Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Authenticity Verification For Security Systems Using Gradient Based Image Reconstruction Technique

Authenticity verification for security systems is a very important research problem with respect to information security. One of the principal problems in image forensics is determining if a particular image is authentic or not. This can be a crucial task when images are used as basic evidence to influence judgment like, for example, in a court of law. The abusive use of digital forgeries has become a serious problem in various fields like authenticity verification, medical imaging, digital forensic, journalism, scientific publications etc. To carry out such forensic analysis, various technological instruments have been developed in the literature. In this paper the problem of detecting if an image has been forged is investigated. To detect tampering and forging, a novel methodology based on gradient based image reconstruction is proposed. Our method verifies the authenticity of image in two phases- modeling phase; where the image is reconstructed from its gradients by solving a poisson equation and forming a knowledge based model and simulation phase; where the absolute difference method and histogram matching criterion between the original and test image is used. Such a method allows concluding that if a tampering has occurred. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of our gradient based image reconstruction approach and confirm that the technique is able to verify whether a forged image is presented to a security system for authenticity verification. Through this unique mechanism, one can secure the most reliable information and forging or tampering of images for gaining false authentication and hence fraud can be detected.
Involvement of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the control of energy storage and expenditure

Within heterotrophic organisms, fat, sugar and protein are required to bring energy. In humans, energy homeostasis (i.e.the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure) is tightly regulated. Obesity, characterized by an excess of white fat mass, is a consequence of dysregulation of this balance in which decreased energy expenditure plays an important role. Among dietary components, fat represents approximately 30% of daily intake. Recent studies have shown that, besides its caloric input, fatty acid composition of fat represents an important qualitative issue. The impact of ω6 and ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on weight gain and development has been extensively studied. Interestingly, the role played by these polyunsaturated fatty acids in energy expenditure has been also characterized and will be discussed in relation to the various organs involved, in particular brown adipose tissue.
Dynamic optimization of plant growth

The growth and reproductive schedule of terrestrial plants can be usefully studied as the dynamic optimal allocation of material between different organs. This idea, pioneered by Dan Cohen, has been formalized as an optimal control problem and analysed using Pontryagin’s maximum principle or dynamic programming. Here, I review several examples of dynamic resource allocation models. First, the seasonal timing of reproduction of annuals is discussed. This can be extended to plants with multiple vegetative organs and the optimal shoot– root balance is assessed. Secondly, the growth schedule over multiple seasons is examined, and the reproductive effort, the leaf phenology of deciduous perennials, and the conditions under which perenniality is more advantageous than annuality are considered. With some modifications, the same model can handle intermittent reproduction and monocarpic perennials (one large reproduction after many years). Thirdly, growth in an unpredictably fluctuating environment is analysed for the case in which a sudden disturbance (herbivory or fire) removes the photosynthetic system altogether, followed by recovery using stored material, and for the case in which environmental productivity fluctuates in a Markovian process. Finally, the optimal level of chemical defence against herbivory is formalized and used to explain the intensity of alkaloid defence decreasing with leaf age. These examples illustrate the usefulness of dynamic resource allocation models in understanding plant life-history adaptation.
What are the Current Advances Regarding Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Nanomedicine

Volume 4 • Issue 6 • 2012 Nanomaterials have a significant potential application in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and material science because of their unique electronic, optical, thermal and catalytic properties. It has also been generally acknowledged that the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials strongly depend on their shape and size besides their inherent chemical constitutions. To improve the dispersibility of nanoparticles in suitable solvents and to translate intrinsic properties of nanoparticles to these extended applications, the nanoparticle surface functionalization itself is a key factor.
Some Empirical Evidence on the Relationship Between Acquisitions, Disposals and the Stock Market

Based on empirical studies and theoretical evidence the paper investigates the relationship between inward and outward acquisitions and disposals in the UK and the UK stock market described by the FTSE all-share index. By using the Granger causality test for both the numbers and value of acquisitions and disposals the research results suggest that for the market and period considered, one way relationships are present.
Optimized Thin Layer Chromatographic Method for Screening Pharmaceutically Valuable Alkaloids of Catharanthus Roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle)

The aerial parts of Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus) plant have been known to contain many important alkaloids such as Vincristine, Vinblastine, Vindoline and Ajmalicine which are of interest to this study. Ajmalicine has also been found in abundance in the roots of this medicinal plant. The main objective of this study was to screen a methanolic extract of C. roseus for the presence of pharmaceutically valuable alkaloids using previously optimized conditions established in our laboratory set up.This methanolic extract was further purified for specific alkaloids present using modified Shams et al. (2009) method I extraction procedure. Extracts of C. roseus have been subjected to optimum conditions before and after Thin layer Chromatography which was performed in a trough chamber of 10 cm x 10 cm area saturated with Ethyl acetate: Benzene: Methanol: 25% Ammonia solution (100:5:5:3) as a developing solvent and sprayed with Cerium Ammonium Sulphate (CAS) reagent specific for the detection of alkaloids.Results have shown that the alkaloids of interest; Vincristine, Vinblastine, Vindoline and Ajmalicine could be chromatographically identified in extracts of C. roseus intact plant after individual alkaloid purification procedure. This has confirmed the anti-neoplastic and anti-hypertensive properties these alkaloids have in making the plant effective in healing cancer and high blood pressure as it was originally used by traditional people.
Identification of Fuzzy Inference Systems by Means of a Multiobjective Opposition-Based Space Search Algorithm

We introduce a new category of fuzzy inference systems with the aid of a multiobjective opposition-based space search algorithm (MOSSA). The proposed MOSSA is essentially a multiobjective space search algorithm improved by using an opposition-based learning that employs a so-called opposite numbers mechanism to speed up the convergence of the optimization algorithm. In the identification of fuzzy inference system, the MOSSA is exploited to carry out the parametric identification of the fuzzy model as well as to realize its structural identification. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy models.
Efficiency and reliability enhancement of silicon nanocrystal field-effect luminescence from nitride-oxide gate stacks

We report on a field-effect light emitting device based on silicon nanocrystals in silicon oxide deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The device shows high power efficiency and long lifetime. The power efficiency is enhanced up to ∼0.1% by the presence of a silicon nitride control layer. The leakage current reduction induced by this nitride buffer effectively increases the power efficiency two orders of magnitude with regard to similarly processed devices with solely oxide. In addition, the nitride cools down the electrons that reach the polycrystalline silicon gate lowering the formation of defects, which significantly reduces the device degradation.
Combining Personal Health Records and Relevant External Data Sources: A Way for Achieving New Outcomes for Personal Healthcare

Personal Health Records (PHRs) have the potential to dramatically contribute to healthcare as they enable patient to become more involved and engaged in their care. However, PHRs are rather limited in that they assume all its content to be restricted on health-oriented personal data. Yet there are a lot of related data that are stored in other systems, and which use together with PHRs’ data would produce outcomes that could not be achieved by functioning independently. Using these data sources together with PHRs’ data we can achieve new outcomes. How it can be carried out by using modern Semantic Web technologies, such as Resource Description Framework (RDF), Web Ontology Language (OWL) and SPARQL, and our designated ontologies is the topic of this paper. We also introduce the notion of SPARQL-affinity domain, which allows the sharing of PHRs and other relevant data in a controlled way over the Internet.
Joining technology for smart luminous textiles by embroidery

Smart textiles are an expanding field with much potential and arouse interest in the R&D sphere and industry. These find vast applications in engineering, healthcare and fashion, and contribute additional functionality and intelligence to structures. Quiet often the intelligence of such smart structures is supported by electronics that ensure functions such as data transfer and analysis for monitoring systems. Moreover, many smart textile systems require also energy source. At present, there is a great variety of scenarios to implement the joining of the functional textile compounds and electronics. Nevertheless, the joining technology is one the key challenges for smart textile developers, especially regarding wearable applications. Smart luminous textiles are of great interest for applications such as clothing and interior design and visual merchandizing. Moreover, luminous textiles are beneficial for protective clothing and sportswear in order to insure better visibility of the wear and interactive design for non-verbal communication. Additionally, luminous textiles have potentials for healthcare and medicine applications such as phototherapy. At present, such smart textiles are mostly limited to LED integration. Despite well-developed techniques for LED attachment onto textiles, power sourcing and controlling of the electronics for more complex LED matrixes remains a field for technology improvement. Moreover, OLED technology is more preferable for some applications due to fragility of more sophisticated and large-scale LED matrixes. This study presents a preliminary study for reversible joining of textiles and electronics within a novel concept for electroluminescence (EL) towards Organic Light Emitting Devices (OLED) implementations by printing technology. Technical embroidery is suggested as a promising technology that ensures continuous manufacturing of the functional textile compounds, electro-conductive paths and the joining platforms for electronic interconnections with active textiles. A novel concept for EL is developed in order to continuously implement the functional textile elements and ensure an efficient solution for the smart textile bonding with electronics. Regarding specifics of the development usage conditions, solutions for reversible joining are in the focus of the study. Finally, a concept of the bonding module for the electro-conductive platforms is described to be applied to custom developed EL structures on textiles.
Predictive Model of Habitat Suitability for the Marbled Murrelet in Western Washington

Abstract The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a small Pacific seabird with a breeding range that extends from the Aleutian Islands to central California. Throughout most of its breeding range, it uses mature and old-growth coniferous forests as nesting habitat. Although most murrelets seem to nest within 60 km of the coast, occupied nesting habitat has been identified as far as 84 km from the ocean in Washington state. Due to the extensive inland distances within which birds are known to breed, the area requiring surveys to identify breeding sites can be enormous. Therefore, the standard 2-year survey protocol can be expensive and time-consuming for forest management agencies and companies to administer. We developed a logistic regression model to determine whether a suite of forest structural characteristics could be used to reliably predict occupancy of a forest patch by marbled murrelets. We tested the performance of the final model using cross-validation procedures and a sample of independent sites. We used 50 sites surveyed for marbled murrelets to estimate the model, and 48 independent sites were available to test model performance. All 50 sites were on private forestland owned by Rayonier located in the western lowlands of Olympic Peninsula within the Sitka spruce and western hemlock transition zones. We sampled forest habitat at each site, and we collected information on 15 explanatory variables. The best-fitting logistic regression model contained variables that measured number of canopy layers (P < 0.001, approx. F test) and mistletoe (Arceuthobium sp.) abundance (P = 0.031, approx. F test). The model misclassified 2 of 33 (94% correct) unoccupied sites as occupied using a classification cut-off (c) of c = 0.25. In the other direction, under cross-validation the final model misclassified 2 of 17 (88% correct) occupied sites as unoccupied. On a test of the model against an independent sample, using a classification cut-off value of c = 0.25, the final model correctly classified 36 of 48 sites (75% correct). The final model misclassified 3 of 31 occupied sites as unoccupied (90% correct). Use of predictive models could greatly reduce the amount of forest that requires surveys by screening out those sites with little probability of use and by focusing remaining effort on higher probability sites, resulting in a higher likelihood of identifying occupied sites and thereby more efficiently conserving marbled murrelet nesting habitat.
Effectiveness of Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation versus Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Preterm Infants after Less Invasive Surfactant Administration

Background Non-invasive ventilation is increased used in preterm infants. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (nIPPV) versus nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) after less invasive surfactant administration (LISA). Materials and Methods In this clinical trial, eighty two preterm infants admitted in neonatal intensive care unit, Sohag University Hospital, Egypt with a gestational age of 28–34 weeks, mean ± standard deviation birth weight (1259.44±377.22 grams), suffering from RDS but not requiring intubation in the delivery room were included in the study. Forty one received nIPPV as an initial respiratory support (RS). If nIPPV failed, surfactant administration was given with the LISA approach and patients continued on nIPPV. This group was compared with a historical cohort group of 41 infants managed with nCPAP as an initial RS, and if nCPAP failed, the surfactant was given by LISA. Results There was no significant difference between the case and control group regarding the mean ± SD gestational age or birth weight. When nIPPV was used as the primary RS in preterm infants with RDS compared to nCPAP, it had a significantly less nIPPV failure (31.71% versus 53.66%, P = 0.04), had significantly fewer infants who needed invasive ventilation within the first seven days of life (12.20% versus 34.14%, P = 0.03), and the total days of supplemental oxygen was less (9 (3–18) days versus 12 (6–34) days, P = 0.02). Conclusion In infants born at 28–34 weeks gestation, nIPPV, when used as the primary RS, reduced the need for invasive ventilation and the surfactant requirement within the LISA technique.
Synthesis and Characterization of Methacrylamide Based Hydrogels

Bu calismada, yeni polimerik hidrojellerin uretilmesi ve denge sisme ozelliklerinin arastirilmasi amaclanmistir. Metakrilamid (MAAm) ve 2-akrilamido-2-metil-1-propansulfonik asit (AMPS)’den olusan kimyasal capraz bagli hidrojeller, serbest radikal kopolimerlesme yontemi ile hazirlanmislardir. Elde edilen kopolimerik hidrojeller FTIR analizleri ve SEM teknikleri ile degerlendirilmistir. Ayrica tum sentezlenen numunelere 25 oC’de sisme testleri uygulanmis ve sisme karakterizasyon calismalari yapilmistir. Hidrojellerin sisme davranislari uzerine monomer/yardimci monomer bilesimi ve capraz baglayici miktari gibi reaksiyon degiskenlerinin etkileri arastirildi. Şisme sonuclari degerlendirildiginde; tum polimerik orneklerin bilesimlerine bagli farkli sisme ve difuzyon ozellikleri gosterdikleri belirlenmistir.
Spectrophotometric Determination of Some Phenolic Compounds by Formation of Copper(II) Complexes

Simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of phenolic compounds in both in pure form and in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on the formation of a new ligand from the reaction between 4-aminoantipyrine with phenolic compounds and then reacts with copper (II) to give a colored complex at room temperature. The maximum absorbance of the prepared complexes were measured at 450,500 and 480 nm for pyridoxine, resorcinol and phloroglucinol complexes respectively. Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range of 1.5-20, 2.530 and 2.0-25 μg/ml-1, the molar absorptivity values are 2.4778 x 104,1.6740x104 and 1.7001 x 104 L mol−1cm−1, the Sandal sensitivity values are 0.0501x10−3,0.1740x10−3and 0.1228x10−3μg cm−2 for Pyridoxine, resorcinol and phloroglucinol complexes respectively. The correlation coefficients were 0.9999, 0.9998 and 0.9999, the limits of detection(LOD) were 0.47793, 0.15125 and 0. 01434μg ml−1, the limits of quantification were (LOQ) 1.4482, 0.45833 and 0.04347 for pyridoxine, resorcinol and phloroglucinol complexes respectively. The stoichiometry of the complexes formed (1:2) was determined by Job’s continuous variations method and molar ratio method. Furthermore the stability constant (K) and Gibbs free energy ΔG) for the complexes were also calculated. The proposed methods were applied successfully for the determination of phenolic compounds in commercial tablets.
The Lattice Mean-Field Approximation of Gauge-Higgs Unification on the Orbifold

A possible extension of the Standard Model of elementary particles is Gauge-Higgs unification, where the Higgs field is identified with (some of) the extra dimensional components of a five-dimensional gauge field. In this scenario there is evidence for the potential and the mass of the Higgs field to be finite. Here we show the behavior of the static potential of a five-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory with orbifold boundary conditions. The potentials are computed within the mean-field approximation including first order corrections.
Maerl-bed mapping and carbonate quantification on submerged terraces offshore the Cilento peninsula (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)

ABSTRACT On the continental shelf off the Cilento peninsula (eastern Tyrrhenian Sea) the occurrence of more than 13 km2 of maerl beds was documented through acoustic surveys. Swath bathymetric data along with a dense grid of chirp-sonar profiles were acquired over more than 180 km2. The maerl facies was characterized on the basis of the components analysis of 32 grab samples collected at selected sites. Mapped maerl-beds are predominant on submerged terraces located at variable water depth (wd) between 42 and 52 m. This preferred distribution on submerged terraces is probably associated with relatively vigorous bottom currents generated by local circulation that hinders the deposition of terrigenous sediments. Calcareous red algae result to be the most important producers of carbonates from 40 down to 60 m wd. We calculated the coralline carbonate accumulation from the percentage cover of coralline algae (thin section mapping) × 1 cm-thick layer of sediment × measured coralline density. The total coralline cover (living plus dead) in the Cilento area is 13.96 km2, with a total 316800 tons of algal carbonate in the surface 1 cm layer, that correspond to 20430 g m-2. Living maerl is recorded at a depth of 47 m, with a live coralline cover of about 40% over a minimum area of about 1.2 km2. This live maerl has a thickness of about 1 cm and is composed mainly of unattached branches of Lithothamnion corallioides (P.L.Crouan & H.M.Crouan) P.L. Crouan & H.M. Crouan, 1867. The molluscan association of the maerl bed is dominated by characteristic species of the Coastal Detritic Biocoenosis. The production of carbonate by living coralline algae has been calculated as weight of live corallines in 1 cm-thick layer × 100 y-1 × total area-1 and corresponds to 90.8 g m-2 y-1.
Madras INITIALIZATION OF ROBOTIC FORMATIONS USING DISCRETE PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION

In this paper, a Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization (DPSO) technique is applied as an optimal motion planning strategy for the initialization of mobile robots to establish some geometrical patterns or formations. Firstly, an optimal assignment of location and orientation for each robot in the formation is performed. For this, a total travelling cost is defined, involving the angular and translational movement by all robots from their initial positions in the workspace to their goal positions. The objective is then to determine the position for each robot in the formation in order to minimize the cost function to form a predefined shape. Once each robot has been assigned with a desired position, a search scheme is implemented to obtain a collision free trajectory for each robot to establish the formation. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the validity of the proposed approach.