Evaluating Hallucinations in Chinese Large Language Models

In this paper, we establish a benchmark named HalluQA (Chinese Hallucination Question-Answering) to measure the hallucination phenomenon in Chinese large language models. HalluQA contains 450 meticulously designed adversarial questions, spanning multiple domains, and takes into account Chinese historical culture, customs, and social phenomena. During the construction of HalluQA, we consider two types of hallucinations: imitative falsehoods and factual errors, and we construct adversarial samples based on GLM-130B and ChatGPT. For evaluation, we design an automated evaluation method using GPT-4 to judge whether a model output is hallucinated. We conduct extensive experiments on 24 large language models, including ERNIE-Bot, Baichuan2, ChatGLM, Qwen, SparkDesk and etc. Out of the 24 models, 18 achieved non-hallucination rates lower than 50%. This indicates that HalluQA is highly challenging. We analyze the primary types of hallucinations in different types of models and their causes. Additionally, we discuss which types of hallucinations should be prioritized for different types of models.Comment: Work in progres

riboviz 2:A flexible and robust ribosome profiling data analysis and visualization workflow

MOTIVATION: Ribosome profiling, or Ribo-seq, is the state-of-the-art method for quantifying protein synthesis in living cells. Computational analysis of Ribo-seq data remains challenging due to the complexity of the procedure, as well as variations introduced for specific organisms or specialized analyses. RESULTS: We present riboviz 2, an updated riboviz package, for the comprehensive transcript-centric analysis and visualization of Ribo-seq data. riboviz 2 includes an analysis workflow built on the Nextflow workflow management system for end-to-end processing of Ribo-seq data. riboviz 2 has been extensively tested on diverse species and library preparation strategies, including multiplexed samples. riboviz 2 is flexible and uses open, documented file formats, allowing users to integrate new analyses with the pipeline. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: riboviz 2 is freely available at github.com/riboviz/riboviz

Phenotype and genotype of concurrent keratoconus and Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy

PURPOSE: To characterise the phenotype and genotype of concurrent keratoconus and Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (KC + FECD). METHODS: We recruited 20 patients with concurrent KC + FECD for a retrospective observational case series from the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. We compared eight parameters of corneal shape (Pentacam, Oculus) with two groups of age-matched controls who had either isolated keratoconus (KC) or isolated FECD. We genotyped probands for an intronic triplet TCF4 repeat expansion (CTG18.1) and the ZEB1 variant c.1920G >T p.(Gln640His). RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis of patients with KC + FECD was 54 (interquartile range 46 to 66) years, with no evidence of KC progression (median follow-up 84 months, range 12 to 120 months). The mean (standard deviation (SD)) of the minimum corneal thickness, 493 (62.7) μm, was greater than eyes with KC, 458 (51.1) μm, but less than eyes with FECD, 590 (55.6) μm. Seven other parameters of corneal shape were more like KC than FECD. Seven (35%) probands with KC + FECD had a TCF4 repeat expansion of ≥50 compared to five controls with isolated FECD. The average of the largest TCF4 expansion in cases with KC + FECD (46 repeats, SD 36 repeats) was similar to the age-matched controls with isolated FECD (36 repeats, SD 28 repeats; p = 0.299). No patient with KC + FECD harboured the ZEB1 variant. CONCLUSIONS: The KC + FECD phenotype is consistent with KC but with superimposed stromal swelling from endothelial disease. The proportion of cases with a TCF4 expansion is similar in concurrent KC + FECD and age-matched controls with isolated FECD

Real-world outcomes of combined therapy of photodynamic therapy with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy

OBJECTIVES: To describe the real-world outcomes of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a rescue therapy in eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) refractory to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monotherapy in a British cohort of patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective chart review of 53 eyes with PCV. Based on the timing of PDT, the eyes were stratified into two groups (9 in the Initial-PDT group, 44 in the Deferred group). The number of anti-VEGF injections/year and the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before and after PDT were analysed. Multivariate regression model was created to identify factors predictive of visual outcome and treatment burden after PDT. RESULTS: The Deferred group received a mean of 9.4 injections/year but significantly reduced to 7.2 after PDT (p < 0.001). The Initial-PDT group required significantly fewer injections after PDT compared to the Deferred group (p = 0.004). The Deferred group experienced improvement in BCVA from 58.7 letters at baseline to 63.8 at 18-months follow-up (p < 0.001), but no significant increase was observed in the Initial-PDT group (p = 0.310). Better baseline BCVA is associated with higher likelihood of achieving good BCVA ≥ 70 letters after PDT (Odd Ratio=1.12, 95% CI: 1.03–1.21, p = 0.006), while increased number of anti-VEGF injections/year before PDT reduces the likelihood of easing treatment burden to ≥12 weeks apart between each injection after PDT (Odd Ratio=0.724, 95% CI: 0.58–0.91, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: PDT as a rescue therapy is beneficial in the long-term management of PCV, particularly in eyes that had experienced a significant period of prior exposure to anti-VEGF monotherapy

Research progress on the mechanism of microtubule inhibitors in vascular neoplastic diseases

Neovascular diseases involve multiple systems and organs and are a major category of diseases characterized by angiogenesis, including tumors, cardiovascular diseases and eye diseases. Microtubule inhibitors are a class of natural or synthetic drugs which inhibit neovascularization and block neovascularization through changing the state of microtubules. They may induce apoptosis and block cell cycle by affecting angiogenesis related genes and cytokines

Current Perspectives on Corneal Transplantation (Part 2)

Disease of the cornea is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. Corneal graft surgery is one of the most successful forms of solid organ transplantations in humans, with ever increasing developments in surgical technique. To date, approximately 4504 corneal transplants are performed in the UK each year. While full thickness transplantation was the most commonly performed keratoplasty over the last few decades, selective lamellar transplantation of the diseased layers of the cornea has been universally adopted. This comprehensive review aims to provide an updated synthesis on different types of corneal transplantations, their treatment outcomes, and the associated complications of each procedure both in adult and pediatric populations. In addition, we also present an up-to-date summary of the emerging therapeutic approaches that have the potential to reduce the demand for donor-dependent keratoplasty

Current Perspectives on Corneal Transplantation.

Disease of the cornea is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. Corneal graft surgery is one of the most successful forms of solid organ transplantations in humans, with ever-increasing developments in surgical technique. To date, approximately 4504 corneal transplants are performed in the United Kingdom each year. While full thickness transplantation was the most commonly performed keratoplasty over the last few decades, selective lamellar transplantation of the diseased layers of the cornea has been universally adopted. This comprehensive review aims to provide an updated synthesis on different types of corneal transplantations, their treatment outcomes, and the associated complications of each procedure in both adult and paediatric population. In addition, we also present an up-to-date summary of the emerging therapeutic approaches that have the potential to reduce the demand for donor-dependent keratoplasty

PDMS-PDMS Micro Channels Filled with Phase-Change Material for Chip Cooling

This paper reports on a chip cooling solution using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based microfluidic devices filled with n-Octadecane. A thick SU-8 layer of 150 µm is used as the master mold for patterning PDMS fabrication. With the SU-8 mold, patterns with straight lines at microscale have been fabricated with standard micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology. Thermal polymer bonding technique is used to bond the PDMS pattern directly to a flat polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film which results in the sealed microchannels. n-Octadecane as a phase-change material has been successfully filled in the microchannels using a dispensing machine. Infrared thermal image shows a sharp contrast of the temperature distribution between the chip with n-Octadecane and the empty chip during the same heating process. This result indicates an efficient cooling performance of the microchannel device with phase-change material. A thermal stimulation test demonstrates that a 16 °C-lower temperature difference can be achieved. This microchannel device, benefited from the flexibility of PDMS substrate, shows specific advantages in meeting the need for the heat dissipation of flexible electronics such as flexible displays, electronic skins, and wearable electronics. Latent heat of the phase-change material can keep the temperature of devices relatively lower over a period of time, which shows potential application values on discontinuously active flexible electronic devices