Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
of Features of Brown Adipose Tissue

The aim of this study was to assess the repeatability of activated brown adipose tissue (BAT) radiomic features. In order to decipher radiomic features that may provide useful information on BAT, the impact of reconstruction methods and imaging modality choice was also evaluated. Methods: Twenty-seven healthy adults enrolled in this study. Following a cooling procedure to activate BAT, volunteers underwent 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission / computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) imaging. Participants underwent repeat imaging using the same imaging protocols and a similar FDG dose within 14 days. Active BAT was segmented using the BARCIST 1.0 methods. Radiomic features were extracted from each region of interest (ROI) on high definition PET (HD PET), non-HD PET, and CT images. Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) was used to estimate the repeatability of the extracted radiomic features. To determine whether BAT radiomic feature repeatability correlates with BAT maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) repeatability, participants were stratified based on the relative difference in SUV max between sessions. Non-HD PET repeatable features were clustered together using hierarchical clustering, and the normalized dynamic range (NDR) of each feature was computed to identify the most informative feature within each cluster. Results: Eighteen of the 27 volunteers had sufficient BAT activity for radiomic analysis. Sixty-six HD PET, 66 non-HD PET, and 6 CT features showed high repeatability (CCC ≥ 0.80). Feature repeatability was significantly higher for PET than for CT, but there was no statistically significant difference between HD and non-HD PET in radiomic feature repeatability. The repeatability of radiomic features extracted from each modality and reconstruction method type followed the trend in SUV max , as participants with lower relative differences in SUV max between initial and repeat imaging sessions had higher radiomic feature repeatability. Hierarchical clustering of the high-repeatability PET features resulted in 10 highly correlated clusters (R 2 ≥ 0.95). Seven features, including SUV max, did not cluster with any other features. Conclusion: Several clusters of highly repeatable BAT radiomic features derived from FDG PET/CT appear to provide information regarding BAT activity distinct from SUV max . These features might be explored as quantitative imaging biomarkers of BAT activity in future studies. The study consisted of 2 seperate imaging sessions. During each session, participants underwent an individualized procedure intended activate followed by FDG During the repeat session, participants underwent cooling and imaging using the same protocol. Each imaging took place at the same and both sessions were completed within 2 weeks.
on experiences of

This paper uses pooled cross-section data on recent school leavers in Ireland to model the determinants of labour market status and wages for young adults. Firstly we use a multinomial logit model to analyze whether individuals exit school to employment, unemployment or higher education. Family background is an important predictor for participation in higher education reflecting the degree of rationing in the system. The level of educational attainment influences the probability of entering higher education or employment. The estimates for earnings functions show large differences across gender with males being rewarded significantly higher. The returns to training are positive though biased upwards by sample selection particularly for females.
On Non-local Boundary Value Problems for Elliptic Operators

In this thesis we study non-local boundary value problems for elliptic differential operators on manifolds with smooth boundary. First of all a theory for general elliptic operators is developed. Among other things we prove that all weak solutions to a given boundary value problem are strong ones if and only if the boundary condition satisfies a certain regularity estimate. The boundary conditions considered in this thesis are subject to the following condition. The operator and its commutator with a generator of the Sobolev scale on the boundary are bounded on the full Sobolev scale. In comparison with the existing literature this class of boundary conditions is rather general and covers spectral as well as some non-pseudolocal boundary conditions. As is shown in the appendix, the operators satisfying the above-mentioned commutator condition form a C*-Algebra. This turns out to be crucial for the whole theory. The central object in our regularity theory are the Calderon projection and its range, the Cauchy data space. We give a simplified proof for the fact that the Calderon projection of an arbitrary elliptic differential operator is a classical pseudodifferential operator on the boundary. The most important analytic properties of an extension, regularity, well-posedness and self-adjointness, may be characterised in terms of the pair of spaces formed by the Cauchy data space and the boundary values satisfying the given condition. In the case of pseudodifferential conditions this leads to well-known criteria. For formally self-adjoint operators we show that the set of regular self-adjoint extensions is parametrised by the Fredholm Langrange Grassmannian associated to the Cauchy data space. Then we apply the general results to the most important classes of geometric differential operators, namely Dirac and Laplace operators. We show, e.g., how cobordism invariance of the index of Dirac operators can be deduced from properties of the Cauchy data space using merely elementary Fredholm theory. For Laplace operators we discuss some classical boundary value problems first. Those boundary conditions leading to self-adjoint are described in detail. Moreover we establish a necessary and sufficient criterion for semi-boundedness.
Performance Study of AODV with Variation in Simulation Time and Network Size

- Adhoc network is network of mobile nodes without any infrastructure or centralised access point. In mobile adhoc networks (MANETs) nodes are connected by wireless links which forms a temporary network. These networks have dynamic topology, high node mobility, low channel bandwidth and limited battery power. Routing is one of the major challenges in MANETs which becomes more difficult when the network size increases. Routing protocol plays an important role in transferring the data to the destination. In this paper, the effect of network size and simulation time on the performance of AODV routing protocol under 802.11 is analysed. Qualnet Network Simulator is used to study the performance of the protocol with the metrics such as packets delivered, throughput, end-to-end delay and jitter. The results are compared for the networks without and with mobility of nodes
Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University The Incompatibility of Materialism and the Desire for Children: Psychological Insights into the Fertility Discrepancy Among Modern Countries

: We examined factors related to attitudes toward marriage and the importance of having children in both the US and Singapore. Path analysis indicated that life dissatisfaction leads to materialism, and both of these factors lead to favorable attitudes toward marriage, which leads to greater desire for children. Further analysis indicated this model was effective in explaining the difference in desire for children between Singaporeans and Americans, whereby Singaporeans have lower life satisfaction, higher materialism, and lower attitudes toward marriage and children. Materialistic standards of success were also related to the emphasis women placed on potential marriage partners’ earning capacity. As Singaporean women had higher materialistic standards, they also placed higher emphasis on potential mates’ earning capacity. Results suggest a consideration of psychological variables such as life satisfaction, materialism, and mate preferences may lead to a better understanding of larger-scale socioeconomic issues, including low fertility rates among developed East Asian countries.
In Vivo Antiarrhythmic and Cardiac Electrophysiologic Effects of a Novel Diphenylphosphine Oxide I Kur Blocker, DPO-1

The antiarrhythmic efficacy of the novel I Kur blocker DPO-1 was compared to those of the standard Class III I Kr blockers MK499 and ibutilide and the Class IC agent propafenone in a canine model of Y-shaped intracaval and right atrial free wall surgical lesions producing the substrate for reentrant atrial flutter. Electrocardiographic and cardiac electrophysiologic effects also were assessed at the effective antiarrhythmic doses of test agents. DPO-1 terminated atrial arrhythmia (6/6 preparations, 5.5±2.0 mg/kg i.v.) while significantly increasing atrial relative and effective refractory periods (+15.7% and +15.2%, respectively), but having no significant effects on ventricular refractory periods or ECG intervals. Effective antiarrhythmic doses of MK499 (5/5 preparations, 0.004±0.002 mg/kg i.v.) and ibutilide (5/5 preparations, 0.003±0.001 mg/kg i.v.) similarly increased atrial relative (+23.2% and +25.1% respectively) and effective (+21.6% and +31.9% respectively) refractory periods. However, antiarrhythmic doses of MK499 and ibutilide also consistently and significantly increased ventricular relative (+9.9% and +7.6% respectively) and effective (+10.4% and +9.9% respectively) refractory periods, rate-corrected ECG QTc (+6.7% and +7.8% respectively) and paced QT (+7.3% and +8.5% respectively) intervals. Doses of propafenone which terminated atrial arrhythmia (5/5 preparations, 0.94±0.54 mg/kg i.v.) significantly increased ECG QRS interval (+11.1%). These findings support the approach of atrial selective modulation of refractoriness through block of I Kur for the development of potentially safer and more effective atrial antiarrhythmic agents. performed using a paired Student’s t-test. Post-treatment values were derived at 1 min post-termination following the dose of active test agent terminating flutter in each individual animal, or at 1 min post-termination following brief right atrial burst pacing to terminate flutter in the vehicle group.
CLOSURE OF CYSTOTOMY IN DOGS USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF SUTURE MATERIALS AND TISSUE ADHESIVE

Experimental ventral cystotomy wounds were performed on 72 adult dogs of different sex and age. Cystotomy wound was closed by chromic catgut, polyglycolic acid, vicryl, Polysorb, silk and methyl-2-Cyanoacrylate super glue. Animals were sacrificed at one, two and three weeks postoperatively, and site of operation were examined grossly, microscopically and by scanning electron microscopy. The results of this study reconfirms that catgut is the best thread used for suturing of the urinary bladder incisions. Polyglycolic acid, vicryl and Polysorb were hydrolyzed and they are not sufficient for suitable time for healing of wound. Silk not absorbed and can cause the nidus for urinary calculi. Non absorbable tissue adhesives were unsuitable for urinary bladder closure, because there is no healing at the site of operation and lead to deformity and shrinkage of the bladder wound.
Domain Adaptation Under Behavioral and Temporal Shifts for Natural Time Series Mobile Activity Recognition

Increasingly, human behavior is captured on mobile devices, leading to an increased interest in automated human activity recognition. However, existing datasets typically consist of scripted movements. Our long-term goal is to perform mobile activity recognition in natural settings. We collect a dataset to support this goal with activity categories that are relevant for downstream tasks such as health monitoring and intervention. Because of the large variations present in human behavior, we collect data from many participants across two different age groups. Because human behavior can change over time, we also collect data from participants over a month’s time to capture the temporal drift. We hypothesize that mobile activity recognition can benefit from unsupervised domain adaptation algorithms. To address this need and test this hypothesis, we analyze the performance of domain adaptation across people and across time. We then enhance unsupervised domain adaptation with contrastive learning and with weak supervision when label proportions are available.
TalkToModel: Understanding Machine Learning Models With Open Ended Dialogues

Machine Learning (ML) models are increasingly used to make critical decisions in real-world applications, yet they have become more complex, making them harder to understand. To this end, researchers have proposed several techniques to explain model predictions. However, practitioners struggle to use explanations because they often do not know which one to choose and how to interpret the results. In this work, we address these challenges by introducing TalkToModel: an open-ended dialogue system for understanding machine learning models. Speciﬁcally, TalkToModel comprises of three key components: 1) a natural language interface for engaging in dialogues, making understanding ML models highly accessible, 2) a dialogue engine that adapts to any tabular model and dataset, interprets natural language, maps it to appropriate explanations, and generates text responses, and 3) an execution component that constructs the explanations. We carried out extensive quantitative and human subject evaluations of TalkToModel. Overall, we found the system understands user inputs on novel datasets and models with high accuracy, demonstrating the system’s capacity to generalize to new situations. In human evaluations, 73% of healthcare workers (e.g., doctors and nurses) agreed they would use TalkToModel over baseline point-and-click systems, and 85% of ML professionals agreed TalkToModel was easier to use. Our ﬁndings demonstrate that TalkToModel is more eﬀective for model understanding than existing systems, presenting a new category of model understanding tools for practitioners. splits in the data where the GPT-J few shot models never exceed 10% parsing accuracy. Overall, these results indicate TalkToModel can understanding user utterances with a high degree of accuracy using our best performing T 5 models. Further, we
Asymmetries in reconstruction

Il a ete observe que la reconstruction (ou connectivite) apparaissait obligatoire pour les predicats, mais facultative pour les arguments. L'A. veut montrer que le contraste argument/predicat appartient a un ensemble plus general de contrastes entre les syntagmes referentiels et non referentiels dans le cadre de la reconstruction. les syntagmes non referentiels doivent obligatoirement se reconstruire par rapport a la forme logique pour etre interpretes correctement, alors que les syntagmes referentiels peuvent conserver leur position deplacee. L'A. admet que les conditions du liage s'appliquent a la forme logique pour expliquer les asymetries observees
Lagrangian mixing of pulsatile flows in constricted tubes

Several Lagrangian methods were used to analyze the mixing processes in an experimental model of a constricted artery under pulsatile flow. Upstream Reynolds number Re was changed between 1187 and 1999, while the pulsatile period $T$ was fixed at 0.96s. Velocity fields were acquired using Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) for a region of interest (ROI) located downstream of the constriction. The flow is composed of a central jet and a recirculation region near the wall where the vortex forms and sheds. To study the mixing processes, finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE) fields and concentration maps were computed. Two Lagrangian coherent structures(LCS) responsible for mixing fluid were found from FTLE ridges. A first LCS delimits the trailing edge of the vortex, separating the flow that enters the ROI between successive periods. A second LCSdelimits the leading edge of the vortex. This LCS concentrates the highest particle agglomeration, as verified by the concentration maps. Moreover, from particle residence time maps (RT) the probability of a fluid particle of leaving the ROI before one cycle was measured. As Re increases, the probability of leaving the ROI increases from 0.6 to 0.95. Final position maps$r{_f}$ were introduced to evaluate the flow mixing between different subregions of the ROI. These maps allowed us to compute an exchange index between subregions, $\bar{\mathrm{EI}}$, which shows the main region responsible for the mixing increase with Re. Finally, by integrating the results of different Lagrangian methods, a comprehensive description of the mixing and transport of the flow was provided.
Detecting Grouped Local Average Treatment Effects and Selecting True Instruments

Under an endogenous binary treatment with heterogeneous effects and multiple instruments, we propose a two-step procedure for identifying complier groups with identical local average treatment effects (LATE) despite relying on distinct instruments, even if several instruments violate the identifying assumptions. We use the fact that the LATE is homogeneous for instruments which (i) satisfy the LATE assumptions (instrument validity and treatment monotonicity in the instrument) and (ii) generate identical complier groups in terms of treatment propensities given the respective instruments. We propose a two-step procedure, where we first cluster the propensity scores in the first step and find groups of IVs with the same reduced form parameters in the second step. Under the plurality assumption that within each set of instruments with identical treatment propensities, instruments truly satisfying the LATE assumptions are the largest group, our procedure permits identifying these true instruments in a data driven way. We show that our procedure is consistent and provides consistent and asymptotically normal estimators of underlying LATEs. We also provide a simulation study investigating the finite sample properties of our approach and an empirical application investigating the effect of incarceration on recidivism in the US with judge assignments serving as instruments.
Post-geodesic corrections to the binding energy during the transition to plunge in numerical relativity simulations

For a relativistic binary with a small mass-ratio (SMR), post-geodesic corrections to the binding energy due to the gravitational self-force are needed to model the evolution of the system. Perhaps surprisingly, ﬁrst-order self-force predictions have proven to be very accurate when compared to numerical simulations of binaries with comparable masses, suggesting a greater applicability of the SMR approximation than expected. These comparisons and their agreement have been generally restricted to the early adiabatic inspiral, which breaks down as the smaller mass approaches the innermost stable orbit and transitions into a direct plunge. Here we examine the binding energy of nonspinning, quasicircular binary black holes using numerical simulations, with mass ratios ranging from equal mass to 1 : 20. We demonstrate the validity of the SMR approximation during inspiral, and for the ﬁrst time show that the binding energy of comparable mass systems follows a fractional power expansion in the symmetric mass ratio ν ≡ m 1 m 2 / ( m 1 + m 2 ) 2 , as predicted in the SMR limit. Our results are in agreement with analytic predictions, and indicate that the transition dynamics is important for modeling the last ∼ 10 gravitational wave cycles before merger for comparable mass systems, such as those currently observed by gravitational wave detectors. We ﬁnd that second-order GSF eﬀects on the transition are small. This analysis provides further evidence for the applicability of perturbative SMR results to gravitational wave modeling of comparable mass binaries.
Speaker consistency loss and step-wise optimization for semi-supervised joint training of TTS and ASR using unpaired text data

In this paper, we investigate the semi-supervised joint training of text to speech (TTS) and automatic speech recognition (ASR), where a small amount of paired data and a large amount of unpaired text data are available. Conventional studies form a cycle called the TTS-ASR pipeline, where the multispeaker TTS model synthesizes speech from text with a reference speech and the ASR model reconstructs the text from the synthesized speech, after which both models are trained with a cycle-consistency loss. However, the synthesized speech does not reflect the speaker characteristics of the reference speech and the synthesized speech becomes overly easy for the ASR model to recognize after training. This not only decreases the TTS model quality but also limits the ASR model improvement. To solve this problem, we propose improving the cycleconsistency-based training with a speaker consistency loss and step-wise optimization. The speaker consistency loss brings the speaker characteristics of the synthesized speech closer to that of the reference speech. In the step-wise optimization, we first freeze the parameter of the TTS model before both models are trained to avoid over-adaptation of the TTS model to the ASR model. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.
Pregnancy rate and associated factors in dairy cows of Bangladesh

The study was undertaken to identity the factors affecting the pregnancy rate in cows of commercial dairy farms in Bangladesh. Pre-tested questionnaires were used for collecting data from 662 mixed breed cows of 22 commercial dairy farms. The overall pregnancy rate was 53.6%. Pregnancy rate was the highest (62.5%) in local breed (P<0.05) followed by pure Friesian (55.5%), Local  Friesian (53.2%), Sahiwal  Friesian (54.5%) and Local  Jersey (50.0%) breed. The cows between 37 and 72 months old had higher pregnancy rate (58.9%) than cows aged 18 to 36 (44.4%) and 73 to 192 months (51.4%) (P<0.05). The cows served in parity 2 to 4 had higher pregnancy rate (57.3%) than those of parity zero (45.0%), 1 (50.0%) and 5 to 10 (46.0%) (P<0.05). Cows yielding 1-3 litres and 4-10 litres of daily milk showed higher pregnancy rate of 67.1 and 65.8%, respectively, followed by those yielding 11 to 34 litres (47.4%) (P<0.05). Pregnancy rate was higher (56.5%) in cows of BCS 3.5 to 4 than those with BCS 2.5 to 3 (48.8%) and BCS 4.5 (50.0%) (P<0.05). Cows served 181 to 270 days after calving had higher (62.7%) pregnancy rate than those served ≤90 days (48.4%), 91 to 180 days (53.7%) and 271 to 780 days (45.5%) (P<0.05). Cows receiving 2nd service had higher pregnancy rate (59.4%) than at 1st (53.3%), 3rd (53.8%) and 4th to 17th (46.4%) services (P<0.05). The cows served in the rainy season had higher pregnancy rate (65.0%) than those served in summer (40.0%) and winter (61.2%) (P<0.05). In conclusion, the present pregnancy rate in cows can be regarded as satisfactory. However, the factors affecting pregnancy rate negatively in commercial farms should be kept in mind for profitable dairying in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Veterinarian (2018) 35(1&2): 25-31