Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cluster activation mapping with application to computed tomography scans of the lung

Abstract. Purpose: An open question in deep clustering is how to explain what in the image is driving the cluster assignments. This is especially important for applications in medical imaging when the derived cluster assignments may inform decision-making or create new disease subtypes. We develop cluster activation mapping (CLAM), which is methodology to create localization maps highlighting the image regions important for cluster assignment. Approach: Our approach uses a linear combination of the activation channels from the last layer of the encoder within a pretrained autoencoder. The activation channels are weighted by a channelwise confidence measure, which is a modification of score-CAM. Results: Our approach performs well under medical imaging-based simulation experiments, when the image clusters differ based on size, location, and intensity of abnormalities. Under simulation, the cluster assignments were predicted with 100% accuracy when the number of clusters was set at the true value. In addition, applied to computed tomography scans from a sarcoidosis population, CLAM identified two subtypes of sarcoidosis based purely on CT scan presentation, which were significantly associated with pulmonary function tests and visual assessment scores, such as ground-glass, fibrosis, and honeycombing. Conclusions: CLAM is a transparent methodology for identifying explainable groupings of medical imaging data. As deep learning networks are often criticized and not trusted due to their lack of interpretability, our contribution of CLAM to deep clustering architectures is critical to our understanding of cluster assignments, which can ultimately lead to new subtypes of diseases.
Multi-SoftMan coordination control in intrusion detection system

Through the study on large system cybernetics,artificial intelligence and SoftMan intelligent detection technology,a negotiation model of intelligent intrusion detection based on multi-SoftMan,which adoptes distributed architecture,is presented and researched deeply for network security systems.In order to reduce the relativity of each detection components as far as possible and avoid the simple point failure caused by the single central analyzer,the model adoptes the non-control center multi-SoftMan architecture.All the components in model,such as data collection units,intrusion detection and analysis units,are independent,which realizes the distributing data collection and the real-time detection and response.Finally the robustness of the system is enhanced,the distributing detection is realized.
Rapid Diagnostic Test for Hepatitis B Virus Viral Load Based on Recombinase Polymerase Amplification Combined with a Lateral Flow Read-Out

Hepatitis B (HBV) infection is a major public health concern. Perinatal transmission of HBV from mother to child represents the main mode of transmission. Despite the existence of effective immunoprophylaxis, the preventive strategy is inefficient in neonates born to mothers with HBV viral loads above 2 × 105 IU/mL. To prevent mother-to-child transmission, it is important to identify highly viremic pregnant women and initiate antiviral therapy to decrease their viral load. We developed a simple innovative molecular approach avoiding the use of automatic devices to screen highly viremic pregnant women. This method includes rapid DNA extraction coupled with an isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) combined with direct visual detection on a lateral flow assay (LFA). We applied our RPA-LFA approach to HBV DNA-positive plasma samples with various loads and genotypes. We designed a triage test by adapting the analytical sensitivity to the recommended therapeutic decision threshold of 2 × 105 IU/mL. The sensitivity and specificity were 98.6% (95% CI: 92.7–99.9%) and 88.2% (95% CI: 73.4–95.3%), respectively. This assay performed excellently, with an area under the ROC curve value of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.99–1.00, p < 0.001). This simple method will open new perspectives in the development of point-of-care testing to prevent HBV perinatal transmission.
Intracavity generation of high order harmonics

The goal of this work is the generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation from a laser based source. To this end, we use high harmonic generation (HHG) to convert the near infrared output of a mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser oscillator to the EUV. The requirement for HHG is a high peak intensity (> 1013 W/cm2), which can be met by external amplification of the laser output. The method of amplification chosen for this work is a femtosecond enhancement cavity (fsEC), which stores and amplifies the output of a femtosecond mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser by greater than a factor of 900 while maintaining the original repetition rate of 66 MHz. The design, benefits, and limitations of using a fsEC are discussed. The EUV light is created by the interaction of the amplified light with xenon gas delivered to the fsEC focus. The strong intracavity field leads to xenon plasma generation with detrimental effects on the HHG process, where it is shown that HHG is sensitive to the xenon gas and plasma dynamics. Methods of minimizing the plasma density and maximizing the EUV amplitude are discussed. The EUV is coupled out of the cavity, and up to the thirteenth harmonic (61 nm) of the laser is observed. The relative amplitudes of the different quantum trajectories generating the harmonics are calculated theoretically, and compared to experiment. The generated power of the eleventh harmonic (72 nm) is estimated to be 30 μW, with a measured outcoupled power of 1.1 μW. The relative intensity noise is also measured, with a cumulative root-mean-square (RMS) noise of < 1.2% over 100 Hz 100 kHz bandwidth. In comparison to other laser based HHG systems, while the EUV flux is similar, the cumulative RMS noise is an order of magnitude lower.
Last Words: Boring Problems are Sometimes the Most Interesting

In a recent position paper, Turing Award Winners Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun, make the case that symbolic methods are not needed in AI and that, while there are still many issues to be resolved, AI will be solved using purely neural methods. In this piece I issue a challenge: demonstrate that a purely neural approach to the problem of text normalization is possible. Various groups have tried, but so far nobody has eliminated the problem of unrecoverable errors, errors where, due to insufficient training data or faulty generalization, the system substitutes some other reading for the correct one. Solutions have been proposed that involve a marriage of traditional finite-state methods with neural models, but thus far nobody has shown that the problem can be solved using neural methods alone. Though text normalization is hardly an “exciting” problem, I argue that until one can solve “boring” problems like that using purely AI methods, one cannot claim that AI is a success.
Circulator Synthesis

A symmetrical three-port ring network composed of reciprocal T junctions and nonreciprocal phase shifters is analyzed theoretically to determine conditions under which it exhibits perfect circulation. All physically realizable T junctions are considered. It is found that many such junctions, combined with appropriate phase shifters specified by the theory, form perfect circulators. Among these are many cases for which the internal wave amplitudes are small and which require only very small amounts of nonreciprocal phase shift. Circulators designed in accordance with this model may offer appreciable advantages in insertion loss and bandwidth, as well as in mechanical characteristics such as size and weight, and in the possibility of adapting the design for special applications such as high-power capability, high-speed switching, etc. The nature of the model and the method of calculation are summarized.
Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID‐19 school closures

Abstract Introduction Longitudinal research examining the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) school closures on the mental health of adolescents is scarce. Prolonged periods of physical and social isolation because of such restrictions may have impacted heavily on adolescents’ mental health and loneliness. Methods The current study addresses a major gap by examining the impact of school closures on the mental health and loneliness of 785, 10‐ to 17‐year‐old Western Australian adolescents (mean age = 14.1, SD = 1.31), who were surveyed across four time points: twice before COVID‐19, once as schools closed, and once post reopening of schools. Pre‐ and post‐COVID‐19 changes in mental health and loneliness were compared using linear mixed models. Random intercept cross‐lagged panel models (RI‐CLPMs) assessed temporal associations between loneliness, depression symptoms, and positive mental wellbeing. Results Compared with pre‐COVID‐19 symptom levels, there were significant increases in depression symptoms, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and a significant decrease in positive mental wellbeing at different points over time. Symptom change over time differed according to gender and pre‐COVID‐19 symptom severity. Significant increases in positive attitudes towards being alone and feelings of isolation occurred at different points over time. Gender differences were evident. RI‐CLPMs highlighted the predictive significance of friendship quality and having a negative attitude towards being alone over time in relation to depression symptoms. A positive or negative attitude towards being alone was predictive of positive mental wellbeing over time. Conclusion Findings provide evidence that COVID‐19‐related school closures adversely affected adolescents' mental health and feelings of loneliness.
Antimicrobial Peptide Mechanisms Studied by Whole-Cell Deuterium NMR

Much of the work probing antimicrobial peptide (AMP) mechanisms has focussed on how these molecules permeabilize lipid bilayers. However, AMPs must also traverse a variety of non-lipid cell envelope components before they reach the lipid bilayer. Additionally, there is a growing list of AMPs with non-lipid targets inside the cell. It is thus useful to extend the biophysical methods that have been traditionally applied to study AMP mechanisms in liposomes to the full bacteria, where the lipids are present along with the full complexity of the rest of the bacterium. This review focusses on what can be learned about AMP mechanisms from solid-state NMR of AMP-treated intact bacteria. It also touches on flow cytometry as a complementary method for measuring permeabilization of bacterial lipid membranes in whole bacteria.
Some Behavior Features of Dielectric Properties of Water in Birch Wood at a Frequency of 1.41 GHz

Trees have a profound impact on human life that makes their year-round monitoring with dielectric characteristics (DCs) of wood water as controlled parameters of great importance. This article deals with studying some behavior features of DCs of different-type wood water in various phenophases under varying moisture, temperature, and concentrations of dissolved substances. It presents the measurement results of DCs (1.41 GHz) of freshly cut branches of birch sampled from the same tree in different phenophases of 2018–2020. DCs carry the information on the phase composition of water present in plant tissue, volume fractions of bound and free water, concentrations, and types of dissolved substances. For various phenophases, the dependences of refractive (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) and absorption (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\kappa $ </tex-math></inline-formula>) indices on volume fraction of water in wood (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) for whole branches are approximated by piecewise broken lines with one (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W} _{{{1}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) or two (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W} _{{{1}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W} _{{{2}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) break points. We identify three categories of wood water with different DCs and estimate the dielectric properties of bound and free water in wood tissue in different phenophases using the refractive model. The established seasonal dependences (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\kappa $ </tex-math></inline-formula>) (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${T}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) and the developed dielectric model make it possible to calculate DCs of wood water.
Prognostic Effects of Short-term Blood Pressure Variability Among Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction

Objective: To assess the prognostic impact of short-term blood pressure variability among heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. Methods: The pooled endpoint of cardiac death, stroke, myocardial infarction, and hospitalization were examined in 156 HF subjects with reduced EF. All subjects had their blood pressure measured ambulatorily. Mean average real variability (ARV) 24-hour systolic BP (n=78; n=78) was used to classify individuals as having the lowest (0.77 mmHg) or the highest (0.77 mmHg) ARV. Results: Throughout the follow-up period (7.6 ± 3.6 months), 107 events occurred, of which 29 (19%) were cardiac deaths, 18 (12%) myocardial infarction, 9 (6%) stroke, and 51(33%) hospitalizations. Patients with low 24-hour systolic ARV had significantly higher cardiac death and MI than those with high 24-hour systolic ARV. Risk of negative outcomes identified as an independent variable by logistic regression analysis; age (AOR 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.15; p = 0.01), coronary artery disease (AOR 0.34, 95% CI: 0.12-0.98; P = 0.04), valvular cardiomyopathy (AOR 0.08, 95% CI: 0.09-0.82; P = 0.03), daytime systolic BP (AOR 1.25,95% CI:1.04-1.49; p=0.01) daytime diastolic BP (AOR 1.07, 95% CI: 1.00-1.14; p = 0.04) and 24hour DBP (AOR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02-1.22; P=0.01) Conclusion: Low ARV of 24-hour systolic BP is associated with greater cardiovascular risk indicators daytime systolic BP variability, night-time systolic BP variability, 24-h systolic BP variability, and 24-h diastolic BP variability with HF with reduced EF patients.
Slotline impedance

A theoretical model is presented to compute the characteristic impedance and wavelength in a slotline printed on or embedded in a dielectric substrate. In this treatment the effects of the fringing field caused by the finite width of the conducting strips are taken into account. The main task is to calculate the capacitance per unit length of the slotline. First, the Green's function for the potential of a pair of filament sources in a dielectric substrate is solved; this is used as a building block to construct the overall solution of the boundary value problem. Then, the surface charge density on the conducting strips is found by using a moment method and imposing the source condition (equal potential) on the conductors. From the surface charge density, the characteristic impedance of the slotline is computed for various input parameters. The formulation is applicable to a single-sided, sandwiched, or double-sided slotline printed on or embedded in a dielectric substate. >
SEAMHex - Fast 6D Additive Manufacturing using an innovative Screw Extruder applied on a Hexapod Parallel Kinematic

The Screw Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (SEAM) technology provides output rates up to 10 kg/h, a melt pressure up to 350 bar and temperatures up to 400 °C as well as strands with an adjustable bead width between 1-8 mm. Due to a bypass nozzle, position jumps without material extrusion, local wall thickness reduction, and the control of the volume flow (0-100 %) are made possible. Further, the extruder is able to process fiber-reinforced as well as highly filled plastics and integrates a regranulation system to return bypassed material into the process. The hexapod parallel kinematic meets the process requirements, as it generates a rapid movement of the workpiece (up to 1 m/s) in 6 degrees of freedom within a large printing workspace (1100 × 800 x 600 mm3), where an additional Z-axis carries the extruder and realizes the part height. Eccentric joints provide high accuracy and stiffness while being cost-efficient at the same time. The commercial Beckhoff TwinCAT control allows G-code processing and provides an HTML based GUI for machine and extruder control. Consequently, high accuracy is achieved, which is verified by the use of a double-ball-bar measuring device and by producing a test workpiece.
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Populus nigra L. Buds

National Institute for Chemical-Pharmaceutical Research and Development-ICCF Bucharest, Calea Vitan, No. 112, 3rd District, 031299 Bucharest, Romania; virginiavulturescu@yahoo.com (V.V.); georgetaneagu2008@gmail.com (G.N.) * Correspondence: alicearmatu@yahoo.com † Presented at the 17th International Symposium “Priorities of Chemistry for a Sustainable Development” PRIOCHEM, Bucharest, Romania, 27–29 October 2021.
Reflection seismic waveform tomography of physical modelling data

Waveform tomography is commonly tested using numerically generated synthetic seismic data, before the method is applied to field seismic data. However, there are often noticeable differences between idealized synthetic data and real field data, and many factors in the field data, such as noise, irregular source/receiver geometry, affect the inversion solutions. For exploring the potential of reflection seismic waveform tomography, we presented a more realistic test than the synthetic data test, by applying it to physical modelling data, to reconstruct a laboratorial model with complex velocity variation. First, we provided a formulation of the perfectly matched layer absorbing boundary condition, associated with the second-order acoustic wave equation, in order to suppress artificial reflections from subsurface model boundaries in seismic waveform simulation and tomography. Then, we demonstrated the successful implementation of a layer-striping inversion scheme applicable to reflection seismic waveform tomography. Finally, we confirmed the effectiveness of frequency grouping, rather than a single frequency at each iteration, a strategy specifically for the frequency-domain waveform tomography.
Bank Ceo Pay-Risk Sensitivity and Loan Contract Terms

We analyze the impact of the bank CEO’s pay-risk sensitivity (‘ vega ’) on four loan contract terms, loan spreads, existence of collateral, and the number and strictness of covenants. Using a bank-level fixed effects model to control for time-invariant bank characteristics, we find that increases in vega are correlated with lower loan spreads, lower probability of the loan being secured, and a lower number and strictness of covenants. This suggests that CEOs reduce the riskiness of their loan portfolios when their pay has a higher sensitivity to bank risk. We also find that bank stock return volatility is strongly positively correlated with the risk of the loan contract terms, which suggests that the stock market understands the riskiness of the bank loan portfolio. Finally, we find that longer borrower-bank relationships help borrowers get loans that are riskier in the presence of risk averse bank CEOs, and a larger distance between bank and borrower reduces the market power of the bank.
Teacher enactment of the Geospatial Inquiry cycle in classrooms following scaled up professional learning and development

ABSTRACT The current study examined the effects of a nationally scaled up Professional Learning and Development (PLD) model on teachers’ classroom implementation of the Geospatial Inquiry instructional framework. Geospatial Inquiry is defined as: asking and answering a research question through the analysis and communication of data that is linked to a geographic location on, above, or near Earth. These data are often represented visually via maps and explored with geospatial technologies. It also examined the relationships between Geospatial Inquiry Teacher Workshop (GITW) implementation and teacher implementation of the Geospatial Inquiry Cycle. Situated cognition provided a theoretical framework for the design, development, and implementation of the GITWs and lessons. Surveys, technology assessments, lessons, and artifacts were analysed using a-priori coding, descriptive statistics, and a generalised linear modelling approach that included hierarchical analysis. Results indicated teachers implemented Geospatial Inquiry lessons with integrity to the principles of Geospatial Inquiry and utilised research-based pedagogical practices. Format of GITWs (e.g. face-to-face or blended) resulted in differences during teachers’ lesson implementation. In addition, whether GITWs were delivered by an individual facilitator or a team of facilitators impacted teachers’ lessons. The findings have several implications for the design and scaling of PLD.
Effect of Socio-Economic on Farmers' Decisions in Using Lowland Rice Production Inputs in Indonesia

In Indonesia, rice was produced by small-scale farmers where yields were still generally low. This was because small-scale farmers still used poor quality seeds and unbalanced fertilizers. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the socio-economic factors that affected the adoption of quality seeds in lowland rice farming and the use of fertilizers on quality seeds. This research used a double-hurdle model to answer the objectives of research and used 329 farmings which were selected randomly in Central Sulawesi Indonesia. The results show that the gender variable only affected the use of fertilizer on quality seeds. Education, access to credit, sources of income (income diversification), access to extension, meetings with farmer groups were found to be positively correlated with the decision to adopt quality seeds in lowland rice farming and use of fertilizers to quality seeds, while the number of dependents of the household head was negatively correlated. The land area of lowland rice was positively correlated with the adoption of quality seeds in lowland rice farming but negatively correlated with the number of fertilizers used for quality seeds. Based on these findings, the role of extension workers and farmer groups was needed in disseminating quality seeds, and through credit institutions, it was necessary to provide credit facilities to rice producers (farmers) so that rice productivity could be increased.
Proposition d’une grille d’analyse des pratiques critiques d’élèves en situation de résolution de problèmes dits complexes

Résumé Depuis près de 30 ans, différents outils ont été développés afin d’évaluer le niveau de pensée critique et analyser son exercice. La plupart de ces outils prennent la forme de questionnaires soumis à un processus d’analyse quantitative. Cependant, cette approche est remise en question car elle ne permettrait pas, notamment, d’étudier adéquatement les dispositions à mobiliser une pensée critique en situation. Partant, l’approche qualitative se présente de plus en plus comme une alternative. Dans le présent article, l’auteur porte un regard évaluatif sur ces outils, le conduisant ainsi à proposer une grille d’analyse des pratiques critiques en situation de résolution de problèmes dits complexes, laquelle s’inscrit à l’intérieur d’un processus de recherche qualitative. Mots clés PENSÉE CRITIQUE, PRATIQUES CRITIQUES, GRILLE D’ANALYSE, ANALYSE QUALITATIVE