Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the sensitivity of modeled air‐sea CO2 exchange to the remineralization depth of particulate organic and inorganic carbon

To assess the sensitivity of surface ocean pCO2 and air‐sea CO2 fluxes to changes in the remineralization depth of particulate organic and inorganic carbon (POC, PIC), a biogeochemical ocean circulation model (PISCES) was run with different parameterizations for vertical particle fluxes. On the basis of fluxes of POC and PIC, productivity, export, and the distributions of nitrogen (NO3), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and alkalinity, a number of indices defined to estimate the efficiency of carbon transport away from the atmosphere are applied. With differing success for the respective indices the results show that the more efficient the vertical transport of organic carbon toward depth, the lower the surface ocean pCO2, the higher the air‐sea CO2 flux, and the stronger the increase in the oceanic inventory of DIC. Along with POC flux it is important to consider variations in PIC flux, as the net effect of particle flux reorganizations on surface ocean pCO2 is a combination of changes in DIC and alkalinity. The results demonstrate that changes in the mechanistic formulation of vertical particle fluxes have direct and indirect effects on surface ocean pCO2 and may thus interact with the atmospheric CO2 reservoir.
Bidirectional isolated AC-DC converter for electric vehicles multifunctional chargers

This paper presents the study of a single-stage bidirectional isolated AC-DC converter with power factor correction (PFC) and high frequency isolation. The proposed converter is based on the interleaved technique and the Dual Active Bridge converter (DAB) operation, using the phase-shift control to regulate the power flow between primary and secondary side of the transformer. A theoretical analysis is presented and simulation results are presented and discussed.
Unsupervised Disentangled Representation Learning with Analogical Relations

Learning the disentangled representation of interpretable generative factors of data is one of the foundations to allow artificial intelligence to think like people. In this paper, we propose the analogical training strategy for the unsupervised disentangled representation learning in generative models. The analogy is one of the typical cognitive processes, and our proposed strategy is based on the observation that sample pairs in which one is different from the other in one specific generative factor show the same analogical relation. Thus, the generator is trained to generate sample pairs from which a designed classifier can identify the underlying analogical relation. In addition, we propose a disentanglement metric called the subspace score, which is inspired by subspace learning methods and does not require supervised information. Experiments show that our proposed training strategy allows the generative models to find the disentangled factors, and that our methods can give competitive performances as compared with the state-of-the-art methods.
Comparison of Fecal Occult Blood Tests for Colorectal Cancer Screening in an Alaska Native Population With High Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection, 2008–2012

Introduction Alaska Native colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality rates are the highest of any ethnic/racial group in the United States. CRC screening using guaiac-based fecal occult blood tests (gFOBT) are not recommended for Alaska Native people because of false-positive results associated with a high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori-associated hemorrhagic gastritis. This study evaluated whether the newer immunochemical FOBT (iFOBT) resulted in a lower false-positive rate and higher specificity for detecting advanced colorectal neoplasia than gFOBT in a population with elevated prevalence of H. pylori infection. Methods We used a population-based sample of 304 asymptomatic Alaska Native adults aged 40 years or older undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopy (April 2008–January 2012). Results Specificity differed significantly (P < .001) between gFOBT (76%; 95% CI, 71%–81%) and iFOBT (92%; 95% CI, 89%–96%). Among H. pylori-positive participants (54%), specificity of iFOBT was even higher (93% vs 69%). Overall, sensitivity did not differ significantly (P = .73) between gFOBT (29%) and iFOBT (36%). Positive predictive value was 11% for gFOBT and 32% for iFOBT. Conclusion The iFOBT had a significantly higher specificity than gFOBT, especially in participants with current H. pylori infection. The iFOBT represents a potential strategy for expanding CRC screening among Alaska Native and other populations with elevated prevalence of H. pylori, especially where access to screening endoscopy is limited.
Salivary Function and Oral Health Problems in Crohn's Disease Patients.

Background In Crohn's disease (CD) patients, many oral complaints have been reported. The aim of this study was to determine whether salivary function is contributing to reduced oral health in CD. Oral and dental complaints in patients were explored. The prevalence of xerostomia in conjunction with salivary flow rates and biochemical saliva composition was studied. Methods The Xerostomia Inventory score (XI-score), the salivary flow rates, the concentrations of salivary amylase and mucin 5B, and the type of oral and dental complaints were evaluated. These outcomes were stratified by disease activity, using the Harvey Bradshaw Index (HBI) and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ-9). Results Fifty-three CD patients in a Dutch tertiary referral hospital were included. Of the patients evaluated, 9.4% had hyposalivation under resting conditions, and 28.3% had hyposalivation under chewing stimulated conditions. Saliva secretion rates were not correlated to XI-scores. Median XI-score was 25 (11-45). XI-scores were correlated to the IBDQ scores (r = -0.352, P = 0.010). Salivary mucin 5B was correlated to disease activity (r = 0.295, P = 0.04). Regarding the number of oral complaints, a correlation with disease activity (HBI r = 0.349, P = 0.011) and experienced xerostomia (r = -0.554, P = 0.000) was observed. Oral and dental problems like oral ulcers (37.7%) and cavities (46%) occurred more frequently in CD patients, especially when compared with a non-IBD population. Conclusions Oral and dental complaints are common in CD patients. Xerostomia is correlated with disease activity-associated quality of life and with the number of oral and dental complaints. Changes in salivary function may contribute to reduced oral health in CD patients. 10.1093/ibd/izy017_video1izy017. video15776803023001.
Microscopic origin of entropy-driven polymorphism in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite materials

Entropy is a critical, but often overlooked, factor in determining the relative stabilities of crystal phases. The importance of entropy is most pronounced in softer materials, where small changes in free energy can drive phase transitions, which has recently been demonstrated in the case of organic-inorganic hybrid-formate perovskites. In this Rapid Communication we demonstrate the interplay between composition and crystal structure that is responsible for the particularly pronounced role of entropy in determining polymorphism in hybrid organic-inorganic materials. Using ab initio based lattice dynamics, we probe the origins and effects of vibrational entropy of four archetype perovskite (ABX3) structures. We consider an inorganic material (SrTiO3), an A-site hybrid-halide material (CH3NH3)PbI3, a X-site hybrid material KSr(BH4)3, and a mixed A- and X-site hybrid-formate material (N2H5)Zn(HCO2)3, comparing the differences in entropy between two common polymorphs. The results demonstrate the importance of low-frequency intermolecular modes in determining the phase stability in these materials. The understanding gained allows us to propose a general principle for the relative stability of different polymorphs of hybrid materials as temperature is increased.
COMP 4801 Final Year Project Interim Report Project title : Real-time Coherent Video Style Transfer Group member :

With the increasing popularity of image style transfer software such as Prisma and Pikazo, style transfer has become famous among the public and gained interests of researchers globally. While image style transfer has turned into a well-studied field in the past several years, its related field, video style transfer, shows slow progress and is commonly recognized as a much harder field. The main reason behind is that not only a real-time speed is required for streaming purposes, but also the coherence among consecutive frames needs to be maintained. This project aims to overcome these challenges based on pioneer works. Using latest designs of convolutional neural networks, the project proposes a deep-learning based pipeline, ReCoNet, for real-time video transfer with high temporal coherence. An end-to-end computer program that could transfer a pre-loaded or streaming video into a given art style in real-time speed and high coherence is also expected by the end of the project. Preliminary experiments show advantages of ReCoNet over all existent methods in terms of speed and temporal coherence, indicating that our model and program could be reliably used for fast and stable video style transfer.
Diet of whale sharks Rhincodon typus inferred from stomach content and signature fatty acid analyses

Whale sharks Rhincodon typus are large filter-feeders that are frequently observed feeding in surface zooplankton patches at their tropical and subtropical coastal aggregation sites. Using signature fatty acid (FA) analyses from their subdermal connective tissue and stomach content analysis, we tested whether whale sharks in Mozambique and South Africa predominantly feed on these prey and/or what other prey they target. Arachidonic acid (20: 4.6; mean +/- SD = 17.8 +/- 2.0% of total FA), 18: 0 and 18: 1.9c were major FA of whale sharks, while in contrast, coastal epipelagic zooplankton collected near feeding whale sharks had 22: 6.3 (docosahexaenoic acid), 16: 0 and 20: 5.3 (eicosapentaenoic acid) as major FA. Stomach contents of 3 stranded sharks were dominated by mysids (61 to 92% of prey items), another one by sergestids (56%), and a fifth stomach was empty. The dominant mysids (82% index of relative importance) were demersal zooplankton that migrate into the water column at night, suggesting night-time feeding by whale sharks. High levels of bacterial FA in whale sharks (5.3 +/- 1.4% TFA), indicating a detrital link, potentially via demersal zooplankton, also support night-time foraging activity. High levels of oleic acid (16.0 +/- 2.5%) in whale sharks and their similarity with FA profiles of shrimp, mysids, copepods and myctophid fishes from the meso-and bathypelagic zone suggest that whale sharks also forage in deep-water. Our findings suggest that, in the patchy food environment of tropical systems, whale sharks forage in coastal waters during the day and night, and in oceanic waters on deep-water zooplankton and fishes during their long-distance movements.
PERFORMANCE OF RABBITS ON EXCLUSIVE DAY AND/OR NIGHT FEEDING REGIME IN THE DERIVED SAVANNAH ZONE OF NIGERIA

This study was carried out using Twenty four growing rabbits with an average initial weight of between 667 - 676 g. The rabbits were randomly allocated into three groups of eight rabbits each, with each rabbit serving as a replicate in a completely randomized design experiment. The rabbits were fed conventionally on concentrate (l00g) and fresh forages -Aspilia africana- Tndax procumbens (200g) per animal per day. The first group which served as the control were provided with feed and water ad libitum while the second group (day feeding) were fed once during the day (08:00 hrs) and provided with only water at night. The third group (night feeding) were fed once in the evening (06:30 hrs) and provided with water during the day. The experiment lasted for eight weeks. Parameters recorded were temperature and humidity of the rabbitary, rectal temperature of the rabbits, feed intake and left over, water consumption, weight gain as well as the pulse rate of the rabbits. Rabbits on exclusive night feeding had final weights (1.62 kg) comparable (P>0.05) with the control (1.58 kg) that were fed ad-libitum (day and night) and higher (P 0.05) but there were differences (P<0.05) in weights of lungs, heart and liver for the feeding regimes. It can be concluded that feeding rabbits at night is better to take advantage of their nocturnal habit. This will encourage the participation of individuals whose schedules are busy during the day in rabbit meat production thus making more rabbit available for consumption.
Fully Quantized Distributed Gradient Descent

In major distributed optimization system, the main bottleneck is often the communication between the different machines. To reduce the time dedicated to communications, some heuristics have been developed to reduce the precision of the messages sent and have been shown to produce good results in practice, and Alistarh et al. [2016] introduced the quantization framework to analyze theoretically the effects of lossy compression on the convergence rate of gradient descent algorithms. This works identifies an issue in one of the proofs in Alistarh et al. [2016] and provides a new approach to reduce the error introduced by low-precision updates.
The importance of fungi and mycology for addressing major global challenges*

In the new bioeconomy, fungi play a very important role in addressing major global challenges, being instrumental for improved resource efficiency, making renewable substitutes for products from fossil resources, upgrading waste streams to valuable food and feed ingredients, counteracting life-style diseases and antibiotic resistance through strengthening the gut biota, making crop plants more robust to survive climate change conditions, and functioning as host organisms for production of new biological drugs. This range of new uses of fungi all stand on the shoulders of the efforts of mycologists over generations: the scientific discipline mycology has built comprehensive understanding within fungal biodiversity, classification, evolution, genetics, physiology, ecology, pathogenesis, and nutrition. Applied mycology could not make progress without this platform. To unfold the full potentials of what fungi can do for both environment and man we need to strengthen the field of mycology on a global scale. The current mission statement gives an overview of where we are, what needs to be done, what obstacles to overcome, and which potentials are within reach. It further provides a vision for how mycology can be strengthened: The time is right to make the world aware of the immense importance of fungi and mycology for sustainable global development, where land, water and biological materials are used in a more efficient and more sustainable manner. This is an opportunity for profiling mycology by narrating the role played by fungi in the bioeconomy. Greater awareness and appreciation of the role of fungi can be used to build support for mycology around the world. Support will attract more talent to our field of study, empower mycologists around the world to generate more funds for necessary basic research, and strengthen the global mycology network. The use of fungi for unlocking the full potentials of the bioeconomy relies on such progress. The fungal kingdom can be an inspiration for even more.
Measurement of Femoral Anteversion by Biplane Radiography and Computed Tomography Imaging: Comparison With an Anatomic Reference

Kuo T, Skedros J, Bloebaum R. Measurement of femoral anteversion by biplane radiography and computed tomography imaging: comparison with an anatomic reference. Invest Radiol 2003;38:221–229. Rationale and Objectives.The ability of biplane radiography and standard computed tomography (CT) imaging techniques to measure accurately the human femoral anteversion was evaluated and compared with an anatomic reference: the osteometric method. Methods.Femoral anteversion of 10 normal adult cadaveric human femora were determined using a standardized anatomic measurement method (the anatomic reference) and the 2 selected common imaging techniques (biplane radiography and CT). Results.On average, anteversion measurements using biplane radiography were 21/2 times greater in magnitude than measurements using the anatomic reference (absolute mean difference, 13.5°;P = 0.004). In contrast, the discrepancy between CT and anatomic reference measurements was notably less and not statistically significant (absolute mean difference, 2.8°;P = 0.351). In addition, biplane radiography demonstrated greater inter- and intrarater variability than CT imaging for repeated measurements of the same bone specimens. Conclusions.Compared with the anatomic reference, CT imaging was an accurate and valid technique for measuring the femoral anteversion. In contrast, biplane radiography demonstrated significant inconsistencies in the measurement of this anatomic parameter.
Performance evaluation of a picture archiving and communication network using stochastic activity networks

A fiber-optic star-based picture archiving and communication system (PACS) network that is based on a multiplexed passive star local area network with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) to provide separate logical channels for transfer of control and image data is discussed. The system consists of an image network (INET), for image transfer at a rate of 140 Mb/s, and a control network (CNET), operating at 10 Mb/s, for mediating the flow of image transfers. INET is a circuit switched network devoted solely to image transfer, while CNET employs the CSMA/CD protocol for bus arbitration. Stochastic activity networks were used to develop a detailed model of the command and image channels. The performance of the system was then evaluated under realistic workload conditions. In particular, a number of important performance variables, including the image response time, command channel delay, and queue length at each type of node and the network supervisor, are estimated. The results (1) show that stochastic activity networks are an appropriate model type for evaluating picture archiving and communication systems, (2) delineate the workload conditions under which PACS may effectively operate, and (3) show that even when these conditions are exceeded, the command channel load remains extremely light.
A Truthful Online Mechanism for Location-Aware Tasks in Mobile Crowd Sensing

Effective incentive mechanisms are invaluable in mobile crowd sensing, for stimulating participation of smartphone users. Online auction mechanisms represent a natural solution for such sensing task allocation. Departing from existing studies that focus on an isolated system round, we optimize social cost across the system lifespan, while considering location constraints and capacity constraints when assigning sensing tasks to users. The winner determination problem (WDP) at each round is NP-hard even without inter-round coupling imposed by user capacity constraints. We first propose a truthful one-round auction, comprising of an approximation algorithm for solving the one-round WDP and a payment scheme for computing remuneration to winners. We then propose an online algorithm framework that employs the one-round auction as a building block towards a flexible mechanism that makes on-spot decisions upon dynamically arriving bids. Through both theoretical analysis and trace-driven simulations, we demonstrate that our online auction is truthful, individually rational, computationally efficient, and achieves a good competitive ratio.
Assessment Model for Improving Group-Buying Websites Based on A Novel Hybrid Approach

Online group buying has become increasingly prevalent and its fast emergence fulfills many modern consumers’ requirements for unbelievable discounts on premium products and services. At the same moment, a plethora of group-buying website options is available to consumers. However, the evaluation of group-buying websites was seldom being discussed. Thus, this paper aims to construct a new hybrid approach combining fuzzy DEMATEL (decision making trial and evaluation laboratory)ANP (analytic network process) to clarify the interrelated relationships among various dimensions/criteria and determine the relative weights of each criterion with dependence and feedback. Then, the GRA (grey relational analysis) method is applied to the ranking and selection of alternatives. Four Chinese group-buying websites are evaluated to verify the usefulness and effectiveness of this method. The empirical results indicate that reputation of website, personalized features and experience sharing are the top three important criteria and website A is the best choice of all the alternatives. In addition, this hybrid approach may extend to the other related subject areas.
Heparan sulfate and development : a study of NDST deficient mice and embryonic stem cells.

Heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans consist of sulfated HS chains covalently bound to core proteins. They are ubiquitously expressed, on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix, throughout the body. During biosynthesis the HS chain is modified to generate a highly variable pattern of sulfated residues, able to interact with a wide variety of ligands, such as growth factors, morphogens and extracellular matrix molecules. The presence of HS proteoglycans is crucial during various developmental processes as they are involved in generation of morphogen gradients and influence the function of several growth factor pathways essential for tissue assembly and differentiation.In this thesis the phenotypes of two mouse strains, deficient in different isoforms of the HS biosynthetic enzyme N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase (NDST) have been analyzed. In addition, NDST deficient embryonic stem (ES) cells have been analyzed with regard to HS structure and differentiation capacity. Mice deficient in NDST1 die peri-natally. The embryos display an overall low-sulfated HS and several developmental defects, with a lung phenotype as the predominant cause of death. Mice deficient in NDST2 lack sulfated heparin in connective tissue type mast cells while HS structure is unaltered. These results indicate that NDST1 is the isoform mainly responsible for HS biosynthesis during development. However, NDST1/2 deficient embryos do not survive beyond E5.5 and have a greatly disturbed morphology, suggesting that NDST2 has an essential role during early embryonic development. HS synthesized by NDST1/2 deficient ES cells had a total lack of N-sulfate groups while, interestingly, about half of the 6-O-sulfate groups remained. This result was unexpected since 6-O-sulfotransferases have been thought to be strictly dependent on N-sulfate groups for substrate recognition. Further characterization of the NDST1/2 deficient ES cells during in vitro differentiation demonstrated that the expression pattern of markers for all three germ layers was disturbed. In addition, it was demonstrated that NDST1 is not needed for mast cell development, that lack of NDST2 results in abnormal mast cells and that no mast cells is formed from NDST1/2 deficient ES cells.
CEW-DTW: A new time series model for text mining

The keyword information is usually applied to describe answers. In most of the previous studies, researchers usually rank answers according to keyword retrieval, which fails to consider the importance of the time sequence of keywords in answers. In this paper, we propose CEW-DTW, a new time series model for answer ranking. This model considers the importance of the time sequence of keywords as well as the amount of keywords. CEW-DTW is developed from a carefully designed model, Dynamic Time Warping-Delta (DTW-D). We choose Amazon question/answer data as our evaluation dataset. We apply Entropy to remove noise in answer vectors. In experiments, we apply normalized discounted cumulative gain (nDCG) as the assess rule to test models. CEW-DTW is proven to have a better performance than Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and Dynamic Time Warping-Delta (DTW-D) in answer ranking. An extensive set of evaluation results demonstrates the effectiveness of the CEW-DTW model for answer ranking.