1,207 research outputs found

    On the Effectiveness of Offline RL for Dialogue Response Generation

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    A common training technique for language models is teacher forcing (TF). TF attempts to match human language exactly, even though identical meanings can be expressed in different ways. This motivates use of sequence-level objectives for dialogue response generation. In this paper, we study the efficacy of various offline reinforcement learning (RL) methods to maximize such objectives. We present a comprehensive evaluation across multiple datasets, models, and metrics. Offline RL shows a clear performance improvement over teacher forcing while not inducing training instability or sacrificing practical training budgets.Comment: Accepted at ICML 2023. 18 pages, 12 figures. Code available at https://github.com/asappresearch/dialogue-offline-r

    Explicating the challenges of providing novel media experiences driven by user personal data

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    The turn towards personal data to drive novel media experiences has resulted in a shift in the priorities and challenges associated with media creation and dissemination. This paper takes up the challenge of explicating this novel and dynamic scenario through an interview study of employees delivering diverse personal data driven media services within a large U.K. based media organisation. The results identify a need for better interactions in the user-data-service ecosystem where trust and value are prioritised and balanced. Being legally compliant and going beyond just the mandatory to further ensure social accountability and ethical responsibility as an organisation are unpacked as methods to achieve this balance in data centric interactions. The work also presents how technology is seen and used as a solution for overcoming challenges and realising priorities to provide value while preserving trust within the personal data ecosystem

    Feed for Milk-Eggs Pork

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    The biggest service that farmers can give to the nation in war is greater production of meat, milk and eggs. Uncle Sam is calling upon South Dakota farmers for greater production of these products throughout this winter and for next year. In many years of the past, it would not be possible for our state to provide this greater production but now it is different – we now have the greatest feed supply in our history, thanks to the bountifulness of nature last year. To use our vast feed supplies most efficiently- to get the maximum amount of human feed from them-stricter attention to proper winter feeding methods must be given. It will require the utmost cooperation and teamwork between farmers, U. S. Department of Agriculture Neighborhood Leaders, county extension agents and experiment stations to see that not a bit of feed is wasted; that it all goes to make every bit of human food possible

    Impacts of Psychological Stress on Osteoporosis: Clinical Implications and Treatment Interactions

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    The significant biochemical and physiological effects of psychological stress are beginning to be recognized as exacerbating common diseases, including osteoporosis. This review discusses the current evidence for psychological stress-associated mental health disorders as risk factors for osteoporosis, the mechanisms that may link these conditions, and potential implications for treatment. Traditional, alternative, and adjunctive therapies are discussed. This review is not intended to provide therapeutic recommendations, but, rather, the goal of this review is to delineate potential interactions of psychological stress and osteoporosis and to highlight potential multi-system implications of pharmacological interventions. Review of the current literature identifies several potentially overlapping mechanistic pathways that may be of interest (e.g., glucocorticoid signaling, insulin-like growth factor signaling, serotonin signaling) for further basic and clinical research. Current literature also supports the potential for cross-effects of therapeutics for osteoporosis and mental health disorders. While studies examining a direct link between osteoporosis and chronic psychological stress are limited, the studies reviewed herein suggest that a multi-factorial, personalized approach should be considered for improved patient outcomes in populations experiencing psychological stress, particularly those at high-risk for development of osteoporosis

    Feeding in Winter

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    In this circular, created by the Agriculture Extension Service at South Dakota State College, the information provided includes feeding techniques during the winter months. This information is provided through the guidance of the Agriculture Department during the year 1943

    The role of Gr‐1+ cells and tumour necrosis factor‐α signalling during Clostridium difficile colitis in mice

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    Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110845/1/imm12425.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110845/2/imm12425-sup-0001-FigS1-2.pd

    Fluvoxamine for outpatient management of COVID-19 to prevent hospitalization: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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    Importance: Widely available and affordable options for the outpatient management of COVID-19 are needed, particularly for therapies that prevent hospitalization. Objective: To perform a meta-analysis of the available randomized clinical trial evidence for fluvoxamine in the outpatient management of COVID-19. Data Sources: World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov. Study Selection: Studies with completed outpatient trials with available results that compared fluvoxamine with placebo were included. Data Extraction and Synthesis: The PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed and study details in terms of inclusion criteria, trial demographics, and the prespecified outcome of all-cause hospitalization were extracted. Risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool and a bayesian random effects meta-analysis with different estimates of prior probability was conducted: a weakly neutral prior (50% chance of efficacy with 95% CI for risk ratio [RR] between 0.5 and 2.0) and a moderately optimistic prior (85% chance of efficacy). A frequentist random-effects meta-analysis was conducted as a senstivity analysis, and the results were contextualized by estimating the probability of any association (RR ≤ 1) and moderate association (RR ≤ 0.9) with reduced hospitalization. Main Outcomes and Measures: All-cause hospitalization. Results: This systematic review and meta-analysis of 3 randomized clinical trials and included 2196 participants. The RRs for hospitalization were 0.78 (95% CI, 0.58-1.08) for the bayesian weakly neutral prior, 0.73 (95% CI, 0.53-1.01) for the bayesian moderately optimistic prior, and 0.75 (95% CI, 0.58-0.97) for the frequentist analysis. Depending on the scenario, the probability of any association with reduced hospitalization ranged from 94.1% to 98.6%, and the probability of moderate association ranged from 81.6% to 91.8%. Conclusions and Relevance: In this systematic review and meta-analysis of data from 3 trials, under a variety of assumptions, fluvoxamine showed a high probability of being associated with reduced hospitalization in outpatients with COVID-19. Ongoing randomized trials are important to evaluate alternative doses, explore the effectiveness in vaccinated patients, and provide further refinement to these estimates. Meanwhile, fluvoxamine could be recommended as a management option, particularly in resource-limited settings or for individuals without access to SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody therapy or direct antivirals

    Reprogrammable CRISPR/Cas9-based system for inducing site-specific DNA methylation

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    Advances in sequencing technology allow researchers to map genome-wide changes in DNA methylation in development and disease. However, there is a lack of experimental tools to site-specifically manipulate DNA methylation to discern the functional consequences. We developed a CRISPR/Cas9 DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) fusion to induce DNA methylation at specific loci in the genome. We induced DNA methylation at up to 50% of alleles for targeted CpG dinucleotides. DNA methylation levels peaked within 50 bp of the short guide RNA (sgRNA) binding site and between pairs of sgRNAs. We used our approach to target methylation across the entire CpG island at the CDKN2A promoter, three CpG dinucleotides at the ARF promoter, and the CpG island within the Cdkn1a promoter to decrease expression of the target gene. These tools permit mechanistic studies of DNA methylation and its role in guiding molecular processes that determine cellular fate

    Genescene: Biomedical Text and Data Mining

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    To access the content of digital texts efficiently, it is necessary to provide more sophisticated access than keyword based searching. GeneScene provides biomedical researchers with research findings and background relations automatically extracted from text and experimental data. These provide a more detailed overview of the information available. The extracted relations were evaluated by qualified researchers and are precise. A qualitative ongoing evaluation of the current online interface indicates that this method to search the literature is more useful and efficient than keyword based searching
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