Exploiting Class Labels to Boost Performance on Embedding-based Text Classification

Text classification is one of the most frequent tasks for processing textual data, facilitating among others research from large-scale datasets. Embeddings of different kinds have recently become the de facto standard as features used for text classification. These embeddings have the capacity to capture meanings of words inferred from occurrences in large external collections. While they are built out of external collections, they are unaware of the distributional characteristics of words in the classification dataset at hand, including most importantly the distribution of words across classes in training data. To make the most of these embeddings as features and to boost the performance of classifiers using them, we introduce a weighting scheme, Term Frequency-Category Ratio (TF-CR), which can weight high-frequency, category-exclusive words higher when computing word embeddings. Our experiments on eight datasets show the effectiveness of TF-CR, leading to improved performance scores over the well-known weighting schemes TF-IDF and KLD as well as over the absence of a weighting scheme in most cases.Comment: CIKM 202

Structure Differentiation of Hydrophilic Brass Nanoparticles Using a Polyol Toolbox

Nano-brasses are emerging as a new class of composition-dependent applicable materials. It remains a challenge to synthesize hydrophilic brass nanoparticles (NPs) and further exploit them for promising bio-applications. Based on red/ox potential of polyol and nitrate salts precursors, a series of hydrophilic brass formulations of different nanoarchitectures was prepared and characterized. Self-assembly synthesis was performed in the presence of triethylene glycol (TrEG) and nitrate precursors Cu(NO3)2·3H2O and Zn(NO3)2·6H2O in an autoclave system, at different temperatures, conventional or microwave-assisted heating, while a range of precursor ratios was investigated. NPs were thoroughly characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmition electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ζ-potential to determine the crystal structure, composition, morphology, size, state of polyol coating, and aqueous colloidal stability. Distinct bimetallic α-brasses and γ-brasses, α-Cu40Zn25/γ-Cu11Zn24, α-Cu63Zn37, α-Cu47Zn10/γ-Cu19Zn24, and hierarchical core/shell structures, α-Cu59Zn30@(ZnO)11, Cu35Zn16@(ZnO)49, α-Cu37Zn18@(ZnO)45, Cu@Zinc oxalate, were produced by each synthetic protocol as stoichiometric, copper-rich, and/or zinc-rich nanomaterials. TEM sizes were estimated at 20–40 nm for pure bimetallic particles and at 45–70 nm for hierarchical core/shell structures. Crystallite sizes for the bimetallic nanocrystals were found ca. 30–45 nm, while in the case of the core-shell structures, smaller values around 15–20 nm were calculated for the ZnO shells. Oxidation and/or fragmentation of TrEG was unveiled and attributed to the different fabrication routes and formation mechanisms. All NPs were hydrophilic with 20–30% w/w of polyol coating, non-ionic colloidal stabilization (−5 mV < ζ-potential < −13 mV) and relatively small hydrodynamic sizes (<250 nm). The polyol toolbox proved effective in tailoring the structure and composition of hydrophilic brass NPs while keeping the crystallite and hydrodynamic sizes fixed

Assessment of high school textbooks addressing radiations

Exposure to different types of radiation is an integral part of everyday life (e.g. cosmic radiation, radon, medical applications, cell phones, etc.). Therefore, the general public should adequately be informed on the issue from an early age in order to develop a realistic understanding of the associated risks and the necessary safety culture. In this respect, the quality of the related information provided in the school textbooks is of great importance. The present work demonstrates a quantified assessment of high school textbooks regarding the information on different radiation-related topics provided to students. The assessment was carried out based on an anonymous online survey with the participation of a total of 347 high school teachers. According to the results of the survey, the high school textbooks address radiation issues in a sparse, occasional, and fragmentary manner. Moreover, the results indicate that the quality of information they provide was judged as unsatisfactory in terms of scientific correctness, completeness, clarity-comprehensiveness and objectivity. Radiation protection and applications of non-ionizing radiation are the topics that are covered to a lesser extent in the textbooks and curricula evaluated

Resonantly Driven Coherent Oscillations In A Solid-State Quantum Emitter

Single-quantum emitters emit only one photon at a time, but the properties of the photon depend on how the emitter is excited. Incoherent excitation is simple and broadly used with solid-state emitters such as quantum dots, but does not allow direct manipulation of the quantum state. Coherent, resonant excitation on the other hand is used in pump-probe techniques to examine the quantum state of the emitter, but does not permit collection of the single-photon emission. Coherent control with simultaneous generation of photons has been an elusive goal in solid-state approaches, where, because of strong laser scattering at the detection wavelength, measurement of resonant emission has been limited to cross-polarized detection or Stokes-shift techniques. Here we demonstrate that a semiconductor quantum dot in a microcavity can be resonantly driven and its single-photon emission extracted background free. Under strong continuous-wave excitation, the dot undergoes several Rabi oscillations before emitting, which are visible as oscillations in the second-order correlation function. The quantum-dot states are therefore dressed, resulting in a Mollow-triplet emission spectrum. Such coherent control will be necessary for future high-efficiency sources of indistinguishable single photons, which can be used for quantum key distribution or through post-selection to generate entangled photon pairs. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Optical properties of GaN quantum dots grown on nonpolar (11-20) SiC by molecular-beam epitaxy

International audienc

High-risk human papillomavirus DNA test and p16INK4a in the triage of LSIL: A prospective diagnostic study

Objective. The detection of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) amongst patients with low-grade cytology (LSIL) is challenging. This study evaluated the role of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) DNA test and p16INK4a immunostaining in identifying women with LSIL cytology at risk of harboring CIN2 or worse (CIN2+) and the role of p16INK4a in the triage of a population of HR-HPV positive LSIL. Methods. We conducted a prospective study including women with LSIL cytology. Detection of HR-HPV was carried out by means of a polymerase chain reaction based assay. p16INK4a immunostaining was performed using the Dako CINtec cytology kit. All patients had colposcopically directed punch biopsies or large loop excision of the transformation zone of the cervix. The endpoint was detection of a biopsy-confirmed CIN2+. Results. A series of 126 women with LSIL cytology were included. HR-HPV test had sensitivity 75% and specificity 64% for an endpoint of CIN2+. p16INK4a had significantly higher specificity of 89% (p = 0.0000) but low sensitivity of 42%. The role of p16INK4a immunostaining in the triage of LSIL positive for HR-HPV was also evaluated. p16INK4a triage had 70% positive predictive value (PPV); however, this was not significantly higher than the PPV (56%) of HR-HPV test alone (p = 0.4). Conclusions. The results indicate that HR-HPV or p16INK4a cannot be used as solitary markers for the assessment of LSIL. The addition of p16INK4a immunostaining led to an increase in HR-HPV specificity; however, the biomarker needs to be assessed further to establish its role as an adjunct test in the triage of LSIL. © 2010 Elsevier Inc

Alterations in human papillomavirus-related biomarkers after treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Objective: This study aims to assess the alterations in various HPV-related biomarkers 6 months post-treatment and how these relate to various risk factors and individual characteristics; their role for the prediction of treatment failure was also evaluated. Material and methods: Design: Prospective observational study. Population: Women planning to undergo treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Intervention: A liquid-based cytology sample was taken pre-operatively. This was tested for HPV genotyping, Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification, flow cytometric evaluation and p16 immunostaining. A repeat LBC sample was obtained 6 months post-treatment and was tested for the same biomarkers. Outcomes: The alterations of the biomarkers 6 months post-treatment were recorded. Their relation to individual characteristics and risk factors (age, smoking, sexual history, use of condom, CIN grade, excision margin status, crypt involvement) as well as their role for the prediction of residual/recurrent disease were assessed. Analysis: The accuracy parameters (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and the likelihood ratios) of each biomarker for the prediction of recurrent/residual CIN were calculated. Results: A total of 190 women were recruited. All biomarkers had significantly higher negativity rates post-treatment compared to pre-treatment ones. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that consistent condom use post-treatment significantly reduces the high-risk HPV positivity rates in comparison to no use (OR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.09-0.38). Sensitivity and specificity for all high risk HPV DNA testing were 0.5/0.62, respectively; the relevant values for only type 16 or 18 DNA typing were 0.5/0.92, for NASBA 0.5/0.94, for flow 0.5/0.85 and for p16 0.25/0.93. Conclusion: CIN treatment reduces positivity for all HPV-related biomarkers. Consistent condom use significantly reduces high-risk HPV positivity rates. More cases of treatment failures are required in order to specify whether different combinations of HPV-related biomarkers could enhance the accuracy of follow up, possibly in the form of a Scoring System that could allow tailored post-treatment surveillance

Proportion of excision and cervical healing after large loop excision of the transformation zone for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

To determine how the proportion of the cervical volume excised affects cervical regeneration. Design Prospective observational study. Setting University Hospital. Population Women planning to undergo excisional treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia who wish to have future pregnancies. Methods The cervical volume (and dimensions) is calculated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before treatment. The volume (and dimensions) of the cone is assessed before fixation by a volumetric tube and a ruler; the percentage (%) of excision is computed. Cervical regeneration is estimated by repeat MRI at 6months. Main outcome measures Cervical regeneration in relation to proportion of excision. Statistical analysis was performed by box plots and analysis of variance. Results A total of 48 women have been recruited; 29 have completed 6months follow up. Both the total cervical volume (from MRI) before treatment and the volume of the excised/ablated cone varied substantially. The estimated proportion of excision varied significantly between 4% and 39% (median 11%). Multivariate linear regression revealed that the proportional deficit at 6months post-treatment was determined mainly by the proportion of the excised volume. Conclusions Careful assessment of risks and benefits of treatment is essential when deciding to treat women who wish to have future pregnancies. Assessment of the proportion of the cervical volume and length excised might identify those that need further surveillance during future pregnancy. © RCOG 2010 BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Reversed polarized emission in highly strained aa-plane GaN/AlN multiple quantum wells

International audienc