Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contactless Palm Vein Recognition Based on Attention-Gated Residual U-Net and ECA-ResNet

Palm vein recognition has received some considerable attention regarding its use in biometric identification. Palm vein characteristics offer a superior level of security and reliability in personal identification compared to extrinsic methods such as fingerprint, face, and palm print recognition, as vein patterns are difficult to duplicate and do not change throughout one’s lifetime. This study proposes both segmentation and recognition methods to enhance the authentication performance and achieve correct identification using palm vein features. First, we propose a segmentation model based on the U-Net model, enhanced with an attention gate, to effectively segment palm vein patterns. The incorporation of both the attention gate and residual block allows the segmentation model for the learning of the essential features required for specific segmentation tasks. The Hessian-based Jerman filtering method is used for ground-truth labeling. The segmentation model extracts the palm vein patterns and filters out the irrelevant and noisy pixels for the purpose of recognition. The efficient channel attention residual network is trained to learn discriminative features for personal identification using combined margin-based loss functions for palm vein recognition. The channel attention module enhances the useful information and suppresses irrelevant features in the feature maps, which overcomes the problem of rotation, position translation, and scale transformation, as well as improves the recognition rate. The combined loss function used in this study increases the similarity between the intra-class samples and the diversity between inter-class samples. The proposed recognition model achieved 100% accuracy for palm vein recognition and an equal error rate of 0.018 for palm vein verification.
RS-fusion: a novel virtual reality localization method based on RTK and visual SLAM

Virtual reality technology is a new multidisciplinary integrated technology, in which localization technology is the key technology to determine the user experience, and is the core of VR technology. RTK and visual slam are two common localization technologies, however they are limited by satellite conditions and rely heavily on feature point extraction and matching effects, which will affect the accuracy of localization process. So as to achieve high-precision virtual reality spatial localization, this paper proposed a novel virtual reality localization method called RS-fusion, which combined the RTK carrier phase difference technology and the visual SLAM technology by Kalman fusion. In addition, the gain matrix is used to calculate the spatial displacement state to meet the accuracy requirements of virtual reality and augmented reality localization in indoor and outdoor environment, and to obtain a more matching virtual reality fusion effect and simulation mapping. Experiment results show the robustness of the method and RS-fusion can realize the simultaneous localization of cameras in real space and virtual space.
Highly-Selective Analytical Strategy for 90 Pesticides and Metabolites Residues in Fish and Shrimp Samples

The analysis of pesticide residues in aquatic products is challenging due to low residue levels and the complex matrix interference. In this study, we developed a simple, fast method for the trace analysis of 90 pesticides and metabolites in aquatic products. The analytes covered a wide polarity range with log Kow (log octanol-water partition coefficient) ranging from −1.2 to 6.37. Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) and prawn (Penaeus chinensis) samples were chosen to validate the quantification method. The samples were extracted by 0.2% formic-acetonitrile, cleaned by solid-phase extraction (PRiME HLB), and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography−tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed good linearities for the analytes and were observed in the range of 0.05–50 μg/L. The recoveries of the method were within 50.4–118.6%, with the relative standard deviations being lower than 20%. The limits of quantifications (LOQs) of the method were in the range of 0.05–5.0 μg/kg, which were superior to values compared with other research. The developed method was applied to detect pesticide residues in prawn samples from eastern coastal areas of China. Three herbicide residues of diuron, prometryn, and atrazine were detected in prawn samples. The method was sensitive and efficient, which is of significance in expanding the screening scope and improving the quantitative analysis efficiency in aquatic products.
The Mathematical Brain

The concept of numbers and the ability to recognize and process them is innate, part of everyone's intellectual apparatus whether they've had formal education or not. This "number instinct" is not dependent on basic intelligence or general knowledge, a fact which has implications for neuroscience and poses the question: why did man evolve with such specialized neural apparatus. It has been that the social development of humans has been crucially affected by language, yet numbers have also been critical in the advancement of human culture. Every child goes through a stage of learning to count using their ten fingers, much as early Homo Sapiens must have done. If number learning is a natural and universal function of the brain, why do so many suffer from dyscalculia? This text, containing theories and anecdote, is an investigation into the bizarre world of numbers. It examines the role of education, good or bad, in the development of mathematical disorders.
Research on collision detection between objects based on binocular vision

With the increasing number of monitoring equipment, it is necessary to study whether there is a collision between objects in the image. In this paper, taking the monitoring of whether the transmission wire and the plastic bag collide as an example, aiming at the shortage of collision between objects in the image, especially the inaccurate detection results and long calculation time, we propose a collision detection algorithm. Firstly, detect the target wire and plastic bag in the picture, and judge whether there is a coincidence between the wire and plastic bag in two-dimensional space. If there are no overlapping spots in two dimensions, there is no collision between the wire and plastic bag. On the contrary, measure the position coordinate information in its three-dimensional coordinate system by binocular vision digital measurement method, and surround the wire and plastic bag by bounding boxes respectively. Finally, judge whether there is collision between them by calculation. Compared with the collision detection algorithm based on two-dimensional space, the accuracy of detection is improved. Compared with the complete use of binocular distance measurement for collision detection, the detection speed is significantly improved and the detection efficiency is effectively improved.
Fisiopatología y mecanismos de acción del ejercicio en el manejo de la diabetes mellitus tipo 2

Contexto: en la actualidad, la diabetes mellitus tipo 2 (DMT2) constituye una enfermedad de alta prevalencia en el mundo, se caracteriza por una incapacidad para regular la glucosa plasmática e implica para su desarrollo varias fases, las cuales incluyen la resistencia a la insulina y la disfunción de las células beta pancreáticas. Los mecanismos biológicos que llevan al desarrollo de la enfermedad implican alteraciones intracelulares en órganos como el músculo esquelético, secundarios a lipotoxicidad y glucotoxicidad, los cuales favorecen el desarrollo de resistencia a la insulina, adicionalmente, la presencia de estas mismas alteraciones en células beta, que da como resultado la reducción en la producción de insulina. Objetivo: comprender los mecanismos biológicos de cómo el ejercicio influye tanto en la prevención como manejo de la DMT2. Metodología: se revisaron artículos en bases de datos electrónicas (últimos diez años) y textos guías de Endocrinología y Fisiología del Ejercicio, con relación a la DMT2 y el ejercicio. Resultados: el ejercicio físico, tanto de fuerza como de resistencia, ha demostrado mejorar la actividad metabólica muscular, reducir la inflamación sistémica, favorecer la función mitocondrial, modificar la composición corporal y contribuir a la función de las células beta. Al parecer, buena parte de estos efectos son secundarios a la acción endocrina del músculo, pero también al impacto metabólico y energético que el ejercicio implica. Conclusiones: esta revisión demuestra los mecanismos biológicos de cómo el ejercicio es un pilar clave en la prevención y el tratamiento de la DMT2.
Adjusting to the new normal in HRM: Ways HR practitioners can adapt to the current and future work challenges

This article aims to explore the concept of the "new normal" in Human Resource Management (HRM) and how HR practitioners can adapt to the challenges of current and future work environments. By exploring and synthetizing the various literatures on current and future work, this piece highlights the importance of flexibility, agility, innovation amongst others in HRM practices to meet the demands of evolving work environments facilitated by COVID-19 and other emerging global happenings. As the workplace continues to evolve, it is crucial for HR professionals to stay up-to-date with new technologies and work practices. It also offers practical suggestions for HR professionals on ways to adjust their approaches to talent management, employee engagement, and workplace culture to support organizational success in the new normal.
Improved characteristics of MoS2 transistors with selective doping using 1,2-dichloroethane

We demonstrate area-selective doping of MoS2 field-effect transistors using 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) solution. In the device manufacturing process, area-selective chemical doping was used to implement contact engineering in the source/drain region. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy measurements were performed to confirm the blocked layer (BL) using a photoresist, which suppressed the doping effect of the DCE treatment. In the XPS results, the main core level of the MoS2 flake with BL did not shift, whereas that of the MoS2 flake without BL changed by approximately 0.24 eV. In the case of the MoS2 flakes with a BL, the vibrational modes of the Raman scattering did not shift. Conversely, the two Raman peaks of the MoS2 flake without BL red-shifted because of increasing electron–phonon scattering. The effect of area-selective doping was confirmed by electrical measurements. The field-effect mobility and the subthreshold swing were enhanced from 4.07 to 31.5 cm2 (V s)−1 and from 1.26 to 0.401 V/decade, respectively.
Reconstructing Images Through Multimode Fibers From the Up-Conversion Speckle Patterns via Deep Learning

The mode mixing and mode dispersion in the multimode fiber (MMF) will produce complex speckle patterns in the distal end of the fiber as an object passes through the MMF, rendering image reconstruction to be a challenging task. In recent years, convolutional neural networks have been successfully applied to image reconstruction from speckles. However, the imaging spectra of these studies are mostly in the visible spectrum range and require complete speckle information for reconstruction. In this paper, researchers build an optical imaging system that employs up-conversion imaging technology to collect speckle patterns generated by infrared light transmitting through a multimode fiber and a frequency-doubling crystal. They propose a speckle restoration network (SRNet) based on a generative adversarial network (GAN) to reconstruct speckle images. The generator of GAN uses ResNest and atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ASPP) to extract multi-level features and multi-scale context information, respectively. The discriminator of GAN significantly improves the quality of the reconstructed image generated by the generator. In addition, researchers adopt a special training method named pre-training generator to avoid gradient disappearance or gradient explosion in the training process. With the designed network, high-quality images were successfully reconstructed even with only a portion of the speckle information.
The Effect of the Donor’s and Recipient’s Sex on Red Blood Cells Evaluated Using Transfusion Simulations

The hypothesis of the potential impact of the sex of red blood cell (RBC) concentrate (RCC) donors, as well as the sex of the recipients, on the clinical outcome, is still under evaluation. Here, we have evaluated the sex impact on RBC properties using in vitro transfusion models. Using a “flask model”, RBCs from RCCs (representing the donor)—at different storage lengths—were incubated in a sex-matched and sex-mismatched manner with fresh frozen plasma pools (representing the recipient) at 37 °C, with 5% of CO2 up to 48 h. Standard blood parameters, hemolysis, intracellular ATP, extracellular glucose and lactate were quantified during incubation. Additionally, a “plate model”, coupling hemolysis analysis and morphological study, was carried out in similar conditions in 96-well plates. In both models, RBCs from both sexes hemolyzed significantly less in female-derived plasma. No metabolic or morphological differences were observed between sex-matched and -mismatched conditions, even though ATP was higher in female-derived RBCs during incubations. Female plasma reduced hemolysis of female- as well as male-derived RBCs, which may be related to a sex-dependent plasma composition and/or sex-related intrinsic RBC properties.
Metal Body Burden as Cardiovascular Risk Factor in Adults with Metabolic Syndrome and Overweight–Obesity Analysed with an Artificial Neural Network: The Role of Hair Mineralograms

In determining the so-called “body burden”, hair has been widely accepted for assessing toxic element exposure. However, its role in assessing essential elements is controversial. This study investigates the possible relationship between hair minerals, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular (CV) risk in non-occupationally exposed subjects with overweight–obesity. Ninety-five voluntary participants (aged 51 ± 12) were recruited in Northern Italy. Hair samples were collected and analysed via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; the total toxicity index (TI) was calculated as well. To evaluate cardiovascular risk factors in the presence or absence of MetS, the following factors were considered via the innovative artificial neural network (ANN) method Auto-CM: hair mineralograms (31 elements) and 25 variables including blood pressure, anthropometric parameters, insulin resistance and biochemical serum markers assessing inflammation. The Framingham risk score, fatty liver index (FLI), visceral adiposity index and CV risk scores were also taken into consideration. As shown by the semantic map, which was subsequently confirmed by an activation and competition system (ACS), obesity parameters are strictly associated with CV risk factors, TI and inflammation; meanwhile, the single mineral elements seem to be unimportant. Data obtained via ANN demonstrate that MetS may be at least partly mediated by altered mineral levels also in the presence of obesity and that waist circumference is a crucial point to be monitored rather than BMI alone. Furthermore, the mineral body burden is one of the important factors for CV risk.
Merging from the Temporal Input: On Subject‐Object Asymmetries and an Ergative Language*

Language research is particularly concerned with understanding the interplay between syntactic structure, variable aspects of linguistic form and language processing mechanisms. This paper discusses some recent results from Basque, an ergative language, that appear incompatible with the assumption that there are universal subject-gap advantages in relative clause processing. I argue that, given the incremental nature of language processing, the relative ease of processing structures involving subject or object gaps results from the combination of morphological specifications such as the ergative/nominative divide, and input-initial processing choices. This suggests that processing effects directly stated over notions like “subject of” or “object of”, widely considered derivative and not universal in Linguistics, are not sufficiently general. Abstracting away from these descriptive labels, and seeking alternative explanatory primitivesing away from these descriptive labels, and seeking alternative explanatory primitives that are not language-dependent is likely to yield a more parsimonious picture of processing complexity in language.
Positive representations of split real quantum groups of type $B_n$, $C_n$, $F_4$, and $G_2$

We construct the positive principal series representations for $U_q(g_R)$ where $g$ is of type $B_n$, $C_n$, $F_4$ or $G_2$, parametrized by $R^r$ where $r$ is the rank of $g$. We show that under the representations, the generators of the Langlands dual group $U_{\tilde{q}}({}^Lg_R)$ are related to the generators of $U_q(g_R)$ by the transcendental relations. We define the modified quantum group of the modular double and show that the representations of both parts of the modular double commute with each other, and there is an embedding into the $q$-tori polynomials.
Controlling Legionella pneumophila in Showerheads: Combination of Remedial Intervention and Preventative Flushing

Shock chlorination and remedial flushing are suggested to address Legionella pneumophila (Lp) contamination in buildings or during their (re)commissioning. However, data on general microbial measurements (adenosine tri-phosphate [ATP], total cell counts [TCC]), and the abundance of Lp are lacking to support their temporary implementation with variable water demands. In this study, the weekly short-term (3-week) impact of shock chlorination (20–25 mg/L free chlorine, 16 h) or remedial flushing (5-min flush) combined with distinct flushing regimes (daily, weekly, stagnant) was investigated in duplicates of showerheads in two shower systems. Results showed that the combination of stagnation and shock chlorination prompted biomass regrowth, with ATP and TCC in the first draws reaching large regrowth factors of 4.31–7.07-fold and 3.51–5.68-fold, respectively, from baseline values. Contrastingly, remedial flushing followed by stagnation generally resulted in complete or larger regrowth in Lp culturability and gene copies (gc). Irrespective of the intervention, daily flushed showerheads resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) lower ATP and TCC, as well as lower Lp concentrations than weekly flushes, in general. Nonetheless, Lp persisted at concentrations ranging from 11 to 223 as the most probable number per liter (MPN/L) and in the same order of magnitude (103–104 gc/L) than baseline values after remedial flushing, despite daily/weekly flushing, unlike shock chlorination which suppressed Lp culturability (down 3-log) for two weeks and gene copies by 1-log. This study provides insights on the most optimal short-term combination of remedial and preventative strategies that can be considered pending the implementation of suitable engineering controls or building-wide treatment.
A force field superposition approach to plane elastic stress and strain analysis

The force field superposition method for linear elastic problems of stress and strain analysis involves representing the stress and displacement fields in a given solution domain as a superposition of fields generated by a number of point forces. These forces are located outside the solution domain, and in the case of two-dimensional, singly connected finite domain problems can be uniformly distributed around the perimeter of a circle enclosing the physical domain. Doubly connected and infinite domain problems can also be treated. The results of some simple test problems show that remarkable accuracy can be achieved with very little computational effort relative to other numerical methods. More complex problems require the solution domain to be divided into several subdomains, each of which may be subjected to superposition analysis.
Animals and 2-Motzkin Paths

We consider an animal S as a set of points in the coordinate plane that are reachable from the origin (0;0) through points in S by steps from f(1;0);(0;1);(1;1);(i1;i1)g. In this paper, we give a combinatorial bijection with 2-Motzkin paths, i.e., the Motzkin paths with two difierent horizontal steps.
TCF7L1 Controls the Differentiation of Tuft Cells in Mouse Small Intestine

Continuous and rapid renewal of the intestinal epithelium depends on intestinal stem cells (ISCs). A large repertoire of transcription factors mediates the correct maintenance and differentiation of ISCs along either absorptive or secretory lineages. In the present study, we addressed the role of TCF7L1, a negative regulator of WNT signalling, in embryonic and adult intestinal epithelium using conditional mouse mutants. We found that TCF7L1 prevents precocious differentiation of the embryonic intestinal epithelial progenitors towards enterocytes and ISCs. We show that Tcf7l1 deficiency leads to upregulation of the Notch effector Rbp-J, resulting in a subsequent loss of embryonic secretory progenitors. In the adult small intestine, TCF7L1 is required for the differentiation of secretory epithelial progenitors along the tuft cell lineage. Furthermore, we show that Tcf7l1 promotes the differentiation of enteroendocrine D- and L-cells in the anterior small intestine. We conclude that TCF7L1-mediated repression of both Notch and WNT pathways is essential for the correct differentiation of intestinal secretory progenitors.
Convergence analysis of waveform relaxation for nonlinear differential-algebraic equations of index one

We give a new and simple convergence theorem on the waveform relaxation (WR) solution for a system of nonlinear differential-algebraic equations of index one. We show that if the norms of certain matrices derived from the Jacobians of the system functions are less than one, then the WR solution converges. The new sufficient condition includes previously reported conditions as special cases. Examples are given to confirm the theoretical analysis.
Engineering the future of electronics

The development of epitaxial growth techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy and special kinds of chemical vapour phase epitaxy, allows us to control the growth of individual semiconductor layers on an atomic scale. These achievements provide a strong basis for designing semiconductor materials with tailored band structures and, consequently, tailored electronic and optical properties. The combination of different composites in the form of heterostructures and superlattices (periodic sequences of ultra-thin layers of different semiconducting materials) has opened up exciting possibilities for novel devices. It has also increased the basic understanding of electronic behaviour in reduced dimensions. The important parameters in this "band structure engineering" are the microscopic nature of the interfaces; the bandgap discontinuities; the doping profiles; and the related space-charge layers.