Diversify and Conquer: Bandits and Diversity for an Enhanced E-commerce Homepage Experience

In the realm of e-commerce, popular platforms utilize widgets to recommend advertisements and products to their users. However, the prevalence of mobile device usage on these platforms introduces a unique challenge due to the limited screen real estate available. Consequently, the positioning of relevant widgets becomes pivotal in capturing and maintaining customer engagement. Given the restricted screen size of mobile devices, widgets placed at the top of the interface are more prominently displayed and thus attract greater user attention. Conversely, widgets positioned further down the page require users to scroll, resulting in reduced visibility and subsequent lower impression rates. Therefore it becomes imperative to place relevant widgets on top. However, selecting relevant widgets to display is a challenging task as the widgets can be heterogeneous, widgets can be introduced or removed at any given time from the platform. In this work, we model the vertical widget reordering as a contextual multi-arm bandit problem with delayed batch feedback. The objective is to rank the vertical widgets in a personalized manner. We present a two-stage ranking framework that combines contextual bandits with a diversity layer to improve the overall ranking. We demonstrate its effectiveness through offline and online A/B results, conducted on proprietary data from Myntra, a major fashion e-commerce platform in India.Comment: Accepted in Proceedings of Fashionxrecys Workshop, 17th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems, 202

Preparation and properties of cellulose / tamarind nut powder green composites

Using biopolymer cellulose as the matrix and tamarind nut powder (TNP) obtained from agricultural waste of tamarind nuts as the filler, the green composites were made. Cellulose was dissolved in environmental friendly solvent of aq. 8 wt. % Lithium hydroxide and 15 wt. % urea which was precooled to −12 ° C. To the cellulose solutions, TNP was added in 5 wt. % to 25 wt. % of cellulose separately. Each solution was evenly spread on glass plates and the wet composites were prepared by regeneration method using ethyl alcohol coagulation bath. The wet films were dried in air at room temperature. The dried composite films were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and also tested for their tensile properties. The tensile strength and the % elongation at break of the composites were higher than those of the matrix and increased with TNP content. While the matrix had a tensile strength of 111.8 MPa, the cellulose/TNP composite loaded with 25 wt.% TNP possessed a tensile strength of 125.4 MPa (12% increase). Though the thermal stability of the composites was lower than cellulose matrix, all the composites were stable up to a temperature of 350 °C

Thermal stability and dynamic mechanical properties of kenaf/bamboo fibre reinforced epoxy composites

An increased awareness of environmental concerns has increased the need for innovation to produce high performance engineering materials with natural renewable resources. In this study, 3 types of natural fibre (mat form) reinforced epoxy composites were prepared by the hand lay-up method, namely, kenaf (K)/Epoxy, bamboo (B)/Epoxy, and bamboo charcoal (BC)/Epoxy. The thermal stability of the specimens was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the dynamic mechanical properties. Viscous elastic behaviour of the specimens was investigated via a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). The TGA results revealed that the BC/Epoxy composite showed the highest thermal stability compared to K/Epoxy and B/Epoxy with the highest initial and final decomposition temperature at 348 °C and 463 °C, respectively. It also showed the highest charcoal content at 11.5%. From the DMA results, the K/Epoxy composite showed better dynamic mechanical properties with the highest complex modulus (E*) strength and the lowest damping behaviour (peak height of Tan δ). The DMA analysis also revealed that the glass transition temperature of the composites fell between 60 °C to 90 °C. This preliminary study may give a new path to develop a novel hybrid composite that offers unique properties unachievable in a single material system

A review on flammability of epoxy polymer, cellulosic and non-cellulosic fiber reinforced epoxy composites

Natural fiber is well-known reinforcement filler in polymer-matrix composites. Composite components like organic polymers and natural fibers are natural fire conductors as the natural fiber consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, and hence are as highly flammable as wood. Natural fiber reinforced composite materials are progressively being used in a variety of applications where their fire response is a hazardous consideration, for example, in the automotive (transportation) and building-construction industries. As a result, an awareness of their performance or response during a fire and the use of conventional fire retardants are of great importance, as they are subject to thermal decomposition when exposed to intensive high heat or fire sources. In this review paper, fire flammability is the main concern for cellulosic and non-cellulosic fiber-reinforced polymer composites, especially epoxy composites. This paper reviews the literature on the recent developments in flammability studies concerning polymers, epoxy polymers, cellulosic-fibers, and non-cellulosic fiber-reinforced epoxy bio-composites. The prime objective of this review is to expand the reach of "fire retardants for polymer materials and composites" to the science community, including physicists, chemists, and engineers in order to broaden the range of their applications

Selection of Natural Fiber for Hybrid Kevlar/Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites for Personal Body Armor by Using Analytical Hierarchy Process

Kevlar 29 is the most widely used synthetic fiber for body armor applications and they have been derived from petroleum based resources. Depletion of petroleum resources and the increase in awareness about the eco-friendly materials encouraged the researchers to explore the potential use of natural fiber as an alternative for synthetic fibers. Hybridization of natural fiber with synthetic fiber will result in unique properties which is difficult to obtain from the individual fibers. In this research Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to identify the most suitable natural fiber to be hybridized with Kevlar 29 fiber as a reinforcement in the polymer composites for personal body armor. Fourteen natural fibers and seven criteria's were selected and analyzed for hybridization with respect to the personal body armors design specification. Cocos nucifera sheath which is a naturally woven fiber yields the highest priority vector and it was selected as a most promising natural fiber for hybridization with Kevlar 29 for personal body armor. Eventually, sensitivity analysis was carried out to check the stability of the priority ranking

Are GPs adequately equipped with the knowledge for educating and counseling of families with ADHD children?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common child psychiatry disorders. General physicians (GP), as primary care providers, can have an important role in screening and treatment of ADHD. This study aimed to survey GPs' knowledge, attitude, and their views of their role in the screening, diagnosing and managing children with ADHD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six hundred and sixty five general physicians in Shiraz, Iran, answered a self-reported questionnaire on ADHD. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics such as age, the duration of practice as a GP, marital status, general knowledge about ADHD, and the management of ADHD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Less than half of them believed that they have adequate knowledge and information about this disorder. They usually do not like to be the primary care providers for children with ADHD. The majority of them prefer to refer the children to related specialists, mostly psychiatrists or psychologists. More than one third of them believed that sugar is a cause of ADHD. Only 6.6% of them reported that ADHD persists for the whole life. Their knowledge about methylphenidate is reasonable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As many other countries worldwide, the knowledge of GPs about ADHD should be improved. They do not asses and manage children with probable ADHD by themselves without referring to related professionals. They do not opt for the use of methylphenidate.</p

Review of natural fibre-reinforced hybrid composites

Natural fibre-reinforced hybrid composites which contain one or more types of natural reinforcement are gaining increasing research interest. This paper presents a review of natural fibre-reinforced hybrid composites. Both thermoplastic and thermoset composites reinforced by hybrid/synthetic fibres or hybrid/hybrid fibres are reviewed. The properties of natural fibres, the properties and processing of composites are summarised

Large-scale Identification of Chemically Induced Mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.

Forward genetic screens using chemical mutagens have been successful in defining the function of thousands of genes in eukaryotic model organisms. The main drawback of this strategy is the time-consuming identification of the molecular lesions causative of the phenotypes of interest. With whole-genome sequencing (WGS), it is now possible to sequence hundreds of strains, but determining which mutations are causative among thousands of polymorphisms remains challenging. We have sequenced 394 mutant strains, generated in a chemical mutagenesis screen, for essential genes on the Drosophila X chromosome and describe strategies to reduce the number of candidate mutations from an average of -3500 to 35 single-nucleotide variants per chromosome. By combining WGS with a rough mapping method based on large duplications, we were able to map 274 (-70%) mutations. We show that these mutations are causative, using small 80-kb duplications that rescue lethality. Hence, our findings demonstrate that combining rough mapping with WGS dramatically expands the toolkit necessary for assigning function to genes

Effect of cooling methods on dimensional accuracy and surface finish of a turned titanium part

In metal cutting, the choice of cooling method influences the deformation mechanism, which is related to the dimensional accuracy and surface finish of the parts. The deformation mechanism of titanium alloys under machining conditions is known to be very different from that of commonly used industrial materials. Therefore, the effect of cooling methods on dimensional accuracy and surface finish in machining titanium is of particular interest. This paper investigates experimentally and analytically the influence of cooling method and cutting parameters on two major dimensional accuracy characteristics of a turned titanium part—diameter error and circularity, and surface finish. Data were analyzed via three methods: traditional analysis, Pareto ANOVA, and Taguchi method. The findings indicate that the cooling method has significant effect on circularity error (contribution ratio 76.75 %), moderate effect on diameter error (contribution ratio 25.00 %), and negligible effect on surface finish (contribution ratio 0.16 %)

The developing role of occupational therapists in school-based practice: Experiences from collaborative action research in Pakistan

Knowledge Economy Partnership (KEP) funding from the British Council and the Higher Education Commission of Pakista