Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The SEN1-2 Dataset for Deep Learning in SAR-Optical Data Fusion

Abstract. While deep learning techniques have an increasing impact on many technical fields, gathering sufficient amounts of training data is a challenging problem in remote sensing. In particular, this holds for applications involving data from multiple sensors with heterogeneous characteristics. One example for that is the fusion of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data and optical imagery. With this paper, we publish the SEN1-2 dataset to foster deep learning research in SAR-optical data fusion. SEN1-2 comprises 282;384 pairs of corresponding image patches, collected from across the globe and throughout all meteorological seasons. Besides a detailed description of the dataset, we show exemplary results for several possible applications, such as SAR image colorization, SAR-optical image matching, and creation of artificial optical images from SAR input data. Since SEN1-2 is the first large open dataset of this kind, we believe it will support further developments in the field of deep learning for remote sensing as well as multi-sensor data fusion.
Genetic characterization of far eastern species of the genus Crepidostomum (Trematoda: Allocreadiidae) by means of 28S ribosomal DNA sequences

Genetic divergence and phylogenetic relationships of four species of the genus Crepidostomum Braun, 1900 sensu Caira, Bogea (2005) were revealed using partial sequences of 28S ribosomal RNA gene. Genetic divergence between C. cf. farionis (Muller, 1784) and C. nemachilus Krotov, 1959 was 3.1%, which corresponds to the mean value of interspecific divergence between Crepidostomum species. These two species, therefore, can be recognized as bonafide species. However, we found no genetic differences between 28S rRNA gene sequences of C. nemachilus and C. cf. metoecus Braun,1900 inspite of considerable morphological and ecological differences. Maximal values of genetic p-distances were revealed between C. cf. auriculatum Wedl, 1857 and C. cf. farionis. Phylogenetic relationships of Crepidostomum spp. for which sequence data are available, along with species in other related genera (Bunodera Railliet, 1896 and Allocreadium Loss, 1900) showed a paraphyly of the genus Crepidostomum. Considerable differentiation of C. cf. auriculatum from other Crepidostomum species was revealed, which may reflect the original description of this species in a separate genus Acrolichanus Ward, 1917. Our results are consistent with the conventional systematics that places the four genera (Crepidostomum, Bunodera, Megalogonia and Allocreadium) within the same family.
Minimizing Wireless Resource Consumption for Packetized Predictive Control in Real-Time Cyber Physical Systems

In real-time cyber physical systems, packetized predictive control (PPC) is an effective solution to conduct robust control over unreliable wireless links. However, the conventional PPC design considers the control and communication systems independently, which does not guarantee the minimum wireless resource consumption. In this paper, we investigate the tight interaction between control and communication. In particular, we propose a communication-control co- design method to optimize the predication length of PPC, then the system can achieve the minimum wireless resource consumption. Our results demonstrate the advantages of the co-design, which is expected to obtain a fully integrated system with good overall performance for real-time wireless control.
Challenges of Integrating Tobacco Cessation Interventions in TB Programmes: Case Studies from Nepal and Pakistan.

Introduction: Offering tobacco cessation interventions to TB patients is highly desirable due to the interaction between TB and tobacco use and the potential benefits of quitting. However, implementing such interventions in TB programmes remains a challenge and an under-researched area. Using two initiatives to implement tobacco cessation within TB programmes in Nepal and Pakistan as case studies, we describe these challenges and highlight lessons learnt in the process. Methods: We first conducted a documentary review of all published and unpublished reports of the two initiatives including relevant qualitative and quantitative data and its’ analyses. We then analysed this information using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) under the five domains of implementation: intervention characteristics, outer settings, inner settings, participant characteristics and the process of implementation. Findings: We faced a number of challenges in implementing tobacco cessation within TB programmes both in Nepal and in Pakistan. These included: doubts about the contextual relevance of the intervention, environments conducive to smoking and political inertia for a cultural shift, service providers’ workload, priorities, and their motivation and capacity to deliver tobacco cessation, and inadequate training and support during implementation. We learned that by adapting intervention to the local context, securing mandate from higher authorities, aligning tasks to service providers’ roles and receptivity, building capacity through adequate training and providing support, monitoring and feedback during implementation can help in integrating tobacco cessation within TB programmes. Conclusions: Lessons from existing studies can help TB programmes in implementing tobacco cessation interventions and enable greater integration and sustainability of cessation services within routine TB care.
Screening of biological activities of Cucumis sativus leaf, growing in Bangladesh

The crude methanol extract of leaves of Cucumis sativus as well as its hexane, carbon tetrachloride and chloroform soluble partitionates were subjected to screening for antioxidant, cytotoxic, thrombolytic, membrane stabilizing and antimicrobial activities. In DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay, the hexane soluble fraction demonstrated the highest free radical scavenging activity (IC50= 3.11±0.45 μg/ml). The carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction revealed the highest cytotoxic activity with LC50 value of 1.84±0.31 μg/ml in brine shrimp lethality bioassay. In thrombolytic activity assay, the hexane soluble fraction showed 8.53±0.68% of clot lysis as compared to 66.77% clot lysis by standard streptokinase. The carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction at 1.0 mg/ml concentration inhibited 49.24±0.41% of haemolysis of RBCs induced by heat as compared to 42.12% by acetyl salicylic acid, respectively. In disc diffusion assay, none of the extractives of C. sativus revealed any zone of inhibition against the test organisms.
Identifying impactful service system problems via log analysis

Logs are often used for troubleshooting in large-scale software systems. For a cloud-based online system that provides 24/7 service, a huge number of logs could be generated every day. However, these logs are highly imbalanced in general, because most logs indicate normal system operations, and only a small percentage of logs reveal impactful problems. Problems that lead to the decline of system KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are impactful and should be fixed by engineers with a high priority. Furthermore, there are various types of system problems, which are hard to be distinguished manually. In this paper, we propose Log3C, a novel clustering-based approach to promptly and precisely identify impactful system problems, by utilizing both log sequences (a sequence of log events) and system KPIs. More specifically, we design a novel cascading clustering algorithm, which can greatly save the clustering time while keeping high accuracy by iteratively sampling, clustering, and matching log sequences. We then identify the impactful problems by correlating the clusters of log sequences with system KPIs. Log3C is evaluated on real-world log data collected from an online service system at Microsoft, and the results confirm its effectiveness and efficiency. Furthermore, our approach has been successfully applied in industrial practice.
Towards generalised time-of-flight range imaging at the edge of moving objects

The multi-frame process of time-of-flight imaging is well known to be vulnerable to motion induced error. The principle behind this work is that the acquisition of multiple frames, and encoding distance by the time-of-flight of light, also encodes the motion. By explicit modelling, the image formation model is extended to describe the transverse passage of an edge over the field of view of a pixel, and a motion detection and error correction procedure is proposed. In tests the error reduction is significant, and in qualitative assessment the visible motion error is reduced.
Algorithm 9xx: SuiteSparse:GraphBLAS: graph algorithms in the language of sparse linear algebra

SuiteSparse:GraphBLAS is a full implementation of the GraphBLAS standard, which defines a set of sparse matrix operations on an extended algebra of semirings using an almost unlimited variety of operators and types. When applied to sparse adjacency matrices, these algebraic operations are equivalent to computations on graphs. GraphBLAS provides a powerful and expressive framework for creating graph algorithms based on the elegant mathematics of sparse matrix operations on a semiring. An overview of the GraphBLAS specification is given, followed by a description of the key features and performance of its implementation in the SuiteSparse:GraphBLAS package.
Road surface distress detection in disparity space

Automatic identification of potholes on roads is needed to avoid traffic accidents or to ensure better driving comfort. This paper presents a strategy which focuses on the detection of major distress present on a road surface using stereo vision. The proposed strategy performs road-plane modelling directly in the image-disparity space, without back-projecting a disparity image into 3D space. The modelling is based on a RANSAC process that finds the dominating plane for locating potholes being below surface level. We also formulate an alternative implementation using the v-disparity technique. Both implementations are evaluated on an urban dataset which indicates a very high accuracy of our dominating-plane method in terms of pothole detection.
BLAS-on-flash : An Alternative for Large Scale ML Training and Inference ?

Many large scale machine learning training and inference tasks are memory-bound rather than compute-bound. That is, on large data sets, the working set of these algorithms does not fit in memory for jobs that could run overnight on a few multi-core processors. This often forces an expensive redesign of the algorithm for distributed platforms such as parameter servers and Spark. We propose an inexpensive and efficient alternative based on the observation that many ML tasks admit algorithms that can be programmed with linear algebra subroutines. A library that supports BLAS and sparseBLAS interface on large SSD-resident matrices can enable multi-threaded code to scale to industrial scale datasets on a single workstation. We demonstrate that not only can such a library provide near in-memory performance for BLAS, but can also be used to write implementations of complex algorithms such as eigensolvers that outperform in-memory (ARPACK) and distributed (Spark) counterparts. Existing multi-threaded in-memory code can link to our library with minor changes and scale to hundreds of gigabytes of training or inference data at near in-memory processing speeds. We demonstrate this with two industrial scale use cases arising in ranking and relevance pipelines: training large scale topic models and inference for extreme multi-label learning. This suggests that our approach could be an efficient alternative to expensive distributed big-data systems for scaling up structurally complex machine learning tasks.
Broadband SIW Cavity-Backed Slot Antenna for Endfire Applications

A broadband substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity-backed slot antenna for endfire applications is presented in the letter. The antenna employs a semiclosed SIW cavity with one sidewall removed and two radiating slots with different shapes etched on top broad wall to enhance bandwidth and radiation performance. With the special combination of the semiclosed SIW cavity and the slots, multiple resonances are generated in a close frequency range to broaden bandwidth. Furthermore, the proposed antenna is flush-mounted on a large metal plate to analyze the influence of platform on antenna performance. Measured results are in good agreement with simulation and show that the antenna bandwidth covers the frequency range 7.8∼12.1 GHz for VSWR < 2, with the fractional bandwidth of 43.2%. High gain of 7.8∼11.8 dBi is obtained over the working band.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis and human angiostrongyliasis

Parasitology The definitive hosts for A. cantonensis are usually rodents from the genus Rattus, such as commonly found rats, Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus. The main intermediate hosts are molluscs including snails Achatina fulica, Pocacea canaliculata (63,64) and slugs such as Veronicella cubensis (24). An adult female nematode in the pulmonary arteries of infected rats can lay around 15,000 eggs daily (Figure 1) (68). Eggs are carried by the bloodstream to the capillaries, where they break into the air spaces of alveolus and hatch. The first-stage larvae (the juveniles) migrate up the bronchial tree, are swallowed and are excreted out with the feces (Figure 1B). The larvae in feces are digested by an intermediate mollusc host and develop after two molts into third-stage larvae in 12 days (Figure 1C) (6). The third-stage larvae are able to infect the rat when they ingest infected molluscs. In the alimentary tract of a rat, the larvae are released from the chyme after pepsin/trypsinase digestion and enter the bloodstream. Later, the
Interactions between Rhizobium, antagonistic bacteria and fungal pathogens in faba bean

Plant associated micro-organisms such as nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium, and plant growth- promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. are well recognised for their vital role in soil fertility and plant health. Most cultivated soils contain large populations of such micro-organisms. A diversity of interactions occur between rhizobia and PGPR with leguminous plants in natural conditions, however, their associations and functions in field crops such as faba bean is less studied. In Sweden, faba bean cultivation is increasing because of increasing demand for self-sufficiency of native protein feed. Two of the most serious diseases to limit the yield of faba beans are chocolate spot disease and Ascochyta blight. This thesis contains several studies. One study was done on the microbial communities naturally associated with faba bean seeds of two different cultivars. In another study, the role of selected bacteria for health of faba bean was examined. Furthermore, the antagonistic ability of Rhizobium and PGPR towards faba bean pathogens, and the compatibility and root colonization competence of the two beneficial bacteria was investigated. Cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent approaches used to study the seed microbial community structure revealed high diversity, which seemed to be affected by the health status of the seeds. Enterobacteriaceae dominated the bacterial flora and Serratia, Pseudomonas and Burkholderia were among the numerous genera that inhabited the seeds. Higher bacterial growth in cv. Aurora seed exudates compared to cv. Fuego suggested differences in the chemical composition between the two varieties. Both rhizobial and PGPR isolates were shown to be antagonistic but PGPR proved to be stronger antagonists than rhizobia. Serratia proteamaculans S4 was strongest antagonist and produced both diffusible and volatilic antifungal metabolites. In greenhouse, rhizobia and PGPR colonised roots of both cultivars after single or co- inoculation but the level of colonisation differed depending on the cultivar and the isolate combination. Colonisation by Rhizobium leguminosarum was stimulated by fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. Positive effects of seed bacterisation with Rhizobium in greenhouse were evident in terms of emergence and plant growth in both Aurora and Fuego. The results presented here highlight the importance of multifarious interactions between bacteria, plant and pathogens for sustainability in crop production of faba bean.
Practical and Scalable Security Verification of Secure Architectures

We present a new and practical framework for security verification of secure architectures. Specifically, we break the verification task into external verification and internal verification. External verification considers the external protocols, i.e. interactions between users, compute servers, network entities, etc. Meanwhile, internal verification considers the interactions between hardware and software components within each server. This verification framework is general-purpose and can be applied to a stand-alone server, or a large-scale distributed system. We evaluate our verification method on the CloudMonatt and HyperWall architectures as examples.
Position-aware cuckoo filters

Cuckoo filters have been recently proposed as an efficient structure to perform approximate membership checks. In this paper, it is shown that the false positive rate of a cuckoo filter can be reduced by storing in addition to the fingerprint the information that tell us if a given fingerprint has been inserted in the first or the second bucket. This improvement of the cuckoo filter is denoted as Position Aware (PA) cuckoo filter.
Mu Suppression Is Sensitive to Observational Practice but Results in Different Patterns of Activation in Comparison with Physical Practice

Research has shown the effectiveness of observational practice for motor learning, but there continues to be debate about the mechanisms underlying effectiveness. Although cortical processes can be moderated during observation, after both physical and observational practice, how these processes change with respect to behavioural measures of learning has not been studied. Here we compared short-term physical and observational practice during the acquisition and retention of a novel motor task to evaluate how each type of practice modulates EEG mu rhythm (8–13 Hz). Thirty healthy individuals were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) physical practice (PP), (2) observational practice (OP), and (3) no practice (NP) control. There were four testing stages: baseline EEG, practice, postpractice observation, and delayed retention. There was significant bilateral suppression of mu rhythm during PP but only left lateralized mu suppression during OP. In the postpractice observation phase, mu suppression was bilateral and larger after PP compared to that after OP. NP control showed no evidence of suppression and was significantly different to both the OP and PP groups. When comparing the three groups in retention, the groups did not differ with respect to tracing times, but the PP group showed fewer errors, especially in comparison to the NP group. Therefore, although the neurophysiological measures index changes in the OP group, which are similar but moderated in comparison to PP, changes in these processes are not manifest in observational practice outcomes when assessed in a delayed retention test.
Short-Term Outcomes in Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With 4 Bone Marrow Concentrate Injections

Background: Preliminary research suggests that bone marrow concentrate (BMC), which contains mesenchymal stem cells and platelets, is a promising treatment for knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to build on this preliminary research by reporting the short-term progress of 15 patients (20 knees) with knee osteoarthritis through 4 BMC treatments. Methods: Patients underwent four sequential BMC treatments with mean injection times of 13.80 days after the first treatment, 21.40 days after the second treatment, and 33.50 days after the third treatment. The last follow-up was conducted a mean 86 days after the first treatment. Baseline and posttreatment outcomes of resting pain, active pain, lower functionality scale, and overall improvement percentage were compared after each treatment. Results: Patients experienced statistically significant improvements in active pain and functionality score after the first treatment. Additionally, patients experienced a mean decrease in resting pain after the first treatment, yet outcomes were not statistically significant until after the second treatment. On average, patients experienced an 84.31% decrease in resting pain, a 61.95% decrease in active pain, and a 55.68% increase in functionality score at the final follow-up. Patients also reported a mean 67% total overall improvement at study conclusion. Outcomes at the final follow-up after the fourth treatment were statistically significant compared to outcomes at baseline, after first treatment, after second treatment, and after third treatment. Conclusions: These results are promising, and additional research with a larger sample size and longer follow-up is needed to further examine the treatment effectiveness of multiple BMC injections for knee osteoarthritis.
Superior Vena Cava Thrombosis Due to a Temporary Hemodialysis Catheter Presenting After 5 Years With Hematemesis, Hemoptysis and Pleural Effusion

Superior vena cava (SVC) thrombosis is increasingly seen now due to the liberal use of intravascular catheters. Most of these cases present with symptoms acutely, like any case of deep vein thrombosis, usually with ipsilateral arm and face swelling. Our patient presented after 5 years with unusual symptoms that are unrelated to the thrombosis itself, but due to the collateral circulation. He was a 38-year-old male patient with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis (HD) for 9 years, initially via a left arm arteriovenous (AV) fistula, then via a temporary right subclavian dialysis catheter for a period of 5 months before being maintained on his current AV fistula in the right arm for the last 5 years. He presented with intermittent episodes of hematemesis and hemoptysis, and was also found to have pleural effusion. He was found to have chronic thrombosis in the SVC. Chronic SVC obstruction causes formation and increase in the flow in the collateral circulation in the esophageal plexus causing varices, in the intercostals veins causing pleural fluid formation, and in the bronchial veins leading to hemoptysis. The AV fistula aggravated these findings by further increasing the flow and the pressure in the collateral circulation. In conclusion, chronic SVC thrombosis can occur as a consequence of HD catheters, and may present with symptoms related to the collateral circulation. J Med Cases. 2014;5(10):515-518 doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.14740/jmc1925w
Scheduling in time sensitive networks (TSN) for mixed-criticality industrial applications

IEEE 802.1 Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is a set of IEEE standards that extend Ethernet for safety-critical and real-time applications. TSN is envisioned to be widely used in several applications areas, from industrial automation to in-vehicle networking. TSN supports mixed-criticality applications via multiple traffic classes: Time-Triggered (TT) communication, Audio-Video-Bridging (AVB) streams with bounded end-to-end latency as well as Best-Effort messages. TT traffic is scheduled via Gate Control Lists (GCLs) specified for each queue of an egress port. Although researchers have started to propose approaches for the GCL synthesis, all the work so far has ignored lower priority real-time traffic such as AVB, resulting in GCLs that increase the worst-case delays of AVB traffic rendering it unschedulable. In this paper, we propose a GCL synthesis approach based on a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure, which takes into account the AVB traffic, such that both TT and the AVB traffic are schedulable. Our approach is evaluated on several test cases.