Shadow Datasets, New challenging datasets for Causal Representation Learning

Discovering causal relations among semantic factors is an emergent topic in representation learning. Most causal representation learning (CRL) methods are fully supervised, which is impractical due to costly labeling. To resolve this restriction, weakly supervised CRL methods were introduced. To evaluate CRL performance, four existing datasets, Pendulum, Flow, CelebA(BEARD) and CelebA(SMILE), are utilized. However, existing CRL datasets are limited to simple graphs with few generative factors. Thus we propose two new datasets with a larger number of diverse generative factors and more sophisticated causal graphs. In addition, current real datasets, CelebA(BEARD) and CelebA(SMILE), the originally proposed causal graphs are not aligned with the dataset distributions. Thus, we propose modifications to them

Does the Rising Agricultural Prices Narrow the Urban-rural Income Gap?

Based on the Chinese provincial panel data during the period 2003-2010, we conduct empirical test on whether China's rapidly rising prices of agricultural products narrow the urban-rural income gap. The empirical results indicate that the effects of rising agricultural prices on the urban-rural income gap show U shape: within some range of rise, the rising agricultural prices are conducive to narrowing the urban-rural income gap; when the rise is too sharp, it will widen the urban-rural income gap. In the multiple factors fueling the uptick in agricultural prices, rising labor costs in rural areas is an important factor, and the rising agricultural prices driven by this factor can significantly reduce the urban-rural income gap. Therefore, when the government regulates agricultural prices, there is a need to act according to the specific factors, and it should maintain certain "tolerance" for the modest rise in the agricultural prices that contributes to the increase in farmers' income, to avoid over-regulation at the expense of urban and rural residents' income convergence

Ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoparticles self-assembly induced dual-mode T1/T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and enhanced tumor synergetic theranostics

Abstract Individual theranostic agents with dual-mode MRI responses and therapeutic efficacy have attracted extensive interest due to the real-time monitor and high effective treatment, which endow the providential treatment and avoid the repeated medication with side effects. However, it is difficult to achieve the integrated strategy of MRI and therapeutic drug due to complicated synthesis route, low efficiency and potential biosafety issues. In this study, novel self-assembled ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoclusters were developed for tumor-targeted dual-mode T1/T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided synergetic chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and chemotherapy. The self-assembled ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoclusters synthesized by facilely modifying ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoparticles with 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) molecule possess long-term stability and mass production ability. The proposed ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoclusters shows excellent dual-mode T1 and T2 MRI capacities as well as favorable CDT ability due to the appropriate size effect and the abundant Fe ion on the surface of ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoclusters. After conjugation with the tumor targeting ligand Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) and chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (Dox), the functionalized Fe3O4 nanoclusters achieve enhanced tumor accumulation and retention effects and synergetic CDT and chemotherapy function, which serve as a powerful integrated theranostic platform for cancer treatment

Eltoprazine prevents levodopa-induced dyskinesias by reducing causal interactions for theta oscillations in the dorsolateral striatum and substantia nigra pars reticulate

Oscillatory activities within basal ganglia (BG) circuitry in L-DOPA induced dyskinesia (LID), a condition that occurs in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), are not well understood. The aims of this study were firstly to investigate oscillations in main BG input and output structures-the dorsolateral striatum (dStr) and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), respectively- including the direction of oscillation information flow, and secondly to investigate the effects of 5-HT1A/B receptor agonism with eltoprazine on oscillatory activities and abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs) characteristic. To this end, we conducted local field potential (LFP) electrophysiology in the dStr and SNr of LID rats simultaneous with AIM scoring. The LFP data were submitted to power spectral density, coherence, and partial Granger causality analyses. AIM data were analyzed relative to simultaneous oscillatory activities, with and without eltoprazine. We obtained four major findings. 1) Theta band (5-8 Hz) oscillations were enhanced in the dStr and SNr of LID rats. 2) Theta power correlated with AIM scores in the 180-min period after the last LID-inducing L-DOPA injection, but not with daily summed AIM scores during LID development. 3) Oscillatory information flowed from the dStr to the SNr. 4) Chronic eltoprazine reduced BG theta activity in LID rats and normalized information flow directionality, relative to that in LID rats not given eltoprazine. These results indicate that dStr activity plays a determinative role in the causal interactions of theta oscillations and that serotonergic inhibition may suppress dyskinesia by reducing dStr-SNr theta activity and restoring theta network information flow

Metallic Intermediate Phase Inducing Morphological Transformation in Thermal Nitridation: Ni₃FeN-Based Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting

Transition-metal nitrides have attracted a great deal of interest as electrocatalysts for water splitting due to their super metallic performance, high efficiency, and good stability. Herein, we report a novel design of hierarchical electrocatalyst based on Ni₃FeN, where the presence of carbon fiber cloth as a scaffold can effectively alleviate the aggregation of Ni₃FeN nanostructure and form three-dimensional conducting networks to enlarge the surface area and simultaneously enhance the charge transfer. The composition and morphological variations of NiFe precursors during annealing in different atmospheres were investigated. Such Ni₃FeN/CC hierarchical electrocatalyst shows much improved electrochemical properties for water splitting in terms of overpotentials (105 and 190 mV at 10 mA/cm² for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, respectively) and stability

A technological examination of ninth-tenth century AD Abbasid blue-and-white ware from Iraq, and its comparison with eighth century AD Chinese blue-and-white Sancai ware

Eight sherds of 9th -10th century AD Abbasid blue-and-white glazed earthenware, excavated in 1931 at Hira in western Iraq, were analysed using, variously, quantitative wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) in association with scanning electron microscopes (SEM), and semi-quantitative x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). In order to compare the compositions of the cobalt pigments used, the glazes of seven complete vessels of 8th century AD Chinese Tang blue-and-white sancai were also analysed semi-quantitatively using XRF. The Abbasid wares were shown to have used traditional Mesopotamian alkali-lime glazes applied to calcareous clay bodies. However, about half the glazes examined were opacified with tin oxide. The three types of blue decoration (ie raised; spreading; and flat, non-spreading) were produced using a variety of glaze formulations including a mixture of cobalt pigment with lead oxide. The sources of the ores used for the cobalt pigments have not been identified. However, the analytical data showed that the cobalt ore used for the Abbasid blue-and-white ware could be distinguished from that used for the Tang blue-and-white sancai by its higher iron content and by the presence of a significant amount of zinc. The use of cobalt blue decoration on the 9th – 10th century AD Abbasid ware was anticipated in China by 8th century AD Tang blue-and-white sancai wares. However, whether its introduction by the Abbasid potters should be seen as an independent invention that followed the introduction of tin-opacified glazes in Iraq, or whether it was influenced in some way by Chinese originals is still a problem