Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic detection of thin oil films on water surfaces in ultraviolet imagery

Among the various remote sensing technologies that have been applied to monitor oil spills on the sea surface, passive ultraviolet (UV) imaging is a controversial one that has raised some disputes in the community of oil spill remote sensing. As a result, the research and applications of oil spill detection using passive UV imaging have not been as developed as other methods. In order to clarify some existing questions on oil spill detection using passive UV remote sensing technology, this paper discusses the needs of thin oil film detection, examines the feasibility of thin oil film detection using passive UV imaging through field experiments under controlled conditions and validates it with the UV imagery derived from the airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS) observation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Two types of fully automatic models are designed to extract the thin oil films on the water surface: (1) a binary classification model based on an adaptive threshold; (2) an unsupervised image segmentation model based on image clustering and greyscale histogram analysis. The two models are tested on the UV imagery obtained through both field experiments and AVIRIS observations. The results indicate that the binary classification model can extract the thin oil films with reasonable accuracy under stable imaging conditions, while the unsupervised image clustering model can robustly detect the thin oil films at the cost of higher computational complexity. These results infer that passive UV imaging is an effective way to detect thin oil films and could be applied to provide early warning at the beginning stage of oil spills and reduce further damage. It may also be applied as a supplementary method for oil spill detection to achieve comprehensive oil spill monitoring.
Factors of the Adoption of O2O Service Platforms: Evidence from Small Businesses in Korea

O2O service platforms, which combine online and offline channels to provide more convenient services, are drawing attention as a new way of commerce that can revitalize small businesses that are losing competitiveness and struggling due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In this study, we investigated and empirically analyzed the factors affecting the adoption of O2O service platforms in small businesses. We developed a research model that combines the technology acceptance model (TAM), an individual-level theory of IT acceptance, and the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, an organizational-level theory of information systems adoption. Data from 279 valid questionnaires were collected from small business owners and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that the technical characteristics of the TOE framework, namely, relative advantage, compatibility, and trialability, and small business owners’ characteristics, namely, innovativeness, risk-taking tendency, and IT knowledge, affect the adoption of O2O service platforms through perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The environmental variables of the TOE framework, namely, government support, digital environment change, and competitive pressure, affect the adoption of O2O service platforms through subjective norms. We identify practical implications for the adoption of O2O service platforms by small businesses.
A comparison of population average and random‐effect models for the analysis of longitudinal count data with base‐line information

The generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach to the analysis of longitudinal data has many attractive robustness properties and can provide a ‘population average’ characterization of interest, for example, to clinicians who have to treat patients on the basis of their observed characteristics. However, these methods have limitations which restrict their usefulness in both the social and the medical sciences. This conclusion is based on the premise that the main motivations for longitudinal analysis are insight into microlevel dynamics and improved control for omitted or unmeasured variables. We claim that to address these issues a properly formulated random‐effects model is required. In addition to a theoretical assessment of some of the issues, we illustrate this by reanalysing data on polyp counts. In this example, the covariates include a base‐line outcome, and the effectiveness of the treatment seems to vary by base‐line. We compare the random‐effects approach with the GEE approach and conclude that the GEE approach is inappropriate for assessing the treatment effects for these data.
Coupling of sausage, kink, and magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in a cylindrical liner

This paper analyzes the coupling of magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT), sausage, and kink modes in an imploding cylindrical liner, using ideal MHD. A uniform axial magnetic field of arbitrary value is included in each region: liner, its interior, and its exterior. The dispersion relation is solved exactly, for arbitrary radial acceleration (-g), axial wavenumber (k), azimuthal mode number (m), liner aspect ratio, and equilibrium quantities in each region. For small k, a positive g (inward radial acceleration in the lab frame) tends to stabilize the sausage mode, but destabilize the kink mode. For large k, a positive g destabilizes both the kink and sausage mode. Using the 1D-HYDRA simulation results for an equilibrium model that includes a pre-existing axial magnetic field and a preheated fuel, we identify several stages of MRT-sausage-kink mode evolution. We find that the m = 1 kink-MRT mode has a higher growth rate at the initial stage and stagnation stage of the implosion, and that the m = 0 sausage-MRT mod.
Correcting a Significance Test for Clustering

A common mistake in analysis of cluster randomized trials is to ignore the effect of clustering and analyze the data as if each treatment group were a simple random sample. This typically leads to an overstatement of the precision of results and anticonservative conclusions about precision and statistical significance of treatment effects. This article gives a simple correction to the t statistic that would be computed if clustering were (incorrectly) ignored. The correction is a multiplicative factor depending on the total sample size, the cluster size, and the intraclass correlation ρ. The corrected t statistic has Student’s t distribution with reduced degrees of freedom. The corrected statistic reduces to the t statistic computed by ignoring clustering when ρ = 0. It reduces to the t statistic computed using cluster means when ρ = 1. If 0 < ρ < 1, it lies between these two, and the degrees of freedom are in between those corresponding to these two extremes.
A Study on Impeller-Diffuser Interaction—Part II: Detailed Flow Analysis

The interaction between impeller and diffuser is considered to have strong influence on the flow in centrifugal compressors. However, the knowledge about this influence is still not satisfying. This two-part paper presents an experimental investigation of the effect of impeller-diffuser interaction on the unsteady and the time-averaged flow field in impeller and diffuser and the performance of these components. The flat wedge vaned diffuser of the investigated compressor allows an independent adjustment of diffuser vane angle and radial gap between impeller exit and diffuser vane inlet. Attention is mainly directed to the radial gap, as it determines the intensity of the impeller-diffuser interaction. In Part I it was shown that smaller radial gaps improve diffuser pressure recovery, whereas impeller efficiency is hardly affected. Part II focuses on the reasons for these effects. Measurements with a laser-2-focus velocimeter in the highly unsteady flow field between the impeller exit region and diffuser throat were performed at three different diffuser geometries allowing a detailed flow analysis. Especially the unsteady results show that for a smaller radial gap more impeller wake fluid is conveyed towards the highly loaded diffuser vane pressure side reducing its loading and leading to a better diffusion in the diffuser channel. Concerning the impeller flow, it was found that a smaller radial gap is leading to a noticeable reduction of the wake region at impeller exit. The experimental results are intended to be published as an open CFD test case under the name Radiver.
Beyond “Sea, Sun, and Fun”: Exploring the Viability of Jamaican Creole Heritage Language Education in Toronto

Résumé:Étant donné l’aggravation des tensions raciales et l’accroissement constant de la mondia-lisation et des migrations, le moment est venu de s’interroger sur la manière de faire de la place aux locuteurs de langues vernaculaires racialisées grâce à l’enseignement des langues ancestrales. Cette étude contribue au peu de recherches dans ce domaine par l’analyse de l’attitude des personnes d’origine jamaïcaine à Toronto envers l’enseignement du créole jamaïcain ainsi que des incidences qu’elle a sur la conception et l’offre de programmes. Au moyen d’une enquête et d’entretiens semistructurés, les résultats montrent que, tout en valorisant la langue et sa transmission, les répondants rejettent de manière générale l’enseignement formel du créole jamaïcain patrimonial. Les personnes interrogées favorisent plutôt l’enseignement du patrimoine et de la langue par les activités sociales et communautaires. Cette étude donne la parole à la communauté jamaïcaine de Toronto et révèle qu’une méthode unique pour l’enseignement et la transmission de la langue patrimoniale, surtout dans le cas des langues stigmatisées et non normalisées, ne tient pas.Abstract:Given heightened racial tensions as well as steadily increasing globalization and migration, the time is ripe to explore how space can be made for speakers of racialized vernaculars and languages through heritage language education. This study contributes to the limited research in this area by exploring the attitudes of individuals of Jamaican heritage in Toronto toward Jamaican Creole heritage language education and the implications of such attitudes for program offerings and design. By means of a survey and semi-structured interviews, findings showed that while valuing the language and its transmission, attitudes toward formal Jamaican Creole heritage language education were largely dismissive. Rather, greater value was placed on heritage and language education via social and community-based approaches. This study gives voice to the Jamaican community in Toronto and shows that a “one-size-fits-all approach” to heritage language education and transmission, particularly for stigmatized and non-standardized languages, is untenable.
Effects of vibration method and wall boundaries on size segregation in granular beds

This paper investigates the rise rate of a large impurity in an otherwise homogeneous granular bed subject to discrete and continuous vertical oscillations. Experiments and two-dimensional discrete element computer simulations reveal that the impurity rise rate depends upon the oscillation method when side-wall convection effects are negligible. For discrete oscillations the rise rate increases monotonically with the oscillation velocity amplitude while for continuous oscillations the rise rate reaches a maximum value at a critical velocity amplitude. The rise rate trends correlate with changes in the bed void fraction. When side-wall convection effects are present, the rise rate of the impurity increases linearly with the oscillation velocity amplitude regardless of the vibration method. The results from the studies presented here reconcile the seemingly inconsistent results reported previously in the literature.
The isotopic abundances of interstellar oxygen.

The relative abundance of /sup 17/O and /sup 18/O is found to be remarkably uniform in the giant molecular clouds of our Galaxy, varying by less than approx.5% between the galactic center and the most distant (approx.12 kpc) sources. This uniformity is seen to reflect the close similarity in the galactic distributions of the processes by which these two isotopes are introduced into the interstellar medium, via novae explosions and mass loss from low-to-intermediate mass stars, respectively.
Linear stability of WENO schemes coupled with explicit Runge–Kutta schemes

This paper focuses on the results of the linear stability analysis of the finite‐difference weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) schemes with optimal weights. The standard WENO schemes between the third and 11th order, the order‐optimised WENO schemes of the sixth and eighth order and the bandwidth‐optimised WENO schemes of the third and fourth order are considered. Several explicit Runge–Kutta schemes including the recently published strong stability‐preserving explicit Runge–Kutta schemes are considered for time discretisation. The stability limits as well as dissipation and dispersion properties dependent on the Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy number are presented for a hyperbolic model equation. The different combinations of space and time discretisation schemes are compared in terms of their accuracy and efficiency. For a parabolic model equation, the viscous term is discretised with high‐order central differences. The stability limits for the parabolic problem are presented as well. Numerical results of linear test cases are shown. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
X-Ray Study of the Phase Transition in Magnetite

Temperature dependence of the lattice parameters of magnetite in cubic and monoclinic phases were measured accurately between 80 K and 295 K by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction. It was shown that the monoclinic distortion of the lattice in the low temperature phase has a tendency to become large with the lowering of temperature. A discontinuous increase of the unit cell volume at the transition temperature on cooling was clarified. Several superlattice reflections were also investigated, and possibility of the atomic displacements modulated with the wave vectors k =[100], [010] and [001] with X 1 symmetry is discussed.
The Impact of Hepatic Artery Thrombosis on the Outcome of Pediatric Living Donor Liver Transplantations

The aim of our study was to assess risk factors for hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) and to evaluate the impact of HAT management on long-term outcomes after pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We retrospectively analyzed 400 patients who underwent primary LDLT between 1999 and 2020. We compared preoperative data, surgical factors, complications, and patient and graft survivals in patients with HAT (HAT Group) and without HAT (non-HAT Group). A total of 27 patients (6.75%) developed HAT. Acute liver failure, a hepatic artery (HA) anastomosis diameter below 2 mm, and intraoperative HA flow dysfunction were significantly more common in the HAT Group (p < 0.05, p = 0.02026, and p = 0.0019, respectively). In the HAT Group, 21 patients (77.8%) underwent urgent surgical revision. The incidence of biliary stenosis and retransplantation was significantly higher in the HAT Group (p = 0.00002 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Patient and graft survivals were significantly worse in the HAT Group (p < 0.05). The close monitoring of HA flow with Doppler ultrasound during the critical period of 2 to 3 weeks after LDLT and the immediate attempt of surgical revascularization may attenuate the elevated risk of biliary stenosis, graft loss, and the need for retransplantation due to HAT.
Dense gas and cold dust in the dark core B217

The Barnard object B217 was observed in the infrared and radio region. The 170 m continuum was detected with ISOPHOT, the ammonia 1.3 cm radio lines with the Eelsberg 100 m-telescope. Mapping B217SW in (J;K )=( 1; 1) and (2; 2) inversion lines revealed the temperature and density distribution of the gas and made it possible to investigate the dynamical state of this dense core inside B217. The ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (ISOSS) detected the cold dust emission of B217 in all of 3 slews crossing the region. Combining ISOSS with IRAS data, we derive the core parameters of the dust from FIR emission and compare them with the NH3 data, which sample the densest region of the core. This study shows the power of combining ISOSS 170 mw ith IRAS/HIRES data in order to study the dust characteristics in nearby star forming regions on small spatial scales. The (170m/100m) dust colour temperature is 11 K{12 K in the dense cores and 12 K{14 K in the other regions of B217. The low dust temperatures cannot be explained by attenuation of the interstellar radiation eld alone and may reflect a change in the optical properties of the dust as compared to diuse clouds. In B217SW, molecular depletion through freeze-out onto grains is suggested by the comparison of our FIR and NH3 data with previous C 18 O observations. On the basis of our ammonia data investigation, we nd in B217SW dense gas with kinetic temperatures between 9 K and 12 K, increasing outwards. Using near-infrared extinction and NH3 collisional excitation calculations, the fractional ammonia abundance (N(NH3)=N (H2)) is found to be 3{5 10 8 , and the comparison of gas and dust observations supports this range. Knowing the ammonia abundance, we calculate the thermal, turbulent and gravitational energies of the dense core, which appears to be close to hydrostatic equilibrium. Our results are compatible with B217SW being now on the verge of collapse or in an early collapse phase.
Extracellular Vesicle Treatment Alleviates Neurodevelopmental and Neurodegenerative Pathology in Cortical Spheroid Model of Down Syndrome

Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21, is manifested in a variety of anatomical and cellular abnormalities resulting in intellectual deficits and early onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with no effective treatments available to alleviate the pathologies associated with the disorder. The therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles (EVs) has emerged recently in relation to various neurological conditions. We have previously demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stromal cell-derived EVs (MSC-EVs) in cellular and functional recovery in a rhesus monkey model of cortical injury. In the current study, we evaluated the therapeutic effect of MSC-EVs in a cortical spheroid (CS) model of DS generated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Compared to euploid controls, trisomic CS display smaller size, deficient neurogenesis, and AD-related pathological features, such as enhanced cell death and depositions of amyloid beta (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau). EV-treated trisomic CS demonstrated preserved size, partial rescue in the production of neurons, significantly decreased levels of Aβ and p-tau, and a reduction in the extent of cell death as compared to the untreated trisomic CS. Together, these results show the efficacy of EVs in mitigating DS and AD-related cellular phenotypes and pathological depositions in human CS.
Signature of miRNAs derived from the circulating exosomes of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Background Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder (NDS) with unclear pathophysiology and few therapeutic options. Mutations in SOD1 and C9orf72 are the most common in Asian and Caucasian patients with ALS, respectively. Aberrant (microRNAs) miRNAs found in patients with gene-mutated ALS may be involved in the pathogenesis of gene-specific ALS and sporadic ALS (SALS). The aim of this study was to screen for differentially expressed miRNAs from exosomes in patients with ALS and healthy controls (HCs) and to construct a miRNA-based diagnostic model to classify patients and HCs. Methods We compared circulating exosome-derived miRNAs of patients with ALS and HCs using the following two cohorts: a discovery cohort (three patients with SOD1-mutated ALS, three patients with C9orf72-mutated ALS, and three HCs) analyzed by microarray and a validation cohort (16 patients with gene-mutated ALS, 65 patients with SALS, and 61 HCs) confirmed by RT-qPCR. The support vector machine (SVM) model was used to help diagnose ALS using five differentially expressed miRNAs between SALS and HCs. Results A total of 64 differentially expressed miRNAs in patients with SOD1-mutated ALS and 128 differentially expressed miRNAs in patients with C9orf72-mutated ALS were obtained by microarray compared to HCs. Of these, 11 overlapping dysregulated miRNAs were identified in both groups. Among the 14 top-hit candidate miRNAs validated by RT-qPCR, hsa-miR-34a-3p was specifically downregulated in patients with SOD1-mutated ALS, while hsa-miR-1306-3p was downregulated in ALS patients with both SOD1 and C9orf72 mutations. In addition, hsa-miR-199a-3p and hsa-miR-30b-5p were upregulated significantly in patients with SALS, while hsa-miR-501-3p, hsa-miR-103a-2-5p, and hsa-miR-181d-5p had a trend to be upregulated. The SVM diagnostic model used five miRNAs as features to distinguish ALS from HCs in our cohort with an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.80. Conclusion Our study identified aberrant miRNAs from exosomes of SALS and ALS patients with SOD1/C9orf72 mutations and provided additional evidence that aberrant miRNAs were involved in the pathogenesis of ALS regardless of the presence or absence of the gene mutation. The machine learning algorithm had high accuracy in predicting the diagnosis of ALS, shedding light on the foundation for the clinical application of blood tests in the diagnosis of ALS, and revealing the pathological mechanisms of the disease.
Persistence of inflammatory and vascular mediators 5 months after hospitalization with COVID-19 infection

Background and aim In acute severe COVID-19, patients present with lung inflammation and vascular injury, accompanied by an exaggerated cytokine response. In this study, our aim was to describe the inflammatory and vascular mediator profiles in patients who were previously hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonitis, months after their recovery, and compare them with those in patients recovering from severe sepsis and in healthy controls. Methods A total of 27 different cytokine, chemokine, vascular endothelial injury and angiogenic mediators were measured in the plasma of forty-nine patients 5.0 ± 1.9 (mean ± SD) months after they were hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia, eleven patients 5.4 ± 2.9 months after hospitalization with acute severe sepsis, and 18 healthy controls. Results Compared with healthy controls, IL-6, TNFα, SAA, CRP, Tie-2, Flt1, and PIGF were significantly increased in the post-COVID group, and IL-7 and bFGF were significantly reduced. While IL-6, PIGF, and CRP were also significantly elevated in post-Sepsis patients compared to controls, the observed differences in TNFα, Tie-2, Flt-1, IL-7 and bFGF were unique to the post-COVID group. TNFα levels significantly correlated with the severity of acute COVID-19 illness (spearman’s r = 0.30, p < 0.05). Furthermore, in post-COVID patients, IL-6 and CRP were each strongly negatively correlated with gas transfer factor %predicted (spearman’s r = –0.51 and r = –0.57, respectively, p < 0.002) and positively correlated with computed tomography (CT) abnormality scores at recovery (r = 0.28 and r = 0.46, p < 0.05, respectively). Conclusion A unique inflammatory and vascular endothelial damage mediator signature is found in plasma months following acute COVID-19 infection. Further research is required to determine its pathophysiological and clinical significance.
Emission Features in IRAS Low-Resolution Spectra of MS, S, and SC Stars

L'analyse des spectres IR dans le domaine 8-22 μm de plusieurs etoiles carbonees montre que les raies d'emission dues aux grains de poussiere s'accroissent parallelement au rapport d'abondance C/O et a l'augmentation des processus S dans la chromosphere de ces etoiles. La correlation entre les exces IR et la periode des etoiles variables (surout les Miras) est mise en evidence