Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Causal inference with misspecified exposure mappings: separating definitions and assumptions

Exposure mappings facilitate investigations of complex causal effects when units interact in experiments. Current methods require experimenters to use the same exposure mappings both to define the effect of interest and to impose assumptions on the interference structure. However, the two roles rarely coincide in practice, and experimenters are forced to make the often questionable assumption that their exposures are correctly specified. This paper argues that the two roles exposure mappings currently serve can, and typically should, be separated, so that exposures are used to define effects without necessarily assuming that they are capturing the complete causal structure in the experiment. The paper shows that this approach is practically viable by providing conditions under which exposure effects can be precisely estimated when the exposures are misspecified. Some important questions remain open.
On Finite-Sample Analysis of Offline Reinforcement Learning with Deep ReLU Networks

This paper studies the statistical theory of of-ﬂine reinforcement learning with deep ReLU networks. We consider the off-policy evaluation (OPE) problem where the goal is to estimate the expected discounted reward of a target policy given the logged data generated by unknown behaviour policies. We study a regression-based ﬁt-ted Q evaluation (FQE) method using deep ReLU networks and characterize a ﬁnite-sample bound on the estimation error of this method under mild assumptions. The prior works in OPE with either general function approximation or deep ReLU networks ignore the data-dependent structure in the algorithm, dodging the technical bottleneck of OPE, while requiring a rather restricted regularity assumption. In this work, we overcome these limitations and provide a comprehensive analysis of OPE with deep ReLU networks. In particular, we precisely quantify how the distribution shift of the ofﬂine data, the dimension of the input space and the regularity of the system control the OPE estimation error. Consequently, we provide insights into the interplay between of-ﬂine reinforcement learning and deep learning.
DualPoseNet: Category-level 6D Object Pose and Size Estimation Using Dual Pose Network with Refined Learning of Pose Consistency

Category-level 6D object pose and size estimation is to predict full pose configurations of rotation, translation, and size for object instances observed in single, arbitrary views of cluttered scenes. In this paper, we propose a new method of Dual Pose Network with refined learning of pose consistency for this task, shortened as DualPoseNet. DualPoseNet stacks two parallel pose decoders on top of a shared pose encoder, where the implicit decoder predicts object poses with a working mechanism different from that of the explicit one; they thus impose complementary supervision on the training of pose encoder. We construct the encoder based on spherical convolutions, and design a module of Spherical Fusion wherein for a better embedding of pose-sensitive features from the appearance and shape observations. Given no testing CAD models, it is the novel introduction of the implicit decoder that enables the refined pose prediction during testing, by enforcing the predicted pose consistency between the two decoders using a self-adaptive loss term. Thorough experiments on benchmarks of both category- and instance-level object pose datasets confirm efficacy of our designs. DualPoseNet outperforms existing methods with a large margin in the regime of high precision. Our code is released publicly at https://github.com/Gorilla-Lab-SCUT/DualPoseNet.
Functional collection programming with semi-ring dictionaries

This paper introduces semi-ring dictionaries, a powerful class of compositional and purely functional collections that subsume other collection types such as sets, multisets, arrays, vectors, and matrices. We developed SDQL, a statically typed language that can express relational algebra with aggregations, linear algebra, and functional collections over data such as relations and matrices using semi-ring dictionaries. Furthermore, thanks to the algebraic structure behind these dictionaries, SDQL unifies a wide range of optimizations commonly used in databases (DB) and linear algebra (LA). As a result, SDQL enables efficient processing of hybrid DB and LA workloads, by putting together optimizations that are otherwise confined to either DB systems or LA frameworks. We show experimentally that a handful of DB and LA workloads can take advantage of the SDQL language and optimizations. SDQL can be competitive with or outperforms a host of systems that are state of the art in their own domain: in-memory DB systems Typer and Tectorwise for (flat, not nested) relational data; SciPy for LA workloads; sparse tensor compiler taco; the Trance nested relational engine; and the in-database machine learning engines LMFAO and Morpheus for hybrid DB/LA workloads over relational data.
Duplex Contextual Relation Network For Polyp Segmentation

Automatic polyp segmentation from colonoscopy has a pivotal role in the early diagnosis and surgery of Colorectal Cancer(CRC). However, the diversity of polyps across different images significantly increases the difficulty of accurate polyp segmentation. Existing researches focus on learning the contextual information within an individual image but fail to exploit the co-occurrent visual patterns of polyps across images. In this paper, we argue that exploring contextual correlation from a holistic view of the whole dataset is essential and propose a Duplex Contextual Relation Network (DCRNet) to capture both within-image and cross-image contextual relations. Based on the above two types of similarity, the feature of each input region can be enhanced by its contextual region embedding within and across images. To store the characteristic region embedding from previous images during training, an episodic memory is designed and operates as a queue. We evaluate the proposed method on the EndoScene, Kvasir-SEG, and the recently released large-scale PICCOLO dataset. Experimental results show that our proposed DCRNet outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in terms of the widely-used evaluation metrics. The code is available at https://github.com/PRIS-CV/DCRNet
Emerging Paradigms of Neural Network Pruning

Over-parameterization of neural networks beneﬁts the optimization and generalization yet brings cost in practice. Pruning is adopted as a post-processing solution to this problem, which aims to remove unnecessary parameters in a neural network with little performance compromised. It has been broadly believed the resulted sparse neural network cannot be trained from scratch to comparable accuracy. However, several recent works (e.g., [ Fran-kle and Carbin, 2019a ] ) challenge this belief by discovering random sparse networks which can be trained to match the performance with their dense counterpart. This new pruning paradigm later in-spires more new methods of pruning at initialization. In spite of the encouraging progress, how to coordinate these new pruning fashions with the traditional pruning has not been explored yet. This survey seeks to bridge the gap by proposing a general pruning framework so that the emerging pruning paradigms can be accommodated well with the traditional one. With it, we systematically re-ﬂect the major differences and new insights brought by these new pruning fashions, with representative works discussed at length. Finally, we summarize the open questions as worthy future directions.
Evidence of intra-binary shock emission from the redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339

We present simultaneous multiwavelength observations of the 4.66 ms redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339. We performed phase-resolved spectroscopy with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) searching for signatures of a residual accretion disk or intra-binary shock emission, constraining the companion radial velocity semi-amplitude (K2), and estimating the neutron star mass (MNS). Using the FORS2-VLT intermediate-resolution spectra, we measured a companion velocity of 291 < K2 < 348 km s−1 and a binary mass ratio of 0.209 < q < 0.250. Combining our results for K2 and q, we constrained the mass of the neutron star and the companion to (1.0 < MNS < 1.6) sin−3 i M⊙ and (0.24 < M2 < 0.33) sin−3i M⊙, respectively, where i is the system inclination. The Doppler map of the Hα emission line exhibits a spot feature at the expected position of the companion star and an extended bright spot close to the inner Lagrangian point. We interpret this extended emission as the effect of an intra-binary shock originating from the interaction between the pulsar relativistic wind and the matter leaving the companion star. The mass loss from the secondary star could be either due to Roche-lobe overflow or to the ablation of its outer layer by the energetic pulsar wind. Contrastingly, we find no evidence for an accretion disk. We report on the results of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) and the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope simultaneous radio observations at three different frequencies (150 MHz, 336 MHz, and 1400 MHz). No pulsed radio signal is found in our search. This is probably due to both scintillation and the presence of material expelled from the system which can cause the absorption of the radio signal at low frequencies. The confirmation of this hypothesis is given by another SRT observation (L-band) taken in 2019, in which a pulsed signal is detected. Finally, we report on an attempt to search for optical pulsations using IFI+Iqueye mounted at the 1.2 m Galileo telescope at the Asiago Observatory.
Genetic variability in forced and voluntary endurance exercise performance in seven inbred mouse strains

The goal of this study was to characterize the genetic contribution to both forced and voluntary exercise performance and to determine whether performance in these two paradigms is controlled by similar genetic influences. There were marked strain differences in treadmill exercise performance, with Swiss Webster (SW) and FVB/NJ mice showing elevated performance and C57BL/6J animals showing decreased performance compared with all other strains. There was no apparent relationship between treadmill performance and voluntary wheel performance, with the exception of SW mice, which demonstrated high performances on both the treadmill and the voluntary wheel. Numerous properties were measured to attempt to understand the basis for these differences in exercise performance. DBA/1J and SW mice exhibited significantly greater cardiac contractility than all other analyzed strains. Conversely, BALB/cByJ mice exhibited significantly reduced cardiac contractility compared with all other strains. Expression of molecular indicators of hypertrophy (atrial natriuretic factor and beta-myosin heavy chain) was significantly elevated in DBA/2J myocardium compared with all other analyzed strains.
Growth kinetics changes of vertically aligned carbon nanostructures synthesised at low substrate temperatures

Carbon nanotubes and nanofibres are typically synthesised under substrate temperatures above 600°C. Here we investigate the influence of the substrate temperature and the plasma conditions on the growth of vertically aligned carbon nanostructures using Direct Current plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition, at temperatures below 550°C. These nanostructures are produced using a C 2H2 based plasma and nickel thin film as the catalyst. We found that preferential deposition of amorphous carbon takes place as the synthesis temperature is lowered below 500°C. However, lowering the carbon concentration in the gas feedstock (<2% cone.) allows for the nucleation of nanofibre-like structures, whilst balancing the buildup of amorphous carbon. This method allows for the synthesis of vertically aligned structures at low temperatures (around 230°C) without intentional heating, while still achieving reasonable average growth rates up to 27 nm/min. The only heating was provided by the plasma, which typically consumes ∼ 4 W/cm2. It was found that by varying the applied plasma bias during high temperature synthesis, we increased the growth rate up to 165 nm/min. Based on the observations of experimental process variations and the morphology of the synthesised structures, we propose a growth mechanism for such low temperature growth and examine the resulting morphology changes. © 2005 Materials Research Society.
Construction and Standardization of Dementia Arabic Scale

Purpose Validated diagnostic scales for dementia in Arabic are still scarce. The aim of this study is to construct a standardized dementia scale for dementia diagnosis among the Arabic-speaking population. Patients and Methods Construction of the Dementia Arabic Scale (DAS) was done, followed by evaluation of content validity. A pilot study was done to ascertain feasibility and language clarity used in the scale. Patients diagnosed to have major neurocognitive disorder according to DSM-V criteria and control group were subjected to DAS, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI). Finally, standardization of the scale and estimation of cutoff point, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the newly constructed scale (DAS) were done. Results There is significant correlation between DAS and both MMSE and CASI on Pearson’s correlation study. The internal consistency of the DAS scale was good, with Cronbach’s alpha correlation coefficient of 0.88. At cut-off ≤95 for literate, and ≤68 for illiterate, the sensitivity of the DAS scale was 100%, 87% for literate and illiterate, respectively, while specificity was 84%, 96% respectively, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of (AUC) 0.96. Conclusion The DAS scale is an acceptable, reliable and valid scale for the diagnosis of dementia in Arabic-speaking countries.
Effects of alcohol before, during and after acute paraquat poisoning in rats

Abstract This study aimed to explore the effects of alcohol on paraquat dichloride (PQ) poisoning. Compared to PQ administration alone, alcohol gavage intervention before PQ administration could delay the peak time of plasma Cmax. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were correlated with the level of hydroxyl radical inhibiting ability. The alcohol gavage intervention led to aggravated acute lung injury by improving the inflammatory reaction and reactive oxygen generation. There was a positive correlation between oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction after acute PQ administration. Alcohol intake in combination with PQ poisoning can increase MPO levels, reduce OH− and aggravate lung tissue damage.
miR-126 Mimic Counteracts the Increased Secretion of VEGF-A Induced by High Glucose in ARPE-19 Cells

Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) has a pathologic role in microvascular diabetic complication, such as diabetic retinopathy (DR). miR-126 plays an important role in vascular development and angiogenesis by regulating the expression of VEGF-A. Since levels of miR-126 have been found downregulated in diabetes, this study is aimed at investigating whether hyperglycemia affects expression of miR-126 in a retinal pigment epithelium cell line. ARPE-19 cells were transfected with miR-126 inhibitor or with miR-126 mimic and the respective scramble negative control. After 24 hours, medium was replaced and cells were cultured for 24 hours in normal (CTR) or diabetic condition (HG). Then, we analyzed mRNA levels of miR-126, VEGF-A, PI3KR2, and SPRED1. We also evaluated protein amount of HIF-1α, PI3KR2, and SPRED1 and VEGF-A secretion. The results showed that exposure of ARPE-19 cells to HG significantly decreased miR-126 levels; mRNA levels of VEGF-A and PI3KR2 were inversely correlated with those of miR-126. Overexpression of miR-126 under HG restored HIF-1α expression and VEGF-A secretion to the level of CTR cells. These results indicate that reduced levels of miR-126 may contribute to DR progression by increasing expression of VEGF-A in RPE cells. In addition, we provide evidence that upregulation of miR-126 in RPE cells counteracts the rise of VEGF-A secretion induced by hyperglycemia. In conclusion, our data support a role of miR-126 mimic-approach in counteracting proangiogenic effects of hyperglycemia.
Hepatitis B virus precore/core region mutations and genotypes among hepatitis B virus chronic carriers in South-Eastern, Nigeria

Objectives: The study aimed at detecting the prevailing hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and the presence of clinically relevant mutations in the precore/core gene of the HBV DNA, among patients with chronic infection in South-eastern, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 72 participants with chronic HBV infection were enrolled into the study. Plasma samples from those with detectable HBV DNA were subjected to nested Polymerase Chain Reaction amplification using the precore/core specific primers. This resulted to the successful amplification and sequencing of the HBV precore/core region DNA from 16 participants. Mutation analysis on the precore/core region detected the presence of certain HBV precore/core gene mutations. Genotyping was carried out by phylogenetic analysis. Results: The precore region mutation at nucleotide position 1896, which is a G to A change resulting to a nonsense mutation, was detected in 6.25% of the participants. Other HBV precore region mutations that were detected include: G1899A, T1846A, G1862C, G1888A, T1821C, C1826T, A1827C, A1850T, C1858T, precore start codon Kozak sequence mutations and some novel core region mutations such as G/A1951T and G1957A. Genotyping revealed the existence of HBV genotype/subgenotype A1 (87.5%) and D (12.5%) among the participants. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of specific precore/core mutations among the HBV/hepatitis C virus dually infected and HBV mono-infected participants. Conclusion: The data suggest the likelihood of a more severe outcome of hepatitis caused by HBV in South-eastern Nigeria due to the occurrence of a variety of precore/core mutation, which resulted to HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection among the participants.
Comparison of circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection rates with epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and cell surface vimentin (CSV) antibodies in different solid tumors: a retrospective study

Purpose Status of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) varies from tumors to tumors. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and cell surface vimentin (CSV) are the most common used targets for isolating epithelial and mesenchymal CTCs, respectively. This study aimed to identify a suitable CTC capturing antibody for CTC enrichment in each solid tumor by comparing CTC detection rates with EpCAM and CSV antibodies in different solid tumors. Methods Treatment-naive patients with confirmed cancer diagnosis and healthy people who have performed CTC detection between April 2017 and May 2018 were included in this study. CTC detection was performed with CytoSorter® CTC system using either EpCAM or CSV antibody. In total, 853 CTC results from 690 cancer patients and 72 healthy people were collected for analysis. The performance of CTC capturing antibody was determined by the CTC detection rate. Results EpCAM has the highest CTC detection rate of 84.09% in CRC, followed by BCa (78.32%). CTC detection rates with EpCAM antibody are less than 40% in HCC (25%), PDAC (32.5%) and OC (33.33%). CSV has the highest CTC detection rate of 90% in sarcoma, followed by BC (85.71%), UC (84.62%), OC (83.33%) and BCa (81.82%). CTC detection rates with CSV antibody are over 60% in all 14 solid tumors. Except for CRC, CSV has better performances than EpCAM in most solid tumors regarding the CTC detection rates. Conclusion EpCAM can be used as a target to isolate CTCs in CRC, LC, GC, BCa, EC, HNSCC, CC and PCa, especially in CRC, while CSV can be used in most solid tumors for isolating CTCs.
Internal Risk Factors for Low Back Pain in Pole Vaulters and Decathletes: A Prospective Study

Background: Pole vaulters and decathletes frequently experience several types of injuries to their lower back, often resulting in mechanical low back pain (LBP). However, the risk factors for the occurrence of LBP in these athletes have not been defined. Purpose: To determine the physical factors that relate to LBP occurrence for collegiate pole vaulters and decathletes. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: We observed 31 pole vaulters and decathletes for 1 year. At the start of the observation period, isokinetic flexion and extension muscle strength of the knee and hip joints were recorded along with active and passive range of motion (ROM) and muscle tightness. Participants were then divided into 2 groups using the median value of each measurement: those below the median (low group) and those above the median (high group). The log-rank test was used to compare LBP occurrence between the low group and high group for all measurements. Multivariate regression analyses were thereafter applied using the Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: Log-rank tests revealed a statistically significant change in the survival curve for the occurrence of LBP in the participants with chronic LBP (P = .037), the low group for hip flexion peak torque per body weight on the non-takeoff leg (P = .047), and the low group for passive hip flexion angle on both legs (takeoff leg: P = .034; non-takeoff leg: P = .023). In addition, log-rank tests revealed a statistically significant change in the survival curve for the occurrence of LBP in the low group for passive hip extension angle on the takeoff leg only for the participants without chronic LBP (P = .014). Conclusion: It may be necessary to acquire sufficient ROM and hip flexion to prevent LBP occurrence in pole vaulters and decathletes.
Understanding the Needs of Australian Carers of Adults Receiving Palliative Care in the Home: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Introduction Caring for someone at home requiring palliative care is an ominous task. Unless the current support systems are better utilised and improved to meet the needs of those carers, the demand for acute hospital admissions will increase as the Australian population ages. The aim of this review was to examine the needs of unpaid carers who were caring for adults receiving palliative care in their home in Australia. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Guidelines between 2008–2020. Results: Only Australian papers were selected due to the intent to understand carers’ needs in the Australian context and 17 papers made up the final data set. Four themes emerged: 1) Perceived factors influencing caregiving; 2) Perceived impact and responses to caregiving; 3) Communication and information needs; and 4) Perceptions of current palliative support services and barriers to uptake. Conclusion: Carers reported satisfaction and positive outcomes and also expressed feeling unprepared, unrecognised, stressed and exhausted.
Formation of Single-Crystalline CuS Nanoplates Vertically Standing on Flat Substrate

Single-crystalline CuS hexagonal nanoplates have been prepared through a facile chemical vapor reaction (CVR) process in which sulfur vapor reacted with copper films in a vacuum chamber at about 450 °C for about 7 h. The parent copper films were obtained on a silicon wafer or glass slide through vacuum evaporation of metal copper. The effects of film thickness, reaction time, and temperature on CuS nanoplates growth were investigated, and the products were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), element analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The CuS hexagonal nanoplates are single crystals with an edge length of 0.2–1.8 µm and a thickness of 20–150 nm. Interestingly, the as-prepared CuS nanoplates are oriented in the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface with the c-axis parallel to the substrate surface. The possible formation mechanism of the CuS nanoplates has been elucidated.