Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Reinforcement Learning Approach for Collaborative Filtering

In recent years, there has been much interest in recommender systems that provide users with personalized suggestions for products or services. In this paper we presents a reinforcement learning approach for collaborative filtering. First, we formalize the collaborative filtering problem as a Markov Decision Process. Then, we learn the connection between the time sequence of user ratings using Q-learning. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of our approach and a tight relationship between the past and current ratings.
Options for Improving Smallholder Conservation Agriculture in Zambia

This study examined the agronomic practices of smallholder Conservation Agriculture (CA) farmers in Zambia. Questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field assessments, desk study and soil analyses were employed to collect data on tillage systems, crop rotations, weed control, soil fertility management, crop residue retention and crop yields. The results showed that weed management, crop residue retention, timely planting and soil fertility management were the most challenging for CA farmers especially those without reliable access to oxen. Crop residue retention conflicted with the socio-cultural practices of the communities and was hardly practised while crop rotation seemed difficult in light of the dominance of maize cultivation and the lack of markets for crop legumes. Possible options for improving smallholder CA systems were greater integration of livestock, correct herbicide application, market provision for crop legumes, farmer training in agri-business and better access to agricultural credit and subsidized inputs. CA promoters must incorporate the farmers’ local cultural contexts in order to better address the challenges associated with adopting CA.
A new framework for numerical simulations of structure formation

In the absence of a full analytical treatment of nonlinear structure formation in the universe, numerical simulations provide the critical link between the properties of the underlying model and the features of the observed structures. Currently N-body simulations are the main tool to study structure growth. We explore an alternative framework for numerical simulations of structure formation. The underlying idea is to replace the long-range gravitational force in the Vlasov-Poisson system by a purely local interaction. To this end we trade the classical phase space distribution for its quantum mechanical counterpart, the Wigner distribution function. Its dynamical equation is equivalent to the Schrodinger equation and reduces to the Vlasov equation in the formal semi-classical limit. The proposed framework allows in principle to simulate systems with arbitrary phase space distributions and could for instance be beneficial for simulations of warm dark matter, where the velocity dispersion is important. We discuss several methods to obtain a set of wavefunctions whose Wigner distribution is close to a given initial phase space distribution function. An auxiliary gauge field is introduced to mediate the gravitational interaction, thereby obtaining a local Schrodinger-Maxwell system. We also use the ideas of lattice gauge theories to obtain a fully gauge-invariant discretization of the equations of motion. Their iterative solution was implemented in a three-dimensional simulation code. We discuss its computational complexity and memory requirements. Several testbed simulations were performed with this method. We compared the gravitational collapse of a Gaussian wavefunction with an independent numerical solution of the spherically symmetric Schrodinger-Newton system. The results were found to be in good agreement. Finally, a simple example of the growth of cosmic perturbations is investigated within our framework. We conclude by outlining various possible directions to optimize and develop our method.
First-principles studies of FeS 2 using many-body perturbation theory in the G 0 W 0 approximation

We present a theoretical study on iron pyrite using density-functional theory (DFT) and the GW approximation to many-body perturbation theory. The fundamental band gap of iron pyrite is determined by iron 3d states at the valence band edge and a sulfur 3p-dominated conduction band at . The gap is quite sensitive to structural changes as well as to the applied electronic structure method. We found that this p-dominated band does not play a significant role for the optical absorption, leading to a large difference between the optical and fundamental band gaps of iron pyrite. As a consequence the GW -corrected energies result in no considerable change of the optical band gap as compared to standard DFT, both being in reasonable agreement with experiment. However, we show that the fundamental band gap is reduced to about 0.3 eV in GW , which may contribute to the low open-circuit voltage of about 0.2 V observed in iron pyrite solar cells, representing a serious bottleneck for photovoltaic applications. To demonstrate that this unconventional reduction of the p-d gap is not unique for iron pyrite, similarities for FeS2 in the marcasite structure are presented.
Effect of Cinnamon , Propolis , or Their Combination on Blood Glucose , Body Weight , Feed Efficiency Ratio and Relative Organs Weights in Rats with Diabetes Mellitus

Since ancient times, cinnamon and propolis have been used as folk medicine with reported beneficial effects on various clinical conditions. According to previous studies cinnamon and propolis may have a positive effect on glycemic control in diabetes mellitus. The present investigation was assigned to study the effect of cinnamon , propolis ,or their combination on blood glucose levels, body weight, feed efficiency ratio, body weight gain, and relative organs weights in diabetic rats compared to normal rats. Thirty male albino rats were randomly divided into two main groups. The first group (n=6) was considered as negative control non diabetic rats (group 1). The other group of rats (24 rats) was subjected for intravenous injection with recrystalyzed alloxan to induce hyperglycemia. The diabetic rats were randomly assigned to four equal groups. (Group 2) alloxan induced, untreated rats (n=6) were chosen as positive control and the other three groups (groups 3,4 and5) were given stomach tube with cinnamon, propolis ,or mixture of cinnamon and propolis, respectively. The concentration of dry material were 10 mg cinnamon /ml, and 3 mg propolis /ml and mixture of 10 mg cinnamon and 3 mg propolis /ml for groups 3,4 and 5 respectively intragastrically once daily for 6 weeks(all groups were fed the basal diet). The results showed that treatment of diabetic rats with cinnamon, propolis and their combination led to decrease in serum glucose levels, compared with diabetic control group. The best treatment that improved serum glucose level was the combination of cinnamon &propolis. Regarding BWG% and FER of rats, there were very highly significant differences between positive and negative control groups. Body weight of normal control group rats was significantly higher than the three treated groups as well as the FER. But there was no significant difference between CINN, PROP and CINN+PROP in BWG either in BWG% or FER. There were no significant differences among the treated groups in liver weights. Also, there were insignificant differences among the mean values of relative weights for kidney, heart and spleen in the treated groups (3,4and5) . While, these values were significantly lower than those of diabetic control group. For relative brain weight, normal control group showed significantly higher value compared to the other groups. While, there were insignificant differences among the relative brain weights in the treated groups (3, 4&5) which demonstrated significantly lower values compared to those in the positive control group.
Quantum Gravity Correction to Dirac Equation via Vacuum Coupling Contribution

Generalized Dirac equation containing vacuum-mass contribution is introduced. The vacuum-mass contribution arises due to the coupling of quantum mechanical matter field with the vacuum field. Vacuum stress energy tensor arises in the Scalar-Tensor Field equation (Extended Einstein's Field equation), implies a mass like corrections to the newly formulated Dirac equation. Apart from the inertial mass of the electron, generalized Dirac equation proposed here, contains a mass-term as a result of vacuum field coupling.
Comparative Evaluation of Hard and Soft Tissue Midface Dimensions of Class I and Class III Individuals Using CBCT

Introduction: Augmenting the malar area enhances the angularity and fullness of the mid face. Pop culture portrays people with high malar prominence and angular faces as beautiful and exotic. (1) On the other hand, people with mid face deficiency tend to have a gaunt or hollow mid face leading to increased show of the sclera inferior to the pupil. Materials and Method: Thirty Class I and 30 Class III CBCT images (16 male, 14 female - each group) between the age group of 14-20 years were included in the study. Data collected from the patients reporting to the Insight CBCT Center, Pune. The CBCT images were analyzed with creation of hard and soft tissue slices for PPA and results were drawn with statistical analysis. Results: The Class I male horizontal slices had smaller measurements (P
DCT-MLP based approach for Off-line Signature Verification

In this paper, we propose a transformation based approach for off-line signature verification. The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is used to transform the signature image from spatial domain to frequency domain for compact representation of the signature sample with few coefficients as features. The proposed approach comprises of three major phases: Preprocessing, Feature extraction and Classification. The preprocessed samples are fed into DCT and hence the top-left M × N coefficients are extracted as the representative features. The Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP), a well known classifier is used for classification and the performance is measured through FAR/FRR metrics. Experiments have been conducted on standard signature datasets namely: CEDAR and GPDS-160, and MUKOS, a regional language (Kannada) dataset. The comparative study is also provided with the well known approaches to exhibit the performance of the proposed approach.
Long-term statistical assessment of Aqua-MODIS aerosol optical depth over coastal regions: bias characteristics and uncertainty sources

Coastal regions around the globe represent a major source for anthropogenic aerosols in the atmosphere, but the surface characteristics may not be optimal for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) algorithms designed for aerosol retrievals over dark land or ocean surfaces. Using data collected from 62 coastal stations worldwide by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) in 2002–2011, statistical assessments of uncertainties are conducted for coastal aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from MODIS measurements aboard the Aqua satellite (i.e., the Collection 5.1 MYD04 data product generated by the MODIS atmosphere group). It is found that coastal AODs (at 550 nm) characterised respectively by the Dark Land algorithm and the Dark Ocean algorithm all exhibit a log-normal distribution, which contrasts to the near-normal distribution of their corresponding biases. After data filtering using quality flags, the MODIS AODs from both the Dark Land and Dark Ocean algorithms over coastal regions are highly correlated with AERONET AODs (R 2≈0.8), but both have larger uncertainties than their counterparts (of MODIS AODs) over land and open ocean. Overall, the Dark Ocean algorithm overestimates the AERONET coastal AOD by 0.021 for AOD < 0.25 and underestimates it by 0.029 for AOD > 0.25. This dichotomy is shown to be related to the ocean-surface wind speed and cloud-contamination effects on the MODIS aerosol retrievals. Consequently, an empirical correction scheme is formulated that uses cloud fraction and sea-surface wind speed from Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) to correct the AOD bias from the Dark Ocean algorithm, and it is shown to be effective over the majority of the coastal AERONET stations to (a) simultaneously reduce both the mean and the spread of the bias and (b) improve the trend analysis of AOD. Further correlation analysis performed after such an empirical bias correction shows that the MODIS AOD is also likely impacted by the concentration of suspended particulate matter in coastal waters, which is not taken into account during the MODIS AOD retrievals. While mathematically the MODIS AODs over the global coastal AERONET sites show statistically significant discrepancies (p<1%) from their respective AERONET-measured counterparts in terms of mean and frequency, different applications of MODIS AODs in climate and air-quality studies often have their own tolerances of uncertainties. Nevertheless, it is recommended that an improved treatment of varying sea-surface wind and sediment over coastal waters be an integral part in the continuous evolution of the MODIS AOD retrieval algorithms.
A Learning-Based Account of L1 vs. L2Cluster Repair Differences

Children acquiring a first language and adults acquiring a second language both encounter marked phonological structures that exceed the production abilities of their developing grammars. Although these marked structures may be the same, child L1 learners and adult L2 learners often differ in their preferred means of avoiding them. Onset consonant clusters provide a case in point: while child L1 learners typically repair these structures through deletion (e.g., Dyson & Paden 1983, McLeod et al. 2001, Preisser et al. 1988), adult L2 learners typically make use of epenthesis (e.g., Abrahamsson 1999, Carlisle 1991, 1997, 2006, Eckman 1981, Lin 2001, Weinberger 1987, 1994). Past accounts of these differences between the learner populations have generally relied on a greater responsiveness to functional communicative concerns among adult learners. Weinberger’s (1987, 1994) Recoverability Principle, for example, attributes the increased rate of epenthesis among adult L2 learners to a desire to preserve all of the input segments, thereby facilitating listeners’ lexical retrieval. Under this account, the distinct behaviour of L1 and L2 learners is effectively attributed to the age and linguistic development of the learners, rather than to the structure of the grammar or the effects of the L1 on the L2 learning process. This paper argues for an account based on transfer of covert elements of the L1 grammar to the L2 initial state. In particular, I show that a bias toward different cluster repair strategies emerges automatically when an Optimality-Theoretic (OT; McCarthy & Prince 1995, Prince & Smolensky 1993/2004) grammar is learned using the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA; Boersma 1998, Boersma & Hayes 2001). Errors during the L1 learning process give rise to a covert MAX-C >> DEP-V ranking; when this ranking is transferred as part of the initial state for L2 learning, a preference for epenthesis repairs results. These effects are robust across learning simulations, illustrating how the process of L1 acquisition can ultimately affect L2 learning. The rest of this paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents the basic OT account of deletion and epenthesis repairs and briefly summarizes some evidence regarding differences in L1 vs. L2 repair preferences. Section 3 introduces the GLA. Section 4 presents two toy languages and shows how different patterns emerge when these are learned as an L1 vs. as an L2. Section 5 discusses some of the predictions that arise from these simulations, and considers how additional factors might influence the results. Section 6 concludes.
Lidar plots — a new large-area data collection option: context, concepts, and case study

Forests are an important global resource, playing key roles in both the environment and the economy. The implementation of quality national monitoring programs is required for the generation of robust national statistics, which in turn support global reporting. Conventional monitoring initiatives based on samples of field plots have proven robust but are difficult and costly to implement and maintain, especially for large jurisdictions or where access is difficult. To address this problem, air photo- and satellite-based large area mapping and monitoring programs have been developed; however, these programs also require ground measurements for calibration and validation. To mitigate this need for ground plot data we propose the collection and integration of light detection and ranging (lidar) based plot data. Lidar enables accurate measures of vertical forest structure, including canopy height, volume, and biomass. Rather than acquiring wall-to-wall lidar coverage, we propose the acquisition of a sample of scanned lidar transects to estimate conditions over large areas. Given an appropriate sampling framework, statistics can be generated from the lidar plots extracted from the transects. In other instances, the lidar plots may be treated similar to ground plots, providing locally relevant information that can be used independently or integrated with other data sources, including optical remotely sensed data. In this study we introduce the concept of “lidar plots” to support forest inventory and scientific applications, particularly for large areas. Many elements must be considered when planning a transect-based lidar survey, including survey design, flight and sensor parameters, acquisition considerations, mass data processing, and database development. We present a case study describing the acquisition of over 25 000 km of lidar data in Canada's boreal forests in the summer of 2010. The survey, which included areas of managed and unmanaged forests, resulted in the production of more than 17 million 25 × 25 m lidar plots with first returns greater than 2 m in height. We conclude with insights gained from the case study and recommendations for future surveys.
A Direct Approach to Subspace Identification of Linear Repetitive Processes

The paper presents a direct approach to the identification of the LRPs based on subspace algorithms. The order of a LRP and the unknown process matrices are determined based on the input and output sequences of the actual pass and the output sequence of the previous pass. The proposed approach can be very useful not only for time invariant LRPs but also for processes with slowly evolving dynamics or processes which dynamics changes rapidly from pass to pass. Simulation examples are provided to illustrate convergence of parameter estimates and the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Deliberate body disposal by hominins in the Dinaledi Chamber , Cradle of Humankind , South Africa ?

a Department of Geoscience, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia b Evolutionary Studies Institute, DST/NFR Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa c Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53593, USA d School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa
In Hospital Morbidity and Mortality of Chronic Renal Disease in a Country where Access to Dialysis is Limited

In this study, we sought to investigate the morbidity and mortality due to chronic renal failure (CRF) in a hospital with very limited access to renal replacement therapy. We did a retrospective study conducted at the Department of Nephrology at Donka National Hospital in Conakry (Guinea) over a period of 6 years, from January 1st 2006 to December 31st, 2011. Were included into the study, all patients hospitalized in the ward for chronic renal failure whose records were complete; 484 records (H 56.40% F 43.60%) were used. The average age was of 41.9 ± 15.17 years (15- 80 years). Three hundred and thirty-seven patients (69.63%) were under educated. Housewives and workers accounted for 55.60% of the population. Renal failure was moderate in 14%, severe in 21% and renal failure in 65%. Proteinuria was positive in 359 patients. Probable causes were chronic glomerulonephritis (37.8%), vascular nephropathy (31.2%), interstitial nephropathy (9.9%), diabetic nephropathy (7.4%), a HIVAN (3.3%), polycystic kidney disease (1.9%); the nephropathy was undetermined in 8.5% of cases. The risk factors for renal disease were hypertension in 371 cases (76.65%), consumption of nephrotoxic drugs in 328 cases (67.76%), smoking in 99 cases (12.39%) and diabetes in 51 cases (10.5%). Only 315 patients underwent hemodialysis; 20% died. Among the causes of death: anemia, heart failure, HIV, pericarditis, and stroke were statistically significant.
On non-abelian Stark-type conjectures

— We introduce non-abelian generalizations of Brumer’s conjecture, the Brumer-Stark conjecture and the strong Brumer-Stark property attached to a Galois CM-extension of number fields. Moreover, we discuss how they are related to the equivariant Tamagawa number conjecture, the strong Stark conjecture and a non-abelian generalization of Rubin’s conjecture due to D. Burns. Résumé. — Nous présentons des généralisations non abéliennes de la conjecture de Brumer, de la conjecture de Brumer-Stark et de la propriété forte de BrumerStark, qui sont associées à une CM-extension galoisienne de corps de nombres. De plus, nous étudions les liens avec la conjecture équivariante sur les nombres de Tamagawa, la conjecture forte de Stark et la généralisation non abélienne d’une conjecture de Rubin due à D. Burns. Let L/K be a finite Galois CM-extension of number fields with Galois group G. To each finite set S of places of K which contains all the infinite places, one can associate a so-called “Stickelberger element” θS(L/K) in the center of the group ring algebra CG. This Stickelberger element is defined via L-values at zero of S-truncated Artin L-functions attached to the (complex) characters of G. Let us denote the roots of unity of L by μL and the class group of L by clL. Assume that S contains the set Sram of all finite primes of K which ramify in L/K. Then it was independently shown in [8], [13] and [1] that for abelian G one has (0.1) AnnZG(μL)θS(L/K) ⊂ ZG. Now Brumer’s conjecture asserts that AnnZG(μL)θS(L/K) annihilates clL. There is a large body of evidence in support of Brumer’s conjecture (cf. the expository article [14]); in particular, C. Greither [15] has shown that the appropriate special case of the equivariant Tamagawa number conjecture (ETNC) as formulated by Burns and Flach [6] implies the p-part of Brumer’s conjecture for an odd prime p if the p-part of μL is a c.t. (short
Birds as tourism flagship species: a case study of tropical islands

Species selected as flagships to promote conservation activities around the world are typically well known and charismatic mega‐fauna. Unfortunately this limits the scope for applying the concept as some critical areas for biodiversity conservation, such as tropical islands, lack such species. In this study, we explore the potential to apply the concept of ‘tourism flagship species’ to tropical island birds of the Seychelles, an archipelago of considerable importance for conservation that is highly dependent on international tourism. In particular we wish to identify which species attributes are most influential with regard to their potential for fundraising among international tourists. Using a choice experiment approach and using state‐of‐the‐art econometric methods, we found that conservation attributes and physical appearance of the bird species are both important in terms of raising funds for conservation. Nevertheless, conservation attributes ranked higher in the respondents preferences. Our results suggest that there is considerable potential for a variety of species to effectively act as flagships in developing nations that are dependent on international tourism and rich in biodiversity but lack charismatic fauna.