Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
YOLOv5-based Dense Small Target Detection Algorithm for Aerial Images Using DIOU-NMS

With the advancement of various aerial platforms, there is an increasing abundance of aerial images captured in various environments. However, the detection of densely packed small objects within complex backgrounds remains a challenge. To address the task of detecting multiple small objects, a multi-object detection algo-rithm based on Distance Intersection Over Union loss Non-Maximum Suppression (DIOU-NMS) integrated with You Only Look Once version 5 (YOLOv5) is proposed. Leveraging the YOLOv5s model as the foundation, the algorithm specifically addresses the detection of abundantly and densely packed targets by incorporating a dedicated small object detection layer within the network architecture, thus effectively enhancing the detection capability for small targets using an additional upsampling operation. Moreover, conventional non-maximum suppression is replaced with DIOU-based non-maximum suppression to alleviate the issue of missed detections caused by target density. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in significantly improving the detection performance of dense small targets in complex backgrounds.
Is amphistomy an adaptation to high light? Optimality models of stomatal traits along light gradients

Stomata regulate the supply of CO2 for photosynthesis and the rate of water loss out of the leaf. The presence of stomata on both leaf surfaces, termed amphistomy, increases photosynthetic rate, is common in plants from high light habitats, and rare otherwise. In this study I use optimality models based on leaf energy budget and photosynthetic models to ask why amphistomy is common in high light habitats. I developed an R package leafoptimizer to solve for stomatal traits that optimally balance carbon gain with water loss in a given environment. The model predicts that amphistomy is common in high light because its marginal effect on carbon gain is greater than in the shade, but only if the costs of amphistomy are also lower under high light than in the shade. More generally, covariation between costs and benefits may explain why stomatal and other traits form discrete phenotypic clusters.
Wettability of Quartz by Ethanol, Rhamnolipid and Triton X-165 Aqueous Solutions with Regard to Its Surface Tension

The wettability of quartz by different liquids and solutions plays a very important role in practical applications. Hence, the wetting behaviour of ethanol (ET), rhamnolipid (RL) and Triton X-165 (TX165) aqueous solutions with regard to the quartz surface tension was investigated. The investigations were based on the contact angle measurements of water (W), formamide (F) and diiodomethane (D) as well as ET, RL and TX165 solutions on the quartz surface. The obtained results of the contact angle for W, F and D were used for the determination of quartz surface tension as well as its components and parameters using different approaches, whereas the results obtained for the aqueous solution of ET, RL and TX165 were considered with regard to their adsorption at the quartz–air, quartz–solution and solution–air interfaces as well as the solution interactions across the quartz–solution interface. The considerations of the relations between the contact angle and adsorption of solution components at different interfaces were based on the components and parameters of the quartz surface tension. They allow us to, among other things, establish the mechanism of the adsorption of individual components of the solution at the interfaces and standard Gibbs surface free energy of this adsorption.
Four Decades of Progress in Monitoring and Modeling of Processes in the Soil-Plant- Atmosphere System: Applications and Challenges Fluorescent particles for non-intrusive surface flow observations

The relevance of hydrological surface processes, such as drainage formation, landscape's evolution, pollutant diffusion, and sediment transport, has recently fostered the development of an array of novel sensing systems. In this context, the deployment and observation of enhanced fluorescent particles is studied in (Tauro et al., 2012) to non- intrusively estimate surface flow velocities and travel times. Such insoluble and buoyant fluorescent particles are not affected by adsorption issues, thus requiring minimal amounts of tracing material to be released in the environment, and are detected through commercially available inexpensive digital cameras. In this paper, we complement previously developed unsupervised particle detection tools with Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) analysis for surface flow estimations in natural settings. Specifically, we conduct several proof of concept experiments by deploying few grams of fluorescent particles in a natural brook and analyzing acquired videos with both unsupervised image analysis tools and LSPIV. Results from both methodologies suggest their complementary use for enhanced surface flow monitoring. In addition, the use of environmentally friendly highly visible fluorescent particles would sensibly improve the joint performance of such non-intrusive sensing systems.
The DNA repair enzyme, aprataxin, plays a role in innate immune signaling

Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1 (AOA1) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a gradual loss of coordination of hand movements, speech, and eye movements. AOA1 is caused by an inactivation mutation in the APTX gene. APTX resolves abortive DNA ligation intermediates. APTX deficiency may lead to the accumulation of 5’-AMP termini, especially in the mitochondrial genome. The consequences of APTX deficiency includes impaired mitochondrial function, increased DNA single-strand breaks, elevated reactive oxygen species production, and altered mitochondrial morphology. All of these processes can cause misplacement of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, which can activate innate immune sensors to elicit an inflammatory response. This study explores the impact of APTX knockout in microglial cells, the immune cells of the brain. RNA-seq analysis revealed significant differences in the transcriptomes of wild-type and APTX knockout cells, especially in response to viral infections and innate immune pathways. Specifically, genes and proteins involved in the cGAS-STING and RIG-I/MAVS pathways were downregulated in APTX knockout cells, which suggests an impaired immune response to cytosolic DNA and RNA. The clinical relevance of these findings was supported by analyzing publicly available RNA-seq data from AOA1 patient cell lines. Comparisons between APTX-deficient patient cells and healthy control cells also revealed altered immune responses and dysregulated DNA- and RNA-sensing pathways in the patient cells. Overall, this study highlights the critical role of APTX in regulating innate immunity, particularly in DNA- and RNA-sensing pathways. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of AOA1 pathology and highlights potential therapeutic targets for this disease.
The Influence of Parenting Styles on Adolescents’ Anxiety and Depression ---the Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

The relationship between parenting styles (PS) and anxiety and depressive symptoms is one of the key research topics today. Researchers have found progress in the cause of adolescents’ anxiety and depressive symptoms regarding parenting styles. However, there are still research gaps for factors related to PS. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of PS on adolescents’ anxiety and depressive symptoms and treats self-efficacy (SE) as the mediator by collecting data from several scales (SAS, SDS, s-EMBU-C and GSE) and conducting SPSS 21.0 analysis on the data. According to the results in this paper, the father’s emotional warmth parenting style (EWPS) could affect the level of anxiety, whereas that of the mother had an insignificant result. Besides, both parents’ EWS were negatively and indirectly correlated with depression in significance. Additionally, the rejection parenting style (RPS) and over-protection parenting style (OPPS) affected anxiety and depression significantly directly and positively (all p < 0.05). That result turned out to be insignificant in the indirect path. Generally, this research provides an appropriate suggestion to lower anxiety and depressive symptoms. The suggestion is to encourage parents to offer more emotional warmth to their children instead of being RPS and OPPS.
An Analysis of Hurricane Debby (2000) and the Impact of Vertical Shear on the GFDL Forecast Performance.

Rhome, Jamie Robert. An Analysis of Hurricane Debby (2000) and the Impact of Vertical Shear on the GFDL Forecast Performance. (Under the direction of Dr. Sethu Raman). The need for improved tropical cyclone (TC) intensity guidance has never been greater given recent upward population trends in coastal areas. The difficulty in forecasting rapid intensity change remains one of the more challenging aspects of TC forecasting and was recently highlighted by the unexpected weakening of Hurricane Debby (2000) along the northern coast of Hispaniola on August 23, 2000. To address the need for improved understanding of rapid intensity change and the ability of dynamical TC models to accurately forecast intensity, a three-dimensional dynamical TC model (GFDL) is analyzed during the lifecycle of Debby. This was accomplished by first performing a comprehensive observational analysis making use of observed in-situ data as well as remotely sensed satellite data and derived products. Results from this analysis indicate that rapidly increasing vertical shear was the primary catalyst for the sudden weakening. Accordingly, vertical shear was analyzed within several operational simulations of the GFDL model near the time of weakening. This was accomplished by comparing the GFDL initial and forecast intensity with the National Hurricane Center official best track data as well as comparing the GFDL vertical shear with the AVN global analysis. Deviations in the GFDL intensity and vertical shear from the analysis data were considered to represent forecast error. These errors were then analyzed further by comparing the GFDL model forecast environmental wind field with a suite of observed data including GOES-8 satellitederived winds, NOAA G-IV dropwindsondes, and upper-air observations supplemented by the GFDL initial analysis (F00). Results indicate that errors in vertical shear were nearly coincident with deviations in observed intensity versus forecast intensity. These deviations were primarily the result of a misrepresentation of the upper-level flow in the model due to an overdeveloped downstream upper-level ridge. Additionally, an erroneous anticyclone developed over the model storm in several cases, resulting in significant weakening of the upper level westerly flow and associated vertical shear. In this case, the downstream anticyclone was more intense and closer to the storm in nearly all simulations analyzed. These findings are similar to previous studies where a storm to environment interaction has been identified as the result of redistribution of latent heat release due to convection and the downstream advection of the associated low Potential Vorticity (PV) outflow. The misrepresentation of convection and the associated effects on the surrounding environment is identified as the primary factor for both track and intensity forecast errors by the GFDL model during Debby. An Analysis of Hurricane Debby (2000) and the Impact of Vertical Shear on the GFDL Forecast Performance.
The implementation of an optical computer mouse as a low-cost displacement sensor

The accurate measurement of distance, position or displacement is a requirement in many robotics projects. This paper presents the investigation of a HP M-UAE96 optical mouse as a low-cost displacement sensor. Various resolutions were obtained on a Windows operating system in conjunction with MATLAB®. The Arduino IDE was used with a linear actuator module to accurately produce predetermined linear movements. The most suitable resolution was found to be 0.2 mm/pixel and was implemented on a parallel kinematic manipulator in a case study. Surface contact and length of measurement were significant factors that influenced measurement accuracy.
Social comparison: Causes and effects

Social comparison is a vague concept that is controversial from its basic definition to its further application as the original language from Festinger 1954 is too vague and unscientific. There are few articles responsible for clarifying the basic role of social comparison. Therefore, this article aims to clarify the effects and reasons for social comparison on the base of a socially acceptable definition of social comparison. The article will review several scientific research in specific aspects, and then try to string them together and form a general solution. The study demonstrates that the desire for self-realization or self-improvement will motivate social comparison, and these two motivations will function differently according to different directions of social comparison. In addition, motivations will contribute to the various effects of social comparison, and there is a negative correlation between social comparison orientation or upward social comparison and self-realization in the SNSs field. Both systematical reviewing and further suggestions are discussed in this article.
Enhancing Skin Disease Segmentation with Weighted Ensemble Region-Based Convolutional Network

: Skin diseases are a prevalent and diverse group of medical conditions that affect a significant portion of the global population. One critical drawback includes difficulty in accurately diagnosing certain skin conditions, as many diseases can share similar symptoms or appearances. In this paper, we propose a Weighted Ensemble Region-based Convolutional Network (WERCNN) methodology that consolidates a Mask R-CNN (Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network) with the weighted average ensemble technique to enhance the performance of segmentation tasks. A skin disease image dataset obtained from kaggle is utilized to segment the skin disease image. This study investigates the utilization of a Mask R-CNN in skin disease segmentation, where it is prepared on a skin disease image dataset of dermatological pictures. The weighted average ensemble model is utilized to optimize the weights of the Mask R-CNN model. The performance metrics accuracy, precision, recall, specificity, and F1-score are to be employed; this can achieve the values of 94.7%, 93.6%, 93.9%, 92.6%, and 93.7%, respectively. With regard to skin disease segmentation, the WERCNN has shown extraordinary in accurately segmenting the impacted regions of skin images by providing valuable insights to dermatologists for diagnosis and treatment planning.
Serum Metabolomic Alteration in Rats with Osteoarthritis Treated with Palm Tocotrienol-Rich Fraction Alone or in Combination with Glucosamine Sulphate

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint condition with limited disease-modifying treatments currently. Palm tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) has been previously shown to be effective against OA, but its mechanism of action remains elusive. This study aims to compare serum metabolomic alteration in Sprague–Dawley rats with monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced OA which were treated with palm TRF, glucosamine sulphate, or a combination of both. This study was performed on thirty adult male rats, which were divided into normal control (n = 6) and OA groups (n = 24). The OA group received intra-articular injections of MIA and daily oral treatments of refined olive oil (vehicle, n = 6), palm TRF (100 mg/kg, n = 6), glucosamine sulphate (250 mg/kg, n = 6), or a combination of TRF and glucosamine (n = 6) for four weeks. Serum was collected at the study’s conclusion for metabolomic analysis. The findings revealed that MIA-induced OA influences amino acid metabolism, leading to changes in metabolites associated with the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan as well as alterations in the metabolism of phenylalanine, tryptophan, arginine and proline. Supplementation with glucosamine sulphate, TRF, or both effectively reversed these metabolic changes induced by OA. The amelioration of metabolic effects induced by OA is linked to the therapeutic effects of TRF and glucosamine. However, it remains unclear whether these effects are direct or indirect in nature.
Evaluation of Osteogenic Potential for Rat Adipose-Derived Stem Cells under Xeno-Free Environment

This study aimed to develop a novel culture method for rat adipose-derived stem cells (rADSC) and evaluate their osteogenic potential. The rADSC cultured in xeno-free culture medium (XF-rADSCs) or conventional culture medium containing fetal bovine serum (FBS-rADSCs) were combined with micropieces of xeno-free recombinant collagen peptide to form 3-dimensional aggregates (XF-rADSC-CellSaic or FBS-rADSC-CellSaic). Both FBS-rADSC and XF-ADSC in CellSaic exhibited multilineage differentiation potential. Compared to FBS-rADSC-CellSaic, XF-rADSC-CellSaic accelerated and promoted osteogenic differentiation in vitro. When transplanted into rat mandibular congenital bone defects, the osteogenically differentiated XF-rADSC-CellSaic induced regeneration of bone tissue with a highly maturated structure compared to FBS-rADSC-CellSaic. In conclusion, XF-rADSC-CellSaic is a feasible 3-dimensional platform for efficient bone formation.
If You Want to Go Fast, Go Alone; If You Want to Go Far, Go Together. In Favor of a Partnership Approach to Directors of Incubators’ Dynamic Managerial Capabilities

On the cusp of the 2000s, the incubation industry had started to become competitive after 20 years of stability. The question of adapting incubators to this turbulent environment was now on the table. In this context, the aim of this article is to better understand the role of directors of incubators during the transformation process of their organizations. The concept of dynamic managerial capabilities is used as a means of responding to this gap. The capabilities of the directors of incubators were studied during a longitudinal multiple case study. The main contribution of this research is the partnership relationship built up by these actors to transform their organizations. The foundations of the directors’ dynamic managerial capabilities (cognition, human, and social capital) are then combined with the cognition, human, and social capital of their partners to seize opportunities: new incubation models that had been the subject of resistance to change within incubators.
Transceiver Design for IRS-Aided Massive MIMO Networks With Rate-Splitting

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), equipped with multiple reflective elements, is an important technology for improving the achievable rate and energy efficiency of communications. Meanwhile, rate-splitting (RS) is an approach that reduces the detrimental effect of multi-user interference in the system by splitting users’ messages into private and common parts. In this work, we use the RS method in an IRS-aided massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) system. We assume each user is equipped with multiple antennas and then design the transceiver, which include the precoder and the combiner. We analyze the performance of the achievable sum-rate when the base station (BS) and users know perfect channel state information (CSI) or only statistical CSI. We use a projected gradient descent method (PGDM) to optimize the IRS phase shifts by minimizing the mean-squared error (MSE) for data estimates when the system has mixed CSI. The performance of combiner and precoder quantization, as well as the limited feedback has also been investigated in simulations in terms of the achievable sum-rate by using the iterative chordal distance (ICD) method.
Oral sodium hyaluronate relieves knee discomfort: A 12‑week double‑blinded, placebo‑controlled study

Sodium hyaluronate (SH) is a high molecular-weight polysaccharide composed of repeating polymeric disaccharides of D-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. SH is present in every connective tissue and organ, with synovial fluid having the highest concentration of SH in the body. The effectiveness of oral SH on gonarthrosis is known; although, its influence on the knees of healthy individuals is not. However, as severe diseases may require surgery, it is better to take care of healthy knees before the onset of gonarthrosis. Therefore, the present study investigated the functionality of SH on the knee of healthy individuals. The present study was a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which healthy adults (mean age: Placebo group, 61.50±1.59; SH group, 58.50±1.81), rated as grade ≤1 based on the Kellgren-Lawrence classification, were administered 111 mg/day SH for 12 weeks. The evaluation of visual analog scales were performed to assess the discomfort in the knees of the participants and were conducted at baseline, and then 6 and 12 weeks after the start of SH ingestion. Additionally, a locomotive syndrome risk test quantifying the mobility of the participants, a one-leg standing time with eyes open test evaluating the strength of the leg muscle as well as the ability to balance by measuring the time to stand on one leg and a blood test (interleukin-10, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, γ-glutamyl transferase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase and C-reactive protein) were performed at baseline and then 12 weeks after the start of SH ingestion. A significant suppression of knee symptoms were demonstrated in the SH group compared with the placebo group in terms of the total visual analog scale scores for pain, stiffness and discomfort for the 31 healthy adult subjects. Significant suppression of symptoms was also demonstrated in the placebo group in terms of discomfort in the knees when descending stairs and pain in the knees after walking for a longer distance or duration than normal. No significant differences between the two groups were demonstrated in the locomotive syndrome risk test, one-leg standing time with eyes open test and the blood test. The results of the present study suggest the possibility that oral SH may help to maintain a healthy condition of the knees. The study protocol was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry in advance (registration no. UMIN000045980, November 4, 2021).