Enhanced Meta-Learning for Cross-lingual Named Entity Recognition with Minimal Resources

For languages with no annotated resources, transferring knowledge from rich-resource languages is an effective solution for named entity recognition (NER). While all existing methods directly transfer from source-learned model to a target language, in this paper, we propose to fine-tune the learned model with a few similar examples given a test case, which could benefit the prediction by leveraging the structural and semantic information conveyed in such similar examples. To this end, we present a meta-learning algorithm to find a good model parameter initialization that could fast adapt to the given test case and propose to construct multiple pseudo-NER tasks for meta-training by computing sentence similarities. To further improve the model's generalization ability across different languages, we introduce a masking scheme and augment the loss function with an additional maximum term during meta-training. We conduct extensive experiments on cross-lingual named entity recognition with minimal resources over five target languages. The results show that our approach significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods across the board.Comment: This paper is accepted by AAAI2020. Code is available at https://github.com/microsoft/vert-papers/tree/master/papers/Meta-Cros

Digital supply chain: literature review of seven related technologies

This paper systematically reviews literature related with digital supply chains (DSC) and investigates the application status and development trend of different digital technologies in supply chain management. The review is conducted from the perspective of seven key digital supply chain technologies, i.e. Internet of Things (IoT) & Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G), 3D Printing, Big data (BD), Blockchain, Digital Twins (DT), and Intelligent autonomous vehicles (IAVs). It highlights the main limitations and opportunities of the various DSC technologies, provides an overview of prior studies, and identifies knowledge gaps by outlining the advantages, weaknesses and restrictions of individual technology. The paper also aims at providing a development framework as a roadmap for the match of different digital technologies with different strategic goals

Challenges and perspectives in computational deconvolution in genomics data

Deciphering cell type heterogeneity is crucial for systematically understanding tissue homeostasis and its dysregulation in diseases. Computational deconvolution is an efficient approach to estimate cell type abundances from a variety of omics data. Despite significant methodological progress in computational deconvolution in recent years, challenges are still outstanding. Here we enlist four significant challenges from availability of the reference data, generation of simulation data, limitations of computational methodologies, and benchmarking design and implementation. Finally, we make recommendations on reference data generation, new directions of computational methodologies and strategies to promote rigorous benchmarking

Deciphering male influence in gynogenetic Pengze crucian carp (Carassius auratus var. pengsenensis): insights from Nanopore sequencing of structural variations

In this study, we investigate gynogenetic reproduction in Pengze Crucian Carp (Carassius auratus var. pengsenensis) using third-generation Nanopore sequencing to uncover structural variations (SVs) in offspring. Our objective was to understand the role of male genetic material in gynogenesis by examining the genomes of both parents and their offspring. We discovered a notable number of male-specific structural variations (MSSVs): 1,195 to 1,709 MSSVs in homologous offspring, accounting for approximately 0.52%–0.60% of their detected SVs, and 236 to 350 MSSVs in heterologous offspring, making up about 0.10%–0.13%. These results highlight the significant influence of male genetic material on the genetic composition of offspring, particularly in homologous pairs, challenging the traditional view of asexual reproduction. The gene annotation of MSSVs revealed their presence in critical gene regions, indicating potential functional impacts. Specifically, we found 5 MSSVs in the exonic regions of protein-coding genes in homologous offspring, suggesting possible direct effects on protein structure and function. Validation of an MSSV in the exonic region of the polyunsaturated fatty acid 5-lipoxygenase gene confirmed male genetic material transmission in some offspring. This study underscores the importance of further research on the genetic diversity and gynogenesis mechanisms, providing valuable insights for reproductive biology, aquaculture, and fostering innovation in biological research and aquaculture practices

The efficacy and safety of bilateral synchronous transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for prolonged disorders of consciousness: a multicenter, double-blind, stratified, randomized controlled trial protocol

BackgroundTreatment of disorders of consciousness (DOC) poses a huge challenge for clinical medicine. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation method, which shows potential in improving recovery of DOC. However, the evidence came from single-center, small-sample randomized controlled trial, which is insufficient to form a conclusion. Thereby, we propose a prospective, multicenter, double-blind, stratified, two-arm randomized controlled trial protocol to investigate the efficacy and safety of bilateral synchronous taVNS for treatment of DOC.MethodsWe aim to recruit 382 patients with prolonged DOC, and divide them into an active stimulation group and a sham stimulation group. The patients in the active stimulation group will receive bilateral synchronous taVNS with a 200 μs pulse width, 20 Hz frequency, and personal adjusted intensity. The sham stimulation group will wear the same stimulator but without current output. Both groups will receive treatment for 30 min per session, twice per day, 6 days per week lasting for 4 weeks. The clinical assessment including Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R), Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS-E) will be conducted to evaluate its efficacy. Heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, and adverse events will be recorded to evaluate its safety.DiscussionThese results will enable us to investigate the efficacy and safety of taVNS for DOC. This protocol will provide multicenter, large-sample, high-quality Class II evidence to support bilateral synchronous taVNS for DOC, and will advance the field of treatment options for DOC.Clinical trial registration:https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=221851, ChiCTR2400081978

Micropore Structure Characteristics and Recoverability Evaluation of Typical Shale Oil Reservoirs

In view of the weak research on the availability of typical shale oil reservoirs from the perspective of development, this study introduced a two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) evaluation method on the basis of the previous one-dimensional NMR combined with centrifugal physical simulation experiments. Not only the production characteristics of typical shale oil reservoirs were studied but also the microscopic production laws of different occurrence states were studied. The results show that the pore distribution of Jilin shale is more concentrated than that of Qinghai shale. The oil of the two blocks mainly occurs in 0.01–10 ms pores, and the occurrence ratio of Jilin shale in the pores is higher, which is more than 90%. The oil production of the two blocks is mainly dominated by 0.01–10 ms pores, and the utilization efficiency contribution of these pores in Jilin shale is higher, accounting for about 80%. The utilization efficiency (UE) increases logarithmically with centrifugal force, and the growth rate of Jilin shale is greater than that of Qinghai shale. The proportion of free oil in Jilin block is less than that in Qinghai block. The shale oil in the two blocks is both at 15% final UE, and the UE of free oil in Jilin shale is about 9% and that of Qinghai shale is about 12%. The recoverability of Jilin shale is lower than that of Qinghai shale

Tuning surface properties of amino-functionalized silica for metal nanoparticle loading: The vital role of an annealing process

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) loaded on oxides have been widely used as multifunctional nanomaterials in various fields such as optical imaging, sensors, and heterogeneous catalysis. However, the deposition of metal NPs on oxide supports with high efficiency and homogeneous dispersion still remains elusive, especially when silica is used as the support. Amino-functionalization of silica can improve loading efficiency, but metal NPs often aggregate on the surface. Herein, we report that a facial annealing of amino-functionalized silica can significantly improve the dispersion and enhance the loading efficiency of various metal NPs, such as Pt, Rh, and Ru, on the silica surface. A series of characterization techniques, such as diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), Zeta potential analysis, UV–Vis spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis coupled with infrared analysis (TGA–IR), and nitrogen physisorption, were employed to study the changes of surface properties of the amino-functionalized silica before and after annealing. We found that the annealed amino-functionalized silica surface has more cross-linked silanol groups and relatively lesser amount of amino groups, and less positively charges, which could be the key to the uniform deposition of metal NPs during the loading process. These results could contribute to the preparation of metal/oxide hybrid NPs for the applications that require uniform dispersion