Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ULTRE framework: a framework for Unbiased Learning to Rank Evaluation based on simulation of user behavior

Unbiased learning to rank (ULTR) with biased user behavior data has received considerable attention in the IR community. However, how to properly evaluate and compare different ULTR approaches has not been systematically investigated and there is no shared task or benchmark that is specifically developed for ULTR. In this paper, we propose the Unbiased Learning to Rank Evaluation(ULTRE) framework. The proposed framework utilizes multiple click models in generating simulated click logs and supports the evaluation of both the offline, counterfactual and the online, bandit-based ULTR models. Our experiments show that the ULTRE framework are effective in click simulation and comparing different ULTR models. The ULTRE framework will be used in the Unbiased Learning to Rank Evaluation Task (ULTRE), a pilot task in NTCIR 16.
A parasitological survey of zoonotic cestodes carried by house rats in Aswan, Egypt, reveals cryptic diversity at the molecular level

Abstract Background and Aim: Some rat cestodes are zoonotic and are capable of parasitizing humans and animals, raising serious concerns regarding human and veterinary health. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for cestodes in Egyptian house rats and to characterize the cestodes molecularly. Materials and Methods: The current survey examined 115 house rats (Rattus rattus) in two cities (Edfu and Aswan) in Egypt’s Aswan Governorate for cestode infection using integrated molecular approaches (polymerase chain reaction, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis) and morphological/morphometrical approaches. Results: The cestodes identified in this study exhibited the typical morphological characteristics of Hymenolepis diminuta (Rudolphi, 1819), Hymenolepis nana (Siebold, 1852) (from rat intestine), and Hydatigera taeniaeformis (from rat liver). The species prevalence rates from these three studies were reported to be 8.7%, 10.4%, and 20.9%, respectively. The ribosomal DNA (ITS1, 18S, and complete ITS) sequences revealed that the hymenolepid sequences were highly distinct but were related to other sequences in the GenBank database, with some sequences showing high similarities to those of H. nana and H. diminuta. In addition, the H. taeniaeformis sequences (ITS2 and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 [mtCOX1]) obtained in this study were highly similar to some Taenia taeniaeformis GenBank sequences. The constructed phylogram revealed that the hymenolepidid tapeworms examined in this study were classified into four major branches (the majority of which were hybrids of the two species) and belonged to the genus Hymenolepis. In addition, the phylogram of H. taeniaeformis assigned this species to T. taeniaeformis. Conclusion: When typical hymenolepid morphology is combined with molecular and phylogenetic divergence, it may indicate the existence of possible cryptic species. In addition, on the basis of the phylogenetic analysis, genetic diversity within T. taeniaeformis may exist as determined by comparing the metacestode mtCOX1 sequences. The current study presents the prevalence values of zoonotic cestodes and contributes to the body of knowledge, including identification keys and the use of molecular tools for species confirmation.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BASIC PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND DISPOSITIONAL COPING STRATEGIES IN VOLLEYBALL UDC 796. 071.325:159-924.2

Athletes' coping strategies are important factors that contribute to competitive achievement and psychological well-being. The first aim of the current study was to explore the direct and interactive effects of Five Factor personality dimensions on dispositional coping strategies. The second aim was to test the second-order factorial structure of the Dispositional Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport (DCICS). The sample included 166 female volleyball players of mean age 15.01 years (SD=.87), and mean sports experience of 4.81 years (SD=1.85). They completed the NEO-FFI inventory and DCICS. Explorative factor analyses indicated two second order solutions with high reliability coefficients: taskand emotion-oriented coping strategies. The Paired samples t-test showed that young female athletes more often apply task-oriented strategies than emotion-oriented strategies. The regression analysis showed that some Five-Factor personality dimensions independently predicted the use of higher order coping dimensions. Conscientiousness was the only positive predictor of task-oriented strategies. Neuroticism was positive and agreeableness is a negative predictor of emotion-oriented coping strategies. No interaction effects of personality dimensions on dispositional coping were founded. These findings suggest that the Five-Factor personality model can predict the coping strategies that athletes frequently use. Findings also emphasize the need for more studies aimed to investigate this complex relationship including potential moderator effects of different variables such as gender, sport experience, competitive achievement, and different sports disciplines.
EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate, Language Learning Orientation, and Social Support in Kampung

this current study conducted to investigate any significant relationship among students’ willingness to communicate and language learning orientation as well as any significant relationship between students’ WTC and social support. It used quantitative design. There were 78 students participated in this study. They were studying English in Kampung Inggris Pare. For collecting the data, the students were asked to fill out three questionnaires; WTC questionnaire consist of 25 items, Language learning orientation questionnaire of20 items, and social support of 6 items. Pearson Product moment correlation was applied for calculating the data to know any possible correlation between the variables. From the data analysis showed that any significant correlation between students’ willingness to communicate and their language learning orientation. However, there was no any significant correlation between students’ WTC and social support. The result of the study showed that students’ language learning orientation is the best motivation for students to improve their English proficiency trough their willingness to communicate in regard to four English skills, speaking, reading, writing and comprehension. Although social support over all did not give significant correlation, some support from other friend and teacher positively correlated to students’ WTC in regard to speaking and writing skill.
Polynomial-Chaos Uncertainty Modeling in Eddy-Current Inspection of Cracks

This paper investigates the forward problem of crack detection on conducting objects via eddy-current inspection in a stochastic framework. Unlike the majority of pertinent works that are suitable only for deterministic problems with precisely described parameters, we follow a line of work that takes into account potential uncertainties characterizing the geometric properties of the defects, which eventually influence the corresponding outcomes. As the implementation of standard techniques, such as the Monte-Carlo approach, require elongated simulation times (even of the order of days for 3D geometries), the suggested methodology alternatively derives polynomial-chaos expansions of the random quantities of interest by exploiting efficient sparsegrid quadrature rules, thus enabling significant reduction of the involved computational cost. The numerical results verify that, in this way, COMSOL® capabilities can be further expanded to provide reliable statistical characterization of eddy-current inspection problems with variability in their parameters.
Pb5Sb8S17 quantum dot‐sensitized solar cells with an efficiency of 6% under 0.05 sun: Theoretical and experimental studies

Pb5Sb8S17 has recently been demonstrated to be a potential solar absorber material having an efficiency of 4.14% under 0.1 sun. This work reports on the improved performance of solid‐state Pb5Sb8S17 quantum dot‐sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). Density functional calculations revealed indirect and direct energy gaps of 1.64 and 1.70 eV, respectively, large optical absorption coefficients approximately 105 cm−1 in the visible range, and a large static dielectric function (ε0 = 44) facilitating charge collection. Pb5Sb8S17 nanoparticles were synthesized using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction process. Solid‐state QDSCs were fabricated from the synthesized nanoparticles with spiro‐OMeTAD as the hole‐transporting material. The best cell yielded a short‐circuit current density Jsc of 11.88 mA/cm2, an open‐circuit voltage Voc of 0.48 V, a fill factor FF of 45.7%, and an efficiency η of 2.61% under 1 sun. The η increased to 5.13% at the reduced light of 0.1 sun and further increased to 6.04% at 0.05 sun with Jsc = 1.33 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.41 V, and FF = 55.7%. The present result represents a 24% improvement over the best previous result. This efficiency of approximately 6% can be categorized as one of the highest‐efficiency ternary QDSCs (except the widely studied Cu‐In‐Se system) and is comparable to the performance of other high‐efficiency QDSCs based on single‐layered semiconductor absorbers, suggesting that Pb5Sb8S17 could be an efficient absorber material for solar cells.
Potential Application of Bacillus subtilis Lipopeptides in Toothpaste Formulation

Toothpaste is a gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean, keep and promotes oral hygiene. Bio toothpaste is the toothpaste that contains biologically active ingredient. In the present work Bacillus subtilis was used as a source for the production of bio surfactant (lipopeptides) or emulsifiers. After 2 days of production period bio surfactant was extracted using acid alkali precipitation method. And finally obtained powdered bio surfactant was used along with the other chemical ingredients for the formation of bio toothpaste. The physicochemical properties were analyzed considering several tests mainly spreading ability, water activity, and pH, foaming and cleaning tests. The evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of the formulated dentifrice was carried out against different bacteria.
Synthesis of Silver Nanoplates With a Narrow LSPR Band for Chemical Sensing Through a Plasmon-Mediated Process Using Photochemical Seeds

The plasmon-mediated process is one of the most common and well-studied methods to synthesize silver nanoplates (AgNPts). In a typical plasmon-mediated process, silver seeds are generated by chemical reduction using NaBH4 (abbreviated as CR seeds) before the plasmon-mediated process. However, a broad localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band of AgNPts (usually broader than 150 nm) synthesized using the typical plasmon-mediated process would possibly limit their further applications. In this study, silver seeds are generated using a photochemical reduction method (abbreviated as PCR seeds). These PCR seeds then convert to AgNPts with irradiation by green LEDs or by a sodium lamp through the plasmon-mediated process. Furthermore, a very narrow LSPR bandwidth (approximately 67 nm) can be obtained when these AgNPts are further irradiated with red LEDs. Due to high refractive index sensitivity and sharp LSPR bandwidth, the as-prepared AgNPts have a high figure of merit (FOM) and can be used for spectroscopic chemical sensing applications. The silver seeds generated by this photochemical method can provide another choice for the plasmon-mediated process to synthesize AgNPts with high optical quality.
Urban Bias and Learning in the Time of COVID-19: Evidence from Nigeria

This paper is motivated by the idea of relative deprivation of rural residents in critical infrastructures according to the urban bias theory. In this period of physical distancing, these critical infrastructures are relied upon to sustain the learning experiences of school children through diverse means of home learning. This paper estimates the relative intensity of home learning between the urban and rural areas under the hypothesis that public infrastructural deficits might depress the diversity of learning experiences provided to school age children in the rural areas. Standard and two stage estimations identify up to 75 percent learning advantage in favour of children in the urban areas. The UN's SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. However, based on this finding, this goal may not be achieved unless critical infrastructural deficits in the rural areas of developing countries are addressed. Hence, there is need for political commitments towards upgrading infrastructural facilities in the rural areas as a critical step towards achieving this and many other development goals. In addition, the identified learning gap should be a critical consideration in national post COVID-19 educational policies.
Epistemological Implementation of Social Choice Functions

We investigate the implementation of social choice functions (SCFs) from an epistemological perspective. We consider the possibility that in higher-order beliefs there exists an honest agent who is motivated by intrinsic preference for honesty as well as material interest. We assume weak honesty, in that an honest agent is mostly motivated by material interests and even tells white lies. Importantly, this study assumes that “all agents are selfish” never happens to be common knowledge. We then show the following positive results for the implementability: In complete information environments, with three or more agents, any SCF is uniquely implementable in the Bayesian Nash equilibrium (BNE). In asymmetric information environments, with a minor restriction named information diversity, any incentive-compatible SCF is fully implementable in BNE. An SCF, whether material or nonmaterial (ethical), can be implemented even if all agents are selfish and “all agents are selfish” is mutual knowledge.
Parental Responses to Children’s Achievement Test Results

We use quasi-experimental variation in the timing of national standardized test-score reports to estimate the causal impact of giving parents objective information about children’s academic achievement. Releasing test scores leads to more modest perceptions of academic achievement and reduced school satisfaction. The use of private tutoring is increased, while extracurricular activities are reduced. Examining the underlying mechanisms, we show that it is public-school parents and parents of children receiving unexpectedly “bad” test scores who alter their perceptions. Learning that a child scores above the national average raises perceived academic achievement and time devoted to education, while reducing leisure time.
Land Use and Land Cover Change as an Indicator of Watershed Urban Development in the Kenyan Lake Victoria Basin

Received: 28 January 2021 Accepted: 30 March 2021 The socio-economic and ecological value of Lake Victoria is threatened by significant regional development and urbanization. This study analyzed spatial-temporal land use/land cover changes in the Kenyan Lake Victoria basin from 1978–2018 using Landsat 3, 4-5 and 8 imagery, with a view to identifying the extent and potential impacts of urbanization on the basin. Supervised image classification was undertaken following the Maximum Likelihood algorithm to generate land use/land cover maps at ten-year intervals. Results indicate that the basin is characterized by six main land use/land cover classes namely, agricultural land, water bodies, grasslands and vegetation, bare land, forests and built-up areas. Further, the results indicate that the basin has experienced net increases in built-up areas (+97.56%), forests (+17.30%) and agricultural land (+3.54%) over the last 40 years. During the same period, it experienced net losses in grassland and vegetation (-37.36%), bare land (-9.28%) and water bodies (-2.19%). Generally, the changing landscapes in the basin are characterized by conversion of natural environments to built-up environments and driven by human activities, urban populations and public policy decisions. The study therefore recommends the establishment of a land use system that creates a balance between the ecological realm and sustainable development.
Randomization as Mitigation of Directed Timing Inference Based Attacks on Time-Triggered Real-Time Systems with Task Replication

Time-triggered real-time systems achieve deterministic behavior using schedules that are constructed offline, based on scheduling constraints. Their deterministic behavior makes time-triggered systems suitable for usage in safety-critical environments, like avionics. However, this determinism also allows attackers to fine-tune attacks that can be carried out after studying the behavior of the system through side channels, targeting safety-critical victim tasks. Replication -- i.e., the execution of task variants across different cores -- is inherently able to tolerate both accidental and malicious faults (i.e. attacks) as long as these faults are independent of one another. Yet, targeted attacks on the timing behavior of tasks which utilize information gained about the system behavior violate the fault independence assumption fault tolerance is based on. This violation may give attackers the opportunity to compromise all replicas simultaneously, in particular if they can mount the attack from already compromised components. In this paper, we analyze vulnerabilities of time-triggered systems, focusing on safety-certified multicore real-time systems. We introduce two runtime mitigation strategies to withstand directed timing inference based attacks: (i) schedule randomization at slot level, and (ii) randomization within a set of offline constructed schedules. We evaluate these mitigation strategies with synthetic experiments and a real case study to show their effectiveness and practicality. (Less)
Assessing the performance of the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential for optical constants of semiconductors in the ultraviolet-visible light region

We report on the performance of density functional theory (DFT) with the Tran–Blaha modified Becke–Johnson exchange potential and the random phase approximation dielectric function for optical constants of semiconductors in the ultraviolet–visible (UV-Vis) light region. We calculate optical bandgaps Eg, refractive indices n, and extinction coefficients k of 70 semiconductors listed in the Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids [(Academic Press, 1985), Vol. 1; (Academic Press, 1991), Vol. 2; and (Academic Press, 1998), Vol. 3] and compare the results with experimental values. The results show that the calculated bandgaps and optical constants agree well with the experimental values to within 0.440 eV for Eg, 0.246–0.299 for n, and 0.207–0.598 for k in root mean squared error (RMSE). The small values of the RMSEs indicate that the optical constants of semiconductors in the UV-Vis region can be quantitatively predicted even by a low-cost DFT calculation of this type.
Magnetic design study of coil-dominated superconducting quadrupole magnets based on racetrack coils

Abstract—Several coil structures have been used in accelerator superconducting quadrupole magnets, and cos2θ quadrupole magnets are the most mature in theoretical research and engineering applications. However, the cos2θ quadrupole magnet has a complicated coil structure, especially at the end of the coil, which makes it difficult to apply strain-sensitive high-temperature superconductors. Racetrack quadrupole magnets are friendly to high-temperature superconductors. Field strength of iron-dominated racetrack magnets is limited by the magnetic saturation of the iron poles. Therefore, coil-dominated racetrack quadrupole magnets with simple geometry have become the focus of our research. In this paper, analytical expressions of the magnetic field harmonics related to racetrack quadrupole coil parameters are obtained. These expressions are used to find the solution of coil geometry parameters with field harmonics on the order of 10. Then, examples are given to build ideal quadrupole model and verify the theoretical formulas. Next, the design and optimization of example racetrack quadrupole magnets are completed in ROXIE. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the racetrack coils and the cos2θ coils are compared and discussed.
HAN: Higher-order Attention Network for Spoken Language Understanding

Spoken Language Understanding (SLU), including intent detection and slot filling, is a core component in human-computer interaction. The natural attributes of the relationship among the two subtasks make higher requirements on fine-grained feature interaction, i.e., the token-level intent features and slot features. Previous works mainly focus on jointly modeling the relationship between the two subtasks with attention-based models, while ignoring the exploration of attention order. In this paper, we propose to replace the conventional attention with our proposed Bilinear attention block and show that the introduced Higher-order Attention Network (HAN) brings improvement for the SLU task. Importantly, we conduct wide analysis to explore the effectiveness brought from the higher-order attention.
Temperature-induced phase transitions in the correlated quantum Hall state of bilayer graphene

M. Tanaka, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, K. Nomura, S. Tarucha, M. Yamamoto Department of Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan. Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba-shi, Japan. International Center for Material Nanoarchitectonics, National Instutute for Material Science, Tsukuba-shi, Japan Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Japan. Center for Emergent Matter Science, RIKEN, Wako-shi, Japan
Similar Scenes Arouse Similar Emotions: Parallel Data Augmentation for Stylized Image Captioning

Stylized image captioning systems aim to generate a caption not only semantically related to a given image but also consistent with a given style description. One of the biggest challenges with this task is the lack of sufficient paired stylized data. Many studies focus on unsupervised approaches, without considering from the perspective of data augmentation. We begin with the observation that people may recall similar emotions when they are in similar scenes, and often express similar emotions with similar style phrases, which underpins our data augmentation idea. In this paper, we propose a novel Extract-Retrieve-Generate data augmentation framework to extract style phrases from small-scale stylized sentences and graft them to large-scale factual captions. First, we design the emotional signal extractor to extract style phrases from small-scale stylized sentences. Second, we construct the plugable multi-modal scene retriever to retrieve scenes represented with pairs of an image and its stylized caption, which are similar to the query image or caption in the large-scale factual data. In the end, based on the style phrases of similar scenes and the factual description of the current scene, we build the emotion-aware caption generator to generate fluent and diversified stylized captions for the current scene. Extensive experimental results show that our framework can alleviate the data scarcity problem effectively. It also significantly boosts the performance of several existing image captioning models in both supervised and unsupervised settings, which outperforms the state-of-the-art stylized image captioning methods in terms of both sentence relevance and stylishness by a substantial margin.