Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Pyramid Attention Network With Edge Information Injection for Remote-Sensing Object Detection

Remote-sensing images (RSIs) are often characterized by high spatial resolution, strong object scale effects, and complex scenes, which pose great challenges to object detection. Although mainstream neural network-based methods work well in detecting common objects, they often fail to fully exploit the detailed structural information in the spatial domain, leading to poor performance for objects with diverse scales and distributions under complicated backgrounds. To address the above issue, we propose a pyramid attention network with edge information injection for remote-sensing object detection (RSOD). Considering each object is composed of the inner body and outer profile parts that correspond to the low- and high-frequency (LF and HF) components of the image, respectively, the difference between the original image and its LF component is beneficial for obtaining the HF counterpart. We design the edge information extraction module (EIEM) to mine the detailed edge features at multiple scales and subsequently inject them into features at corresponding scales in the backbone network. As for promoting the performance in complex scenes, we introduce a pyramid feature fusion (PFF) module, which leverages both local and global attention for establishing the long-range channel dependency, thereby highlighting objects that need to be concentrated on. To verify the effectiveness of our proposed method, we conduct extensive experiments on detection in optical remote sensing images (DIOR) and RSOD datasets with mean average precision (mAP) reaching 74.93% and 96.44%, respectively, demonstrating that our model achieved state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance compared to mainstream methods.
Growth technique and effect of post growth annealing on the optical properties of In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot heterostructures

In this paper, we have proposed a technique to maintain the constant overgrowth percentage of quantum dots (QDs) in all layers of a multistacked heterostructure and hence the dot size uniformity is achieved. Two samples have been grown and compared in terms of their optical properties. Post growth annealing was carried out to observe the variation in their properties. The active layer of sample A is composed of 2.7 monolayer (ML) InAs QDs and the QD deposition amount is same for all the stacks. For the proposed sample B, 8ML In(Ga)As QDs were grown as seed layer, and the subsequent QD deposition is kept constant at 5ML. The overgrowth percentage in all QD layers were constant (∼40%) for this sample. Monomodal photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra was observed for the proposed sample B, whereas sample A has multimodal spectra. The samples were subjected to post growth annealing in argon atmosphere for 650, 700, 750, 800, 850, and 900°C. A negligible shift in the PL peak was observed for sample B up to 750°C, which confirms better thermal stability. The PL activation energy variation with respect to the annealed temperature was negligible for the proposed sample B (∼ 165 meV up to 750 °C). Hence the proposed growth mode of In(Ga)As multistacked QD heterostructure has better optical characteristics than the conventional structure in terms of PL spectra, FWHM, and also activation energy.
Cardiomyopathy as cause of death in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a longitudinal observational study

Background Cardiomyopathy has become an important life-limiting factor since survival in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has greatly increased with long-term ventilation and cough assistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and survival. Methods In a >20-year observational study in patients with DMD (age ≥16 years) with at least three echocardiograms, the association between LVEF and survival and time to cardiac or non-cardiac death was investigated using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox regression (for LVEF). Results In 67 DMD patients (430 echocardiograms), the decrease in LVEF over a mean±sd follow-up period of 9.1±5.1 years was −10.0±13.9% absolute, but LVEF progression varied widely. 84% were receiving an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and 54% a β-blocker at last follow-up with an LVEF of 37.5±12.4% at that time-point. Median (interquartile range) survival was 33 (25–40) years. 28 out of 67 (42%) of the cohort had died and LVEF was a significant negative predictor of survival (hazard ratio 0.95 (95% CI 0.91–0.99); p<0.007). Those who died of cardiac death (53% of known causes of death) had significantly lower LVEF at the time of death (LVEF −11.0% (95% CI −21.1– −0.9%); p=0.035) compared with non-cardiac death and tended to die at a younger age. Conclusions Cardiomyopathy with systolic heart failure is the leading cause of death and lower LVEF is an independent predictor of mortality at younger ages in patients with DMD. Patients with DMD appear to be undertreated with respect to heart failure drug therapy. Tweetable abstract Cardiac death is the most common cause of death in adult patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy on home mechanical ventilation, and low left ventricular ejection fraction in Duchenne cardiomyopathy is strongly associated with reduced survival https://bit.ly/43md86m
Local-Global Fuzzy Clustering With Anchor Graph

Recently, anchor-based strategy is getting a lot of attention, which extends spectral clustering to reveal the dual relation between samples and features. However, the acquisition of clustering results follows the relaxed-discrete procedure, which might lead to serious information loss. Given that, local-global fuzzy clustering with anchor graph is proposed in this article, which jointly completes subspace learning and clustering. With the construction of anchor graph, we first impose the fuzzy constraint on the indicator matrix, which is beneficial for revealing the ambiguity and uncertainty in clustering tasks. Thereafter, we introduce the graph divergence regularization term for maximizing the variance of fuzzy indicator matrix, which not only avoids the trivial solutions in local graph learning, but also enhances the separability of data for explicit global structure. In this way, the local graph loss and global divergence regularization term are able to jointly capture the critical clustering structure. Finally, we can obtain the clustering results in accordance with the optimal fuzzy indicator matrix, which is updated alternately by the presented coordinate descent method in optimization process. Therefore, the desirable discrete labels come out automatically under the fuzzy strategy without extra discretization operations, which conforms to reality. The effectiveness of our method will be demonstrated through comprehensive experimental results.
Topologically distinct atomic insulators

Topological classification of quantum solids often (if not always) groups all trivial atomic or normal insulators (NIs) into the same featureless family. As we argue here, this is not necessarily the case always. In particular, when the global phase diagram of electronic crystals harbors topological insulators with the band inversion at various time-reversal invariant momenta ${\bf K}^{\rm TI}_{\rm inv}$ in the Brillouin zone, their proximal NIs display noninverted band-gap minima at ${\bf K}^{\rm NI}_{\rm min}={\bf K}^{\rm TI}_{\rm inv}$. In such systems, once topological superconductors nucleate from NIs, the inversion of the Bogoliubov de Gennes bands takes place at ${\bf K}^{\rm BdG}_{\rm inv}={\bf K}^{\rm NI}_{\rm min}$, inheriting from the parent state. We showcase this (possibly general) proposal for two-dimensional time-reversal symmetry-breaking insulators. Then distinct quantized thermal Hall conductivity and responses to dislocation lattice defects inside the paired states (tied with ${\bf K}^{\rm BdG}_{\rm inv}$ or ${\bf K}^{\rm NI}_{\rm min}$), in turn unambiguously identify different parent atomic NIs.
Selection of best compound fertilizer amended potting mixture for successful growth of black pepper (Piper nigrum l.) hybrid (“Dingirala”) nursery plants

Black Pepper, Piper nigrum L. ) is a perennial, evergreen, climbing vine and it is widely used as a spice and flavoring agent in the food industry and ayurvada medicine throughout the world. Therefore, continuous supply of pepper is important for the sustainability of these sectors. Pepper is usually propagated vegetatively using stem cuttings. Cuttings are planted in polythene bags filled with a mixture of equal parts of topsoil, cow dung, sand, and coir dust. Scarcity of cow dung and expensiveness resulted with huge demand are the limiting factors in commercial production of pepper. Incorporation of nitrogen and phosphorus containing fertilizers to potting mixture in the absence of cow dung may at least supply plant nutrients which highly essential for early growth of plants. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of different compound fertilizer for nursery plants of P. nigrum L, hybrid “Dingirala” in the absence of cow dung in the potting mixture. Four different levels (1, 2, 3, 4 g per pot) of four different compound fertilizers were taken as treatments such as T1- Yara Complex (N:P:K 12:11:18), T2- Yara Grower ( N:P:K 21:7:14), T3- NPK Balance (N:P:K 15:15:15) K as SOP, T4- NPK Balance (N:P:K 15:15:15) K as MOP and T5 a phosphate fertilizer Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) (N:P:K 18:46 :0). All were mixed into a modified potting mixture of topsoil: sand: coir dust 2:1:1 without cow dung. Control was the potting mixture already recommended by Department of Export Agriculture (top soil: sand: coir dust: cow dung, 2:1:1:1) without inorganic fertilizer. Each treatment contained three replicates per treatment. Complete Randomized Block Design (RCBD) was the experimental design and each block consisted with 50 plants. Two nodal cuttings of Black pepper hybrid Dingirala were planted and maintained in a propagator under a net house at central research station Matale (IM3a). After 105 days from establishment, survival percentage, growth parameters such as shoot length (cm), number of leaves and shoot dry weight (g) were measured. Soil parameters such as soil pH and EC and total N%, P% and K% of tissues were analyzed. Significantly highest (P<0.05) survival rate (91%) was recorded from recommended potting mixture used as control in this experiment and cuttings treated with 1g of Di-ammonium phosphate. Significantly highest (P<0.05) shoot length (39.1cm) was recorded from cuttings treated with 1g of Yara complex fertilizer (N:P:K 12:11:18) and Significantly highest (P<0.05) number of leaves (9.0) was recorded from cuttings treated with 1g of DAP fertilizer.Therefore, cuttings planted with top soil: sand: coir dust: cow dung, 2:1:1:1 is the best potting mixture and in absence of cow dung with normal potting mixture with 1g of Di-ammonium phosphate excelled all compound fertilizers in terms of overall growth, soil and leaf nutrient parameters of Hybrid "Dingirala" pepper nursery plants over the first 105 days after establishment.
A Hybrid Design Framework for Fast Transient and Voltage Balancing in a Three-Level Flying Capacitor Boost Converter With Digital Current Mode Control

Multilevel flying capacitor boost (MLFCB) dc–dc converters offer high power density even at high voltage gain, in which digital control can achieve fast transient, and high efficiency. However, the challenges remain in identifying simple yet useful analysis and design techniques to ensure stability and flying capacitor (FC) voltage balance under uniform sampling. This article proposes a hybrid framework for stability analysis and controller design in an MLFCB converter under digital current mode control (DCMC). Continuous-time (CT) small-signal models (SSMs) of an MLFCB converter are derived, which seem to closely resemble the SSMs of a traditional boost converter. Thereafter, a novel DCMC architecture is proposed, consisting of a type-II (output voltage) digital controller and a proportional FC voltage controller. With a slower FC voltage loop, the type-II controller is designed using the CT SSM, which fails to predict fast-scale instability while aiming for a higher closed-loop bandwidth. After that, a discrete-time (DT) modeling framework is developed, and the model accuracy is verified using SIMPLIS switch simulation. Using DT SSMs, a closed-loop stability analysis is carried out, and the digital type-II controller gains are further tuned to achieve fast transient performance with stability. A 100 W, 12/48 V three-level flying capacitor boost (3LFCB) converter prototype is developed, and the proposed DCMC is implemented using an field programmable gate array (FPGA) device. Transient performance and stability are demonstrated using experimental results, which are found to be consistent with the analytical predictions.
Transcriptome-Wide Identification and Response Pattern Analysis of the Salix integra NAC Transcription Factor in Response to Pb Stress

The NAC (NAM-ATAF1/2-CUC) transcription factor family is one of the largest plant-specific transcription factor families, playing an important role in plant growth and development and abiotic stress response. As a short-rotation woody plant, Salix integra (S. integra) has high lead (Pb) phytoremediation potential. To understand the role of NAC in S. integra Pb tolerance, 53 SiNAC transcripts were identified using third-generation and next-generation transcriptomic data from S. integra exposed to Pb stress, and a phylogenetic analysis revealed 11 subfamilies. A sequence alignment showed that multiple subfamilies represented by TIP and ATAF had a gene that produced more than one transcript under Pb stress, and different transcripts had different responses to Pb. By analyzing the expression profiles of SiNACs at 9 Pb stress time points, 41 of 53 SiNACs were found to be significantly responsive to Pb. Short time-series expression miner (STEM) analysis revealed that 41 SiNACs had two significant Pb positive response patterns (early and late), both containing 10 SiNACs. The SiNACs with the most significant Pb response were mainly from the ATAF and NAP subfamilies. Therefore, 4 and 3 SiNACs from the ATAF and NAP subfamilies, respectively, were selected as candidate Pb-responsive SiNACs for further structural and functional analysis. The RT-qPCR results of 7 transcripts also confirmed the different Pb response patterns of the ATAF and NAP subfamilies. SiNAC004 and SiNAC120, which were randomly selected from two subfamilies, were confirmed to be nuclear localization proteins by subcellular localization experiments. Functional prediction analysis of the associated transcripts of seven candidate SiNACs showed that the target pathways of ATAF subfamily SiNACs were “sulfur metabolism” and “glutathione metabolism”, and the target pathways of NAP subfamily SiNACs were “ribosome” and “phenylpropanoid biosynthesis”. This study not only identified two NAC subfamilies with different Pb response patterns but also identified Pb-responsive SiNACs that could provide a basis for subsequent gene function verification.
Channel preferences and attitudes of domestic buyers in purchase decision processes of high-value electronic devices

Objective: The objective of the article is to examine how respondents’ technological readiness (as an individual factor besides demographic characteristics) influences channel preference (in-store, online big-and small-screen at different stages of the purchasing decision process for high-value electronic devices (products). Research Design & Methods: The research encompassed data collected by a quantitative online survey of 415 respondents in Hungary. To identify homogenous groups in the sample, we used cluster analysis based on factors we determined among the technology-readiness variables. Findings: We identified the technological readiness index 2.0 (TRI) segments in our sample and our findings confirmed that the perceived technological readiness has a significant influence on customers’ channel choice. Implications & Recommendations: Customer experience (CX) is far more than satisfaction with the product; it is influenced by the total purchasing decision process starting at the need recognition and ending at the post-purchasing stage. The difficulties and uncertainties in any stage of the decision-making process result in anxiety and reduce the CX. The uncertainty can arise from factors related to the product, individual, or channel. Contribution & Value Added: Although the sample is not representative, it provides insight into how Hungarian respondents can be segmented based on technological readiness and how this affects their channel preferences during the customer journey through purchase decisions regarding electronic devices.
A computer-aided investigation on the fundamental limits of caching

We considered the optimal memory-transmission-rate tradeoff of caching systems. Different from the conventional analytical approach usually seen in the information theory literature, we rely on a computer-aided approach in this investigation. The linear programming (LP) outer bound of the entropy space serves as the starting point of this approach, however our effort goes significantly beyond using it to prove information inequalities. We first identify and formalize the symmetry structure in the problem, which enables us to show the existence of optimal symmetric solutions. A symmetry-reduced linear program is then used to identify the boundary of the memory-transmission-rate tradeoff for several simple cases, for which we obtain a set of tight outer bounds. General hypotheses on the optimal tradeoff region are formed from these computed data, which are then analytically proved. This leads to a complete characterization of the optimal tradeoff for systems with only two users, and certain partial characterization for systems with only two files. Next, we show that by carefully analyzing the joint entropy structure of the outer bounds for certain cases, a novel code construction can be reverse-engineered, which eventually leads to a general class of codes. Finally, we show that strong outer bounds can be computed through strategically relaxing the LP. This allows us firstly to deduce generic characteristic of the converse proof, and secondly to compute outer bounds for larger problem cases, despite the seemingly impossible computation scale.
Environmental stress, majoritarianism, and social unrest in Europe

ABSTRACT As climate change continues to affect countries worldwide, scholars have begun considering the impact of environmental stress for political instability in industrialized countries. This paper analyzes the risk of social unrest in various European political systems in relation to the interaction of environmental stress and electoral institutions. We use a spatially and temporally disaggregated dataset to examine the possible relationships between environmental stress and social unrest in all European Union member countries from 2000 to 2020. We find that there are stark differences between the observed interaction of majoritarian electoral features and environmentally induced unrest in those European states with a history of Communist rule or climate vulnerability versus the rest of Europe. Overall, these results suggest that electoral systems play an important but heterogenous role in the understanding of climate change and political unrest.
T^aches de raisonnement en logiques hybrides

Reasoning Tasks for Hybrid Logics Modal logics are logics enabling representing and infering knowledge. Hybrid logic is an extension of the basic modal logic that contains nominals which enable to refer to a single individual or world of the model. In this thesis, we present several tableaux-based algorithms for expressive hybrid logics. We also present an implementation of these calculi and we describe correctness and performance tests we carried out, and the tools that enable these. Moreover, we study a particular family of logics related to hybrid logics: logics with counting operators. We investigate previous results, and study the complexity and decidability of certain of these languages.
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) applications in cognitive aging: a review and commentary

Differentiating healthy from pathological aging trajectories is extremely timely, as the global population faces an inversion where older adults will soon outnumber younger 5:1. Many cognitive functions (e.g., memory, executive functions, and processing speed) decline with age, a process that can begin as early as midlife, and which predicts subsequent diagnosis with dementia. Although dementia is a devastating and costly diagnosis, there remains limited evidence for medications, therapies, and devices that improve cognition or attenuate the transition into dementia. There is an urgent need to intervene early in neurodegenerative processes leading to dementia (e.g., depression and mild cognitive impairment). In this targeted review and commentary, we highlight transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) as a neurostimulation method with unique opportunities for applications in diseases of aging, reviewing recent literature, feasibility of use with remote data collection methods/telehealth, as well as limitations and conflicts in the literature. In particular, small sample sizes, uneven age distributions of participants, lack of standardized protocols, and oversampling of non-representative groups (e.g., older adults with no comorbid diagnoses) limit our understanding of the potential of this method. We offer recommendations for how to improve representativeness, statistical power, and generalizability of tVNS research by integrating remote data collection techniques.
Concerns about Least Squares Estimation for the Three-Parameter Weibull Distribution: Case Study of Statistical Software

Least Squares estimation of the 2-parameter Weibull distribution is straightforward; however, there are concerns for the estimation of the 3-parameter Weibull. The third parameter for the 3-parameter Weibull distribution shifts the origin from 0 to some generally positive value sometimes called the location, threshold, or minimum life. The different methods used by the packages sometimes result in fairly major differences in the estimated parameters between the statistical packages. This may have implications for those needing to estimate or apply the results of a 3-parameter Weibull distribution that is used frequently in practice. The results are analyzed based on an experimental design using pseudo-random Weibull data sets.
Multistability and Modal Interactions in Periodic 2D Coupled Pendulums Array

The collective dynamics of an array of periodic two dimensional (2D) coupled pendulums under harmonic horizontal base excitation is investigated. The coupled differential equations governing the nonlinear vibrations of the considered system have been solved using an analytical-numerical solving procedure, based on the multiple scales method coupled with standing wave decomposition. It allows the identification of complex and wide variety of nonlinear phenomenon exhibited by the periodic nonlinear structure. The frequency responses for several coupled pendulums were calculated in order to analyze the stability, the modal interactions and the bifurcation topologies resulting from the collective dynamics of the coupled pendulums, while highlighting the large number of multimodal solutions for a small number of coupled pendulums. The complexity and the multivaludness of the responses were illustrated by a study of basins of attraction which display the large distribution of the multi-mode branches.Copyright © 2016 by ASME