Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RandMixAugment: A Novel Unified Technique for Region- and Image-Level Data Augmentations

Deep learning models learn powerful representational spaces required for handling complex tasks. Recently, data augmentation techniques, region-level, and image-level augmentation have proved effective in significantly improving deep learning models’ generalization performance. Nevertheless, such methods may lose some critical features or are still computationally heavy (or inefficient) due to additional computation burdens. To address this issue, in this paper, we present a novel unified data augmentation method for deep learning models, namely, RandMixAugment, which effectively combines the intrinsic properties of region-level augmentation and image-level augmentation. Specifically, the proposed RandMixAugment employs automated augmentation with masking and mixing operations. Experiments are conducted on well-known CIFAR datasets (CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100) to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme compared to state-of-the-art augmentation techniques. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed RandMixAugment yields superior performance over state-of-the-art techniques on image classification tasks and further improves the performance of the baseline deep learning model by 1.2% and 2.4% on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets, respectively.
From Eyes on the Street to Safe Cities [Speaking of Places]

From Eyes on the Street floors and lighting is enhanced (3) A designated waiting area on a Toronto subway platform (4) Retail strip in Toronto neighborhood includes housing above stores, fruit and vegetable stands, ethnic food vendors and restaurants (5) Educational campaign by City of Toronto Safe City Committee to prevent lesbian and gay bashing {6) Nineteenth-century pedestrian lighting in Toronto became the model for new pedestrian lighting that is also energy efficient. Photos i, 2, 4, 5, 6: Gerda Wekerle Photo 3. Toronto Transit Commission P L AC E S 1 3 : 1
Analysis of Clinical Profiles and Echocardiographic Cardiac Outcomes in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) vs. PPCM with Co-Existing Hypertensive Pregnancy Disorder (HPD-PPCM) Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a form of new-onset heart failure that has a high rate of maternal morbidity and mortality. This was the first study to systematically investigate and compare clinical factors and echocardiographic findings between women with PPCM and co-incident hypertensive pregnancy disorders (HPD-PPCM) and PPCM-only women. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework. We used four databases and a single search engine, namely PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane. We used Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) 2.0 for quality assessment. Databases were searched for relevant articles published from 2013 to the end of April 2023. The meta-analysis used the DerSimonian–Laird random-effects model to analyze the pooled mean difference (MD) and its p-value. We included four studies with a total of 64,649 participants and found that systolic blood pressure was significantly more likely to be associated with the PPCM group than the HPD-PPCM group (SMD = −1.63) (95% CI; −4.92,0.28, p = 0.01), while the other clinical profiles were not significant. HPD-PPCM was less likely to be associated with LVEF reduction (SMD = −1.55, [CI: −2.89, −0.21], p = 0.02). HPD-PPCM was significantly associated with less LV dilation (SMD = 1.81; 95% (CI 0.07–3.01), p = 0.04). Moreover, HPD-PPCM was less likely to be associated with relative wall thickness reduction (SMD = 0.70; 95% CI (−1.08–−0.33), p = 0.0003). In conclusion, PPCM and HPD-PPCM shared different clinical profiles and remodeling types, which may affect each disease’s response to pharmacological treatment. Patients with HPD-PPCM exhibited less eccentric remodeling and seemed to have a higher chance of recovering their LV ejection fraction, which means they might not benefit as much from ACEi/ARB and beta-blockers. The findings of this study will guide the development of guidelines for women with PPCM and HPD-PPCM from early detection to further management.
Drug Delivery System Using a Buccal Film

The pharmaceutical industry has recently adopted a revolutionary strategy concerning the dosage form ' s composition and delivery methods, it is necessary to generate unique dosage forms in order to increase patient compliance, safety, and effectiveness. Enzymes are responsible for both the ﬁ rst-pass digestion and subsequent degradation of common oral dosage forms, although mucoadhesive ﬁ lms can prevent this issue, so, the creation of the buccal ﬁ lm is just one of the cutting-edge technologies that serve as an alternative to the conventional oral solid dosage form particularly for young children and elderly patients who have trouble swallowing. The buccal ﬁ lm is easier to use, visually appealing, and more suitable than alternative buccal drug administration since it is non-irritating, simple to use, quickly absorbed, elegant, and biodegradable (1). The buccal mucosa offers a direct pathway into the bloodstream while eliminating an acidic environment. The most popular method for producing a buccal ﬁ lm is called ﬁ lm casting for delivering proteins and personal care items. This article provides a thorough analysis of the buccal ﬁ lm ' s advantages, drawbacks, evaluation criteria, and formulation.
The Immunodiagnostic Utility of Antinuclear Antibody Patterns: A Prediction for Renal Involvement in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

Objectives Previous studies have noted associations between the immunofluorescence patterns of antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) and the autoimmune responses seen in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this study, the authors tested the hypothesis of whether ANA patterns predict renal involvement in SLE patients. Method A retrospective study was carried out on consecutive SLE patients who had ANA staining pattern data and who were screened for renal involvement defined as all-stage proteinuria or chronic kidney disease (CKD) at a referral tertiary center in western Saudi Arabia from December 2021 to February 2022. Demographic data and levels of lupus immune markers including ANA titers, anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid antibodies (anti-dsDNA), complements C3 and C4, anticardiolipin (aCL) immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM, anti-β2 glycoprotein (β2-IgM and β2-IgG), and lupus anticoagulant (LA) antibodies were collected. Result Among 243 patients included, 25.1% had renal involvement (95% confidence interval {CI}=19.8-31.0). A mixed ANA pattern was associated with a higher prevalence of renal involvement (46.2%), followed by homogenous (26.5%) and speckled (25.6%) patterns, compared with 4.5% for the other patterns (p=0.044). No further association of renal involvement was observed with other biological markers. Adjusted logistic regression showed age (odds ratio {OR}=0.95; 95% CI=0.92-0.97) and mixed ANA pattern (OR=26.66; 95% CI=2.53-281.11) to be independently associated with renal involvement, explaining 12.6% of the variance. Conclusion A mixed homogenous/speckled ANA staining pattern is associated with an increased risk of renal involvement, independent of ANA titer or other lupus immune markers. The potential clinical applications of the ANA staining pattern in SLE should be explored in various subtypes of SLE and patient groups.
Status Report on the Ridge Multibeam Bathymetry Synthesis

The Ridge Multibeam Bathymetry Synthesis (RidgeMBS) is a compilation of multibeam bathymetry data, digital elevation models, and shaded relief images of the seafloor from the world’s mid-ocean ridges. This effort was initiated in 1993 with the support of the NSF-sponsored RIDGE program in recognition of the importance of bathymetry data as a baseline data set for understanding crustal creation and as an integrating framework for multidisciplinary studies at ridges.
Research on machine vision and deep learning based recognition of cotton seedling aphid infestation level

Aphis gossypii Glover is a major insect pest in cotton production, which can cause yield reduction in severe cases. In this paper, we proposed the A. gossypii infestation monitoring method, which identifies the infestation level of A. gossypii at the cotton seedling stage, and can improve the efficiency of early warning and forecasting of A. gossypii, and achieve precise prevention and cure according to the predicted infestation level. We used smartphones to collect A. gossypii infestation images and compiled an infestation image data set. And then constructed, trained, and tested three different A. gossypii infestation recognition models based on Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN), You Only Look Once (YOLO)v5 and single-shot detector (SSD) models. The results showed that the YOLOv5 model had the highest mean average precision (mAP) value (95.7%) and frames per second (FPS) value (61.73) for the same conditions. In studying the influence of different image resolutions on the performance of the YOLOv5 model, we found that YOLOv5s performed better than YOLOv5x in terms of overall performance, with the best performance at an image resolution of 640×640 (mAP of 96.8%, FPS of 71.43). And the comparison with the latest YOLOv8s showed that the YOLOv5s performed better than the YOLOv8s. Finally, the trained model was deployed to the Android mobile, and the results showed that mobile-side detection was the best when the image resolution was 256×256, with an accuracy of 81.0% and FPS of 6.98. The real-time recognition system established in this study can provide technical support for infestation forecasting and precise prevention of A. gossypii.
Cerebellar and basal ganglia inputs define three main nuclei in the mouse ventral motor thalamus

The thalamus is a central link between cortical and subcortical brain motor systems. Axons from the deep nuclei of the cerebellum (DCN), or the output nuclei of the basal ganglia system (substantia nigra reticulata, SNr; and internal pallidum GPi/ENT) monosynaptically innervate the thalamus, prominently some nuclei of the ventral nuclear group. In turn, axons from these ventral nuclei innervate the motor and premotor areas of the cortex, where their input is critical for planning, execution and learning of rapid and precise movements. Mice have in recent years become a widely used model in motor system research. However, information on the distribution of cerebellar and basal ganglia inputs in the rodent thalamus remains poorly defined. Here, we mapped the distribution of inputs from DCN, SNr, and GPi/ENT to the ventral nuclei of the mouse thalamus. Immunolabeling for glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission markers delineated two distinct main territories, characterized each by the presence of large vesicular glutamate transporter type 2 (vGLUT2) puncta or vesicular GABA transporter (vGAT) puncta. Anterograde labeling of axons from DCN revealed that they reach virtually all parts of the ventral nuclei, albeit its axonal varicosities (putative boutons) in the vGAT-rich sector are consistently smaller than those in the vGLUT2-rich sector. In contrast, the SNr axons innervate the whole vGAT-rich sector, but not the vGLUT2-rich sector. The GPi/ENT axons were found to innervate only a small zone of the vGAT-rich sector which is also targeted by the other two input systems. Because inputs fundamentally define thalamic cell functioning, we propose a new delineation of the mouse ventral motor nuclei that is consistent with the distribution of DCN, SNr and GPi/ENT inputs and resembles the general layout of the ventral motor nuclei in primates.
Application of neural network algorithm in electromechanical automatic control system

In order to understand the application effect of electromechanical automatic control system, a neural network algorithm in the application of electromechanical automatic control system is proposed. This paper firstly analyzes the concept of electrical automation and neural network algorithm in detail, and then describes the advantages of neural network algorithm in electrical automatic control. Finally, the application of neural network algorithm in electrical automatic control is analyzed. In this paper, the application of neural network algorithm in electrical engineering automation is analyzed, and some suggestions are provided for the development of electrical engineering automation.
Managing the Impacts of Rising Watertables and Salinity on Remaining Pavement Life: Report of 2005/2006 Activities

This report comprises a technical review and update on new knowledge about salinity impacts and pavements. A review of recent literature and research outputs has indicated that there are knowledge gaps in the area of how salinity affects pavements and these are discussed in the report. Climate assessment and watertable trends throughout Australia are also discussed. There has been a decade of drier than average years throughout many parts of southeastern Australia and south-west Western Australia, resulting in a prolonged soil moisture deficit. A reduction in winter spring rainfall has meant a lowering of the watertable in many salt-affected catchments. (a)
SD-ALB: Software Defined Adaptive load balancing in Data Center Network

Network monitoring has crucial importance in data center networks to analyze the behavior of the underlying network. This analysis is used for working on multiple network parameters and load balancing is one of them. This article proposes an adaptive load-balancing approach to balance the load between the servers while changing its behavior with a change in traffic. Software Defined Networking (SDN) provides the single point of network configuration called SDN controller. This approach is facilitating the easy implementation of adaptive load balancing in Data Center Networks. The proposed approach is an extension to the LBBCLT load balancing approach that uses a dynamic probe generator to probe the servers about the response time and link bandwidth. We incorporate a path selection module in it and the path is selected using the Ant Colony Optimization. The results show that the bandwidth consumption and throughput have been improved and servers are receiving the load according to their capacities.
Smart Substation Communications and Cybersecurity: A Comprehensive Survey

Electrical grids generate, transport, distribute and deliver electrical power to consumers through a complex Critical Infrastructure which progressively shifted from an air-gaped to a connected architecture. Specifically, Smart Substations are important parts of Smart Grids, providing switching, transforming, monitoring, metering and protection functions to offer a safe, efficient and reliable distribution of electrical power to consumers. The evolution of electrical power grids was closely followed by the digitization of all its parts and improvements in communication and computing infrastructures, leading to an evolution towards digital smart substations with improved connectivity. However, connected smart substations are exposed to cyber threats which can result in blackouts and faults which may propagate in a chain reaction and damage electrical appliances connected across the electrical grid. This work organizes and offers a comprehensive review of architectural, communications and cybersecurity standards for smart substations, complemented by a threat landscape analysis and the presentation of a Defense-in-Depth strategy blueprint. Furthermore, this work examines several defense mechanisms documented in the literature, existing datasets, testbeds and evaluation methodologies, identifying the most relevant open issues which may guide and inspire future research work.
Association of hypoglycaemia with the risks of arrhythmia and mortality in individuals with diabetes - a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Hypoglycaemia has been linked to an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias by causing autonomic and metabolic alterations, which may be associated with detrimental outcomes in individuals with diabetes(IWD), such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and mortality, especially in multimorbid or frail people. However, such relationships in this population have not been thoroughly investigated. For this reason, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Relevant papers published on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and CINHAL complete from inception to December 22, 2022 were routinely searched without regard for language. All of the selected articles included odds ratio, hazard ratio, or relative risk statistics, as well as data for estimating the connection of hypoglycaemia with cardiac arrhythmia, CVD-induced death, or total death in IWD. Regardless of the heterogeneity assessed by the I2 statistic, pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using random-effects models. Results After deleting duplicates and closely evaluating all screened citations, we chose 60 studies with totally 5,960,224 participants for this analysis. Fourteen studies were included in the arrhythmia risk analysis, and 50 in the analysis of all-cause mortality. Hypoglycaemic patients had significantly higher risks of arrhythmia occurrence (RR 1.42, 95%CI 1.21-1.68), CVD-induced death (RR 1.59, 95% CI 1.24-2.04), and all-cause mortality (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.49-1.90) compared to euglycaemic patients with significant heterogeneity. Conclusion Hypoglycaemic individuals are more susceptible to develop cardiac arrhythmias and die, but evidence of potential causal linkages beyond statistical associations must await proof by additional specifically well planned research that controls for all potential remaining confounding factors.
The Circular RNA circFGFR4 Facilitates Resistance to Anti-PD-1 of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Targeting the miR-185-5p/CXCR4 Axis

Purpose One of the most catastrophic malignant tumors is triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). It is characterized by rapid progression in the clinic. CircRNAs are abnormally expressed in almost all cancers and play important roles in tumor immune evasion. Nevertheless, the biological roles of the circular fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 RNA (circFGFR4) in TNBC remain unclear. Methods The expression of circFGFR4 in TNBC tissues and paired nontumor tissues was detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The role of circFGFR4 in TNBC immune evasion was estimated by analyzing clinical tissues. In vivo circRNA precipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, and luciferase reporter assays were performed to explore interaction between circFGFR4 and miR-185-5p. Results Our results indicated that circFGFR4 was significantly overexpressed in TNBC tissues. Upregulated circFGFR4 expression was correlated with decreased CD8+ T cell infiltration in tumor tissues and resistance to anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy in TNBC patients and mice bearing TNBC tumors. Forced circFGFR4 expression inhibited CD8+ T cell infiltration in tissue sections from TNCB tumor bearing mice. Mechanistically, circFGFR4 competitively sponged miR-185-5p and prevented miR-185-5p from decreasing the levels of C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4). Conclusion Ultimately, our results indicated that circFGFR4 plays an important role in immune evasion and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy resistance via regulates miR-185-5p/CXCR4 axis in TNBC, thus suggesting that circFGFR4 has significant potential as a biomarker for predicting sensitivity to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy and as an immunotherapeutic target for TNBC.
Ophthalmic Findings and Their Effect on Visual Function in Persons with Albinism in Southern Nigeria

Aim: To determine the pattern of ocular disorders in persons with albinism and how they affect visual function. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over a five-month period on persons living with albinism in Southern Nigeria. The study participants were randomly selected during the monthly meetings of a support group known as The Albinism Foundation (TAF). Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were assessed using the ETDRS visual acuity chart and Pelli Robson contrast sensitivity test chart. A comprehensive eye examination including dilated fundoscopy was also carried out to determine other ocular disorders. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and statistical significance was set at a p-value ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 116 PWA (232 eyes) were examined. There were 44 (37.9%) males and 72 (62.1%) females. The age of the study subjects ranged from 5 to 56 years. Most eyes were visually impaired for both distance (n=228; 98.3%) and near vision (n= 224; 96.6%). Contrast sensitivity in most eyes (n=138; 59.5%) was subnormal. With refraction and Low Vision Aid (LVA), there was significant improvement of the mean VA by 2-3 acuity lines and 6 acuity lines respectively (p=0.000). All the examined eyes had fundus hypo-pigmentation, 91.4% (n=212) had iris trans-illumination, 86.2% (n=200) had nystagmus, and 34.4% (n=80) had strabismus. Nystagmus, strabismus and iris trans-illumination significantly (p=0.00) reduced visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. Conclusion: Most study participants had reduced distance visual acuity and contrast sensitivity but with correction there was a significant improvement in vision. The presence of nystagmus, strabismus and iris trans-illumination were observed to contribute to the poor vision experienced by most persons living with albinism. Hence, early optical intervention and counselling is important in improving the quality of living of persons with albinism.
An Enhanced Real-Time Shadow Rendering Technique in Outdoor Augmented Reality

In this paper, the point is to give steady shadows amongst virtual and genuine objects for outdoor scene without requiring any earlier data. The technique gives a real-time framework for recreating reliable virtual shadows in an outdoor scene. The proposed procedure firstly handles the shadow areas because of genuine things; secondly ensures the pixels in genuine shadow are prevented from more rendering and finally rendering shadows because of virtual things. The main research contribution, in addition to shadow refinement, is handling the overlap between real and virtual shadows. Consequently those shadows for virtual things are depend on the shadows of real things. The experimental results create the impression that the recommended system has basically upgraded that authenticity about steady outside augmented reality rendering, in this manner taking care of the issue of practical augmented reality frameworks. Results show a comparison of shadow rendering between proposed technique and other techniques in different resolutions.
Diamond growth in a high temperature and high pressure Fe–Ni–C–Si system: Effect of synthesis pressure

Pressure is one of the necessary conditions for diamond growth. Exploring the influence of pressure on growth changes in silicon-doped diamonds is of great value for the production of high-quality diamonds. This work reports the morphology, impurity content and crystal quality characteristics of silicon-doped diamond crystals synthesized under different pressures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows that with the increase of pressure, the nitrogen content in the C- center inside the diamond crystal decreases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy test results show the presence of silicon in the diamond crystals synthesized by adding silicon powder. Raman spectroscopy data shows that the increase in pressure in the Fe–Ni–C–Si system shifts the Raman peak of diamonds from 1331.18 cm−1 to 1331.25 cm−1, resulting in a decrease in internal stress in the crystal. The half-peak width decreased from 5.41 cm−1 to 5.26 cm−1, and the crystallinity of the silicon-doped diamond crystals improved, resulting in improved quality. This work provides valuable data that can provide a reference for the synthesis of high-quality silicon-doped diamonds.