Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the radiometric impact of the Sentinel 2 orthorectification process

The Sentinel 2 (S2) orthorectification process converts the Level-1B (L1B) radiance data generated at sensor geometry into orthorectified top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance data, which is the Level-1C (L1C) product distributed to users. However, the spatial resampling operations involved by the orthorectification also transform the radiometric quality of the data. In this work, we evaluate the impact of the S2 orthorectification process on the radiometric quality of the data, with focus on the radiometric uncertainty budget. In particular, the study reports the variation of the S2 noise model attached to the S2 L1C metadata and the effects on the L1C uncertainty products produced by an offline processor named Radiometric Uncertainty Tool (RUT). This assessment is divided into three steps, namely noise propagation, interpolation uncertainty, and covariance impact. For the first of them, the results show that noise is reduced by a factor of 0.65 from L1B to L1C data, both by simulations and an empirical approach that estimates noise variance from real L1B and L1C acquisitions at different sites. Regarding the evaluation of the interpolation uncertainty, aerial orthoimages are convolved by the S2 Point Spread Function (PSF) and upsampled into the S2 spatial resolution. The study shows that, from this S2-like image, a distribution of interpolation errors (i.e. uncertainty) can be associated to the standard deviation of the neighbouring pixels. Finally, the covariance change due to the spatial resampling has been simulated with a propagation of the L1B radiance errors in order to understand the increase of correlation between neighbouring pixels
A Survey on Simulation for Weight Perception in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) technology can provide users with an immersive experience as if they are in the real world, which can be applied in the fields of entertainment, education and scientific research, etc. In order to improve the sense of presence and immersion in VR, the design of multimodal feedback is an important component. In particular, the simulation of weight of virtual objects poses many challenges due to the limitations of hardware and software. Many researchers focused on this issue in various ways. These methods are mainly divided into two categories: device-based simulation and software-based simulation. This paper investigates the focus of software-based simulation, particularly for the virtual feedback methods proposed by researchers in recent years. We introduce the background of these proposed methods, technical implementation principles, application scenarios, the advantages and disadvantages of these simulation methods, and the evaluation criteria. We also propose the future challenges and the development of simulation methods for weight perception of virtual objects in VR.
Pore structure classification and logging evaluation method for carbonate reservoirs: A case study from an oilfield in the Middle East

ABSTRACT Based on the data of 121 thin sections, 24 mercury injection and physical properties of the carbonate reservoir in A oilfield of the Middle East, the reservoir in the study area is divided into four pore-throat systems by analyzing the pore-throat volume verses permeability-contribution curve of core mercury injection and corresponding depth NMR logging data. Taking into account the contribution of each pore-throat system to the rock, a new pore structure parameter P based on NMR logging data is proposed. On this basis, the P and flow porosity calculated from NMR logging data are used as variables, and the pore structure of carbonate reservoirs is divided into four types by using the K-means clustering method in combination with the characteristics of capillary pressure curves and thin sections. With the input of NMR logging data and conventional logging data, the classification model of pore structure is established by Rotation Forest algorithm. The accuracy of the classification model based on NMR logging is 98.56%, and the accuracy of the classification model based on conventional logging is 89.9%. Compared with the Random Forest algorithm and the Fisher discriminant method, the Rotation Forest algorithm has high prediction accuracy and strong stability. The research shows that the pore structure classification method proposed in this paper is in good agreement with the interpretation results, which can provide some reference value for finding effective reservoirs in the future.
DESCRIPCIÓN DE LA LARVA DE PARACLES AZOLLAE (BERG, 1877) (LEPIDOPTERA: EREBIIDAE)

Description of the larva of Paracles azollae (Berg, 1877) (Lepidoptera: Erebiidae). The description of immature stages for aquatic lepidopteran species is fragmentary and almost non-existent for the American continent. The larvae of the aquatic species of Arctiinae are recognized by the presence of secondary setae and warts, which give them a hairy appearance. The Paracles genus is present in the Neotropical regions, where Uruguay and Argentina are considered the southern limit of their distribution. For Uruguay are cited the species Paracles azollae (Berg, 1877), P. tenuis Berg, 1877, P. burmeisteri (Berg, 1877), P. uruguayensis (Berg, 1886), P . cajetani (Rothschild, 1910) and P. vulpina (Hübner, [1825]). The mature larva of P. azollae is characterized by a protoraxic shield with main setae and warts. T2 and T3 with dorsal respiratory plastron complex, and warts with long and thick feathery setae. A1-2 with a complex dorsal plastron with setae in pinaculum. A3-8 with plastron and setae in pinaculum. A9 with complex plastron and warts. A10 with dorsal wart. The presence and number of warts, the number and shape of setae and the location of the plastron are presented as anatomical characters for the specific determination of the Paracles genus.
Vibrotactile-Based Operational Guidance System for Space Science Experiments

On-orbit astronauts and scientists on the ground need to cooperate closely, to complete space science experiments efficiently. However, for the increasingly diverse space science experiments, scientists are unable to train astronauts on the ground about the details of each experiment. The traditional interaction of visual and auditory channels is not enough for scientists to directly guide astronauts to experimentalize. An intuitive and transparent interaction interface between scientists and astronauts has to be built to meet the requirements of space science experiments. Therefore, this paper proposed a vibrotactile guidance system for cooperation between scientists and astronauts. We utilized Kinect V2 sensors to track the movements of the participants of space science experiments, process data in the virtual experimental environment developed by Unity 3D, and provide astronauts with different guidance instructions using the wearable vibrotactile device. Compared with other schemes using only visual and auditory channels, our approach provides more direct and more efficient guidance information that astronauts perceive is what they need to perform different tasks. Three virtual space science experiment tasks verified the feasibility of the vibrotactile operational guidance system. Participants were able to complete the experimental task with a short period of training, and the experimental results show that the method has an application prospect.
Evaluating the biological effects of electronic cigarettes using a novel in-house designed aerosol delivery system and an in-vitro co-culture model of the human airways

Although electronic cigarettes (ECs) have been widely promoted as safer alternatives to tobacco cigarettes, limited scientific data is currently available on their possible health effects. The current study aims to investigate the potential effects of ECs using a novel in-house designed cigarette/EC aerosol delivery system and physiologically relevant 2D and 3D in-vitro human airway models. Submerged cultures of BEAS 2B and CALU 3 bronchial epithelial cells were used to investigate the effects of nicotine and its oxidative metabolite cotinine. Results demonstrated that neither nicotine nor cotinine had any significant impact on the bronchial epithelial cell viability or IL-6/IL-8 pro-inflammatory mediators’ production. Further, treatment of submerged cultures of a number of airways related cell types to extracts of commercially available ECs of different nicotine strength, flavourings and brands showed that while the differing nicotine strengths had no impact on the cell viability, flavourings significantly influenced cell viability, with strawberry and cherry flavoured ECs demonstrating the highest cytotoxicity. Moreover, same flavours from different brands produced different effects on cells. Finally, a co-culture human airways model consisting of CALU 3 bronchial epithelial cells and MRC-5 pulmonary fibroblasts cultured at air-liquid-interface were treated to whole cigarette smoke (WCS) and EC vapour (ECV) at different exposure times (7 m, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4.5 h and 6 h) as per the ISO:3308 standard smoking regime using an in-house designed bespoke, automated aerosol delivery system. Results demonstrated that while WCS caused a significant reduction in cell viability post 7 min exposure, ECV produced cytotoxic effects only at exposure times ≥ 3 h. A significant increase in oxidative stress and IL-6/IL-8 production was observed post 3 h ECV treatment, both of which are hallmark characteristics of airway inflammatory conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. Overall, results from the current study suggest that ECs have the potential to cause substantial airways damage, and as yet, cannot be regarded as safe alternatives to tobacco cigarettes. Importantly, a standardised testing method is urgently required in order to elucidate on the long-term health effects of ECs.
Characterization of the Anthelmintic Activity of Murraya koenigii (Linn.)

Objective: To identify the most potent sub fractions(s) of the different extracts of the leaves of Murraya koenigii for the anthelmintic property. Methods: The dried leaves were subjected to soxhlet extraction using methanol, fractionated using n-hexane, chloroform, n-butanol and water. Preliminary phytochemical analysis was done using standard techniques. The potent fractions were subjected to TLC and the appropriate solvent was selected for flash chromatographic separation of the extract. The sub fractions were tested for their anthelmintic activity in vitro using egg hatch assay and larval motility assay on Haemonchus contortus eggs and the most potent fraction was found out. Results: Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of phenolic, tannins and saponins in all extracts and the effect of the extracts could be due to these components. On TLC, toluene: ethyl acetate in 9:1 ratio was found to be the best mobile phase for hexane and chloroform fractions whereas cyclohexane: ethyl acetate at 6:4 was found suitable for butanol fraction. Of the sub fractions (SF), SF 3 and 11 of chloroform fraction showed better ovicidal activity whereas SF 2,6,7,32 and 37 showed best larvicidal activity. The larvae that were used for testing the larvicidal activity, were found to be sluggishly motile after half an hour incubation with the extract and were progressively dead on a dose dependent manner. Conclusion: The chloroform extract of Murraya koenigii and its sub fractions 2, 3,6, 7, 11, 32 and 37 possessed good anthelmintic activity and the isolation of active molecules is necessary for development of a novel anthelmintic.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF POLYPHENOL, FLAVONOID, AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF VARIOUS MEDICINAL PLANTS COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT ALTITUDES

Objectives: The main aim of this investigation is to explore the folklore medicinal flora located at Terai and the lesser Himalayan region of Nepal and has a comparative study on phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant activity that would bring forth a factual basis for its use in the traditional therapy of various health ailments. Methods: Folin-Ciocalteu and Colorimetric aluminum chloride methods were used for the estimation of total polyphenolic and flavonoid content, respectively. Moreover, antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging activity. Results: Among 21 plants collected, Artemesia vulgaris depicted higher (53±0.03 mg GAE/g) and Mimosa pudica (3.7±0.04 mg GAE/g) depicted lower phenolic content whereas the highest flavonoid content is observed in Syzygium cumini and the lowest value in Mentha piperita. Almost all the collected specimen demonstrated antioxidant activity, among which Eupatorium adenophorum and Rhododendron anthopogon demonstrated lower and higher antioxidant activity, respectively. Moreover, phenol and flavonoid content showed a weak correlation with the antioxidant activity indicating the major antioxidant to be different compounds other than phenols or flavonoids. Conclusion: The present study confirms the antioxidant activity of the collected plant specimen and defends its ethnobiological use as a possible natural antioxidant. Furthermore, the result of antioxidant properties encourages their application in medicinal health, functional food, and biopharmaceutics.
Electrical characterization of HVPE GaN containing different concentrations of carbon dopants

A comprehensive study of the electrical characteristics in Schottky diodes made of GaN:C grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE) technology has been reported. The Schottky junctions were made of an Ni/Au (25/200 nm) metal stack and ohmic contacts were fabricated by Ti/Al/Ni/Au (30/90/20/100 nm) e-beam deposition of the metal thin-films followed by rapid thermal annealing. A good quality of the fabricated Schottky diodes has been proved by considering the transient shape using a pulsed technique of barrier evaluation under linearly increasing voltage (BELIV). The concentrations of equilibrium carriers of 1 × 1011 cm−3 and of 2 × 1010 cm−3 have been evaluated for relatively low and high carbon density doped samples, respectively, using photo-capacitance characteristics dependent on excitation intensity. The effective mobility of carriers of μeff = 610 cm2/Vs has been estimated by considering the serial resistance variations dependent on excitation density, through analysis of delay times that appeared in the formation of peaks within BELIV transients. Optical deep level transient spectroscopy has shown that thermal emission from the rather shallow centres prevails. The centres, ascribed to vacancies as well as to carbon on Ga sites, have been identified. It has been demonstrated that Schottky junctions made of heavy carbon doped (NC ≥ 1018 cm−3) HVPE GaN material are able to withstand voltages of ≥300 V.
Chronic Carrageenan Toxicity and the Possible Ameliorative Role of Diacerein in Experimental Animals

Carrageenan, is one of the food additives and is used as a firming agent in healthcare products like toothpaste. The aim of this study was to analyze the chronic toxic effects of kappa carregeenan (k- CGN) on the thyroid gland and pancreas in experimental rats and to evaluate the possible ameliorative effect of Diacerein. This study was done on fifty adult male albino rats. The rats were divided into 5 groups (10 rats in each group) in the form of; control group, Carboxymethylcellulose group (1.2ml/Kg), Diacerein group (30mg/Kg), Carrageenan group (50mg/Kg), and Diacerein( 30mg/kg) + Carrageenan (50mg/kg) combination group All drugs were given orally for 3 months. By the end of the 3rd month, thyroid and pancreatic functions were assessed by biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical investigations. Rats group that were given Carrageenan alone had significantly higher thyroid MDA (malondialdehyde), lower thyroid GSH (reduced glutathione) and serum T4 levels than the untreated control rats group, but co- treatment of Carrageenan- exposed rats with diacerein had an ameliorative effect on the previous results. Light microscopic examinations of thyroid gland sections revealed that Carrageenan caused significant marked hypothyroid changes, and significant mild hypothyroid changes were observed in the rats which received Carrageenan + diacerein combination. Immunohistochemical studies of thyroid gland showed that carrageenan caused significant marked expression of PCNA and significant mild expression was observed in rats received combination of diacerein + carrageenan. Regarding pancreas, this study revealed no significant statistical changes in serum amylase level, MDA and GSH levels. Also, there were not any significant pathological changes of pancreatic tissues of carrageenan group. Thus, it appears that carrageenan can induce oxidative damage in the thyroid gland of rats and diacerein has an ameliorative effect against this damage.
Evaluation of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine Efficacy on Chemotherapy Treatment in triple negative Breast Cancer by continuous live Cell Imaging

Triple negative breast cancer is heterogeneous type of breast cancer which, due to its high proliferation, aggressiveness, rapid progression and poor prognosis, is still a challenge to treat. These characteristics, together with distant metastasis, make this breast cancer subtype resistant to standard treatment. With the lack of targeted therapy, conventional chemotherapy is still the only established treatment option, where mostly taxanes and anthracyclines are chemotherapy of choice. Therefore, there is a need for investigation and development of new effective therapy regimens with goal to improve clinical therapy outcomes. Recently, it has been reported that autophagy has a protective role in response to anti-tumor treatments in many cancer types, including breast cancer, leading to chemotherapy resistance and has gained significant interest in cancer research. Here, we assessed the role of autophagy inhibitors, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine on MDAMB-231 TNBC cell line and chemotherapy drug efficacy in this cell line when these autophagy inhibitors were administrated in combination with chemotherapy, camptothecin and gemcitabine. The cell responses were observed by continuous live cell imaging, robust method that enables detection of dynamic morphological changes, thus providing better insights of complex cellular processes. Our data suggest that when MDA-MB231 cells were ptretreated with either 30 μM chloroquine or 30 μM hydroxychloroquine followed by chemotherapy drug administration, in this case gemcitabine and camptothecin, dead cell area was in significant increase, compared to drugs given as single agents. Moreover, even when chemotherapy drugs were administrated at lower doses after chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine pretreatment it followed the same pattern of significant dead cell area increase. These findings indicate potential anti-cancer effect of both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and suggest further clinical investigation of these autophagy inhibitors in combination with chemotherapeutics and in different cancer types due to their potential value in the development of novel cancer therapies.
Choose Your Enemies Well: Mapping, Managing, and Leveraging Rivalry

There is an important constraint that can be used to regulate mobility in competitive labor markets—the existence of a deeply felt rivalry between employers. Rivalry denotes a stable antagonistic relationship between companies, as exemplified by Apple and IBM in the 1980s. Analyzing data from the Palio di Siena (an ancient horse race in Siena, Italy), this article shows that direct moves between rivals are rare, accounting for less than 2% of all career moves in this context between 1743 and 2011. Rivalry constrains not only direct but also indirect moves to the ally of a rival or the rival of an ally. This article presents a framework describing how managers can harness rivalry: mapping rivalry, managing rivalry to capitalize on its positive aspects, and leveraging rivalry to adjust the level of competitive intensity.
A Verifiable Symmetric Searchable Encryption Scheme Based on the AVL Tree

Verifiable symmetric searchable encryption is a keyword search technology that supports verification of search results. Many schemes improve search performance by dividing each keyword label into segments and storing them in a Trie-tree at the expense of high storage. And the index will degenerate into a linear linked list when all keyword labels have the same prefix except for the last segment. But it will greatly affect the search efficiency. In this paper, we propose a verifiable symmetric searchable encryption scheme based on the AVL Tree (abbreviated as VSSE-AVL), which uses complete keyword labels to build the index. Compared with the Trie-tree index, VSSE-AVL not only balances storage and search performance, but also avoids degradation. To verify the correctness and completeness of empty search results, we store path information in each leaf node and node with only one child node. Considering the substitution attack, we bind the file identifier and the file so that the client will find out once the server returns inconsistent search results. Rigorous security analysis shows VSSE-AVL satisfies privacy and verifiability. Compared with the verifiable SSE-2 with the same security, the experimental evaluation shows that our proposed scheme performs better on storage, search and verification.
Ti3C2Tx MXene/polyvinyl alcohol decorated polyester warp knitting fabric for flexible wearable strain sensors

Flexible wearable strain sensors with excellent sensing performance have received widespread interest due to their superior application capability in the field of human-computer interaction, sports rehabilitation, and disease diagnosis. But at present, it is still a considerable challenge to exploit a flexible strain sensor with high sensitivity and wide sensing range that is easily manufactured, low-cost, and easily integrable into clothing. MXene is a promising material sensitive enough for flexible sensors due to its superior conductivity and hydrophilicity. The warp knitting weft insertion textile structure gives the fabric excellent elasticity, making it suitable as a flexible, stretchable substrate. Therefore, utilizing a polyester elastic fabric with a warp knitting weft insertion structure, a fabric strain sensor with high sensitivity and wide sensing range prepared by layer-by-layer self-assembly of polyvinyl alcohol layers and MXene layers is reported in this study. The strain sensor exhibits high sensitivity (up to 288.43), a wide sensing range (up to 50%), fast response time (50 ms), ultra-low detection limit (a strain of 0.067%), excellent cycle stability (1000 cycles), and good washability. Besides, affixing the MXene/polyvinyl alcohol/polyester elastic fabric strain sensor on the joints can detect the movement of limbs. Therefore, the MXene/polyvinyl alcohol/polyester elastic fabric strain sensor demonstrates potential application opportunities in smart wearable electronic devices, and the researcher can also apply this method in the production of other flexible, intelligent wearable devices.
Research networks should improve connectivity for halting freshwater insect extinctions

1. Avoiding freshwater insect extinctions requires studies assessing causal links between a human pressure and biodiversity measures (threats), the state of biodiversity through time (status), and solutions to manage species loss. However, an imbalance between these different approaches on declines of freshwater insects and the distribution of the studies between countries may have implications for implementing conservation knowledge into practical conservation actions.