Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
U-Net Based Road Area Guidance for Crosswalks Detection from Remote Sensing Images

Abstract Due to the wide distribution of crosswalks over the road nets, the finding of impaired crosswalk marks is usually long-time delayed, which may put crosswalk pedestrians into danger. To reduce the repairing cost and improve the finding speed of damaged crosswalks, this paper uses remote sensing images to automatically detect crosswalks. The detection results can be used for further examination of crosswalks. However, the detection of crosswalks from remote sensing images suffers from serious interferes of many other kinds of ground targets. Besides, there are rare openly available datasets for the research of crosswalk detection from remote sensing images. To conquer the above problems, this study provides an openly available dataset for the research of crosswalk detection. To improve the robustness, we propose a crosswalk detection framework which uses a U-Net based road area guidance. First, we use CNN models to detect crosswalks. Then, we use U-Net to extract potential road areas. Third, we propose a mixture classification strategy which combines the detection confidence and potential road area guidance for final crosswalk detection. Experimental results show that the road area guidance for crosswalks’ detection is effective and can improve the detection performance.
Residual β-cell function after 10 years of autoimmune type 1 diabetes: prevalence, possible determinants, and implications for metabolism

Background Type 1 diabetes (T1D) has long been considered a progressive autoimmune disease resulting in the failure of pancreatic β-cell function and absolute endogenous insulin deficiency. However, several studies have demonstrated patients with T1D have detectable C-peptide levels long after diagnosis, which has remarkable clinical significance. Since this issue has not been systematically explored in non-Caucasian populations, we aimed to identify the prevalence of residual β-cell function and its related clinical features in Chinese long-term T1D patients. Methods We enrolled 109 patients with T1D for ≥10 years and administered a mixed-meal tolerance test (MMTT). Fasting and postprandial C-peptide (FCP/PCP) levels were measured to evaluate the insulin secretion function of β-cells. Patients whose FCP and PCP levels were both below the lower detection limit (16.7 pmol/L) were grouped as ‘β-cell function depleted’, while others were thought to have ‘residual β-cell function’. Demographic data, metabolic status, and diabetic complications were compared between patients with or without residual β-cell function. Results 38.5% of subjects retained residual β-cell function, and among those, 33.3% responded to MMTT by a two-fold or greater rise of their FCP levels. Clinical features associated with residual β-cell function were older age of diagnosis [27.5 (interquartile range:11.5–37.0) vs. 17.0 (interquartile range: 8.0–30.0) years, P=0.037], lower HbA1c (64.6±20.3 vs. 72.4±18.5 mmol/mol, P=0.026), and reduced rate of hypoglycemia (23.8% vs. 52.2%, P=0.003). Age of diagnosis was positively correlated with detectable FCP level (r=0.393, P=0.020). Individuals diagnosed after 30 years of age tended to retain residual β-cell function (OR =3.016, P=0.044). We found no association between residual β-cell function and chronic diabetic complications. Conclusions Residual β-cell function can be found in nearly 40% of long-term patients with T1D in China and is associated with older age at diagnosis and better glucose control. The relationship between residual β-cell function and chronic diabetic complications remains to be explored.
Applications of Chiral Three-membered Rings for Total Synthesis: A Review

This review updates recent applications of asymmetric aziridination, azirination, thiirination, epoxi-dation, and cyclopropanation in the total synthesis of biologically active compounds, including natural products , using chiral substrates or chiral catalysts, covering the literature since 2000. The interest towards these synthetic methodologies of chiral three-membered rings has increased in the last decade, dictated either by the biological activities that display many naturally occurring products bearing a three-membered unit or by the ring strain of three-membered rings making them useful precursors of many more complex interesting molecules. Classic as well as modern protocols in asymmetric aziridinations, azirinations, epoxidations, thiirina-tions, and cyclopropanations have been widely applied as key steps of a number of syntheses of important products. Although the use of chiral substrates and auxiliaries is still highly employed particularly in asymmet-ric aziridination and cyclopropanation, the development of enantioselective catalytic methodologies has witnessed exponential growth during the last decade. The present review is subdivided into three parts, dealing successively with the use of chiral nitrogen-containing three-membered rings, chiral epoxides and thiiranes, and chiral cyclopropanes in total synthesis.
Analysis of the Impact of Local Government Competition on Green Total Factor Productivity From the Perspective of Factor Market Distortion--Based on the Three-Stage DEA model

From the perspective of factor market distortion, this paper explores the effect and internal mechanism of local government competition on green total factor productivity (GTFP). A three-stage DEA model was applied to measure the GTFP of 30 provinces from 2008 to 2017. Furthermore, the article analyses local government competition and factor market distortions influence on GTFP using the Spatial SDM model and mediation effect model. The statistical results reveal that the spatial correlation of GTFP is significantly present across Chinese different provinces. The growth of GTFP will be significantly inhibited by local government competition. Local government competition can indirectly restrict the improvement of GTFP through factor market distortion. Regional heterogeneity indicates that, in the eastern and central regions, local government competition does not significantly inhibit the growth of GTFP. Moreover, local government competition failed to restrain the improvement of GTFP through factor market distortion. However, in the western region, local government competition not only inhibited the growth of GTFP, but also inhibited the growth of GTFP by causing factor market distortion.
Research On Power Dissipation of ERSFQ Circuits

Energy-efficient rapid single flux quantum (ERSFQ) circuits are often considered to have two working states including ERSFQ (zero static power dissipation) and RESFQ (resistive energy-efficient SFQ) state. In our previous research, a new working state called MIDSFQ state has been also found in which the biasing JJs cannot return to the non-voltage state after the dynamic process. Both the RESFQ and MIDSFQ states result in extra power dissipation and should be avoided if possible. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of these three states and explain the working principle of the MIDSFQ state using the hysteresis effect. We obtain an optimization scenario to eliminate the MIDSFQ state and furthermore, a simple but effective method to improve power efficiency of ERSFQ circuits.
Prefabricated Urban Underground Utility Tunnels: A Case Study on Mechanical Behaviour with Strain Monitoring and Numerical Simulation

The prefabricated urban utility tunnels (UUTs) have many advantages such as short construction period, low cost, high quality, and small land occupation. However, there is still a lack of in-depth analysis of the mechanical performance of the prefabricated urban utility tunnel (UUT) structure with bolted connections under different working conditions. In this paper, the force performance of a prefabricated UUT in Tongzhou District, Beijing, was studied under different working conditions using two methods: field monitoring and numerical simulation. The multichannel strain monitor was used for monitoring, and the internal wall concrete and bolt strain change data under the two conditions of installation and backfill were obtained. Combined with the construction process of the UUTs, a three-dimensional numerical model was established by COMSOL, where the build-in bolt assembly was used to simulate the longitudinal connection of the tunnel. The simulation results were compared with the measured data to verify the rationality of the computational model. The simulation results showed that the concrete and bolts on the inner wall of the tunnel work well under the two conditions of installation and backfilling; The deformation of the top plate of the prefabricated tunnel was approximately parabolic, with the largest vertical displacement (0.37 mm) in the middle and the most sensitive to the vertical load in the central part of the roof. The central portion of the side wall had the largest displacement (0.17 mm) in the inner concave. The tensile stress of bolt 3 increased the most (30.75 MPa) but was still much smaller than the yield strength of the bolt. The concrete and bolts of the UUT were found to work well through force analysis under operating conditions. In conclusion, analysis of structural forces and deformation failure modes will help design engineers understand the basic mechanisms and select the appropriate UUT structure.
Long-Term Dynamic Behaviour of Human Resource Needs in Ghana’s Oil Sector: System Dynamics Approach

This study espouses a multi-strategy method comprising of a qualitative study and system dynamics (SD) to deliver the long-term dynamic behaviour of human resource development (HRD) in Ghana’s oil and gas sector. The adoption of the SD differed from previous studies addressing the local content implementation challenge of human resources, thereby allowing HRD to be considered a ‘system’ which, in turn, aided in comprehensively identifying and analysing the interrelationships among the dominant variables. Focal articles were reviewed to develop a causal loop diagram (CLD) for human resource and subsequently validated qualitatively. The CLD was used for analysing interconnections among the variables in the HRD and as a basis for developing the stock and flow diagram for projections. The study found that local content investment is projected to increase from $799 million to $3.0807 billion in 50 years, with a corresponding revenue increase from $29 billion to $44 billion in 50 years. Subsequent sensitivity analysis compared the local content model results under varying situations, which indicated the possibility of a demand for 20,000 local staff. The study further uncovered two critical issues affecting HRD, namely policy coordination and harmonisation and sustainable funding. These issues are exacerbated by the pervasive political interference in the administrative and operational functions of state oil and gas institutions.
The Simple Views of Reading and Writing in the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, 3rd Edition

The simple views of reading (SVR) and writing (SVW) provide useful foundations for the interpretation of psychoeducational achievement batteries. Research has established that oral language, decoding, and transcription explain significant variance in reading comprehension and written composition, respectively. However, the specific task demands of subtests influence the relationships among these constructs. As a result, the degree to which the KTEA-3’s tasks conform to findings associated with the SVR and SVW are not known. These analyses evaluated the degree to which the KTEA-3 oral language and decoding or transcription tests explained variance in reading comprehension, and written expression. Results inform practitioners as to the relative contributions of each component and useful knowledge when determining which battery to use in psychoeducational evaluation.
Effect of magnetic and nonmagnetic nano metal oxides doping on the critical temperature of a YBCO superconductor

Bulk superconductor samples of YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) doped with nano metal oxides of Mn3O4, Co3O4, Cr2O3, CuO and SnO2 respectively with 0.2 wt% are synthesized by a solid-state reaction route. The structural characterization of all samples has been carried out by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The XRD patterns indicate that the magnetic doping of nano metal oxides Mn 3 O 4 , Co 3 O 4 , Cr 2 O 3 ? > gives a high value of orthorhombicity of the YBCO samples which is the result of high oxygen content, and consequently could give better superconducting properties contrary to the non magnetic nano oxides (CuO, SnO2). The critical temperature (Tc) of the studied samples was found to improve by nano magnetic doping and lower with nano nonmagnetic doping. The superconducting transition temperature Tc determined from electrical resistivity measurements was found to increase for Mn3O4 (5.27 μB) doping and decrease for other metal oxides doping.
Association Between Owners’ Attitudes Toward Companion Dogs and Their Opinions on Unprescribed Owner-Administered Injection of Their Dogs

ABSTRACT The popularity of companion animals in South Korea has increased rapidly in recent years. However, the injection of companion animals with unprescribed vaccines or antibiotic treatments by their owners without veterinary consultation has emerged as a serious animal welfare concern. To develop strategies for addressing this issue, first it is necessary to understand the determinants of such behavior. We considered that direct questioning of dog owners via a survey about their experiences of administering injections would be unreliable, hence an exploration of the determinants of owners’ opinions about self-administered injections was deemed a viable alternative. In this regard, as an exploratory study we conducted an online questionnaire survey that was completed by 654 companion dog owners aged between 19 and 39 years residing in Seoul, South Korea. The questions pertained to the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the owners, their attitudes toward their companion dogs, and their opinions on the provision of unprescribed owner-administered injections. A 5-point Likert scale was used to assess their opinions about unprescribed injections, with responses categorized as negative (disagree, strongly disagree) and non-negative (neutral, agree, strongly agree). Multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess the association of explanatory variables with whether the owners held negative opinions regarding unprescribed owner-administered injections. The results revealed that owners with more favorable attitudes toward their dogs tended to have negative opinions about unprescribed owner-administered injections (odds ratio = 3.50, 95%; confidence interval = 2.42–5.11), but no significant effect of household income. Although further research is required to confirm the causal relationships, improvement of owners’ attitudes toward their companion dogs may be important for addressing the problem of unprescribed injections.
Absorption enhanced thin‐film solar cells using fractal nano‐structures

Iran National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 458743 Abstract In this article, a new structure for development of thin film solar cells is proposed in which elements with fractal shapes are integrated inside the cell to enhance its performance in a wide range of wavelengths. Two different structures are studied. In the first structure, a metallic fractal nano‐carpet is integrated inside the silicon layer in order to trap and absorb sunlight by exciting surface plasmon polaritons and local surface plasmons at different wavelengths. Numerical analysis shows that this technique increases the short circuit current provided by the cell by a factor of 2.40 for both TM and TE polarisations of the incident light. The second structure has an active layer shaped as a fractal structure, and absorbs sunlight through Mie and Fabry‐Perot resonances occurring at different wavelengths. The short circuit current enhancement for this structure is 2.97 for both TM and TE polarisations of the incident light, representing a significant improvement when compared with the previous works.
Prevalence of Depression in Iranian College Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Context: Depression is a common problem in students. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression in Iranian college students. Evidence Acquisition: The study was conducted using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA). We searched both international (i.e. PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar) and national (i.e. SID, Magiran, Iranmedex, and IranDoc) databases from 1991 to June 2019 to identify relevant studies. Cochran’s Q test, I2 index, and τ2 index were used to assess the heterogeneity. A random-effects model was employed to combine the results using comparative meta-analysis software version 2.2. Results: Overall, 89 studies dealing with a total of 33,564 Iranian students were included. The prevalence of depression was estimated at 48.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 43.6 - 52.5%]. The prevalence of depression was 51.3% (95% CI: 41.1 - 61.4%) and 48.9% (95% CI: 41.0 - 54.8%) in males and females, respectively. The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe depression was estimated at 26.1% (95% CI: 23.8 - 28.6%), 15.5% (95% CI: 13.1 - 18.3%), and 6.4% (95% CI: 5.1 - 8%), respectively. The Beck-I Questionnaire and the GHQ-28 Questionnaire indicated the highest and the lowest prevalence of depression [68.4% (95% CI: 38.8 - 88.1%) vs. 39.2% (95% CI: 24.6 - 56.1%)], respectively. It was proved that the prevalence of depression among Iranian college students has significantly increased during the study period (P < 0.001). Interest in the field was significantly correlated with depression (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of depression among Iranian college students, prevention and treatment programs are strongly recommended.
Development of a Health-Based Index to Identify the Association between Air Pollution and Health Effects in Mexico City

Health risks from air pollution continue to be a major concern for residents in Mexico City. These health burdens could be partially alleviated through individual avoidance behavior if accurate information regarding the daily health risks of multiple pollutants became available. A split sample approach was used in this study to create and validate a multi-pollutant, health-based air quality index. Poisson generalized linear models were used to assess the impacts of ambient air pollution (i.e., fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ground-level ozone (O3)) on a total of 610,982 daily emergency department (ED) visits for respiratory disease obtained from 40 facilities in the metropolitan area of Mexico City from 2010 to 2015. Increased risk of respiratory ED visits was observed for interquartile increases in the 4-day average concentrations of PM2.5 (Risk Ratio (RR) 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.04), O3 (RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05), and to a lesser extent NO2 (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.99–1.02). An additive, multi-pollutant index was created using coefficients for these three pollutants. Positive associations of index values with daily respiratory ED visits was observed among children (ages 2–17) and adults (ages 18+). The use of previously unavailable daily health records enabled an assessment of short-term ambient air pollution concentrations on respiratory morbidity in Mexico City and the creation of a health-based air quality index, which is now currently in use in Mexico City.
Use it and bruise it: copulation rates are associated with muscle inflammation across anole lizard species

The use of skeletal muscles causes cellular damage, a process that leads to in ﬂ am-mation. Although this process is well studied in mammals, it is largely unexplored in other taxa, and the behavioral use of a muscle has not been linked to muscle in ﬂ ammation in a comparative framework. In this study, we examined the relationship between muscle use and in ﬂ ammation across 22 anole lizard species. We tested the hypothesis that in ﬂ ammation in the retractor penis magnus (RPM), a muscle used only during mating, is positively associated with copulation rate and/ or with hemipenis size. We measured copulation rates for each species in the ﬁ eld and measured RPM in ﬂ ammation for both wild-caught males and, for one species, captive virgin male anoles. We found a positive relationship between RPM in ﬂ am-mation and copulation rate, yet there was no correlation between RPM in ﬂ ammation and hemipenis size or body size. This ﬁ nding supports the generality of the relationship between muscle use and in ﬂ ammation within and across species, suggesting that in ﬂ ammation could act as a snapshot of recent muscle activity across vertebrate taxa.
Phasor-Quaternion Self-Organizing-Map-Based Ground Penetrating Radar Systems

Visualization by ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems has a wide demand in various application fields. Our conventional visualization method mainly extracts feature vectors based on the frequency and spatial correlation of scattering parameters and then uses complex-valued self-organizing maps (CSOM) in unsupervised grouping to achieve visualization. However, this method sometimes shows problems of unclear boundary and deformed shape of a detected object. In this article, we propose a novel algorithm, phasor-quaternion self-organizing map (PQSOM), based on the Poincare vectors combined with phase, which is organized in phasor-quaternion (PQ) form. By considering both the polarization state and the phase information as respective counterparts, we achieve a more accurate grouping result. Through visualization experiments of underground landmines, we find that, compared with the previous methods, the boundary clarity and the shape of objects are improved.
Realising a system of coupled microgrid networks using single‐phase interconnection lines

Overloading and renewable‐based excessive generation are a frequently observed phenomena in an autonomously operating islanded microgrid (MG) which will lead to unacceptable voltage or frequency deviation in the MG. Such problems can be alleviated by mechanisms such as load shedding or curtailment of renewable sources. Alternatively, coupling the neighbouring MGs and enabling a provisional power exchange amongst them can improve the situation more effectively. The power exchange link between the MGs can be in the form of a conventional three‐phase ac line but a single‐phase ac link is more cost‐effective, especially considering the amount of the power that needs to be transferred through this link. This approach requires power electronics‐based converters to convert a three‐phase ac MG into a single‐phase power exchange link and control the power sharing amongst them. The same is needed when the MGs have to be coupled while maintaining their autonomy, but the corresponding costs of the single‐phase system are less. This article has proposed a decentralised approach to control and couple the neighbouring MGs to realise provisional power exchange through such a structure. The performance of the proposed control mechanism is evaluated through simulation studies in PSIM®, and its sensitivity and stability are analysed against its key design and operational factors.