Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simplified Neural Unsupervised Domain Adaptation

Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) is the task of training a statistical model on labeled data from a source domain to achieve better performance on data from a target domain, with access to only unlabeled data in the target domain. Existing state-of-the-art UDA approaches use neural networks to learn representations that are trained to predict the values of subset of important features called “pivot features” on combined data from the source and target domains. In this work, we show that it is possible to improve on existing neural domain adaptation algorithms by 1) jointly training the representation learner with the task learner; and 2) removing the need for heuristically-selected “pivot features. ” Our results show competitive performance with a simpler model.
Evolutionary dynamics for multicriteria games generated by p-norm-based pairwise proportional imitation

Multicriteria evolutionary games model interactions among many players who make decisions on the basis of multiple criteria. In single-criterion games, imitative behaviors of the players are described by revision protocols. The pairwise proportional imitation is one of the revision protocols. The evolutionary dynamics derived from the protocol is well-known as replicator dynamics. In multicriteria games, however, there are few studies on the evolutionary dynamics. In this paper, we consider the evolutionary dynamics in multicriteria games. We extend the pairwise proportional imitation to the multicriteria games and derive the evolutionary dynamics. We also show the relationships between the stability of equilibrium points of the proposed dynamics, and the equilibrium and evolutionary stability concepts of multicriteria games.
Efficient Plane-Based Optimization of Geometry and Texture for Indoor RGB-D Reconstruction

We propose a novel approach to reconstruct RGB-D indoor scene based on plane primitives. Our approach takes as input a RGB-D sequence and a dense coarse mesh reconstructed from it, and generates a lightweight, low-polygonal mesh with clear face textures and sharp features without losing geometry details from the original scene. Compared to existing methods which only cover large planar regions in the scene, our method builds the entire scene by adaptive planes without losing geometry details and also preserves sharp features in the mesh. Experiments show that our method is more efficient to generate textured mesh from RGB-D data than state-of-the-arts.
Cortical modulation of pupillary function: systematic review

Background The pupillary light reflex is the main mechanism that regulates the pupillary diameter; it is controlled by the autonomic system and mediated by subcortical pathways. In addition, cognitive and emotional processes influence pupillary function due to input from cortical innervation, but the exact circuits remain poorly understood. We performed a systematic review to evaluate the mechanisms behind pupillary changes associated with cognitive efforts and processing of emotions and to investigate the cerebral areas involved in cortical modulation of the pupillary light reflex. Methodology We searched multiple databases until November 2018 for studies on cortical modulation of pupillary function in humans and non-human primates. Of 8,809 papers screened, 258 studies were included. Results Most investigators focused on pupillary dilatation and/or constriction as an index of cognitive and emotional processing, evaluating how changes in pupillary diameter reflect levels of attention and arousal. Only few tried to correlate specific cerebral areas to pupillary changes, using either cortical activation models (employing micro-stimulation of cortical structures in non-human primates) or cortical lesion models (e.g., investigating patients with stroke and damage to salient cortical and/or subcortical areas). Results suggest the involvement of several cortical regions, including the insular cortex (Brodmann areas 13 and 16), the frontal eye field (Brodmann area 8) and the prefrontal cortex (Brodmann areas 11 and 25), and of subcortical structures such as the locus coeruleus and the superior colliculus. Conclusions Pupillary dilatation occurs with many kinds of mental or emotional processes, following sympathetic activation or parasympathetic inhibition. Conversely, pupillary constriction may occur with anticipation of a bright stimulus (even in its absence) and relies on a parasympathetic activation. All these reactions are controlled by subcortical and cortical structures that are directly or indirectly connected to the brainstem pupillary innervation system.
Leaf functional trait variation in a humid temperate forest, and relationships with juvenile tree light requirements

The species-rich arborescent assemblages of humid tropical forests encompass much of the known range of the leaf economics spectrum, often including >20-fold variation in leaf lifespan. This suite of traits underpins a life-history continuum from fast-growing pioneers to slow-growing shade-tolerant species. Less is known about the range of leaf traits in humid temperate forests, and there are conflicting reports about relationships of these traits with the light requirements of temperate evergreen angiosperms. Here I quantify the range of leaf functional traits in a New Zealand temperate evergreen forest, and relationships of these traits with light requirements of juvenile trees and shrubs. Foliage turnover of saplings of 19 evergreen angiosperms growing beneath gaps (12–29% canopy openness) and in understories (1.2–2.9%) was measured over 12 months. Dry mass per area (LMA), dry matter content, thickness, density and nitrogen content (N) of leaves were also measured. Species minimum light requirements were indexed as the 10th percentile of the distribution of saplings in relation to canopy openness. Interspecific variation of leaf lifespan was ∼6-fold in gaps (0.6 to 3.8 yrs), and ∼11-fold in the understorey (0.7 to 7.7 yrs). Six small tree and shrub species are effectively leaf-exchangers, with leaf lifespans of c.1 year in gaps—albeit usually longer in the shade. Interspecific variation in other leaf traits was 2.5 to 4-fold. Lifespans and LMA of both sun and shade leaves were negatively correlated with species light requirements i.e., positively correlated with shade tolerance. However, light environment (gap vs shade) explained about the same amount of variation in LMA as species’ identity did. Species light requirements were not significantly correlated with leaf N, dry matter content, density or thickness—except for a marginally significant correlation with dry matter content of shade leaves. Species light requirements were thus less consistently related to leaf structural traits than appears to be the case in humid tropical forests. Whereas the wide interspecific variation in leaf economic traits of tropical rainforest species outweighs plastic response to light availability, temperate evergreen woody angiosperms appear to occupy a narrower range of the leaf economic spectrum. Standardization of the light environments in which LMA is measured is vital in comparative studies of humid temperate forest evergreens, because of countergradient responses of this trait to light, and because of the relative magnitudes of plastic and interspecific variation in LMA in these forests.
A ghost and a naked singularity; facing our demons

We encounter these demons on the path towards a UV complete QFT of gravity and a horizonless replacement for black holes. The fate of the ghost is discussed in the strong coupling version of classically-scale-invariant quadratic gravity. Rather than a propagating ghost, the full graviton propagator ends up with a slight acausal behavior. We then turn to the 2-2-hole solutions appearing in a classical approximation of the gravity theory. We present a new solution that is sourced by a relativistic gas, where a benign timelike singularity is shrouded by a fireball. Calculating the standard entropy gives an area law, and the entropy of a 2-2-hole can exceed that of the same size black hole. Finally, an observational consequence of 2-2-holes takes the form of gravitational wave echoes that can be generated by a newly formed 2-2-hole after a 2-2-hole merger. LIGO is sensitive to such a signal. We update the evidence from our previous search with five additional events reported more recently by LIGO.
Epitaxial Graphene Intercalation: A Route to Graphene Modulation and Unique 2D Materials.

Intercalation of atomic species through epitaxial graphene layers began only a few years following its initial report in 2004. The impact of intercalation on the electronic properties of the graphene is well known; however, the intercalant itself can also exhibit intriguing properties not found in nature. This suggests that a shift in the focus of epitaxial graphene intercalation studies may lead to fruitful exploration of many new forms of traditionally 3D materials. In the following forward-looking review, we summarize the primary techniques used to achieve and characterize EG intercalation, and introduce a new, facile approach to readily achieve metal intercalation at the graphene/silicon carbide interface. We show that simple thermal evaporation-based methods can effectively replace complicated synthesis techniques to realize large-scale intercalation of non-refractory metals. We also show that these methods can be extended to the formation of compound materials based on intercalation. Two-dimensional (2D) silver (2D-Ag) and large-scale 2D gallium nitride (2D-GaNx) are used to demonstrate these approaches.
The vaccinaTion & Hpv Knowledge (THinK) questionnaire: a reliability and validity study on a sample of women living in Sicily (southern-Italy)

Objective The aim of this study was to introduce the VaccinaTion & Hpv Knowledge (THinK) questionnaire to assess knowledge about human papillomavirus (HPV) and attitude to HPV-vaccination. Its reliability and validity was demonstrated in a sample of women living in Sicily (southern Italy). Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 220 women at the “Paolo Giaccone” University Hospital in Palermo (Sicily), aged 18–61. Data were analyzed through Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis, followed by a structural equation model with measurement component. The two-level data structure was explicitly considered. Results Three dimensions were found: “knowledge of HPV infection (kHPV), “Attitude to be vaccinated against HPV (aHPV)” and “Knowledge about vaccines (KV)” (97% overall explained variance). Internal consistency was good for the whole questionnaire (0.82) and the first dimension (0.88) and acceptable for the second (0.78) and the third dimension (0.73). 23% of women showed no or little knowledge of HPV and 44.3% of women had no or little knowledge about HPV induced lesions. Discussion The use of a validated questionnaire may serve as a useful measure to assess general knowledge about HPV and attitude towards vaccination against HPV in the primary prevention setting.
High Throughput Polar Decoding Using Two-Staged Adaptive Successive Cancellation List Decoding

Polar codes are the first class of capacity-achieving forward error correction (FEC) codes. They have been selected as one of the coding schemes for the 5G communication systems due to their excellent error correction performance when successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is used. A large list size is necessary for SCL decoding to achieve a low error rate. However, it impedes SCL decoding from achieving a high throughput as the computational complexity is very high when a large list size is used. In this paper, we propose a two-staged adaptive SCL (TA-SCL) decoding scheme and the corresponding hardware architecture to accelerate SCL decoding with a large list size. Constant system latency and data rate are supported by TA-SCL decoding. To analyse the decoding performance of TA-SCL, an accurate mathematical model based on Markov Chain is derived, which can be used to determine the parameters for practical designs. A VLSI architecture implementing TA-SCL decoding is then proposed. The proposed architecture is implemented using UMC 90nm technology. Experimental results show that TA-SCL can achieve throughputs of 3.00 and 2.35 Gbps when the list sizes are 8 and 32, respectively, which are nearly 3 times as that of the state-ofthe-art SCL decoding architectures, with negligible performance degradation on a wide signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) range and small hardware overhead.
Chemovariation and antibacterial activity of extracts and isolated compounds from species of Ixora and Greenea (Ixoroideae, Rubiaceae)

Background A large number of secondary metabolites can be obtained from plants used for traditional medicine in two related genera (Ixora and Greenea) in the subfamily Ixoroideae (Rubiaceae), but there are only a few detailed studies on their bioactivities. Therefore, the main goals of this study were to determine the antibacterial activities of lipophilic extracts from plants of some Ixora and Greenea species native to Thailand, and to isolate some pure compounds from those extracts. Moreover, we compared the occurrence of compounds in different plant parts of samples from different habitats to better understand their variation. Methods A total of 56 lipophilic extracts were obtained from the leaves, stem bark, and root bark of eight Ixora and two Greenea species collected at various locations in Thailand. Isolated compounds were identified using nuclear magnetic resonance. Antimicrobial activities were evaluated against four Gram-positive and nine Gram-negative human pathogenic bacterial strains. Results Extracts from I. javanica, I. nigricans, I. brunonis, and G. montana, along with isolated scopoletin, exhibited antibacterial activities against Gram-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300, with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 64 to 256 µg/mL. The occurrence of scopoletin, isofraxidin, and geniposidic acid in lipophilic extracts showed some variation among different plant parts and species. Conclusions Lipophilic extracts of Ixora and Greenea species have the potential to be developed as anti-Gram-positive agents, in particular to counter infections of methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains. The chemical profiles showed differences between floristic regions but similarity within the same plant parts.
A talking robot and its human-like expressive speech production

A talking robot which adaptively learns the vocalization skill by an auditory feedback learning is being developed. The talking robot is constructed by the mechanical vocal systems, which respectively correspond to human organs. In vocalization, the vibration of vocal cords generates a source sound, and then the sound wave is led to a vocal tract, which works as a resonance filter to determine the spectrum envelope. The talking robot autonomously learns the vocalization by applying auditory feedback. In this study, a human-like expressive speech production by the talking robot is introduced. A human generates speech by controlling their own vocal organs for changing the speech expressions such as the volume and the intonations. To realize the human-like expressive speech production, a control method for the mechanical organs has to be established. In the first part of the paper, the construction of the talking robot and the acquisition of the vocalization will be described, and then the control method for producing human-like speech with various expressions will be introduced.
Blacklist Creation for Detecting Fake Accounts on Twitter

People use Twitter to share their feelings, news, events and to post their daily activities such as eating, drinking, travelling, etc. Therefore, malicious users can check everyone’s activities from their timeline and Twitter becomes a place for malicious users to commit the crimes. These malicious users create fake accounts and spread various fake news, links and photos. Most of the internet users are not awareness of these fake accounts; they accepted their requests and became victims for these fake users. Therefore, fake accounts detection on Twitter is necessary for everyone who uses the social networking sites.
Snake Robot Controlled by Biomimetic CPGs

Locomotion is one of the most basic abilities in animals. Neurobiologists have established that locomotion results from the activity of half-center oscillators that provides alternation of bursts. Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) are neural networks capable of producing rhythmic patterned outputs without rhythmic sensory or central input. We propose a network of several biomimetic CPGs using biomimetic neuron model and synaptic plasticity. This network is implemented on a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). We designed one unsupervised snake robot using this network of CPG. It is composed of one head wagon and 7 slave wagon. Infrared sensors are also embedded in the head wagon. This robot can reproduce the locomotion of one snake. The hardware robot is also described in this paper.
Effects of varying content of soluble dietary fibre from wheat flour and oat milling fractions on gastric emptying in pigs

Abstract Four pigs fitted with a gastric cannula were fed on a wheat-flour-based diet (WF) and three oat-based diets, consisting mainly of oat flour (OF), rolled oats (RO) or oat bran (OB), for 1 week each. The stomach contents were collected quantitatively daily at 0·5, 1, 2, 3 or 5 h after feeding. The viscosity (mPa. s) of the liquid fraction of stomach contents 1 h after feeding was 1·7 with diet WF, 15 with diet OF, 30 with diet RO and approximately 400 with diet OB. The viscosity and the concentration of β-glucan in the liquid phase was to some extent determined by the dietary level of β-glucan in the diet. However, there was a trend towards a lower viscosity after longer exposure to the gastric juices. The correlation between logarithmic values for viscosity and concentration of β-glucan in the liquid phase of digesta was r 0·45. On centrifugation of digesta there was a higher proportion present in the sediment phase when the pigs were fed on diets with a higher content of soluble dietary fibre (DF), suggesting that the digesta was more coherent. This possibility was supported by the higher water-holding capacity (WHC) of the sediment. Feeding diets with oats containing a higher soluble DF content led to lower recoveries of digesta, PEG 4000 (liquid-phase marker), and the DF components β-glucan and arabinoxylan in the first hour after feeding. No effect related to the DF content of the diet was seen in the gastric emptying of starch and Cr2O3 (solid-phase marker). In conclusion, soluble DF from oatsincreased the viscosity of stomach contents and increased the ability of the dry matter to retain water. Higher levels of soluble DF led to higher recoveries of digesta, the liquid phase and DF itself in the initial stage of gastric emptying, whereas no effect was seen on the gastric emptying of starch.
Musical Robots and Interactive Multimodal Systems

This volume describes the state-of-the-art in musical robots and interactive systems, and is divided into two sections: “Understanding Elements of Musical Performance and Expres-sion” and “Musical Robots and Automated Instruments. ” These sections reflect the two main motivations for creating musical robots. The first reason is to further understand our-selves as humans by trying to recreate our mechanisms in algorithms and software. For example, what exactly makes a musical ges-ture expressive (Chapter 4)? Robots provide a controlled platform for scientific investigation to answer this question. The second motivation is to create more advanced musical robots for art, entertainment and education, and to develop platforms for the first goal. For instance, the flute-playing robot (Chapter 12) has been used as both a teaching robot and investigative plat-form for expressive play using vibrato. Topics include interfaces, human-robot interaction, synchronization, acoustic music processing, and automation.Emotion is an important element of mu-sic, and ‘emotion’ is mentioned in four of the fifteen chapters of this book. In this review, we highlight these projects and their contribution to the body of emotion research.
Plantar fasciitis and the windlass mechanism: a biomechanical link to clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE Plantar fasciitis is a prevalent problem, with limited consensus among clinicians regarding the most effective treatment. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a systematic approach to the treatment of plantar fasciitis based on the windlass mechanism model. DATA SOURCES We searched MEDLINE, SPORT Discus, and CINAHL from 1966 to 2003 using the key words plantar fasciitis, windlass mechanism, pronation, heel pain, and heel spur. DATA SYNTHESIS We offer a biomechanical application for the evaluation and treatment of plantar fasciitis based on a review of the literature for the windlass mechanism model. This model provides a means for describing plantar fasciitis conditions such that clinicians can formulate a potential causal relationship between the conditions and their treatments. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS Clinicians' understanding of the biomechanical causes of plantar fasciitis should guide the decision-making process concerning the evaluation and treatment of heel pain. Use of this approach may improve clinical outcomes because intervention does not merely treat physical symptoms but actively addresses the influences that resulted in the condition. Principles from this approach might also provide a basis for future research investigating the efficacy of plantar fascia treatment.
Tachykinin receptor antagonists in clinical trials

Tachykinins (TKs) are small peptides widely distributed in the central and peripheral nervous systems where they act as neurotransmitters. Potent and selective TKs antagonists have been developed in the last 20 years and many efforts have been made to prove their efficacy in the treatment of various diseases. Herein the most prominent results in the clinical development are reported and discussed. For aprepitant, the only compound of this class to have been launched to date, results of clinical studies and postmarketing cost-effectiveness data for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced emesis are discussed. The field is still well active, as currently proof-of-concept studies for indications initially missed (i.e., depression) are ongoing and new targets are under investigation.