False Images Research Articles

An Independent Discriminant Network Towards the Identification of Counterfeit Images and Videos

Rapid spread of false images and videos on online platforms is an emerging problem. Anyone may add, delete, clone, or modify people and entities from an image using various editing software which are readily available. This generates false and misleading proof to hide the crime. Nowadays, these false and counterfeit images and videos are flooding the internet. These spread false information. Many methods are available in the literature for detecting counterfeit content, but new methods of counterfeiting are also evolving. Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is an effective method as it modifies the context and definition of images, producing plausible results via image-to-image translation. This work uses an independent discriminant network that can identify GAN-generated images or videos. A discriminant network has been created using a convolutional neural network based on InceptionResNetV2. The article also proposes a platform where users can detect forged images and videos. This proposed work can help the forensics domain detect counterfeit videos and hidden criminal evidence toward the identification of criminal activities.

Vaccine Development in Pakistan: Connecting Science and Public Trust

Creating vaccines in Pakistan shows human ingenuity but also the challenge of building public trust. The biotech field is growing, but limited funding and poor communication is slowing the progress of vaccines in Pakistan. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how crucial vaccines are, but it also exposed gaps in explaining science to people. For Pakistan to lead in biotech, it must link vaccine innovation with public confidence through better dialogue. The polio crisis in Pakistan explains this issue. Pakistan is one of the countries where, polio still exists despite many efforts. Lack of confidence is the problem, not lack of scientific expertise. It is considered that Vaccines cause infertility, which is a false notion. Authorities' health efforts are distrusted by rural populations, which are frequently disregarded. It will be success of science once these social and cultural problems are addressed. The media shapes perceptions and trust of common people. The benefits of vaccines were contradicted by headlines during COVID-19. However, media can also restore trust. Scientists in Punjab who collaborated with local leaders reported a 20% increase in vaccine enrollment in 2021. Not only just facts are built by understanding but also trust. Scientific topics should not be the main focus of the media as they are topic of scientists. It can be beneficial to have public conversations with scientists and religious leaders, see production of vaccines process, and encourage participation in science education initiatives in schools. Common platforms and large media sources must directly address public concerns and exchange knowledgeable viewpoints. Following main actions are needed for Pakistan to become a vaccination leader: 1. Educate scientists on how to clearly communicate their work. Health-related subjects should be accurately covered without any exaggeration. Universities should train students to create effective communication and understanding between labs and societies. Provide immunizations to prevent local diseases, i.e hepatitis and dengue. Make sure trials are transparent by involving local people. This increases confidence and guarantees that solutions address real demands. There must be a team that includes social media, scientists, and religious leaders to solve false images build by people against Science. In order to save lives and establish itself as a global health leader, Pakistan must combine research with attempts to gain trust. Collaboration among specialists, the media, and communities is essential for using scientific advancement for the common good.

ARTIFICIAL PROBLEMS OF ARMENIAN STUDIES IN ACADEMIC SCIENCE

The article touches upon a situation in the field of Armenian studies, which was initially created as a bogus receiving pseudo-scientific formulations, which in academic linguistics led to a false image of the commonalities of Armenian and the languages of the world. Historical-comparative linguistics should not accept the situation in which the number of Nostratic commonalities connecting Armenian to single non-Indo-European languages is greater than the number of the commonalities it has with all the Indo-European languages together. This has no interpretation in the framework of previous conceptions, and a new framework has not yet been proposed. By not raising the problem or avoiding it, linguistics cannot solve it. Recently, the situation has been intensified by the exceptional discoveries made by a number of new linguistic directions, according to which the age of Armenian as an independent language is increasing, the issue of the indigenousness of Armenians in the Armenian Highlands is proven. The image of the Armenian language branch in the Indo-European language family should also be changed, firstly, due to the unscientific alienation of the Armenian and Khetaluvian language branches, secondly, due to the extensive sameness of Sumerian and Basque (which have not been considered Indo-European so far) with Armenian (which is considered Indo-European), thus being presented as languages of the Armenian branch. The article poses the problem that academic linguistics should either scientifically interpret these inconsistencies, or accept the historical mistakes it has made in relation to the Armenian language.

Evaluation of the effect of reducing metal artifacts in multi-detector CT imaging of zirconia and titanium implants.

Zirconia oral implants produce larger artifacts on computed tomography (CT) compared to titanium oral implants. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of metal artifact reduction (MAR) software and dual-energy (DE) methods, which are used in multi-detector CT (MDCT) to reduce the artifacts produced by titanium and zirconia oral implants. Oral implants were placed in the lower right second premolar and second molar regions of an acrylic mandible model and evaluated using MDCT. For MAR, Single Energy Metal Artifact Reaction (SEMAR) images were obtained, and for DE, images were obtained at 135keV. The evaluation was based on 21 regions of interest (ROIs) with sides of 2.8mm, set at 15, 25, and 35mm from the center (the lower-right first premolar), with 65°, 90°, 115°, and 145° angles set on the buccal and lingual sides. The evaluation was based on an Artifact Index (AI). The lingual aspect of the AI tended to be larger compared to the buccal aspect, regardless of the image-processing method. In addition, the SEMAR method tended to have a greater artifact reduction effect than the DE method. The distortion of the mandibular model and occurrence of new artifacts were confirmed using SEMAR. SEMAR had higher artifact reduction effects on metal artifacts than the DE method. Although SEMAR and dual-energy methods can effectively reduce metal artifacts, they also cause false images and areas that cannot be observed. Therefore, diagnostic and treatment planning, including imaging, is essential before artifact reduction processing.

An Adaptive Total Focusing Method for Ultrasonic Imaging ofArbitrarily Stacked Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composites

The total focusing method (TFM) is increasingly recognized as a powerful ultrasonic imaging technique for the quality assessment and internal defect detection of carbon fiber-reinforced composites (CFRPs). Due to their unique structural and mechanical properties, CFRPs are widely used in aerospace, automotive, and energy industries, where stringent reliability and safety requirements demand advanced inspection techniques. However, the inherent characteristics of CFRPs, including high attenuation, high dissipation, and strong anisotropy, present significant challenges to ultrasonic imaging. These factors cause beam distortion, residual artifacts, false images, and low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), making it difficult to achieve accurate imaging and detection of internal defects. To address these challenges, this study proposes an adaptive TFM method specifically designed for arbitrarily stacked CFRPs. The method begins by characterizing the anisotropic acoustic properties of CFRPs, which arise from their layered structure and the orientation-dependent stiffness of the carbon fiber plies. A stiffness matrix for CFRPs with arbitrary stacking angles is derived based on the mechanical constitutive relations of composite materials and a coordinate transformation matrix. The anisotropic acoustic velocity distributions are then computed using the Christoffel equation. These theoretical calculations are validated through experimental measurements of the actual anisotropic acoustic velocities in CFRP laminates. Comparisons between the theoretical and measured values demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the proposed velocity modeling approach. The adaptive TFM method incorporates the obtained anisotropic velocity matrices and the stacking angles of the CFRP laminates to correct the time delay laws used in TFM imaging. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, experiments were conducted using CFRP laminate samples containing flat-bottom hole defects. The imaging results demonstrate that the adaptive TFM method achieves a substantial improvement in SNR and more precise delineations of defects compared to traditional TFM approaches. This work establishes a foundation for the development of high-precision ultrasonic inspection technologies tailored to the unique challenges posed by anisotropic composite materials, which have significant implications for quality assurance and reliability evaluation in industries that rely on CFRPs.

False lymph node recurrence image in PET/CT with [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11. Importance of the acquisition protocol.

False lymph node recurrence image in PET/CT with [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11. Importance of the acquisition protocol.

RFPPFMark: robust and false positive problem free image watermarking scheme with its performance comparison by PSO and MRFO in Schur domain

RFPPFMark: robust and false positive problem free image watermarking scheme with its performance comparison by PSO and MRFO in Schur domain

L’INGANNO DEL VOLTO E LA VERITÀ DELL’ODORE (A PROPOSITO DI CIC. PIS. 1; 13)

Deceptive face and truthful smell (Cic. Pis. 1; 13). The lexical analysis of the descriptive elements of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus’ vultus (Cic. Pis. 1) and his bad bodily smells (Cic. Pis. 13) is the focus of this work: it aims at understanding the way Cicero builds the ‘figure of the enemy’ in the speech In Pisonem. Cicero shows that Piso’s facial signals are deceptively falsified, aimed at providing a false image of himself (Cic. Pis. 1). Instead, the sensory analysis of odors, which he leaves behind, reveals his true degenerate nature. In a vituperatio full of comical vis, the proof of the physical and moral turpitudo of Piso is provided by the eloquentia corporis. The evocation of a visit to his home (Cic. Pis. 13) offers the opportunity for a full description of the olfactory perceptions: the smell of wine and ganeae around Piso recreate with great evidentia the atmosphere of the meeting. In this way, Cicero reveals the marks of Piso’s vitia and stimulates disgust and condemnation towards him.

Eastern Elements in Cathar Doctrines – an Argument for the Traditional Interpretation of Catharism

At present we can observe intense attempts at overthrowing all the claims concerning Catharism that had been formulated by the scholars of the 20th century, based on careful analysis of the vast source material. So called “traditional interpretation”, assuming strong influence of the Eastern dualist heresies (Bogomilism and Paulicianism) on Catharism is currently rejected by scholars such as M. G. Pegg, J.-L. Biget and R. I. Moore as outdated and not compatible with the latest research. For the construction of this false image of Catharism Pegg blames Religionsgeschichte Schule and their comparative method, which according to him is built on the assumption that “if two ideas look alike to the historian, there must be a link between them”, but in this radical criticism, he seems to ignore the fact that comparison of the Cathar and Bogomil doctrine is justified by many sources, which confirm historical relations between the adherent of these heresies. What should be underlined, not only the current deconstructionist conception, represented by the above-mentioned scholars, but all the interpretations rejecting Eastern origins of Cathar doctrines, were constructed without the analysis of the Eastern sources. Considering this, the aim of this article is to analyse various specific Cathar doctrinal conceptions, which do not have analogies in the ancient heresies, with the doctrines of the Eastern dualists (mainly Bogomils but also Paulicians), known from the Eastern sources – both polemical and written (or used) by the heretics themselves. Such comparative analysis can verify the claims of the adherents of the “new paradigm”, according to which dualist Cathar doctrine was constructed by Catholics, basing on the ancient anti-heretical scriptures, mainly anti-Manichaean writings of St. Augustine.

Artificial laughter: V. Pelevin’s "iPhuck 10"

The article is an attempt at studying the laughter of AI in V. Pelevin’s novel "iPhuck 10"(2017). Porfiry Petrovich’s laughter is examined from two angles, from its semantics and from its pragmatics. The problem of AI laughter in the novel leads not only to considering the possible capabilities of future AI, but also to the revelation of how laughter becomes a special kind of reality formation. The comic traits of Pelevin's hero are revealed by examining him based on modern AI models of laughter, the main feature of which is feigned humanity. By violating the reader's expectations on how he should behave, and by parodying his literary prototype, Porfiry creates a pretext for the reader to laugh. The second part of the article focuses on the meaning of Porfiry’s laughter in the novel. The apparent absence of the author due to the fact that he is an algorithm is refuted in the analysis, after which another narrator is revealed who controls Porfiry’s narrative. Playing with the author's death allows Porfiry to fit into the false image of a writer who supports freedom and resists authority. The analysis of laughter as a narration event helps identify how Porfiry's laughter becomes a propaganda tool. Porfiry mocks those who break the law and turns their crimes into funny stories, but his "mirthful" laughter allows him to fool the reader and makes him see the world the way he wants to.

Nie taki rekin straszny, jak go malują… Wywiad z Justyną Szumacher – polską podróżniczką i miłośniczką nurkowania z rekinami

An interview with Justyna Szumacher – a traveler who dives (not in a protective cage!) with sharks in various places around the world – aims to show that these fish do not pose such a threat to humans as is commonly believed. Szumacher is considered an expert in diving with sharks in Poland, with extensive theoretical and practical knowledge about the behavior of these fascinating fish in their natural environment. It carries out activities aimed at raising awareness of the necessary protection of this apex predator, which is in danger of extinction, and shaping the appropriate perception of these animals by refuting the ethologically false image of a man-eating shark established in popular consciousness by the

The Guiding Role of Buddhist Thought in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence technology has been widely adopted globally, and its application in different fields has brought higher efficiency and accuracy to people around the world, such as the recognition of simple diseases in healthcare, the automatic adaptation of student abilities in education systems, and the planning and construction of smart cities. However, it cannot be ignored that while this technology has brought help to humanity, it has also brought unprecedented machine ethical challenges to human society – such as amplified skin color bias, easy access to personal information, privacy breaches, and the synthesis of false information or images. This paper starts from several core ideas of Buddhism – compassion, meditation, and the interconnection of all things – to analyze the potential guiding role of Buddhist thought in AI ethical issues and discuss exemplary cases of successfully applying Buddhist thought in technological development, thus revealing the important role of Buddhist thought in the future development of AI ethics.

Historiographical aspects regarding daily life in interwar Bessarabia

The present study presents an analysis of the degree of research into everyday life in interwar Bessarabia. The problems stated in the scientific discourse, the relevant authors of the addressed topic, the scientific schools were analyzed. Historiography has been characterized from the perspective of several socio-political spaces: interwar Romanian historiography, Soviet historiography, historiography from Romania, Western historiography and historiography from the Republic of Moldova. General and specific features of the daily life of the population of Bessarabia were highlighted. The author found that depending on the era and political context, the scientific discourse was different. During the Soviet period, the scientific approach it was strongly ideologized, distorted, creating false images of historical reality. Soviet historiography intentionally distorted the historical narrative to create false images of everyday life in Bessarabia.

The dual impact of social media: evolving beauty perceptions and cosmetic procedure practices among patients and providers.

Social media is gaining popularity in Saudi Arabia, influencing the concept of beauty and cosmetic surgical needs, particularly among younger individuals. This study aimed to understand how social media is changing the face of cosmetic surgery by reflecting new beauty standards. A comprehensive literature review was conducted, focusing on studies published between 2015 and 2024 from databases such as PubMed and Scopus, examining the impact of social media on decisions related to plastic surgery. Our study accessed multiple studies revealing a concerning trend in the influence of social networks, especially on appearance-related decisions. Some persuasive appeals include false images, celebrity endorsements, and the use of pictures before or after the reconstruction of cosmetic surgery. Additionally, marketing strategies employed by plastic surgeons were found to contribute to the rising demand for both surgical and minimally invasive procedures. This article provides a detailed understanding of how social media can influence ideals and trends in cosmetic surgery while also highlighting the psychological impacts of impossible standards of beauty as well as the ethical implications of advertising practices in the industry. It also examines whether the influence of social media primarily serves the financial interests of providers or adds pressure on them to meet patients' heightened expectations. The limitations in prior research highlight the need for studies involving diverse populations and a closer examination of the potential long-term effects of social media on cosmetic surgery trends and perceptions of beauty.

Lithological Mapping of the Neoproterozoic Basement Rocks in the Area East El-Sibai Core Complex (SCC), Central Eastern Desert of Egypt, Based on Remote Sensing Data and Field Observations

Spectral data are an active tool in lithological, mineral exploration, and mapping geological structures due to their accuracy, ease, and low cost, especially in mapping inaccessible areas. This paper aims to integrate multispectral Landsat-8/OLI and ASTER images with extensive field survey and petrographical analysis to discriminate the Neoproterozoic basement rock units in the area east El-Sibai Core Complex. The exposed rock units consist of granitic rocks of variable compositions intruded directly into ophiolitic and island arc associations. Based on a multidisciplinary approach, the image enhancement techniques used the Correlation Coefficient and Optimum Index Factor for choosing the best-colored images to discriminate various rock units based on spectral signature curves. False color composites images (7-6-1for Landsat-8 and 9-4-3 for ASTER), minimum noise fraction (7-6-1), principal component analysis (4-1-2 for Landsat-8 and 3-1-4 for ASTER), as well as two newly proposed ratios images (3/4, 6/7, 5/6 for Landsat-8, and 4/1, 3/1, 8/9 for ASTER), with the ground truth data were used to discriminate and map the various rock units and structural elements in this work. For verification, the Maximum Likelihood Classification/ MLC and the Support Vector Machine Classification/ SVM techniques were carried out using Landsat-8/OLI and ASTER images for detecting alteration zones. The accuracy evaluation showed very encouraging results for (MLC) with an overall accuracy of (78.8138%/81.7040%) and Kappa coefficient of (0.7631/0.7963) (good agreement) as compared to (SVM) as (75.0205%/79.1229%), and Kappa coefficient of (0.7199/0.7593). As a result, this approach provides accurate information to geologists, geophysical engineers, and land use land cover decision-makers. It can also improve and enhance the accuracy of geological maps in the Nubian Shield in Egypt and other arid environments worldwide.

Potential of model-based polarimetric decomposition extended with multi-frequency and multi-incidence PolSAR observations

ABSTRACT This letter attempts to extend the model-based polarimetric decomposition (PD) theorems with multiple polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) observations. To consider both the surface and dihedral scattering depolarization effects, the X-Bragg model, the extended double Fresnel scattering model, and the step-wise volume scattering model are introduced in the model-based PD. The proposed methodology is explored by exploiting Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) C-band and L-band data from southern Oklahoma, United States of America, and L-band Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) polarimetric data from Winnipeg, Canada, with two flight lines of 31605-03 and 31606-03 in different incidence angles. The potential and superiority of the proposed decomposition method are examined by illustrating the false color composition images, and the power ratio statistics of surface, dihedral, and volume scattering components over selected bare soil, forest, grass, and urban patches.

Natural Cover suppression patterns used in PRODES Caatinga mapping

Abstract. Since 2022, we have mapped native vegetation removal for all Brazilian biomes within the scope of the PRODES Project. In this study, our main objective was to present interpretation criteria for feature detection used to identify natural vegetation removal throughout the Caatinga. To this end, we created a catalog of typical patterns that can be used for supervised and unsupervised deforestation mapping. We used PRODES data from 2023 year's PRODES Caatinga based on the composition of top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance images from MSI/Sentinel-2 satellite. The original reflectance data was used to generate false color images in the following combination: band 8 (Red), band 11 (Green) and band 4 (Blue). This image was then visually classified into different natural vegetation removal classes. These are good examples of what PRODES interpreters have encountered throughout this diverse region and can help any future mapping efforts of the Caatinga.

Remote Sensing Data Quality in the Era of AI

Abstract. The era of Artificial Intelligence ‘AI’ with all the benefits brought along, has raised new and additional challenges to the ongoing efforts of assessing, defining, formulating, and implementing the quality aspects of geospatial remote sensing data. Developed practices using artificial intelligence leveraged techniques such as image interpretation, classification, thematic mapping, and even image quality enhancement, necessitating by that the reassessment and redevelopment of some of the related emerging quality aspects. Moreover, technology also made the generation of false images and false data possible, this matter constrained and increased precaution and doubtfulness, altogether making some practices based on that data almost halt to further notice. This paper presents the collaborative research work to assess and clarify the quality aspects that arose with the advent and implementation of AI and associated technologies; the concerns and issues that can accompany the generation of false satellite and aerial images including the generated geospatial data out of which, how the new emerged quality aspects fit into the currently existing methods through the lifecycle of remote sensing data production and usage, and consequently how the quality dimensions are affected and should be further developed and improved to tackle the changes and innovations. Also, lame a bit on investigating how to accommodate the new challenges in standards, and practical procedures and raise the awareness to users, the level of dependency on improved and enhanced satellite images when it comes to data collection interpretation and classification, and finally define the research gaps, future expected challenges and thus enclose suggestions and recommendations in that respect.

Sounding of the idols. Visual deception and religious images in Brazil

This article is a visual analysis of “deceptive religious imagery” employed by the campaign teams of Bolsonaro and Lula during the 2022 Brazilian presidential race with the aim of garnering votes through networked disinformation and covert influence operations. Employing a multimodal analytical approach, the research delves into the intricate interplay between politics and religion, particularly through the lens of online engagement with deceptive imagery. It tracks the dissemination of deceptive religious imagery across digital and physical platforms, melding visual analysis with rigorous fact-checking methodologies. This investigation is based on online and off-line ethnographic visual research. Not only this research let us reassess key concepts like ‘false image’, ‘verification’ or ‘visual myth’ but also allowed us to identify and debunk false imagery propagated online. Drawing upon Mitchell's framework of ‘iconology’, the article advocates for a critical examination of images, underscoring their tangible influence and the imperative to expose and evaluate their falseness in shaping public opinion. The research stresses the significance of understanding the actions and repercussions of religious visual disinformation in the context of the prevalence of post-truth cultures. In sum, this article contributes to our understanding of the intricate dynamics surrounding the utilisation of deceptive religious imagery in political campaigns, shedding light on the broader implications for democratic processes and the manipulation of public perception in contemporary socio-political contexts.

Virtual cleaning of sooty mural hyperspectral images using the LIME model and improved dark channel prior

Murals, as important carriers of cultural heritage and historical records, showcase artistic, aesthetic, social, and political significance. In ancient times, religious activities such as burning incense and candles in temples led to many murals being polluted by soot, causing them to darken, lose details, and, in severe cases, completely blacken. As a result, the development of efficient virtual cleaning methods has become a key strategy for addressing this issue. In this study, we use synthetic true colour and false colour images in different bands of the hyperspectral spectrum, and use a guided filter fusion technique to fuse these two images into a new image of the sooty mural. Through analyzing the histograms and colour distribution scatterplots of the synthetic sooty mural images, we observed significant similarities to low-luminance images. To enhance the synthesized murals, we applied the LIME model. In addition, comparisons of the histograms and colour distribution scatterplots of the enhanced sooty mural images with those of haze images revealed notable similarities. Therefore, we applied the dark channel prior algorithm to remove soot from the mural images. Considering that soot particles are larger than haze particles, we introduced guided filtering to refine the transmission map and created a nonlinear transformation function to enhance its details. In terms of both visual perception and quantitative analysis, the proposed method significantly outperforms previous methods in the virtual cleaning of sooty murals. This technology can not only restore the colours and details of murals but also provide new clues for subsequent mural studies, allowing people to once again appreciate the true beauty of the murals.