Large Language Models as Zero-Shot Conversational Recommenders

In this paper, we present empirical studies on conversational recommendation tasks using representative large language models in a zero-shot setting with three primary contributions. (1) Data: To gain insights into model behavior in "in-the-wild" conversational recommendation scenarios, we construct a new dataset of recommendation-related conversations by scraping a popular discussion website. This is the largest public real-world conversational recommendation dataset to date. (2) Evaluation: On the new dataset and two existing conversational recommendation datasets, we observe that even without fine-tuning, large language models can outperform existing fine-tuned conversational recommendation models. (3) Analysis: We propose various probing tasks to investigate the mechanisms behind the remarkable performance of large language models in conversational recommendation. We analyze both the large language models' behaviors and the characteristics of the datasets, providing a holistic understanding of the models' effectiveness, limitations and suggesting directions for the design of future conversational recommendersComment: Accepted as CIKM 2023 long paper. Longer version is coming soon (e.g., more details about dataset

Effects of Temperature on the Stability of Microcystins in Muscle of Fish and Its Consequences for Food Safety

In this study, bighead carp treated with two doses, i.e. 400 and 580 mu g MC-LReq (Microcystin-LR equivalent)/kg bw. After dosing bighead carp with 400 and 580 ug MC-LReq/Kg bw, the mean concentrations of microcystins (MCs) was significantly higher in boiled muscle than unboiled controls. These results indicate that the potential threat of microcystins contaminated fish to humans has been underestimated. The increase in microcystins occurs by the release of phosphatase-bound microcystins by boiling

Circadian Disruption, \u3cem\u3ePer3\u3c/em\u3e, and Human Cytokine Secretion

Circadian disruption has been linked with inflammation, an established cancer risk factor. Per3 clock gene polymorphisms have also been associated with circadian disruption and with increased cancer risk. Patients completed a questionnaire and provided a blood sample prior to undergoing a colonoscopy (n=70). Adjusted mean serum cytokine concentrations (IL-6, TNF-alpha, gamma-INF, IL-I ra, IL-I-beta, VEGF) were compared among patients with high and low scores for fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory II), or sleep disruption (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), or among patients with different Per3 clock gene variants. Poor sleep was associated with elevated VEGF, and fatigue-related reduced activity was associated with elevated TNF-alpha concentrations. Participants with the 4/5 or 5/5 Per3 variable tandem repeat sequence had elevated IL-6 concentrations compared to those with the 4/4 genotype. Biological processes linking circadian disruption with cancer remain to be elucidated. Increased inflammatory cytokine secretion may play a role

Use of a Generalized Additive Model to Investigate Key Abiotic Factors Affecting Microcystin Cellular Quotas in Heavy Bloom Areas of Lake Taihu

Lake Taihu is the third largest freshwater lake in China and is suffering from serious cyanobacterial blooms with the associated drinking water contamination by microcystin (MC) for millions of citizens. So far, most studies on MCs have been limited to two small bays, while systematic research on the whole lake is lacking. To explain the variations in MC concentrations during cyanobacterial bloom, a large-scale survey at 30 sites across the lake was conducted monthly in 2008. The health risks of MC exposure were high, especially in the northern area. Both Microcystis abundance and MC cellular quotas presented positive correlations with MC concentration in the bloom seasons, suggesting that the toxic risks during Microcystis proliferations were affected by variations in both Microcystis density and MC production per Microcystis cell. Use of a powerful predictive modeling tool named generalized additive model (GAM) helped visualize significant effects of abiotic factors related to carbon fixation and proliferation of Microcystis (conductivity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), water temperature and pH) on MC cellular quotas from recruitment period of Microcystis to the bloom seasons, suggesting the possible use of these factors, in addition to Microcystis abundance, as warning signs to predict toxic events in the future. The interesting relationship between macrophytes and MC cellular quotas of Microcystis (i.e., high MC cellular quotas in the presence of macrophytes) needs further investigation

A kinematics-based probabilistic roadmap method for closed chain systems,” in Robotics:New Directions

Abstract — In this paper we consider the motion planning problem for arbitrary articulated structures with one or more closed kinematic chains in a workspace with obstacles. This is an important class of problems and there are applications in many areas such as robotics, closed molecular chains, graphical animation, reconfigurable robots. We use the kinematics-based probabilistic roadmap (KBPRM) strategy proposed in [1] that conceptually partitions the linkage into a set of open chains and applies random generation methods to some of the chains and traditional inverse kinematics methods to the others. The efficiency of the method depends critically on how the linkage is partitioned into open chains. The original method assumed the partition was provided as input to the problem. In this paper, we propose a fully automated method for partitioning an arbitrary linkage into open chains and for determining which should be positioned using the inverse kinematic solver. Even so, the size (number of links) of the closed loops that can be handled by this method is limited because the inverse solver can only be applied to small chains. To handle high dof closed loops, we show how we can use the Iterative Relaxation of Constraints (IRC) strategy proposed by Bayazit to efficiently handle large loops while still only using inverse kinematics for small chains. Our results in 3-dimensional workspaces both for planar and spatial linkages show that our framework performs well for general linkages. We also use our planner to simulate an adjustable lamp called Luxo. Using IRC, our planner can handle a single loop of up to 98 links. I

MLP-GAN for Brain Vessel Image Segmentation

Brain vessel image segmentation can be used as a promising biomarker for better prevention and treatment of different diseases. One successful approach is to consider the segmentation as an image-to-image translation task and perform a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN) to learn a transformation between two distributions. In this paper, we present a novel multi-view approach, MLP-GAN, which splits a 3D volumetric brain vessel image into three different dimensional 2D images (i.e., sagittal, coronal, axial) and then feed them into three different 2D cGANs. The proposed MLP-GAN not only alleviates the memory issue which exists in the original 3D neural networks but also retains 3D spatial information. Specifically, we utilize U-Net as the backbone for our generator and redesign the pattern of skip connection integrated with the MLP-Mixer which has attracted lots of attention recently. Our model obtains the ability to capture cross-patch information to learn global information with the MLP-Mixer. Extensive experiments are performed on the public brain vessel dataset that show our MLP-GAN outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. We release our code at https://github.com/bxie9/MLP-GANComment: Resubmit a conferenc

Alkyl Sulfoxides as Radical Precursors and Their Use in the Synthesis of Pyridine Derivatives

We report here the use of simple and readily available alkyl sulfoxides as precursors to radicals and their application in the preparation of pyridine derivatives. We show that alkyl sulfoxides form EDA complexes with N-methoxy pyridinium salts, which upon visible light irradiation, undergo a cascade of radical processes to afford pyridine derivatives smoothly. This method displays broad scope with respect to both reactants. The synthetic versatility of sulfoxides as a handle in chemistry adds to the power of this transformation. The method is further applied in the synthesis of various pyridyl C–glycosides that are previously difficult to access