Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First-Person View Hand Segmentation of Multi-Modal Hand Activity Video Dataset

First-person-view videos of hands interacting with tools are widely used in the computer vision industry. However, creating a dataset with pixel-wise segmentation of hands is challenging since most videos are captured with ﬁngertips occluded by the hand dor-sum and grasped tools. Current methods often rely on manually segmenting hands to create annotations, which is inefﬁcient and costly. To relieve this challenge, we create a method that utilizes thermal information of hands for efﬁcient pixel-wise hand segmentation to create a multi-modal activity video dataset. Our method is not affected by ﬁngertip and joint occlusions and does not require hand pose ground truth. We show our method to be 24 times faster than the traditional polygon labeling method while maintaining high quality. With the segmentation method, we propose a multi-modal hand activity video dataset with 790 sequences and 401,765 frames of "hands using tools" videos captured by thermal and RGB-D cameras with hand segmentation data. We analyze multiple models for hand segmentation performance and benchmark four segmentation networks. We show that our multi-modal dataset with fusing Long-Wave InfraRed (LWIR) and RGB-D frames achieves 5% better hand IoU performance than using RGB frames.
THE FIRST RECORD ON THE PALEOBACTERIAL OBJECTS FINDINGS ON THE WALLS OF FORAMINIFERAL TESTS FROM THE LOWER OLIGOCENE OF SOUTHERN UKRAINE AND THEIR IMPORTANCE FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF SEDIMENTOGENESIS CONDITIONS

The article presents the first information about the paleobacterial objects which have been found on the walls of the foraminiferal tests from the Borysthenian (Planorbella) Regional Stage of the Lower Oligocene of Southern Ukraine. 145 agglutinated and calcareous tests have been selected and studied from the Lower Oligocene (Borisphenian) sediments opened by boreholes in the South-Western Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region. Microscopic objects have been established on the walls of 50 tests and attributed to paleobacterial formations on the basis of a number of characteristics. Most of the bacterial objects are represented by biogenic sulphides, as well as bacterial films and mats found on foraminifera tests of various taxonomic affiliation. Coccoid clusters are often observed on the tests of agglutinating foraminifera. Chlorophytes of cyanobionts (? ) are frequently seen on the calcareous and finely agglutinated tests. Actinomycetes (? ) are found on calcareous and agglutinating foraminifera, mainly on infauna. An analysis of the infauna-epifauna ratio in foraminifera associations suggested that gas regime was fluctuating in the Early Oligocene (Borysthenian) basin of Southern Ukraine mainly from low oxic to suband dysoxic conditions. Rare episodes of oxygenation increasing contributed to the development of epifauna with a large test (representatives of the genera Neogyroidina, Baggina, Heterolepa, Cibicidoides), as well as the appearance of planktonic foraminifera. Sometimes, the gas regime changed to anoxic, as indicated by the intervals without the fauna of foraminifera. At the end of the Borysthenian basin, anoxic conditions were presumably established. A significant difference between the initial composition of foraminifera in biocenoses and their composition in oryctocoenoses is assumed. Frequent findings of remains of paleobacterial communities and traces of their vital activity in the foraminiferal tests suggested these communities could have an important influence on the preservation and completeness of the oryctocoenoses, being involved in the processes of diagenesis.
3D-GMNet: Single-View 3D Shape Recovery as A Gaussian Mixture

In this paper, we introduce 3D-GMNet, a deep neural network for 3D object shape reconstruction from a single image. As the name suggests, 3D-GMNet recovers 3D shape as a Gaussian mixture. In contrast to voxels, point clouds, or meshes, a Gaussian mixture representation provides an analytical expression with a small memory footprint while accurately representing the target 3D shape. At the same time, it offers a number of additional advantages including instant pose estimation and controllable level-of-detail reconstruction, while also enabling interpretation as a point cloud, volume, and a mesh model. We train 3D-GMNet end-to-end with single input images and corresponding 3D models by introducing two novel loss functions, a 3D Gaussian mixture loss and a 2D multi-view loss, which collectively enable accurate shape reconstruction as kernel density estimation. We thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness of 3D-GMNet with synthetic and real images of objects. The results show accurate reconstruction with a compact representation that also realizes novel applications of single-image 3D reconstruction.
Hall2De Simulations of a Magnetic Nozzle

The two-dimensional, fluid-based Hall thruster code Hall2De is adapted to simulate a low temperature propulsive magnetic nozzle. Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) thrusters developed at the Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) in France and the University of Michigan are investigated. For each device, the simulated domain is defined from the nozzle throat to a location 10 thruster radii downstream. A numerical mesh is defined based on the measured magnetic field, and the governing fluid equations for singlycharge ions, electrons, and neutrals are solved. The boundary conditions for the throat of the magnetic nozzle are based on measured values of electron temperature and ion velocity. Multiple boundary conditions for the electron temperature in the downstream regions of the domain are considered. The simulated ion velocity and potential agrees well with experiment, while the simulated current densities and therefore thrusts are 50-75%higher than experiment. When a Neumann boundary condition for electron temperature is applied to the far-plume boundaries, the nozzle was seen to be purely isothermal. This suggests that the thermal conductivity along field lines in real devices is much lower than classical simulations predict, and anomalous resistivity may be needed to reproduce the temperature distribution observed in experiment.
10 FIELDING/C_04 LORD_c

It is estimated that in the next 20 years, the amount of people greater than 65 years of age will rise from 40 to 70 million, and will account for 19% of the total population. Age-related decreases in muscle mass and function, known as sarcopenia, have been shown to be related to functional limitation, frailty and an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, with an increasing elderly population, interventions that can improve muscle mass content and/or function are essential. However, analytical techniques used for measurement of muscle mass in young subjects may not be valid for use in the elderly. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to examine the applied specificity and accuracy of methods that are commonly used for measurement of muscle mass in aged subjects, and, to propose specific recommendations for the use of body composition measures in phase II clinical trials of function-promoting anabolic therapies.
R&D SUBSIDIES AND FIRM-LEVEL EXPORTS: EVIDENCE FROM FRANCE

This paper investigates an empirical model to provide a new insight into the relationship between public subsidies and exports. The analysis evaluates the export activity of French firms involved in a European program called Eureka. This program provides public R&D subsidies for the formation of research joint ventures. The findings suggest that the Eureka firms register on average gains in exports towards the end of the four-year subsidy period. Interestingly, initial productivity and targeted innovation seem to matter. More precisely, the findings report that the effect tends to be larger for less productive firms and firms targeting product innovation. To control for the potential endogeneity associated with this evaluation, we apply non-parametric matching. We control also for the export history of the firms.
New Interfaces for Spatial Musical Expression

With the proliferation of venues equipped with the high density loudspeaker arrays there is a growing interest in developing new interfaces for spatial musical expression (NISME). Of particular interest are interfaces that focus on the eman-cipation of the spatial domain as the primary dimension for musical expression. Here we present Monet NISME that leverages multitouch pressure-sensitive surface and the D 4 library’s spatial mask and thereby allows for a unique approach to interactive spatialization. Further, we present a study with 22 participants designed to assess its usefulness and compare it to the Locus, a NISME introduced in 2019 as part of a localization study which is built on the same design principles of using natural gestural interaction with the spatial content. Lastly, we brieﬂy discuss the utilization of both NISMEs in two artistic performances and propose a set of guidelines for further exploration in the NISME domain.
The ‘Expertisation’ of European Studies. A critical perspective on discursive institutionalism

The paper puts into perspective the conceptual evolution of European Studies and one of its latest theoretically based approaches, Discursive Institutionalism. It argues that in the field of European Studies expert frameworks aiming for ‘answers’ are overshadowing the intellectual efforts striving for ‘questions’. This tendency undermines the proper identification of problems and it also erodes the effectiveness of proposed policy solutions as these recommendations lack the appropriate conceptual foundations. The paper stresses that this negative trend of ‘expertisation’ is particularly relevant nowadays, when the European Union is undoubtedly struggling with challenges of social disengagement, and that research projects are required to apply approaches that can adequately reveal people’s cognitivenormative understandings and ideationally driven praxes, as well as, most importantly, the generative causes behind EU-sceptical attitudes.
2. Neocosmos.pmd

The paper begins from the axiomatic point that, despite the form it eventually took, namely that of a neo-colonial process, development was understood and fought for in Africa as [part of] an emancipatory political project central to the liberatory vision of the pan-African nationalism which emerged victorious at independence. Indeed independence was always seen, by radical nationalism in particular, as only the first step towards freedom and liberation from oppression, the second being economic development. Indeed ‘economism’ and ‘statism’ were mirror images of each other: it was believed that only the economy could liberate humanity and that only the state could drive the economy to progress. Today, the first proposition has been retained but the second has been dropped from hegemonic discourse. Yet the two are inseparable twins; it is in fact the case that just as the latter is false so is the former, for human emancipation is and can only be a political project. While development today is said to be guided by the (not so invisible) “hand of the market”, the state has simultaneously ‘subcontracted’ many of its development management functions to external bodies such as NGOs. These are frequently simply new parastatals, vehicles for social entrepreneurship for a ‘new’ middle-class of development professionals. We have now a new form of state rule which forms the context for re-thinking development and politics. Central to this new form of rule is the hegemony of human rights discourse. This paper begins by reviewing the political assumptions of the nature of citizenship underlying T.H. Marshall’s argument for ‘social rights’; it provides a critique of human rights discourse and civil society from an emancipatory perspective, situating these within the new forms of imperialism and comments on the character of political parties and social movements in understanding political emancipation today. It argues that in Africa, if * Director, Global Movements, Monash, South Africa. Email: michael.neocosmos@up.ac. za 2. Neocosmos.pmd 18/06/2008, 10:32 35 36 Africa Development, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, 2007 one is to think an emancipatory project, citizenship must be conceived as active citizenship, and political subjectivity must be thought, not as management or opinions but, following the work of Badiou and Lazarus, as the freedom to think new ‘possibles’.
Joint Pricing and Inventory Management of Interbasin Water Transfer Supply Chain

Four game-theoretical decision models without/with backlogging for the interbasin water transfer (IBWT) supply chain considering water delivery loss under joint pricing and inventory management (JPIM) are first developed, analyzed, and compared; then, the corresponding numerical and sensitivity analyses are conducted and compared; finally, the managerial insights and practical implementations are summarized in this paper. The research results indicate that (1) a revenue and cost sharing contract could effectively coordinate the IBWT supply chain and improve the operational performance of the IBWT supply chain under JPIM; (2) the partial backlogging strategy of water demand could effectively improve the operational performance of the IBWT supply chain under JPIM; (3) coordination strategy with partial backlogging is the best strategy for improving the operational performance of the IBWT supply chain under JPIM; (4) reducing water delivery loss rate and operational costs and increasing backlogging ratio are beneficial to improving the operational performance of the IBWT supply chain under JPIM.
Phosphorus Accumulation in the Dehydrated Peat Soils of the Liwiec River Valley

The aim of the research was to complement the knowledge on profile distribution and accumulation of phosphorus forms in the soils changed under the influence of secondary organic matter transformation process in dehydrated peatlands. The soil research was carried out in the upper Liwiec river valley in the middle-east of Poland. In the soil material taken from the moorsh (M1, M2, M3) and peat (O) horizons of the Murshic Histosols, the physical and chemical properties were determined and the soil phosphorus fractions with different activity in the environment by sequential extraction method were separated. The profile distribution of the total phosphorus content (TP) and values of carbon/phosphorus (TC/TP) ratio were characteristic for dehydrated peat soils included in the secondary transformation process (M1>M2>M3>O). This process also increased the contribution of the available phosphorus forms (NH4Cl-P), forms bound on the surface of iron (III) and manganese (IV) oxides and hydroxides (redox-P), as well as mineral (mHCl-P) and organic (oHCl-P) forms separated by 0.5 M HCl. Significant accumulation of the phosphorus compounds in the moorsh horizons of the investigated soils can be considered as a potential threat to the natural environment of the studied area due to the risk of decomposition of the phosphorus compounds when the area will be rehydrated.
Mitochondrial Complex I Mutations Predispose Drosophila to Isoflurane Neurotoxicity

Background: General anesthetics influence mitochondrial homeostasis, placing individuals with mitochondrial disorders and possibly carriers of recessive mitochondrial mutations at increased risk of perioperative complications. In Drosophila, mutations in the ND23 subunit of complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain–analogous to mammalian NDUFS8–replicate key characteristics of Leigh syndrome, an inherited mitochondrial disorder. The authors used the ND23 mutant for testing the hypothesis that anesthetics have toxic potential in carriers of mitochondrial mutations. Methods: The authors exposed wild-type flies and ND23 mutant flies to behaviorally equivalent doses of isoflurane or sevoflurane in 5%, 21%, or 75% oxygen. The authors used percent mortality (mean ± SD, n ≥ 3) at 24 h after exposure as a readout of toxicity and changes in gene expression to investigate toxicity mechanisms. Results: Exposure of 10- to 13-day-old male ND23 flies to isoflurane in 5%, 21%, or 75% oxygen resulted in 16.0 ± 14.9% (n = 10), 48.2 ± 16.1% (n = 9), and 99.2 ± 2.0% (n = 10) mortality, respectively. Comparable mortality was observed in females. In contrast, under the same conditions, mortality was less than 5% for all male and female groups exposed to sevoflurane, except 10- to 13-day-old male ND23 flies with 9.6 ± 8.9% (n = 16) mortality. The mortality of 10- to 13-day-old ND23 flies exposed to isoflurane was rescued by neuron- or glia-specific expression of wild-type ND23. Isoflurane and sevoflurane differentially affected expression of antioxidant genes in 10- to 13-day-old ND23 flies. ND23 flies had elevated mortality from paraquat-induced oxidative stress compared with wild-type flies. The mortality of heterozygous ND23 flies exposed to isoflurane in 75% oxygen increased with age, resulting in 54.0 ± 19.6% (n = 4) mortality at 33 to 39 days old, and the percent mortality varied in different genetic backgrounds. Conclusions: Mutations in the mitochondrial complex I subunit ND23 increase susceptibility to isoflurane-induced toxicity and to oxidative stress in Drosophila. Asymptomatic flies that carry ND23 mutations are sensitized to hyperoxic isoflurane toxicity by age and genetic background. Isoflurane but not sevoflurane exposure increased mortality in Drosophila carrying homozygous mutations in mitochondrial complex I, and hyperoxia increased mortality associated with isoflurane administration. In heterozygous flies carrying mutations in mitochondrial complex I, age and hyperoxia rendered flies susceptible to mortality after exposure to isoflurane. These observations raise the possibility that heterozygous carriers of mitochondrial mutations may be more susceptible to perioperative complications after isoflurane exposure. Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.
Sustainability as a Corporate Strategy: A Performance Comparison of Green and Non-green SME Hotels

Sustainability in recent years has gained momentum as a business model, given the challenges facing the economy and society. Small and medium‐sized hotel companies have begun to apply new management systems based on sustainability, seeking a dual objective, on the one hand to differentiate themselves from their competition and reach growing market niches, on the other hand to have a more efficient and less polluting business model. When implementing this sustainable management, they also face challenges in its application, such as its lack of regulation by institutions and large investments in innovation. We will carry out an OLS model to identify the internal elements that characterize ecological hotels, and these management systems are being effective for SMEs in Barcelona (Spain)
Multinational Production, Innovation Relocation, and the Consequences of Globalization

We propose a multi-country endogenous growth model to understand the innovation relocation led by multinational production (MP). The model squares with the fact that countries with large net outward (inward) MP tend to specialize in product (process) innovation. The calibrated model shows that the decline in the cost of MP over 2004-2015 accounts for 35% of the observed relative decline in process innovation in four large European countries. This relocation of process innovation would hurt production workers in countries that are driven to specialize in product innovation, which is quantitatively important to understanding the welfare consequences of globalization.
Programmes used by the Radio to Create Awareness and Sustain the Fight AgainstVesicoVagina Fistula Disease among Females in North-west Nigeria

This study was conducted to find out Programmes used by the Radio to create awareness and sustain the fight against Vesico Vagina Fistula disease among females in Kano and Katsina States, Nigeria.Data was gathered through structured questionnaire and 389 healthy women attending antenatal care and those receiving treatment at designated VVF centres were recruited into the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data. The findings showed that most of the participants indicated that they had been listening to the radio for the past three months and heard about VVF (73.8%), but only 27% were exposed to any radio spots messages on VVF.While radio utilized different programme strategies to disseminate information on VVF, discussions and interviews featuring experts on the disease remained the most recurrent format for disseminating information on VVF and updating listeners’ knowledge about the disease. However, in-spite of the high exposure to discussions and interviews, most listeners (84.7%) preferred radio drama programmes as the most recurrent formats for disseminating information on VVF and promoting listeners’ awareness. The study concludes that, of all programmes used in disseminating information on VVF in the study area, radio drama was the most commonly preferred programme among the female audience about the disease. Therefore, more drama series should be produced in Hausa language and aired by radio stations to create awareness about the disease and other public health problems in the study area.
Genomic characterization and distribution of bovine foamy virus in Japan

Bovine foamy virus (BFV) is distributed through worldwide cattle herds. Although the biological features of BFV are not well understood, appearance of clinical manifestation by superinfection with other microorganisms is inferred. In Japan, reports of genomic characterizations and epidemiology of this virus are limited. In this study, we performed whole genomic sequencing of BFV strains Ibaraki and No.43, which were isolated in this country. Additionally, we investigated BFV in geographically distant four daily farms in Japan, to estimate the distribution of BFV and its correlation to bovine leukemia virus (BLV). BFV was distributed throughout Japan; the average positive rate was 12.7%. The nucleotide sequence identities of the isolates were 99.6% when compared with BFV strain isolated in the USA. The phylogenetic tree using env gene sequence showed strains Ibaraki, No.43 and Kagoshima were sorted in the same cluster including the USA and Chinese strains, while Hokkaido strain was in the other cluster including European strains. Although no clear correlation between BFV and BLV could be found, BFV and BLV infections were likely to increase with ages. Our data on epidemiology and characteristics of BFV will provide important information to reveal biological features of BFV.
Clinical characteristics of platelets and its possible gender dimorphism in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of platelet-associated parameters in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients with varying degrees of disease severity and investigate the sexual dimorphism of platelet features in NAFLD patients. Methods A total of 829 NAFLD patients were divided into separate groups based on body mass index (BMI), liver stiffness measurement (LSM), controlled attenuation parameter (CAP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. The platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) parameters were analyzed among different groups, and the sex-based differences were compared. Results The PC decreased with age in both sexes; in 30–59-year-old female subjects, the PC decreased by a conspicuous margin. The MPV increased with age in females, but not in males. The PDW increased significantly in females aged 30–59 years. With the increase in BMI and CAP, the PC showed a decreasing trend. The MPV increased with the increasing CAP value in male patients. With the increasing LSM value, the PC displayed a decreasing trend. Conclusion The PC showed marked sex-based differences in NAFLD patients and is affected by age and BMI. Regular changes of platelet parameters could be found in patients with varying degrees of NAFLD. These changes might be helpful in assessing the severity of NAFLD.