Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wasserstein Distance guided Adversarial Imitation Learning with Reward Shape Exploration

The generative adversarial imitation learning (GAIL) has provided an adversarial learning framework for imitating expert policy from demonstrations in high-dimensional continuous tasks. However, almost all GAIL and its extensions only design a kind of reward function of logarithmic form in the adversarial training strategy with the Jensen-Shannon (JS) divergence for all complex environments. The fixed logarithmic type of reward function may be difficult to solve all complex tasks, and the vanishing gradients problem caused by the JS divergence will harm the adversarial learning process. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm named Wasserstein Distance guided Adversarial Imitation Learning (WDAIL) for promoting the performance of imitation learning (IL). There are three improvements in our method: (a) introducing the Wasserstein distance to obtain more appropriate measure in adversarial training process, (b) using proximal policy optimization (PPO) in the reinforcement learning stage which is much simpler to implement and makes the algorithm more efficient, and (c) exploring different reward function shapes to suit different tasks for improving the performance. The experiment results show that the learning procedure remains remarkably stable, and achieves significant performance in the complex continuous control tasks of MuJoCo1.
Scaling Up Distance-generalized Core Decomposition

Core decomposition is a fundamental operator in network analysis. In this paper, we study a problem of computing distance-generalized core decomposition on a network. A distance-generalized core, also termed (k, h)-core, is a maximal subgraph in which every vertex has at least k other vertices at distance no larger than h. The state-of-the-art algorithm for solving this problem is based on a peeling technique which iteratively removes the vertex (denoted by v) from the graph that has the smallest h-hop degree. The h-hop degree of a vertex v denotes the number of other vertices that are reachable from v within h hops. Such a peeling algorithm, however, needs to frequently recompute the h-hop degrees of v's neighbors after deleting v, which is typically very costly for a large h. To overcome this limitation, we propose an efficient peeling algorithm based on a novel h-hop degree updating technique. Instead of recomputing the h-hop degrees, our algorithm can dynamically maintain the h-hop degrees for all vertices via exploring a very small subgraph, after peeling a vertex. We show that such an h-hop degree updating procedure can be efficiently implemented by an elegant bitmap technique. In addition, we also propose a sampling-based algorithm and a parallelization technique to further improve the efficiency. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments on 12 real-world graphs to evaluate our algorithms. The results show that, when h≥3, our exact and sampling-based algorithms can achieve up to 10x and 100x speedup over the state-of-the-art algorithm, respectively.
Graph Learning Over Partially Observed Diffusion Networks: Role of Degree Concentration

This work examines the problem of learning the topology of a network from the samples of a diffusion process evolving at the network nodes, under the restriction that a limited fraction thereof is probed (<italic>partial observability</italic>). We provide the following main contributions. Given an estimator of the combination matrix (i.e., the matrix that quantifies the pairwise interaction between nodes), we introduce the notion of <italic>identifiability gap</italic>, a minimum separation between the entries of the estimated matrix that is critical to enable discrimination between connected and unconnected node pairs. Then we focus on the popular Granger estimator. First, we prove that this matrix estimator, followed by a <italic>universal</italic> clustering algorithm inspired by the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k$</tex-math></inline-formula>-means algorithm, learns faithfully the probed subgraph as the network size increases. This result is proved for the case where the network topology is obtained through an Erdős-Rényi <italic>random</italic> graph under <italic>statistical concentration</italic> of the node degrees, and the combination matrix is symmetric with nonzero entries bounded in terms of the reciprocal of the maximal and minimal degree. The analysis explores different connectivity regimes, including the <italic>dense</italic> regime where the probed nodes are influenced by many connections coming from the latent (hidden) part of the graph. Second, we answer a <italic>sample complexity</italic> question and establish that the number of samples for the Granger estimator scales almost <italic>quadratically</italic> with the expected graph degree. We also propose three other estimators that are proved to achieve faithful graph learning, and compare them to the Granger estimator, gaining nontrivial insights especially for the case of directed graphs.
Ecology and vegetative morphology of the carnivorous plant Utricularia dichotorna (Lentibulariaceae) in New Zealand

Abstract The occurrence of the carnivorous plant Utricularia dichotoma (including U. monanthos and U. novae‐zelandiae) within different habitats throughout New Zealand was studied. Qualitative investigations on its ecology focused on plant sociological criteria and soil characters, including the qualitative amount of water and soil chemistry. A list of associated plant species is also provided. Results indicate that U. dichotoma prefers open wet habitats. Once established, however, it may grow in fertile and permanently submerged sites. The vegetative morphology of the species from different populations was also examined and correlated with ecological factors. Utricularia dichotoma basically consists of runner stolons, from each node of which arise various combinations of leaves, bladders (traps), and anchor and runner stolons. Plants of some populations also show simply branched, bladder‐bearing intermediate types of anchor and runner stolons (designated “simple stolons"). Some nodes of runner stolons support the development of a peduncle. In the populations studied, the onset of a dry sunny period was typically followed by flowering. Plants from Kopouatai Peat Dome exhibited certain distinctive morphological features not found in other populations, including more bladders per plant. Among the populations studied, the corolla, peduncle, foliage leaf, and bladders occasionally exhibited a reddish or purple pigmentation, apparently developed in a response to different environmental factors.
Machine Learning for Precision Health Economics and Outcomes Research (P-HEOR): Conceptual Review of Applications and Next Steps

Precision health economics and outcomes research (P-HEOR) integrates economic and clinical value assessment by explicitly discovering distinct clinical and health care utilization phenotypes among patients. Through a conceptualized example, the objective of this review is to highlight the capabilities and limitations of machine learning (ML) applications to P-HEOR and to contextualize the potential opportunities and challenges for the wide adoption of ML for health economics. We outline a P-HEOR conceptual framework extending the ML methodology to comparatively assess the economic value of treatment regimens. Latest methodology developments on bias and confounding control in ML applications to precision medicine are also summarized.
Learning Local Neighboring Structure for Robust 3D Shape Representation

Mesh is a powerful data structure for 3D shapes. Representation learning for 3D meshes is important in many computer vision and graphics applications. The recent success of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for structured data (e.g., images) suggests the value of adapting insight from CNN for 3D shapes. However, 3D shape data are irregular since each node's neighbors are unordered. Various graph neural networks for 3D shapes have been developed with isotropic filters or predefined local coordinate systems to overcome the node inconsistency on graphs. However, isotropic filters or predefined local coordinate systems limit the representation power. In this paper, we propose a local structure-aware anisotropic convolutional operation (LSA-Conv) that learns adaptive weighting matrices for each node according to the local neighboring structure and performs shared anisotropic filters. In fact, the learnable weighting matrix is similar to the attention matrix in random synthesizer -- a new Transformer model for natural language processing (NLP). Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that our model produces significant improvement in 3D shape reconstruction compared to state-of-the-art methods.
Early-childhood-growth trajectory and later cognitive ability: evidence from a large prospective birth cohort of healthy term-born children.

BACKGROUND Most studies of associations between child growth and cognitive ability were based on size at one or two ages and a single measure of cognition. We aimed to characterize different aspects of early growth and their associations with cognitive outcomes in childhood through adolescence. METHODS In a sample of 12 368 Belarusian children born at term, we examined associations of length/height and weight trajectories over the first 6.5 years of life with cognitive ability at 6.5 and 16 years and its change over time. We estimated growth trajectories using two random-effects models-the SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation to model overall patterns of growth and the Jenss-Bayley to distinguish growth in infancy from post infancy. Cognitive ability was measured using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence at 6.5 years and the computerized NeuroTrax test at 16 years. RESULTS Higher length/height between birth and 6.5 years was associated with higher cognitive scores at 6.5 and 16 years {2.7 points [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.1, 3.2] and 2.5 points [95% CI: 1.9, 3.0], respectively, per standard deviation [SD] increase}. A 1-SD delay in the childhood height-growth spurt was negatively associated with cognitive scores [-2.4 (95% CI: -3.0, -1.8) at age 6.5; -2.2 (95% CI: -2.7, -1.6) at 16 years]. Birth size and post-infancy growth velocity were positively associated with cognitive scores at both ages. Height trajectories were not associated with the change in cognitive score. Similar results were observed for weight trajectories. CONCLUSIONS Among term infants, the overall size, timing of the childhood growth spurt, size at birth and post-infancy growth velocity were all associated with cognitive ability at early-school age and adolescence.
Passive Immunity to Vibrio cholerae O1 Afforded by a Human Monoclonal IgA1 Antibody Expressed in Milk

Background: In cholera epidemics, the spread of disease can easily outpace vaccine control measures. The advent of technologies enabling the expression of recombinant proteins, including antibodies, in the milk of transgenic animals raises the prospect of developing a self-administered and cost-effective monoclonal antibody (MAb)-based prophylactic to reduce the incidence of Vibrio cholerae infection. Methods: We generated a transgenic mouse line in which the heavy and light chain variable regions (Fv) specific for a conserved epitope in the core/lipid A of V. cholerae O1 lipopolysaccharide were expressed as a full-length human dimeric IgA1 (ZAC-3) and secreted into the milk of lactating dams. Milk containing ZAC-3 IgA1 was assessed for the ability to passively protect against experimental cholera infection in a newborn mouse model and to impact bacterial swimming behavior. Results: Newborn mice that were passively administered ZAC-3 IgA1 containing milk, or that suckled on dams expressing ZAC-3 IgA1, were immune to experimental cholera infection, as measured by a reduction of V. cholerae O1 colony forming units recovered from intestinal lysates 12 hours after oral challenge. In vitro analysis revealed that ZAC-3 hIgA1-containing milk arrested V. cholerae motility in soft agar and liquid media and was effective at promoting bacterial agglutination, possibly accounting for the observed reduction in bacterial colonization in vivo. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that consumption of milk-derived antibodies may serve as a strategy to passively protect against cholera and possibly other enteric pathogens.
Structural characterization and bioactivities of a polysaccharide from the stalk residue of Pleurotus eryngii

whether polysaccharide the stalk residue structure bioactivities fruit-body in the present study, we purified the polysaccharide from stalk residue of Pleurotus eryngii , determined the chemical characterization, and evaluated the antitumor and antioxidant activities. On particular, the strain of Pleurotus eryngii that was adopted and preparation of mushroom polysaccharide has been described in detail, so as to keep the consistency with previous literatures and avoid contradictory. The results of this study will be helpful to explore this huge quantity of stalk residue as an inexpensive source of functional mushroom polysaccharide. Abstract The structural characterization and bioactivities of a polysaccharide from the stalk residue of Pleurotus eryngii were investigated. Firstly the stalk residue of P. eryngii was collected from the top portion of spent mushroom substrate and processed to yield water-soluble polysaccharide. Subsequently this crude polysaccharide was purified by DEAE Sepharose CL-6B ion exchange chromatography and Sepharose CL-6B size-exclusion chromatography. Then its structural features were investigated by gas chromatography (GC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), methylation analysis, and Fourier Transform Onfrared Spectrum (FT-OR). The results showed that it was heteropolysaccharide and mainly composed of glucose (82.4%). The backbone of P-2a mainly consisted of 1, 3-linked (42.7%) and 1, 6-linked (35.5%) glucose residues. Besides, in vitro antioxidant assay showed that P-2a exerted a high scavenging effects on hydroxyl radical and in vitro antitumor assay showed it had a dose-dependent antiproliferative effect against human gastric MGC-803 cancer cells & human epithelial Hela cancer cells. The findings of this study suggested that the polysaccharide extracted from the stalk residue has the similar structure and bioactivities as that from fruit-body of the mushroom. Ot could be potentially used as a natural source for the development of health-care food. Application:
Core–shell nanoparticles used in drug delivery-microfluidics: a review

Developments in the fields of lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic technology have benefited nanomaterial production processes due to fluid miniaturization. The ability to acquire, manage, create, and modify structures on a nanoscale is of great interest in scientific and technological fields. Recently, more attention has been paid to the production of core–shell nanomaterials because of their use in various fields, such as drug delivery. Heterostructured nanomaterials have more reliable performance than the individual core or shell materials. Nanoparticle synthesis is a complex process; therefore, various techniques exist for the production of different types of nanoparticles. Among these techniques, microfluidic methods are unique and reliable routes, which can be used to produce nanoparticles for drug delivery applications.
Shape, colour, and distance in weak gravitational flexion

Canonically, elliptical galaxies might be expected to have a perfect rotational symmetry, making them ideal targets for flexion studies – however, this assumption has not been tested. We have undertaken an analysis of low- and high-redshift galaxy catalogues of known morphological type with a new gravitational lensing code, Lenser. Using colour measurements in the u − r bands and fit Sérsic index values, objects with characteristics consistent with early-type galaxies are found to have a lower intrinsic scatter in flexion signal than late-type galaxies. We find this measured flexion noise can be reduced by more than a factor of two at both low and high redshift.
Transforming Growth Factor-β Gene Family Members and Bone*

EARLY efforts to purify a bone-derived growth factor from rat bone culture medium revealed its biological and biochemical similarity to transforming growth factor-β type 1 (TGF-β1) extracted from human blood platelets. Cartilage inducing factors (CIF-A and CIF-B) from bovine bone matrix were then identified as TGF-β isoforms, and it soon became evident that bone cells synthesize TGF-βs and that bone matrix was a major repository of these factors in the organism. The TGF-β supergene family comprises at least five closely related proteins termed TGF-β1 through TGF-β5 in addition to a growing number of more distant but highly homologous growth regulators. Several of the closely related TGF-β isoforms occur in many animals, and appear to control development, growth, and differentiation in humans as well as a variety of other species. More importantly from the skeletal tissue perspective, some of the less closely related gene family members, activin-A and the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), are also expres.
ESEC/FSE: G: On the Impact and Defeat of Regex DoS

1 Problem and Motivation From their obscure origins in neuron modeling [26], regular expressions (regexes) have emerged as a widely used string manipulation tool. Regexes are commonly used to bring order to unstructured text, e.g., by web services to sanitize untrusted input. Unfortunately, regexes are risky in most mainstream programming languages: most regex engines have worst-case exponential matching behavior. This worst-case property has been known for decades [2, 39], and has been proposed as a vector for an algorithmic complexity attack [13]. Indeed, several major services have had outages caused by this behavior, including Stack Over ow [19] and Cloud are [24]. But it is not clear whether these slow regexes are common enough to comprise a serious security concern. Any change to fundamental aspects of our programming languages requires a rm foundation, not anecdotal evidence. Furthermore, if Regex Denial of Service (ReDoS) is a common threat in practice, how ought it be defeated? We have conducted empirical studies to understand the potential impact of ReDoS in practice. ReDoS is a real-world problem; up to 10% of regexes may comprise ReDoS vectors. We have performed the rst evaluations of the e ectiveness of existing ReDoS defenses; we found them wanting in completeness, utility, or performance. We propose a novel defense based on selective memoization. Our approach o ers provable security guarantees for 95% of regexes, and constant space costs for typical regexes.
Interspecific competition for nitrogen between early successional species and planted white spruce and jack pine seedlings

Relatively little is known about belowground competition for nitrogen (N) between boreal forest species. The objective of this study was to compare the relative competitiveness of three early successional boreal forest species, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium L.), and calamagrostis (Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv. ), on 15N uptake and the growth response by containerized white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) seedlings. Three densities (0, 2, and 6 plants/pot) of each competitor species were interplanted with individual seedlings in pots with 15N-labelled fertilizer and grown for 3 months. The conifer seedlings had the greatest fertilizer 15N uptake (129.5 and 82.3 µg/m2 root for white spruce and jack pine, respectively) when grown in monoculture and the lowest uptake when interplanted with six competitor plants (9.2 and 8.6 µg/m2 root for white spruce and jack pine, respectively). Whether grown in monoculture.
Nest location affects chick growth rates in Whiskered Terns Chlidonias hybrida

Capsule Body mass of Whiskered Tern chicks from the central parts of subcolonies grew at a higher rate in comparison to chicks hatched in the peripheral zones. Growth rates of both body mass and head length correlated positively with nest density. We suggest that spatial distribution of pair quality within the colony of Whiskered Terns follows a central–periphery gradient.
Effect of species on nutritive value of mulberry leaves.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of species on the nutritive value of Mulberry leaves using chemical composition and in vitro gas production technique. The leaves of four different mulberry species were collected from 10 different trees. Gas productions of Mulberry leaves were determined at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h incubation times and their gas production kinetics were described using the equation y = A (1-exp-ct). Species had a significant effect on the chemical composition, in vitro gas production, metabolisable energy (ME) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) of Mulberry leaves. Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), ash and condensed tannin (CT) contents of mulberry leaves ranged from 25.97% to 46.27%, 11.75% to 23.72%, 19.38% to 33.33%, 17.33% to 26.06%, 15.40% to 22.3% and 0.47% to 0.76% respectively. The NDF and ash contents of Morus rubra were significantly (P<0.001) higher than those of other mulberry species whereas ADF and CP contents of Morus alba pendula were significantly (P<0.001) higher then those of other mulberry species. On the other hand the DM content of Morus alba was significantly (P<0.001) higher than those of others. Almost at all incubation times, gas productions of Morus nigra and Morus alba pendula were significantly (P<0.001) higher than those of Morus alba and Morus rubra. The values for ME, OMD and potential gas production (A) of Morus alba pendula were significantly (P<0.001) higher than those of the other mulberry species whereas the gas production rates of Morus alba pendula and Morus alba were significantly (P<0.001) higher than those of Morus rubra and Morus nigra. The time to produce 50% and 95% of total gas production (t50 and t95) of Morus alba pendula and Morus alba were significantly (P<0.001) higher than those of Morus rubra and Morus nigra. In conclusion, species had a significant effect on the nutritive value of mulberry leaves. Although there were marked differences among species in chemical composition and some estimated parameter of mulberry leaves, it can be said that mulberry leaves had high CP content and were quite digestible.
Technology and sustainability for/in early childhood education and care

Inspired by a posthuman philosophy, this paper explores sustainable natureculture kindergarten praxis as a pragmatic transcorporeal collective engagement with the present and sustainable future events to come. The point of departure is the economic argument for implementing science, technology, engineering and mathematics education within early childhood education and care as a preparation for the challenges a science- and technology-driven society brings at the forefront. By exploring and experimenting with dataphilosophy as our theory-method and the concept of non-position, we embrace and critique technology and technological solutions in connection with kindergarten praxis and steer them towards new forms of solidarity and socially just pedagogies. Through the article, we ask (in)directly what kind of subject position digitalization as part of a sustainable future requires, and the inevitable questions this subject position regarding professionalism within early childhood education and care brings.