Vehicle Pose and Shape Estimation in UAV Imagery Using a CNN

Vehicle reconstruction from single aerial images is an important but challenging task. In this work, we introduce a new framework based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) that performs monocular detection, pose, shape and type estimation for vehicles in UAV imagery, taking advantage of a strong 3D object model. In the final training phase, all components of the model are trained end-to-end. We present a UAV-based dataset for the evaluation of our model and additionally evaluate it on an augmented version of the Hessingheim benchmark dataset. Our method presents encouraging pose and shape estimation results: Based on images of 3 cm GSD, it achieves median errors of up to 5 cm in position and 3◦ in orientation, and RMS errors of ±7 cm and ±24 cm in planimetry and height, respectively, for keypoints describing the car shape

Development of Novel DNA Cleavage Systems Based on Copper Complexes. Synthesis and Characterisation of Cu(II) Complexes of Hydroxyflavones

Copper(II) complexes of several hydroxyflavones were prepared and characterised through their physico-chemical properties. The nuclease activity of three synthesised complexes is reported. These copper(II) complexes present more nuclease activity than the ligands and the copper(II) ion

Histoire des femmes dans la France des XIXe et XXe siècles

Les recherches récentes mettent en évidence les femmes comme objets du regard ou de la politique, et montrent les femmes comme sujets, actrices de l\u27histoire, actives dans tous les domaines de la vie publique. Confinées dans la vie privée par l\u27idéologie dominante qui les veut épouses, mères et ménagères, les femmes sont en effet, qu\u27elles le veuillent ou non, mêlées à toutes les évolutions de la société française au fil des XIXe et XXe siècles. Cette période les voit conquérir de nouveaux droits, revendiquer l\u27égalité et l\u27indépendance, se libérer de nombreux tabous… Une révolution féministe s\u27accomplit, à travers l\u27accès à l\u27éducation, au droit de vote, sans oublier la maîtrise de la fécondité. Si l\u27ouvrage dessine une « condition féminine » en évolution, il montre aussi l\u27hétérogénéité, la diversité des statuts, des appartenances sociales, culturelles… Centré sur les femmes, dans leur diversité, il est aussi une histoire du genre attentive aux rapports de pouvoir entre les sexes, à la domination masculine et à la fabrique du féminin et du masculin

Comparative assessment of total phenolics content and in vitro antioxidant capacity variations of leaf extracts of Origanum grossii and Thymus pallidus

The objective of this research was to assess the efficacy of extracts derived from Origanum grossii and Thymus pallidus leaves, focusing on their inherent phenolic compounds with varying antioxidant processes. The extracts were obtained through the utilization of a Soxhlet apparatus for hot extraction. Several parameters including overall phenolic and flavonoid content, total antioxidant activity (TAC), ferric reduction capacity (FRAP), DPPH scavenging capacity, and ABTS capability were investigated. The total phenolic content ranged from 292.91±1.51 to 3.804±0.22 mg/g DW in oregano samples and from 284.3±1.78 to 3.435±0.23 mg/g DW in thyme fractions, employing gallic acid equivalents as the measurement unit. The sequence of extraction effectiveness, ranked from highest to lowest, was methanolic extracts > aqueous extracts > ethyl acetate extracts for both, oregano and thyme. Furthermore, the methanolic extracts displayed the greatest reducing and antiradical power, along with the highest total antioxidant capacities, for both plant species. These remarkable antioxidant properties of the extracts demonstrated a strong correlation with the levels of total phenols (TP) and total flavonoids (TF). Oregano and thyme leaves showcased promising antioxidant capacities, underscoring their potential as abundant sources of phenolic compounds with diverse antioxidant characteristics, thereby indicating their viability as natural preservatives

Methods of financing waqf development in Singapore = أساليب تمويل تطوير األوقاف في سنغافورة

The Waqf sector in the Muslim world suffers in general from a state of negligence, and a lack of tactics and strategies in taking advantage of it, which results from cumulative and overlapping factors. This phenomenon invites for an investigation of successful Waqf experiences around the world, of which Singapore is the pioneer in it. The Waqf experience in Singapore is considered one of the most successful experiments at the Muslim world level, both in terms of the organization, and the investment. The sector has witnessed a remarkable development as effective modern methods and techniques were discovered. The study aims to reveal the reality of this experience, which includes the following Waqf funds: funds for mosques, funds for the handicapped, Quran memorization, as well as education, scientific research, innovation and others. However, the monetary Waqf has gained popularity in the sector, unlike the Waqf of immovable assets. Muslims in Singapore have realized the importance of the monetary Waqf and its role in collecting social savings, converting them into social capital, and developing the social capital market; to stimulate the merging between social security and social care, and to achieve the legitimate objectives of the Waqf and public interests. The Waqf administration in Singapore has used Sukuk to develop some of its endowments (Waqfs), therefore, the study will address how the Waqf in Singapore has benefited from this method in financing the development of endowments in both the construction project of a building on Beach Road 11, and a project to raise $ 35 million for the project to develop Waqf assets on Street Bencoolen. The researcher has employed both a case study as well as a descriptive analytical approach

Application of Ultrasonic Beam Modeling to Phased Array Testing of Complex Geometry Components

For several years, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has developed phased array techniques to improve defect characterization and adaptability to various inspection configurations [1]. Such techniques allow to steer and focus the ultrasonic beam radiated by a transducer split into a set of individually addressed elements, using amplitude and delay laws. For most conventional systems, those delay laws are extracted from geometric ultrasonic paths between each element of the array and a geometric focusing applied to perform beam-forming abilities [2] for simple geometry components (e.g. beam- steering over a plane specimen), whereas experimental delays can be supplied to the array at transmission and reception to optimally adapt the ultrasonic beam to the detected defect, in a so-called self-focusing process [3,4]. This method, relevant for complex material or geometry leading to phase distortion or complex paths that cannot be predicted by simple geometrical calculations, obviously requires the existence of a reflector and the ultrasonic beam radiated by the experimental delay law cannot be known. Therefore this technique is used to improve defect detection (optimal sensibility) rather than defect characterization. To assess complex geometry components inspection with an adaptive system, the CEA has developed new modeling devoted to predict the ultrasonic field radiated by arbitrary transducers through complex geometry and material specimen [5]. A model allows to compute optimized delay laws to preserve the characteristics of the beam through the complex surface, as well as the actual radiated field using those delays. This paper presents two applications of this model : the inspection of a misaligned specimen, and the inspection of an irregular surface

Use of a Priori Information for the Deconvolution of Ultrasonic Signals

The resolution of pulse-echo imaging technique is limited by the band-width of the transducer impulse response (IR). For flaws sizing or thickness measurement simple and accurate methods exist if the echoes do not overlap. These classical methods break if the echoes can not be separated in time domain

Is There a Classical Nonsense-Mediated Decay Pathway in Trypanosomes?

In many eukaryotes, messenger RNAs with premature termination codons are destroyed by a process called “nonsense-mediated decay”, which requires the RNA helicase Upf1 and also, usually, an interacting factor, Upf2. Recognition of premature termination codons may rely on their distance from either a splice site or the polyadenylation site, and long 3′-untranslated regions can trigger mRNA decay. The protist Trypanosoma brucei relies heavily on mRNA degradation to determine mRNA levels, and 3′-untranslated regions play a major role in control of mRNA decay. We show here that trypanosomes have a homologue of Upf1, TbUPF1, which interacts with TbUPF2 and (in an RNA-dependent fashion) with poly(A) binding protein 1, PABP1. Introduction of a premature termination codon in either an endogenous gene or a reporter gene decreased mRNA abundance, as expected for nonsense-mediated decay, but a dependence of this effect on TbUPF1 could not be demonstrated, and depletion of TbUPF1 by over 95% had no effect on parasite growth or the mRNA transcriptome. Further investigations of the reporter mRNA revealed that increases in open reading frame length tended to increase mRNA abundance. In contrast, inhibition of translation, either using 5′-secondary structures or by lengthening the 5′-untranslated region, usually decreased reporter mRNA abundance. Meanwhile, changing the length of the 3′-untranslated region had no consistent effect on mRNA abundance. We suggest that in trypanosomes, translation per se may inhibit mRNA decay, and interactions with multiple RNA-binding proteins preclude degradation based on 3′-untranslated region length alone

Carbon Dynamics, Development and Stress Responses in Arabidopsis: Involvement of the APL4 Subunit of ADP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase (Starch Synthesis)

An Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA insertional mutant was identified and characterized for enhanced tolerance to the singlet-oxygen-generating herbicide atrazine in comparison to wild-type. This enhanced atrazine tolerance mutant was shown to be affected in the promoter structure and in the regulation of expression of the APL4 isoform of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, a key enzyme of the starch biosynthesis pathway, thus resulting in decrease of APL4 mRNA levels. The impact of this regulatory mutation was confirmed by the analysis of an independent T-DNA insertional mutant also affected in the promoter of the APL4 gene. The resulting tissue-specific modifications of carbon partitioning in plantlets and the effects on plantlet growth and stress tolerance point out to specific and non-redundant roles of APL4 in root carbon dynamics, shoot-root relationships and sink regulations of photosynthesis. Given the effects of exogenous sugar treatments and of endogenous sugar levels on atrazine tolerance in wild-type Arabidopsis plantlets, atrazine tolerance of this apl4 mutant is discussed in terms of perception of carbon status and of investment of sugar allocation in xenobiotic and oxidative stress responses