Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Fractal Projection and Markovian Segmentation-Based Approach for Multimodal Change Detection

Change detection in heterogeneous bitemporal satellite images has become an emerging, important, and challenging research topic in remote sensing for rapid damage assessment. In this article, we explore a new parametric mapping strategy based on a modified geometric fractal decomposition and a contractive mapping approach allowing us to project the before image on any after imaging modality type. This projection exploits the fact that any satellite image data can be approximatively encoded in terms of spatial self-similarities at different scales and this property remains quite invariant to a given imaging modality type. Once the projection is performed and that a pixelwise difference map between the two images (presented in the same imaging modality) is then binarized in the unsupervised Bayesian framework. At this stage, we will test several parameter estimation procedures combined with several segmentation strategies based on different Bayesian cost functions. The experiments for change detection, with real images showing different multimodalities and changed events, indicate that this new fractal-based projection method, which is entirely based on a series of structural and spatial information, is an interesting alternative to classical regression-based projection methods (based only on luminance transformation). Besides, the experiments also show that the difference map, resulting in this novel projection strategy, is also particularly amenable for an unsupervised Markovian binarization approach.
Training and Sensory Judgment Effects on Mastication as Studied by Electromyography

Electromyography recordings (EMG) were performed on 10 naive and 10 trained subjects during mastication of different samples of beef. For each group of subjects, ordinary mastication was compared to mastication accompanied by tenderness assessment of the chewed sample. Trained subjects showed a larger variation in muscle work than a naive group when chewing. Sensory assessment modified more the mastication profiles of trained subjects than those of naive ones and these variations occurred at the beginning of the masticatory sequence. EMG was useful for comparing mastication of different groups of panelists and appeared to be an interesting alternative for information about texture perception of naive subjects.
Impacts of cloud microphysics parameterizations on simulated aerosol–cloud interactions for deep convective clouds over Houston

Abstract. Aerosol–cloud interactions remain largely uncertain with respect to predicting their impacts on weather and climate. Cloud microphysics parameterization is one of the factors leading to large uncertainty. Here, we investigate the impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on the convective intensity and precipitation of a thunderstorm occurring on 19 June 2013 over Houston with the Chemistry version of Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF-Chem) using the Morrison two-moment bulk scheme and spectral bin microphysics (SBM) scheme. We find that the SBM predicts a deep convective cloud that shows better agreement with observations in terms of reflectivity and precipitation compared with the Morrison bulk scheme that has been used in many weather and climate models. With the SBM scheme, we see a significant invigoration effect on convective intensity and precipitation by anthropogenic aerosols, mainly through enhanced condensation latent heating. Such an effect is absent with the Morrison two-moment bulk microphysics, mainly because the saturation adjustment approach for droplet condensation and evaporation calculation limits the enhancement by aerosols in (1) condensation latent heat by removing the dependence of condensation on droplets and aerosols and (2) ice-related processes because the approach leads to stronger warm rain and weaker ice processes than the explicit supersaturation approach.
New data and synthesis of ΔR estimates from the northern Pacific Ocean

Abstract We present new data on regional correction factor (ΔR) conducted for Chukotka, the Commander Islands, and the western Aleutian Islands and summarize data previously published for the other parts of the region. Paired radiocarbon dates of coeval marine and terrestrial materials from the archaeological site Kaniskak were obtained in Chukotka, and one such pair was analyzed from Shemya Island (western Aleutians). Three samples of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bones of known collection date were used for the Commander Islands. In conjunction with previously published data, the new results showed that ΔR estimates conducted for the five regions of the northern Pacific do not differ statistically. ΔR assessments combined for archaeological sites resulted in probability density curves of the same shape as that of marine organisms. Comparison of ΔR estimates made with various species of marine animals showed that sea otters and small fishes residing within coastal waters throughout their life histories are better suited for ΔR measurements than migrating seals, on the one hand, and the shells of sedentary organisms, on the other. The study provides additional support to the hypothesis that the northern Pacific is characterized by the same reservoir offset, which we estimate as 525 ± 75 yr.
Autonomous Social Robot Navigation using a Behavioral Finite State Social Machine

SUMMARY We present a robot navigation system based on Behavioral Finite State Social Machine. The paper makes a robot operate as a social tour guide that adapts its navigation based on the behavior of the visitors. The problem of a robot leading a human group with a limited field-of-view vision is relatively untouched in the literature. Uncertainties arise when the visitors are not visible, wherein the behavior of the robot is adapted as a social response. Artificial potential field is used for local planning, and a velocity manager sets the speed disproportional to time duration of missing visitors.
A Machine Learning‐Based Global Atmospheric Forecast Model

The paper investigates the applicability of machine learning (ML) to weather prediction by building a reservoir computing‐based, low‐resolution, global prediction model. The model is designed to take advantage of the massively parallel architecture of a modern supercomputer. The forecast performance of the model is assessed by comparing it to that of daily climatology, persistence, and a numerical (physics‐based) model of identical prognostic state variables and resolution. Hourly resolution 20‐day forecasts with the model predict realistic values of the atmospheric state variables at all forecast times for the entire globe. The ML model outperforms both climatology and persistence for the first three forecast days in the midlatitudes, but not in the tropics. Compared to the numerical model, the ML model performs best for the state variables most affected by parameterized processes in the numerical model.
Dosimetric Comparison between Monaco TPS and EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation on Titanium Rod in 12bit and 16bit Image Format

ABSTRACT This study purpose is to investigate the effects of using different bit depth DICOM images for the 6 MV photon beam on a titanium rod. An EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation on the Elekta Synergy LINAC executed as a dosimetry comparison tool for the TPS. CT scanners with 12-bit, 12-bit extended (Siemens Somatom Definition AS) and 16-bit depth (Toshiba Aquilion) parameters were applied to scan a wax phantom with a titanium rod. A direct beam (AP) with a field size of 10 x 10 cm2 was prescribed 200 cGy dose and was planned on the MONACO TPS. The TPS outcome was compared with the validated LINAC EGSnrc calculation. The downstream dose of the titanium rod was analyzed for each bit-depth parameters and the limitations of the existing TPS were examined. CT numbers of the titanium rod vary for each bit-depth parameter, where 3071 ± 0 HU, 8513 ± 31 HU, and 10006 ± 73 HU for 12-bit, 12-bit extended, and 16-bit images, respectively. The 16-bit depth scanner gives the most accurate CT number of the titanium rod with the correct dose calculation while, the Monaco TPS underestimates the real titanium rod dose compared to the EGSnrc calculations by 4.95%.
Changes of macroalgal biodiversity in sublittoral sites in southwest Norway: impact of an introduced species or higher temperature?

Abstract The Pacific red alga Heterosiphonia japonica has dispersed rapidly along European shores. Due to the species’ high abundance in many habitats, an impact on species richness and composition of local macroalgal communities might be expected. Higher sea temperatures may also influence local macroalgal composition, by providing more favourable conditions for species requiring higher temperatures. Macroalgal composition at 22 sublittoral sites along the south-western coast of Norway investigated prior to the establishment of H. japonica (1994–1995) were reinvestigated in 2003–2004, using similar methods. The total number of species collected in the area was approximately the same in the present investigation as in the previous study. With regard to number and composition of species at each site, there were no significant differences between sites with high abundance of H. japonica and sites with low or no abundance. Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) showed that there were temporal changes in composition of the macroalgal communities, mainly caused by higher frequency of ‘southern species’ (species with a northern limit on our coast). There was a significant increase in the percentage share of such species in the reinvestigations. The temporal differences observed are most likely caused by several warm summers/autumns and mild winters since the first investigation, which may favour a higher abundance of ‘southern species’. Heterosiphonia japonica was the most important species contributing to temporal dissimilarity in the area. This paper concludes that H. japonica has caused no negative impact on regional algal species richness in the relatively short time span since its introduction.
PP-Net: A Deep Learning Framework for PPG-Based Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Estimation

This paper presents a deep learning model ’PP-Net’ which is the first of its kind, having the capability to estimate the physiological parameters: Diastolic blood pressure (DBP), Systolic blood pressure (SBP), and Heart rate (HR) simultaneously from the same network using a single channel PPG signal. The proposed model is designed by exploiting the deep learning framework of Long-term Recurrent Convolutional Network (LRCN), exhibiting inherent ability of feature extraction, thereby, eliminating the cost effective steps of feature selection and extraction, making less-complex for deployment on resource constrained platforms such as mobile platforms. The performance demonstration of the PP-Net is done on a larger and publically available MIMIC-II database. We achieved an average NMAE of 0.09 (DBP) and 0.04 (SBP) mmHg for BP, and 0.046 bpm for HR estimation on total population of 1557 critically ill subjects. The accurate estimation of HR and BP on a larger population compared to the existing methods, demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed deep learning framework. The accurate evaluation on a huge population with CVD complications, validates the robustness of the proposed framework in pervasive healthcare monitoring especially cardiac and stroke rehabilitation monitoring.
The shape of avian eggs: Assessment of a novel metric for quantifying eggshell conicality

ABSTRACT Studying the avian egg, its shape, and other aspects of its morphology, has recently undergone a renaissance. Yet most studies rely solely on 2, albeit multicomponent, metrics for the quantification of egg shape: elongation and asymmetry. The difficulty of quantifying an additional trait, the curvature, of an eggshell has yielded many attempts, including several with complex equations or spatial modeling techniques based on digitized images. Yet most of these approaches have lacked an independent single-variable metric, hampering comparative studies especially. We propose a metric for one common quality of egg shape, conicality, which is notably variable across different species' calcareous shells, including shorebirds and non-avian theropods. This metric utilizes multiple measurements of the slope along an egg's profile to produce a distribution of angular measurements, which can be analyzed with a kurtosis value. We tested this metric with sets of computer-generated and 3-dimensional-printed egg forms, where elongation, the percentage of conicality, and the relative curvature of the shell profile were systematically manipulated. For applicability to natural eggs and their diversity across taxa, the kurtosis value was used to quantify the gradient of conicality across a focal avian family, Alcidae, where the extreme ranges of kurtosis values successfully identified eggs qualitatively described as most conical in previous studies. Given the significance of egg morphology and profile curvature to eggshells' structural integrity, surface area-to-volume ratio, mobility/stability, nesting behavior, embryonic development, and individual recognition, our proposed measure of conicality could prove a useful variable to the study of avian and non-avian egg-producing species. LAY SUMMARY Avian eggs are shaped in diverse ways and the form of bird's eggshell can be influenced by its nesting requirements, parenting strategies and flight abilities. Most previous studies used only 2 metrics to study avian egg shape: (1) the width-to-length ratio and (2) the position along its length where the widest part of the egg is located (asymmetry). We propose a novel metric (conicality) for quantifying how straight/curved the profile of an eggshell is between its outermost dimensions by assessing how much either half of the profile resembles a cone. The novel conicality measure was also applied to a group of closely related birds with eggs that ranged from more elliptical to more conical. This new conicality metric successfully predicted the relative level of curvature known from casual observations of each species, which supports the method's validity.
Fish species diversity and relative abundance in Lake Albert—Uganda

Lake Albert is located towards the tip of the western arm of the African Great Rift Valley, between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite the presence of several predatory fishes, including the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), Lake Albert supports the most diverse commercial fisheries in Uganda with at least 55 species that vary markedly in size. The lake contributes at least 30% of the national fish production. Increased human activity around and within Lake Albert, especially oil and gas exploration, may pose threats to the well being of the lake, its diverse fish communities and its fishery. During 2007, fishery surveys were undertaken using gill-nets and seines in the Uganda part of the lake to identify existing fish species and their critical habitats and provide management recommendations for sustaining the fisheries. Six main habitat types for fishes were identified: shallow river-associated waters; open sandy shorelines; lagoons; large bays; rocky escarpments; and, open-water habitats. Together, these habitats harboured 40 fish species belonging to 12 families. Lagoons, large bays and rocky shores had higher numbers of fish species. Some species rare in most parts of the lake were recovered from the rocky habitats. The shoreline waters contained mostly juvenile fishes. These habitats were considered as natural refugia to fishes in the lake and effort should be made to protect them in order to sustain species diversity in the lake.
Detection of a Bacterial Group within the Phylum Chloroflexi and Reductive-Dehalogenase-Homologous Genes in Pentachlorobenzene-Dechlorinating Estuarine Sediment from the Arakawa River, Japan

1 Biotechnology Research Center, The University of Tokyo, 1–1–1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113–8657, Japan 2 Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108–8548, Japan 3 Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Railway Technical Research Institute, 2–8–38 Hikari-cho, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo 185–8540, Japan 4 Technology Research Center, Taisei Corporation, 344–1 Nase, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama 245–0051, Japan
Local response in health emergencies: key considerations for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in informal urban settlements

This paper highlights the major challenges and considerations for addressing COVID-19 in informal settlements. It discusses what is known about vulnerabilities and how to support local protective action. There is heightened concern about informal urban settlements because of the combination of population density and inadequate access to water and sanitation, which makes standard advice about social distancing and washing hands implausible. There are further challenges to do with the lack of reliable data and the social, political and economic contexts in each setting that will influence vulnerability and possibilities for action. The potential health impacts of COVID-19 are immense in informal settlements, but if control measures are poorly executed these could also have severe negative impacts. Public health interventions must be balanced with social and economic interventions, especially in relation to the informal economy upon which many poor urban residents depend. Local residents, leaders and community-based groups must be engaged and resourced to develop locally appropriate control strategies, in partnership with local governments and authorities. Historically, informal settlements and their residents have been stigmatized, blamed, and subjected to rules and regulations that are unaffordable or unfeasible to adhere to. Responses to COVID-19 should not repeat these mistakes. Priorities for enabling effective control measures include: collaborating with local residents who have unsurpassed knowledge of relevant spatial and social infrastructures, strengthening coordination with local governments, and investing in improved data for monitoring the response in informal settlements.
Numerical modeling of a human tissue surrogate SEBS gel under high velocity impacts: investigation of the effect of the strain rate in an elasto-hydrodynamic law

Abstract In this paper, an elasto-hydrodynamic constitutive law of the synthetic polymer SEBS gel (styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene) based on the mechanical characterization extracted from the literature was developed implemented in a numerical code, and the effect of the strain rate was investigated. The proposed law was then implemented in an explicit non-linear FEM software to reproduce various loading configurations in order to validate the accuracy of the model. A good agreement exists between the numerical results of the laws and experimental data in the literature. Numerical analysis reveals that the strain-rate-dependence effect is significant in SEBS gel especially for high strain rates. The present study can therefore be used to predict the mechanical behavior of human surrogate materials and guide the design of protective devices such as body armor.
Comparison of Transarterial Y90 Radioembolization and Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization in Hepatocarcinoma Patients: A Meta-analysis

To compare the efficacy of Yttrium-90 radioembolization and conventional transarterial chemoembolization in the unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma patients, clinical treatment studies on Yttrium-90 radioembolization and conventional transarterial chemoembolization were identified using PubMed. Tumor response, 3 y overall survival rates were analyzed and compared. Seven studies, including 6 case-control studies and one cohort study, published from December 2008 to January 2017, with a total of 1426 patients, were included in this meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses performed by various designs were included in this meta-analysis. An increase in 3 y overall survival rates was observed in Yttrium-90 radioembolization group compared to the conventional transarterial chemoembolization group (overall survival rate=2.03, 95 % CI-1.45, 2.84, p<0.0001). In contrast, there was no significant difference in tumor response between Yttrium-90 radioembolization and conventional transarterial chemoembolization groups. However, subgroup analysis indicated higher overall tumor control (overall survival rate=2.18, 95 % CI- 1.30, 3.64, p=0.003) in Yttrium-90 radioembolization group. The current meta-analysis suggested that Yttrium-90 radioembolization is associated with significantly higher 3 y overall survival rate. Using the subgroup analysis, the meta-analysis demonstrated higher overall tumor control in the Yttrium-90 radioembolization group.
Toward Conservation of Midcontinental Shorebird Migrations

Shorebirds represent a highly diverse group of species, many of which experience tremendous energy demands associated with long-distance migratory flights. Transcontinental migrants are dependent upon dynamic freshwater wetlands for stopover resources essential for replenishment of lipid reserves and completion of migration. Patterns of shorebird migration across midcontinental wetlands were detected from migration reports to American Birds and information provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges. Patterns in species composition and abundance varied geographically, emphasizing the uniqueness of different regions to migrating shorebirds. Smaller species and neotropical migrants moved primarily across the Great Plains, whereas larger species and North American migrants predominated in assemblages in the intermountain west Shorebirds were broadly dispersed in wetland habitats with dynamic water regimes. Whereas populations of shorebirds in coastal systems appear to concentrate at sites of seasonally predictable and abundant food resources, we propose that transcontinental shorebirds disperse and use wetlands opportunistically. This migration system exemplifies the need for large-scale, coordinated regional management efforts that recognize the dynamic nature of ecosystem processes. Las aves costeras representan un grupo de especies muy diverso, muchos de los cuales experimentan demandas energeticas tremendas asociadas con vuelos migratorios de largo alcance. Los migrantes continentales dependen de la dinamica de los humedales para obtener recursos esenciales para el reabastecimiento de las reservas de lipidos y para llevar a cabo la migracion. Patrones de migracion de aves que atraviesan humedales del continente medio fueron detectados a partir de reportes de migracion de “American Birds”. y de informacion provista por los refugios Nacionales para vida silvestre del Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de los Estados Unidos (“U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service”). Los patrones de composicion de especies y abundancia variaron geograficamente, enfatizando la singularidad de las diferentes regiones para las aves migratorias. Las especies pequenas y los migrantes neotropicales se trasladaron principalmente a traves de las Grandes Planicies, mientras que especies mas grandes y migrantes de Norte America predominaron en grupos en el oeste intermontanoso. Las aves costeras estuvieron ampliamente dispersadas en habitats de humedales con regimenes de agua dinamicos. Dado que en los sistemas costeros las poblaciones de aves costeras parecen concentrarse en sitios con recursos alimenticios abundantes y estacionalmente predecibles, nosotros proponemos que las aves costeras transcontinentales se dispersan y usan los humedales en forma oportunistica. Este sistema de migracion ejemplifica la necesidad de esfuerzos regionales coordinados y a gran escala que reconozcan la naturaleza dinamica de los procesos ecosistemicos.