Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust distillation for worst-class performance: on the interplay between teacher and student objectives

Knowledge distillation is a popular technique that has been shown to produce remarkable gains in average accuracy. However, recent work has shown that these gains are not uniform across subgroups in the data, and can often come at the cost of accuracy on rare subgroups and classes. Robust optimization is a common remedy to improve worst-class accuracy in standard learning settings, but in distillation it is unknown whether it is best to apply robust objectives when training the teacher, the student, or both. This work studies the interplay be-tween robust objectives for the teacher and student. Empirically, we show that that jointly modifying the teacher and student objectives can lead to better worst-class student performance and even Pareto improvement in the trade-off between worst-class and overall performance. Theoretically, we show that the per-class calibration of teacher scores is key when training a robust student. Both the theory and experiments support the surprising ﬁnding that applying a robust teacher training objective does not always yield a more robust student.
Spatial patterns in age‐ and colony‐specific survival in a long‐lived seabird across 14 contrasting colonies

Demographic rates such as recruitment and survival probability can vary considerably among populations of the same species due to variation in underlying environmental processes. If environmental processes are spatially correlated, nearby populations are expected to have more similar demographic rates than those further apart. Breeding populations and foraging ranges are spatially segregated in colonial seabirds, making them ideal for studying spatial patterns in demographic rates and their effects on local population dynamics. Here we explored variation in age-dependent survival probabilities across 14 colonies of Herring Gulls Larus argentatus breeding along the Dutch North Sea coast. We used long-term mark – recapture data of marked ﬂ edglings to estimate survival, and estimated spatial autocorrelation of survival probabilities. We assessed whether survival until recruitment age or until 10 years old (close to their expected lifespan) explained variation in population trajectories of each colony. Juvenile and adult survival showed a strong, but different, north-to-south gradient in survival probability, with lower juvenile but higher adult survival in northern colonies than southern colonies, whereas the spatial pattern of immature survival was less distinct. Neither recruitment nor the proportion of 10-year-old adults alive predicted whether a colony collapsed, declined, remained stable or increased. The distinct spatial pattern in survival suggests variation in regional food availability, which do not seem to drive local population dynamics. The absence of a link between survival and colony trajectories implies that connectivity between populations plays an important role affecting population dynamics.
How I Treat How I treat fragile myeloma patients

Multiple myeloma (MM) is largely a disease of older adults, with a median age at diagnosis of 70 years. A consistent and continuous increase in life expectancy is recorded worldwide and the global population is rapidly aging. Consequently, the number of patients with MM is expected to considerably increase by nearly 80% each year in the next 2 decades. Although effective novel agents and supportive care have substantially improved outcome, patients $75 years have a shorter survival. Thus, a deeper knowledge of the factors causing such poor outcomes is needed. Aging is a complex process characterized by a gradual, progressive decrease in physiological reserve, with changes in body composition and clinically significant reductions in renal, gastric, hepatic, and cardiovascular functions. It is commonly associated with the concomitant occurrence of multiple diseases (comorbidity), and an increased risk of developing physical and cognitive decline (disability). In addition, older people are at high risk of developing cancer and frailty. Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability, with cumulative deficits in several physiological systems, which results in diminished resistance to stressors such as MM and its treatment. This state has a negative effect on patients’ quality of life (QoL) and on treatment efficacy and tolerability,with a consequent increase in health care costs. Approximately one-third of MM patients at diagnosis are frail. Yet, these patients are poorly characterized, underrepresented, or even excluded from clinical trials due to stringent eligibility criteria or the presence of comorbidities, abnormal laboratory test results, and physical disability. Thus, frail patients usually receive regimens tested in fit patients, which may be too toxic for them and lead to early treatment discontinuation, low efficacy, and poor QoL. On the contrary, fit elderly patients may receive reduced-dose treatments based solely on their age. An appropriate definition of frailty is fundamental to better assess patients and provide themwith effective, tailored treatments. Clinical case: a frail patient successfully treated with reduced-dose treatments
Studies on the age and growth of the oil-sardineSardinella longiceps Val. by means of scales

A sound knowledge of age and growth of fishes is of prime importance in the management and forecast of their fisheries. Conflicting views have been expressed regarding the age and the life span of the oil-sardine based on the studies of the growth-checks of its scales, otoliths and the length-frequency. Hornell and Nayudu (1923) concluded that the fish attains sexual maturity and adult size of 15 cm. at the end of one year and that the life span of the oil sardine is limited to 2\ years, based on the growth-rings . of the scales. Devanesan (1943) detected the, first growth ring on the scales of fish of 6.5 cm. in length and six of them in fish of 8.7 cm. , and. suggested that nine and fourteen "rings" may be expected in the fish of 15 and 18 cm. group respectively and that the fish might live for fourteen years, ^air (1949), working on the oil-sardine otoliths, stated that the fish live for three years; and later (1952) stated that it is probable that the growth-checks detected on the otoliths of the oil-sardine, especially the first two, are formed during the summer when the phytoplankton is scarce and that the third ring formed in some is either due to the same cause or due to the suspension of their feeding activity during spawning. Nair (1960), in a review, suggested that the average life span of the fish is "about 3 to 4 years. " Chidambaram (1950) studied the length-frequency of the fish and concluded that its life span is four years. For resolving the' above-said divergences of views on age and growth it was felt desirable to undertake a detailed study of its scales; and, therefore, the scale data and the length-frequency data were simultaneously collected at Calicut and Cochin. Balan (1959) in a preliminary note based on scale-studies and length frequency data indicated that the biggest fish have, without doubt, completed three years of their life.
HOPE: High-order Graph ODE For Modeling Interacting Dynamics

Leading graph ordinary differential equation (ODE) models have offered generalized strategies to model interacting multi-agent dynamical systems in a data-driven approach. They typically consist of a temporal graph encoder to get the initial states and a neural ODE-based generative model to model the evolution of dynamical systems. However, existing methods have severe deficiencies in capacity and efficiency due to the failure to model high-order correlations in long-term temporal trends. To tackle this, in this paper, we propose a novel model named High-Order graPh ODE (HOPE) for learning from dynamic interaction data, which can be naturally represented as a graph. It first adopts a twin graph encoder to initialize the latent state representations of nodes and edges, which consists of two branches to capture spatio-temporal correlations in complementary manners. More importantly, our HOPE utilizes a second-order graph ODE function which models the dynamics for both nodes and edges in the latent space respectively, which enables efficient learning of long-term dependencies from complex dynamical systems. Experiment results on a variety of datasets demonstrate both the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method.
Morphological and Genetic Differentiation Among Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus Populations in Macaronesia

Summary. Macaronesia, a group of archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde) in the Atlantic Ocean, is one of the global biodiversity hot-spots. However, for species that occur throughout these archipelagos the extent of genetic and morphological differentiation between the archipelagos and mainland Iberia and Africa is often unknown. Here we investigate phenotypic and genetic differentiation of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus, the most common breeding shorebird of Macaronesia. We show strong genetic and moderate morphological differences among breeding populations. Our results suggest that although these populations are far from being a species-level endemism, they deserve conservation attention given their uniqueness in terms of genetic variation. Recent loss in suitable breeding sites in Canary Islands and Azores put substantial pressure on the extant plover populations. Further studies of the conservation status and threat to these populations are needed along with a comprehensive conservation action plan to halt population decline and facilitate recovery.
Hydroxamate siderophore secretion by Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis during steady-state and transient growth under iron limitation

The kinetics of growth and siderophore secretion by Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis, a γ-proteobacterium from Fe-deficient waters of the subarctic Pacific Ocean, were examined under Fe-limiting conditions. Hydroxamate siderophore concentration was about 4-fold higher in batch cultures grown in low than in high Fe medium. Addition of Fe to the Fe-limited cultures increased cell growth and electron transport system (ETS) activity and repressed siderophore secretion. In continuous culture, hydroxamate concentration increased by 4-fold and the net cellular hydroxamate siderophore secretion rate (NSSR) decreased by 20% as Fe was made more limiting to growth. An instantaneous decrease in chemostat dilution rate caused a reduction in ETS activity but had no effect on NSSR. However, pulsed addition of Fe to the chemostats significantly increased the hydroxamate concentration to a maximum within 6 to 12 h, which then subsequently declined as the cultures returned to steady state. The cellular NSSR doubled immediately after the perturbation and then dropped off to a minimum when ETS rates were fastest. Continuous addition of low levels of Fe to the chemostats increased the hydroxamate concentration in direct proportion to the quantity of Fe added, suggesting bacteria maintained tight control over Fe availability in the medium. The results show an unexpected increase in hydroxamate concentration in Fe-limited bacterial cultures following Fe enrichment and are consistent with the hypothesis that some of the Fe-binding ligands produced in iron-fertilized ocean waters are microbial siderophores.
Employing Crittercam to study habitat use and behavior of large sharks

Investigations of shark habitat use and foraging ecology have been hampered by inaccuracies inherent in many current methods. Although catch rates and acoustic telemetry may be appropriate for studying habitat use at a broad geographic scale, they are often not adequate for fine- scale determination of habitat use. Also, these techniques cannot provide data on how sharks behave in different habi- tats or on feeding behavior or social interactions. In this paper, we present a method that allows analysis of shark habitat use using an attached underwater video camera with an inte- grated time-depth recorder ('Crittercam'), which provides accurate, and continuous habitat use data on a fine geo- graphic scale, as well as a record of shark behavior. Deploy- ments on tiger sharks that were tracked simultaneously (n = 22) show that habitat use estimates of individual sharks may differ between Crittercam and acoustic tracking data. How- ever, average habitat use measured by acoustic tracking may be accurate if sample sizes are large.
EvoSL: A Large Open-Source Corpus of Changes in Simulink Models & Projects

Having readily available corpora is crucial for performing replication, reproduction, extension, and verification studies of existing research tools and techniques. MAT-LAB/Simulink is a de-facto standard tool in several safety-critical industries for system modeling and analysis, compiling models to code, and deploying code to embedded hardware. There is no commonly used corpus for large-scale model change studies because there is no readily available corpus. EvoSL is the first large corpus of Simulink projects that includes model and project changes and allows redistribution. EvoSL is available under a permissive open-source license and contains its collection and analysis tools. Using a subset of EvoSL, we replicated a case study of model changes on a single closed-source industrial project.
Acidic deposition: State of science and technology. Report 4. The regional acid deposition model and engineering model. Final report

The report describes the Regional Acid Deposition Model (RADM), a constantly evolving system of computational models that describe the major physical and chemical processes involved in acid deposition on a regional scale. RADM was developed by the Acid Deposition Modeling Project (ADMP), established at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in 1983 to design, develop, and implement a comprehensive modeling system suitable for assessment studies to be conducted as part of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP). The project was based at NCAR until 1987, when it moved to the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC) of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany as the focus of its work moved into model testing and application. The ADMP team developed the RADM system, performed preliminary evaluation, transferred the system to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and participated in NAPAP studies designed to test RADM and develop applications for the model.
Multi-Layer Neural Networks as Trainable Ladders of Hilbert Spaces

To characterize the functions spaces explored by multi-layer neural networks (NNs), we introduce Neural Hilbert Ladders (NHLs), a collection of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSes) that are defined iteratively and adaptive to training. First, we prove a correspondence between functions expressed by L -layer NNs and those belonging to L -level NHLs. Second, we prove generalization guarantees for learning the NHL based on a new complexity measure. Third, corresponding to the training of multi-layer NNs in the infinite-width mean-field limit, we derive an evolution of the NHL characterized by the dynamics of multiple random fields. Finally, we examine linear and shallow NNs from the new perspective and complement the theory with numerical results.
Assessment of Thyroid Hormone Level Alterations in Hepatitis B-Positive Serum Using a Quantitative Immunofluorescence Assay: A Randomized Controlled Trial

: This retrospective study aimed to assess the differences in serum biomarker levels, specifically thyroid hormone (free T4 and Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone [TSH]) levels, according to the presence or absence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection. Using a quantitative immunofluorescence assay, we analyzed serum samples from patients with confirmed HBV infection at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan Province, Republic of Korea, between August 2022 and September 2022. The study population was divided into two groups: Young individuals (<60 years) and older adults (≥60 years). Our findings indicated that differences in thyroid hormone levels between HBV-positive and negative participants were not significant. However, when considering age groups, TSH and free T4 levels in young individuals with HBV-positive serum were 1.78±0.09 µIU/mL (normal range: 0.4-5.0 µIU/mL) and 1.24±0.02 ng/mL (normal range: 0.8-1.9 ng/mL), respectively. In older adults with HBV-positive serum, the corresponding values were 2.22±0.17 µIU/mL and 1.24±0.07 ng/mL, respectively. Our results suggest that the influence of HBV on anti-pituitary hormone levels is age-dependent rather than virus related. Furthermore, the quantitative immunofluorescence method used in this study provides a simpler alternative to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for assessing serological thyroid hormone levels in patients with HBV. These findings can aid in the interpretation of diagnostic test results and the timely detection of metabolic changes associated with HBV infection.
Effect of Hydroxychloroquine in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19

Background Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have been proposed as treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the basis of in vitro activity, uncontrolled data, and small randomized studies. Methods The Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy (RECOVERY) trial is a randomized, controlled, open-label, platform trial comparing a range of possible treatments with usual care in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. We report the preliminary results for the comparison of hydroxychloroquine vs. usual care alone. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Results 1561 patients randomly allocated to receive hydroxychloroquine were compared with 3155 patients concurrently allocated to usual care. Overall, 421 (27.0%) patients allocated hydroxychloroquine and 790 (25.0%) patients allocated usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97 to 1.23; P=0.15). Consistent results were seen in all pre-specified subgroups of patients. The results suggest that patients allocated to hydroxychloroquine may be less likely to be discharged from hospital alive within 28 days (59.9% vs. 63.0%; rate ratio 0.90; 95% CI 0.84-0.98) and that those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline may be more likely to reach the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilation or death (30.2% vs. 26.8%; risk ratio 1.13; 95% CI 1.02-1.25). There was no excess of new major cardiac arrhythmia. Conclusions In patients hospitalized with COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine was not associated with reductions in 28-day mortality but was associated with an increased length of hospital stay and increased risk of progressing to invasive mechanical ventilation or death. Funding Medical Research Council and NIHR (Grant ref: MC_PC_19056). Trial registrations The trial is registered with ISRCTN (50189673) and clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04381936).
Learning styles and culture A practical application

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Agents on the Web: Personal Ontologies

Corporations can suffer from too much information, and it is often inaccessible, inconsistent, and incomprehensible. The corporate solution entails knowledge management techniques and data warehouses. The paper discusses the use of the personal ontology. The promising approach is an organization scheme based on a model of an office and its information, an ontology, coupled with the proper tools for using it.
Rethinking Visual Reconstruction: Experience-Based Content Completion Guided by Visual Cues

Decoding seen images from brain activities has been an absorbing ﬁeld. However, the reconstructed images still suffer from low quality with existing studies. This can be because our visual system is not like a camera that “remembers” every pixel. Instead, only part of the information can be perceived with our selective attention, and the brain “guesses” the rest to form what we think we see. Most existing approaches ignored the brain completion mechanism. In this work, we propose to reconstruct seen images with both the visual perception and the brain completion process, and design a simple, yet effective visual decoding framework to achieve this goal. Speciﬁcally, we ﬁrst construct a shared discrete representation space for both brain signals and images. Then, a novel self-supervised token-to-token inpainting network is designed to implement visual content completion by building context and prior knowledge about the visual objects from the discrete latent space. Our approach improved the quality of visual reconstruction signiﬁcantly and achieved state-of-the-art.
Loosely consistent emphatic temporal-difference learning

There has been signiﬁcant interest in searching for off-policy Temporal-Difference (TD) algorithms that ﬁnd the same solution that would have been obtained in the on-policy regime. An important property of such algorithms is that their expected update has the same ﬁxed point as that of On-policy TD( λ ), which we call loose consistency . Notably, Full-IS-TD( λ ) is the only existing loosely consistent method under general linear function approximation but, unfortunately, has a high variance and is scarcely practical. This notorious high variance issue motivates the introduction of ETD( λ ), which tames down the variance but has a biased ﬁxed point. Inspired by these two methods, we propose a new loosely consistent algorithm called Average Emphatic TD (AETD( λ )) with a transient bias, which strikes a balance between bias and variance. Further, we unify AETD( λ ) with existing methods and obtain a new family of loosely consistent algorithms called Loosely Consistent Emphatic TD (LC-ETD( λ , β , ν )), which can con-trol a smooth bias-variance trade-off by varying the speed at which the transient bias fades. Through experiments on illustrative examples, we show the effectiveness and practicality of LC-ETD( λ , β , ν ). 1