Towards Practical Control of Singular Values of Convolutional Layers

In general, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are easy to train, but their essential properties, such as generalization error and adversarial robustness, are hard to control. Recent research demonstrated that singular values of convolutional layers significantly affect such elusive properties and offered several methods for controlling them. Nevertheless, these methods present an intractable computational challenge or resort to coarse approximations. In this paper, we offer a principled approach to alleviating constraints of the prior art at the expense of an insignificant reduction in layer expressivity. Our method is based on the tensor-train decomposition; it retains control over the actual singular values of convolutional mappings while providing structurally sparse and hardware-friendly representation. We demonstrate the improved properties of modern CNNs with our method and analyze its impact on the model performance, calibration, and adversarial robustness. The source code is available at: https://github.com/WhiteTeaDragon/practical_svd_convComment: Published as a conference paper at NeurIPS 202

Education in Udmurt and Chuvash as minority languages of Russia

The languages of Russia are a valuable resource of knowledge about the life of the indigenous peoples and a challenge for all the specialists in linguistic typology. As is widely known, they are undergoing the process of loss, mainly because the quantity of speakers diminishes and the quality of their speech deteriorates. The article discusses the situation of Udmurt and Chuvash in education on the basis of legal texts, statistical data, interviews to parents, teachers and school officials and schoolchildren pooling. Although Udmurt and Chuvash are being taught as a subject in many schools where the language of instruction is Russian, the results are not satisfying. This problem, being psychological in its nature, lies in attitudes prevalent in society and in the schools. The minority languages are practiced in a small number of situations, and a small number of students really care about elaboration of their own ways of belonging, because they experience that the native language is not prestigious. At the same time, to use some words and to know some traditions is respectful, especially when someone visits abroad and is welcomed much better as a representative of a minority than as a Russian. Although bilingualism among the citizens of Russia is quite common, it was studied poorly. A ‘new generation’ of didactic materials is needed

The fintech and islamic finance synthesis in the modern world

The article discusses the economic prerequisites for the effective growth of Islamic finance in modern conditions, analyzes the existing definitions of Islamic finance and banking and financial technologies, which served as the basis for the formation of a new definition of digital Islamic banking. The authors carried out a simulation of the influence of the FinTech industry on the development of Islamic finance and formed the basic prerequisites for further sustainable growth in this area. The new theoretical definition is a synthesis of two systems that can be used later to identify digital tools that can be applied within the framework of Islamic finance. No less important in this aspect is the preservation of Sharia norms. The modeling becomes an evidence base for the further use and expansion of Fintech tools in Islamic banking and Islamic finance in general. This aspect is also confirmed by the development of the Islamic Fintech Ecosystem and Islamic Fintech companies

Enhancing Adrenaline Sensing with Lanthanum Cuprate: A Promising Approach for a Novel Sensor

Electrochemical sensing is an excellent analytical means with multiple applications. Most of the electrochemical developments are based on the novel electrochemically active substrates. A lot of them have been adopted from other fields of material science. Every new class of functional materials has impacted on the development of electroanalytical chemistry. In this view, lanthanide cuprates, a well recognized high temperature superconducting materials were considered for adrenaline sensing. Obtained from corresponding oxides, a highly crystalline La2CuO4 found to be a suitable substrate for analytical method development. It inherited sponge-like morphology common for the most of the previously reported lanthanum cuprates with narrow pore size distribution at 400–700 nm. Excellent charge mobility and low resistivity provided a carbon paste electrode with improved linearity range and low limit of detection. Repeatability and stability of the developed sensor were at satisfactory level. Sensor functionality was verified on the real samples with excellent recovery rates. With this work we suggest further development of electroanalytical methods with application of lanthanide cuprates

Differential Cytokine Responses and the Clinical Severity of Adult and Pediatric Nephropathia Epidemica

Nephropathia epidemica (NE), caused by the hantavirus infection, is endemic in Tatarstan Russia. The majority of patients are adults, with infection rarely diagnosed in children. This limited number of pediatric NE cases means there is an inadequate understanding of disease pathogenesis in this age category. Here, we have analyzed clinical and laboratory data in adults and children with NE to establish whether and how the disease severity differs between the two age groups. Serum cytokines were analyzed in samples collected from 11 children and 129 adult NE patients during an outbreak in 2019. A kidney toxicity panel was also used to analyze urine samples from these patients. Additionally, serum and urine samples were analyzed from 11 control children and 26 control adults. Analysis of clinical and laboratory data revealed that NE was milder in children than in adults. A variation in serum cytokine activation could explain the differences in clinical presentation. Cytokines associated with activation of Th1 lymphocytes were prominent in adults, while they were obscured in sera from pediatric NE patients. In addition, a prolonged activation of kidney injury markers was found in adults with NE, whilst only a short-lasting activation of these markers was observed in children with NE. These findings support previous observations of age differences in NE severity, which should be considered when diagnosing the disease in children

Trends and issues in language policy and language education in Crimea

1nononeThis work identifies and discusses developments in language policy and language education in Crimea since the peninsula's incorporation into the Russian Federation in March 2014. Working on the assumption that post-Soviet reforms and changes in language and education policies cannot be understood outside their historical context, the article starts by briefly outlining some of the defining features of the historical and sociolinguistic situation of Crimea until March 2014. It then presents the changing linguistic situation of the peninsula since its accession into Russia and discusses present developments in light of the broader context of post-Soviet language ideologies, policies and practices. It suggests that the new Crimean authorities are following a double strategy: the imposition of monolingual educational and linguistic policies, accompanied by largely symbolic concessions to the demands of local ethnic communities.Cet ouvrage identifie et discute des developpements dans la politique linguistique et l'education linguistique en Crimee depuis son incorporation dans la Federation de Russie en mars 2014. En supposant que les reformes et les changements post-sovietiques dans la politique linguistique et la politique d'enseignement ne puissent etre compris en dehors de leur contexte historique, l'article commence avec un petit apercu de quelques traits marquants de la situation historique et sociolinguistique de la Crimee jusqu'a mars 2014. Ensuite, il presente la conjoncture linguistique en mutation de la peninsule depuis son accession dans la Russie et discute des developpements actuels tenant compte du contexte plus large des ideologies, des politiques et des pratiques linguistiques post-sovietiques. Il propose que les nouvelles autorites crimeennes suivent une double-strategie: l'imposition des politiques d'enseignement et linguistiques monolingues, accompagnees par des concessions largement symboliques aux demandes issues des communautes locales ethniques.Bocale, PaolaBocale, Paol