Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reference Knowledgeable Network for Machine Reading Comprehension

Multi-choice Machine Reading Comprehension (MRC) as a challenge requires models to select the most appropriate answer from a set of candidates with a given passage and question. Most of the existing researches focus on the modeling of specific tasks or complex networks, without explicitly referring to relevant and credible external knowledge sources, which are supposed to greatly make up for the deficiency of the given passage. Thus we propose a novel reference-based knowledge enhancement model called <italic/><italic>Reference</italic> <italic>Knowledgeable</italic> <italic>Network (RekNet)</italic>, which simulates human reading strategies to refine critical information from the passage and quote explicit knowledge in necessity. In detail, <italic>RekNet</italic> refines fine-grained critical information and defines it as <italic>Reference Span</italic>, then quotes explicit knowledge quadruples by the co-occurrence information of <italic>Reference Span</italic> and candidates. The proposed <italic>RekNet</italic> is evaluated on three multi-choice MRC benchmarks: RACE, DREAM and Cosmos QA, obtaining consistent and remarkable performance improvement with observable statistical significance level over strong baselines. Our code is available at <uri>https://github.com/Yilin1111/RekNet</uri>.
A quantum chemical determination of diabatic states

A simple electronic‐structure‐based construction of diabatic states from adiabatic states is formulated. It is accomplished by maximizing the configurational uniformity of the diabatic states with respect to the dominant configurations throughout the entire coordinate space. No configurational constraints are introduced. No matrix elements of additional, derivative, or nonderivative operators have to be calculated. The matrix elements between the diabatic states are simply expressible in terms of the adiabatic energies and wave function coefficients.
Hyperballistic Superdiffusion and Explosive Solutions to the Non-Linear Diffusion Equation

By means of a particle model that includes interactions only via the local particle concentration, we show that hyperballistic diffusion may result. This is done by findng the exact solution of the corresponding non-linear diffusion equation, as well as by particle simulations. The connection between these levels of description is provided by the Fokker-Planck equation describing the particle dynamics. PACS numbers:
Potential of Improving the Treatment of Tuberculosis Through Nanomedicine

Current treatment of tuberculosis is inadequate due to lengthy treatment course and drug-related toxicity. To address these setbacks, we developed a nanotechnology drug delivery system that can be administered in a single dose that maintains an active level of drug for at least a week. Polymeric poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles of 200–300 nm were synthesized, with a drug encapsulation efficiency of 50–65% for isoniazid and rifampicin. The particles were taken up in vitro and in vivo and a slow release profile was observed in mice over 5 days. This study illustrates the feasibility of a sustained release system for tuberculosis treatment.
CoEdge: Cooperative DNN Inference With Adaptive Workload Partitioning Over Heterogeneous Edge Devices

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have driven increasing intelligent applications at the network edge, such as smart home, smart factory, and smart city. To deploy computationally intensive Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) on resource-constrained edge devices, traditional approaches have relied on either offloading workload to the remote cloud or optimizing computation at the end device locally. However, the cloud-assisted approaches suffer from the unreliable and delay-significant wide-area network, and the local computing approaches are limited by the constrained computing capability. Towards high-performance edge intelligence, the cooperative execution mechanism offers a new paradigm, which has attracted growing research interest recently. In this paper, we propose CoEdge, a distributed DNN computing system that orchestrates cooperative DNN inference over heterogeneous edge devices. CoEdge utilizes available computation and communication resources at the edge and dynamically partitions the DNN inference workload adaptive to devices’ computing capabilities and network conditions. Experimental evaluations based on a realistic prototype show that CoEdge outperforms status-quo approaches in saving energy with close inference latency, achieving up to 25.5% ~ 66.9% energy reduction for four widely-adopted CNN models.
The Effect of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics on CD4 Counts in HIV-Infected Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Probiotics as a potential adjuvant therapy may improve the restoration of the intestinal CD4+ T-cell population in HIV-infected patients, whereas findings from clinical trials are inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to quantify the effects of probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic supplementation on CD4 counts in HIV-infected patients. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for relevant articles published up to March 20, 2020. Two authors independently performed the study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment. Data were pooled by using the random effects model, and weighted mean difference (WMD) was considered the summary effect size. Publication bias was evaluated by a funnel plot and Egger's test. Results The search strategy identified 1712 citations. After screening, a total of 16 RCTs with 19 trials were included in the meta-analysis. Pooling of the extracted data indicated no significant difference between the probiotics/prebiotics/synbiotics and placebo groups on CD4 counts (WMD = 3.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) -24.72 to 32.45, P = 0.791). In subgroup analysis, a significant increase in CD4 counts was found in the study with high risk of bias (WMD = 188, 95% CI 108.74 to 227.26, P ≤ 0.001). Egger's test showed no evidence of significant publication bias (P = 0.936). Conclusions In summary, the evidence for the efficacy of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics in improving HIV-infected patients' CD4 counts as presented in currently published RCTs is insufficient. Therefore, further comprehensive studies are needed to reveal the exact effect of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics on CD4+ cell counts.
Molecular modelling of electron transfer systems by noncovalently linked porphyrin–acceptor pairing

In the respiratory system, electron carriers such as ubiqui-none and cytochrome c play an important role in the electron transfer (ET) reaction between oxidoreductases embedded in the mitochondrial membrane. This review focuses on a strategy for constructing porphyrin–electron acceptor pairs via specific interactions and the evaluation of ET in these systems. Particularly, the molecular recognition of ubiqui-none analogues by porphyrin host molecules and the mimicking of protein–protein complexation using myoglobin reconstituted with a synthetic porphyrin are reviewed, and the characteristics of the photoinduced ET within noncovalently linked complexes are discussed.
Healing of partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon after atelocollagen injection confirmed by MRI

Abstract Rationale: Recently, collagen therapy has been made available for treating rotator cuff tendon injuries. However, to our knowledge, there are no clinical studies objectively investigating the effect of collagen therapy. Patient concerns: A 53-year-old female patient visited our pain clinic because of pain in the right shoulder. Although she had never experienced trauma and had not overused her shoulder and arm, the patient showed limited range of motion with painful arc syndrome. Moreover, the Neer test and Hawkins–Kennedy test were positive with subacromial tenderness. Diagnoses: The MRI findings revealed partial tears on the articular surface of the anterior supraspinatus tendon in the rotator cuff. Interventions: The patient was treated with injections of exogenous collagen at the site of the partial tear under ultrasound guidance. Outcomes: Follow-up MRI after injection of collagen revealed healing of the previous partial rupture of the tendon without any complications. Moreover, the patient reported reduction in pain and improvement in the movement of her shoulder during the follow-up period. Lessons: In this report, we demonstrate healing of a partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon in the rotator cuff after injection of exogenous collagen, as confirmed by MRI.
Multi-Source Data-Driven Outage Location in Distribution Systems Using Probabilistic Graph Learning

Efficient outage location is critical to enhancing the resilience of power systems. However, accurate outage location requires combining massive evidence received from diverse data sources, including smart meter (SM) signals, customer trouble calls, social media messages, weather data, vegetation information, and physical parameters of the network. This is a computationally complex task due to the high dimensionality of data in distribution grids. In this paper, we propose a multi-source data fusion approach to locate outage events in partially observable distribution systems using Bayesian networks (BNs). A novel aspect of the proposed approach is that it takes multi-source evidence and the complex structure of distribution systems into account using a probabilistic graphical method. This method can radically reduce the computational complexity of outage location inference in high-dimensional spaces. The graphical structure of the proposed BN is established based on the grid's topology and the causal relationship between random variables, such as the states of branches/customers and evidence. Utilizing this graphical model, the locations of outages are obtained by leveraging a Gibbs sampling (GS) method, to infer the probabilities of de-energization for all branches. Compared with commonly-used exact inference methods that have exponential complexity in the size of the BN, GS quantifies the target conditional probability distributions in a timely manner. A case study of several real partially observable systems is presented to validate the method.
Bringing Back the “Social” to the “Unsocial” Media of Today

Social media serves many purposes: it connects friends, families and colleagues with each other, functions as a news aggregator, and fosters opinion formation and expression – it even has the power to create political movements. Further purposes, on the other hand, are surveillance and data exploitation and control over citizens by the government. Social media’s original intentions of communication and exchange of information have transformed into monopolies dominating their users by offering services with ulterior (financial) motives. Is social media “unsocial” rather than “social”? This paper provides an insight into the challenges social media pose and examines possible alternatives to bring back the “social” to the “unsocial” media of today.
The DIalysis Symptom COntrol-Restless Legs Syndrome (DISCO-RLS) Trial: A Protocol for a Randomized, Crossover, Placebo-Controlled Blinded Trial

Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) affects approximately 30% of patients with end-stage kidney disease and is associated with impaired sleep and health-related quality of life. Medications used to treat RLS in patients receiving dialysis may have an increased risk of adverse events with dose titration, and residual RLS symptoms are common despite the use of effective treatments. Randomized controlled trials of monotherapy and combination pharmacologic therapy for RLS in hemodialysis are needed. Objective: To perform a randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled blinded trial of pharmacologic therapy for RLS in hemodialysis. Design/setting: The DIalysis Symptom COntrol-Restless Legs Syndrome (DISCO-RLS) trial is a randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled blinded trial of fixed low-dose pharmacologic therapy in patients receiving hemodialysis in 10 centers across Canada. It uses patient partners in its design, conduct, and reporting. Participants: Adults receiving thrice-weekly hemodialysis for at least 3 months with RLS of at least mild symptoms defined International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group Rating Scale (IRLS) of 10 or more will enter a double placebo run-in period to exclude nonadherent participants and those unable to tolerate double placebo. Seventy-two participants who completed the run-in period will be randomized to 1 of 8 treatment sequences based on modeling with 4 treatment periods. Methods: Each treatment period lasts 4 weeks and consists of ropinirole 0.5 mg daily and gabapentin 100 mg daily, both together or neither with a double dummy placebo control for each treatment. The primary outcome is the difference in change scores of the IRLS between study treatments. Secondary outcomes are the differences in change scores of the Restless Legs Syndrome-6 Scale, patient global impression, 5-level EQ-5D version, and safety outcomes. Results: This randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled blinded trial will evaluate the efficacy and safety of fixed low-dose combination of ropinirole and gabapentin in patients receiving hemodialysis with RLS. Limitations: Patients with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis, kidney transplant recipients and those receiving peritoneal dialysis or home hemodialysis are not included. The intervention’s long term safety and efficacy including the risk of augmentation is not captured. Conclusion: This randomized crossover placebo controlled blinded trial will evaluate the efficacy and safety of fixed low-dose combination ropinirole and gabapentin in patients receiving hemodialysis with RLS. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03806530)
Chemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of Algae Surfaces

The surfaces of two algae species (Cyclotella cryptica, diatom; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, green alga) were characterized with regard to their interactions with copper. Chemical and spectroscopic methods (FT-IR, continuous-wave EPR, and two-pulse ESEEM) gave information about the kinds of functional groups (-NH2, R-COOH, R-OH, and Si-OH) on the surfaces of the algae. Maximum proton binding capacities of 9.7 × 10-4 and 9.1 × 10-4 mol/g algae (dry weight) were determined for C. cryptica and C. reinhardtii, respectively. The maximum Cu(II) binding capacity was 7.6 × 10-7 mol/g for the diatom and 6.2 × 10-6 mol/g for the green alga with [Cu2+] = 10-13−10-11 in solution (at pH 6.9). Less than 1% of the total proton binding sites are occupied by copper under these conditions. The high conditional stability constants (log K = 11.9 for C. cryptica and log K = 11.3 for C. reinhardtii, at pH 6.9) demonstrate the strong binding of copper to the algae surfaces. These results are confirmed by the CW-EPR and two-pulse .
Effect of a conjugated carbonyl group on the photophysical properties of carotenoids

Effects of introducing a carbonyl group into the conjugation system of carotenoids were studied for four naturally occurring carotenoids: peridinin, fucoxanthin, siphonaxanthin and spheroidenone. The conjugated carbonyl group affects energetics and dynamics of all these carotenoids in a similar way, although the magnitude of the changes depends strongly on the carotenoid structure. Firstly, presence of a carbonyl group considerably narrows the S1/ICT–S2 gap, and this effect does not depend on polarity. The S1/ICT energies of carotenoids were measured by recording S1/ICT–S2 spectral profiles in the near-infrared region and the resulting energies were 16100 cm−1 for peridinin, 16520 cm−1 for fucoxanthin and 16610 cm−1 for siphonaxanthin. Narrowing of the S1/ICT–S2 gap has important consequences for functionality of these carotenoids in light-harvesting systems of oceanic organisms, since while the S2 state is red-shifted to capture green light, the S1/ICT state is still high enough to transfer energy to chlorophyll. The S1/ICT energy of spheroidenone was determined to be 13000 cm−1. Secondly the carbonyl group introduces some polarity-dependent effects: (1) polarity-induced change of the S1/ICT lifetime. When changing from nonpolar to polar solvent, the S1/ICT lifetime is changed from 160 to 8.5 ps for peridinin, from 60 to 30 ps for fucoxanthin, from 60 to 20 ps for fucoxanthin, while for the longer carotenoid spheroidenone the S1/ICT lifetime remains 6 ps regardless of solvent polarity. This effect is explained in terms of stabilization of charge-transfer character of both ground and excited states. (2) stabilization of the charge-transfer character in polar solvents is also demonstrated by appearance of new polarity-induced bands in the transient absorption spectra. (3) polarity-induced changes of the ground state are manifested by asymmetric broadening of the absorption spectrum accompanied by a loss of vibrational structure.
Comparison of Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction and Solid Phase Extraction as Enrichment Techniques in Combination with Column Liquid Chromatography for the Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water Samples

The commonly used solid-phase extraction (SPE) was compared with the recently developed stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) to determine EPA-PAHs from precipitation water samples. SPE was performed using C18 PAH-filled cartridges; magnetic stirring rods 10 mm long and coated with 0.5 mm (24 µL) polydimethylsiloxane were used for SBSE. Determination was performed by high performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection. The investigations were performed at a concentration level of 30 ng/L, adjusted to actual PAH concentration levels of precipitation water. The recoveries ranged between 54% (SBSE) and 20% (SPE) respectively and about 100%, while the standard deviation ( n = 5) varied in the range of 4.7-13.5% (SBSE) and 3.6-16.9% (SPE) except for the more volatile compounds acenaphthene and fluorene. The detection limits calculated were between 0.4 and 5.0 ng/L. Both techniques were applied to study the PAH contents of precipitation water of several polluted sites in the city of Halle (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany). The advantages and disadvantages of the methods used are discussed.
Anomalous pressure evolution of the axial ratio c∕a in hcp cobalt: Interplay between structure, magnetism, and lattice dynamics

We performed angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction measurements on hydrostatically compressed hcp cobalt to 90GPa. Near 75GPa, we document an inversion in the pressure derivative of the axial ratio c∕a with no discontinuity in the volume and lattice parameters compression curves. These results are also reproduced by ab initio calculations. Our study indicates significant interactions among structure, magnetism and elasticity, suggesting that the collapse of the magnetic moment is responsible for the observed anomaly in c∕a, as well as for the anomalies in the elastic and vibrational properties of hcp Co at high pressure.
Perceived Safety: a necessary precondition for successful autonomous mobility services

In order to reach the goal of reducing traffic volume in cities, new smart, sustainable and user-centered mobility alternatives to motorized individual traffic are needed. The progress in vehicle automation offers a promising potential for increasing the attractiveness of public transport by improving the flexibility and availability of service. Besides the expected benefits, autonomous mobility services will open up a range of new challenges. Their ultimate success will crucially depend on user acceptance, while perceived safety issues of autonomous driving are a recurring theme in the media. Therefore, besides the technological challenges in any effort to build up autonomous mobility services, the perceived safety of prospective users needs to be taken into account as a necessary precondition for success from the beginning. Based on the results of a workshop with prospective users of an autonomous public transport system, an online survey was developed to analyze fears with regard to using the system. The identified fears can be clustered in three groups: (1) Fears of other persons as co-travellers, (2) Fears resulting from intransparency of the system and (3) Fears of technical malfunctions. Countermeasures to cope with those fears were defined and rated by the respondents.
Sensory, Mechanical, and Microscopic Evaluation of Staling in Low-Protein and Gluten-Free Breads

ABSTRACT Staling over a 120-hr period was compared in a gluten-free rice bread, a low-protein starch bread, and two gluten-containing breads (standard wheat and added-protein wheat) using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), critical stress values obtained by mechanical compression testing, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The gluten-free rice bread had the highest QDA scores for both moistness and overall freshness, whereas the low-protein starch bread had the lowest scores for both attributes. Differences in critical stress values over the 120-hr period demonstrated that the gluten-free rice bread had the greatest resistance to mechanical collapse, indicating the least structural damage, whereas the low-protein starch bread had the least resistance to mechanical collapse. Both wheat breads had QDA moistness and freshness scores, and critical stress values that ranged between the gluten-free rice and low-protein starch breads. SEM showed the formulation containing rice, egg and milk proteins, .
Effect of Subantimicrobial Dose Doxycycline Treatment on Gingival Crevicular Fluid Levels of MMP-9 and MMP-13 in Periodontitis Stage 2, Grade B in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using subantimicrobial dose doxycycline as an adjunct in periodontitis stage 2, grade B in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of thirty patients were divided into the following two groups with reference to periodontitis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and administration of the doxycycline drug: Group I: patients with periodontitis stage 2, grade B and type 2 diabetes mellitus who received SRP only. Group II: patients with periodontitis stage 2, grade B and type 2 diabetes mellitus who received SRP and doxycycline 20 mg. The following clinical measurements were recorded at baseline (prior to scaling and root planning) and after one and three months postoperatively: GI, PI, and PD with a periodontal calibrated probe. The levels of both MMP-9 and MMP-13, from 60 GCF samples, were analyzed by ELISA. Patients treated with SRP and doxycycline 20 mg showed a significant reduction of PD, PI, GI, MMP-9, and MMP-13 than patients who received SRP only. Improvements in parameters clinically and biochemically were observed following the adjunctive use of doxycycline subantimicrobial dose therapy for the management of stage 2, grade B periodontitis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Deep Neural Network Training without Multiplications

Is multiplication really necessary for deep neural networks? Here we propose just adding two IEEE754 floating-point numbers with an integer-add instruction in place of a floating-point multiplication instruction. We show that ResNet can be trained using this operation with competitive classification accuracy. Our proposal did not require any methods to solve instability and decrease in accuracy, which is common in low-precision training. In some settings, we may obtain equal accuracy to the baseline FP32 result. This method will enable eliminating the multiplications in deep neural-network training and inference.