Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some Challenges and Opportunities in Reliability Engineering

Today's fast-pace evolving and digitalizing World is posing new challenges to reliability engineering. On the other hand, the continuous advancement of technical knowledge and the increasing capabilities of monitoring and computing offer opportunities for new developments in reliability engineering. In this paper, I reflect on some of these challenges and opportunities in research and application. The underlying perspective taken stands on the following: The belief that the knowledge, information, and data (KID) available for the modeling, computations, and analyses done in reliability engineering is substantially grown and continue to do so; The belief that the technical capabilities for reliability engineering have been significantly advanced; The recognition of the increased complexity of the systems, nowadays more and more made of heterogeneous, highly interconnected elements. In line with this perspective, opportunities and challenges for reliability engineering are discussed in relation to degradation modeling and integration of multistate and physics-based models therein, accelerated degradation testing, component-, system- and fleet-wide prognostics and health management in evolving environments. The paper is not a review, nor a state of the art work, but rather it offers a vision of reflection on reliability engineering, for consideration and discussion by the interested scientific community. It does not pretend to give the unique view, nor to be complete in the subject discussed and the related literature referenced to.
Multilevel Anomaly Detection for Mixed Data

Anomalies are those deviating from the norm. Unsupervised anomaly detection often translates to identifying low density regions. Major problems arise when data is high-dimensional and mixed of discrete and continuous attributes. We propose MIXMAD, which stands for MIXed data Multilevel Anomaly Detection, an ensemble method that estimates the sparse regions across multiple levels of abstraction of mixed data. The hypothesis is for domains where multiple data abstractions exist, a data point may be anomalous with respect to the raw representation or more abstract representations. To this end, our method sequentially constructs an ensemble of Deep Belief Nets (DBNs) with varying depths. Each DBN is an energy-based detector at a predefined abstraction level. At the bottom level of each DBN, there is a Mixed-variate Restricted Boltzmann Machine that models the density of mixed data. Predictions across the ensemble are finally combined via rank aggregation. The proposed MIXMAD is evaluated on high-dimensional realworld datasets of different characteristics. The results demonstrate that for anomaly detection, (a) multilevel abstraction of high-dimensional and mixed data is a sensible strategy, and (b) empirically, MIXMAD is superior to popular unsupervised detection methods for both homogeneous and mixed data.
A missing link? The role of mortuary staff in hospital-based bereavement care services

Abstract In this paper we argue that anatomical pathology technologists (APTs) have been overlooked as a key group of healthcare practitioners who play a role in bereavement care. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of a mortuary team in a large urban hospital, we examine the technical and emotional components of the APT role, including how the concept of patient care is utilised in the mortuary. We argue that their work with other healthcare practitioners and professionals illustrates how APTs offer a ‘bridge’ between the immediacy of a death, after-death care and subsequent viewing of the deceased person, thereby providing a vital and under-acknowledged service for bereaved people. We conclude that through education and the promotion of mortuary activities APTs are developing a ‘community of practice’ that moves beyond an outdated perception of ‘dirty work’ towards a more enlightened vision of mortuary settings and APTs as important components of hospital-based bereavement care services.
A mid-year orientation program: Addressing the needs of mid-year entry students

Whilst much attention has been paid in the last decade to the first year experience of tertiary students, in particular their orientation and transition, little research has focused on students who commence at mid-year. This report provides an insight into the expectations of mid-year entry students and their initial experiences. It reports on a small-scale study associated with an innovative orientation program, Mid-year EXCELerate, designed to better equip these students in their first few weeks at University and to facilitate their transition process. The results indicate that students did not recognise the importance of social support in transition prior to commencing their studies, although the importance of this factor became quite evident to them during their early experiences. Several problems were identified as being particular to mid-year entry and further research will lead to a better understanding of the mid-year entry experience by University policy makers and teaching staff.
Steroids and Childhood Encephalitis

G (GS) have both antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive property, which explains why pediatricians tend to prescribe them for all pediatric clinical conditions in which it is thought or known that inflammation and/or autoimmunity are the main cause of disease signs and symptoms. However, such prescriptions are sometimes questionable because the efficacy of GS has not been demonstrated by controlled trials, and the risk of adverse events following high-dose or prolonged administration has not been adequately evaluated. Encephalitis is one of the syndromes for which GS are frequently used. However, the importance of this treatment remains unclear because a diagnosis of encephalitis covers a range of clinical conditions whose etiology, pathogenesis, clinical picture and spontaneous evolution vary. Furthermore, it has been tested in very few studies involving children. The aim of this article is to review what is currently known about the real impact of GS treatment in children with acute infectious encephalitis (AIE) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), the 2 major types of encephalitis.
Lorentzian condition in quantum gravity

The wave function of the universe is usually taken to be a functional of the three-metric on a spacelike section, Sigma, which is measured. It is sometimes better, however, to work in the conjugate representation, where the wave function depends on a quantity related to the second fundamental form of Sigma. This makes it possible to ensure that Sigma is part of a Lorentzian universe by requiring that the argument of the wave function be purely imaginary. We demonstrate the advantages of this formalism first in the well-known examples of the nucleation of a de Sitter or a Nariai universe. We then use it to calculate the pair creation rate for sub-maximal black holes in de Sitter space, which had been thought to vanish semi-classically.
Perceptions of health among Black adults living in a diverse urban community

Objective: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's culture of health initiative advocates for making health a shared value. Health cannot be a shared value without an understanding of how health is defined and perceived. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine community members’ perceptions of health and influencing factors, including health care services. Design and Sample: Data were collected through a purposive sample of nine focus groups with 52 participants who were primarily Black (94%) and female (65%). The mean age was 50 years. The average education was 14 years. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Results: Four themes were developed: health is resilience to deal with life's challenges describes health as necessary to deal with daily challenges; external perceptions affect community identity represents perceptions that other metropolitan counties are flourishing while this county remains depressed, negatively impacting individual and community identity; structural barriers negatively impact health describes a lack of adequate resources to achieve or maintain health, as defined by the participants; and mistrust influences health‐seeking behaviors reflects perceptions of differential treatment. Conclusions: This study provides unique information to nurses and other health care providers about urban‐residing community members’ perceptions of health and health care services. Providing a voice to residents regarding personal, family, and community health is imperative in making health a shared value to achieve the goals of population health, well‐being, and equity.
Decentralized Fault-tolerant Connected Dominating Set Algorithm for Mobile Ad hoc Networks

This paper provides a fully decentralized algorithm that aims at creating a robust backbone in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). The backbone is designed as a 2-Connected 1-Dominating Set (2,1-CDS) and is based upon a low message complexity approach and a very high degree of localization. The proposed deterministic approach guaranties a valid solution thanks to a theoretical proof of correctness. The algorithm is also characterized by its efficient theoretical computation time, O(∆ log ∆) with ∆ the average number of neighbors, which surpasses the literature solutions. The modular and minimalist model of the algorithm is based on four simple rules and an extra rule is proposed to deal with real world problems such as simultaneous decisions. A large panel of networks with wide density range have been tested in order to have a global overview of the algorithm quality. Simulations produced better results than the literature solutions except for very dense networks. The algorithm was also tested to create 1,1-CDS and performed better than literature solutions in sparse networks.
'Academic discipline' and 'school subject': Contestable curricular concepts

Lurking just beneath the surface of much discussion of education/teacher education reform is a conceptual distinction of such taken-for-granted acceptability that educators virtually never take time to analyse it: the distinction between the academic discipline and the school subject. These two concepts are analysed as they figure in the construction of curriculum by: (1 ) examining a range of possibilities regarding the relationship between the academic discipline and its related school subject(s ); and (2) interpreting the meaning of each, using the various possible relationships as the context for meaning. It is suggested that academic discipline and school subject may be thought of as continuous, discontinuous, or different but related (in three variations). Using historical examples, actual curricular proposals associated with each possibility are described. Finally, an analysis is made of those meaning possibilities for their direct impact on curriculum (in terms of purpose, practice and substance ).
The Wheel of Wellness Counseling for Wellness: A Holistic Model for Treatment Planning

A holistic model of wellness and prevention over the life span was presented by T. J. Sweeney and J. M. Witmer (1991) and J. M. Witmer and T. J. Sweeney (1992). Recent advances in research and theory related to wellness support modifications of the original model. The foundation for the model is examined, research related to each component is explored, and implications for use of the model as a basis for counseling interventions are presented.
Career Assessment With Native Americans: Role Salience and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy

One hundred thirty-seven Native American college students currently attending a tribal college were surveyed regarding their life-role salience and career decision-making self-efficacy. Also included was an examination of students’ reason for attending college. Findings revealed that although participation, commitment, and value expectations for the work role were more salient than the role of community service across these same three dimensions, home/family participation and commitment emerged as more salient than work participation and commitment. Correlational analysis indicated that (a) value expectations for work; (b) student role participation, commitment, and value expectations; and (c) community service commitment and value expectations all significantly correlated with career decision-making self-efficacy. Participants’ decisions to attend college suggested that they regard education as important to a good life and are motivated to attend college to help their family and community and to escape the high unemployment rate on the reservation.
Modeling and verifying hierarchical real-time systems using stateful timed CSP

Modeling and verifying complex real-time systems are challenging research problems. The de facto approach is based on Timed Automata, which are finite state automata equipped with clock variables. Timed Automata are deficient in modeling hierarchical complex systems. In this work, we propose a language called Stateful Timed CSP and an automated approach for verifying Stateful Timed CSP models. Stateful Timed CSP is based on Timed CSP and is capable of specifying hierarchical real-time systems. Through dynamic zone abstraction, finite-state zone graphs can be generated automatically from Stateful Timed CSP models, which are subject to model checking. Like Timed Automata, Stateful Timed CSP models suffer from Zeno runs, that is, system runs that take infinitely many steps within finite time. Unlike Timed Automata, model checking with non-Zenoness in Stateful Timed CSP can be achieved based on the zone graphs. We extend the PAT model checker to support system modeling and verification using Stateful Timed CSP and show its usability/scalability via verification of real-world systems.
Serum interleukin-6 level is associated with response to infliximab in ulcerative colitis

Abstract Objectives: Infliximab is effective in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC); however, one-third of patients do not respond and require additional therapies such as other biologic agents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the association between pro-inflammatory molecules and clinical efficacy to elucidate possible mechanisms for the non-response to infliximab to aid in treatment selection. Materials and method: Patients with moderate-to-severe active UC receiving infliximab in our hospital between 2010 and 2016 for whom pre-treatment serum samples were available were retrospectively evaluated. We analyzed the association between serum interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and soluble mucosal vascular addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (sMAdCAM-1) and the clinical efficacy of infliximab. The primary endpoint was clinical response at the end of the induction period. Results: Forty-one patients were included in this study. After induction therapy, 27 patients (65.9%) showed a clinical response. Serum IL-6 levels were significantly lower in responders than in non-responders (p = .012), whereas no significant differences were noted in other factors including sMAdCAM-1 and TNF-α. Multivariate analysis identified that serum IL-6 level (odds ratio = 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.54–0.96; p = .027) was independently associated with response to infliximab. Conclusions: Serum IL-6 level is associated with response to infliximab in UC. Elevated concentrations of IL-6 may provide insight to the mechanism of non-response to infliximab.
Genetic Variation in Titin in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy–Overlap Syndromes

Background— Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is an inherited genetic myocardial disease characterized by fibrofatty replacement of the myocardium and a predisposition to cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death. We evaluated the cardiomyopathy gene titin (TTN) as a candidate ARVC gene because of its proximity to an ARVC locus at position 2q32 and the connection of the titin protein to the transitional junction at intercalated disks. Methods and Results— All 312 titin exons known to be expressed in human cardiac titin and the complete 3′ untranslated region were sequenced in 38 ARVC families. Eight unique TTN variants were detected in 7 families, including a prominent Thr2896Ile mutation that showed complete segregation with the ARVC phenotype in 1 large family. The Thr2896IIe mutation maps within a highly conserved immunoglobulin-like fold (Ig10 domain) located in the spring region of titin. Native gel electrophoresis, nuclear magnetic resonance, intrinsic fluorescence, and proteolysis assays of wild-type and mutant Ig10 domains revealed that the Thr2896IIe exchange reduces the structural stability and increases the propensity for degradation of the Ig10 domain. The phenotype of TTN variant carriers was characterized by a history of sudden death (5 of 7 families), progressive myocardial dysfunction causing death or heart transplantation (8 of 14 cases), frequent conduction disease (11 of 14), and incomplete penetrance (86%). Conclusions— Our data provide evidence that titin mutations can cause ARVC, a finding that further expands the origin of the disease beyond desmosomal proteins. Structural impairment of the titin spring is a likely cause of ARVC and constitutes a novel mechanism underlying myocardial remodeling and sudden cardiac death.
Binding of hemoglobin to the envelope of Porphyromonas gingivalis and isolation of the hemoglobin-binding protein

The binding activity of the Porphyromonas gingivalis envelope and hemoglobin was examined over a wide range of pH values from 4.5 to 9.0. The binding activity in low-pH buffers was much higher than that at high pH; the optimum pHs for the binding were found to be 4.5 and 5.0. Since the hemoglobin bound to the envelope was found to dissociate in the pH 8.5 and 9.0 buffers, the binding is reversible. We hypothesized that hemoglobin-binding protein (HbBP), responsible for the binding to hemoglobin, exists in the envelope and confirmed its presence by dot blot determination with peroxidase-conjugated hemoglobin. Then we attempted to isolate HbBP from the solubilized (by a detergent) materials of the envelope by affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of HbBP was 19 kDa, and the isoelectric point was 4.3.
MotesArt: Wireless Sensor Network for Monitoring Relative Humidity and Temperature in an Art Gallery

Artworks in museums and art galleries are significantly affected by temperature and relative humidity (RH) variations. Significant variations in temperature can double the deterioration rate of paper and other canvases. Fluctuating levels of RH cause materials to corrode, shrink, swell, or warp. Monitoring and control of indoor climate conditions is thus crucial in ensuring the preservation of art collections. This study addresses the need for monitoring by designing and implementing a wireless sensor network composed of several specialized sensor nodes dumping temperature and RH readings to a base station computer. Each sensor node is equipped with an ASK transmitter and no ASK receiver. This design allows for lower power consumption and highly simplifies communication between the sensor node and base station. The MAC protocol used for the wireless sensor network is ALOHA without retransmissions. The wireless sensor network is evaluated in terms of cost, range, power consumption and packet error rate.
Trade Costs and Job Flows: Evidence from Establishment‐Level Data

Changes in the costs of trading inputs or final goods affect establishment-level job flows. Using a longitudinal database containing the universe of manufacturing establishments in California from 1992 to 2004, we find that a decline in input or final-good trade costs is associated with job destruction in the least productive establishments, job creation in the most productive establishments, and an increase in the death likelihood of the least productive establishments. The evidence is consistent with predictions of models of trade with heterogeneous firms. Additionally, the evidence shows that the effects of input trade costs on establishment-level job flows are larger than the effects of final-good trade costs.
The targeting accuracy of subacromial injection to the shoulder: an arthrographic evaluation.

PURPOSE The study goal was to examine the targeting accuracy of subacromial injection to the shoulder and the influence of the location of the injected structure. TYPE OF STUDY A prospective nonrandomized study. METHODS Fifty-three patients (56 shoulders; 34 women and 19 men; mean age, 74.5 years; range, 49 to 91) with impingement signs (Neer, Hawkins) of at least 2 months' duration received a subacromial injection of a mixture of 0.5 mL (2.5 mg) betamethasone acetate and 3 mL of radiographic contrast material (iotrolan) and 7 mL of 1% lidocaine using a lateral approach. Radiographs of the shoulder joint were taken immediately after the injection to determine the structure reached by the injection. Details of pain expressed as Neer and Hawkins impingement signs were obtained before and 15 minutes after the injection, and subjectively assessed using a 4-point self-administered pain score. Pain reduction resulting from subacromial and intradeltoid injection was compared. RESULTS Thirty-nine of the 56 injections (70%) were judged to have reached the subacromial bursa. Twelve (21%) were seen to have entered the deltoid muscle; 2 (4%) were in the glenohumeral joint; and 3 (5%) were subcutaneous. A comparison of subacromial bursal with intradeltoid injection showed no significant differences in pain reduction expressed as impingement signs (1.5 vs 1.7 in the Neer impingement sign and 1.6 vs 1.6 in the Hawkins impingement sign, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that subacromial injection was a relatively difficult procedure. A high incidence of injections that missed the subacromial bursa would be a sufficient reason to refrain from repeated usage of corticosteroids. These results also suggest that pain relief could be attained whether the injected material reached the subacromial bursa or the deltoid muscle. Successful pain relief after intradeltoid injection seems to call into question the diagnostic value of a positive Neer impingement test.
An Exploratory Study of Time Use in the Practice of Music Majors

The purpose of this study is to obtain survey and observation data concerning music education majors' practice room behavior. A survey provided opportunity for participants ( n = 38) to articulate techniques they used in practice. An observation component (n = 9) provided a view of the use of these techniques in actual practice. All participants articulated common practice techniques but a minority of those in observation analysis consistently used these techniques in optimal ways, thus demonstrating a gap between “knowing” and “intelligent doing. ” Overwhelmingly, participants identified better self-discipline as the one thing that would improve practice efficiency. Suggestions for resolving this problem are provided.