Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Neural Scaling Law from the Dimension of the Data Manifold

When data is plentiful, the loss achieved by well-trained neural networks scales as a power-law $L \propto N^{-\alpha}$ in the number of network parameters $N$. This empirical scaling law holds for a wide variety of data modalities, and may persist over many orders of magnitude. The scaling law can be explained if neural models are effectively just performing regression on a data manifold of intrinsic dimension $d$. This simple theory predicts that the scaling exponents $\alpha \approx 4/d$ for cross-entropy and mean-squared error losses. We confirm the theory by independently measuring the intrinsic dimension and the scaling exponents in a teacher/student framework, where we can study a variety of $d$ and $\alpha$ by dialing the properties of random teacher networks. We also test the theory with CNN image classifiers on several datasets and with GPT-type language models.
Doubly-stochastic mining for heterogeneous retrieval

Modern retrieval problems are characterised by training sets with potentially billions of labels, and heterogeneous data distributions across subpopulations (e.g., users of a retrieval system may be from different countries), each of which poses a challenge. The first challenge concerns scalability: with a large number of labels, standard losses are difficult to optimise even on a single example. The second challenge concerns uniformity: one ideally wants good performance on each subpopulation. While several solutions have been proposed to address the first challenge, the second challenge has received relatively less attention. In this paper, we propose doubly-stochastic mining (S2M ), a stochastic optimization technique that addresses both challenges. In each iteration of S2M, we compute a per-example loss based on a subset of hardest labels, and then compute the minibatch loss based on the hardest examples. We show theoretically and empirically that by focusing on the hardest examples, S2M ensures that all data subpopulations are modelled well.
A Word Communication System with Caregiver Assist for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients in Completely and Almost Completely Locked-in State

People with heavy physical impairment such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a completely locked-in state (CLIS) suffer from inability to express their thoughts to others. To solve this problem, many brain-computer interface (BCI) systems have been developed, but they have not proven sufficient for CLIS. In this paper, we propose a word communication system: a BCI with caregiver assist, in which caregivers play an active role in helping patients express a word. We report here that four ALS patients in almost CLIS and one in CLIS succeeded in expressing their own words (in Japanese) in response to wh-questions that could not be answered "yes/no." Each subject selected vowels (maximum three) contained in the word that he or she wanted to express in a sequential way, by using a "yes/no" communication aid based on near-infrared light. Then, a caregiver entered the selected vowels into a dictionary with vowel entries, which returned candidate words having those vowels. When there were no appropriate words, the caregiver changed one vowel and searched again or started over from the beginning. When an appropriate word was selected, it was confirmed by the subject via "yes/no" answers. Three subjects expressed "yes" for the selected word at least six times out of eight (reliability of 91.0% by a statistical measure), one subject (in CLIS) did so five times out of eight (74.6%), and one subject three times out of four (81.3%). We have thus taken the first step toward a practical word communication system for such patients.
Color dependence of tensor and scalar glueball masses in Yang-Mills theories

We report the masses of the lightest spin-0 and spin-2 glueballs obtained in an extensive lattice study of the continuum and infinite volume limits of $Sp(N_c)$ gauge theories for $N_c=2,4,6,8$. We also extrapolate the combined results towards the large-$N_c$ limit. We compute the ratio of scalar and tensor masses, and observe evidence that this ratio is independent of $N_{c}$. Other lattice studies of Yang-Mills theories at the same space-time dimension provide a compatible ratio. We further compare these results to various analytical ones and discuss them in view of symmetry-based arguments related to the breaking of scale invariance in the underlying dynamics, showing that a constant ratio might emerge in a scenario in which the $0^{++}$ glueball is interpreted as a dilaton state.
Evaluating Adversarial Robustness for Deep Neural Network Interpretability using fMRI Decoding

While deep neural networks (DNNs) are being increasingly used to make predictions from high-dimensional, complex data, they are widely seen as uninterpretable "black boxes", since it can be difficult to discover what input information is used to make predictions. This ability is particularly important for applications in cognitive neuroscience and neuroinformatics. A saliency map is a common approach for producing interpretable visualizations of the relative importance of input features for a prediction. However, many methods for creating these maps fail due to focusing too much on the input or being extremely sensitive to small input noise. It is also challenging to quantitatively evaluate how well saliency maps correspond to the truly relevant input information. In this paper, we develop two quantitative evaluation procedures for saliency methods, using the fact that the Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset contains functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from multiple tasks per subject to create ground truth saliency maps. We then introduce an adversarial training method that makes DNNs robust to small input noise, and demonstrate that it measurably improves interpretability.
The n$^3$He Experiment: Parity Violation in Polarized Neutron Capture on $^{3}$He

Significant progress has been made to experimentally determine a complete set of the parity-violating (PV) weak-interaction amplitudes between nucleons. In this paper we describe the design, construction and operation of the n$^3$He experiment that was used to measure the PV asymmetry $A_{\mathrm{PV}}$ in the direction of proton emission in the reaction $\vec{\mathrm{n}} + {^3}\mathrm{He} \rightarrow {^3}\mathrm{H} + \mathrm{p}$, using the capture of polarized cold neutrons in an unpolarized gaseous $^3\mathrm{He}$ target. This asymmetry has was recently calculated \cite{Viviani,Viviani2}, both in the traditional style meson exchange picture, and in effective field theory (EFT), including two-pion exchange. The high precision result (published separately) obtained with the experiment described herein forms an important benchmark for hadronic PV (HPV) theory in few-body systems, where precise calculations are possible. To this day, HPV is still one of the most poorly understood aspects of the electro-weak theory. The calculations estimate the size of the asymmetry to be in the range of $(-9.4 \rightarrow 3.5)\times 10^{-8}$, depending on the framework or model. The small size of the asymmetry and the small overall goal uncertainty of the experiment of $\delta A_{\mathrm{PV}} \simeq 1\times10^{-8}$ places strict requirements on the experiment, especially on the design of the target-detector chamber. In this paper we describe the experimental setup and the measurement methodology as well as the detailed design of the chamber, including results of Garfield++ and Geant4 simulations that form the basis of the chamber design and analysis. We also show data from commissioning and production and define the systematic errors that the chamber contributes to the measured $A_{\mathrm{PV}}$. We give the final uncertainty on the measurement.
Tangle addition and the knots‐quivers correspondence

We prove that the generating functions for the one row/column colored HOMFLY‐PT invariants of arborescent links are specializations of the generating functions of the motivic Donaldson–Thomas invariants of appropriate quivers that we naturally associate with these links. Our approach extends the previously established tangles‐quivers correspondence for rational tangles to algebraic tangles by developing gluing formulas for HOMFLY‐PT skein generating functions under Conway's tangle addition. As a consequence, we prove the conjectural links‐quivers correspondence of Kucharski–Reineke–Stošić–Sułkowski for all arborescent links.
Learning to Classify Intents and Slot Labels Given a Handful of Examples

Intent classification (IC) and slot filling (SF) are core components in most goal-oriented dialogue systems. Current IC/SF models perform poorly when the number of training examples per class is small. We propose a new few-shot learning task, few-shot IC/SF, to study and improve the performance of IC and SF models on classes not seen at training time in ultra low resource scenarios. We establish a few-shot IC/SF benchmark by defining few-shot splits for three public IC/SF datasets, ATIS, TOP, and Snips. We show that two popular few-shot learning algorithms, model agnostic meta learning (MAML) and prototypical networks, outperform a fine-tuning baseline on this benchmark. Prototypical networks achieves significant gains in IC performance on the ATIS and TOP datasets, while both prototypical networks and MAML outperform the baseline with respect to SF on all three datasets. In addition, we demonstrate that joint training as well as the use of pre-trained language models, ELMo and BERT in our case, are complementary to these few-shot learning methods and yield further gains.
M2556-ROBERTSON PRINT.indd

For present purposes, diff usion can be defi ned as the spread of knowledge from an original source or sources to one or more recipients. From an economic standpoint, the effi cient diff usion of knowledge on new technologies is an essential characteristic of growth and development. In itself, new knowledge has no economic value until it has been used productively – the more widely a particular bit of knowledge can be used, the greater its value becomes (Robertson and Patel, 2007). This is, of course, hardly a secret. Diff usion, along with innovation and implementation, is one of the three building blocks of the infl uential Linear Model of Innovation (Godin, 2006), but it remains a nebulous fi eld in many respects despite a vast literature on various aspects. The problem is not conceptual so much as practical because, while diff usion is easy to defi ne, it is often diffi cult to accomplish. As a result, knowledge that might be broadly useful tends to be restricted to narrow areas for unnecessarily long periods of time, retarding economic performance.1 Although the Linear Model of Innovation has been discredited in many respects (Kline and Rosenberg, 1986), its basic building blocks of innovation, diff usion and production or implementation remain central to technology studies. Nevertheless, much as was true in the early postWorld War II period when the model was originally developed (Godin, 2006), the general thrust of conceptualization and empirical research remains heavily focused on the innovation stage, without much attention given to feedback or other complications. The Linear Model has also been the framework for the New Growth Theory models that have been popular for the past two decades (for example, Romer, 1986, 1990, 1994). The popularity of the Linear Model is easy to explain. In it, the activities surrounding innovation are the triggers for the entire sequence: if innovation is not undertaken wisely, the whole subsequent series of events will be impaired. In addition, innovation has long been characterized as a
Association of LEI0258 Marker Alleles and Susceptibility to Virulent Newcastle Disease Virus Infection in Kuroiler, Sasso, and Local Tanzanian Chicken Embryos

Newcastle disease (ND) control by vaccination and an institution of biosecurity measures is less feasible in backyard chicken in developing countries. Therefore, an alternative disease control strategy like the genetic selection of less susceptible chicken genotypes is a promising option. In the present study, genetic polymorphism of LEIO258 marker and association with susceptibility to virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection in Kuroilers, Sasso, and local Tanzanian chicken embryos were investigated. Samples from high (15%) and less (15%) susceptible cohorts were genotyped by sequencing of LEI0258 marker. A total of 75 DNA sequences comprised of 29 Kuroiler, 29 local Tanzanian chickens, and 17 Sasso were analyzed. Neighbor-joining phylogenetic trees were constructed to depict the clustering of LEI0258 marker alleles and relationship with susceptibility. Alleles with frequency ≥3 were considered for association with susceptibility by the use of the inference technique. The present findings suggest that some LEI0258 marker genetic polymorphisms apart from LEI0258 marker allelic based on sizes may be linked with chicken MHC-B haplotypes that confer chickens variability in resistance or susceptibility to infections. Furthermore, these results demonstrate the presence of relationship between LEI0258 marker polymorphisms and variations in chicken susceptibility to NDV infection, which could be utilized in breeding programs designed to improve chicken disease resistance.
New names and status for Pacific spiny species of Solanum (Solanaceae, subgenus Leptostemonum Bitter; the Leptostemonum Clade)

Abstract Five new species of spiny solanums (Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum Bitter; the Leptostemonum Clade) are described from the islands of the Pacific. Two of the new species are from Fiji (S. pseudopedunculatum D.McClelland, sp. nov. and S. ratale D.McClelland, sp. nov.), two from New Caledonia (S. memoayanum D.McClelland, sp. nov. and S. semisucculentum D.McClelland, sp. nov.), one from Papua New Guinea (S. labyrinthinum D.McClelland, sp. nov.) and another from Vanuatu (S. vanuatuense D.McClelland, sp. nov.). A new status and combination is provided for the rare Hawaiian endemic S. caumii (F.Br.) D.McClelland, comb. et stat. nov. and a new type designated for S. peekelii Bitter of Papua New Guinea, for which a description is also provided. All species are illustrated with digitized herbarium specimens, mapped and have been assigned a preliminary conservation status using current IUCN guidelines. Details of all specimens examined are provided in a Suppl. materials 1: file SM1.
NLRP3 Inflammasome: A Potential Alternative Therapy Target for Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a complex and chronic inflammatory disease that occurs in multiple systems of the human body. It is an important pathological basis for a variety of diseases and a serious threat to human health. So far, many theories have been formed to explain the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, among which “inflammation theory” has gradually become a research focus. This theory presents that inflammatory response runs through the whole progress of AS, inflammatory cells play as the main executors of AS, and inflammatory mediators are the key molecules of AS. In the inflammatory process of atherosclerosis, the role of NLRP3 in the atherosclerosis has gradually got the attention of researchers. NLRP3 is a kind of signal-transductional pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). After recognizing and binding to the damage factors, NLRP3 inflammasome will be assembled to activate IL-1β and caspase-1 pathways, resulting in promoting the inflammation process of AS, reducing the stability of the plaques, and finally increasing the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events. Taken above, the article will review the potential benefits of drugs targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome in the therapy of AS.
Promoting Healthy Lifestyle in High School Students: Determination of the Lifestyle Status through the Healthy Lifestyle Screen (HLS) Assessment

Background Healthy lifestyle behaviors have given emphasis as an important characteristic in health promotion and to prevent diseases. Individuals who practiced healthy lifestyle behaviors in the early stage of life can withstand health risks in later life. To this end, researchers conducted a healthy lifestyle assessment as the initial step in school-based programs promoting healthy lifestyle and wellness among high school students. The aim of this study was to determine the lifestyle status among students and further assess lifestyle components that could affect them. Methods Data were collected from 380 high school students from grades eighth (n = 192) and tenth (n = 188). The Healthy Lifestyle Screen (HLS) was utilized to assess the lifestyle condition of the subjects of this study and it has components consisting dietary behavior, exercise or physical activity, water intake, sunshine exposure, temperance or self-control, quality of air, quality of rest or sleep, trust of which the higher score denotes healthier lifestyle. Results The results showed that respondents of the study are in the unstable lifestyle status as they obtained low mean sub-scale scores on lifestyle components such as water, rest and exercise. Lifestyle components included in HLS showed significant differences comprising the physical/mental, behavioral and environmental aspects (p < 0.001) associated with the general characteristics of the high school students. Conclusion Findings of this study showed the necessity in assessing the lifestyle status as an initial step for promoting, maintaining and establishing a well-balanced life and preventing the increase of health-risk behaviors and thus, highlighted the need of transforming healthy lifestyle behaviors among students through school-based intervention programs.
DNA nanovaccines prepared using LemA antigen protect Golden Syrian hamsters against Leptospira lethal infection

BACKGROUND Nanoparticles (NPs) are viable candidates as carriers of exogenous materials into cells via transfection and can be used in the DNA vaccination strategy against leptospirosis. OBJECTIVES We evaluated the efficiency of halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs) and amine-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NH2-MWCNTs) in facilitating recombinant LemA antigen (rLemA) expression and protecting Golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) against Leptospira interrogans lethal infection. METHODS An indirect immunofluorescent technique was used to investigate the potency of HNTs and NH2-MWCNTs in enhancing the transfection and expression efficiency of the DNA vaccine in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Hamsters were immunised with two doses of vaccines HNT-pTARGET/lemA, NH2-MWCNTs-pTARGET/lemA, pTARGET/lemA, and empty pTARGET (control), and the efficacy was determined in terms of humoral immune response and protection against a lethal challenge. FINDINGS rLemA DNA vaccines carried by NPs were able to transfect CHO cells effectively, inducing IgG immune response in hamsters (p < 0.05), and did not exhibit cytotoxic effects. Furthermore, 83.3% of the hamsters immunised with NH2-MWCNTs-pTARGET/lemA were protected against the lethal challenge (p < 0.01), and 66.7% of hamsters immunised with HNT-pTARGET/lemA survived (p < 0.05). MAIN CONCLUSIONS NH2-MWCNTs and HNTs can act as antigen carriers for mammalian cells and are suitable for DNA nanovaccine delivery.
Proteomic profiling analysis of postmenopausal osteoporosis and osteopenia identifies potential proteins associated with low bone mineral density

Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) is a major global public health concern and older women are more susceptible to experiencing fragility fractures. Our study investigated the associations between circulating proteins with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women with or without low BMD (osteoporosis and osteopenia) using a tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling proteomic experiment and parallel reaction monitoring testing. Across all plasma samples, we quantitatively measured 1,092 proteins, and the OP and normal control (NC) samples were differentiated by principal component analysis and a partial least squares-discrimination analysis model based on the protein profiling data. The differentially abundant proteins between the low BMD and NC samples mostly exhibited binding, molecular function regulator, transporter and molecular transducer activity, and were involved in metabolic and cellular processes, stimulus response, biological regulation, immune system processes and so forth. TMT analysis and RRM validation indicated that the expression of protein Lysozyme C (P61626) was negatively related to BMD, while the expression of proteins Glucosidase (A0A024R592) and Protein disulfideisomerase A5 (Q14554) was positively related to BMD values. Collectively, our results suggest that postmenopausal women with low BMD have a different proteomic profile or signature. Protein alterations may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PMOP, and they may act as novel biomarkers and targets of therapeutic agents for this disease.
Assessing the potential and safety of Myrtus communis flower essential oils as efficient natural preservatives against Listeria monocytogenes growth in minced beef under refrigeration

Abstract In this research, the chemical composition and biological properties of Tunisian Myrtus communis (McEO) flowers were investigated. The antibacterial effect of McEO toward some bacteria was assessed, alone and in combination with nisin. The major components of McEO were α‐pinene, 1,8‐cineol, limonene, and linalool. McEO exhibited cytotoxicity toward HepG2 and MCF‐7 cell lines. The microbiological data showed that Gram‐positive bacteria were more susceptible to McEO. McEO had a bactericidal effect against L. monocytogenes. McEO is able to prevent lipid oxidation, microbial development at noncytotoxic concentrations, when used alone or in combination with nisin. It can improve sensory attributes within acceptable limits and improve the conservation of shelf life of minced beef meat during the 4°C storage period. The most potent preservative effect was obtained with the mixture: 0.8% McEO with 500 IU/g of nisin. This combination may be a good alternative for the development of natural preservatives.
Effect of temperature on the hydrolysis of levan treated with compressed hot water fluids

Abstract The hydrolysis of levan using compressed hot water for the production of functional fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) was investigated. Levans from Erwinia herbicola (EH) and Halomonas smyrnensis (HS) were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and light scattering techniques, and hydrolyzed using compressed hot water at four temperatures (120, 140, 160, and 180°C). The hydrolysates were analyzed using high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization‐mass spectrometry. Levan HS showed a crystalline morphology, whereas levan EH showed an aggregated structure. Both levans had molar masses on the order of 106 g/mol, but levan EH had a smaller radius of gyration, hydrodynamic radius, and intrinsic viscosity. Levan EH hydrolyzed into FOSs at approximately 120°C, whereas levan HS required a temperature of at least 160°C, possibly because of differences in the degree of branching of the two levans. Both samples were degraded to fructose when treated at 180°C.