A Comparative Study on Regularization Strategies for Embedding-based Neural Networks

This paper aims to compare different regularization strategies to address a common phenomenon, severe overfitting, in embedding-based neural networks for NLP. We chose two widely studied neural models and tasks as our testbed. We tried several frequently applied or newly proposed regularization strategies, including penalizing weights (embeddings excluded), penalizing embeddings, re-embedding words, and dropout. We also emphasized on incremental hyperparameter tuning, and combining different regularizations. The results provide a picture on tuning hyperparameters for neural NLP models.Comment: EMNLP '1

MiR-541-3p suppresses gastric cancer via negative regulation of HSF1

Purpose: To explore the effects of miR-541-3P on the expression of heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) in gastric cancer cells (GC).Methods: The MicroRNA Target Prediction Database was used to predict whether miR-541-3p interacts with HSF1. Interaction was assessed by dual-luciferase reporter assays. Furthermore, miR-541-3p mRNA levels in GC cell lines were determined by qRT-PCR. Human GC cell lines MKN45 and NCI-N87 were transfected with miR-541-3p mimic. Cell apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, and migration were evaluated using flow cytometry, apoptosis assays, Edu assays, CCK-8 assays, and transwell assays, respectively. Caspase-3, Bcl-2, and cleaved caspase-3 expression levels were determined by western blot.Results: Expression of miR-541-3p was significantly down-regulated in GC cells. Functionally, miR-541-3p mimic inhibited GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and induced apoptosis in vitro (p <0.01). Mechanistically, miR-541-3p interacted with HSF1 and inhibited its expression. Overexpression of HSF1 counteracted the effects of miR-541-3p mimic in GC cells.Conclusion: These results indicate that miR-541-3p suppresses the development of GC by targeting HSF1 and thus, is a possible strategy for for the management of GC

A Reduced Chemical Kinetic Mechanism for Toluene Reference Fuels Based On DRGEP and QSSA Methods

As a gasoline surrogate fuel, the physical and chemical properties of toluene reference fuel (TRF) are relatively simple and stable, and the TRF chemical kinetic mechanism may be used in simulating combustion processes of gasoline. However, simulations using detailed or semi-detailed mechanisms have been limited due to the computational complexity and long computational time. For the construction of the reduced mechanism, the directed relation graph with error propagation (DRGEP) method is used to wipe out insignificant components efficiently, followed by the use of the quasi-steady state assumption (QSSA) method to separate quasi-steady-state (QSS) species from the kinetic ODEs. In addition, some elementary reactions involving the formation and destruction of H and phenyl methyl radicals are subjected to sensitivity analysis and some kinetic parameters of the relevant elementary reactions are revised. As a result, a reduced mechanism involving 234 reactions and 60 species is developed. Comparing the experimental records with the analog data by utilizing the reduced mechanism, good agreement can be obtained when ignition delay time (τ), laminar flame speed (SL) and molar fraction of vital species are measured. Moreover, the mechanism may predict SL more accurately under lean mixture (equivalence ratio φ < 1.0) conditions. The reduced mechanism is small and reliable in performance, which can commendably reproduce the combustion characteristics of gasoline surrogate

Crystal Structure Manipulation of the Exchange Bias in an Antiferromagnetic Film

Exchange bias is one of the most extensively studied phenomena in magnetism, since it exerts a unidirectional anisotropy to a ferromagnet (FM) when coupled to an antiferromagnet (AFM) and the control of the exchange bias is therefore very important for technological applications, such as magnetic random access memory and giant magnetoresistance sensors. In this letter, we report the crystal structure manipulation of the exchange bias in epitaxial hcp Cr2O3 films. By epitaxially growing twined (10-10) oriented Cr2O3 thin films, of which the c axis and spins of the Cr atoms lie in the film plane, we demonstrate that the exchange bias between Cr2O3 and an adjacent permalloy layer is tuned to in-plane from out-of-plane that has been observed in (0001) oriented Cr2O3 films. This is owing to the collinear exchange coupling between the spins of the Cr atoms and the adjacent FM layer. Such a highly anisotropic exchange bias phenomenon is not possible in polycrystalline films.Comment: To be published in Scientific Reports, 12 pages, 6 figure

Fiber Evolution during Alkaline Treatment and Its Impact on Handsheet Properties

To understand the swelling effects of alkaline treatment on the morphological properties of fibers and physical properties of handsheets, bleached softwood kraft pulp was treated with NaOH at different concentrations. The results showed that the fiber swelling increased, but the shrinkage and elongation of the paper at a NaOH concentration of 6% or higher did not improve. Dissolution of amorphous material occurred during the treatment together with peeling reactions. The fiber length and shape factor decreased and the fines content increased with an increasing alkali concentration. The cellulose crystallinity decreased with an increasing NaOH concentration. This was confirmed by X-ray diffractometry, which also showed that some cellulose I was converted to cellulose II, especially at higher NaOH concentrations (\u3e 9%). The fiber curl and kink indices increased and the handsheet density decreased with an increasing NaOH concentration. However, the tensile index decreased more steeply than the density with an increasing NaOH concentration, possibly because of the lower number and strength of the interfiber bonds, increased kinks, and reduced fiber strength and length. The handsheet extensibility first increased and subsequently decreased as the NaOH concentration increased, which indicated that well-controlled NaOH treatment could be used to improve the extensibility of paper

Students as partners: the development of an extensive reading program at the Ningbo Campus of the University of Nottingham

"Changing Reading Circles brought more than we expected: we also changed ourselves". A reading interest group at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China was changed to an employability award by a team of five students and two staff partners by the use of a Students as Change Agents student/staff partnership project. Responsibility and authority was devolved to students and the final product has resulted in more engagement in, and enthusiasm for, extensive reading. It also gave the student partners greater levels of self-belief, autonomy and understanding of their potential within an academic community