SAR-DiskSat for Mega-Constellation

We have developed and demonstrated in 2021 small SAR satellites of 1-m ground resolution with novel deployable slot array antennas. This paper newly proposes a novel concept of quasi-two-dimensional SAR satellites, SAR-DiskSats with this deployable passive slot array antenna. The deployable slot array antennas can be compactly folded in the quasi-two-dimensional satellite body. Also, it is possible to install flexible solar cell sheets on the back side of the antenna because the antennas do not dissipate heat. This quasi-two-dimensional satellite configuration is suitable to for stacking in a rocket faring for mega-constellation launching. Another advantage of the SAR-DiskSat is the possibility of VELEO (very low Earth orbit) operation. A thin edge cross-section makes aero drag small and there is an advantage of short range in terms of signal-to-noise ratio. This advantage of RF power makes it easier to improve its ground resolution. We are developing a new corporate feed slot array antenna with very wide-band (1.2-GHz bandwidth in X band) for 0.25-m ground resolution. The final goal of this SAR-DiskSat would be a mega- constellation of 0.25-m ground resolution in VLEO

Aesthetic Highlight Detection in Movies Based on Synchronization of Spectators’ Reactions.

Detection of aesthetic highlights is a challenge for understanding the affective processes taking place during movie watching. In this paper we study spectators’ responses to movie aesthetic stimuli in a social context. Moreover, we look for uncovering the emotional component of aesthetic highlights in movies. Our assumption is that synchronized spectators’ physiological and behavioral reactions occur during these highlights because: (i) aesthetic choices of filmmakers are made to elicit specific emotional reactions (e.g. special effects, empathy and compassion toward a character, etc.) and (ii) watching a movie together causes spectators’ affective reactions to be synchronized through emotional contagion. We compare different approaches to estimation of synchronization among multiple spectators’ signals, such as pairwise, group and overall synchronization measures to detect aesthetic highlights in movies. The results show that the unsupervised architecture relying on synchronization measures is able to capture different properties of spectators’ synchronization and detect aesthetic highlights based on both spectators’ electrodermal and acceleration signals. We discover that pairwise synchronization measures perform the most accurately independently of the category of the highlights and movie genres. Moreover, we observe that electrodermal signals have more discriminative power than acceleration signals for highlight detection

Blood manufacturing methods affect red blood cell product characteristics and immunomodulatory activity

Transfusion of red cell concentrates (RCCs) is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes that may be affected by different blood manufacturing methods and the presence of extracellular vesicles (EVs). We investigated the effect of different manufacturing methods on hemolysis, residual cells, cell-derived EVs, and immunomodulatory effects on monocyte activity. Thirty-two RCC units produced using whole blood filtration (WBF), red cell filtration (RCF), apheresis-derived (AD), and whole blood-derived (WBD) methods were examined (n = 8 per method). Residual platelet and white blood cells (WBCs) and the concentration, cell of origin, and characterization of EVs in RCC supernatants were assessed in fresh and stored supernatants. Immunomodulatory activity of RCC supernatants was assessed by quantifying monocyte cytokine production capacity in an in vitro transfusion model. RCF units yielded the lowest number of platelet and WBC-derived EVs, whereas the highest number of platelet EVs was in AD (day 5) and in WBD (day 42). The number of small EVs (<200 nm) was greater than large EVs (≥200 nm) in all tested supernatants, and the highest level of small EVs were in AD units. Immunomodulatory activity was mixed, with evidence of both inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. Monocytes produced more inflammatory interleukin-8 after exposure to fresh WBF or expired WBD supernatants. Exposure to supernatants from AD and WBD RCC suppressed monocyte lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine production. Manufacturing methods significantly affect RCC unit EV characteristics and are associated with an immunomodulatory effect of RCC supernatants, which may affect the quality and safety of RCCs

Recognizing Induced Emotions of Movie Audiences: Are Induced and Perceived Emotions the Same?

Predicting the emotional response of movie audi- ences to affective movie content is a challenging task in affective computing. Previous work has focused on using audiovisual movie content to predict movie induced emotions. However, the relationship between the audience’s perceptions of the affective movie content (perceived emotions) and the emotions evoked in the audience (induced emotions) remains unexplored. In this work, we address the relationship between perceived and in- duced emotions in movies, and identify features and modelling approaches effective for predicting movie induced emotions. First, we extend the LIRIS-ACCEDE database by annotating perceived emotions in a crowd-sourced manner, and find that perceived and induced emotions are not always consistent. Second, we show that dialogue events and aesthetic highlights are effective predictors of movie induced emotions. In addition to movie based features, we also study physiological and be- havioural measurements of audiences. Our experiments show that induced emotion recognition can benefit from including temporal context and from including multimodal information. Our study bridges the gap between affective content analysis and induced emotion prediction

Оцінка морфофункціонального стану організму щурів за вивчення токсичності препарату на основі тилмікозину

The article presents the study results of the acute and subacute toxicity of the veterinary drug “Tylmozyn 25” (solution for oral administration) based on tilmicosin. Intra-gastric administration of “Tylmozyn 25” to white mice at a dose of 25000 mg/kg of body weight caused the death of 100% of the animals, a dose of 15000 mg/kg of body weight caused the death of 66% of the white mice. The average time of death was 2 and 5 hours correspondingly. While determining the toxicity of “Tylmozyn 25” in white rats, we did not spot the death of any studied animal at any administered dose (5000, 15000, 25000 mg/kg of body weight). Based on the result of our study, we conclude that the veterinary drug Tylmozyn 25 belongs to the fourth of toxicity class – low toxic substances. LD50 of Tylmozyn 25 in white mice is 14167 mg/kg, while in white rats LD50 is higher than 25000 mg/kg. Testing on white rats intra-gastric drug “Tylmozyn 25” during for 14 days, both in therapeutic (80 mg/kg of body weight) and 10-fold doses (800 mg/kg of body weight) did not cause animal death, but caused a decrease in body weight, a significant decrease in the coefficients of weight of the liver and spleen and a tendency to increase the coefficients of weight of the heart and lungs compared with the animals of the control group. Animals which got the drug at a dose of 800 mg/kg of body weight showed erythrocytosis, leukopenia, increased enzymatic activity of AST, ALT, and LDH, the content of total protein against to decrease urea and creatinine, which may indicate impaired liver, kidney function and hematopoietic organs. The macroscopic and microscopic structure of the internal organs of the experimental rats is preserved. Rats receiving a tenfold therapeutic dose of the drug for 14 days, histologically revealed the most granular protein dystrophy in the liver and kidneys, which was manifested by discomplexation of the lamellae, presence of hepatocytes with uneven granular cytoplasm, slightly colored cytoplasm, hypertrophied nuclei, renal convoluted tubules and narrowing of their lumen, compaction of the mesh of the renal corpuscle. In the myocardium, the branching, swelling of the muscle fibers, swelling of the stroma with cell infiltrates, mainly of the lympho-histiocytic series, was observed, which indicated the development of serosa myocarditis. Structural changes in the liver, kidneys and heart were confirmed by biochemical parameters of the enzymatic activity of the serum of rats of this group.У статті наведені результати вивчення гострої та підгострої токсичності препарату “Тилмозин 25” (розчин для перорального застосування), виготовленого на основі тилмікозину. Внутрішньошлункове введення препарату “Тилмозин 25” білим мишам, у дозі 25000 мг/кг маси тіла викликало 100% загибель тварин, доза 15000 мг/кг – 66% загибелі тварин. Середній час загибелі становив 2 та 5 годин відповідно. При визначенні гострої токсичності препарату “Тилмозин 25” на білих щурах загибелі тварин не виявляли за введення жодної з доз (5000, 15000, 25000 мг/кг маси тіла). У результаті проведених досліджень було встановлено, що препарат “Тилмозин 25” належить до 4-го класу токсичності – малотоксичні речовини. ЛД50 при його внутрішньошлунковому введенні білим мишам становить 14167 мг/кг, а для білих щурів є більшою за 25000&nbsp;мг/кг. Застосування білим щурам внутрішньошлунково препарату “Тилмозин 25” впродовж 14 діб як у терапевтичній (80 мг/кг маси тіла), так і 10-кратній дозах (800 мг/кг маси тіла) не викликало загибелі тварин, проте спричиняло зменшення маси тіла, достовірне зниження коефіцієнтів маси печінки та селезінки і тенденцію до збільшення коефіцієнтів маси серця і легень порівняно з тваринами контрольної групи. У тварин, які отримували досліджуваний препарат в дозі 800 мг/кг маси тіла, встановлено еритроцитоз, лейкопенію, підвищення активності АлАТ, АсАТ, ЛДГ, вмісту загального білка на фоні зниження вмісту сечовини та креатиніну, що може вказувати на порушення функції печінки, нирок та органів кровотворення. Макроскопічна та мікроскопічна структура внутрішніх органів досліджуваних груп щурів збережена. У щурів, які отримували 10-кратну терапевтичну дозу препарату впродовж 14 діб, гістологічно виявляли вогнища зернистої білкової дистрофії в печінці та нирках, що проявлялося дискомплексацією пластинчатої будови печінкових часточок, наявність гепатоцитів з неоднорідною, зернистою, слабо забарвленою цитоплазмою та гіпертрофованими ядрами, набуханням епітелію звивистих ниркових канальців та звуженням їхнього просвіту, ущільненням сітки ниркових клубочків. У міокарді спостерігали розволокнення, набухання м’язових волокон, набряк строми з клітинними інфільтратами переважно лімфо-гістіоцитарного ряду, що вказувало на розвиток серозного міокардиту. Встановлені структурні зміни у печінці, нирках, серці були підтверджені біохімічними показниками ферментативної активності сироватки крові щурів даної групи

Three FLOWERING LOCUS T-like genes function as potential florigens and mediate photoperiod response in sorghum

Sorghum is a typical short-day (SD) plant and its use in grain or biomass production in temperate regions depends on its flowering time control, but the underlying molecular mechanism of floral transition in sorghum is poorly understood. Here we characterized sorghum FLOWERING LOCUS T (SbFT) genes to establish a molecular road map for mechanistic understanding. Out of 19 PEBP genes, SbFT1, SbFT8 and SbFT10 were identified as potential candidates for encoding florigens using multiple approaches. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that SbFT1 clusters with the rice Hd3a subclade, while SbFT8 and SbFT10 cluster with the maize ZCN8 subclade. These three genes are expressed in the leaf at the floral transition initiation stage, expressed early in grain sorghum genotypes but late in sweet and forage sorghum genotypes, induced by SD treatment in photoperiod-sensitive genotypes, cooperatively repressed by the classical sorghum maturity loci, interact with sorghum 14-3-3 proteins and activate flowering in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, suggesting florigenic potential in sorghum. SD induction of these three genes in sensitive genotypes is fully reversed by 1 wk of long-day treatment, and yet, some aspects of the SD treatment may still make a small contribution to flowering in long days, indicating a complex photoperiod response mediated by SbFT genes

Recognizing Induced Emotions of Movie Audiences From Multimodal Information

Recognizing emotional reactions of movie audiences to affective movie content is a challenging task in affective computing. Previous research on induced emotion recognition has mainly focused on using audio-visual movie content. Nevertheless, the relationship between the perceptions of the affective movie content (perceived emotions) and the emotions evoked in the audiences (induced emotions) is unexplored. In this work, we studied the relationship between perceived and induced emotions of movie audiences. Moreover, we investigated multimodal modelling approaches to predict movie induced emotions from movie content based features, as well as physiological and behavioral reactions of movie audiences. To carry out analysis of induced and perceived emotions, we first extended an existing database for movie affect analysis by annotating perceived emotions in a crowd-sourced manner. We find that perceived and induced emotions are not always consistent with each other. In addition, we show that perceived emotions, movie dialogues, and aesthetic highlights are discriminative for movie induced emotion recognition besides spectators’ physiological and behavioral reactions. Also, our experiments revealed that induced emotion recognition could benefit from including temporal information and performing multimodal fusion. Moreover, our work deeply investigated the gap between affective content analysis and induced emotion recognition by gaining insight into the relationships between aesthetic highlights, induced emotions, and perceived emotions

Biocompatibility of Graphene Oxide

Herein, we report the effects of graphene oxides on human fibroblast cells and mice with the aim of investigating graphene oxides' biocompatibility. The graphene oxides were prepared by the modified Hummers method and characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscope and atomic force microscopy. The human fibroblast cells were cultured with different doses of graphene oxides for day 1 to day 5. Thirty mice divided into three test groups (low, middle, high dose) and one control group were injected with 0.1, 0.25, and 0.4 mg graphene oxides, respectively, and were raised for 1 day, 7 days, and 30 days, respectively. Results showed that the water-soluble graphene oxides were successfully prepared; graphene oxides with dose less than 20 μg/mL did not exhibit toxicity to human fibroblast cells, and the dose of more than 50 μg/mL exhibits obvious cytotoxicity such as decreasing cell adhesion, inducing cell apoptosis, entering into lysosomes, mitochondrion, endoplasm, and cell nucleus. Graphene oxides under low dose (0.1 mg) and middle dose (0.25 mg) did not exhibit obvious toxicity to mice and under high dose (0.4 mg) exhibited chronic toxicity, such as 4/9 mice death and lung granuloma formation, mainly located in lung, liver, spleen, and kidney, almost could not be cleaned by kidney. In conclusion, graphene oxides exhibit dose-dependent toxicity to cells and animals, such as inducing cell apoptosis and lung granuloma formation, and cannot be cleaned by kidney. When graphene oxides are explored for in vivo applications in animal or human body, its biocompatibility must be considered

Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP): project goals and experimental design

The Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP) is an international collaborative effort to understand and quantify the uncertainties in atmospheric river (AR) science based on detection algorithm alone. Currently, there are many AR identification and tracking algorithms in the literature with a wide range of techniques and conclusions. ARTMIP strives to provide the community with information on different methodologies and provide guidance on the most appropriate algorithm for a given science question or region of interest. All ARTMIP participants will implement their detection algorithms on a specified common dataset for a defined period of time. The project is divided into two phases: Tier 1 will utilize the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis from January 1980 to June 2017 and will be used as a baseline for all subsequent comparisons. Participation in Tier 1 is required. Tier 2 will be optional and include sensitivity studies designed around specific science questions, such as reanalysis uncertainty and climate change. High-resolution reanalysis and/or model output will be used wherever possible. Proposed metrics include AR frequency, duration, intensity, and precipitation attributable to ARs. Here, we present the ARTMIP experimental design, timeline, project requirements, and a brief description of the variety of methodologies in the current literature. We also present results from our 1-month proof-of-concept trial run designed to illustrate the utility and feasibility of the ARTMIP project

Distinct Genetic Architectures for Male and Female Inflorescence Traits of Maize

We compared the genetic architecture of thirteen maize morphological traits in a large population of recombinant inbred lines. Four traits from the male inflorescence (tassel) and three traits from the female inflorescence (ear) were measured and studied using linkage and genome-wide association analyses and compared to three flowering and three leaf traits previously studied in the same population. Inflorescence loci have larger effects than flowering and leaf loci, and ear effects are larger than tassel effects. Ear trait models also have lower predictive ability than tassel, flowering, or leaf trait models. Pleiotropic loci were identified that control elongation of ear and tassel, consistent with their common developmental origin. For these pleiotropic loci, the ear effects are larger than tassel effects even though the same causal polymorphisms are likely involved. This implies that the observed differences in genetic architecture are not due to distinct features of the underlying polymorphisms. Our results support the hypothesis that genetic architecture is a function of trait stability over evolutionary time, since the traits that changed most during the relatively recent domestication of maize have the largest effects