PandaLM: An Automatic Evaluation Benchmark for LLM Instruction Tuning Optimization

Instruction tuning large language models (LLMs) remains a challenging task, owing to the complexity of hyperparameter selection and the difficulty involved in evaluating the tuned models. To determine the optimal hyperparameters, an automatic, robust, and reliable evaluation benchmark is essential. However, establishing such a benchmark is not a trivial task due to the challenges associated with evaluation accuracy and privacy protection. In response to these challenges, we introduce a judge large language model, named PandaLM, which is trained to distinguish the superior model given several LLMs. PandaLM's focus extends beyond just the objective correctness of responses, which is the main focus of traditional evaluation datasets. It addresses vital subjective factors such as relative conciseness, clarity, adherence to instructions, comprehensiveness, and formality. To ensure the reliability of PandaLM, we collect a diverse human-annotated test dataset, where all contexts are generated by humans and labels are aligned with human preferences. Our results indicate that PandaLM-7B achieves 93.75% of GPT-3.5's evaluation ability and 88.28% of GPT-4's in terms of F1-score on our test dataset. PandaLM enables the evaluation of LLM to be fairer but with less cost, evidenced by significant improvements achieved by models tuned through PandaLM compared to their counterparts trained with default Alpaca's hyperparameters. In addition, PandaLM does not depend on API-based evaluations, thus avoiding potential data leakage. All resources of PandaLM are released at https://github.com/WeOpenML/PandaLM

An Overview of Plant Phenolic Compounds and Their Importance in Human Nutrition and Management of Type 2 Diabetes

In this paper, the biosynthesis process of phenolic compounds in plants is summarized, which includes the shikimate, pentose phosphate and phenylpropanoid pathways. Plant phenolic compounds can act as antioxidants, structural polymers (lignin), attractants (flavonoids and carotenoids), UV screens (flavonoids), signal compounds (salicylic acid and flavonoids) and defense response chemicals (tannins and phytoalexins). From a human physiological standpoint, phenolic compounds are vital in defense responses, such as anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-proliferative activities. Therefore, it is beneficial to eat such plant foods that have a high antioxidant compound content, which will cut down the incidence of certain chronic diseases, for instance diabetes, cancers and cardiovascular diseases, through the management of oxidative stress. Furthermore, berries and other fruits with low-amylase and high-glucosidase inhibitory activities could be regarded as candidate food items in the control of the early stages of hyperglycemia associated with type 2 diabetes

Exploring assistive transfer systems for people with visual impairments in addressing privacy and security tasks

People with visual impairments (PVIs) often face challenges when dealing with day-to-day visual tasks such as solving visual CAPTCHAs or screening pictures before posting them on social media. What if PVIs could transfer these visual tasks to a helper to solve? We introduce assistive transfer systems, which allow PVIs to solicit just-in-time help where a willing helper directly solves the challenge on the PVIs' behalf. So how might PVIs want such a system configured? How could AI be used as a first-layer solution to automatically solve the task? If the AI is not good enough, could the PVIs transfer the task to another person, e.g., a friend or family member? From whom they would solicit help? Whether and how they would compensate for this help? In this thesis, we discuss two concrete use cases related to designing assistive transfer systems in order to answer these questions: solving task-based visual CAPTCHAs and posting pictures to social media. We implemented two proof-of-concept assistive transfer systems — WebAlly and ShareAlly — to help with these two scenarios accordingly. We used an exploratory, role-play study with 10 pairs of participants — a PVI and a friend or a family member — to evaluate one of the implemented systems WebAlly. We asked participants to use WebAlly in four different configurations that varied in the source of help (friend vs. stranger) and compensation (paid vs. volunteer). We found that PVIs liked having WebAlly as an additional option for solving visual CAPTCHAs, when other options that preserve their independence fail. In addition, many PVIs and their friends felt that using the system would bring their relationship closer. We discuss design implications for these human-AI hybrid assistive transfer systems more broadly, e.g., the importance of complementing rather than replacing PVIs’ existing workflows.LimitedAuthor requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste

Designing Interactive 3D Printed Models with Teachers of the Visually Impaired

Students with visual impairments struggle to learn various concepts in the academic curriculum because diagrams, images, and other visual are not accessible to them. To address this, researchers have design interactive 3D printed models (I3Ms) that provide audio descriptions when a user touches components of a model. In prior work, I3Ms were designed on an ad hoc basis, and it is currently unknown what general guidelines produce effective I3M designs. To address this gap, we conducted two studies with Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs). First, we led two design workshops with 35 TVIs, who modified sample models and added interactive elements to them. Second, we worked with three TVIs to design three I3Ms in an iterative instructional design process. At the end of this process, the TVIs used the I3Ms we designed to teach their students. We conclude that I3Ms should (1) have effective tactile features (e.g., distinctive patterns between components), (2) contain both auditory and visual content (e.g., explanatory animations), and (3) consider pedagogical methods (e.g., overview before details)

DNA–Polyelectrolyte Composite Responsive Microparticles for Versatile Chemotherapeutics Cleaning

Drug therapy is among the most widely used methods in disease treatment. However, there remains a trade-off problem between drug dosage and toxicity. Blood purification by adsorption of excessive drugs during clinical treatment could be a solution for enhancing therapeutic efficacy while maintaining normal body function. Here, inspired by the intrinsic action mechanism of chemotherapeutic agents in targeting DNA in the cell nucleus, we present DNA–polyelectrolyte composite responsive microparticles for chemotherapeutics cleaning. The presence of DNA in the microparticles enabled the adsorption of multiple common chemotherapy drugs. Moreover, the microparticles are endowed with a porous structure and a photothermal-responsive ability, both of which contribute to improved adsorption by enhancing the contact of the microparticles with the drug solution. On the basis of that, the microparticles are integrated into a herringbone-structured microfluidic chip. The fluid mixing capacity and the enhanced drug cleaning efficiency of the microfluidic platform are validated on-chip. These results indicate the value of the DNA–polyelectrolyte composite responsive microparticles for drug capture and blood purification. We believe the microparticle-integrated microfluidic platform could provide a solution for settling the dosage–toxicity trade-off problems in chemotherapy

Microfluidic preparation of optical sensors for biomedical applications

Abstract Optical biosensors are platforms that translate biological information into detectable optical signals, and have extensive applications in various fields due to their characteristics of high sensitivity, high specificity, dynamic sensing, etc. The development of optical sensing materials is an important part of optical sensors. In this review, we emphasize the role of microfluidic technology in the preparation of optical sensing materials and the application of the derived optical sensors in the biomedical field. We first present some common optical sensing mechanisms and the functional responsive materials involved. Then, we describe the preparation of these sensing materials by microfluidics. Afterward, we enumerate the biomedical applications of these optical materials as biosensors in disease diagnosis, drug evaluation, and organ‐on‐a‐chip. Finally, we discuss the challenges and prospects in this field

Armored probiotics for oral delivery

Abstract As a kind of intestinal flora regulator, probiotics show great potential in the treatment of many diseases. However, orally delivered probiotics are often vulnerable to unfriendly gastrointestinal environments, resulting in a low survival rate and decreased therapeutic efficacy. Decorating or encapsulating probiotics with functional biomaterials has become a facile yet useful strategy, and probiotics can be given different functions by wearing different armors. This review systematically discusses the challenges faced by oral probiotics and the research progress of armored probiotics delivery systems. We focus on how various functional armors help probiotics overcome different obstacles and achieve efficient delivery. We also introduce the applications of armor probiotics in disease treatment and analyze the future trends of developing advanced probiotics‐based therapies

Four attentional bias indicators for <i>P-O</i> and <i>N-O</i> affective pairs of social exclusion and control group.

<p>Four attentional bias indicators for <i>P-O</i> and <i>N-O</i> affective pairs of social exclusion and control group.</p

Social exclusion leads to attentional bias to emotional social information: Evidence from eye movement

<div><p>Social exclusion has many effects on individuals, including the increased need to belong and elevated sensitivity to social information. Using a self-reporting method, and an eye-tracking technique, this study explored people’s need to belong and attentional bias towards the socio-emotional information (pictures of positive and negative facial expressions compared to those of emotionally-neutral expressions) after experiencing a brief episode of social exclusion. We found that: (1) socially-excluded individuals reported higher negative emotions, lower positive emotions, and stronger need to belong than those who were not socially excluded; (2) compared to a control condition, social exclusion caused a longer response time to probe dots after viewing positive or negative face images; (3) social exclusion resulted in a higher frequency ratio of first attentional fixation on both positive and negative emotional facial pictures (but not on the neutral pictures) than the control condition; (4) in the social exclusion condition, participants showed shorter first fixation latency and longer first fixation duration to positive pictures than neutral ones but this effect was not observed for negative pictures; (5) participants who experienced social exclusion also showed longer gazing duration on the positive pictures than those who did not; although group differences also existed for the negative pictures, the gaze duration bias from both groups showed no difference from chance. This study demonstrated the emotional response to social exclusion as well as characterising multiple eye-movement indicators of attentional bias after experiencing social exclusion.</p></div

Four attentional bias indicators for <i>P-O</i> and <i>N-O</i> affective pairs of social exclusion and control group.

<p>Four attentional bias indicators for <i>P-O</i> and <i>N-O</i> affective pairs of social exclusion and control group.</p