Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Debiased Visual Question Answering from Feature and Sample Perspectives

Visual question answering (VQA) is designed to examine the visual-textual reasoning ability of an intelligent agent. However, recent observations show that many VQA models may only capture the biases between questions and answers in a dataset rather than showing real reasoning abilities. For example, given a question, some VQA models tend to output the answer that occurs frequently in the dataset and ignore the images. To reduce this tendency, existing methods focus on weakening the language bias. Meanwhile, only a few works also consider vision bias implicitly. However, these methods introduce additional annotations or show unsatisfactory performance. Moreover, not all biases are harmful to the models. Some “biases” learnt from datasets represent natural rules of the world and can help limit the range of answers. Thus, how to ﬁlter and remove the true negative biases in language and vision modalities remain a major challenge. In this paper, we propose a method named D-VQA to alleviate the above challenges from the feature and sample perspectives. Speciﬁcally, from the feature perspective, we build a question-to-answer and vision-to-answer branch to capture the language and vision biases, respectively. Next, we apply two unimodal bias detection modules to explicitly recognise and remove the negative biases. From the sample perspective, we construct two types of negative samples to assist the training of the models, without introducing additional annotations. Extensive experiments on the VQA-CP v2 and VQA v2 datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our D-VQA method.
Navigable Proximity Graph-Driven Native Hybrid Queries with Structured and Unstructured Constraints

As research interest surges, vector similarity search is applied in multiple fields, including data mining, computer vision, and information retrieval. {Given a set of objects (e.g., a set of images) and a query object, we can easily transform each object into a feature vector and apply the vector similarity search to retrieve the most similar objects. However, the original vector similarity search cannot well support \textit{hybrid queries}, where users not only input unstructured query constraint (i.e., the feature vector of query object) but also structured query constraint (i.e., the desired attributes of interest). Hybrid query processing aims at identifying these objects with similar feature vectors to query object and satisfying the given attribute constraints. Recent efforts have attempted to answer a hybrid query by performing attribute filtering and vector similarity search separately and then merging the results later, which limits efficiency and accuracy because they are not purpose-built for hybrid queries. } In this paper, we propose a native hybrid query (NHQ) framework based on proximity graph (PG), which provides the specialized \textit{composite index and joint pruning} modules for hybrid queries. We easily deploy existing various PGs on this framework to process hybrid queries efficiently. Moreover, we present two novel navigable PGs (NPGs) with optimized edge selection and routing strategies, which obtain better overall performance than existing PGs. After that, we deploy the proposed NPGs in NHQ to form two hybrid query methods, which significantly outperform the state-of-the-art competitors on all experimental datasets (10$\times$ faster under the same \textit{Recall}), including eight public and one in-house real-world datasets. Our code and datasets have been released at \url{https://github.com/AshenOn3/NHQ}.
Age of Semantics in Cooperative Communications: To Expedite Simulation Towards Real via Offline Reinforcement Learning

The age of information metric fails to correctly describe the intrinsic semantics of a status update. In an intelligent reflecting surface-aided cooperative relay communication system, we propose the age of semantics (AoS) for measuring semantics freshness of the status updates. Specifically, we focus on the status updating from a source node (SN) to the destination, which is formulated as a Markov decision process (MDP). The objective of the SN is to maximize the expected satisfaction of AoS and energy consumption under the maximum transmit power constraint. To seek the optimal control policy, we first derive an online deep actor-critic (DAC) learning scheme under the on-policy temporal difference learning framework. However, implementing the online DAC in practice poses the key challenge in infinitely repeated interactions between the SN and the system, which can be dangerous particularly during the exploration. We then put forward a novel offline DAC scheme, which estimates the optimal control policy from a previously collected dataset without any further interactions with the system. Numerical experiments verify the theoretical results and show that our offline DAC scheme significantly outperforms the online DAC scheme and the most representative baselines in terms of mean utility, demonstrating strong robustness to dataset quality.
Postharvest effects of 1-MCP and Chitosan/Oleic acid coating in Pitaya (Stenocereus griseus H.)

Pitaya (Stenocereus griseus H.) is an exotic fruit produced in some regions of Mexico, where it is mainly consumed fresh and valued in local markets. Its pulp has an intense red color, sweet flavor, small and easily chewable seeds, and compounds with antioxidant capacity, such as betalains and phenolics, which confer the fruit an important nutraceutical value. Therefore, in selected markets, the price of pitaya is considered high. However, pitaya has big spines that cause consumer rejection, due to the possibility of puncture. The spines also make it difficult to handle pitaya and cause mechanical damages. These circumstances make it indispensable to remove the spines from the fruit, but collaterally, the shelf-life is decreased, and consequently, its commercialization in distant markets is more difficult. It has been reported that postharvest treatments, such as application of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and chitosan (Ch) coatings added with hydrophobic components like oleic acid (OA), aid in preserving the quality of several horticultural products, but this effect has not been studied in pitaya. In the present study, the effects of 1-MCP (4.2 µL L-1) and/or a coating prepared with 9.1 g L-1 of Ch + 6.4 mL L-1 of OA (CO) were evaluated over the quality of pitayas, which were previously despined (D) during refrigeration (11 ± 1 °C; 93 ± 2 % relative humidity (RH)) for 15 d. The quality parameters studied were respiration pattern, ethylene production, weight loss, titratable acidity, skin firmness, and total soluble solids (TSS). It was found that the respiration rate and ethylene production corresponded to the climacteric type, independently of the treatment. The refrigeration conditions, minimized notoriously the weight loss of the fruits of practically all treatments. CO alone maintained the quality parameters and delayed the appearance of fungi, extending the shelf-life of despined pitayas up to 15 d. However, 1-MCP alone was not capable of preserving the evaluated quality parameters. The best treatment was D+CO+1-MCP, since it reduced notoriously the respiration and ethylene production rates, and inhibited loss of skin firmness, TSS, and acidity of the fruit. The results obtained herein are a progress in the limited knowledge of the postharvest physiology of pitaya fruit. More research is needed to deepen this knowledge and to optimize the postharvest handling of pitaya, in order to develop its market at global level for the benefit of producers and consumers.
Collapse of massive fields in anti-de Sitter spacetime

Gravitational collapse in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime has a rich but poorly-understood structure. There are strong indications that some families of initial data form "bound" states, which are regular everywhere, while other families seem to always collapse to black holes. Here, we investigate the collapse of massive scalar fields in anti-de Sitter, with enlarged freedom in the initial data setup, such as several distinct wavepackets, gravitationally interacting with each other. Our results are fully consistent with previous findings in the literature: massive fields, which have a fully resonant spectra, collapse at (arbitrarily? ) small amplitude for some classes of initial data, and form oscillating stars for others. We find evidence that initial data consisting on several wavepackets may allow efficient exchange of energy between them, and delay the collapse substantially, or avoid it altogether. When the AdS boundary is artificially changed so that the spectrum is no longer resonant, cascading to higher frequencies may still be present. Finally, we comment on the asymptotically flat counterparts.
Relation of Origins of Primitive Chaos

A new concept, primitive chaos, was proposed, as a concept closely related to the fundamental problems of sciences themselves such as determinism, causality, free will, predictability, and time asymmetry [{\em J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. } {\bf 2014}, {\em 83}, 1401]. This concept is literally a primitive chaos in such a sense that it leads to the characteristic properties of the conventional chaos under natural conditions. Then, two contrast concepts, nondegenerate Peano continuum and Cantor set, are known as the origins of the primitive chaos. In this study, the relation of these origins is investigated with the aid of a mathematical method, topology. Then, we can see the emergence of interesting concepts such as the relation of whole and part, and coarse graining, which imply the essence of our intrinsic recognition for phenomena.
A Machine-Learning-Based Robust Classification Method for PV Panel Faults

Renewable energy resources have gained considerable attention in recent years due to their efficiency and economic benefits. Their proportion of total energy use continues to grow over time. Photovoltaic (PV) cell and wind energy generation are the least-expensive new energy sources in most countries. Renewable energy technologies significantly contribute to climate mitigation and provide economic benefits. Apart from these advantages, renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy, have drawbacks, for instance restricted energy supply, reliance on weather conditions, and being affected by several kinds of faults, which cause a high power loss. Usually, the local PV plants are small in size, and it is easy to trace any fault and defect; however, there are many PV cells in the grid-connected PV system where it is difficult to find a fault. Keeping in view the aforedescribed facts, this paper presents an intelligent model to detect faults in the PV panels. The proposed model utilizes the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which is trained on historic data. The dataset was preprocessed before being fed to the CNN. The dataset contained different parameters, such as current, voltage, temperature, and irradiance, for five different classes. The simulation results showed that the proposed CNN model achieved a training accuracy of 97.64% and a testing accuracy of 95.20%, which are much better than the previous research performed on this dataset.
The ALMA-PILS survey: First detections of ethylene oxide, acetone and propanal toward the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422

Context. One of the open questions in astrochemistry is how complex organic and prebiotic molecules are formed. The unsurpassed sensitivity of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) takes the quest for discovering molecules in the warm and dense gas surrounding young stars to the next level. Aims. Our aim is to start the process of compiling an inventory of oxygen-bearing complex organic molecules toward the solar-type Class 0 protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422 from an unbiased spectral survey with ALMA, Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey (PILS). Here we focus on the new detections of ethylene oxide (c-C2H4O), acetone (CH3COCH3), and propanal (C2H5CHO). Methods. With ALMA, we surveyed the spectral range from 329 to 363 GHz at 0.5? (60 AU diameter) resolution. Using a simple model for the molecular emission in local thermodynamical equilibrium, the excitation temperatures and column densities of each species were constrained. Results. We successfully detect propanal (44 lines), ethylene oxide (20 lines) and acetone (186 lines) toward one component of the protostellar binary, IRAS 16293B. The high resolution maps demonstrate that the emission for all investigated species originates from the compact central region close to the protostar. This, along with a derived common excitation temperature of Tex ? 125 K, is consistent with a coexistence of these molecules in the same gas. Conclusions. The observations mark the first detections of acetone, propanal and ethylene oxide toward a low-mass protostar. The relative abundance ratios of the two sets of isomers, a CH3COCH3/C2H5CHO ratio of 8 and a CH3CHO/c-C2H4O ratio of 12, are comparable to previous observations toward high-mass protostars. The majority of observed abundance ratios from these results as well as those measured toward high-mass protostars are up to an order of magnitude above the predictions from chemical models. This may reflect either missing reactions or uncertain rates in the chemical networks. The physical conditions, such as temperatures or densities, used in the models, may not be applicable to solar-type protostars either.
Potential of enhancing anti-obesogenic agriceuticals by applying sustainable fertilizers during plant cultivation

Overweight and obesity are two of the world's biggest health problems. They are associated with excessive fat accumulation resulting from an imbalance between energy consumed and energy expended. Conventional therapies for obesity commonly include synthetic drugs and surgical procedures that can lead to serious side effects. Therefore, developing effective, safe, and readily available new treatments to prevent and treat obesity is highly relevant. Many plant extracts have shown anti-obesogenic potential. These plant extracts are composed of different agriceuticals such as fibers, phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, alkaloids, lignans, and proteins that can manage obesity by suppressing appetite, inhibiting digestive enzymes, reducing adipogenesis and lipogenesis, promoting lipolysis and thermogenesis, modulating gut microbiota and suppressing obesity-induced inflammation. These anti-obesogenic agriceuticals can be enhanced in plants during their cultivation by applying sustainable fertilization strategies, improving their capacity to fight the obesity pandemic. Biofertilization and nanofertilization are considered efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective strategies to enhance plant growth and development and increase the content of nutrients and bioactive compounds, representing an alternative to overproducing the anti-obesogenic agriceuticals of interest. However, further research is required to study the impact of anti-obesogenic plant species grown using these agricultural practices. This review presents the current scenario of overweight and obesity; recent research work describing different plant species with significant effects against obesity; and several reports exhibiting the potential of the biofertilization and nanofertilization practices to enhance the concentrations of bioactive molecules of anti-obesogenic plant species.
On the Waring–Goldbach problem for fourth and sixth powers

We consider the Waring–Goldbach problem for fourth and sixth powers. In particular, we establish that every sufficiently large positive integer under a natural congruence condition can be represented as a sum of 13 fourth powers of prime numbers. This improves upon the earlier result of Kawada and Wooley [‘On the Waring–Goldbach problem for fourth and fifth powers’, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 83 (2001) 1–50].
Recycling of Post-Consumer Polystyrene Packaging Waste into New Food Packaging Applications—Part 1: Direct Food Contact

The increase in plastic recycling is an essential pre-requisite for the transition to a circular economy. Polystyrene (PS) is a low diffusive polymer and therefore a promising candidate for recycling back into food contact similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET). However, such a recycling of PS cups has been not established to date on a commercial scale. Even if recycling back into food contact is desired, the health of the consumer must not be at risk. As a consequence, recycling processes must go through a conservative assessment by relevant authorities. For PS, however, evaluation criteria are not published, which is a drawback for process developers. Within the study, post-consumer PS recyclates were evaluated in a similar way to existing evaluation criteria for PET and HDPE. For the recycling of post-consumer PS back into packages with direct contact with food, there are still some points open which cannot be answered conclusively today. Upon closer inspection, there appears to be enough information available to give a first indication as to whether recycling of post-consumer PS packaging materials back into direct food contact can be considered safe. The knowledge gaps in PS recycling were determined and discussed.
BAYES PROPERTIES OF ESTIMATORS OF LOCATION PARAMETERS IN TRUNCATED PARAMETER SPACES

FOT estimation problems in truncated parameter spaces it is well-known that estimators obtained by "projection", unto the truncated space, of estimators for the untruncated problem are often not (limits of) Bayes estimators for the truncated problem and are thus often inadmissible. In this paper the case of a location parameter is considered. It is shown that an estimator which is the "projection" of a location invariant extended Bayes estimator for the untruncated problem is, under certain regularity conditions, extended Bayes for the truncated problem.
The Gouty Kidney: A Reappraisal

This review re-examines the role of crystal deposition in the kidney in view of recent clinical and experimental findings. The involvement of the renal system in gout seems frequent. Indeed, recent studies showed that approximately 25% of patients with gout experience renal failure, defined by estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2. The pathophysiology is complex and involves several factors, their respective roles being difficult to dissect. The role of crystal deposition in the kidney was the first suspected, and the concept of gouty microcrystalline nephropathy, also called gouty nephropathy, has been popular, supported by early autopsy studies demonstrating uric acid and urate crystal deposition in the renal medulla of patients with gout, together with features of tubulointerstitial nephritis. Crystal deposition was first considered an important source of renal involvement in gout. After the introduction of urate-lowering drugs and the performance of kidney biopsies, which mainly involved the renal cortex and did not reveal much crystal deposition but rather vascular changes, this concept has been criticized and even dismissed. Thereafter, kidney involvement in gout was considered mainly vascular, related to hypertension and associated comorbidities and later to hyperuricemia. The toxic effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is also an important factor. Modern imaging, especially renal ultrasonography, allows for atraumatic exploration of the kidney and has revealed hyperechogenicity of the renal medulla, suggesting crystalline deposits, in approximately one-third of patients with tophaceous gout. Experimental models of gouty nephropathy have recently demonstrated the pathogenic role of microcrystal deposition in the collecting ducts and parenchyma of the renal medulla. Taken together, these recent findings lead to the re-examination of the pathogenic role of crystal deposition in the renal medulla and testing the effect of urate-lowering drugs on renal features of gouty patients with evidence of renal crystal deposition.
Monotonicity and non-monotonicity of simple spatial epidemic models

The epidemic process on a graph is considered for which infectious contacts with susceptible sites occur at rate that depends on whether they have been infected at an earlier time or not. We show that the Vasershtein coupling for spin systems extends under the proviso that the rate of secondary infections is at least as great as that of initial ones, whereas we show that otherwise in general fails. By means of introducing a new, soft notion of stochastic monotonicity for particle systems we show that nonetheless, the said proviso may be dropped in reference to the probability of occurrence of an infinite epidemic in the case of the basic one-dimensional process with totally asymmetric interaction, thus settling in the affirmative a conjecture posed in [Stacey (2003), {\em Ann. Appl. Probab. } {\bf 13}, 669-690].
SEAWEEDS AS BIOINDICATORS OF HEAVY METALS POLLUTION IN TARUT BAY SAUDI ARABIA.

Mohamed Guitouni* 1,2 , Ali Al Madan 2 and Sami Shabeeb Al-Shabeeb 2 . 1. National Institute of Research and Physico-Chemical Analysis, Technological Pole Sidi Thabet 2020, Aryanah, Tunisia. 2. Fisheries Research Center, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Manuscript Info Abstract . Manuscript History
Studies on Peat in the Coastal Plains of Sumatra and Borneo : Part I Physiography and Geomorphology of the Coastal Plains

The physiography and geomorphology of the coastal plains in Jambi and South Kalimantan were studied with the aim of describing the recent sediments deposited there. For this purpose, borings were made along transects from inland to the coast to a depth of up to 6 meters. The results of these studies indicate the presence of five physiographic regions and fifteen geomorphic units in the coastal plain of Jambi. In the coastal plain of South Kalimantan, four physiographic regions and eleven geomorphic units were established. The landforms in both of these coastal plains were developed by peat and mineral soil deposits. These deposits started to accumulate during the Holocene period. In Jambi, peats situated in the ombrogenous peats zone, which sometimes exceed 6 meters in depth, have been deposited since the terrestrial soils on the Pleistocene terrace were transformed into fluviatile swampy soils to form the so-called peat-capped terrace. Peats on mangrove deposits situated in the riverine to brackish deposits zone were formed in later periods. In the brackish to marine deposits zone, the thin peats are very young. In South Kalimantan, peats situated in the riverine to brackish deposits zone have been deposited on mangrove deposits and on sand or gravel. I believe that the peat formation on sand or gravel is of the same age as the older peat in Jambi.
The Promise of Mediation: The Transformative Approach to Conflict

Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1. The Mediation Field: An Overview and Four Stories. 2. A Transformative View of Conflict and Mediation. 3. Gaining Sight of the Goal of Transformation. 4. Putting Transformative Theory into Practice: The "Purple House" Mediation, with Commentary-Part One. 5. Putting Transformative Theory into Practice: The "Purple House" Mediation, with Commentary-Part Two. 6. Myths and Misconceptions About Transformative Mediation. 7. Paths Toward the Future: Living with Differences in Values and Practice. References. About the Authors. Index.