Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distortion Model-Based Spectral Augmentation for Generalized Recaptured Document Detection

Document recapturing is a presentation attack that covers the forensic traces in the digital domain. Document presentation attack detection (DPAD) is an important step in the document authentication pipeline. Existing DPAD methods suffer from low generalization performance under the cross-domain scenario with different types of documents. Data augmentation is a de facto technique to reduce the risk of overfitting the training data and improve the generalizability of a trained model. In this work, we improve the generalization performance of DPAD approaches by addressing two important limitations of the existing frequency domain augmentation (FDA) methods. First, contrary to the existing FDA methods that treat different spectral bands equally, we establish a band-of-interest localization (BOIL) method that locates the spectral band-of-interest (BOI) related to the recapturing operation by domain knowledge from the theoretical distortion models. Second, we propose a frequency-domain halftoning augmentation (FHAG) strategy that enhances the halftoning features in the BOI with considerations of different halftoning distortions. To evaluate the generalization performance of our FHAG with BOIL method on different types of document images, we have constructed a diverse recaptured document image dataset with 162 types of documents (RDID162), consisting of 5346 samples. The proposed method has been evaluated on the generic deep learning models and a state-of-the-art DPAD approach under both cross-device and cross-domain protocols for the DPAD task. Compared to the existing FDA methods, our method has improved the models with ResNet50 backbone by reducing more than 25% or 5 percentage points in EERs. The source code and data in this work is available at https://github.com/chenlewis/FHAG-with-BOIL.
ScholarWorks ScholarWorks

The present study explores how close same-sex friendship groups participate in the co-construction of identities in the interpersonal domain during young adulthood. Participants included 24 same-sex college student friendship triads (12 male and 12 female; 72 total participants) who took part in semi-structured group interviews that elicited stories about conversations with their friends about dating relationship problems. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed five common responses to dating problems evidencing identity work in the context of friends' conversations. These responses included relating the issue to one's own experiences, providing validation and encouragement, joking about the problem, offering advice, and providing concrete instrumental support. Results are interpreted with regard to gender differences and similarities as well as the social context of college and developmental context of emerging adulthood. The findings identify ways in which young adults are actively co-constructing and re-evaluating their interpersonal identities within conversations with close same-sex friends.
Investigating Student Teaching Directors’ Definitions of “Teacher” and Paradigms of Disability in Canadian Teacher Education Programs

Directors of Student Teaching from teacher preparation programs across Canada were surveyed and then interviewed in follow-up focus groups to determine the opportunities and barriers they perceived during processes of placing pre-service teachers with disabilities into practicum settings. These data are interrogated within three theoretical frameworks about disability—the medical model, the social model, and the critical disability theory—to determine whether decision-making by Directors of Student Teaching reflects a predominant paradigm of disability. Deconstructions of the current concept of “teacher” are presented with reference to these three paradigms of disability. Key words: Teacher identity, disability theory, equity. Les directeurs de stages des programmes de formation à l'enseignement de tout le Canada ont été interrogés, puis interviewés dans le cadre de groupes de discussion de suivi, afin de déterminer les possibilités et les obstacles qu'ils perçoivent au cours des processus de placement des enseignants ayant un handicap dans des milieux de stage. Ces données sont étudiées selon trois cadres théoriques sur le handicap - le modèle médical, le modèle social et la théorie critique du handicap - afin de déterminer si la prise de décision des directeurs de stages reflète un paradigme prédominant du handicap. Des déconstructions du concept actuel « d'enseignant » sont présentées en référence à ces trois paradigmes du handicap. Mots clés: identité de l'enseignant, théorie du handicap, équité
CCRANet: A Two-Stage Local Attention Network for Single-Frame Low-Resolution Infrared Small Target Detection

Infrared small target detection technology is widely used in infrared search and tracking, infrared precision guidance, low and slow small aircraft detection, and other projects. Its detection ability is very important in terms of finding unknown targets as early as possible, warning in time, and allowing for enough response time for the security system. This paper combines the target characteristics of low-resolution infrared small target images and studies the infrared small target detection method under a complex background based on the attention mechanism. The main contents of this paper are as follows: (1) by sorting through and expanding the existing datasets, we construct a single-frame low-resolution infrared small target (SLR-IRST) dataset and evaluate the existing datasets on three aspects—target number, target category, and target size; (2) to improve the pixel-level metrics of low-resolution infrared small target detection, we propose a small target detection network with two stages and a corresponding method. Regarding the SLR-IRST dataset, the proposed method is superior to the existing methods in terms of pixel-level metrics and target-level metrics and has certain advantages in model processing speed.
The Melting of Free-Drifting Icebergs

Blocks of ice with the proportions of tabular icebergs have been observed melting in water of different temperatures and salinities. The sub-surface shape adopted by the blocks melting in water of the same salinity as sea-water was typically a ‘bath-tub’ one. The basal and mean-side melt rates were of a similar value. The melt rates obtained in the laboratory for icebergs in water of a low temperature match those inferred from population studies of Antarctic icebergs. The melt rate is proportional to the water temperature above the onset of freezing raised to the power 1.5 and melt rates at 18°C are likely to be greater than one metre per day.
Recent Approaches and Trends in Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search, with Remarks on Benchmarking

Nearest neighbor search is a computational primitive whose efﬁciency is paramount to many applications. As such, the literature recently blossomed with many works focusing on improving its effectiveness in an approximate setting. In this overview paper, we review recent advances of the state of the art and discuss some trends. Given the practical relevance of the problem, new approaches need to be thoroughly benchmarked. We therefore review some recent benchmarking efforts and provide advice on the benchmarking pipeline
Distribution of Pathogenic Bacteria of Postoperative Wound Infection and Early Prediction Value of Serum in Children with Hypospadias

The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution of pathogens and the early predictive value of serum in children with hypospadias. The sample consisted children with hypospadias between January 2019 and December 2021 at the Second Affiliated Hospital. 136 children were treated with operation and one-stage urethral reconstruction and divided into infection group (n=18) and non-infection group (n=118). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Snodgrass, penile downward curve, scrotal dysplasia, prolonged operation time, C-reactive protein (CRP), soluble myeloid triggered receptor 1 (sTREM-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil / lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at 24 h after operation were the risk factors for postoperative wound infection in children with hypospadias (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the ROC-AUC predicted by CRP, sTREM-1, sICAM-1, WBC and NLR at 24 h after operation were 0.729, 0.788, 0.821, 0.833, 0.765 and 0.802 respectively. The ROC-AUC of the combination of the above infection indexes was 0.904. The main wound infection after hypospadias is gram-negative bacteria infection. Snodgrass, penile curvature, scrotal dysplasia, prolonged operation time and more than 24 h after operation can increase the risk of wound infection in children with hypospadias. The combination of the above infection indexes has important value in predicting wound infection, and more attention should be paid to the children with the above risk factors in clinical nursing.
Domain-Aware Label Smoothing for Robust Abstract Visual Reasoning

The Raven’s Progressive Matrices(RPM) problem involves discovering rules within a set of images, serving as an evaluation metric for AI models’ visual reasoning capabilities. Noisy Contrast and Decentralization(NCD) was introduced by Tao et al. to tackle this task. However, we have identified certain limitations with the NCD approach. Specifically, it causes imbalanced label distribution in the preprocessing process, negatively affecting the model’s robustness and generalization power. Meanwhile, the panels from other answers could be considered panels in different domains. To address these challenges, we propose a novel approach incorporating domain-aware label smoothing. By selectively applying label smoothing to specific rows based on the distinction of domains, we aim to enhance the model’s robustness. Our experimental results on various RPM problem datasets demonstrate the efficacy of domain-aware label smoothing method in improving overall performance and show that the robustness of model calibration improves performance.
Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation

This paper focuses on a general Gause-Kolmogorov-Type predator–prey model with direct predator-taxis and indirect prey-taxis. The global existence and boundedness of solutions to the system are proved. Our approach is applicable to more general situation. Some measures of success for the constant coexistence steady state are rigorously calculated, such as decreasing the indirect prey-taxis sensitivity or the release rate of stimulus, and increasing the predator-taxis sensitivity or the decay rate of stimulus. By choosing the indirect prey-taxis coefficient as the bifurcation parameter, the existence of Hopf and double-Hopf bifurcations is established. We find that both indirect prey-taxis and direct predator-taxis can promote the complexity of the spatiotemporal pattern, e.g. spatially nonhomogeneous periodic patterns with different spatial frequency, spatially nonhomogeneous quasi-periodic patterns. Finally, we apply our theoretical analyses to a Rosenzweig–MacArthur model with indirect prey-taxis and direct predator-taxis, spatially homogeneous periodic patterns.
Excess Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus Deposition in the Epigastric Artery of Dialysis Patients Undergoing Renal Transplantation

Objective: Vascular calcification contributes to cardiovascular disease on dialysis patients. Arterial mineral content is modified but not well defined. We aim to define what is the con - centration of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in the epigastric artery of adult dialysis patients undergoing renal transplantation. Methods: All renal allograft recipients who underwent surgery at our centre between May 2003 and December 2005 and consented to be taken small samples of epigastric artery were included in our cross-sectional study. Histological, radiological and spectrometric methods were used to measure vascular calcification, deposits and concentrations of calcium, phos - phorus and magnesium in epigastric artery, which were correlated with clinical and biochemi - cal characteristics. Mineral vascular content was compared with corresponding samples from cadaveric renal donors free from renal disease (control group). Results: Calcium and magnesium concentrations in epigastric artery were much higher in recipients (n = 100) than in donors (n = 30). Histologically confirmed calcifications were more frequent in recipients. Calcium and magnesium content in epigastric artery were correlated directly with recipient age, pre-transplant serum P and Ca × P product. A high content of calcium and magnesium in this artery was observed in recipients with media and intimal calci - fication. Multivariate logistic regression showed that dialysis vintage > 3.5 years and calcium concentration in epigastric artery ≥ 4500 mg/kg wet weight were independent predictors of histological calcification. Conclusion: Excess mineral deposition is observed in the epigastric artery of dialysis patients, where the recipient’s age, serum P, Ca × P product and time on dialysis play a decisive role.
A Study of the Effects of Spatially Varying Fluxes on Cloud Formation and Boundary Layer Properties Using Data from the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed

Abstract Measurements from the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed site, which is situated in Oklahoma and Kansas and extends over an area approximately 300 km × 350 km in extent, are combined with results from a three-dimensional mesoscale model to study the sensitivity of boundary layer properties to spatially varying surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. Four cloud parameterization schemes are used to estimate the fractional cloudiness expected over the site on three case study days with settled weather conditions during the summer of 1994. Comparisons between observations and model predictions show good qualitative agreement. Although local responses to varying surface fluxes can be found, the replacement of the spatially varying surface conditions with uniform ones makes little difference in the simulated cloud cover or the vertical profiles of potential temperature and water vapor mixing ratio when these are averaged over the full site. Spatial variations in the ambient meteorology .
Learning Communities Research and Practice Learning Communities Research and Practice

Abstract The discipline of data science is gaining attention due to a significant increase in the amount of data generated on a real-time basis. Despite the efforts from the institutions and national agencies, it has been witnessed that there have been substantial challenges in retaining and attracting students in the discipline of data science. Learning communities have been identified as effective mechanisms to improve student retention. However, fewer studies focus on student experiences within the context of a Data Science Learning Community. This study intends to investigate the student experiences within a Data Science Learning Community known as the The Data Mine (TDM) through the lens of Communities of Practice (CoP) and explore the contribution of the three tenets of CoP: domain, community, and practice in shaping student experiences. The study used a mixed-method case study design to understand the experiences of first-year students within TDM and identify the benefits and challenges associated with participating in the living-learning community. The findings of the study revealed that students considered participating in the learning community a valuable experience as it helped them collaborate with like-minded peers and mentors, also helped them develop data science skills.
Self-Efficacy and Disaster Preparedness of Coastal Nurse in Jember

Coastal areas in Jember Regency have a high risk of getting a big impact if an earthquake and tsunami. These potential disasters force all elements to be prepared to face disasters that can arise anytime, including nurses in the Coastal Public Health Center of Jember. Self-efficacy is thought to have a relationship in improving nurse preparedness in dealing with disaster situations. The aim of this research is to analyze and describe the relationship between the self-efficacy of coastal nurses and the level of preparedness of nurses in dealing with earthquakes and tsunamis in Jember. This study was a correlational research study with a cross-sectional approach. The population of this study was 161 nurses. The sampling method used was convenience sampling, with the total number of nurses participating in this study was 144. We used two main questionnaires to collect the data: the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) and the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET). We analyzed the data using Pearson Product moment with a significant level (α) =0.05. We found a significant correlation between the disaster preparedness and self-efficacy of the coastal nurse in Jember with a p-value of 0,008 (< 0.05). The degree of relationship was 0.619, which is considered significant and positive. There is a relationship between self-efficacy and nurse preparedness in dealing with disasters. The association is in a positive direction, meaning that the higher the level of self-efficacy, the
Climatic and soil integrant that drive forest tree species diversity and distribution across cross-river state, Nigeria

Awareness of the ecological needs of forest tree species is a necessity for effective and tenable forest management, conservation and restoration. Our study used the modified Whittaker sampling method to assess the diversity and distribution of forest tree species at twenty-two forest sites across northern, central, and southern Cross River State, Nigeria, and to analyse climatic and soil integrant that drive the diversity and distribution of tree species in forests. Only tree species with dbh ≥ 30 cm were identified and recorded. Tree species occurrence points were also marked using Global Positioning System (GPS) software. Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution model and
Querying Time-Series Data: A Comprehensive Comparison of Distance Measures

Distance measures are core building blocks in time-series analysis and the subject of active research for decades. Unfortunately, the most detailed experimental study in this area is outdated (over a decade old) and, naturally, does not reﬂect recent progress. Importantly, this study (i) omitted multiple distance measures, including a classic measure in the time-series literature; (ii) considered only a single time-series normalization method; and (iii) reported only raw classiﬁcation error rates without statistically validating the ﬁndings, resulting in or fueling four misconceptions in the time-series literature. Motivated by the aforementioned drawbacks and our curiosity to shed some light on these misconceptions, we comprehensively evaluate 71 time-series distance measures. Speciﬁcally, our study includes (i) 8 normalization methods; (ii) 52 lock-step measures; (iii) 4 sliding measures; (iv) 7 elastic measures; (v) 4 kernel functions; and (vi) 4 embedding measures. We extensively evaluate these measures across 128 time-series datasets using rigorous statistical analysis. For the most promising measures, we present an accuracy-to-runtime analysis and summarize recent progress on a generalized lower bounding measure that accelerates all elastic distances. Our ﬁndings debunk four long-standing misconceptions that signiﬁcantly alter the landscape of what is known about existing distance measures. With the new foundations in place, we discuss open challenges and promising directions.
ADJALEXU-2209-1318 (R1)EVALUATION OF ACCURACY OF 3-D PRINTED REDUCTION GUIDE IN THE TREATMENT OF ZYGOMATICO MAXILLARY COMPLEX FRACTURES (A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL)

BACKGROUND: Fracture of Zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) is considered to be one of the major facial fractures. it can lead to significant cosmetic and functional disorders. Three-dimensional (3-D) printing applications are gaining a remarkable attention in the field of craniomaxillofacial and plastic surgery. As the benefits of patient-specific 3-D printing become more established, surgeons are more likely to integrate this technology into their practice. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study evaluated the accuracy of the use of 3-D printed reduction guide in the treatment of zygomatico maxillary complex fractures. Patients & Methods: This study was conducted clinically on 12 adult patients with ZMC fractures indicated for open reduction and internal fixation. The patients were divided into 2 groups, (group A): the 3D printed reduction guide was used during the surgery and (group B): the surgical procedures were done without the reduction guide. The reduction and fixation time was recorded for comparison. Postoperative patient evaluation was performed with specific attention paid towards, accuracy of reduction, infra orbital nerve affection and postoperative ocular complications. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the surgical reduction and fixation time between the two groups. The error differences were more reduced for all landmarks in group (A) compared to group (B). The mean AI was decreased for all landmarks in group (A) compared to group (B). CONCLUSION: The use of 3D printed reduction guide offers shorter operation time and improves the reduction of the fractured segments in comparison to the conventional reduction techniques.
Potential carbon release from permafrost soils of Northeastern Siberia

Permafrost soils are an important reservoir of carbon (C) in boreal and arctic ecosystems. Rising global temperature is expected to enhance decomposition of organic matter frozen in permafrost, and may cause positive feedback to warming as CO2 is released to the atmosphere. Significant amounts of organic matter remain frozen in thick mineral soil (loess) deposits in northeastern Siberia, but the quantity and lability of this deep organic C is poorly known. Soils from four tundra and boreal forest locations in northeastern Siberia that have been continuously frozen since the Pleistocene were incubated at controlled temperatures (5, 10 and 15°C) to determine their potential to release C to the atmosphere when thawed. Across all sites, CO2 with radiocarbon (14C) ages ranging between∼21 and 24 ka bp was respired when these permafrost soils were thawed. The amount of C released in the first several months was strongly correlated to C concentration in the bulk soil in the different sites, and this correlation remained the same for fluxes up to 1 year later. Fluxes were initially strongly related to temperature with a mean Q10 value of 1.9±0.3 across all sites, and later were unrelated to temperature but still correlated with bulk soil C concentration. Modeled inversions of Δ14CO2 values in respiration CO2 and soil C components revealed mean contribution of 70% and 26% from dissolved organic C to respiration CO2 in case of two permafrost soils, while organic matter fragments dominated respiration (mean 68%) from a surface mineral soil that served as modern reference sample. Our results suggest that if 10% of the total Siberian permafrost C pool was thawed to a temperature of 5°C, about 1 Pg C will be initially released from labile C pools, followed by respiration of∼40 Pg C to the atmosphere over a period of four decades.