Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Integrated Machine Learning-Based Brain Computer Interface to Classify Diverse Limb Motor Tasks: Explainable Model

Terminal neurological conditions can affect millions of people worldwide and hinder them from doing their daily tasks and movements normally. Brain computer interface (BCI) is the best hope for many individuals with motor deficiencies. It will help many patients interact with the outside world and handle their daily tasks without assistance. Therefore, machine learning-based BCI systems have emerged as non-invasive techniques for reading out signals from the brain and interpreting them into commands to help those people to perform diverse limb motor tasks. This paper proposes an innovative and improved machine learning-based BCI system that analyzes EEG signals obtained from motor imagery to distinguish among various limb motor tasks based on BCI competition III dataset IVa. The proposed framework pipeline for EEG signal processing performs the following major steps. The first step uses a meta-heuristic optimization technique, called the whale optimization algorithm (WOA), to select the optimal features for discriminating between neural activity patterns. The pipeline then uses machine learning models such as LDA, k-NN, DT, RF, and LR to analyze the chosen features to enhance the precision of EEG signal analysis. The proposed BCI system, which merges the WOA as a feature selection method and the optimized k-NN classification model, demonstrated an overall accuracy of 98.6%, outperforming other machine learning models and previous techniques on the BCI competition III dataset IVa. Additionally, the EEG feature contribution in the ML classification model is reported using Explainable AI (XAI) tools, which provide insights into the individual contributions of the features in the predictions made by the model. By incorporating XAI techniques, the results of this study offer greater transparency and understanding of the relationship between the EEG features and the model’s predictions. The proposed method shows potential levels for better use in controlling diverse limb motor tasks to help people with limb impairments and support them while enhancing their quality of life.
Generation and propagation of water waves in a two-dimensional numerical viscous wave flume

This study investigated the generation and propagation of water waves in a numerical viscous wave flume. The numerical scheme developed by Huang and collaborators for solving the unsteady two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations for wavemaking problems was employed to generate different incident waves, including small- and finite-amplitude waves and solitary waves. The accuracy of the numerical results for the wave and velocity profiles was verified by comparison with the analytical solutions. The wave propagation in a numerical wave flume was also investigated. For periodic gravity waves on finite water depth, the results showed that waves with larger Ursell numbers are more stable than those with smaller Ursell numbers. The propagation of solitary waves in the channel is stable. For stable waves, the wave height attenuation caused by the energy dissipation in the wave motion was shown to be consistent with the theoretical results.
Improving Multi-Agent Trajectory Prediction Using Traffic States on Interactive Driving Scenarios

Predicting trajectories of multiple agents in interactive driving scenarios such as intersections, and roundabouts are challenging due to the high density of agents, varying speeds, and environmental obstacles. Existing approaches use relative distance and semantic maps of intersections to improve trajectory prediction. However, drivers base their driving decision on the overall traffic state of the intersection and the surrounding vehicles. So, we propose to use traffic states that denote changing spatio-temporal interaction between neighboring vehicles, to improve trajectory prediction. An example of a traffic state is a clump state which denotes that the vehicles are moving close to each other, i.e., congestion is forming. We develop three prediction models with different architectures, namely, Transformer-based (TS-Transformer), Generative Adversarial Network-based (TS-GAN), and Conditional Variational Autoencoder-based (TS-CVAE). We show that traffic state-based models consistently predict better future trajectories than the vanilla models. TS-Transformer produces state-of-the-art results on two challenging interactive trajectory prediction datasets, namely, Eye-on-Traffic (EOT), and INTERACTION. Our qualitative analysis shows that traffic state-based models have better aligned trajectories to the ground truth.
Causes of nephrotic syndrome in Sweden: The relevance of clinical presentation and demographics

Background Many pathological processes can disrupt the integrity of the glomerular capillary wall and cause a massive leakage of protein, resulting in nephrotic syndrome (NS). Clinical parameters such as age, sex, renal function, presence of diabetes, and how NS is defined influence the spectrum of underlying diseases. In this study, we examine how these parameters interact. Methods Age, sex, hematuria, proteinuria, plasma creatinine plasma albumin levels, and final diagnosis were retrieved for all adult patients with NS as an indication for biopsy and/or massive albuminuria in conjunction with low plasma albumin from the biopsy module of the Swedish Renal Registry (SRR) between 2014 and 2019. A basic calculator was developed to demonstrate the importance of clinical presentation in relation to the likelihood of having a specific diagnosis. Results A total of 913 unique patients were included in the study. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) and membranous nephropathy (MN) (both found in 17% of patients) were the most common diagnoses. With a stringent definition of NS, MN and minimal change nephropathy (MCN) increased in proportion. Among the cohort as a whole, MCN was the most frequent diagnosis in women and those < 50 years of age (found in 21% and 17%, respectively). In the case of patients aged between 50 and 70 years, those with chronic kidney disease stage 4, and those with negative dipstick tests for hematuria, the most common underlying disease was DN (in 23%, 30%, and 21% of cases, respectively). Among those with high-grade hematuria (dipstick grade 3 or 4), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was the most common diagnosis (14%), closely followed by IgA nephropathy (13%). Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (9.7%) was less common than in many comparable studies. Conclusion Clinical parameters have a profound impact on the likelihood of different diagnoses in adult patients with NS. Differences in clinical practice and study inclusion criteria may be more important than genetic background and environmental factors when explaining differences between studies in different parts of the world.
An Empirical Study of Chinese Trade Patterns in the Aquatic Industry using the Annual Data of 1987-2019

—The study analyzes the import trade patterns of aquatic products of China by using annual data from 1985 to 2019. The research employed the weighted indicators of RM cj to capture the revealed comparative advantage of the China’s import in the aquatic product, and used the weighted indicators of HX cj and HM cj to gauge the China’s export and the import policy intervention. The research shows that China has comparative advantage in the aquatic product import. However, the restriction of the China’s import in aquatic products of 1987-2018 has arisen, and began to boost the import in 2019. China has been protectionist in her trade in the products.
Preparation and In Vitro Evaluation of Lamivudine Entrapped MOI Microspheres for Oral Administration

The current study concern with the evaluation of natural gum moi as noble sustain release rate controlling materials in microsphere formulation prepared by solvent evaporation technique using lamivudine as the model drug. Microspheres were evaluated for various parameters such as yield percentage, particle size analysis, sphericity measurement, drug entrapment efficiency, loose surface crystal study, in vitro drug release profile and release kinetics study. Effect of drug: gum ratio (1:6, 1:10 w/w with respect to drug weight) on in vitro drug release profile was investigated The rate limiting capacity of moi gum was compared with guar gum as control by keeping all the parameters constant. The gum produced microspheres have satisfactory size (24- 32μm) and acceptable morphological properties. Microspheres of moi gum exhibit sustained action beyond 10 hr in comparison to guar gum but the combination of both the gum in 1:1 ratio demonstrate an additional sustained action. Drug release from the F1, F2, F4 and F6 seems to best fit to Higuchi square root kinetics indicating the diffusion controlled release where as the F3 follows zero order kinetic and f5 shows korsemeyer-peppas model. The release mechanism was found fickian for all the formulations as polymer matrix was used as rate retarding material. It was concluded that the gum possesses substantial rate controlling properties with the combination of guar gum and could be used for sustained drug delivery.
Nonlinear water clarity trends and impacts on littoral area in Minnesota lakes

Lake water clarity is an indicator of water quality, trophic status, and habitat condition. Changes in clarity impact lake ecosystems and may reflect land use changes or presence of invasive species. Quantifying temporal changes in water clarity can be challenging because clarity varies seasonally, annually, and spatially within and among lakes. We developed a hierarchical generalized additive model to quantify trends in water clarity (Secchi depth) from 1979 to 2018 for 909 Minnesota lakes, accounting for seasonal and spatial variability. Water clarity increased by 0.41 m across lakes from 1984 to 1988 and 2014 to 2018. Lake‐specific clarity trends varied: clarity did not change significantly in 59.0% of lakes, increased in 34.5% of lakes, and decreased in 6.5% of lakes. Water clarity dynamics caused considerable variability in littoral area between seasons and years. Our results have wide applications in aquatic ecology, including understanding changes to food webs, assessing fish habitat, and evaluating impacts of invasive species.
An exploration of the associations between perceived physical and psychological benefits of Chinese yoga leisure participants—A qualitative approach

Abstract This paper explores the associations between the perceived physical and the corresponding psychological benefits of yoga leisure. Qualitative interviews with purposeful and snowball sampling methods were conducted to elicit 29 Chinese leisure participants who engaged in yoga with at least two years of yoga participation. The results reveal that respondents’ perceived physical benefit was associated with specific psychological benefit, demonstrating the embodied experience in yoga leisure where the body and the mind are connected. Specifically, (a) Breathing regulation enhances self-focus; (b) Sensory improvements promote self-awareness; (c) Better appearance strengthens self-confidence; (d) Completion of challenging asana (i.e., body postures) boosts self-efficacy; and (e) Body control improves self-control. Theoretically, this paper contributes to our understanding of the associations between the physical benefits and the corresponding psychological benefits of yoga leisure based on the experience of Chinese yoga participants. Practical implications have also been suggested.
Heat Treatment Induced Specified Aggregation Morphology of Metoprolol Tartrate in Poly(ε-caprolactone) Matrix and the Drug Release Variation

Hot-melt blending has been widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce drug delivery systems, however, realizing the controlled drug release behavior of a hot-melt blended medicament it is still a tough challenge. In this study, we developed a simple and effective heat treatment method to adjust the drug release behavior, without the addition of any release modifiers. Thin metoprolol tartrate (MPT)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) tablets were prepared through hot-melt processing, and different morphologies of MPT were obtained by altering processing temperatures and the following heat treatment. MPT particles with different particle sizes were obtained under different processing temperatures, and fibrous crystals of MPT were fabricated during the following heat treatment. Different morphological structures of MPT adjusted the drug diffusion channel when immersed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and various drug release behaviors were approached. After being immersed for 24 h, 7% of the MPT was released from the blend processed at 130 °C, while more than 95% of the MPT were released after the following heat treatment of the same sample. Thus, flexible drug release behaviors were achieved using this simple and effective processing manufacture, which is demonstrated to be of profound importance for biomedical applications.
Agroecosystem modeling and optimal economic decisions: Implications for sustainable agriculture

We adapt a biogeochemical model of an agroecosystem to account for optimal economic behavior on the part of agricultural producers. Two institutional management regimes are considered: one in which a representative producer does not account for stock pollution caused by use of agricultural inputs, and one in which the externality is internalized. Comparative statics of the steady state of the former problem are analyzed in order to gain insight into the effects of potential policy and technological changes. Results show that a more realistic ecosystem component that includes nutrient cycling can qualitatively change optimal management practices relative to a one‐state representation, potentially rendering systems ‘unsustainable’ under some criteria and leading to policy instruments that exacerbate, rather than mitigate, external damages or the resource base. Moreover, the qualitative effect of changes in model parameters are not necessarily uniform across different agricultural systems, implying that a prescription for the so‐called ‘sustainable’ management under one system may have unintended consequences under another system. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
National Dog Survey: Describing UK Dog and Ownership Demographics

Simple Summary Dog ownership is common in the United Kingdom; however, current dog ownership demography data are lacking. Understanding our pet dog population is paramount to meeting the health and welfare needs of the population. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of a National Dog Survey, aiming to better understand and provide a snapshot of the current dog population in the UK. The results of this paper provide up-to-date demographic data for both dogs and their owners and highlight patterns and trends both long-term and more recently, since the COVID-19 pandemic. Monitoring of trends and patterns of the dog population and dog owners going forward is needed in order to continually identify the needs and welfare state of the population, enabling those working in the canine welfare field to provide appropriate support and services. Abstract With dogs being the most commonly owned companion animal in the United Kingdom, knowledge about dog demographics is important in understanding the impact of dogs on society. Furthermore, understanding the demography of dog owners is also important to better target support to dogs and their owners to achieve optimal welfare in the canine population. Combining natural fluctuations in the population and unprecedented events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for an up-to-date large-scale dataset is even more paramount. In order to address this, Dogs Trust launched the ‘National Dog Survey’ to provide a large population-level dataset that will help identify key areas of concern and needs of owners and their dogs. The online survey was completed by a total of 354,046 respondents owning dogs in the UK, providing data for 440,423 dogs. The results of this study highlight dog demographics, including acquisition and veterinary factors, as well as owner demographic and household information. Finally, general trends in ownership, and more specifically those following the COVID-19 pandemic, are described. This paper’s findings provide valuable insight into the current population of dogs and their owners in the UK, allowing for the most appropriate products, services, interventions and regulations to be developed, reducing the likelihood of negative welfare outcomes such as health and behaviour issues, relinquishment or euthanasia. Furthermore, with significant changes to the dog population following the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, this dataset serves as an up-to-date baseline for future study comparisons to continue to monitor trends and patterns of the dog population and dog owners going forwards.
Rectangular and zonal slots on a sphere with a backing shell: theory and experiment

A rectangular slot antenna on a spherical cavity with a conducting backing shell is investigated rigorously. The Green's function approach is used to formulate an integral equation for the magnetic slot current, which is solved using the moment method. Two previously developed methods to evaluate the admittance integrals are used and compared with each other. Both methods use recurrence formulas and analytical integration to speed the computation. The slot and cavity resonances of the structure are studied. In particular, two simple formulas for the first two natural resonances of the cavity structure are given. The effects of the shell size, slot length, and cavity dielectric constant on the input impedance are discussed. Measurements were carried out to verify the theory, and very good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. In addition, the zonal slot antenna on a spherical cavity with a conducting backing shell is studied. The effect of the shell radius on the input impedance is investigated and, again, very good agreement between theory and experiment is found.
IMPACT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY ON INVESTORS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW USING PRISMA PROTOCOL

Financial literacy is the potential to understand and productively use different financial skills such as managing finance, budgeting and investing. FL has been considered one of the most important factors to improve the growth of investors and the economy as a whole. This study’s main purpose is to present a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on FL and Investment between 2012 and 2021. The Systematic Literature Review analysis has been performed based on the PRISMA to analyse 26 related articles obtained from the Web of Science, Taylor and Francis and Jstor database. The review of the paper has been categorised based on publication year, a journal list, publication by authors number, features of review articles, tools and techniques applied, variables, findings and practical implications and outcomes of the area of study. The outcomes of this paper provide an understanding of the publication criteria of financial literacy and investment along with that it also offers possible approaches for further publications. The findings of the study also analyse the impact of financial literacy on investors. The study will provide an in-depth understanding of the concepts of Financial Literacy. The study suggests that future researchers initiate further research on financial literacy and investment and also diversify the broader study period. This paper is the first of its kind to identify the impact of investment preference on investors.
Dynamics of a low‐level jet observed during the Fronts 87 experiment

A study of the internal dynamics of a low-level jet, its role on the frontal discontinuity evolution, and its relevance to the organization of convection at mesoscale and small scale is presented. The low-level jet studied is associated with an active cold front that was observed during the French—British co-operative field experiment Fronts 87. The originality of the present low-level-jet description lies in the fact that it is observed not only by means of soundings but also by means of a new tool for mesoscale meteorology observations, a wind profiler (stratospheric—tropospheric UHF radar). The high resolution of the wind-profiler data in both time and height allows one to assess, in precipitating as well as in clear-sky areas, a detailed image of the low-level jet and the associated mesoscale and convective-scale circulations. The comparison between observations and predictions of various theories provides information on the physical mechanisms responsible for the initiation and maintenance of the observed mesoscale features. The flow resulting from the presence of the low-level jet produces inertial acceleration and baroclinic symmetric instability which lead to a narrow mesoscale line of sloping motions. Moreover, the interaction of the cold surface outflow with the low-level vertical shear below the jet maximum is found to be crucial in the intensification and maintenance of the observed narrow cold-frontal rainband.
A Simplified Model of Jet Aerodynamics and Acoustics

In semi-empirical jet noise models applied to the supersonic case, the main problem is to estimate the jet aerodynamics data in order to define sound sources characteristics. We present simplified methods for predicting the aerothermodynamic data along the jet axis. It is assumed that the laminar core, the turbulence peak and the supersonic cone are the main physical data enabling to determine the sound source distribution. Calculation results are successfully compared with experimental data for cold jets and high-speed high-temperature jets.
Avalanche photodiodes with an impact-ionization-engineered multiplication region

The avalanche photodiode (APD) is frequently the photodetector of choice for high-bit-rate, long-haul fiber optic communications, owing to its internal gain, which provides a sensitivity margin compared to PIN photodiodes. Since the multiplication region of an APD plays a critical role in determining the gain, the multiplication noise, and the gain-bandwidth product, numerous research programs have focused on optimizing the multiplication region in order to improve the APD performance. We describe a new multiplication region structure that achieves very low multiplication noise by impact ionization engineering (I/sup 2/E), which utilizes heterojunctions to achieve greater localization of impact ionization than spatially uniform structures. By placing thin layers with relatively low threshold energy (multiplication layer) on each side of a region with higher ionization coefficients (the separation layer), impact ionization is enhanced at the edges in the twin multiplication layers and is suppressed in the center, where the carriers are energized in transit.