Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporal Pixel-Level Semantic Understanding Through the VSPW Dataset

Scene understanding through pixel-level semantic parsing is one of the main problems in computer vision. Till now, image-based methods and datasets for scene parsing have been well explored. However, the real world is naturally dynamic instead of a static state. Thus, learning to perform video scene parsing is more practical for real-world applications. Considering that few datasets cover an extensive range of scenes and object categories with temporal pixel-level annotations, in this work, we present a large-scale video scene parsing dataset, namely VSPW (Video Scene Parsing in the Wild). To be specific, there are a total of 251,633 frames from 3,536 videos with densely pixel-wise annotations in VSPW, including a large variety of 231 scenes and 124 object categories. Besides, VSPW is densely annotated with a high frame rate of 15 f/s, and over 96% of videos from VSPW have high spatial resolutions from 720P to 4 K. To the best of our knowledge, VSPW is the first attempt to address the challenging video scene parsing task in the wild by considering diverse scenes. Based on our VSPW, we further propose Temporal Attention Blending (TAB) Networks to harness temporal context information for better pixel-level semantic understanding of videos. Extensive experiments on VSPW well demonstrate the superiority of the proposed TAB over other baseline approaches. We hope the new proposed dataset and the explorations in this work can help advance the challenging yet practical video scene parsing task in the future. Both the dataset and the code are available at www.vspwdataset. com.
Floating poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based controlled-release drug delivery system for intravesical instillation

Objectives To investigate the floating, structural, and controlled-release characteristics of a floating poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-based controlled-release drug delivery system, and determine the feasibility of this drug delivery system for intravesical instillation. Methods PLGA was dissolved in dimethylacetamide, then mixed with IR780 and doxorubicin (DOX) to prepare a drug delivery system capable of solidification and flotation on water at room temperature. Preparations of PLGA, PLGA+IR780, PLGA+DOX, and PLGA+IR780+DOX were formulated. Their floating characteristics in vivo and in vitro were investigated, along with their structural and controlled-release characteristics. Preparations of saline, DOX, and PLGA+IR780+DOX were also formulated; the content of DOX in bladder tissue delivered by each preparation was determined by fluorescence microscopy. Results PLGA exhibited stable flotation in vivo and in vitro. A honeycomb structure was observed by scanning electron microscopy. When irradiated with a near-infrared laser, IR780 generated heat that vitrified PLGA, allowing controlled release of DOX from the drug delivery system. The PLGA+IR780+DOX preparation achieved the highest content of DOX in bladder tissue. Conclusions Our floating PLGA-based controlled-release drug delivery system exhibited a honeycomb stabilized structure and achieved controlled release when irradiated by a near-infrared laser, making it an ideal drug delivery system for intravesical instillation.
Semiclassical resolvent estimates

We prove estimates in the semiclassical regime of small h on the boundary values of the resolvent of the Schrodinger operator: H(h)=−h 2 Δ+V in a neighborhood of a non-trapping energy E. The potential V is bounded, but not necessarily decaying with derivatives decaying at infinity. The method also applies to potentials with local singularities and to a family of Stark Hamiltonians. The proof is based on Mourre theory and decay estimates for wave packets in the classically forbidden region Dans le regime semi-classique (h petit), on estime les valeurs au bord de la resolvante de l'operateur de Schrodinger H(h)=−h 2 Δ+V dans un voisinage d'une energie non liante E. Le potentiel V est borne mais n'est pas necessairement decroissant mais ou avec des derivees decroissantes a l'infini. Cette methode s'applique aussi a des potentiels avec des singularites locales et a une famille d'hamiltoniens de Stark
Sleep Quality of Family Caregivers of Children With Tracheostomies or Home Ventilators: A Scoping Review

Family caregivers of children with tracheostomies or home ventilators are more likely to experience poor sleep quality when undertaking the full responsibility of caring for fragile children. This scoping review aimed to identify the sleep quality, related factors, and their impact on the health of family caregivers of children with tracheostomies or home ventilators. The included studies (N = 16) were retrieved through PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Family caregivers’ sleep were low in quality, frequently disturbed, and insufficient. Their sleep quality was related to fatigue, anxiety, depression, family functioning, and health-related quality of life. The sleep disturbing factors were classified as child, caregiver, or environment-related, which were mutually interrelated. This review emphasizes the need to develop nursing interventions to both improve the sleep quality of family caregivers and the health of children with tracheostomies or home ventilators based on an in-depth understanding of the family’s context.
The reciprocal relations among self-compassion, posttraumatic stress disorder, and posttraumatic growth among adolescents after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake: a three-wave cross-lagged study

Abstract Background Previous cross-sectional studies have examined the relationship between self-compassion, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and post-traumatic growth (PTG). But no study has tested whether self-compassion is a cause or a consequence of PTSD, PTG, or both. Aims The cross-lag analysis was used to examine the reciprocal effects among self-compassion, PTSD, and PTG. Method We used data from 244 adolescents who had experienced earthquakes. We assessed self-compassion, PTSD, and PTG via self-report measures after the earthquake in Jiuzhaigou, as well as 6 and 12 months later. Results Cross-lagged analyses indicated that positive self-compassion could significantly predict subsequent PTSD and PTG. Meanwhile, PTSD and PTG also predicted later positive self-compassion. Negative self-compassion at T1 increased PTSD at T2, and neither PTSD nor PTG significantly predicted subsequent negative self-compassion. In addition, negative self-compassion at T1 significantly predicted positive self-compassion at T2, while positive self-compassion at T2 significantly predicted negative self-compassion at T3. Conclusions Positive self-compassion is a protective factor of post-traumatic psychological response, and it is maintained for a long time, while negative self-compassion may aggravate the negative psychological outcomes of adolescents in the early stage of experiencing traumatic events. In addition, positive and negative self-compassion can influence each other over time.
Use of quantitative indocyanine green near-infrared fluorescence imaging in bariatric surgery: early results

Abstract Introduction Indocyanine green fluorescence angiography (ICG-FA) is commonly used in general surgery, but its use in bariatric surgery is still marginal. Moreover, post-operative leaks remain a dramatic complication after this surgery and the leak tests available have poor performance preventing them. The aim of the present paper is to assess the use and utility of a new innovative technology based on quantitative measures of fluorescence signal intensity. Material and methods From January 2022 to June 2022, 40 consecutive patients with a median age of 51 years and a preoperative median body mass index of 45.2 kg/m2 underwent bariatric surgery with quantitative ICG fluorescence angiography in our center. Two different types of surgery, based on the multidisciplinary evaluation, were performed: laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB). For ICG visualization, quantitative laparoscopic ICG platform was used to identify the vascular supply. Results Thirteen patients underwent LSG and 27 patients underwent OAGB. ICG was performed in all patients with no adverse events. An adequate and satisfactory blood supply was assessed in each case. No case of post-operative leak was detected. Conclusions The quantitative ICG-FA seems to be a useful and promising tool for the prevention of complications in bariatric surgery but further studies are mandatory.
High‐risk carotid plaques and incident ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation in the Cardiovascular Health Study

Whether carotid artery disease could improve stroke risk stratification tools in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remains uncertain. This study was undertaken to investigate the risk of ischemic stroke associated with occlusive and nonocclusive carotid atherosclerotic disease in patients with AF in the prospective population‐based Cardiovascular Health Study.
Cellulose and Lignin-Derived Scaffold and Their Biological Application in Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery, and Wound Healing: A Review

The goal of tissue engineering is to repair and regenerate diseased and damaged tissues and organs with functional and biocompatible materials that mimic native and original tissues which leads to maintaining and improvement of tissue function. Lignin and cellulose are the most abundant polymers in nature and have many applications in industry. Moreover, recently the physicochemical behaviors of lignin and cellulose, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical properties, have been used in diverse biological applications ranging from drug delivery to tissue engineering. To assess these aims, this review gives an overview and comprehensive knowledge and highlights the origin and applications of lignin and cellulose-derived scaffolds in different tissue engineering and other biological applications. Finally, the challenges for future development using lignin and cellulose are also included. Plant-based tissue engineering is a promising technology for progressing areas in biomedicine, regenerative medicine, and nanomedicine, with much research focused on the development of newer material scaffolds with individual specific features to make functional and biocompatible tissues and organs for medical applications.
Gradient-based quantitative reconstruction of optical absorption and scattering coe ffi cients in ultrasound-modulated optical tomography : first harmonic measurement type

Ultrasound-modulated optical tomography is an emerging biomedical imaging modality which uses the spatially localised acoustically-driven modulation of coherent light as a probe of the structure and optical properties of biological tissues. In this work we pose the inverse problem of simultaneously recovering the optical absorption and scattering coefficients in a given domain from measurement of the power-spectral density of the optical field modulated to the acoustic frequency. As part of this exposition we provide an overview of forward modelling techniques, and derive an efficient linearised diffusion-style model. To ameliorate the computational burden and memory requirements of a traditional Newton-based optimisation approach, we develop an adjointassisted gradient based method. We validate our reconstruction in twoand three-dimensions using simulated measurements with 1% proportional Gaussian noise, and demonstrate the successful recovery of the parameters to within ±5% of their true values when the resolution of the ultrasound raster probing the domain is sufficient to delineate perturbing inclusions.
Elevated basal AMP-activated protein kinase activity sensitizes colorectal cancer cells to growth inhibition by metformin

Expression and activity of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) α1 catalytic subunit of the heterotrimeric kinase significantly correlates with poor outcome for colorectal cancer patients. Hence there is considerable interest in uncovering signalling vulnerabilities arising from this oncogenic elevation of AMPKα1 signalling. We have therefore attenuated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) control of AMPKα1 to generate a mutant colorectal cancer in which AMPKα1 signalling is elevated because AMPKα1 serine 347 cannot be phosphorylated by mTORC1. The elevated AMPKα1 signalling in this HCT116 α1. S347A cell line confers hypersensitivity to growth inhibition by metformin. Complementary chemical approaches confirmed this relationship in both HCT116 and the genetically distinct HT29 colorectal cells, as AMPK activators imposed vulnerability to growth inhibition by metformin in both lines. Growth inhibition by metformin was abolished when AMPKα1 kinase was deleted. We conclude that elevated AMPKα1 activity modifies the signalling architecture in such a way that metformin treatment compromises cell proliferation. Not only does this mutant HCT116 AMPKα1-S347A line offer an invaluable resource for future studies, but our findings suggest that a robust biomarker for chronic AMPKα1 activation for patient stratification could herald a place for the well-tolerated drug metformin in colorectal cancer therapy.
Evolutionary process toward avian-like cephalic thermoregulation system in Theropoda elucidated based on nasal structures

It has long been discussed whether non-avian dinosaurs were physiologically closer to ectotherms or endotherms, with the internal nasal structure called the respiratory turbinate present in extant endotherms having been regarded as an important clue for this conundrum. However, the physiological function and relevance of this structure for dinosaur physiology are still controversial. Here, we found that the size of the nasal cavity relative to the head size of extant endotherms is larger than those of extant ectotherms, with that of the dromaeosaurid Velociraptor being below the extant endotherms level. The result suggests that a large nasal cavity accommodating a well-developed respiratory turbinate is primarily important as a thermoregulation apparatus for large brains characteristic of endothermic birds and mammals, and the nasal cavity of Velociraptor was apparently not large enough to carry out this role required for an endothermic-sized brain. In addition, a hypothesis that the enlargement of the nasal cavity for brain cooling has been associated with the skull modification in the theropod lineage toward modern birds is proposed herein. In particular, the reduction of the maxilla in derived avialans may have coincided with acquisition of the avian-like cephalic thermoregulation system.
Quantifying allo-grooming in wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) using tri-axial acceleration data and machine learning

Quantification of activity budgets is pivotal for understanding how animals respond to changes in their environment. Social grooming is a key activity that underpins various social processes with consequences for health and fitness. Traditional methods use direct (focal) observations to calculate grooming rates, providing systematic but sparse data. Accelerometers, in contrast, can quantify activity budgets continuously but have not been used to quantify social grooming. We test whether grooming can be accurately identified using machine learning (random forest model) trained on labelled acceleration data from wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus). We successfully identified giving and receiving grooming with high precision (81% and 91%) and recall (87% and 79%). Giving grooming was associated with a distinct rhythmical signal along the surge axis. Receiving grooming had similar acceleration signals to resting, and thus was more difficult to assign. We applied our machine learning model to n = 680 collar data days from n = 12 baboons and found that grooming rates obtained from accelerometers were significantly and positively correlated with direct observation rates for giving but not receiving grooming. The ability to collect continuous grooming data in wild populations will allow researchers to re-examine and expand upon long-standing questions regarding the formation and function of grooming bonds.
Changes in the feeding ecology of an opportunistic predator inhabiting urban environments in response to COVID-19 lockdown

Urban-dwelling species present feeding and behavioural innovation that enable them to adjust to anthropogenic food subsidies available in cities. In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak resulted in unprecedented reduction in the human activity worldwide associated with the human lockdown. This situation opened an excellent opportunity to investigate the capability of urban wildlife to cope with this anthropopause event. Here, we investigated the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the feeding strategies of the urban yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) population inhabiting the highly dense city of Barcelona (NE Spain). We compared the diet of chicks (through stomach content and stable isotope analyses) sampled randomly around the city of Barcelona before (2018 and 2019), during (2020) and after (2021) the COVID-19 lockdown. The results revealed that the anthropopause associated with the lockdown had an effect on the diet of this urban-dwelling predator. The diversity of prey consumed during the lockdown was lower, and consumption of urban birds (pigeons and parakeets) and marine prey (fishery discards and natural prey) decreased during the year of lockdown. Although it was not analysed, these diet changes probably were associated with variations in the availability of these resources due to the decrease in human activity during the lockdown. These results demonstrate the trophic flexibility of urban-dwelling species to cope with the changes in the availability of human-related anthropogenic resources in urban marine ecosystems.
Longitudinal effects of early psychosocial deprivation on macaque executive function: Evidence from computational modelling

Executive function (EF) describes a group of cognitive processes underlying the organization and control of goal-directed behaviour. Environmental experience appears to play a crucial role in EF development, with early psychosocial deprivation often linked to EF impairment. However, many questions remain concerning the developmental trajectories of EF after exposure to deprivation, especially concerning specific mechanisms. Accordingly, using an ‘A-not-B’ paradigm and a macaque model of early psychosocial deprivation, we investigated how early deprivation influences EF development longitudinally from adolescence into early adulthood. The contribution of working memory and inhibitory control mechanisms were examined specifically via the fitting of a computational model of decision making to the choice behaviour of each individual. As predicted, peer-reared animals (i.e. those exposed to early psychosocial deprivation) performed worse than mother-reared animals across time, with the fitted model parameters yielding novel insights into the functional decomposition of group-level EF differences underlying task performance. Results indicated differential trajectories of inhibitory control and working memory development in the two groups. Such findings not only extend our knowledge of how early deprivation influences EF longitudinally, but also provide support for the utility of computational modelling to elucidate specific mechanisms linking early psychosocial deprivation to long-term poor outcomes.
Temporal Variation in Boxelder Seed Predation by Small Mammals

Abstract - Acer negundo (Boxelder) is a common tree in eastern North America. Fruits are paired samaras that mature in late summer but persist on trees for months. We examined temporal variation in predation rates by small mammals by attaching samaras to sewing bobbins in a forest in northeastern Wisconsin. We placed samaras in groups of 5 along transects and checked them regularly across 2 fall and 2 spring seasons to determine seed fates. Of the 6702 seeds, 15.26% were consumed, 81.41% were left intact, and 3.33% were aborted. Predation rates were higher in fall than in spring. Granivorous mammals did not secondarily disperse seeds but instead acted solely as seed predators. Releasing seeds over a longer period of time than other species of maples allows trees to increase seed survival by experiencing varying soil conditions and predation rates. Retained sterile fruits may act as decoys that decrease predation rates.
Symmetric weak ternary quantum homomorphic encryption schemes

Based on a ternary quantum logic circuit, four symmetric weak ternary quantum homomorphic encryption (QHE) schemes were proposed. First, for a one-qutrit rotation gate, a QHE scheme was constructed. Second, in view of the synthesis of a general 3 × 3 unitary transformation, another one-qutrit QHE scheme was proposed. Third, according to the one-qutrit scheme, the two-qutrit QHE scheme about generalized controlled X (GCX(m,n)) gate was constructed and further generalized to the n-qutrit unitary matrix case. Finally, the security of these schemes was analyzed in two respects. It can be concluded that the attacker can correctly guess the encryption key with a maximum probability pk = 1/33n, thus it can better protect the privacy of users’ data. Moreover, these schemes can be well integrated into the future quantum remote server architecture, and thus the computational security of the users’ private quantum information can be well protected in a distributed computing environment.
A geometric approach to evaluation-transversality techniques in generic bifurcation theory

T h e study of bifurcations of vectorfields is concerned with changes in qualitative behaviour that can occur when a non-stucturally stable vectorfield is perturbed. In a sense, this is the study of how such a vectorfield fails to be structurally stable. Finding a systematic approach to the study of such questions is a difficult problem. One approach to bifurcations of vectorfields, known as "generic bifurcation theory," is the subject of much of the work of Sotomayor (Sotomayor [1973a],Sotomayor [1973b],Sotomayor [1974]). This approach attempts to construct generic families of k-parameter vectorfields (usually for k = l ) , for which all the bifurcations can be described. In Sotomayor [1973a]it is stated that the vectorfields associated with the "generic" bifurcations of individual critical elements for k-parameter vectorfields form submanifolds of codimension < k of the Banach space X r ( M ) of vectorfields on a compact manifold M. The bifurcations associated with one of these submanifolds of codimension-k are called generic codimension-k bifurcations. In Sotomayor [1974]the construction of these submanifolds and the description of the associated bifurcations of codimension-1 for vectorfields on two dimensional manifolds is presented in detail. The bifurcations that occur are due to the parameterised vectorfield crossing one of these manifolds transversely as the parameter changes. Abraham and Robbin used transversality results for evaluation maps to prove the Kupka-Smale theorem in Abraham and Robbin [1967]. In this thesis, we shall show how an extension of these evaluation transversality techniques will allow us to construct the submanifolds of X(M) associated with one type of generic bifurcation of critical elements, and we shall consider how this approach might be extended to include the other well known generic bifurcations. For saddle-node type bifurcations of critical points, we will show that the changes in qualitative behaviour are related to geometric properties of the submanifold E 0 of X[M) x M , where E n is the pull-back of the set of zero vectors-or zero section-by the evaluation map for vectorfields. We will look at the relationship between the Taylor series of a vectorfield X at a critical point p and the geometry of £ 0 a t the corresponding point ( X , p ) of X r ( M ) x M . This will motivate the non-degeneracy conditions for the saddle-node bifurcations, and will provide a more general geometric picture of this approach to studying bifurcations of critical points. Finally, we shall consider how this approach might be generalised to include other bifurcations of critical elements.