Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of new camouflage prototypes deployed in semi-desertic environments using hyperspectral polarimetric imaging sensors

Electro-optic (EO) sensors operating in the reflective and thermal bands are commonly used for a wide range of surveillance applications. Among the ones of interest is the detection of military targets cluttered in natural environment using either broadband or multispectral imaging sensors. Additionally, the spectral information of the elements of a scene under surveillance can be exploited further by hyperspectral imaging (HSI) sensors to provide enhanced detection capability against Army assets thwarted by Camouflage, Concealment, and Deception (CC&D) countermeasure techniques. While innovative camouflages are designed to mimic the spectral signature of various background environments, new advanced hyperspectral imaging sensors having increased sensitivity and spectral resolution are also actively developed. Accordingly, hyperspectral polarimetric imaging sensors have been devised to measure the polarization property of light in addition to the spectral signatures of the elements of a scene. Such imaging sensors provide the capability to improve further the detection of a broad range of target materials buried in various vegetation backgrounds while reducing false alarm rates. This paper investigates the use of ground-based hyperspectral polarimetric sensors to assess the optical performance of camouflage prototypes currently in development for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Unpolarized and polarized radiance measurements of camouflage prototypes deployed in semi-desertic environments were acquired in the visible and shortwave infrared spectral bands. Experimental results demonstrate the benefits of using hyperspectral polarimetric imaging sensors to improve the detection performance of different camouflage prototypes, and open up potential to develop new remote sensing capabilities that are able to deal with improved CC&D countermeasure means.
A new crenobiontic water mite species of the genus Atractides Koch, 1837 from Montenegro and Bulgaria, based on morphological and molecular data (Acariformes, Hydrachnidia, Hygrobatidae)

Abstract A new species of water mites from Montenegro and Bulgaria, Atractides anae Pešić sp. nov., is described, combining traditional morphological techniques with the analysis of partial mtDNA COI sequences (DNA-barcodes). Based on our molecular and morphological analysis, the new species is most closely related to the crenobiontic A. pennatus (K. Viets 1920) from which it differs by 6.4 (SD = 1.12)% K2P distance. A dataset including the novel COI sequences of 10 Atractides species from Montenegro and Iran is assembled in order to facilitate further studies on the genus by using molecular tools.
A 3D atlas of the dynamic and regional variation of pancreatic innervation in diabetes

Three-dimensional mapping of pancreatic innervation shows rapid remodeling of islet innervation in mouse and human diabetes. Understanding the detailed anatomy of the endocrine pancreas, its innervation, and the remodeling that occurs in diabetes can provide new insights into metabolic disease. Using tissue clearing and whole-organ imaging, we identified the 3D associations between islets and innervation. This technique provided detailed quantification of α and β cell volumes and pancreatic nerve fibers, their distribution and heterogeneity in healthy tissue, canonical mouse models of diabetes, and samples from normal and diabetic human pancreata. Innervation was highly enriched in the mouse endocrine pancreas, with regional differences. Islet nerve density was increased in nonobese diabetic mice, in mice treated with streptozotocin, and in pancreata of human donors with type 2 diabetes. Nerve contacts with β cells were preserved in diabetic mice and humans. In summary, our whole-organ assessment allows comprehensive examination of islet characteristics and their innervation and reveals dynamic regulation of islet innervation in diabetes.
Inducing a Functional-Pharmacological Coupling in the Human Brain to Achieve Improved Drug Effect

Neuropharmacotherapy is substantially hindered by poor drug targeting, resulting in low specificity and efficacy. It is known that different behavioral tasks increase functional activity and cerebral blood flow (CBF), two key parameters controlling drug delivery and efficacy. Here, we tested a novel, non-invasive drug targeting approach (termed functional-pharmacological coupling), which couples drug administration with a task that is known to specifically activate the drug’s sites-of-action in the brain. In two studies we administered Methylphenidate (MPH) to neurotypical adults and to subjects with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In study 1 we employed a within-subject factorial design and found that only following MPH administration, subjects that performed better in the cognitive induction task showed greater improvements in N-back performance. Moreover, only under MPH-Cognitive induction condition, this improvement correlated with concurrent N-Back rDLPFC activation. In Study 2, subjects with ADHD performed better on sustained attention when MPH administration was followed by a cognitive challenge rather than a control task. Again, those who were more attentive to the cognitive challenge scored higher. Our results provide preliminary support for the feasibility of functional-pharmacological coupling concept, hence opening a new horizon for patient-tailored, context-driven drug therapy.
Shoot-level biomass allocation is affected by shoot type in Fagus sylvatica

Aims The present study aims (i) to examine if recently reported interspecific shoot-level biomass allocational trade-offs, i.e. isometric trade-offs between leaf mass (LM) and stem mass (SM) and between leaf size and leaf number, hold intraspecifically and (ii) to explore whether those scaling relationships are independent of shoot type (i.e. long vs. short shoots). Methods In order to address our questions, we used Fagus sylvatica saplings growing under a broad light range that were sampled in the Western Carpathians Mountains (Slovakia). Important Findings We found that: (i) intraspecific shoot-level biomass allocational trade-offs differ from those reported interspecifically and that (ii) long and short shoots differ in biomass allocation scaling coefficients. Allometric relationships with slopes statistically smaller than 1.0 or higher than 1.0, were found between SM and LM and between mean leafing intensity and individual leaf mass, respectively, in long shoots. In contrast, isometric scaling was found in short shoots. This suggests that leaf mass in short shoots is unaffected by shoot stem mass, in contrast to long shoots. Short shoots also had a larger fraction of biomass allocated to leaves. Beech shoots, as has been observed in other shoot dimorphic species, are specialized, with short shoots specializing in carbon gain and long shoots in space acquisition. A greater shift in LM than in SM among species during speciation shifting from allometric intraspecific relationships to an isometric interspecific scaling relationship between those traits could explain the discrepancies between the outputs of the present intraspecific study and others similar studies. This study draws attention to the importance of considering shoot types in future studies dealing with allocation rules in species with dimorphic shoots.
Some determinants of the composition and abundance of motile macroinvertebrate species in tropical and temperate turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) meadows

Monthly data on motile epibenthic macroinvertebrates inhabiting subtidal tropical (Panama') and warm temperate (U.S.A.) turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) meadows were gathered to test the hypothesis that structurally similar habitats will support similar numbers of species, regardless of latitude. Taken at face value these data do not support the hypothesis; species richness was significantly greater in Panama'. However, based on observational evidence as well as previously published natural history information it appears that the Panamanian sea grass meadows are effectively more structurally complex than those in Florida. This is primarily due to the presence of nearby coral reefs which support several invertebrate and many fish species which treat the coral reef - seagrass habitat as a single entity. In addition, many more vagrant species were taken in the tropical collections, as a result of the proximity of many other distinct habitats in Panama. Differences in total macroinvertebrate abundance between the two study areas seem to reflect differences in seasonal fluctuations of their fish predators, and in the species composition and biological activities of the fishes themselves. The predation and disturbance hypotheses can also be advanced to explain the results of this study. Although neither one of them seems to be correct, both are compatible with the data presented here. This suggests caution in accepting the mechanisms implied by hypotheses making very general predictions on community organization, when no independent information exists to verify them.
Effect of temperature on the production of low molecular fatty acids within an anoxic marine sediment slurry

The kineties of low molecular fatty acid production from glucose in the sediment slurry system were examined under anoxic conditions. Glucose was decomposed to acetote, formate, lactate, propionate, and n-butyrate. Both the composition of fatty acids produced and their production rates in the slurry were almost the same, regardless of sampling seasons and the incubation temperature. The production rate of each fatty acid increased with increases in the incubation temperature. The effect of temperature on the production rates of formate, acetate, and lactate conformed to Arrhenius' equation, and the data revealed temperature characteristics of 23.7 kJ/mol, 42.6 kJ/mol, and 26.5 kJ/mol, corresponding to Q10 of 1.4, 1.8, and 1.5, respectively. Thus, the fatty acid production was estimated to be carried out by the same microbial population throughout the year, and the production rates were basically regulated by the temperature of sediment.
Cenozoic evolution of the steppe-desert biome in Central Asia

The steppe-desert is much older than previously thought, but has evolved substantially from the Paleogene to the present. The origins and development of the arid and highly seasonal steppe-desert biome in Central Asia, the largest of its kind in the world, remain largely unconstrained by existing records. It is unclear how Cenozoic climatic, geological, and biological forces, acting at diverse spatial and temporal scales, shaped Central Asian ecosystems through time. Our synthesis shows that the Central Asian steppe-desert has existed since at least Eocene times but experienced no less than two regime shifts, one at the Eocene–Oligocene Transition and one in the mid-Miocene. These shifts separated three successive “stable states,” each characterized by unique floral and faunal structures. Past responses to disturbance in the Asian steppe-desert imply that modern ecosystems are unlikely to recover their present structures and diversity if forced into a new regime. This is of concern for Asian steppes today, which are being modified for human use and lost to desertification at unprecedented rates.
Retroactivity induced operating regime transition in a phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle

Operating regimes characterizing the input-output behaviour of an activated phosphorylation-dephosphorylation reaction cycle (PdPC) such as a single MAPK cascade are dictated by the saturated/unsaturated state of the two underlying enzymatic reactions. Four combinations of the states of these two enzymatic reactions led to identification of distinct operating regimes, viz., Hyperbolic (H), Signal transducing (ST), Threshold-hyperbolic (TH) and Ultrasensitive (U). A single PdPC without an explicit feedback have been classically viewed as a module offering signal flow from upstream to downstream, that is, one-way communication. Recently it has been shown that load due to sequestration of the phosphorylated or unphosphorylated form of the substrate by corresponding downstream targets permits retroactive signalling that offers two-way communication. We systematically characterize the operating regimes of a single PdPC subject to retroactivity in either of the substrate forms. We identify five possible regime transitions that could be achieved by increasing the retroactivity strength on either of the two substrate forms. Remarkably, a retroactivity strength of 0.30 in the unphosphorylated form of the substrate is sufficient to induce a transition from ST to H regime indicating that the input-output behaviour of a PdPC is highly sensitive to the presence of a downstream load. Using sensitivity and rate-balance analysis, we show that modulation of the saturation levels of the two enzymatic reactions by increasing retroactivity is the fundamental mechanism governing operating regime transition. Highlights Characterization of operating regimes in the presence of retroactivity. Retroactivity can induce a transition between different operating regimes. Saturation levels of the two enzymatic reactions govern the regime transition. Sensitivity of the protein levels to retroactivity is dictated by saturation levels.
Interpretable multi-timescale models for predicting fMRI responses to continuous natural speech

Natural language contains information at multiple timescales. To understand how the human brain represents this information, one approach is to build encoding models that predict fMRI responses to natural language using representations extracted from neural network language models (LMs). However, these LM-derived representations do not explicitly separate information at different timescales, making it difficult to interpret the encoding models. In this work we construct interpretable multi-timescale representations by forcing individual units in an LSTM LM to integrate information over specific temporal scales. This allows us to explicitly and directly map the timescale of information encoded by each individual fMRI voxel. Further, the standard fMRI encoding procedure does not account for varying temporal properties in the encoding features. We modify the procedure so that it can capture both short- and long-timescale information. This approach outper-forms other encoding models, particularly for voxels that represent long-timescale information. It also provides a finer-grained map of timescale information in the human language pathway. This serves as a framework for future work investigating temporal hierarchies across artificial and biological language systems.
Precision targeting of the plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 mechanism increases efficacy of fibrinolytic therapy in empyema

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is an endogenous irreversible inhibitor of tissue-type (tPA) and urokinase (uPA) plasminogen activators. PAI-1-targeted fibrinolytic therapy (PAI-1-TFT) is designed to decrease the therapeutic dose of tPA and uPA to attenuate the risk of bleeding and other complications. The docking site peptide (DSP) is a part of the PAI-1 reactive center loop, which interacts with plasminogen activators, thus affecting the PAI-1 mechanism. We used DSP for PAI-1-TFT in two rabbit models: chemically-induced pleural injury and Streptococcus pneumoniae induced empyema. PAI-1-TFT with DSP combined with single chain uPA or tPA resulted in an up to 8-fold decrease in the minimal effective therapeutic dose of plasminogen activator and induced no bleeding. An increase in the level of PAI-1 in infectious pleural injury, when compared to chemically-induced injury, coincided with an increase in the minimal effective dose of plasminogen activator and DSP. PAI-1 is a valid molecular target in S. pneumoniae empyema model in rabbits, which closely recapitulates key characteristics of empyema in humans. Low dose PAI-1-TFT is a novel precise interventional strategy that may improve fibrinolytic therapy of empyema in clinical practice.
Automatic Measurement of Inner Ear in Different Mammals1

Objective The aim of this research is to develop an accurate and automatic measuring method based on the aid of centerline to construct three dimensional models of inner ear in different mammals and to assess the morphological variations. Methods Three adult healthy mice, three adult guinea pigs, three adult mini pigs and one left temporal bone of human were included in this research. All 18 animal specimens and the human sample were scanned with the use of Micro-CT. After being segmented, three-dimensional models of the inner ear in different mammals were reconstructed using Mimics. A novel method with the use of centerline was established to estimate the properties of 3D models and to calculate the length, volume and angle parameters automatically. Results Morphological models of inner ears in different mammals have been built, which describe detailed shape of cochlear, vestibule, semicircular canals and common crus. Mean value of lengths and volumes of the cochlear, lateral semicircular canal, superior semicircular canal and posterior semicircular canal, tended to increase with the body size of the mammals, showed the proximity to the human data in mini pig. The angles between the semicircular canal planes showed differences between mammals. The mean values of semicircular canals of mice and mini pigs closely resembled to human data in numerical assessment. Conclusion The automatic measurement of the inner ear based on centerline builds an effective way to assess lengths, volumes and angles of three-dimensional structures. This study provides a theoretical basis for mechanical analysis of inner ear in different mammals and proves the similarity between mini pig and human.
Hemispherical differences in the shape and topography of asteroid (101955) Bennu

A lidar model of asteroid (101955) Bennu has a north-south asymmetry in shape and evidence of an early partial disruption. We investigate the shape of near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu by constructing a high-resolution (20 cm) global digital terrain model from laser altimeter data. By modeling the northern and southern hemispheres separately, we find that longitudinal ridges previously identified in the north extend into the south but are obscured there by surface material. In the south, more numerous large boulders effectively retain surface materials and imply a higher average strength at depth to support them. The north has fewer large boulders and more evidence of boulder dynamics (toppling and downslope movement) and surface flow. These factors result in Bennu’s southern hemisphere being rounder and smoother, whereas its northern hemisphere has higher slopes and a less regular shape. We infer an originally asymmetric distribution of large boulders followed by a partial disruption, leading to wedge formation in Bennu’s history.
The Ecological Importance of Cleaning Symbiosis

The removal of most of the cleaner fish, Labroides phthirophagus, from a reef resulted in an increase in ceaning behavior by the remaining cleaners and changes in the behavior and distribution of the host fish. After the removal of all of the L. phthirophagus there was no increase in the ectoparasitic infestation of the host fish as compared with a similar control reef. The form of the behavioral changes and the lack of change in ectoparasites suggest that although the adaptive value of cleaning is probably ectoparasite removal, the proximate causal factors are not related to ectoparasites. Thus, in some areas, the relationship of the cleaner to the host may become commensal or even parasitic.
The Ediacaran frondose fossil Arborea from the Shibantan limestone of South China

Abstract. Bituminous limestone of the Ediacaran Shibantan Member of the Dengying Formation (551–539 Ma) in the Yangtze Gorges area contains a rare carbonate-hosted Ediacara-type macrofossil assemblage. This assemblage is dominated by the tubular fossil Wutubus Chen et al., 2014 and discoidal fossils, e.g., Hiemalora Fedonkin, 1982 and Aspidella Billings, 1872, but frondose organisms such as Charnia Ford, 1958, Rangea Gürich, 1929, and Arborea Glaessner and Wade, 1966 are also present. Herein, we report four species of Arborea from the Shibantan assemblage, including the type species Arborea arborea (Glaessner in Glaessner and Daily, 1959) Glaessner and Wade, 1966, Arborea denticulata new species, and two unnamed species, Arborea sp. A and Arborea sp. B. Arborea arborea is the most abundant frond in the Shibantan assemblage. Arborea denticulata n. sp. resembles Arborea arborea in general morphology but differs in its fewer primary branches and lower length/width ratio of primary branches. Arborea sp. A and Arborea sp. B are fronds with a Hiemalora-type basal attachment. Sealing by microbial mats and authigenic cementation may have played an important role in the preservation of Arborea in the Shibantan assemblage. The Shibantan material of Arborea extends the stratigraphic, ecological, and taphonomic ranges of this genus.
Millimetric radiometry for measuring human and porcine skin reflectance

Despite the rising interest in the human skin signature over the millimetre wave band there is relatively little information about the human skin reflectance and the dielectric properties of the human skin, and how these varying with locations and between gender, and hydration level of the skin. This paper has investigated the reflectance of the human skin over the frequency band 80-100 GHz, and comparing the reflectance of the human skin with the reflectance of porcine skin samples under normal and wet skin conditions. For a sample of 60 healthy participants (36 males and 24 females) the mean reflectance of the skin over all measurement locations was found to be ~0.606 with a standard deviation of ~0.086. The skin regions of the palm of the hand, the outer wrist and the dorsal forearm skin had reflectances 0.068, 0.058 and 0.0677 lower than the skin regions of the back of the hand, the inner wrist and the volar forearms respectively. Reflectance measurements of human skin under normal and wet state on the palm of the hand and the back of the hand regions indicate that the mean differences in the reflectance before and after the application of water is ~0.15 and ~0.075 respectively. A comparison in reflectance between human skin and porcine skin samples indicates similar trends in signatures between ex-vivo porcine skin samples and human skin. During the cycle of life, human skin is affected by many factors such as the age, the environment, the interaction with different types of radiation, genetic defects, dehydration, and accidents. These factors might cause diseases, temporal skin conditions, and permanent disorders. In response to this, the skin presents signatures, which can be measured using non-contact millimetre wave sensors that could quantify the degree of the damage. These unique findings enable millimetre wave radiometry to be used for detecting human skin signatures and anomalies under different conditions by identify unusually high or low levels of reflectance in tens of seconds.