Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
International Conference on Computer Graphics , Vision and Information Security ( CGVIS ) Hybrid Filter with Wavelet Denoising and Anisotropic diffusion Filter for Image Despeckling

SAR imaging is an efficient tool for retrieval of useful information about the surfaces of earth and various other planets as well. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) generates severely degraded images due to a form of multiplicative noise called speckle. It is produced by the random interference of the electromagnetic waves which are backscattered because of the roughness of imaged surface. Numerous filters were developed which helped in enhancing the image quality to some extent. However, recent filtering techniques which were based on non local image modelling technique, proved to build way better filters which resulted in despeckling the images without tampering with its edges or oversmoothing the images. This paper introduces one such filtering technique which is based on the wavelet transformation followed by anisotropic filtering. The results are found and compared for Peak Signal to Noise Ratio, Coefficient of Correlation and Equivalent No of looks.
Contribution from Selected Organic Species to PM2.5 Aerosol during a Summer Field Campaign at K-Puszta, Hungary

A summer field campaign was conducted at the forested background site of K-puszta in Hungary. The main aim was to assess the contribution of terpene-derived particulate organic compounds to the PM2.5 organic carbon (OC) and of the secondary organic carbon (SOC) from α-pinene to the OC. The study lasted from 24 May to 29 June 2006; the first half the weather was cold, while the second half was warm. Separate daytime and night-time PM2.5 samples were collected with a high-volume sampler and the samples were analysed by several analytical techniques, including ion chromatography (IC) and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The latter technique was used for measuring the terpene-derived species. Ancillary high time resolution measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were made with proton-transfer reaction–mass spectrometry. The temporal and diurnal variability of the particulate compounds and VOCs and interrelationships were examined. It was found that the monoterpenes and a number of terpene-derived particulate compounds, such as cis-pinic and cis-caric acid, exhibited a strong day/night difference during the warm period, with about 10 times higher levels during the night-time. During the warm period, the IC compounds and LC/MS compounds accounted, on average, for 3.1% and 2.0%, respectively, of the OC, whereas the contribution of SOC from α-pinene to the OC was estimated at a minimum of 7.1%.
Versatile Cas9-Driven Subpopulation Selection Toolbox for Lactococcus lactis

ABSTRACT CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been exploited for the removal or replacement of genetic elements in a wide range of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Here, we describe the extension of the Cas9 application toolbox to the industrially important dairy species Lactococcus lactis. The Cas9 expression vector pLABTarget, encoding the Streptocccus pyogenes Cas9 under the control of a constitutive promoter, was constructed, allowing plug and play introduction of short guide RNA (sgRNA) sequences to target specific genetic loci. Introduction of a pepN-targeting derivative of pLABTarget into L. lactis strain MG1363 led to a strong reduction in the number of transformants obtained, which did not occur in a pepN deletion derivative of the same strain, demonstrating the specificity and lethality of the Cas9-mediated double-strand breaks in the lactococcal chromosome. Moreover, the same pLABTarget derivative allowed the selection of a pepN deletion subpopulation from its corresponding single-crossover plasmid integrant precursor, accelerating the construction and selection of gene-specific deletion derivatives in L. lactis. Finally, pLABTarget, which contained sgRNAs designed to target mobile genetic elements, allowed the effective curing of plasmids, prophages, and integrative conjugative elements (ICEs). These results establish that pLABTarget enables the effective exploitation of Cas9 targeting in L. lactis, while the broad-host-range vector used suggests that this toolbox could readily be expanded to other Gram-positive bacteria. IMPORTANCE Mobile genetic elements in Lactococcus lactis and other lactic acid bacteria (LAB) play an important role in dairy fermentation, having both positive and detrimental effects during the production of fermented dairy products. The pLABTarget vector offers an efficient cloning platform for Cas9 application in lactic acid bacteria. Targeting Cas9 toward mobile genetic elements enabled their effective curing, which is of particular interest in the context of potentially problematic prophages present in a strain. Moreover, Cas9 targeting of other mobile genetic elements enables the deciphering of their contribution to dairy fermentation processes and further establishment of their importance for product characteristics.
Influence of Initial Texture, Temperature and Total Strain on the Texture Development of Polycrystalline Pyrrhotite Ores in Deformation Experiments

The development of the crystallographic preferred orientation (texture) of polycrystalline pyrrhotite from Sullivan mine, Canada, and Cerro de Pasco, Peru was determined by neutron texture analyses before and after experimental deformation. The pyrrhotite ore from Sullivan has an initial texture with a distinct c-axis maximum perpendicular to the foliation whereas the ore from Cerro de Pasco shows a weak and moreover inhomogeneous texture within the specimen.
Children's Perceptions of Hypothetical Peers With Undesirable Characteristics: Role of the Peers’ Desire to Change, Source of Effort to Change, and Outcome

ABSTRACT. The present study, involving sixth- to eighth-grade students, is an extension of a prior investigation (Barnett, Livengood, Sonnentag, Barlett, & Witham, 2010) that examined children's perceptions of hypothetical peers with various undesirable characteristics. Results indicate that children's perceptions of hypothetical peers with an undesirable characteristic are influenced by the peers’ desire to change, the source of effort to change, and the peers’ success or failure in changing the characteristic. The children anticipated responding more favorably to peers who were successful in overcoming an undesirable characteristic than peers who were unsuccessful. Regardless of the peers’ outcome, the children anticipated responding more favorably to peers who tried to change than peers who relied on the effort of adult authorities to motivate change. The children perceived successful peers as experiencing more positive affect than their unsuccessful counterparts, especially if the success was presented as a fulfillment of the peers’ desire to change their undesirable characteristic. Finally, the children's ratings reflected the belief that, among peers who failed to change their undesirable characteristic, lacking the desire to change increases the relative likelihood that the characteristic will be permanent.
The Effects of Valence and Arousal on Associative Working Memory and Long-Term Memory

Background Emotion can either facilitate or impair memory, depending on what, when and how memory is tested and whether the paradigm at hand is administered as a working memory (WM) or a long-term memory (LTM) task. Whereas emotionally arousing single stimuli are more likely to be remembered, memory for the relationship between two or more component parts (i.e., relational memory) appears to be worse in the presence of emotional stimuli, at least in some relational memory tasks. The current study investigated the effects of both valence (neutral vs. positive vs. negative) and arousal (low vs. high) in an inter-item WM binding and LTM task. Methodology/Principal Findings A five-pair delayed-match-to-sample (WM) task was administered. In each trial, study pairs consisted of one neutral picture and a second picture of which the emotional qualities (valence and arousal levels) were manipulated. These pairs had to be remembered across a delay interval of 10 seconds. This was followed by a probe phase in which five pairs were tested. After completion of this task, an unexpected single item LTM task as well as an LTM task for the pairs was assessed. As expected, emotional arousal impaired WM processing. This was reflected in lower accuracy for pairs consisting of high-arousal pictures compared to pairs with low-arousal pictures. A similar effect was found for the associative LTM task. However, the arousal effect was modulated by affective valence for the WM but not the LTM task; pairs with low-arousal negative pictures were not processed as well in the WM task. No significant differences were found for the single-item LTM task. Conclusions/Significance The present study provides additional evidence that processes during initial perception/encoding and post-encoding processes, the time interval between study and test and the interaction between valence and arousal might modulate the effects of “emotion” on associative memory.
The Cross-Calibration of Spectral Radiances and Cross-Validation of CO2 Estimates from GOSAT and OCO-2

The Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) launched in January 2009 has provided radiance spectra with a Fourier Transform Spectrometer for more than eight years. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) launched in July 2014, collects radiance spectra using an imaging grating spectrometer. Both sensors observe sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and retrieve atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, but use different spectrometer technologies, observing geometries, and ground track repeat cycles. To demonstrate the effectiveness of satellite remote sensing for CO2 monitoring, the GOSAT and OCO-2 teams have worked together pre- and post-launch to cross-calibrate the instruments and cross-validate their retrieval algorithms and products. In this work, we first compare observed radiance spectra within three narrow bands centered at 0.76, 1.60 and 2.06 µm, at temporally coincident and spatially collocated points from September 2014 to March 2017. We reconciled the differences in observation footprints size, viewing geometry and associated differences in surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). We conclude that the spectral radiances measured by the two instruments agree within 5% for all bands. Second, we estimated mean bias and standard deviation of column-averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction (XCO2) retrieved from GOSAT and OCO-2 from September 2014 to May 2016. GOSAT retrievals used Build 7.3 (V7.3) of the Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) algorithm while OCO-2 retrievals used Version 7 of the OCO-2 retrieval algorithm. The mean biases and standard deviations are −0.57 ± 3.33 ppm over land with high gain, −0.17 ± 1.48 ppm over ocean with high gain and −0.19 ± 2.79 ppm over land with medium gain. Finally, our study is complemented with an analysis of error sources: retrieved surface pressure (Psurf), aerosol optical depth (AOD), BRDF and surface albedo inhomogeneity. We found no change in XCO2 bias or standard deviation with time, demonstrating that both instruments are well calibrated.
Bioactive glass coatings: A review

Bioactive glasses, discovered by Hench and co-workers at the end of the 1960s, are among the most promising biomaterials for bone repair and reconstruction, mainly thanks to their high bioactivity index. Unfortunately, due to their brittleness and relatively poor mechanical properties, their clinical applications are limited to non-load bearing implants. However, bioactive glasses can be successfully employed as coatings on bioinert metallic substrates, in order to combine high bioactivity with mechanical strength. After a brief introduction to the main properties of biomaterials and bioactive glasses, the present paper provides an overview of the different approaches and available techniques to realise bioactive glass coatings, with a particular emphasis on thermal spray, which is nowadays one of the most popular coating procedures.
Vietnamese Version of Diabetes Self‐Management Instrument: Development and Psychometric Testing

Self-management plays a vital role in diabetes management for adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). While there are many people with T2DM in Vietnam, clinical understanding of diabetes self-management (DSM) in this context is limited due to the lack of a valid measurement instrument. Translation and back-translation processes were used to translate the Diabetes Self-Management Instrument (DSMI) into Vietnamese. Then, translation equivalence, face validity, construct validity, and internal consistency were assessed in a sample of 198 Vietnamese adults with T2DM. The Cronbach's alpha of the V-DSMI was . 92, with a number of significant inter-item correlations. The Vietnamese version of the Diabetes Self-Management Instrument (V-DSMI) retained the meaning of the original English version, and the language of the V-DSMI was clearly understandable to adults with T2DM in Vietnam. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the goodness of fit between the data and the previously identified factor structure. These results indicated that the V-DSMI is acceptable for use with Vietnamese adults with T2DM in further practice and research. However, future studies would be beneficial to determine the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of the V-DSMI. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Chronic myeloid leukaemia: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

Klinik für Innere Medizin II, H€amatologie/Onkologie, Universit€atsklinikum Jena, Jena; III. Medizinische Klinik, Universit€atsmedizin Mannheim, Fakult€at für Klinische Medizin Mannheim der Universit€at Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Institute of Haematology and Medical Oncology Lorenzo ed Ariosto Ser agnoli, Bologna University School of Medicine, Bologna, Italy; CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Department of Hematology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Hematology, St Olavs Hospital and Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Hematology, Oncology and Radiation Physics, Skane University Hospital, Lund, Sweden; CCC Ulm, Institut für Experimentelle Tumorforschung, Universit€atsklinikum Ulm, Ulm, Germany
Matrix Cracking in Four Different 2D SiC/SiC Composite Systems

Silicon carbide fiber reinforced, silicon carbide matrix composites are some of the most advanced composite systems for high-temperature, high-stress applications in oxidizing environments. A basic area that needs to be understood for the purpose of material behavior modeling and optimization is the architectural, constituent, and mechanistic factors that contribute to non-linear stress-strain behavior. The mechanism that causes non-linear stress-strain in dense-matrix composites is the formation and propagation of bridged matrix cracks. In addition, the occurrence and propagation of matrix cracks controls the time-dependent strength-properties of these materials in oxidizing environments at elevated temperatures. A modal acoustic emission technique has been used to monitor and estimate the stress-dependent matrix cracking. Two different SiC matrix systems, chemical vapor infiltrated (CVI) and melt-infiltrated (MI), with two different SiC fiber reinforcement, Hi-Nicalon (trademark) and Sylramic (trademark) were compared. Even though the averages of the range where matrix cracking occurred for the composites varied by more than 0.1% in strain and almost 200 MPa in stress, the range or distribution for matrix cracking could be reduced to a narrow band of stress for CVI SiC and MI SiC composites if it were assumed that all matrix cracks emanate outside of the load-bearing fiber, interphase, CVI preform minicomposite. A simple relationship was determined to describe stress-dependent matrix cracking which can then be used to estimate the onset of large, bridged matrix cracks or for material behavior models.
Mathematical Modeling of Liquid-fed Pulsed Plasma

Liquid propellants are fast becoming attractive for pulsed plasma thrusters due to their high efficiency and low contamination issues. However, the complete plasma interaction and acceleration processes are still not very clear. Present paper develops a multi-layer numerical model for liquid propellant PPTs (pulsed plasma thrusters). The model is based on a quasi-steady flow assumption. The model proposes a possible acceleration mechanism for liquid-fed pulsed plasma thrusters and accurately predicts the propellant utilization capabilities and estimations for the fraction of propellant gas that is completely ionized and accelerated to high exit velocities. Validation of the numerical model and the assumptions on which the model is based on is achieved by comparing the experimental results and the simulation results for two different liquid-fed thrusters developed at the University of Tokyo. Simulation results shows that up-to 50% of liquid propellant injected is completely ionized and accelerated to high exit velocities (>50 Km/s), whereas, neutral gas contribute to only 7% of the total specific impulse and accelerated to low exit velocity (<4 Km/s). The model shows an accuracy up-to 92%. Optimization methods are briefly discussed to ensure efficient propellant utilization and performance. The model acts as a tool to understand the background physics and to optimize the performance for liquid-fed PPTs.
Control of vector-borne infectious diseases by human immunity against α-Gal

Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), INSERM U1019 – CNRS UMR 8204, Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France; Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic; SaBio, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC-CSICUCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain; Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
Variational Autoencoders for Collaborative Filtering

We extend variational autoencoders (VAEs) to collaborative filtering for implicit feedback. This non-linear probabilistic model enables us to go beyond the limited modeling capacity of linear factor models which still largely dominate collaborative filtering research.We introduce a generative model with multinomial likelihood and use Bayesian inference for parameter estimation. Despite widespread use in language modeling and economics, the multinomial likelihood receives less attention in the recommender systems literature. We introduce a different regularization parameter for the learning objective, which proves to be crucial for achieving competitive performance. Remarkably, there is an efficient way to tune the parameter using annealing. The resulting model and learning algorithm has information-theoretic connections to maximum entropy discrimination and the information bottleneck principle. Empirically, we show that the proposed approach significantly outperforms several state-of-the-art baselines, including two recently-proposed neural network approaches, on several real-world datasets. We also provide extended experiments comparing the multinomial likelihood with other commonly used likelihood functions in the latent factor collaborative filtering literature and show favorable results. Finally, we identify the pros and cons of employing a principled Bayesian inference approach and characterize settings where it provides the most significant improvements.
Trace Metals in Cloud Water Sampled at the Puy De Dôme Station

Concentrations of 33 metal elements were determined by ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) analysis for 24 cloud water samples (corresponding to 10 cloud events) collected at the puy de Dome station. Clouds present contrasted chemical composition with mainly marine and continental characteristics; for some cloud events, a further anthropogenic source can be superimposed on the background level. In this context, measurements of trace metals may help to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic and natural sources on the cloud and to better discriminate the origin of the air masses. The metal concentrations in the samples are low (between 16.4 µg L$^{−1}$ and 1.46 mg L$^{−1}$). This could be explained by the remoteness of the puy de Dome site from local sources. Trace metals are then used to confirm and refine a previous sample classification. A principal component analysis (PCA) using the pH value and the concentrations of Cl$^−$, NO${_3}^−$, SO${_4}^{2−}$, Na$^+$ and NH${_4}^+$ is performed considering 24 cloud samples. This first analysis shows that 18 samples are of marine origin and 6 samples are classified as continental. The same statistical approach is used adding trace metal concentration. Zn and Mg elements are the most abundant trace metals for all clouds. A higher concentration of Cd is mainly associated to clouds from marine origins. Cu, As, Tl and Sb elements are rather found in the continental samples than in the marine ones. Mg, V, Mn and Rb elements mainly found in soil particles are also more concentrated in the samples from continental air mass. This new PCA including trace metal confirms the classification between marine and continental air masses but also indicates that one sample presenting low pH and high concentrations of SO${_4}^{2−}$, Fe, Pb and Cu could be rather attributed to a polluted event.
Fire effects and ecological recovery pathways of tropical montane cloud forests along a time chronosequence

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) harbour high levels of biodiversity and large carbon stocks. Their location at high elevations make them especially sensitive to climate change, because a warming climate is enhancing upslope species migration, but human disturbance (especially fire) may in many cases be pushing the treeline downslope. TMCFs are increasingly being affected by fire, and the long‐term effects of fire are still unknown. Here, we present a 28‐year chronosequence to assess the effects of fire and recovery pathways of burned TMCFs, with a detailed analysis of carbon stocks, forest structure and diversity. We assessed rates of change of carbon (C) stock pools, forest structure and tree‐size distribution pathways and tested several hypotheses regarding metabolic scaling theory (MST), C recovery and biodiversity. We found four different C stock recovery pathways depending on the selected C pool and time since last fire, with a recovery of total C stocks but not of aboveground C stocks. In terms of forest structure, there was an increase in the number of small stems in the burned forests up to 5–9 years after fire because of regeneration patterns, but no differences on larger trees between burned and unburned plots in the long term. In support of MST, after fire, forest structure appears to approximate steady‐state size distribution in less than 30 years. However, our results also provide new evidence that the species recovery of TMCF after fire is idiosyncratic and follows multiple pathways. While fire increased species richness, it also enhanced species dissimilarity with geographical distance. This is the first study to report a long‐term chronosequence of recovery pathways to fire suggesting faster recovery rates than previously reported, but at the expense of biodiversity and aboveground C stocks.