Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generating Coherent and Informative Descriptions for Groups of Visual Objects and Categories: A Simple Decoding Approach

State-of-the-art image captioning models achieve very good performance in generating descriptions for instances of visual categories and reasoning about them, e.g. imposing dis-tinctiveness of the description in the context of distractors. In this work, we propose an inference mechanism that extends an instance-level captioning model to generate coherent and informative descriptions for groups of visual objects from the same or different categories. We test our model in the domain of bird descriptions. We show that group-level descriptions generated by our method are (i) coherent, pulling together properties that are true for all or majority of its instances, and (ii) informative, as they allow an external BERT-based text classifier to identify the target category more accurately in comparison to single-instance captions and are preferred by human evaluators.
DiscOrDance: Visualizing Software Developers Communities on Discord

New communication platforms have emerged to support developers in finding and creating the knowledge they need for program comprehension, maintenance, and evolution. Instant messaging applications are supplanting developer mailing lists in collaborative development toolchains. These applications provide a new medium, supporting faster and richer communication (e.g., embedded previews, images, files, videos). Research so far focused on extracting information from these platforms, but there is a lack of tools to visually and interactively explore them.We present DiscOrDance, a tool for the interactive visual exploration of the complete message history of a Discord server. We show how three categories of views elicit insights on aspects of the structure, members, and software related content of a Discord server. We demonstrate use cases of DiscOrDance to support software maintenance and evolution activities on an active software developer community, the Pharo Discord server.Demo video: https://youtu.be/eYCLGWwM9HYTool homepage: https://DiscOrDance.si. usi.ch
Novel multiferroics with ferromagnetic phase induced in paraelectric antiferromagnets by electric field application

The phase diagram of a quantum paraelectric antiferromagnet EuTiO3 under an external electric field was calculated using Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire theory. It was shown that the application of an external electric field E leads to the appearance of a ferromagnetic phase due to the magnetoelectric coupling. In particular, electric field application decreases the transition temperature TAFM to antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase and induces ferromagnetic (FM) phase, so that at some E field larger than the critical field (Ecr), TFM becomes higher than TAFM and the FM phase appears. Note that Ecr increases and magnetization decreases as the temperature increases. The value of the critical field Ecr = 0.40*10^6 V/cm we calculated appeared close to the value Ecr = 0.5*10^6 V/cm obtained recently by Ryan et al. with the help of density functional theory for EuTiO3 film under a compressive strain produced by substrate. At the fields E >0.83*10^6 V/cm, AFM disappears for all considered temperatures and so FM becomes the only stable magnetic phase. We find that ferromagnetic phase can be induced by an E-field in other paraelectric antiferromagnet oxides with a positive AFM-type magnetoelectric (ME) coupling coefficient and negative FM-type ME coupling coefficient. In particular, the critical E-field was estimated for another paraelectric antiferromagnet Sr0.7Ba0. 3MnO3 as 0.2x10^5V/cm at 0 K. Analysis of the dependence of magnetization and antimagnetization on the external electric field and the polarization induced by the field, which yields the magnetoelectric coupling, is reported. The results show the possibility to control multiferroicity, including the FM and AFM phases, with help of an electric field application.
SystemVerilog Productivity Tools

—Google is a software company with outstanding productivity support (searching, indexing, building, analyzing, formatting, editing) for its core languages: C++, Python, Go, Java, and JavaScript. Internal productivity research has measured the impact of productivity-enhancing tools on software engineers to be positive and signiﬁcant, enough to justify stafﬁng the development and maintenance of these tools and services. Notably absent from the list of supported languages is SystemVerilog, which is important to the growing hardware design and veriﬁcation community at Google. We present some tools that have been developed to aid productivity working with SystemVerilog: a style linter and code formatter. Both of these tools aim to be extensible and customizable, and would be valuable to organizations keen on enforcing their own style guidelines. These tools depend on only open-source tools and libraries, such as Abseil-C++ [1], and are planned for release to the open-source community in the future.
FRAMESHIFTER: Security Implications of HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1 Conversion Anomalies

HTTP/2 adoption is rapidly climbing. However, in practice, Internet communications still rarely happen over end-to-end HTTP/2 channels. This is due to Content Delivery Networks and other reverse proxies, ubiquitous and necessary components of the Internet ecosystem, which only support HTTP/2 on the client’s end, but not the forward connection to the origin server. Instead, proxy technologies predominantly rely on HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1 protocol conversion between the two legs of the connection. We present the ﬁrst systematic exploration of HTTP/2-to-HTTP/1 protocol conversion anomalies and their security implications. We develop a novel grammar-based fuzzer for HTTP/2, experiment with 12 popular reverse proxy technologies & CDNs through HTTP/2 frame sequence and content manipulation, and discover a plethora of novel web application attack vectors that lead to Request Blackholing, Denial-of-Service, Query-of-Death, and Request Smuggling attacks.
On the Complexity of Network-Wide Configuration Synthesis

Configuration Synthesis promises to increase automation in network hardware configuration but is generally assumed to constitute a computationally hard problem. We conduct a formal analysis of the computational complexity of network-wide Configuration Synthesis to establish this claim formally. To that end, we consider Configuration Synthesis as a decision problem, whether or not the selected routing protocol(s) can implement a given set of forwarding properties. We find the complexity of Configuration Synthesis heavily depends on the combination of the forwarding properties that need to be implemented in the network, as well as the employed routing protocol(s). Our analysis encompasses different forwarding properties that can be encoded as path constraints, and any combination of distributed destination-based hop-by-hop routing protocols. Many of these combinations yield NP-hard Configuration Synthesis problems; in particular, we show that the satisfiability of a set of arbitrary waypoints for any hop-by-hop routing protocol is NP-complete. Other combinations, however, show potential for efficient, scalable Configuration Synthesis.
Beyond beauty: A qualitative exploration of authenticity and its impacts on Chinese consumers' purchase intention in live commerce

Live commerce is a phenomenally innovative form of social commerce in China. In this paper, the authors aim to explore the authenticity of live commerce. By employing a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews and grounded theory, 21 initial categories are classified into six core categories. Among them, authenticity-associated concepts are classified into explicit concepts and implicit concepts. Explicit concepts of authenticity are associated with objectively authentic cues, while implicit concepts of authenticity are associated with subjectively authentic experiences. Moreover, the study explores the relationship between explicit concepts of authenticity and product commitment, as well as the relationship between implicit concepts of authenticity and affective commitment. Both of these paths are found to influence consumers' shopping-related behaviors. Although consumers can more easily perceive explicitly authentic cues than implicitly authentic experiences, this study suggests that the latter may be more effective in inducing shopping behaviors. In addition, the effect of streamer attractiveness on opinion leader building is addressed, while authenticity is found to be an alternative approach to attract consumers both for attractive and nonattractive streamers. Finally, the study addresses theoretical implications and practical implications as well as suggestions for future research.
An Artemisia ordosica extract: Effects on growth performance, immune, and inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide-challenged broilers

Artemisia ordosica has been applied as a traditional Chinese/Mongolian medicine for treating csertain inflammatory ailments. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Artemisia ordosica alcohol extract (AOAE) supplemented in diets on growth performance, immune, and inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged broilers. A total of 240 one-day-old Arbor Acre male broilers were randomly allotted into 5 groups with 6 replicates (n = 8), which were basal diet group (CON), LPS-challenge and basal diet group (LPS), LPS-challenge and the basal diet added with low (500 mg/kg), middle (750 mg/kg), and high (1,000 mg/kg) dose of AOAE groups (AOAE-L, AOAE-M, and AOAE-H), respectively. On d 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28, all broilers were injected intra-abdominally either with LPS or an equivalent amount of saline. Results showed that dietary AOAE alleviated the LPS-induced decrease in average daily gain and average daily feed intake in the broilers (P < 0.05). Dietary AOAE supplementation reversed the increased spleen index and the decreased bursa index in LPS-challenged broilers (P < 0.05). Moreover, feeding AOAE could mitigate the elevation of IL-1β in serum, liver, and spleen, IL-2 in serum and liver, IL-6 in serum and spleen, and the decrease of IgG in spleen, IgM in serum, liver, and spleen, and IL-4 in serum of the LPS-challenged broilers (P < 0.05). This study also showed that AOAE supplementation alleviated the increase of mRNA expression of TLR4, MyD88, TRAF6, NF-κB p65, NF-κB p50, IL-1β, and IL-6, and the decrease of gene expression of IκBα and PPARγ in liver and/or spleen of broilers challenged by LPS (P < 0.05). We speculated that AOAE administration could effectively alleviate LPS-induced inflammation via decreasing over-production of proinflammatory cytokines, ultimately relieving the growth inhibition of broilers caused by LPS. In conclusion, 1,000 mg/kg AOAE has a strong capacity to enhance immunity and inhibit inflammation, and can be used as a potential novel feed additive with applications in treating inflammation-related diseases and bacterial infection in broilers.
Use of new approach methodologies (NAMs) to meet regulatory requirements for the assessment of tobacco and other nicotine-containing products

Regulatory frameworks on tobacco and other nicotine-containing products (TNCP) continue to evolve as novel products emerge, including electronic nicotine delivery systems (e.g., electronic cigarettes or vaping products), heated tobacco products, or certain smokeless products (e.g., nicotine pouches). This article focuses on selected regulations for TNCPs that do not make health claims, and on the opportunities to use new approach methodologies (NAMs) to meet regulatory requirements for toxicological information. The manuscript presents a brief overview of regulations and examples of feedback from regulatory agencies whilst highlighting NAMs that have been successfully applied, or could be used, in a regulatory setting, either as stand-alone methods or as part of a weight-of-evidence approach to address selected endpoints. The authors highlight the need for agencies and stakeholders to collaborate and communicate on the development and application of NAMs to address specific regulatory toxicological endpoints. Collaboration across sectors and geographies will facilitate harmonized use of robust testing approaches to evaluate TNCPs without animal testing.
Emerging carbon-based flexible anodes for potassium-ion batteries: Progress and opportunities

In recent years, carbon-based flexible anodes for potassium-ion batteries are increasingly investigated owing to the low reduction potential and abundant reserve of K and the simple preparation process of flexible electrodes. In this review, three main problems on pristine carbon-based flexible anodes are summarized: excessive volume change, repeated SEI growth, and low affinity with K+, which thus leads to severe capacity fade, sluggish K+ diffusion dynamics, and limited active sites. In this regard, the recent progress on the various modification strategies is introduced in detail, which are categorized as heteroatom-doping, coupling with metal and chalcogenide nanoparticles, and coupling with other carbonaceous materials. It is found that the doping of heteroatoms can bring the five enhancement effects of increasing active sites, improving electrical conductivity, expediting K+ diffusion, strengthening structural stability, and enlarging interlayer spacing. The coupling of metal and chalcogenide nanoparticles can largely offset the weakness of the scarcity of K+ storage sites and the poor wettability of pristine carbon-based flexible electrodes. The alloy nanoparticles consisting of the electrochemically active and inactive metals can concurrently gain a stable structure and high capacity in comparison to mono-metal nanoparticles. The coupling of the carbonaceous materials with different characteristics can coordinate the advantages of the nanostructure from graphite carbon, the defects and vacancies from amorphous carbon, and the independent structure from support carbon. Finally, the emerging challenges and opportunities for the development of carbon-based flexible anodes are presented.
Técnicas para datos multinivel: Aplicación a los determinantes del rendimiento educativo [Techniques for multilevel data: Application to the determinants of educational performance]

This paper consists of the application of the Hierarchical lineal model (multilevel methodology) which takes in consideration the interaction between individual and aggregated variables. It is intented to measure eterminants of student performance in their last year of school in three departments of Tucuman’s province (educational census year 2000). Data has multilevel structure indeed students belong to different schools. The GEE method “Generalized Estimated Equation”, suitable for conglomerate data, allows to model correlation between students within the same school. So multilevel modeling strategies are more likely to produce unbiased estimators than Least Squares, which suppose independence between observations.
Membrane interaction to intercellular spread of pathology in Alzheimer’s disease

Progressive development of pathology is one of the major characteristic features of neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent among them. Extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and intracellular tau neurofibrillary tangles are the pathological phenotypes of AD. However, cellular and animal studies implicate tau as a secondary pathology in developing AD while Aβ aggregates is considered as a trigger point. Interaction of Aβ peptides with plasma membrane (PM) seems to be a promising site of involvement in the events that lead to AD. Aβ binding to the lipid membranes initiates formation of oligomers of Aβ species, and these oligomers are known as primary toxic agents for neuronal toxicities. Once initiated, neuropathological toxicities spread in a “prion-like” fashion probably through the mechanism of intercellular transfer of pathogenic aggregates. In the last two decades, several studies have demonstrated neuron-to-neuron transfer of neurodegenerative proteins including Aβ and tau via exosomes and tunneling nanotubes (TNTs), the two modes of long-range intercellular transfer. Emerging pieces of evidence indicate that molecular pathways related to the biogenesis of exosomes and TNTs interface with endo-lysosomal pathways and cellular signaling in connection to vesicle recycling-imposed PM and actin remodulation. In this review, we discuss interactions of Aβ aggregates at the membrane level and its implications in intercellular spread of pathogenic aggregates. Furthermore, we hypothesize how spread of pathogenic aggregates contributes to complex molecular events that could regulate pathological and synaptic changes related to AD. Graphical Abstract APP (amyloid precursor protein) cleavage at plasma membrane (PM) generates Aβ peptides extracellularly. Interaction of Aβ peptides with PM promotes toxic amyloid aggregates. PM damage induced by toxic aggregates facilitate internalization and accumulation of Aβ to Multi Vesicular Bodies (MVB) and lysosomes, and proteotoxicity stress could subsequently modulate intercellular spreading of pathogenic aggregates in AD via exosome release and TNTs (tunneling nanotubes). Progression of Aβ toxicities may facilitate tau toxicities and formation of Neuro Fibrillary Tangles (NFT) in AD.
Tryptophan metabolism: Mechanism-oriented therapy for neurological and psychiatric disorders

Neurological and psychiatric disorders are a category of chronic diseases that are widespread and pose serious mental and physical health problems for patients. The substrates, products, and enzymes of Tryptophan metabolism all contribute to the development of neurological and psychiatric disorders. This paper deals with three metabolic pathways of tryptophan that produce a series of metabolites called tryptophan Catabolics (TRYCATs). These metabolites are involved in pathological processes such as excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial damage and are closely associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Here, we review the elements that affect how tryptophan metabolism is regulated, including inflammation and stress, exercise, vitamins, minerals, diet and gut microbes, glucocorticoids, and aging, as well as the downstream regulatory effects of tryptophan metabolism, including the regulation of glutamate (Glu), immunity, G-protein coupled receptor 35 (Gpr35), nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and dopamine (DA). In order to advance the general understanding of tryptophan metabolism in neurological and psychiatric disorders, this paper also summarizes the current situation and effective drugs of tryptophan metabolism in the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders and considers its future research prospects. Graphical Abstract
The principal's role in improving the quality: A concepts framework to developing school culture

This study aims to explore the role of principals in school culture so as to produce an ideal conceptual framework for principals in improving school quality. The method used in this research is qualitative with a case study approach. The research was conducted in MAN 2, Sragen, and MAN 2, Boyolali, Indonesia. The data analysis procedure used is Miles and Huberman with four procedures. Data analysis was carried out with the help of ATLAS.ti software version 8. Validity was carried out using data triangulation. The results of this study illustrate that the principal's role in school culture to improve school quality consists of role sets, attitudes and actions, personality characteristics, and control. The recommendations from this study are meant for principals at primary and secondary levels to help them improve the quality of their schools and create certain characteristics that are unique and superior compared to other schools.
The influence of interdependence and a transparent or explainable communication style on human-robot teamwork

Humans and robots are increasingly working together in human-robot teams. Teamwork requires communication, especially when interdependence between team members is high. In previous work, we identified a conceptual difference between sharing what you are doing (i.e., being transparent) and why you are doing it (i.e., being explainable). Although the second might sound better, it is important to avoid information overload. Therefore, an online experiment (n = 72) was conducted to study the effect of communication style of a robot (silent, transparent, explainable, or adaptive based on time pressure and relevancy) on human-robot teamwork. We examined the effects of these communication styles on trust in the robot, workload during the task, situation awareness, reliance on the robot, human contribution during the task, human communication frequency, and team performance. Moreover, we included two levels of interdependence between human and robot (high vs. low), since mutual dependency might influence which communication style is best. Participants collaborated with a virtual robot during two simulated search and rescue tasks varying in their level of interdependence. Results confirm that in general robot communication results in more trust in and understanding of the robot, while showing no evidence of a higher workload when the robot communicates or adds explanations to being transparent. Providing explanations, however, did result in more reliance on RescueBot. Furthermore, compared to being silent, only being explainable results a higher situation awareness when interdependence is high. Results further show that being highly interdependent decreases trust, reliance, and team performance while increasing workload and situation awareness. High interdependence also increases human communication if the robot is not silent, human rescue contribution if the robot does not provide explanations, and the strength of the positive association between situation awareness and team performance. From these results, we can conclude that robot communication is crucial for human-robot teamwork, and that important differences exist between being transparent, explainable, or adaptive. Our findings also highlight the fundamental importance of interdependence in studies on explainability in robots.
Prevalence of brucellosis in livestock of African and Asian continents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Brucellosis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that mainly affects ruminants, but it may affect equines, canines, and felines. The disease is of utmost significance from an economic standpoint in countries where there is no national brucellosis prevention and eradication policy in operation. A systematic review was done to estimate disease burden, incidences, prevalence, and geographical distribution critical in planning appropriate intervention strategies for the control and prevention of Brucellosis. Research articles that were published during the period 2000–2020 were considered for this study after reinforced scrutiny by two independent authors. Meta-regression was used to examine heterogeneity, and subgroup and sensitivity analyses were used to calculate residual heterogeneity and the pooled prevalence of Brucellosis in livestock. Confounders such as geography, a diagnostic test, and species had the greatest R2 values of 17.8, 8.8, and 2.3%, respectively, indicating the presence of heterogeneity and necessitating more research into sensitivity and subgroup analysis. The combined pooled prevalence of brucellosis in both Asia and African countries was 8% when compared to 12% in the Indian livestock population. The findings of our systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that brucellosis continues to be an important animal and public health concern in developing countries of Asia and Africa, as evidenced by the prevalence rate of brucellosis in these regions. Our findings suggested that well-planned epidemiological surveillance studies in different geographic settings are needed to generate reliable data on disease burden including the economic loss in Asian and African countries.