Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual Sampling Based Causal Intervention for Face Anti-Spoofing With Identity Debiasing

Improving generalization to unseen scenarios is one of the greatest challenges in Face Anti-spoofing (FAS). Most previous FAS works focus on domain debiasing to eliminate the distribution discrepancy between training and test data. However, a crucial but usually neglected bias factor is the face identity. Generally, the identity distribution varies across the FAS datasets as the participants in these datasets are from different regions, which will lead to serious identity bias in the cross-dataset FAS tasks. In this work, we resort to causal learning and propose Dual Sampling based Causal Intervention (DSCI) for face anti-spoofing, which improves the generalization of the FAS model by eliminating the identity bias. DSCI treats the bias as a confounder and applies the backdoor adjustment through the proposed dual sampling on the face identity and the FAS feature. Specifically, we first sample the data uniformly on the identity distribution that is obtained by a pretrained face recognition model. By feeding the sampled data into a network, we can get an estimated FAS feature distribution and sample the FAS feature on it. Sampling the FAS feature from a complete estimated distribution can include potential counterfactual features in the training, which effectively expands the training data. The dual sampling process helps the model learn the real causality between the FAS feature and the input liveness, allowing the model to perform more stably across various identity distributions. Extensive experiments demonstrate our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on both intra- and cross-dataset evaluations.
Dynamic Trust-Based Redactable Blockchain Supporting Update and Traceability

Blockchain, as an emerging technology, is constantly evolving due to its remarkable advantages but is also subject to its unalterability, which leads to the misuse of blockchain storage and causes adverse effects. Hence, the redactable blockchain was proposed, which can alleviate the above issues in a controlled manner. However, a situation exists in which the modifiers specified by customized identities or attributes in the existing schemes may be malicious, which can easily lead to malicious modification events. Evaluating, filtering, and limiting malicious modifiers in advance may be a feasible solution to the situation. Hence, we propose an efficient dynamic trust-based redactable blockchain supporting update and traceability, which offers full-process security with pre-modification pre-evaluation, modification privilege restrictions, and post-modification traceability. Firstly, we consider the user’s various behaviors and multiple factors and customize a dynamic trust evaluation model for redactable blockchain to comprehensively evaluate the reliability of the user. Then, we combine the user’s trust worthiness, dynamic proactive secret sharing(<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DPSS}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), chameleon hash(<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {CH}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and digital signature (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DS}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) to design a dynamic trust-based chameleon hash supporting update and traceability, called <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DTCH}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, to realize full-process security, and prove its security. Thirdly, we construct the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {DTCH}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-based redactable blockchain supporting update and traceability, demonstrate its security and further apply it to consortium blockchain. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the constructed model and scheme, and the evaluation results illuminate that they are not only effective but also possess better performance.
Japanese encephalitis virus perturbs PML-nuclear bodies by engaging in interactions with distinct porcine PML isoforms

Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein constitutes an indispensable element within PML-nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), playing a pivotal role in the regulation of multiple cellular functions while coordinating the innate immune response against viral invasions. Simultaneously, numerous viruses elude immune detection by targeting PML-NBs. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a flavivirus that causes Japanese encephalitis, a severe neurological disease that affects humans and animals. However, the mechanism through which JEV evades immunity via PML-NBs has been scarcely investigated. In the present study, PK15 cells were infected with JEV, and the quantity of intracellular PML-NBs was enumerated. The immunofluorescence results indicated that the number of PML-NBs was significantly reduced in JEV antigen-positive cells compared to viral antigen-negative cells. Subsequently, ten JEV proteins were cloned and transfected into PK15 cells. The results revealed that JEV non-structural proteins, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5, significantly diminished the quantity of PML-NBs. Co-transfection was performed with the five JEV proteins and various porcine PML isoforms. The results demonstrated that NS2B colocalized with PML4 and PML5, NS4A colocalized with PML1 and PML4, NS4B colocalized with PML1, PML3, PML4, and PML5, while NS3 and NS5 interacted with all five PML isoforms. Furthermore, ectopic expression of PML isoforms confirmed that PML1, PML3, PML4, and PML5 inhibited JEV replication. These findings suggest that JEV disrupts the structure of PML-NBs through interaction with PML isoforms, potentially leading to the attenuation of the host’s antiviral immune response.
The spectral responses of Ceratophyllum demersum at varying depths in an experimental tank

This study was designed to investigate the spectral responses of Ceratophyllum demersum, a common submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), with varying depth in columns of both clear and algae-laden water. The experiments were undertaken in a tank 20 500 l in volume, 360 cm in diameter and with a total depth of 150 cm. The first experiment was executed under a clear-water condition and the second was completed with an addition of algal solution to the tank. Spectral data were acquired using an ASD FieldSpec ultraviolet/visible and near-infrared (UV/VNIR) spectroradiometer with wavelengths ranging from 348-1074 nm. Results indicate that reflectance between 700-900 nm decreased as the depth of the macrophyte increased for both clear and algal-laden waters due simply to the absorption of light by the increasing volume of water. The 'green peak' of algal chlorophyll, on the other hand, increased as the depth to the macrophyte increased. The '700 peak' shifted towards shorter wavelengths as the macrophyte's depth increased. Spectral reflectance curves for depths of 100 cm and 110 cm tended to merge together. But the SAV could still be detected at wavelengths of 538 nm and 706 nm.
Ratcheting Effects on Regional Government Revenue and Expenditure Budgets in Indonesia

This study was conducted to determine the existence of a ratchet effect in the regional revenue and expenditure budget. This research is quantitative descriptive research. The population used in this study were 34 provincial governments in Indonesia. The data used in this study are regional revenue and expenditure budgets data in 2019-2021 from the Ministry of Finance. A simple linear regression model is used to test the research hypothesis. The results of the study found that there was a ratcheting effect in the regional government revenue and expenditure budgets of provincial governments in Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that there is a ratchet effect in the preparation of regional revenue and expenditure budgets. The existence of a ratchet effect in regional revenue and expenditure budgeting implies that the model for setting regional revenue and expenditure budget targets provides incentives for budget actors to behave opportunistically
Challenges for implementing design thinking for social innovation: Case study during online learning

Students can play a meaningful role in solving developmental challenges. Through online learning, Third-year Information Systems students were taught Stanford’s five-phase design thinking (empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test). The process helps students develop solutions to assist with the South African electricity crisis. The case study identified the challenges of implementing design thinking to build mobile application prototypes to assist with Sustainable Development Goal 7: affordable and clean energy challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case study used mixed methods. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 28 Information Systems students using an online survey. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. During the empathise phase, challenges were due to a lack of meaningful communication: 57% of students indicated that defining the problem was a challenge. During the ideate phase, 68% of the students stated that they struggled to create a solution. Students were required to use the Justinmind tool to develop their prototypes. However, 91% of students indicated that they struggled using Justinmind. During the final testing phase, 49% of students indicated that obtaining and incorporating user feedback was problematic. The research will provide insights and recommendations for improving the use of design thinking for social innovation during online learning.
Automated video-based measurement of eye closure using a remote camera for detecting drowsiness and behavioural microsleeps

A device capable of continuously monitoring an indi vi ual’s levels of alertness in real-time is highly desirable for preventing drowsiness and laps e related accidents. This thesis presents the development of a non-intrusive and light-insensitiv e video-based system that uses computervision methods to localize face, eyes, and eyelids po itions to measure level of eye closure within an image, which, in turn, can be used to ide ntify visible facial signs associated with drowsiness and behavioural microsleeps. The system was developed to be non-intrusive and li ght-insensitive to make it practical and end-user compliant. To non-intrusively monitor the subject without constraining their movement, the video was collected by placing a came r , a near-infrared (NIR) illumination source, and an NIR-pass optical filter at an eye-to -camera distance of 60 cm from the subject. The NIR-illumination source and filter make the sys tem insensitive to lighting conditions, allowing it to operate in both ambient light and co mplete darkness without visually distracting the subject. To determine the image characteristics and to quant itatively evaluate the developed methods, reference videos of nine subjects were recorded und er four different lighting conditions with the subjects exhibiting several levels of eye closu re, head orientations, and eye gaze. For each subject, a set of 66 frontal face reference images wa selected and manually annotated with multiple face and eye features. The eye-closure measurement system was developed us ing a top-down passive featuredetection approach, in which the face region of int erest (fROI), eye regions of interests (eROIs), eyes, and eyelid positions were sequential ly localized. The fROI was localized using an existing Haar-object detection algorithm. In add ition, a Kalman filter was used to stabilize and track the fROI in the video. The left and the r ight eROIs were localized by scaling the fROI with corresponding proportional anthropometric constants. The position of an eye within each eROI was detected by applying a template-match ing method in which a pre-formed eyetemplate image was cross-correlated with the sub-im ages derived from the eROI. Once the eye position was determined, the positions of the upper and lower eyelids were detected using a vertical integral-projection of the eROI. The detec ted positions of the eyelids were then used to measure eye closure.
Biochar mitigates N2O emissions by promoting complete denitrification in acidic and alkaline paddy soils

Biochar is an efficacious amendment for mitigating nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in soils. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms responsible for reduced N2O emissions by biochar in paddy soils remain inadequately elucidated. Here, using two typical paddy soils with contrasting pH values (5.40 and 7.56), the N2 and N2O fluxes and the associated functional genes were investigated in soil amended with varying amounts of biochar (0%, 0.5%, and 5%, weight/weight) via soil slurry incubation integrated with the N2/Ar technique and qPCR analysis. The results showed that N2O fluxes were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by 0.65–3.64 times following biochar amendment, concomitant with a significant (p < 0.05) increase in N2 fluxes (5.47–46.14%) in both acidic and alkaline paddy soils. As a result, the N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by 1.53–4.65 fold in both soil types. In acidic paddy soils, the enhanced denitrification rates and the decreased N2O/(N2O + N2) ratios exhibited a strong correlation with increased pH values. In alkaline paddy soil, these changes were ascribed to the enhanced nosZ Clade I gene abundance and nosZ/(nirS + nirK) ratio. Our findings reveal that biochar primarily mitigates N2O emissions in paddy soils by promoting its reduction to N2.
DNA Release from Polyaziridine Polyplexes Aided by Biomacromolecules: Effect of pH

The pH dependence of heparin and dextran sulfate aided release of DNA from its polyplexes with polyaziridine (PA) has been investigated using Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). The acoustic behavior of ternary systems indicated that the DNA decondensation was favored at physiological pH. When pH < 7.4, PA was significantly positively charged and ternary complexation occurred. When pH exceeded 7.4, very small proportion of DNA was released upon heparin addition due to marked reduction in cationic nature of PA. An increase in thickness at the interface due to adsorbed material at pH 9.0 showed the retention of heparin on the surface despite of negligible release of DNA. In terms of PA binding, heparin proved to be a better competitor than dextran sulfate.
High-resolution stratigraphic modeling of the vadose zone at the Savannah River Site low-level radioactive waste trenches disposal facility

The principal disposal facility for solid, hazardous, and mixed low-level radioactive wastes is located in the central part of the Savannah River Site. These wastes are generally disposed of in engineered, unlined trenches and excavations. The trenches vary in length and width but are typically constructed in the upper 7–8 m (21–24 ft) of the local sediments and in the vadose zone. Water from the surface must pass through the waste trenches and unsaturated vadose zone to reach the saturated water table and may contribute to groundwater contamination. The vadose zone underlying the study area extends to depths between approximately 20 and 24 m (65 and 78 ft). To comply with regulatory requirements, an investigation program was developed to characterize the vadose zone underlying two active disposal trench areas. A high-resolution vadose zone lithostratigraphic model was required before the installation and placement of experimental equipment to measure soil hydraulic properties. A detailed mathematical model of flow and transport could then use the stratigraphic model and the water flux information from the instrumentation, for example, to constrain a finite-element grid and arrive at the contaminant flow characteristics in the vadose interval. The two high-resolution stratigraphic models were developed and interpreted from field and laboratory data collected from continuous split-spoon borings, Shelby tube soil samples, piezocone penetration soundings using cone penetrometer technology (CPT), and borehole geophysical logs from nearby shallow monitoring wells. Exposed stratigraphy in open trenches and nearby cuts was also used. These models revealed (1) detailed lithostratigraphic and soil moisture conditions in the vadose zone, including three variations in depositional character roughly corresponding to previously defined formational contacts; (2) that indications that the lateral extent of many vadose zone bedforms is on the order of 20 m (66 ft) or less, therefore requiring vadose zone sampling points to be placed on spacings of less than 20 m (66 ft) for modeling; and (3) that once correlation and modeling have been performed, it is possible to use CPT data, matched to the model, to precisely place new sensors and instrument.
Analysis of Connectome Graphs Based on Boundary Scale

The purpose of this work is to advance in the computational study of connectome graphs from a topological point of view. Specifically, starting from a sequence of hypergraphs associated to a brain graph (obtained using the Boundary Scale model, BS2), we analyze the resulting scale-space representation using classical topological features, such as Betti numbers and average node and edge degrees. In this way, the topological information that can be extracted from the original graph is substantially enriched, thus providing an insightful description of the graph from a clinical perspective. To assess the qualitative and quantitative topological information gain of the BS2 model, we carried out an empirical analysis of neuroimaging data using a dataset that contains the connectomes of 96 healthy subjects, 52 women and 44 men, generated from MRI scans in the Human Connectome Project. The results obtained shed light on the differences between these two classes of subjects in terms of neural connectivity.
The new determinant creation theory: The case of Colombia

During the eighties, Latin America was surrounded by economic crises, increased external debt, and poor growth of the Gross Domestic Product as well as little attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). Later in the nineties, some countries in the region inspired by the desire to eliminate the protectionist model had to undertake reforms that sought to achieve their commercial opening to start a new economic model and thereby show the world as an attractive area for attracting investment mainly from Europe and Asia. One of the countries that made institutional changes (creation or improvement of several determinants) in the nineties as well as in the next decade was Colombia that, combined with other existing determinants, increased its FDI flows. In this research, the new determinant creation theory proposed by Botello and Dávila (2014) was applied to demonstrate which were the determinants used by Colombia to attract FDI during the period from 2005 to 2012. The results show that the design of an industrial policy focused on attracting FDI, as well as the increase of the Gross Domestic Product, the offer of natural resources to foreign investors, the skilled workforce and the improvements in infrastructure were the determinants that increased the probability of attracting capitals from abroad.
Hepato-Protective Activities of Ethanol Extracts of African Eggplant and Bitter Leaf in Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rats

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, which affect all system of the body including the liver. This study focused on the effect of the ethanol extract of African eggplant and bitter leaf and their combination on the liver structure, antioxidant enzymes activities and biochemical parameters in the liver of alloxan induced diabetic rats. Twenty-five male wistar rats were grouped into normal control group A, diabetic control group B, 100 mg/kg African eggplant extract treated group C, 100 mg/kg bitter leaf extract treated group D and combination of 100 mg/kg of African eggplant and 100 mg/kg bitter leaf treated group E. The results study showed that group E rats showed significant reduction in the activity of AST, ALP and AST. In the antioxidant enzyme activity, the administered extracts increased the antioxidant enzyme activities and reduced lipid peroxidation, thereby protecting the cells from oxidative stress. The micro- histo-architecture of the liver showed improvement and regenerative changes across the treated groups. The study reveal that combination of the ethanol leaf extract of bitter leaf and African eggplant can manage liver malfunction caused by diabetes.
The Use of Multiple Reference Station VRS for Precise Kinematic Positioning

This paper describes the design and testing of a RTK GPS system based on the use of a multiple reference station Virtual Reference Station (VRS) approach. The use of a multi-reference station network, as opposed to a single reference station, results in a larger service area coverage, a lower number of reference stations, increased robustness, and a higher positioning accuracy. The effective distance to the nearest reference station required to resolve the carrier phase integer ambiguities increases by a factor of 1.5 to 3. An overview of the approach is given which is sub-divided into two steps, namely error modeling and correction generation. The role of the covariance function is also described and some results using various error modeling approaches are given. A series of tests conducted using regional reference networks in Brazil and Canada demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach to reduce the time to integer ambiguity resolution, and to increase the distance over which centimeter level accuracies can be achieved.
Manipulating Molecular Self-Assembly Process at the Solid–Liquid Interface Probed by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

The phenomenon of ordered self-assembly on solid substrates is a topic of interest in both fundamental surface science research and its applications in nanotechnology. The regulation and control of two-dimensional (2D) self-assembled supra-molecular structures on surfaces have been realized through applying external stimuli. By utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), researchers can investigate the detailed phase transition process of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), providing insight into the interplay between intermolecular weak interactions and substrate–molecule interactions, which govern the formation of molecular self-assembly. This review will discuss the structural transition of self-assembly probed by STM in response to external stimuli and provide state-of-the-art methods such as tip-induced confinement for the alignment of SAM domains and selective chirality. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in the field of self-assembly and STM.
Edinburgh Research Explorer On the potential of TV white space spectrum to enable a low cost middle mile network infrastructure

—The attractiveness of TV white space (TVWS) spectrum for last mile access in rural and developing regions has been recognized before. In this paper, we complement this existing work and draw attention to the potential of TVWS spectrum for enabling low cost middle mile connectivity to the Internet backbone. In particular, we examine the amount and nature of TVWS spectrum available towards this end, considering a representative rural setting in the UK, TV transmitter locations and their conﬁguration, terrain information and antenna type. We introduce a new notion of receiver side usable spectrum that differs from the commonly considered available spectrum at transmitter side obtained from consulting a geolocation database. We ﬁnd that cumulative interference from multiple nearby TV transmitters can severely reduce the amount of usable TVWS spectrum and also heavily fragments it. However, the use of directional antennas, as would be the case for TVWS backhaul links, negates this effect and suggests the possibility of high speed TVWS backhaul links via spectrum aggregation.