Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing the brain's representation of shape to that of a deep convolutional neural network

Hierarchical neural nets are currently the highest performing general purpose image recognition computer algorithms. Their design is loosely inspired by the neural architecture of the ventral visual pathway in the primate brain, which is believed to underlie the perception of form and the ability to recognize objects. The exact tuning of artificial neural units within an HNN, however, is not prescribed from known biology, but is trained using a performance-based learning algorithm. In evaluating whether HNNs are ripe for further bio-inspired performance improvements, it is of interest to test whether the response properties in the intermediate layers of the HNN approximate those of the ventral visual stream. We therefore characterized units within a popular HNN with a set of visual stimuli that has been employed by neurophysiologists to successfully characterize the shape-tuning properties of neurons in the intermediate visual cortical area V4 of the ventral stream. We found that the tuning and fits of a small but significant number of units in the HNN were strikingly similar to those of some V4 neurons for our simple set of test shapes. There tended to be more such units in the deeper layers of the HNN. We discuss implications of our results to the encoding of curvature in the primate brain and propose ways to further characterize V4-like shape tuning in HNNs.
On a safety of sequential control system based on Gro¨bner bases computation

This paper provides an approach of safety verification of logic control system with application of Gröbner bases method. We propose a method to analyze and design a safe control system using a safety function. In this case, the safety is defined to represent a safety domain in the state space. Using a plant model and controller examples with appropriate predetermined safety function, we can evaluate whether the whole system is safe or not. Illustrative example shows that the proposed method is effective for verifying safety and designing safe control system.
Myocardial infarction and gastro-intestinal bleeding risks associated with aspirin use among elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes

Abstract Introduction. The benefit of aspirin in primary prevention of myocardial infarction and the associated gastro-intestinal bleeding risks have not been well established in the elderly population with diabetes. Methods. Using Quebec administrative databases, we conducted two nested case-control analyses within a cohort of individuals aged ≥ 66 years newly treated with an oral antidiabetes drug between 1998 and 2003. The 28,067 individuals had no cardiovascular disease recorded in the database in the year prior cohort entry. They had not used prescribed aspirin, antiplatelet, or anticoagulant drugs, and were not hospitalized for gastro-intestinal bleeding in the year prior cohort entry. The odds of myocardial infarction and gastro-intestinal bleedings were compared between individuals who were current, past, or non-users of aspirin. Results. There were 1101 (3.9%) cases of myocardial infarction. Compared to non-users, neither aspirin users (OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.71–1.13) nor aspirin past users (0.81; 0.62–1.06) showed a statistically significant lower risk of myocardial infarction. There were 373 (1.3%) cases of gastro-intestinal bleeding. Current users of aspirin had about a 2-fold greater risk of gastro-intestinal bleeding compared to non-users (2.19; 1.53–3.13). Conclusions. Our results suggest that individual assessment of bleeding risk and cardiovascular risk is mandatory among elderly people with diabetes before introducing aspirin therapy.
Association of low blood pressure with increased mortality in patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND Blood pressure shows an inverse association with mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis. It is unclear if the same phenomenon exists in patients with CKD not yet on dialysis. METHODS We examined the association of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure with all-cause mortality in a historical prospective cohort of 860 patients (age 68.1+/-10.1 years, 99.1% male, 24.4% black) with estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2. We used Cox models to adjust for the effects of age, race, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), congestive heart failure, smoking, antihypertensive medications, body mass index, GFR, albumin, cholesterol, haemoglobin and proteinuria. To examine the role of comorbidities, we performed subgroup analyses based on prevalent ASCVD status and level of estimated GFR. RESULTS Higher SBP and higher DBP were both associated with lower mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for SBP 133-154, 155-170 and > 170 mmHg, compared with < 133 mmHg, respectively: 0.61 (0.44-0.85), 0.62 (0.45-0.87) and 0.68 (0.49-0.96); and for DBP 65-75, 76-86 and > 86 mmHg, compared with < 65 mmHg: 0.85 (0.62-1.18), 0.72 (0.52-1.00) and 0.60 (0.41-0.86)]. The same association was present for both SBP and DBP only in subgroups with GFR < or = 30 ml/min/1.73 m2 and for DBP only in the subgroup with ASCVD. CONCLUSIONS Lower blood pressure is associated with higher mortality in patients with moderate to severe CKD, but interactions with kidney function and with ASCVD suggest that blood pressure may play a surrogate rather than a causative role in this association.
Effects of resistance training with moderate vs heavy loads on muscle mass and strength in the elderly: A meta‐analysis

The purpose of the present study was to perform a meta‐analysis to compare the efficacy of heavy (∼80% of one repetition maximum, 1RM) vs light‐moderate load (∼45% 1RM) resistance training (RT) programs in inducing strength gains and skeletal muscle hypertrophy in elderly people. To assess the role of training volumes, studies in which training protocols were matched for mechanical work were independently analyzed. In all 15 studies included (448 subjects, age 67.8 years), when comparing heavy with light‐moderate loads, strength gains tended to be larger following RT with higher intensities of load, with the resulting total population effect being μ = 0.430 (P = 0.060). Effect sizes were substantially smaller in “work‐matched” studies (μ = 0.297, P = 0.003). Training with higher loads also provoked marginally larger gains in muscle size, although the degree of training‐induced muscle hypertrophy was generally small (0.056 < μ < 0.136). To conclude, provided a sufficient number of repetitions is performed, RT at lower than traditionally recommended intensities of load may suffice to induce substantial gains in muscle strength in elderly cohorts.
Gradual Learning of Matrix-Space Models of Language for Sentiment Analysis

Learning word representations to capture the semantics and compositionality of language has received much research interest in natural language processing. Beyond the popular vector space models, matrix representations for words have been proposed, since then, matrix multiplication can serve as natural composition operation. In this work, we investigate the problem of learning matrix representations of words. We present a learning approach for compositional matrix-space models for the task of sentiment analysis. We show that our approach, which learns the matrices gradually in two steps, outperforms other approaches and a gradient-descent baseline in terms of quality and computational cost.
The Empirical Study of Performance for Busy Fund Manager: Evidence from Taiwan Equity Fund

This paper explores the trading activity of busy fund manager in the mutual fund industry for 10 years (2002 Q1 to 2012 Q2) of domestic stocks in Taiwan. It investigates the past busy behavior of the fund’s manager affected the future performance. On the other side, it also reflects the past performance led the fund manage future busy behavior. The empirical result shows that the busy behavior of the busy fund manager indeed has a negative influence to the performance which is one of the contributions. It also shows significant relationship between the fund performance of manager and the profile of mutual funds. The prior studies were mostly focus on manager and board member busy behavior of the firm which may causes management inefficiency and ineffectively. The issue of relationship between mutual fund performance and busy manager behavior is still inadequate. This article is not only exploring the behavior of the busy fund manager but also discuss the phenomenon of financial industry of mutual fund in Taiwan. It offers a new thinking of financial system and will submit the suggestion to financial industry and academic. The meanings of management are discussed in the paper.
Detection of monoclonal plasma cells in the peripheral blood stem cell harvests of patients with multiple myeloma

We evaluated the harvest product from 47 patients undergoing peripheral blood (BP) stem cell collections for monoclonal plasma cells (PC) using a sensitive immunofluorescence technique. 60% (28/47) had docu mented tumour cells in the apheresis product. The 32 patients in plateau had a mean of 1.62 x 106 PC/1 v 74.64 x 106 in 15 relapsed patients (P < 0.01). 32% (6/19) of patients without any tumour cells in the initial sample had them detected on a subsequent apheresis sample. In four cases (all treated with GM‐CSF) small numbers of tumour cells were detected initially but became undetectable on a subsequent sample.
LTRC IIITH at IBEREVAL 2017: Stance and Gender Detection in Tweets on Catalan Independence

We describe the system submitted to IBEREVAL-2017 for stance and gender detection in tweets on Catalan Independence [1]. We developed a supervised system using Support Vector Machines with radial basis function kernel to identify the stance and gender of the tweeter using various character level and word level features. Our system achieves a macro-average of F-score(FAVOR) and F-score(AGAINST) of 0.46 for stance detection in both Spanish and Catalan and an accuracy of 64.85% and 44.59% for Gender detection in Spanish and Catalan respectively.
Heat Flux Anomalies in Antarctica Revealed by Satellite Magnetic Data

The geothermal heat flux is an important factor in the dynamics of ice sheets; it affects the occurrence of subglacial lakes, the onset of ice streams, and mass losses from the ice sheet base. Because direct heat flux measurements in ice-covered regions are difficult to obtain, we developed a method that uses satellite magnetic data to estimate the heat flux underneath the Antarctic ice sheet. We found that the heat flux underneath the ice sheet varies from 40 to 185 megawatts per square meter and that areas of high heat flux coincide with known current volcanism and some areas known to have ice streams.
Equilibrium Exchange Rates in Transition Economies: Taking Stock of the Issues

In this paper we present an overview of a number of issues relating to the equilibrium exchange rates of transition economies of the former soviet bloc. In particular, we present a critical overview of the various methods available for calculating equilibrium exchange rates and discuss how useful they are likely to be for the transition economies. Amongst our findings is the result that the trend appreciation usually observed for the exchange rates of these economies is affected by factors other than the usual Balassa-Samuelson effect, such as the behaviour of the real exchange rate of the open sector and regulated prices. We then consider three main sources of uncertainty relating to the implementation of an equilibrium exchange rate model, namely: differences in the theoretical underpinnings; differences in the econometric estimation techniques; and differences relating to the time series and cross-sectional dimensions of the data. The ensuing three-dimensional space of real misalignments is probably a useful tool in determining the direction of a possible misalignment rather than its precise size.
How useful is the detection kit for antibody to Helicobacter pylori in urine (URINELISA) in clinical practice?

OBJECTIVE:Increased knowledge of the significance of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in gastric disorders has accelerated the trend of screening patients with dyspepsia for its infection. Serological examination of antibody for H. pylori has been widely performed. Recently, a urine-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (URINELISA) kit for detection of antibody for H. pylori has been developed. Accordingly, we evaluated its diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice.METHODS:Subjects of this study were 132 patients who presented at our university hospital because of dyspeptic symptoms (81 men, 51 women; age, 41.5 ± 1.4 yr). 13C urea breath test, blood drawing for serological antibody for H. pylori infection by four different kits, and urine collection for the URINELISA test for detection of the antibody were performed. Diagnostic accuracy of the commercially available antibodies in serum and in urine were investigated using the results of the 13C urea breath test as the gold standard.RESULTS:Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of URINELISA were 86.3% (95% confidence intervals [CI], 76–93%), 91.5% (95% CI, 81–97%), and 88.6% (95% CI, 82–93%), respectively, which were comparable to those of imported serological kits.CONCLUSIONS:The URINELISA kit for detecting anti-H. pylori antibody in urine provides diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of imported kits for detecting antibodies in serum and is considered to be clinically useful for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection.
Pressure resistance of cold‐shocked Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef, beef gravy and peptone water

(i) To study the effects of cold shock on Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells. (ii) To determine if cold‐shocked E. coli O157:H7 cells at stationary and exponential phases are more pressure‐resistant than their non‐cold‐shocked counterparts. (iii) To investigate the baro‐protective role of growth media (0·1% peptone water, beef gravy and ground beef).
Brand addiction: conceptualization and scale development

Purpose This paper aims to develop a definition of brand addiction and a valid brand addiction scale (BASCALE). Design/methodology/approach The authors used focus-group results to define brand addiction and generate items for the BASCALE and validated the BASCALE with survey data collected in the UK. Findings Based on the 11 brand-addiction features found from the focus groups, the authors define brand addition as an individual consumer’s psychological state that pertains to a self-brand relationship manifested in daily life and involving positive affectivity and gratification with a particular brand and constant urges for possessing the brand’s products/services. Based on the survey study, the authors have established a valid ten-item BASCALE. Research limitations/implications Due to the survey’s setting in the fashion context in the UK, the authors do not intend to generalize the results to other product types and countries. Future research should replicate the BASCALE in different product categories and different countries. Practical implications The BASCALE can serve marketers in the behavioral segmentation and assist brand managers to identify brand addict consumers and maintain long-term relationships with them. Originality/value The authors have developed a definition of brand addiction and a valid BASCALE, which one can use for a wide range of theoretical and empirical research in the marketing and psychology fields. The definition and BASCALE also serve to differentiate brand addiction from other consumer–brand relationships and addiction constructs (e.g. compulsive buying, brand love and brand trust).
Joint design and operation of shared spectrum access for radar and communications

A new theoretical foundation for the joint design and operation (JDO) of shared spectrum access for radar and communications (SSPARC) is presented. The JDO SSPARC framework entails advanced radar-comms channel estimation, along with a real-time adaptive space-time transmit and receive optimization procedure to maximize forward channel signal-to-noise while simultaneously minimizing co-channel interference. Additionally, a new expression for radar capacity is introduced that when combined with traditional communication capacity provides a unified measure of the total capacity of the combined radar-comms network. High fidelity site-specific electromagnetic radiation propagation simulations are conducted to provide a sense of the real-world potential gains achievable with JDO SSPARC as compared with non-optimized approaches.
Movements and habitat utilization of two longbill spearfish Tetrapturus pfluegeri in the eastern tropical South Atlantic Ocean

The longbill spearfish Tetrapturus pfleugeri Robins and de Sylva, 1963, is a small istiophorid billfish found in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas that occurs as an infrequent by-catch in recreational and commercial pelagic fisheries. Although some data exist on diet and reproduction based on dead specimens, little is known of the species' habitat preferences or individual movement patterns. In 2004, two longbill spearfish were tagged with pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) near Ascencion Island in the South Atlantic for 11 d and 45 d. Individual movement tracks derived from light-based geolocation estimates suggested little relationship with sea surface temperature fronts, although both animals demonstrated a clear preference away from the west African subsurface hypoxic plume. Overall temperature at depth distributions for both fish were narrow; between 22-26 °C for 97% and 82% respectively of the total time at liberty durations. Almost all of the 8-h time-at-depth periods for both day and combined periods showed that these two fish remained within 150 m of the surface. However, time at depth utilization analyses suggest a slightly bimodal distribution, with the majority of the time at depths < 25 m and a secondary grouping at 50-100 m. Depth utilization data are consistent with the hypothesis that interactions between this species and deep-set pelagic longline fisheries for bigeye tuna in the eastern tropical South Atlantic occurs primarily at set and retrieval of the gear.
Manifestation of function-follow-form in cultured neuronal networks

We expose hidden function-follow-form schemata in the recorded activity of cultured neuronal networks by comparing the activity with simulation results of a new modeling approach. Cultured networks grown from an arbitrary mixture of neuron and glia cells in the absence of external stimulations and chemical cues spontaneously form networks of different sizes (from 50 to several millions of neurons) that exhibit non-arbitrary complex spatio-temporal patterns of activity. The latter is marked by formation of a sequence of synchronized bursting events (SBEs)—short time windows (≈200 ms) of rapid neuron firing, separated by longer time intervals (seconds) of sporadic neuron firing. The new dynamical synapse and soma (DSS) model, used here, has been successful in generating sequences of SBEs with the same statistical scaling properties (over six time decades) as those of the small networks. Large networks generate statistically distinct sub-groups of SBEs, each with its own characteristic pattern of neuronal firing (‘fingerprint’). This special function (activity) motif has been proposed to emanate from a structural (form) motif—self-organization of the large networks into a fabric of overlapping sub-networks of about 1 mm in size. Here we test this function-follow-form idea by investigating the influence of the connectivity architecture of a model network (form) on the structure of its spontaneous activity (function). We show that a repertoire of possible activity states similar to the observed ones can be generated by networks with proper underlying architecture. For example, networks composed of two overlapping sub-networks exhibit distinct types of SBEs, each with its own characteristic pattern of neuron activity that starts at a specific sub-network. We further show that it is possible to regulate the temporal appearance of the different sub-groups of SBEs by an additional non-synaptic current fed into the soma of the modeled neurons. The ability to regulate the relative temporal ordering of different SBEs might endow the networks with higher plasticity and complexity. These findings call for additional mechanisms yet to be discovered. Recent experimental observations indicate that glia cells coupled to neuronal soma might generate such non-synaptic regulating currents.
Performance Analysis of Decentralized Supply Chains: Considerations of Channel Power and Subcontracting

Our work, comprising three essays, examines supply chain agent performance in a variety of decentralized systems under both stochastic and deterministic customer demand. In the first two essays, we develop models for both periodic and continuous review inventory policies when the decision-making rights are split between a supplier and a retailer. The second essay also examines a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) agreement. The last essay proposes a novel approach to workload balancing for a company that faces deterministic nonstationary demand and has little, or no, ability to hold inventory. The first two essays seek to answer the following research questions: 1) when does decentralized decision making result in the greatest loss in supply chain performance and 2) what effect does the distribution of channel power have on system and individual agent performance. Channel power here refers to an agent‘s relative ability to control the decision making process and is modeled using a game-theoretic framework. We characterize optimal policies where possible and we use numerical analysis to generate insights. We find that, from a supply chain perspective, asymmetric power decision structures lead to better performance and customer service. Surprisingly, we identify cases where the lowest costs are incurred at the agent level when the agent is a follower and not a leader in the Stackelberg game. Our analysis also identifies the environmental conditions when the penalty from decentralized decision making is largest and shows that concentrating channel power with one of the agents can represent a viable alternative to coordination mechanisms, when the latter are costly to implement. In the third essay, we use Fourier analysis and Walsh basis functions to decompose an input workload profile into a portfolio of recurrent insourcing and outsourcing contracts to better achieve some desired constant workload level. In addition, we develop mathematical programs based on principles from goal programming formulations to answer important practical questions such as: 1) how should a company create a portfolio of contracts to balance workload over time; 2) how should the portfolio be customized to reflect special needs with respect to time, volume, etc., 3) what is