Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of robotically assisted needle guidance via the A comparison of robotically assisted needle guidance via the PIGA CT system and conventional CT for percutaneous lung PIGA CT system and conventional CT for percutaneous lung biopsies biopsies

Objective : The aim was to compare the speed, radiation exposure, needle adjustments, diagnostic ef ﬁ cacy, and complication rate using manual guidance and robotically assisted needle guidance via the Precise Intelligent Guide Arm (PIGA) computed tomography (CT) system for percutaneous lung biopsy. Methods : A randomized interventional trial was conducted from September 2020 to March 2021 on 30 patients requiring lung biopsies for suspected malignancy. Random allocation of the 30 patients was done in group A (robot-assisted CT scan) and group B (conventional manual CT scan). The outcomes were compared with respect to the total procedural duration, time taken in the navigation of needle insertion, needle manipulations, total radiation, diagnostic ef ﬁ cacy, and complications. Results : The mean age of the study population was 49 years, and there were 18 males and 12 females. Compared with manual CT, ROBO-assisted CT scan had signi ﬁ cantly less duration of the procedure (7.9 ± 1.4 vs. 14.7 ± 5.9 minutes, P ¼ 0.0002), less but comparable total radiation exposure (513.5 ± 277.4 vs. 730.8 ± 480.6 mGy, P ¼ 0.141), signi ﬁ cantly less number of check scans (1.5 ± 0.7 vs. 3 ± 2.3, P ¼ 0.022), signi ﬁ cantly less number of needle adjustments (0.5 ± 0.7 vs. 2 ± 2.5, P ¼ 0.033), and signi ﬁ cantly more diagnostic ef ﬁ cacy (100 vs. 76.67%, P ¼ 0.0158). The complications were comparable between the two groups, with one patient in group A and two patients in group B experiencing small pneumothorax not requiring any therapy or prolonged hospitalization. Conclusions : Compared with conventional CT with the manual approach, PIGA CT system-guided lung biopsy is a novel technique that reduces procedure duration, needle adjustments, and total radiation exposure and increases diagnostic ef ﬁ cacy without increasing the complications rate.
Region segmentation for facial image compressing

This paper addresses the segmentation of passport 2 images in order to improve quality of significant regions and to further reduce redundancy of insignificant ones. The approach 2 is to first segment a facial image into two major regions, namely background and foreground. Here a new technique using pixel difference is presented. To compress facial regions at better quality, a face segmentation algorithm is introduced that detects 22 eyes and mouth in a face. Region of Interest (ROI) coding is then 2 used to obtain better quality for facial features. At the end, some 2 2 strategies that make use of region segmentation are proposed in order to increase performance in entropy coding.
: Dynamic Double anomaly Detection

: Anomaly detection is a crucial aspect of embedded applications. However, limited computational power, evolving environments, and lack of training data are difficulties that can limit anomaly detection algorithms. One class classification algorithms are often used for this task to circumvent the need of anomalous data in the training set. This paper presents a new machine learning algorithm for anomaly detection called Dynamic Double anomaly Detection DyD 2 that is suited to evolving environments and on-board requirements. The contributions made by DyD 2 are thoroughly presented and an experimental evaluation is set up to compare DyD 2 to state-of-the-art algorithms.
Impact of River Inputs on Sound Speed Structures in the Bay of Bengal

—The Bay of Bengal (BoB) exhibits a distinctive pattern of surface freshening primarily resulting from runoff originating from several major rivers and the monsoon precipitation. This freshening significantly modulates the spatial and temporal variations in the thermohaline structure, ultimately shaping the sound speed structure within this region. This study investigates the seasonal impact of river input on the sound speed structure of the BoB through two numerical simulations with and without river input using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). The findings indicate that river inputs consistently reduce the surface sound speed across the domain throughout the year, with the most noticeable effect occurring in the northern part of BoB during the post-monsoon months of October and November. During this period, the surface variability is predominately driven by salinity variations induced by river inputs. In contrast, in the subsurface layers, the influence of reduced salinity becomes less pronounced with increasing depth, and the temperature modulations brought about by river inputs play a more important role. Freshening in the surface layers leads to the creation of a stratified barrier layer just below the mixed layer. Consequently, this results in the formation of warm temperature inversions in the subsurface layers, with cooling occurring beneath them. These phenomena contribute to variations in the sound speed, causing it to increase within the inversion layer and decrease below it. Notably, the sonic layer depth (SLD) is found to become shallower in the presence of river inputs during the post-monsoon and winter seasons in the northern BoB. The combination of enhanced vertical salinity gradients and subsurface temperature inversions significantly amplifies the vertical gradient of sound speed above the SLD. This, in turn, may lead to the development of more robust surface ducts and the expansion of shadow zones beneath the SLD.
SAMURAI：A Transformation System for Animation Characters based on GLCIC to Alleviate the Workload of Animation Directors

People from various professions are involved in the production of anime, including directors, animation directors, character designers, and voice actors/actresses. Specifically, the role of an animation director is of importance in the realm of animation. The animation director serves as the unifying force in shaping the animation's style by meticulously reviewing and redrawing the key animations provided by the key animators. The aim of this study is to develop a redrawing system using GLCIC to reduce the workload on animation directors when redrawing original key animation. Specifically, this study devised a system that employs GLCIC to analyze and learn the distinctive drawing styles of individual animation directors from images of their work and subsequently apply those styles to the conversion process. In the experiment, we asked people whose hobby is drawing to experience the developed system, and conducted a qualitative evaluation using a questionnaire and a quantitative evaluation using KLM analysis. As a result, we found that there were issues with ease of modification and UI. Additionally, the KLM analysis revealed that improving the system could reduce work time by a quarter. In the future, we think to improve the system with the aim of increasing work efficiency.
Re-evaluating the Privacy Benefit of Federated Learning

Federated Learning’s (FL) main attractive privacy feature of data localisation only holds if FL participants can trust the coordinating server not to carry out data reconstruction attacks, under both honest-but-curious as well as actively malicious threat models. Motivated by our study of the FL system present in Gboard’s virtual keyboard, we provide a reassessment of FL’s added privacy benefit, and point to three aspects of FL whose affect on privacy requires further research, namely the model architecture, the high levels of trust required to maintain privacy, and vulnerabilities in concrete implementations of the FL protocol.
Graph Characterization of Higher Order Structure in Atmospheric Chemical Reaction Mechanisms

Atmospheric chemical reactions play an important role in air quality and climate change. While the structure and dynamics of individual chemical reactions are fairly well understood, the emergent properties of the entire atmospheric chemical system, which can involve many different species that participate in many different reactions, are not well described. In this work, we leverage graph-theoretic techniques to characterize patterns of interaction (“motifs”) in three different representations of gas-phase atmospheric chemistry, termed “chemical mechanisms”. These widely used mechanisms, the Master Chemical Mechanism, the GEOS-Chem mechanism, and the Super-Fast mechanism, vary dramatically in scale and application but all generally aim to simulate the abundance and variability of chemical species in the atmosphere. This motif analysis quantifies the fundamental patterns of interaction within the mechanisms, which are directly related to their construction. For example, the gas-phase chemistry in the very small Super-Fast mechanism is entirely composed of bimolecular reactions, and its motif distribution matches that of an individual bimolecular reaction well. The larger and more complex mechanisms show emergent motif distributions that differ strongly from any specific reaction type, consistent with their complexity. The proposed motif analysis demonstrates that while these mechanisms all have a similar design goal their higher order structure of interactions differs strongly, and thus provides a novel set of tools for exploring differences across chemical mechanisms.
A Survey on Virtual Reality over Wireless Networks: Fundamentals, QoE, Enabling Technologies, Research Trends and Open Issues

The purpose of this paper is to oﬀer a comprehensive survey on the major technical issues and current research trends in ˆA supporting VR services over wireless networks. Additionally, the paper explores the fundamentals of VR technologies, ˆA applications, QoE requirements, spectrum requirements and key enabling technologies. Finally, a comprehensive discussion regarding potential research directions aimed at enhancing wireless VR experiences is also presented. Thus, this survey paper is structured to provide a strong baseline for the researchers working in wireless VR systems.
Modeling contaminant transport and fate and subsequent impacts on ecosystems

MODELING CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT AND FATE AND SUBSEQUENT IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS by Ming Fan Assessing risks associated with the release of metals into the environment and managing remedial activities requires simulation tools that depict speciation and risk with accurate mechanistic models and well-defined transport parameters. Such tools need to address the following processes: (1) aqueous speciation, (2) distribution mechanisms, (3) transport, and (4) ecological risk. The primary objective of this research is to develop a simulation tool that accounts for these processes. Speciation in the aqueous phase can be assessed with geochemical equilibrium models, such as M1NEQL+. Furthermore, metal distribution can be addressed mechanistically. Studies with Pb sorption to amorphous aluminum (HAO), iron (HFO), and manganese (HMO) oxides, as well as oxide coatings, demonstrated that intraparticle diffusion is the rate-limiting mechanism in the sorption process, where best-fit surface diffusivities ranged from 10 -18 to 10-15 cm2 s -1 . Intraparticle surface diffusion was incorporated into the Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) to accurately simulate metal contaminant mobility where oxides are present. In the model development, the parabolic concentration layer approximation and the operator split technique were used to solve the microscopic diffusion equation coupled with macroscopic advection and dispersion. The resulting model was employed for simulating Sr" mobility at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site. The Sr" plume is observed to be migrating out of the 100-N area extending into other areas of the Hanford Site and beyond. Once bioavailability is understood, static or dynamic ecological risk assessments can be conducted. Employing the ERA model, a static ecological risk assessment for exposure to depleted uranium (DU) at Aberdeen and Yuma Proving Grounds (APG and YPG) revealed that a reduction in plant root weight is considered likely to occur. For most terrestrial animals at YPG, the predicted DU dose is less than that which would result in a decrease in offspring. However, for the lesser long-nosed bat, reproductive effects are expected to occur through the reduction in size and weight of offspring. At APG, based on very limited data, it is predicted that uranium uptake will not likely affect survival of terrestrial animals and aquatic species. In model validation, sampling of pocket mice, kangaroo rat, white-throated woodrat, deer, and milfoil showed that body burden concentrations fall into the distributions simulated at both sites. This static risk assessment provides a solid background for applying the dynamic approach. Overall, this research contributes to a holistic approach in developing accurate mechanistic models for simulating metal contaminant mobility and bioavailability in subsurface environments. MODELING CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT AND FATE AND SUBSEQUENT IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS
Causal Relationships and Programming Outcomes: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Experiment

Understanding the relationship between cognition and programming outcomes is important: it can inform interventions that help novices become experts faster. Neuroimaging techniques can measure brain activity, but prior studies of programming report only correlations. We present the first causal neurological investigation of the cognition of programming by using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). TMS permits temporary and noninvasive disruption of specific brain regions. By disrupting brain regions and then measuring programming outcomes, we discover whether a true causal relationship exists. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first use of TMS to study software engineering. Where multiple previous studies reported correlations, we find no direct causal relationships between implicated brain regions and programming. Using a protocol that follows TMS best practices and mitigates for biases, we replicate psychology findings that TMS affects spatial tasks. We then find that neurostimulation can affect programming outcomes . Multi-level regression analysis shows that TMS stimulation of different regions significantly accounts for 2.2% of the variance in task completion time. Our results have implications for interventions in education and training as well as research into causal cognitive relationships.
Materials Performance and Characterization

Fatigue fracture is one of the major degradation mechanisms in the low-alloy 4330 carbon steel pumps that are utilized in the hydraulic fracturing process operating under cyclic loading conditions. A weld cladding technology has been developed to improve the ability of these components to resist fatigue crack initiation by cladding them with a secondary material. This process introduces a residual stress profile into the component that can be potentially detrimental for fatigue performance. The cladding technology under examination is a low-alloy 4330 carbon steel substrate weld that is clad with the nickel-chromium – based superalloy IN625 and is investigated herein using several experimental residual stress measurement techniques. Understanding the magnitude and distribution of residual stress in weld clad components is of the utmost importance to accurately assess the performance of the component in service. This study summarizes the results of residual stress measurements that were determined using X-ray diffraction, i.e., hole drilling based on electronic speckle pattern interferometry, deep-hole drilling, and the contour method, to obtain the residual stress distributions from the surface of the weld clad, through the clad layer, and into the substrate material. The results of deep-hole drilling and the contour method show large-scale tensile residual stress in the clad layer and compressive residual stress in the majority of the substrate. However, the X-ray diffraction and hole drilling methods indicate the presence of short-scale compressive residual stress on the surface and near the surface of the clad layer. It was shown that these
Upper ocean nitrogen fluxes in the Polar Antarctic Zone: Constraints from the nitrogen and oxygen isotopes of nitrate

We report nitrate nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) isotope measurements from the seasonally sea ice covered Polar Antarctic Zone (PAZ) south of the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Front. The 15N/14N and 18O/16O ratios of nitrate both increase into the summertime surface mixed layer, in strong correlation with the upward decrease in nitrate concentration, the expected result of nitrate assimilation by phytoplankton. Culture studies indicate that algal assimilation of nitrate fractionates the nitrate N and O isotopes equally, while previous field studies suggest that nitrate N and O isotope behavior can be decoupled by euphotic zone nitrification. Our data for the PAZ show strong coupling of the dual isotopes of nitrate, and a numerical model of Antarctic summertime surface layer N cycling fits our observations (including isotopic compositions of both nitrate and suspended particulate N) if the nitrification rate is no more than 6% of the nitrate assimilation rate by phytoplankton. The model estimates that the N isotope effect of nitrate assimilation is 5.0 ± 0.7‰. This estimate lacks some of the uncertainties associated with previous studies within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and it is at the low end of most recent estimates from the Southern Ocean, the range of which we speculatively attribute to an effect of mixed layer depth on the amplitude of isotope discrimination.
melanogaster Drosophila Genome-wide analysis of retrogene polymorphisms in

Gene duplication via retrotransposition has been shown to be an important mechanism in evolution, affecting gene dosage and allowing for the acquisition of new gene functions. Although fixed retrotransposed genes have been found in a variety of species, very little effort has been made to identify retrogene polymorphisms. Here, we examine 37 Illumina-sequenced North American Drosophila melanogaster inbred lines and present the first ever data set and analysis of polymorphic retrogenes in Drosophila . We show that this type of polymorphism is quite common, with any two gametes in the North American population differing in the presence or absence of six retrogenes, accounting for ~ 13% of gene copy-number heterozygosity. These retrogenes were identified by a straightforward method that can be applied using any type of DNA sequencing data. We also use a variant of this method to conduct a genome-wide scan for intron presence/absence polymorphisms, and show that any two chromosomes in the population likely differ in the presence of multiple introns. We show that these polymorphisms are all in fact deletions rather than intron gain events present in the reference genome. Finally, by leveraging the known location of the parental genes that give rise to the retrogene polymorphisms, we provide direct evidence that natural selection is responsible for the excess of fixations of retrogenes moving off of the X chromosome in Drosophila . Further efforts to identify retrogene and intron presence/absence polymorphisms will undoubtedly improve our understanding of the evolution of gene copy number and gene structure.
Using simulation to enhance clinical remediation in nursing education

Students in nursing degree programs strive to achieve confidence with clinical-skill competencies through various learning experiences. Simulation (practice situations using computer-assisted manikins) and remediation are two specific learning experiences used at Vancouver Island University to help students acquire skill and confidence with these competencies. This study explored students’ experiences in simulation and remediation learning environments, focusing on the concepts of confidence and critical thinking. Ten students (thirdand fourth-year) participated in a focus group, using a semi-structured approach, to gain insights about their experiences. Thematic data analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) yielded themes of anxiety, confidence, critical thinking, and clinical skill competencies. Considering students’ perspectives, the select literature, and my own experiences, three main insights emerged: Students experience anxiety in simulation; students value support provided to them during remediation; and it is challenging to combine simulation and remediation in order to deepen both confidence and competencies with clinical skills, amongst nursing students. In addition, further research and implications for remediation practices in nursing education were discussed to develop beneficial support practices for students in a nursing degree program. USING SIMULATION TO ENHANCE CLINICAL REMEDIATION iii
Synthesis of AuPt Bimetal and its Catalytic Properties in Ethanol Electrooxidation Reaction

AuPt Bimetal has been successfully synthesized by electrodeposition method with potentiostat technique. By varying the concentration of Au ions in the solution they are able to control the morphology and composition of the synthesized sample. The morphology obtained from the AuPt synthesis is cauliflower. The effect of Au ion concentration in solution on the catalytic performance of AuPt, the greater the Au concentration, the greater the current density in the electrooxidation reaction. In addition, the concentration of Au ions in the solution affects the results of the deposition of Au and Pt elements. In the study of AuPt nanocatalysts with a 0.4 mM Au ion concentration in an electrolyte solution, it was shown to have good catalytic activity in the ethanol electrooxidation reaction, with the resulting current densities and If/Ib of 10.1 mA/cm2 and 43.53 mA/cm2, respectively. This is an implication of many Au compositions which are known to have the ability to absorb and oxidize CO to encourage an increase in current density and increase its catalytic activity.