Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Remote Pulse Rate Variability Measurement with Adaptive Slope Sum Function

Compared to Electrocardiography (ECG) and contact Photoplethysmography (PPG), the signal obtained from remote Photoplethysmography (rPPG) is much more noisy due to the body movement, light variation, sensor noise, low scanning frequency of the cameras, etc. As a result, the measurement of Pulse Rate Variability (PRV) based on rPPG is a more challenging task than measuring PRV and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) from contact PPG and ECG, because it requires precise peak detection on the noisy rPPG signal. To address this issue, some researchers used slope sum function (SSF) to enhance the rising trend of the signal and reduce the downward trend of it, so that the signal became more clear and easier for peak detection. This method is relatively effective, but it has some disadvantages. Firstly, the window size of the SSF is set manually. Secondly, there is a shift between the peaks on the new signal generated by the SSF and the original signal. Thirdly, the parameter is fixed for the entire dataset, which is not ideal for real-life scenario where there are sudden changes in signal. In this paper, we proposed a novel algorithm which adaptively and automatically set the window size of SSF using continuous wavelet transform. We experimentally showed that the proposed method improved the remote measurement of PRV compared to the existing methods in the rPPG framework. We believe that our contribution is conducive to practicalization and commercialization of the related research.
Multimodal Modules and Self-Attention for Graph Neural Network Molecular Properties Prediction Model

This paper proposes a multimodal Graph Neural Network (GNN) model for predicting molecular properties. Our model combines molecular graph topology information from a baseline GNN with an additional module, such as graph signal processing or text-based SMILES, to improve the accuracy of molecular property prediction. We utilized the CMPNN model as our baseline GNN and combined it with a Bidirectional LSTM module for text sequence in SMILES format or a spectral graph convolution module. Additionally, we also experimented with integrating self-attention into the CMPNN model through the use of the alpha coefficient method from GATConv. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our multimodal GNN model for molecular property prediction, outperforming the baseline on a range of datasets. This approach has potential applications in drug discovery and other areas of chemistry.
RoSE: Robust Analog Circuit Parameter Optimization with Sampling-Efficient Reinforcement Learning

Design automation of analog circuits has been a long-standing challenge in the integrated circuit field. Recently, multiple methods based on learning or optimization have demonstrated great promise in automating device sizing for analog circuits. However, they often ignore the strong susceptibility of analog circuits to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations or suffer from low sampling efficiency to train algorithms. To address these critical limitations, this paper proposes RoSE, the first Robust analog circuit parameter optimization framework with high Sampling Efficience by synergistically combining Bayesian Optimization (BO) and reinforcement learning (RL). Its core is to use the fast convergence of BO to find an optimized starting point for the backbone RL agent to notably improve its sampling efficiency during the learning process. With this pre-optimization, we further leverage the RL’s superior optimization ability to achieve robust device sizing by incorporating sufficient features of PVT variations into the representation learning loop. Experimental results of our proposed method on exemplary circuits show 3.25×∼16× improvement of sampling efficiency and 6.8× ∼ 24× improvement of figure-of-merit (FoM, defined with design efficiency and design accuracy) as compared to prior methods.
From Creativity to Innovation: The Social Network Drivers of the Four Phases of the Idea Journey

Interest has burgeoned, in recent years, in how social networks influence individual creativity and innovation. From both the theoretical and empirical points of view, this increased attention has generated many inconsistencies. In this article we propose that a conceptualization of the idea journey encompassing phases that the literature has so far overlooked can help solve existing tensions. We conceptualize four phases of the journey of an idea, from conception to completion: idea generation, idea elaboration, idea championing, and idea implementation. We propose that a creator has distinct primary needs in each phase: cognitive flexibility, support, influence, and shared vision, respectively. Individual creators successfully move through a phase when the relational and structural elements of their networks match the distinct needs of the phase. The relational and structural elements that are beneficial for one phase, however, are detrimental for another. We propose that in order to solve this seeming .
High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Ball Lightning

This article proposes an explanation for High-Energy Atmospheric phenomena through the frames of Hypersphere World-Universe Model (WUM). In WUM, Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGFs) are, in fact, Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The spectra of TGFs at very high energies are explained by Dark Matter particles annihilation in Geocorona. Lightning initiation problem is solved by GRBs that slam into thunderclouds and carve a conductive path through a thunderstorm. We introduce Multiworld consisting of Macro-World, Large-World, Small-World, and Micro-World, characterized by suggested Gravitational, Extremely-Weak, Super-Weak, and Weak interaction respectively. We propose a new model of Ball Lightning formation based on the Dark Matter Core surrounded by electron-positron plasma in the Small-World.
Graph-Based Simultaneous Placement and Routing for Two-Dimensional Directed Self-Assembly Technology

Two-dimensional directed self-assembly (2D-DSA) is an emerging lithography technology for advanced process nodes. We can determine the orientations of double posts to guide block copolymers to form feasible 2D guiding template patterns by the 2D-DSA process. This paper presents the first work to handle the 2D-DSA simultaneous placement and routing problem. We first propose a novel graph to model feasible guiding templates with a constant-time update scheme for each double-post assignment. Based on a graph model, we then present an algorithm for 2D-DSA simultaneous placement and routing, with a broadcast-based cost function for 2D-DSA cell placement and a graph-based scheme for DSA-compliant routing. Finally, we employ a strongly effective region property to minimize the cuts in the final layout. Experimental results show that our algorithm can efficiently generate a 2D-DSA placement and routing solution with high routability and a low cut number.
Interphase Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization Analysis of Cytogenetic Abnormalities in Egyptian Patients with Plasma Cell Myeloma

Background: Cytogenetic abnormalities are ubiquitous in plasma cell myeloma representing the hallmark of the disease. These abnormalities have been used as the foundation to establish prognostic factors for accurate risk stratification in plasma cell myeloma. The present study aimed to detect the incidence 14q32 IgH rearrangements, t(11;14), t(4;14), 13q del and 17p del by Interphase Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (iFISH) and their relation to the standard prognostic factors and patients’ outcome . Method: Thirty one newly diagnosed Egyptian myeloma patients were tested for the expression of 14q32 IgH rearrangements by using the locus specific identifier (LSI) IGH Dual Color FISH break apart rearrangement probe, we also used the LSI IGH/CCND1 Dual Color Dual Fusion Probe for detection of t(11;14)(q13;q32), LSI IGH/FGFR3 Dual Fusion Probe for detection of t(4;14)(p16;q32), LSI D13S319 (13q14.3) probe for detection of 13q del and LSI TP53 Probe for detection of 17p del on bone marrow samples collected from the patients at diagnosis. Results: Abnormal iFISH results were found in 21 patients (67.7%) of the 31 examined patients. Ten patients (32.3%) exhibited 14q IgH rearrangement. Both t(11;14) and t(4;14) were found in 4 patients (12.9%). 17p13 del was detected in 3 patients (9.7%) while 8 patients (25.8%) showed positive results for 13q del. There were statistical significant decrease in mean total leucocytic count (P= 0.030) and mean serum albumin level (P= 0.008) in patients showing positive genetic abnormalities detected by iFISH whereas a significant increase in β2-microglobulin level (>5.5mg/dL) (P= 0.052) and kappa light chain (P= 0.015) were found in those patients. A statistically significant lower serum calcium ( 300 IU/L) (P= 0.003). Patients with positive t(4;14) had significantly older age (over 60 years) (P= 0.018) and lower platelet counts ( 4x10 9 /L) (P= 0.002). Patients with positive 13q del had significantly lower mean
Differential expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in hematopoietic and fatty bone marrow : evidence that neuropilin

Recent evidence suggests that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is involved in hematopoiesis and in the pathogenesis of hematopoietic malignancies. Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) was recently recognized as an isoform-specific receptor for VEGF165 acting as coreceptor for the VEGFR-2. Our primary goal was to evaluate the expression of NRP-1in human hematopoietic marrow and to identify cells responsible for its expression in vivo. Key partners of NRP-1 such as VEGF, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 were also studied. Samples from iliac bone (rich in hematopoietic marrow), and from femurs (mostly composed of fatty cells) were from 18 human bone marrow core samples obtained from autopsies performed at the Department of Pathology and from 8 human core biopsies obtained from patients undergoing hip surgery at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. The total RNA was purified by centrifugation on a cesium chloride cushion and from cell suspensions using the High Pure RNA Isolation kit (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed under non-competitive conditions in the presence of a synthetic RNA used as internal standard in order to make the procedure quantitative. To evaluate a possible correlation between the hematopoietic activity and the mRNA level of the VEGF isoforms and their receptors, total RNA was isolated from femoral fatty bone marrow and from iliac crest hematopoietic bone marrow collected from the same donor and RTPCR was performed as above. The hematopoietic activity was evaluated by calculating the relative percentages of the tissue hematopoietic cells versus adipose cells. In all tested specimens, the main isoforms found were VEGF165 and VEGF121 expressed at variable levels. This pattern of expression seems to be specific to bone marrow and is in agreement with the data reporting the RT-PCR analysis of the VEGF121 and VEGF165 in a series of human hematopoietic cell lines. A significant expression of the 189 isoform was observed in femoral bone marrow whereas it was barely detectable in iliac bone marrow (Figure 1A). In most of samples of femoral bone marrow, the total VEGF mRNA was higher than in iliac crest bone marrow: Figure 1. A: Representative examples of the electrophoretic patterns of RT-PCR products of A: VEGF, B: VEGFR-1, C: VEGFR-2 and D: NRP-1 mRNA measured in duplicate using total RNA isolated from the femoral (fem) and the iliac crest (IC) bone marrow of the same donor. The total RNA in the sample solution was evaluated by measuring the 28S rRNA. A synthetic RNA (ssRNA) was added in each tube reaction to monitor the yield of both the reverse transcription and the amplification steps (only for 28S rRNA, VEGF and NRP-1). 189 165
Guidelines for the management of oesophageal and gastric cancer

INTRODUCTION Over the past decade the Improving Outcomes Guidance (IOG) document has led to service re-configuration in the NHS and there are now 41 specialist centres providing oesophageal and gastric cancer care in England and Wales. The National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit, which was supported by the British Society of Gastroenterology, the Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons (AUGIS) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England Clinical Effectiveness Unit, and sponsored by the Department of Health, has been completed and has established benchmarks for the service as well as identifying areas for future improvements. The past decade has also seen changes in the epidemiology of oesophageal and gastric cancer. The incidence of lower third and oesophago-gastric junctional adenocarcinomas has increased further, and these tumours form the most common oesophago-gastric tumour, probably reflecting the effect of chronic gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and the epidemic of obesity. The increase in the elderly population with significant co-morbidities is presenting significant clinical management challenges. Advances in understanding of the natural history of the disease have increased interest in primary and secondary prevention strategies. Technology has improved the options for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy and staging with cross-sectional imaging. Results from medical and clinical oncology trials have established new standards of practice for both curative and palliative interventions. The quality of patient experience has become a significant component of patient care, and the role of the specialist nurse is fully intergrated. These many changes in practice and patient management are now routinely controlled by established multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) which are based in all hospitals managing these patients.
Cross-Border Portfolio Flows and News Media Coverage

This paper investigates the dynamic linkages between portfolio flows and various news indices (based on both “positive” and “negative” news headlines collected from Bloomberg), whilst also controlling for a comprehensive set of push and pull factors. The monthly panel examined comprises 49 developed and developing countries in addition to the US (the “home economy”) and covers the period from January 2007 to October 2017; the econometric model includes fixed effects. The empirical results document the important role played by the news variables. More specifically, news pessimism and intensity affect bond flows more than equity flows, and US news appears to play a leading role in these portfolio flow dynamics. By contrast, changes in news pessimism and intensity have a more significant impact on equity flows, and again US news tend to have more sizeable effects. News sentiment is generally found to be an important driver of portfolio flows, whilst only US news disagreement has a significant effect, and only on bond inflows into the US. Most results are robust to the exclusion of the six financial centres from the full sample. As for push and pull factors, most of them (equity return differentials, interest rate spreads, the VIX index, capital controls, exchange rate regimes, CDS spreads, QE episodes, financial development and commodity prices) are significant and with the expected signs.
A Universal Method for Task Allocation on FP-FPS Multiprocessor Systems with Spin Locks

Many complex real-time systems, such as increasingly automated vehicles and 5G wireless base stations, contain a large amount of shared resources that must be accessed in a mutually exclusive fashion. This leads to significant contention especially when resources are shared across processors. To reduce the contention, various resource-aware task allocation methods have been developed to localize the shared resources. Unfortunately, these existing methods either are tailored for specific scheduling and analysis approaches, or introduce runtime overhead that undermines their applicability. In this paper, we present a task allocation method for a mainstream type of real-time systems in practice: FP-FPS (fully-partitioned fixed-priority scheduling) multiprocessor systems with spin locks managing shared resources. Instead of relying on timing bounds as guidance, we utilize a model to approximate the degree of resource contention between tasks. The model is decoupled from priority assignment algorithms, resource sharing protocols and schedulability tests. Hence, our task allocation method can be applied without detailed knowledge of the underlying system, which is particularly useful during the initial design phase of the system. More detailed information about the system in the later phases of design will push up the approximation accuracy and further enhance the performance. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art by 13.6% on average (up to 24.2%) in system schedulability with a much less (57x on average) computation cost and negligible runtime overhead.
Exploited marine fishery resources off Tuticorin alongthe Gulf of Mannar coast

Tuticorin coast of Gulf of Mannar is endowed with rocky bottom, coral reefs and sea grass beds with characteristic flora and fauna. It also acts as home for several endangered marine mammals, sea cows and marine turtles. These resources were exploited by a variety of gears during 2000-2005.
The Nexus Between Corporate Social Responsibility Performance and Audit Fee: The Malaysian Evidence

This study examines the relationship between CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) performance and audit fee based on Malaysian market. Through on 51 Malaysian public listed firms over the period of 2012 to 2020, the result shows that CSR performance and audit fee has positive relationship. The evidence may indicate either 1) firms’ management utilizes CSR to extract personal benefits or as a tool to ‘greenwash’ corporate image; or 2) ethical firms demand credible financial reports and are therefore willing to incur higher audit fees for quality audit. The outcome of this study is expected to give insights to policy makers about the need to revise the sustainability reporting framework in Malaysia.
Intercomparison of temperature and precipitation data sets based on observations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East

[1] This paper presents an intercomparison and evaluation of gridded temperature and precipitation data sets, based on observations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East region. Using available global and regional data, we investigate the spatial and seasonal distributions of these two parameters, including uncertainties and trends for eight subregions that signify distinct climate regimes. All data sets represent the overall spatial features well though partly with biases. Using the seasonal means, standard deviations and cumulative density functions for the eight subregions, we identify outliers among the data sets. The correlations between data sets are high except for some regional data products. Desert areas such as Saudi Arabia and Libya-Egypt appear problematic due to their sparse station network. Similar upward trends of temperature and downward trends in precipitation are found for most of the region in all data sets, while differences appear in their magnitude and level of significance.
Elective versus rescue balloon aortic valvuloplasty for critical aortic stenosis.

BACKGROUND Balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) may be considered a bridge to further intervention in hemodynamically unstable patients or patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS). AIMS To retrospectively compare the peri-procedural and in-hospital outcome of AS-patients treated with elective-BAV (group 1) versus rescue-BAV (group 2). METHODS 35 patients in whom BAV was performed from 2010 to 2018 were identified. Among these 16 were treated electively (group 1) and 19 urgently (group 2). RESULTS Overall, BAV resulted in a significant decrease of a mean trans-aortic gradient by median (interquartile range [IQR]) 5.0 (9.0) mmHg, P < 0.01 and a significant decrease of maximal trans-aortic gradient by median (IQR) 13.5 (20.7) mmHg, P < 0.01. Post-procedural AR grade II increased from 8.6% to 17.1%, P = 0.48. Peri-procedural death occurred in 4 patients (11.4%)- all of them from group 2 (21.0%), P = 0.10. In-hospital death occurred in 15 patients (42.8%)- 3 patients (18.7%) from group 1 and 12 patients (63.1%) from group 2, P < 0.01. During follow-up 1 patient underwent surgical aortic valve replacement and in 4 patients transcatheter aortic valve implantation was performed. One patient died 22 months after BAV. CONCLUSIONS Peri-procedural and in-hospital mortality of patients with critical AS treated with BAV remains very high, especially in patients treated urgently.
Communities: are they groups of hidden interactions?

QuestionsEcologists are increasingly interested in community-level consequences of biotic interactions. However, community-level studies have not considered that biotic interactions might have contrasting directions within communities, and indirect interactions are rarely quantified although they may influence community-level outcomes. We tested the hypotheses that in species-rich plant communities from intermediate severe environmental conditions: (1) direct facilitation by dominant functional groups is balanced by negative indirect interactions among beneficiary species with no net effect at the community level on diversity and biomass, and (2) both direct and indirect interactions contribute to community composition. LocationA species-rich subalpine community of the eastern Tibet Plateau (China). MethodsWe removed dominant shrubs and graminoids and quantified, at the community and species levels, their direct and indirect effects on 43 forb species. We used multivariate analyses to assess the contribution of direct and indirect effects on community composition. ResultsThere were no community-level effects of either dominant life form on forb diversity and biomass. There were multiple species-level interactions that we grouped into six types based on the direction and intensity of indirect effects. We found significant relationships between species-level interactions and community composition. ConclusionsOur study highlights that communities are sets of hidden interactions that contribute to community composition, although no interaction might be detected at the community level because hidden interactions balance each other. Future studies should assess the ecological and functional drivers of these hidden interactions.
Forecasting the SARS-CoV-2 effective reproduction number using bulk contact data from mobile phones

These authors contributed equally to this work. Over the last months, cases of SARS-CoV-2 surged repeatedly in many countries and could often be controlled with non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing. We analyzed de-identified GPS tracking data from 1.15 to 1.4 million cell phones in Germany per day between March-November 2020 to identify encounters between individuals and statistically evaluate large-scale contact behavior. Using graph sampling theory we estimated the contact index (CI), a metric for number and heterogeneity of contacts and found that the contact index, and not the total number of contacts, is an accurate pre-dictor for the effective reproduction number R . A high correlation between CI and R occurring more than two weeks later allows timely assessment of the social behavior well before the infections become detectable. The CI quanti-fies the role of superspreading and allows assigning risks to specific contact behavior. We provide a critical CI-value beyond which R is expected to rise above 1 and propose to use it to leverage the social distancing interventions for the coming months.