Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DAP: A Dynamic Adversarial Patch for Evading Person Detectors

Patch-based adversarial attacks were proven to compromise the robustness and reliability of computer vision systems. However, their conspicuous and easily detectable nature challenge their practicality in real-world setting. To address this, recent work has proposed using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) to generate naturalistic patches that may not attract human attention. However, such approaches suffer from a limited latent space making it challenging to produce a patch that is efficient, stealthy, and robust to multiple real-world transformations. This paper introduces a novel approach that produces a Dynamic Adversarial Patch (DAP) designed to overcome these limitations. DAP maintains a naturalistic appearance while optimizing attack efficiency and robustness to real-world transformations. The approach involves redefining the optimization problem and introducing a novel objective function that incorporates a similarity metric to guide the patch's creation. Unlike GAN-based techniques, the DAP directly modifies pixel values within the patch, providing increased flexibility and adaptability to multiple transformations. Furthermore, most clothing-based physical attacks assume static objects and ignore the possible transformations caused by non-rigid deformation due to changes in a person's pose. To address this limitation, a 'Creases Transformation' (CT) block is introduced, enhancing the patch's resilience to a variety of real-world distortions. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art attacks, achieving a success rate of up to 82.28% in the digital world when targeting the YOLOv7 detector and 65% in the physical world when targeting YOLOv3tiny detector deployed in edge-based smart cameras.
Algorithm for Radar cross section estimation

Radar cross-section (RCS) is a measure of how detectable an object is with a Radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected . An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy. A number of different factors determine how much electromagnetic energy returns to the source such as; the material of which the target is made , absolute size of the target , the relative size of the target in relation to the wavelength ( λ) of the radar, the incident angle , the reflected angle and the polarization of transmitted and the received radiation in respect to the orientation of the target. A personnel computer (PC) will be programmed to estimate the RCS of targets.
Dissecting the effect of soil on plant phenology and berry transcriptional plasticity in two Italian grapevine varieties (Vitis vinifera L.).

Abstract Grapevine embodies a fascinating species as regards phenotypic plasticity and genotype-per-environment interactions. The terroir, namely the set of agri-environmental factors to which a variety is subjected, can influence the phenotype at the physiological, molecular, and biochemical level, representing an important phenomenon connected to the typicality of productions. We investigated the determinants of plasticity by conducting a field-experiment where all terroir variables, except soil, were kept as constant as possible. We isolated the effect of soils collected from different areas, on phenology, physiology, and transcriptional responses of skin and flesh of a red and a white variety of great economic value: Corvina and Glera. Molecular results, together with physio-phenological parameters, suggest a specific effect of soil on grapevine plastic response, highlighting a higher transcriptional plasticity of Glera in respect to Corvina and a marked response of skin compared to flesh. Using a novel statistical approach, we identified clusters of plastic genes subjected to the specific influence of soil. These findings could represent an issue of applicative value, posing the basis for targeted agricultural practices to enhance the desired characteristics for any soil/cultivar combination, to improve vineyards management for a better resource usage and to valorize vineyards uniqueness maximizing the terroir-effect.
Down-Regulation of CEND1 Expression Contributes to The Progression and Temozolomide Resistance of Glioma

Objective: This study was conducted to clarify the expression characteristics of cell cycle exit and neuronal differentiation 1 (CEND1) in glioma and its effects on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and resistance to temozolomide (TMZ) of glioma cells. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, CEND1 expression in glioma tissues and its relationship with patients’ survival were analyzed through bioinformatics. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect CEND1 expression in glioma tissues. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method was adopted to detect cell viability and the effects of different concentrations of TMZ on the inhibition rate of glioma cell proliferation, and the median inhibitory concentration of TMZ (IC50 value) was calculated. 5-Bromo- 2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to evaluate the impacts of CEND1 on glioma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Besides, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were applied to predict the pathways regulated by CEND1. Nuclear factor-kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65) and phospho-p65 (p-p65) expression were detected by Western blot. Results: CEND1 expression was reduced in glioma tissues and cells, and its low expression was significantly associated with the shorter survival of glioma patients. CEND1 knockdown promoted glioma cell growth, migration, and invasion, and increased the IC50 value of TMZ, whereas up-regulating CEND1 expression worked oppositely. Genes co-expressed with CEND1 were enriched in the NF-κB pathway, and knocking down CEND1 facilitated p-p65 expression, while CEND1 overexpression suppressed p-p65 expression. Conclusion: CEND1 inhibits glioma cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and resistance to TMZ by inhibiting the NF- κB pathway.
Excavation and characterization of key circRNAs for milk fat percentage in Holstein cattle.

Milk fat percentage is one of the significant indicators governing the price and quality of milk and is regulated by a variety of non-coding RNAs. We used RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) techniques and bioinformatics approaches to explore potential candidate circular RNAs (circRNAs) regulating milk fat metabolism. After analysis, compared with low milk fat percentage (LMF) cows, 309 circRNAs were significantly differentially expressed in high milk fat percentage (HMF) cows. Functional enrichment and pathway analysis revealed that the main functions of the parental genes of differentially expressed circRNAs (DE-circRNAs) were related to lipid metabolism. We selected four circRNAs (Novel_circ_0000856, Novel_circ_0011157, novel_circ_0011944, and Novel_circ_0018279) derived from parental genes related to lipid metabolism as key candidate DE-circRNAs. Their head-to-tail splicing was demonstrated by linear RNase R digestion experiments and Sanger sequencing. However, the tissue expression profiles showed that only Novel_circ_0000856, Novel_circ_0011157, and Novel_circ_0011944 were expressed with high abundance in breast tissue. Based on the subcellular localization found that Novel_circ_0000856, Novel_circ_0011157, and Novel_circ_0011944 mainly function as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) in the cytoplasm. Therefore, we constructed their ceRNA regulatory networks, and the five hub target genes (CSF1, TET2, VDR, CD34, MECP2) in ceRNAs were obtained by CytoHubba and MCODE plugins in Cytoscape, as well as tissue expression profiles analysis of target genes. These genes play a key role as important target genes in lipid metabolism, energy metabolism and cellular autophagy. The Novel_circ_0000856, Novel_circ_0011157 and Novel_circ_0011944 regulate the expression of hub target genes through interaction with miRNAs and constitute key regulatory networks that may be involved in milk fat metabolism. The circRNAs obtained in this study may act as miRNA sponges and thus influence mammary gland development and lipid metabolism in cows, which improves our understanding of the role of circRNAs in cow lactation.
Multigrid Fourier Analysis of aspect ratio influence for Navier-Stokes computations

A new formula for Multigrid Fourier Analysis is presented, applicable to 3D problems. It is derived independently of the coarse grid correction matrix, which is split from the multigrid iteration matrix. It has the advantage of both traditional methods (Standard multigrid Fourier analysis, Stuben and Trottenberg, and Multi-level uniform analysis, Jameson) without their disadvantages. The formulation is applied to investigate the influence of implicit residual smoothing with the smoothing parameters depending on time step on multigrid convergence for different aspect ratios. The proposed method shows the improved damping properties at high aspect ratio. It is applied to Navier-Stokes laminar and turbulent flow simulations, confirming the predicted improvement of multigrid convergence.
Best asymptotic value of the error exponent with random coding on discrete memoryless channels

Generalizing a technique given by Wolfowitz, we calculate a formula for the asymptotic value of the error exponent with random coding on a discrete memoryless channel. We then evaluate this formula analytically for low rates and show that the exact value given by this formula agrees with the random coding exponent of Gallager and Fano. This proves that their exponent, which was only known to be a bound for low rates, gives the exact value and this brings out the inherent limitation of the random coding method.
Synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease presented with psychotic symptoms, negative symptoms, impairment in the reward system, and widespread neurocognitive deterioration. Disruption of synaptic connections in neural circuits is responsible for the disease's development and progression. Because deterioration in synaptic connections results in the impaired effective processing of information. Although structural impairments of the synapse, such as a decrease in dendritic spine density, have been shown in previous studies, functional impairments have also been revealed with the development of genetic and molecular analysis methods. In addition to abnormalities in protein complexes regulating exocytosis in the presynaptic region and impaired vesicle release, especially, changes in proteins related to postsynaptic signaling have been reported. In particular, impairments in postsynaptic density elements, glutamate receptors, and ion channels have been shown. At the same time, effects on cellular adhesion molecular structures such as neurexin, neuroligin, and cadherin family proteins were detected. Of course, the confusing effect of antipsychotic use in schizophrenia research should also be considered. Although antipsychotics have positive and negative effects on synapses, studies indicate synaptic deterioration in schizophrenia independent of drug use. In this review, the deterioration in synapse structure and function and the effects of antipsychotics on the synapse in schizophrenia will be discussed.
Association of muscle wasting with mortality risk among adults: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of prospective studies

Abstract The relationship between muscle wasting and mortality risk in the general population remains unclear. Our study was conducted to examine and quantify the associations between muscle wasting and all‐cause and cause‐specific mortality risks. PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched until 22 March 2023 for main data sources and references of retrieved relevant articles. Prospective studies investigating the associations of muscle wasting with risks of all‐cause and cause‐specific mortality in the general population were eligible. A random‐effect model was used to calculate the pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the lowest versus normal categories of muscle mass. Subgroup analyses and meta‐regression were performed to investigate the potential sources of heterogeneities among studies. Dose–response analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between muscle mass and mortality risk. Forty‐nine prospective studies were included in the meta‐analysis. A total of 61 055 deaths were ascertained among 878 349 participants during the 2.5‐ to 32‐year follow‐up. Muscle wasting was associated with higher mortality risks of all causes (RR = 1.36, 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.44, I 2 = 94.9%, 49 studies), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (RR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.58, I 2 = 88.1%, 8 studies), cancer (RR = 1.14, 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.27, I 2 = 38.7%, 3 studies) and respiratory disease (RR = 1.36, 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.67, I 2 = 62.8%, 3 studies). Subgroup analyses revealed that muscle wasting, regardless of muscle strength, was significantly associated with a higher all‐cause mortality risk. Meta‐regression showed that risks of muscle wasting‐related all‐cause mortality (P = 0.06) and CVD mortality (P = 0.09) were lower in studies with longer follow‐ups. An approximately inverse linear dose–response relationship was observed between mid‐arm muscle circumference and all‐cause mortality risk (P < 0.01 for non‐linearity). Muscle wasting was associated with higher mortality risks of all causes, CVD, cancer and respiratory disease in the general population. Early detection and treatment for muscle wasting might be crucial for reducing mortality risk and promoting healthy longevity.
Distributed Node Deployment Algorithms in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks: Survey and Challenges

From the coverage and connectivity perspective, a wide range of applications in wireless sensor networks rely on node deployment algorithms to accomplish their functionalities. This is especially of great significance when the sensor nodes are mobile and can autonomously move to appropriate locations to provide optimal or near-optimal coverage. In this article, we review the state of the art of deployment algorithms proposed for blanket coverage in mobile wireless sensor networks. To this, we first discuss the node deployment challenges and their impact on network performance from different perspectives. Afterwards, currently available deployment algorithms in mobile sensor networks are categorised into two main categories: Force-based, and Geometrical deployment algorithms. The advantages and disadvantages of each category are discussed, and the latest advancements are then presented. Finally, we present a qualitative comparison of all the algorithms reported in the literature and also discuss some possible future directions.
TNT: A Modular Approach to Traversing Physically Heterogeneous NOCs at Bare-wire Latency

The ideal latency for on-chip network traversal would be the delay incurred from wire traversal alone. Unfortunately, in a realistic modular network, the latency for a packet to traverse the network is significantly higher than this wire delay. The main limiter to achieving lower latency is the modular quantization of network traversal into hops. Beyond this, the physical heterogeneity in real-world systems further complicate the ability to reach ideal wire-only delay. In this work, we propose TNT or Transparent Network Traversal. TNT targets ideal network latency by attempting source to destination network traversal as a single multi-cycle ‘long-hop’, bypassing the quantization effects of intermediate routers via transparent data/information flow. TNT is built in a modular tile-scalable manner via a novel control path performing neighbor-to-neighbor interactions but enabling end-to-end transparent flit traversal. Further, TNT’s fine grained on-the-fly delay tracking allows it to cope with physical NOC heterogeneity across the chip. Analysis on Ligra graph workloads shows that TNT can reduce NOC latency by as much as 43% compared to the state of the art and allows efficiency gains up to 38%. Further, it can achieve more than 3x the benefits of the best/closest alternative research proposal, SMART [43].
The application of Randon transformation in image segmentation and characteristic extraction

Project the binary images resulted from pre-processing in the horizontal and vertical directions respectively,and remove the low projection at the bottom,then search the resulted image to get the horizontal and vertical characteristics disturbed in line.Similar method can be used to get the same oblique characteristics disturbed in line.It is based on the global information and only the noise in same distribution can affect the result.It can restrain the effects of many kinds of noise.
City data ecosystems between theory and practice: A qualitative exploratory study in seven European cities

Abstract The exponential growth of data collection opens possibilities for analyzing data to address political and societal challenges. Still, European cities are not utilizing the potential of data generated by its citizens, industries, academia, and public authorities for their public service mission. The reasons are complex and relate to an intertwined set of organizational, technological, and legal barriers, although good practices exist that could be scaled, sustained, and further developed. The article contributes to research on data-driven innovation in the public sector comparing high-level expectations on data ecosystems with actual practices of data sharing and innovation at the local and regional level. Our approach consists in triangulating the analysis of in-depth interviews with representatives of the local administrations with documents obtained from the cities. The interviews investigated the experiences and perspectives of local administrations regarding establishing a local or regional data ecosystem. The article examines experiences and obstacles to data sharing within seven administrations investigating what currently prevents the establishment of data ecosystems. The findings are summarized along three main lines. First, the limited involvement of private sector organizations as actors in local data ecosystems through emerging forms of data sharing. Second, the concern over technological aspects and the lack of attention on social or organizational issues. Third, a conceptual decision to apply a centralized and not a federated digital infrastructure.
Global well-posedness and scattering for the defocusing, L2-critical, nonlinear Schrödinger equation when d = 1

In this paper we prove global well-posedness and scattering for the defocusing, one dimensional mass-critical nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equation. We make use of a long-time Strichartz estimate and a frequency localized Morawetz estimate. This continues work begun in earlier papers for dimensions $d\geq 3$ and $d = 2$.
A new procedure for autonomous acquisition of photosynthesis-irradiance curves on a microphytobenthic biofilm

Despite their high productivity and their key role in coastal processes, microphytobenthic biofilm studies remain relatively scarce because in situ, meteorological hazards make it difficult to acquire reproducible measurements, also due to difficulties in properly reproducing field conditions in the laboratory. Therefore, in order to better understand the processes of microphytobenthic primary production, we have developed an automated laboratory system and procedure with variable light intensity, with a large number of replicates. This article aims to provide a description of the creation of a P-I curve based on a total of 128 vertical profiles recorded on a sediment core taken in situ, placed in the automated system and studied under controlled conditions of temperature and air humidity while light intensity was varied automatically, thus allowing to work in standard and replicable conditions. With measured production levels of up to 14.68 ± 3.70 mmol O2.m-2.h-1 and a productivity of 0.06 ± 0.01 mmol O2.m-2.h-1 per gram of Chl a corresponding to what is generally found in temperate environments, we have shown that our system is suitable for high frequency measurements and, by combining surficial measurements of modulated fluorescence and oxygen microprofiling in sediments, complementary information from a large dataset on photosynthetic and microphytobenthic migratory activity may be obtained under standard conditions. The development of this tool has made it possible to highlight a stabilization time for oxygen fluxes. For our study conducted in a temperate environment, we observed a time lag of a few minutes that should be considered when acquiring PE curves in the laboratory to study microphytobenthic photosynthetic capacities. This tool also allowed to describe microphytobenthic migration in response to light exposure, with successive steps observed through fluorescence and oxygen profiles. First, microphytobenthos migrated towards the surface until the optimal intensity of production at 475 µmol photons.m-2.s-1, then from this intensity as well as towards 780 µmol photons.m-2.s-1, downwards migratory movements were detected. This system is a working basis which can open interesting perspectives for the study of the effect of other abiotic (or biotic) parameters.
Patient-derived organoids as a platform for drug screening in metastatic colorectal cancer

Introduction: Most advanced colorectal cancers are aggressive, and there is a lack of effective methods for selecting appropriate anticancer regimens. Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) have emerged as preclinical platforms for modeling clinical responses to cancer therapy. Methods: In this study, we successfully constructed a living biobank with 42 organoids derived from primary and metastatic lesions of metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Tumor tissue was obtained from patients undergoing surgical resection of the primary or metastatic lesion and then used to establish PDOs. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and drug sensitivity assays were performed to analyze the properties of these organoids. Results: The mCRC organoids were successfully established with an 80% success rate. The PDOs maintained the genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity of their parental tumors. The IC50 values of5-fluorouracil (5-FU), oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (CPT11) were determined for mCRC organoids using drug sensitivity assays. The in vitro chemosensitivity data revealed the potential value of PDOs for clinical applications in predicting chemotherapy response and clinical outcomes in mCRC patients. Discussion: In summary, the PDO model is an effective platform for in vitro assessment of patient-specific drug sensitivity, which can guide personalized treatment decisions for patients with end-stage CRC.
Sample Tangency Portfolio, Representativeness and Ambiguity: Impact of the Law of Small Numbers

We provide a model for understanding the impact of the sample size neglect when an investor, hoping for the tangency portfolio uses the sample estimator of the covariance matrix for this purpose. By assuming a wrong hypothesis, we are looking for a family of covariance matrices such as their difference in terms of the utility function with the sample one is a decreasing function of the latter under a wrong hypothesis regarding the market structure of returns. This approach allows us to characterize the ambiguity of investor reliance on the Sharpe model (the most, the less and the relative ambiguous investors), and to compute a covariance matrix characterizing each ambiguity profile. We show that the expected loss is better for the most ambiguous, than for the relative ambiguous which is better than the one obtained from the less ambiguous profiles. However, they are all better than the sample covariance matrix. We show how the relative profile denotes actually an equilibrium state between the two extreme cases, and may be viewed as a multi-criteria maxmin approach. We show that ambiguity comes actually from the finite sample property of the investment universe and follows a power law distribution. We also derive an analytical expression of the risk aversion coming from the sample size neglect.