify the physiological response to reported COVID-19 infections and vaccinations in five biometric measurements. Larger responses were observed following confirmed COVID-19 infection reported by unvaccinated versus vaccinated individuals. Responses following reported vaccination were smaller in both magnitude and duration compared to infection and mediated by both dose number and age. Our results suggest commercial-grade wearable technology as a potential platform on which to build screening tools for early detection of illness, including COVID-19 breakthrough cases.
Comparison of Process Capability Indices under Autocorrelated Data

The process capability indices provide a measure of how a process fits within the specification limits. In calculating indices is usual to assume that the process data are independent. However, in industrial applications data are often autocorrelated. This paper deals with the indices Cp, Cpk, Cpm and Cpmk when data are autocorrelated. Variances for their estimators are derived and coverage probabilities of some confidence intervals are calculated.
FACTORS INFLUENCING TAX COMPLIANCE IN INDONESIA

This study aims to look at several factors like awareness, knowledge, obstacles, and sanctions, as well as tax regulations impacting taxpayer compliance. There is an assumption that tax compliance in Indonesia is still in the low category, which causes state revenues in the tax sector not to meet expectations. This study uses the literature review method, where the results concluded that awareness, knowledge, obstacles, sanctions, and the existence of tax regulation have an indication or influence to increase tax compliance in Indonesia. The study provides knowledge about the current conditions regarding tax compliance in Indonesia based on existing factors, and new information related to the recent tax regulation in the pandemic 2022.
The wave equation for the Lanczos potential. I

The non-local part of the gravitational field in general relativity is described by the 10 component conformal curvature tensor Cabcd of Weyl. For this field Lanczos found a tensor potential Labc with 16 independent components. We can make Labc have only 10 effective degrees of freedom by imposing the 6 gauge conditions Labs:s = 0. Both fields Cabcd, Labc satisfy wave equations. The wave equation satisfied by Cabcd is nonlinear, even in vacuo. However, a linear spinor wave equation for the Lanczos potential has been found by Illge but no correct tensor wave equation for Labc has yet been published. Here, we derive a correct tensor wave equation for Labc and when it is simplified with the aid of some four-dimensional identities it is equivalent to Illge’s wave equation. We also show that the nonlinear spinor wave equation of Penrose for the Weyl field can be derived from Illge’s spinor wave equation. A set of analogues of well-known results of classical electromagnetic radiation theory can now be given. We indicate how a Green’s function approach to gravitational radiation could be based on our tensor wave equation, when a global study of space-time is attempted.
The Effect of Orographically Excited Gravity Wave Drag on the General Circulation of the Lower Stratosphere and Troposphere

Abstract The influence of large-scale momentum sinks, due to breaking of orographically excited gravity waves, on the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation of the troposphere and lower stratosphere is examined by introducing a simple wave drag parameterization into the Canadian Climate Centre general circulation model (GCM). Results from GCM climate simulations are presented to show that the large-scale momentum sinks resulting from breaking gravity waves play an important role in determining the structure of the large-scale flow in the troposphere and lower stratosphere. It is argued that these results provide convincing evidence of the importance which must be attached to representing such wave drag effects in models designed for numerical weather prediction and general circulation studies.
Subrelations of ergodic equivalence relations

Abstract We introduce a notion of normality for a nested pair of (ergodic) discrete measured equivalence relations of type II1. Such pairs are characterized by a group Q which serves as a quotient for the pair, or by the ability to synthesize the larger relation from the smaller and an action (modulo inner automorphisms) of Q on it; in the case where Q is amenable, one can work with a genuine action. We classify ergodic subrelations of finite index, and arbitrary normal subrelations, of the unique amenable relation of type II1. We also give a number of rigidity results; for example, if an equivalence relation is generated by a free II1-action of a lattice in a higher rank simple connected non-compact Lie group with finite centre, the only normal ergodic subrelations are of finite index, and the only strongly normal, amenable subrelations are finite.
A Comparison of Lexical Tone Effects on VOT in L1 and Three Groups of L2 Speaker of Mandarin Chinese

This study focuses on the effect of lexical tone on Voice Onset Time (VOT) in Mandarin from four different L1 backgrounds. It surveys VOT variations between L1 and L2 speakers. Although it has been suggested that VOT varies because of different lexical tones in L1 Mandarin [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10], a question remains as to whether L2 Mandarin from different language backgrounds also exhibits the same effect. Exploring this can potentially shed light on whether tone effect on VOT is a language-specific or universal phenomenon. In particular, we ask whether L2 speakers who feature different native VOT values, such as Spanish (unaspirated) [11], Japanese (weakly-aspirated) [12], and English (aspirated) [13] [14] would show the same, similar, or different tone effect patterns in comparison to L1 Mandarin (highly-aspirated) [2]. Testing 164 participants (68 Taiwanese, 34 Spanish, 40 Japanese, and 22 English speakers of Mandarin), the results reveal that when other factors were kept constant, tone indeed influenced VOT where tone2 and tone3 had significantly longer VOT values than those in tone1 and tone4 in all four groups. All non-native groups showed the same effects regardless of their L1, which suggests that the tone effect on VOT in Mandarin is a universal tendency, perhaps due to the physiology of the vocal tract rather than due to language-specific phonology. In a baseline VOT test, we also found that the Spanish and Japanese groups showed extended VOT values, which were not from their native VOTs, although their Mandarin VOTs were still significantly shorter than the native Mandarin speakers. This may be due to the deficient learning of the aspiration.
Hearing loss and mental health issues in amateur and professional musicians

Musicians are at risk of developing music-induced hearing loss (MIHL) and also exhibit increased prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress. However, the relationship between hearing loss and mental health issues in musicians has not yet been explored. This study conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 32 professional and 35 amateur musicians recruited from local bands and orchestras. KUDUwave software was used to obtain their overall hearing thresholds for both ears over three frequency ranges: 0.5 to 4, 6 to 8, and 9 to 16 kHz. Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire that contained questions related to musical exposure, type of music exposed, years of practice, and so on, and the DASS-21 questionnaire, which assesses the presence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Professional musicians had significantly greater music exposure compared with amateur musicians, but their hearing thresholds were not significantly different from amateur musicians in 0.5–4, 6–8, or 9–16 kHz frequency ranges. Professional musicians experienced greater symptoms of anxiety compared with amateur musicians, and this occurred independently of their hearing status. Further longitudinal studies are required to explore the causative factors resulting in increased mental health issues in professional musicians and what potential interventions may be implemented to address anxious symptomology in this population.
Older Adults’ Advance Aging and Life Satisfaction Levels: Effects of Lifestyles and Health Capabilities

Many studies in the literature have examined older adults’ past and current lifestyles in either positive or negative association with their life satisfaction levels. Health capabilities naturally decline with aging and can consequently be related to older adults’ life satisfaction levels. Thus, the present study sought to examine the effects of age difference, lifestyles, and health capabilities on older adults’ life satisfaction levels. A total of 290 older adults from three clinical research centers in the United States completed a self-administered questionnaire on their lifestyles and life satisfaction levels, and their health capability assessments were evaluated. There was a significant effect of advancing age on life satisfaction levels among older adults. Additionally, engagement in exercise or physical activity significantly influenced life satisfaction levels. However, there were no statistical effects of vital signs and functional assessments of health capabilities on life satisfaction among older adults. The findings suggest that advancing age itself is the strongest factor in older adults’ life satisfaction. Additionally, engagement in exercise and physical activity can enhance life satisfaction levels as a supplemental factor among older adults. These findings can be beneficial to optimize life satisfaction levels through appropriate programs to encourage positive lifestyles among older adults.
Integral geometry on discrete Grassmannians 𝔾(d, n) associated to ℤ n

The purpose of this paper is to extend carefully the discrete Radon transform, studied in [A. Abouelaz and A. Ihsane, Diophantine integral geometry, Mediterr. J. Math. 5(1) (2008), pp. 77–99], to the Radon transform R on the discrete Grassmannian 𝔾(d, n) (with n≥3 and 1≤d<n−1) consisting of all discrete d-planes in the lattice ℤ n defined by systems of linear diophantine equations. By analogy with the integral geometry on Grassmann manifolds and projective spaces, which was developed by many authors, this study deals with various natural questions in this context: specific properties of the discrete Radon d-plane transform R and its dual R*, inversion formula for R (see Theorem 5.1) and also an appropriate support theorem for this Radon transform (see Theorem 6.3).
Bending-Sensitive Optical Waveguide Sensor With Carbon-Fiber Layer for Monitoring Grip Strength

With the gradual popularity of wearable devices, the demand for high-performance flexible wearable sensors is also increasing. Flexible sensors based on the optical principle have advantages e.g. anti-electromagnetic interference, antiperspirant, inherent electrical safety, and the potential for biocompatibility. In this study, an optical waveguide sensor integrating a carbon fiber layer, fully constraining stretching deformation, partly constraining pressing deformation, and allowing bending deformation, was proposed. The sensitivity of the proposed sensor is three times higher than that of the sensor without a carbon fiber layer, and good repeatability is maintained. We also attached the proposed sensor to the upper limb to monitor grip force, and the sensor signal showed a good correlation with grip force (the R-squared of the quadratic polynomial fitting was 0.9827) and showed a linear relationship when the grip force was greater than 10N (the R-squared of the linear fitting was 0.9523). The proposed sensor has the potential for applications in recognizing the intention of human movement to help the amputees control the prostheses.
Novel methods for the treatment of low testosterone

ABSTRACT Introduction Testosterone replacement therapy is a promising and growing field in modern healthcare. Several novel testosterone preparations aiming at providing an efficient drug without side effects have been developed in recent years. Several oral, nasal, gel, and self-injection preparations are now available, providing a wide variety of options customized to each individual’s needs. Areas covered We searched Google Scholar for keywords related to the different types of testosterone replacement therapy. This review provides information about the benefits and side effects of the newest testosterone preparations, aiming at giving a summary of the options with regard to testosterone replacement therapy to healthcare professionals. Expert Opinion As testosterone replacement therapy is increasing in popularity, the development of novel ways of administration minimizing side effects associated with testosterone replacement therapy is growing. Nowadays, hypogonadal patients have several options to treat their conditions and can choose the most beneficial method for their individual condition.
Time-varying volatility and the housing market

This paper studies the role of stochastic volatility in a setting where housing serves as an important propagation mechanism. After showing time-varying volatility in US house prices, we estimate a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with housing, financial frictions, and stochastic volatility using a nonlinear approximation and Bayesian econometric techniques. Incorporating stochastic volatility into the model greatly improves model fit and accounts for approximately half of the increased volatility in house prices observed during the Great Recession. Increased stochastic volatility escalates uncertainty which has significant effects on macroeconomic variables. While uncertainty in most sectors has negative effects on the economy, uncertainty on collateral constraints has the largest role. Unlike other uncertainty shocks, the housing demand uncertainty creates positive spillovers in the economy. Credit conditions, adjustment costs of capital and housing, and monetary policy are important transmission mechanisms for the stochastic volatility shocks.