Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A hierarchical perception decision-making framework for autonomous driving

ABSTRACT Self-driving vehicles have attracted significant attention from both industry and academy. Despite the intensive research efforts on the perception model of environment-awareness, it is still challenging to attain accurate decision-making under real-world driving scenarios. Today’s state-of-the-art solutions typically hinge on end-to-end DNN-based perception-control models, which provide a rather direct way of driving decision-making. However, DNN models may fail in dealing with complex driving scenarios that require relational reasoning. This paper proposes a hierarchical perception decision-making framework for autonomous driving by employing hypergraph-based reasoning, which enables fuse multi-perceptual models to integrate multimodal environmental information. The proposed framework utilises the high-order correlations behind driving behaviours, and thus allows better relational reasoning and generalisation to achieve more precise driving decisions. Our work outperforms state-of-the-art results on Udacity, Berkeley DeepDrive Video and DBNet data sets. The proposed techniques can be used to construct a unified driving decision-making framework for modular integration of autonomous driving systems.
Neural regions underlying object and action naming: complementary evidence from acute stroke and primary progressive aphasia

ABSTRACT Background Naming impairment is commonly noted in individuals with aphasia. However, object naming receives more attention than action naming. Furthermore, most studies include participants with aphasia due to only one aetiology, commonly stroke. We developed a new assessment, the Hopkins Action Naming Assessment (HANA), to evaluate action naming impairments. Aims Our aims were to show that the HANA is a useful tool that can (1) identify action naming impairments and (2) be used to investigate the neural substrates underlying naming. We paired the HANA with the Boston Naming Test (BNT) to compare action and object naming. We considered participants with aphasia due to primary progressive aphasia (PPA) or acute left hemisphere stroke to provide a more comprehensive picture of brain–behaviour relationships critical for naming. Behaviourally, we hypothesised that there would be a double dissociation between object and action naming performance. Neuroanatomically, we hypothesised that different neural substrates would be implicated in object vs. action naming and that different lesion-deficit associations would be identified in participants with PPA vs. acute stroke. Methods & Procedures Participants (N = 138 PPA, N = 37 acute stroke) completed the BNT and HANA. Behavioural performance was compared. A subset of participants (N = 31 PPA, N = 37 acute stroke) provided neuroimaging data. The whole brain was automatically segmented into regions of interest (ROIs). For participants with PPA, the image variables were the ROI volumes, normalised by brain volume. For participants with acute stroke, the image variables were the percentage of each ROI that was lesioned. The relationship between ROIs likely to be involved in naming performance was modelled with LASSO regression. Outcomes & Results Behavioural results showed a double dissociation in performance: in each group, some participants displayed intact performance relative to healthy controls on actions but not objects and/or significantly better performance on actions than objects, while others showed the opposite pattern. These results support the need to assess both objects and actions when evaluating naming deficits. Neuroimaging results identified different regions associated with object vs. action naming, implicating overlapping but distinct networks of regions. Furthermore, results differed for participants with PPA vs. acute stroke, indicating that critical information may be missed when only one aetiology is considered. Conclusions Overall, the study provides a more comprehensive picture of the neural bases of naming, underscoring the importance of assessing both objects and actions and considering different aetiologies of damage. It demonstrates the HANA's utility.
Study of Biofilm Formation and Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Bacteria Isolated from Diabetic Foot Ulcers in Hôpital de Référence Saint Joseph, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Foot infections resulting from biofilm producers and multi-drug resistant organisms is one of the most important complications of diabetes mellitus, as it can impede the wound healing process. This study was carried out in order to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern and the biofilm production in diabetic foot ulcers isolates. Clinical samples were collected from patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers by using sterile swabs. Antibiotic susceptibility test was done using disk diffusion method on Mueller Hinton Agar. Biofilm formation was assessed by Crystal Violet Staining Method. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were resistant to ofloxacin (83.3%), ciprofloxacin (75.0%), trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (75.0%), and gentamicin (58.8%) but very sensitive to oxacillin (100.0%) and vancomycin (91.7%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates showed resistance to the commonly used antibiotics such as ofloxacin, cefotaxime, ampicillin (81.8%), ceftazidime and imipenem (72.7%). The majority of bacteria studied were biofilm producers. This study showed that bacteria isolated from diabetic foot ulcers were biofilm producers and presented resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Knowledge on antibiotic sensitivity pattern and biofilm phenotype of the isolates will be helpful in determining the drugs for the treatment of diabetic ulcers.
Ecotoxicological effects of decommissioning offshore petroleum infrastructure: A systematic review

Abstract Successful decommissioning of subsea oil and gas infrastructure requires a safe and effective approach to assess and manage waste products. These products, often present as scale on internals of pipelines, include naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and trace metals. Understanding the potential effects of these contaminants on marine fauna is crucial to managing global decommissioning. This review is composed of two aspects: 1) a systematic review was conducted to synthesize literature on all contaminants associated with decommissioned offshore structures and the effects of NORM contaminants on marine organisms; 2) a critical review of current environmental regulations for decommissioning and characterization of petroleum scale and NORM components. Studies defining the chemical and radiological contaminants associated with decommissioned structures were very limited. The main source of contaminants was identified from offshore platforms, with none from subsea structures. Only three studies measured variable chemical effects of radium to organisms from scale materials in subsea oil and gas infrastructure. No studies measured effects on organisms from other NORM, such as lead-210 and polonium-210. Currently, there are no international regulations on subsea pipeline closure, with NORM being underreported and not addressed in environmental impact assessments. This review highlights research gaps from environmental monitoring and characterization of NORM associated with decommissioned structures. Key recommendations for future research include characterizing NORM scale and assessing effects of scale to marine organisms through direct organism exposure experiments. This review emphasizes the need to incorporate ecotoxicology into environmental risk assessment for offshore petroleum decommissioning. Graphical abstract
The Effects of Serum and Follicular Fluid Vitamin D Levels on Assisted Reproductive Techniques: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Based on studies on animal models, vitamin D plays an essential role in reproduction by controlling Ca and Mg levels. Despite these findings, the effects of vitamin D deficiency and supplementation on the outcome of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) remain controversial. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between serum and follicular fluid 25-OH vitamin D levels on reproductive outcomes of infertile women. Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study included 150 infertile women who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The participants were allocated to one of the three groups according to their serum and follicular fluid 25-OH vitamin D concentrations (less than 10 ng/ml, between 10 and 30 ng/ ml and more than 30 ng/ml), and fertilization, cleavage and biochemical and clinical pregnancy rates were compared among the groups. Data was analyzed by SPSS software and using Chi-square and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: Serum and follicular fluid vitamin D levels significantly correlated with biochemical (P=0.008), (P=0.003) and clinical pregnancy (P=0.017), (P=0.001) rates respectively . However, the quality of embryos (P=0.125), (P=0.106) and fertilization rate (P=0.082), (P=0.059) were not associated with the level of serum and follicular fluid vitamin D. Conclusion: This study found that women with higher levels of vitamin D in their serum and follicular fluid are significantly more likely to achieve pregnancy but without affecting the quality of embryo and fertility rate.
Novel Immune-Related Gene Signature for Risk Stratification and Prognosis of Survival in Estrogen Receptor (ER) or Progesterone Receptor (PR) Positive and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) Negative Breast Cancer

Background: Although intrinsic molecular subtype has been extensively used, the risk stratification have not been fully elucidated in estrogen receptor (ER) or progesterone receptor (PR) positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative breast cancer. Methods: RNA transcriptional data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), METABRIC and GEO were used. Immune-related genes were obtained from the datasets and literature search. Univariate, lasso regression and multivariate cox regression were employed to identify prognostic immune-related genes and establish the risk signature. Relationships between the risk signature and clinical parameters, tumor-infiltrating immune cell abundances and cancer phenotypes were further evaluated.Results: Noted, 102 immune-related prognostic genes were identified in METABRIC dataset by univariate cox analysis. Consecutively, 7 immune genes (SHMT2, AGA, COL17A1, FLT3, SLC7A2, ATP6AP1 and CCL19) were selected as risk signature by lasso regression and multivariate cox analysis. Its performance was further verified in TCGA,GSE20685 and GSE9195 datasets. Multivariate Cox regression indicated that the risk signature was an independent predictor. The prognostic signature showed significant correlation with intrinsic molecular subtypes, 70-gene signature and tamoxifen resistance signature. The CIBERSORT algorithm revealed that CD4+ memory T cells were significant higher in low-risk group. Conversely, M0-type macrophages were significant higher in high-risk group in both TCGA and METABRIC cohorts, which may have effect on the prognosis. Furthermore, we found that low-risk group may be associated with immune-related pathway and high-risk group was with cell cycle-related pathway, which also showed impact on the prognosis.Conclusion: The present study constructed a robust seven immune-related gene signature and established an effective method in risk stratification and prediction of clinical outcome in ER or PR positive and HER2 negative breast cancer.
Effect of synthesis parameters on the particle size of the zero valent iron particles

ABSTRACT It is known that synthesis conditions significantly affect the particle size. The sizes of particles also affect the particles efficiency. In this study, because of its importance as a material, the effect of synthesis parameters on the particle size of zero valent iron particles such as initial ferric iron concentration, initial borohydride concentration, initial stabilizer concentration, temperature, initial pH, NaBH4 adding rate, and stirring rate were examined in detail. The results showed that the initial ferric iron and borohydride concentrations used in the synthesis primarily affected the particles sizes of zero valent iron. Also high temperature values showed a negative effect in producing small particles.
Convergence Of Artificial Intelligence And Internet Of Things In Predictive Maintenance Systems – A Review

Operations and Maintenance costs have always posed a heavy burden in wind turbines and the main aspects in spending are on unplanned unscheduled breakdowns, repairs and down time costs. Technology enhancements with connectivity between wind farms and operations control center would reduce risk and improve efficiency during maintenance by continuously analysing the data acquired. Digital solutions of industrial internet of things and machine learning have made inroads and are the real game changers with the potential to supervise, predict and prevent catastrophic failures. Generating the insights from the data to understand the wear pattern and to formulate replacement strategies for reducing frequent maintenance costs and to increase the production. This paper shall discuss and review about the prognostics and diagnostics of the wind turbines, machine learning algorithms, identifying their inter-dependency within the subsystems and the available digital solutions for effective handling of data in predictive maintenance schedules.
Pengaruh Socio-cultural Influences dan Self-Compassion terhadap Apresiasi Tubuh Wanita: Social Appearance Comparison sebagai Mediator

Self-image in general is an important part of humans. Having an ideal body shape according to the perceptions and norms that develop in society is usually a standard condition to be considered to be attractive. Self-image view is closely related to body image; mental picture of a person, cognitive and emotional assessments of himself, and approximately other people's judgments about the shape and size of his body. A positive body image is a multifaceted construct that is not simple so that it is not only a target of self-criticism but also an attitude of respect and self-acceptance which is called body appreciation. The purpose of this study was to find out the role of sociocultural influences and self-compassion on individual body appreciation and the presumption of the role of social appearance comparison variables as mediators between self-compassion and body appreciation. Participant were individuals aged 20-40 years consisting of 84 women. This research was conducted using multiple regression analysis. The results of the analysis, self-compassion contributed 21.7% to body appreciation and the proof of social appearance comparison mediated partially the relationship between self-compassion and body appreciation.
Combined Dispatching of Hydropower and Wind Power Based on the Hedging Theory

In order to improve the utilization rate of water resources in the flood season of the reservoir effectively and promote wind power consumption, this paper proposes an optimization model for the combined dispatching of wind power and hydropower based on the hedging theory. First, the conflicting relationship between the water storage benefits of hydropower stations, flood control risks, and the joint output of hydropower and wind power in joint dispatching is studied. The introduction of hedging theory divides the combined dispatching of wind power and hydropower into a two-stage dispatching problem including the decision-making stage and the remaining stage; Second, considering the uncertainty of water forecasting and wind power forecasting, a multi-objective optimal dispatching model of hydropower and wind power based on hedging theory is constructed. This model aims to minimize flood control risks, maximize water storage benefits, and minimize wind power and hydropower combined power output volatility. Finally, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA2) is used to solve the specific examples. The results show that the model built in the article controls the flood control risk at each time period not to be higher than 1.63 × 10−3 (the flood control standard corresponding to the flood control risk in 50 years is 0.006). Additionally, the water level of the reservoir increased from the flood limit water level (583.00 m) to 583.70 m. It greatly increases the water storage capacity and effectively improves the utilization rate of water resources. At the same time, the optimized scheduling scheme reduced the peak-valley difference of joint output from 125.00 MW to 35.66 MW, and the peak-valley difference was greatly reduced. It effectively improves the volatility of wind power. The validity of the model is verified, and the obtained scheme can provide decision-making for the joint dispatch scheme of hydropower and wind power.
A knowledge-based model on quality management system compliance assessment for maritime higher education institutions

ABSTRACT A quality management system is an essential and mandatory instrument for maritime higher education institutions mandated by the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. To design an effective quality management system, it is strongly recommended to take the most comprehensive model of the quality system such as ISO 9001 quality management system. This paper proposes a knowledge-based model for assessing the compliance level of the quality management system of maritime higher education institutions with respect to ISO 9001:2015 to provide meaningful information to design an effective quality management system, to identify potential gaps and required improvement points in the quality management system. In the proposed model, fuzzy axiomatic design is selected as a suitable research methodology. The obtained results provide a decision aid for the relevant executives in maritime institutions who design a quality management system integrated with ISO 9001:2015 guidelines.
Herb and conifer roots show similar high sensitivity to water deficit.

Root systems play a major role in supplying the canopy with water, enabling photosynthesis and growth. Yet, much of the dynamic response of root hydraulics and its influence on gas exchange during soil drying and recovery remains uncertain. We examined the decline and recovery of the whole root hydraulic conductance (Kr) and canopy diffusive conductance (gc) during exposure to moderate water stress in two species with contrasting root systems: Tanacetum cinerariifolium (herbaceous Asteraceae) and Callitris rhomboidea (woody conifer). Optical dendrometers were used to record stem water potential at high temporal resolution and enabled non-invasive measurements of Kr calculated from the rapid relaxation kinetics of water potential in hydrating roots. We observed parallel declines in Kr and gc to <20% of unstressed levels during the early stages of water stress in both species. The recovery of Kr after rewatering differed between species. T. cinerariifolium recovered quickly, with 60% of Kr recovered within 2 h, while C. rhomboidea was much slower to return to its original Kr. Recovery of gc followed a similar trend to Kr in both species, with C. rhomboidea slower to recover. Our findings suggest that the pronounced sensitivity of Kr to drought is a common feature among different plant species, but recovery may vary depending on root type and water stress severity. Kr dynamics are proposed to modulate gc response during and following drought.
Uses and Gratifications of Political Information: Student Perceptions of Information from the 2014 Tunisian Elections

People use diverse sources of information to obtain political information. We apply uses and gratifications theory (UGT) to illustrate how the use of different political information sources influences perceptions of information satisfaction related to the Tunisian elections of 2014. An online survey of 175 university students in Tunisia, with a 58% response rate. We use partial least squares structural equation modelling to test our research model of hypotheses relating content, process, and social gratifications to information satisfaction. We find that content, process, and social gratifications constructs combine to explain 41% of the variance in information satisfaction. Content gratification has the strongest influence (p=.505) followed by similar levels of influence of process (p=.163) and social (p=.140) gratifications. Social gratifications are partially mediated by process gratification. Limitations of our study include our online survey method and our sample of university students. However, our respondents experienced the uprising, the election campaigns, and voted in the elections, suggesting their perceptions are valid, if not generalisable to all of Tunisia. Practically our study suggests that individuals searching for political information should 1) determine how they’ll know information is accurate, 2) maximize the number of different activities for information-seeking rather than focusing on the frequency of a few activities, and 3) know that information sharing contributes to information satisfaction. The dominance of content gratifications, i.e., information reliability and accuracy, is important for information providers, such as, government and political leaders. Our study provides evidence that UGT is useful in the novel context of emerging political situations.
Polyaniline Cryogels Supported with Poly(vinyl alcohol): Soft and Conducting

The present contribution reports the single-step preparation of new type of soft macroporous conducting cryogels, a special type of hydrogels. Polyaniline/poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel was prepared by the oxidation of aniline hydrochloride in frozen reaction mixtures, in ice, containing a supporting polymer, poly(vinyl alcohol). The cryogel used for illustration contained of polyaniline, poly(vinyl alcohol) and 93 wt % of aqueous phase. It was macroscopically homogeneous and it had macroporous structure with average pore size of ≈100 μm. The conducting polyaniline phase was fibrillary. The molecular structure of polyaniline was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. The conductivity of cryogel was 0.004 S cm–1 in water and 0.105 S cm–1 in 0.1 M sulfuric acid. It still increased to 0.29 S cm–1 when the content of monomer increased five times. Because of the contribution of electronic transport, the conductivity of cryogel was always higher than the ionic conductivity of aqueous phase used for its penetration. The .