Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory Screening in Newborns after Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection: An Overview

Background and aim: Several viruses have previously been reported to be responsible for congenital hearing loss; therefore, since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 infection pandemic, various reports have investigated a possible link. The aim of this review is to assess the possible link between maternal COVID-19 infection and congenital hearing loss. Methods: This systematic review was performed using PRISMA criteria, searching Medline and Embase databases from March 2020 to February 2023. A total of 924 candidate papers were identified; however, considering the specific selection criteria, only nine were selected for additional analysis. Results: The overall number of children born from mothers infected with COVID-19 during pregnancy identified through this review was 1687. The confirmed cases of hearing loss were 0.7% (12/1688); a description of its nature (sensorineural vs. conductive) is missing in the selected studies, and the follow-up period is variable across the analyzed papers. Surprisingly, a large proportion of false positives were recorded at the first stage of screening, which resulted normal at the re-test. Conclusions: Currently, a correlation between congenital hearing loss and SARS-CoV-2 infection cannot be definitively established. Further studies are desirable to provide additional evidence on this topic.
Optimizing the Process of Spot Welding of Polycarbonate-Matrix-Based Unidirectional (UD) Thermoplastic Composite Tapes

The aim of this work was to optimize spot welding of unidirectional tapes made of polycarbonate and carbon fibers. Three studies were performed to investigate the influences of various welding conditions on the quality of the welded spot. First, we used a full factorial experimental design to analyze the influence of temperature and time on the welds’ tensile stress at break. Second, we repeated the experiment with optimized settings and conditions. Finally, we adopted a central composite design (CCD) to investigate the stability of the process. Our results show that temperature had the greatest influence on weld quality. The maximum tensile stress achieved was 23 MPa. Using a relatively high temperature for a short welding time resulted in self-cleaning of the welding head and in a faster and more stable process, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) confirmed that these conditions caused no additional degradation.
Molecular Transport Conditions Required for the Formation of Penitentes on Airless, Ice‐Covered Worlds, With Specific Application to Europa, Enceladus, and Callisto

The surface morphology of airless, ice‐covered moons of the outer solar system, such as Europa, Enceladus, and Callisto, is not well known at centimeter‐ to meter‐scales. Ice and snow erode differently on such worlds in part because sublimation is the dominant process. On Earth, ice penitentes have been observed in sublimation‐driven environments, and may provide a guide for similar formations on ice‐covered worlds. Penitentes are blade‐like snow features observed on Earth in high‐altitude, low‐latitude snowfields. Models of penitente formation on Earth break down within the free‐molecular regime of airless bodies, leaving a major gap in understanding whether such morphologies can form on their surfaces. To investigate the morphologic evolution of icy bodies, we developed a Sublimation Monte Carlo (SMC) model that enables a numerical approach to modeling exosphere‐surface interactions at free‐molecular conditions. The SMC model uses Monte Carlo tracking of molecules emitted from the surface to determine the net molecular interchange that drives surface changes. We validated results against experiments, matching the evolution of pre‐formed penitentes as they receded in height and became less pronounced. Our results reveal the importance of molecular redeposition on topology, indicating that the stable morphology of isothermal topographies is a planar morphology on regions of net sublimation, regardless of initial surface shape. A study of parametrically varying temperature profiles for sinusoidal penitentes resulted in the following requirement for penitente growth: the trough temperature must exceed the peak temperature by a threshold value, which notably depends on the surface aspect ratio and peak temperature.
Detailed Analysis of New York City Subway Pedestrian Incidents From 2019

This study analyzed New York Subway incident cases from 2019 to expand on the current understanding of subway train to human collisions. From the 263 incident cases available, 185 (70%) involved train to pedestrian contact. The fatality data were compared with published literature covering 1990 to 2007, showing reasonable agreement in age-, gender-, and borough distributions. The location of incidents was typically the station platform (84%). Four primary behaviors were exhibited by pedestrians before impact with the train. Jumping from the platform was the most common, followed by falling from the platform, walking along the tracks, and standing too close to the edge of the platform. A higher fatality rate was found for collisions that occurred at elevated stations (40%) compared with below-ground stations (27%). The two primary collision types were frontal- and side impact (on the train). The most common impact velocity was 40 to 48 km/h (25 to 30 mph). The most likely outcome of these interactions was a fatality (31%) with only 9% of subway–human interactions resulting in mild injuries. The data suggested that policies based on proactive countermeasures could reduce a significant portion of subway train–human collisions as the majority of preimpact activity occurred on the station platform. Further investigation into the difference in elevated and below-ground collisions may yield useful information, especially relating to the potential protection offered by the drainage trough. When simulating subway–human collisions for countermeasure design, equal consideration should be given to the three impact position types: standing, lying, and jumping.
THE EFFECT OF CEO CHARACTERISTICS AND CARBON EMISSION DISCLOSURE ON FIRM PERFORMANCE WITH BUSINESS ETHICS DISCLOSURE AS A MODERATING VARIABLE

ABSTRACTThis study examines the effect of CEO characteristics and carbon emission disclosure (CED) on firm performance with business ethics disclosure (BED) as a moderating variable. The conclusion from this study is that CEO education and CED significantly affect a firm's financial performance. Meanwhile, CEO tenure and age do not significantly affect a firm's financial performance. BED can moderate the influence of CEO education and CEO age on a firm's financial performance. However, neither CEO characteristics nor CED had any significant effect on non-financial performance. In addition, BED does not moderate the effect of CEO characteristics and CED on non-financial performance.ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk meneliti pengaruh CEO characteristics dan carbon emission disclosure (CED) terhadap kinerja perusahaan dengan business ethics disclosure (BED) sebagai variabel moderasi. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini yaitu CEO education dan CED berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja keuangan perusahaan. Sementara CEO tenure dan CEO age tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja keuangan perusahaan. BED mampu memoderasi pengaruh CEO education dan CEO age terhadap kinerja keuangan perusahaan. Namun untuk kinerja non keuangan, baik CEO characteristics dan CED tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja non keuangan tersebut, serta BED tidak memoderasi pengaruh CEO characteristics dan CED terhadap kinerja non keuangan.
Block-Based Color Constancy: The Deviation of Salient Pixels

We recently proposed a color constancy method based on the observations that the human visual system might be "discounting the illuminant" by using space-average color and the highest luminance patches. Based on these observations, our algorithm relies on two assumptions: (i) there are several bright pixels in the scene, and (ii) the world is gray, on average. The main idea of the algorithm is to estimate the illuminant by finding the deviation of the brightest pixels from the gray value. During experiments, we observed that some pixels decrease the performance of the method. In this work, the algorithm is modified to eliminate the impact of these pixels. According to the comprehensive experiments, the proposed method surpasses several existing approaches on two color constancy benchmarks. Also, we show that the performance of some existing color constancy algorithms can be increased by using a block-based approach and salient pixels.
Achievable Error Exponents for Almost Fixed-Length M-Ary Hypothesis Testing

We revisit multiple hypothesis testing and propose a two-phase test, where each phase is a fixed-length test and the second-phase proceeds only if a reject option is decided in the first phase. We derive achievable error exponents of error probabilities under each hypothesis and show that our two-phase test bridges over fixed-length and sequential tests in both Neyman-Pearson and Bayesian settings in the similar spirit of Lalitha and Javidi [1] for binary hypothesis testing. Specifically, our test may achieve the performance close to a sequential test with the asymptotic complexity of a fixed-length test and such test is named the almost fixed-length test. Our results generalize the design and analysis of the almost fixed-length test for binary hypothesis testing to account for more than two outcomes.
GOLD 2023 Update: Implications for Clinical Practice

Abstract In 2022, over 3 million people died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the global burden of the disease is expected to increase over the coming decades. Recommendations for the treatment and management of patients with COPD are published by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, and updated annually with scientific evidence-based recommendations. The 2023 updates, published in November 2022, contain key changes to recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of COPD that are anticipated to have a significant impact on clinical practice for patients with COPD. Updates to how COPD is defined and diagnosed, including the expansion of contributing factors beyond tobacco use, have the potential to lead to the diagnosis of more patients and to allow for the implementation of early interventions for patients during early stages of the disease. Simplification of the treatment algorithms, and placement of triple therapy within these algorithms, will support clinicians in providing appropriate, timely treatment for patients with COPD with a focus on reducing the risk of future exacerbations. Finally, recognition of mortality reduction as a treatment goal in COPD supports an increase in the use of triple therapy, the only pharmacological intervention that has been demonstrated to improve survival for patients with COPD. Although further guidance and clarification are needed in some areas, such as use of blood eosinophil counts in guiding treatment decisions and implementation of treatment protocols following hospitalizations, recent updates to the GOLD recommendations will support clinicians in addressing current gaps in patient care. Clinicians should utilize these recommendations to drive the early diagnosis of patients with COPD, the identification of exacerbations, and the selection of appropriate, timely treatments for patients.
Cold tests and the dynamic characteristics of the pintle type solid rocket motor

Dynamic characteristics of a pintle-perturbed conical nozzle are studied theoretically, experimentally, and numerically under the condition of constant mass flow rate. Conventional one-dimensional nozzle theory in conjunction with a two-dimensional axisymmetric flow solver calculates the internal flow parameters in the nozzle equipped with the pintle. The commercial flow solver is used based on the strongly-coupled flow equation system which is closed with one-, or two-equation turbulence models. Theoretical and numerical flow parameters are properly validated by the experiments. For the dynamic characteristics of the pintle nozzle, performance variations are examined in terms of the free volume size, the pintle actuating speed and pintle geometries. The dynamic characteristics of the pintle-perturbed nozzle largely depend on the mass flow rate through the nozzle throat which is a strong function of the reduced throat area and chamber pressure. It also depends on the pintle activation because the nozzle throat and the chamber pressure change with the extent of the pintle displacement.
A Review of Fibre Reinforced Polymer Bridges

Fibre-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) offer various benefits for bridge construction. Lightweight, durability, design flexibility and fast erection in inaccessible areas are their unique selling points for bridge engineering. FRPs are used in four bridge applications: (1) FRP rebars/tendons in concrete; (2) repair and strengthening of existing bridges; (3) new hybrid–FRP bridges with conventional materials and (4) all–FRP composite new bridges made entirely of FRP materials. This paper reviews FRP bridges, including all–FRP and hybrid–FRP bridges. FRP bridges’ history, materials, processes and bridge components—deck, girder, truss, moulded parts and cables/rebars are considered. This paper does not discuss the use of FRP as an architectural element and a strengthening system. While lack of design codes, material specifications and recycling are the major challenges, the high cost of FRPs still remains the most critical barrier to the progress of FRPs in bridges.
The Associated Factors of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection by Omicron Variant — Guangdong Province, China, December 2022 to January 2023

What is already known about this topic? Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection by variants is being reported commonly and has caused waves of epidemic in many countries. Because of dynamic zero policy, the SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was less reported in China. What is added by this report? SARS-CoV-2 reinfections were observed in Guangdong Province between December 2022 and January 2023. This study estimated that the reinfection incidence was 50.0% for the original strain primary infections, 35.2% for the Alpha or Delta variants, and 18.4% for the Omicron variant; The reinfection incidence within 3-6 months after primary infection by Omicron variant was 4.0%. Besides, 96.2% reinfection cases were symptomatic while only 7.7% sought medical attention. What are the implications for public health practice? These findings suggest a reduced likelihood of an Omicron-driven epidemic resurgence in the short term but emphasize the importance of maintaining vigilant surveillance of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and conducting population-based antibody level surveys to inform response preparedness.
Design of a fuzzy distance relay taking into consideration the impact of using a unified power flow controller

The compact design of a fuzzy distance relay, which includes its impact on using a unified power flow controller in a power system, has been adopted as the object of the study. Traditional power system grids have increasingly widely used flexible alternating current transmission system devices in recent years to increase power system stability when faults, unbalance, and sudden changes in load occur. This plays a role in improving power quality, power factor corrections, and power flow control. A unified power flow controller is one of these devices that is most used, popular and meets these benefits, but it simultaneously gives a different change in the apparent impedance of the protection system due to its design. To overcome these issues, the proposed novel design of a fuzzy distance relay is made with the assistance of MATLAB® Simulink and Neuro-Fuzzy Designer. The proposed design work was divided into three parts, the first without fault and the second one including four scenarios without using and using a unified power flow controller in different transmission line locations. The design was carried out in the third part after collecting all input-output data sets. This paper offers an efficient design method, which depends on the input value of the observed apparent impedance, also known as resistance (R), and reactance (X). The output is a trip signal to the circuit breaker when a fault occurs. The advantages of the proposed design are a fast-clearing time of 1.42 ms, and working when utilizing a unified power flow controller in different locations; the results show a fast clearing although the long impedance trajectory for some cases. The fast fault clearing will make the system more stable and overcome the maloperation of the distance relay
Power analysis of thyristor-regulated reactor with fully controlled semiconductor valves

Flexible AC transmission systems that are built by using modern advances in power electronics are key components of smart grids. The object of research is a thyristor-controlled reactor, which is used as part of a static reactive power compensator to control the reactive power in the transmission and distribution electrical networks of power supply systems. It is proposed to use two-operation semiconductor gates in the regulator, which made it possible to obtain qualitatively new adjusting properties. The analysis of reactor power under the mode of phase control of the conductive state of gates by setting the moments of their closing time was carried out. Analytical expressions for angular power characteristics of the main harmonic were derived. It was revealed that by regulating, based on the phase principle, the conductive state of ideal semiconductor gates, which are switched on in series with ideal inductance, along with the adjustment of reactive power, the phenomenon of consumption of active power from the grid at the main harmonic is observed. It is shown that the reason for this is artificially obtained, with the help of semiconductor gates, active-inductive nature of the angle of displacement of the main harmonic of the current in the reactor relative to the voltage of the power supply. The study results prove the effect of adjusting the active power by a thyristor-regulated reactor. Research involving a virtual model illustrated the adjustment of the active power component of a synchronous generator by the effect on the rotor speed during gate adjustment of reactor power. The active power resource obtained in the process of thyristor adjustment of the reactor is commensurate with its installed capacity
Influence of Bifidobacterium breve on the Glycaemic Control, Lipid Profile and Microbiome of Type 2 Diabetic Subjects: A Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most highly prevalent metabolic disorders worldwide. Uncontrolled T2DM can lead to other health threats such as cardiac arrest, lower-limb amputation, blindness, stroke, impaired kidney function, and microvascular and macrovascular complications. Many studies have demonstrated the association between gut microbiota and diabetes development and probiotic supplementation in improving glycemic properties in T2DM. The study aimed to evaluate the influence of Bifidobacterium breve supplementation on glycemic control, lipid profile, and microbiome of T2DM subjects. Forty participants were randomly divided into two groups, and they received probiotics (50 × 109 CFU/day) or placebo interventions (corn starch; 10 mg/day) for 12 weeks. The changes in the blood-urea nitrogen (BUN), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), creatinine levels, and other factors such as body-mass index, visceral fat, body fat, and body weight were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks. B. breve supplementation significantly reduced BUN, creatinine, LDL, TG, and HbA1c levels compared to the placebo group. Significant changes were observed in the microbiome of the probiotic-treated group compared to the placebo group. Firmicutes and proteobacteria were predominant in the placebo and probiotic-treated groups. Genera Streptococcus, Butyricicoccus, and species Eubacterium hallii were significantly reduced in the probiotic-treated group compared to the placebo. Overall results suggested that B. breve supplementation could prevent worsening of representative clinical parameters in T2DM subjects. The current study has limitations, including fewer subjects, a single probiotic strain, and fewer metagenomic samples for microbiome analysis. Therefore, the results of the current study require further validation using more experimental subjects.
A Critical Look at Recent Trends in Compression of Channel State Information

In this paper, we challenge the current view on state-of-the-art deep learning-based methods for compressing wireless channel state information and show that traditional methods can be highly competitive on commonly used open-source benchmarks. We show that basic signal processing methods can offer superior performance and argue that the datasets and the metrics used in measuring performance give a skewed impression of the applicability and extendibility of the methods proposed in the literature today.
Digital Transformation Strategy of SMEs Development in Framework for Todays (Case Study on Borondong Industry)

This research aims to find out the implementation of strategies that can be carried out by SMEs in order to build a framework for era 4.0. This research presents the concept of a technology transformation development strategy for SMEs. The method in this research is utilized a qualitative approach, using SWOT tools combined with the Business Model Canvas for SMEs. The results of this study identified development factors in the framework of the company's strategy to face era 4.0, especially for SMEs in the Borondong Industry case study. The main finding of this research is that SMEs need to carry out specific strategies related to the proper technology adoptions in stages. The implications of the theory that can be implemented in this research are conceptual strategies that may contribute significantly to the SMEs.
The Influence of Perceived Risk and Loyalty on Purchase Intention of Fashion Products Based on the Theory of Perceived Risk

Penelitian ini betujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh financial risk dan privacy risk terhadap loyalty konsumen untuk membeli produk fashion secara online melalui e-commerce yang dipengaruhi oleh perceived satisfaction dan purchase intention. Teori pada penelitian ini menggunakan Theory of Perceived Risk (TPR) dengan loyalty sebagai novelti untuk menggambarkan faktor yang dapat mempengaruhi keputusan konsumen untuk membeli produk fashion secara online. Gap pada penelitian ini adalah satisfaction yang mana terdapat perbedaan hasil dalam penelitian terdahulu. Penelitian ini menggunakan variabel financial risk, privacy risk, perceived satisfaction, purchase intention, dan loyalty yang akan diteliti untuk mengetahui pengaruhnya pada pembelian produk fashion secara online melalui e-commerce. Populasi mengarah kepada pengguna e-commerce yang berusia mulai dari 15 tahun dan tinggal di Pulau Jawa. Penulis menggunakan metode kuantitatif melalui penyebaran kuesioner melalui google form dan terkumpul sebanyak 248 responden. Data yang diperoleh diolah menggunakan Structural Equation Model (SEM) dengan aplikasi AMOS 24. Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan hasil bahwa 3 hipotesis terdukung dan 1 hipotesis tidak terdukung yang ditunjukkan pada privacy risk berdampak positif signifikan terhadap perceived satisfaction. Keywords: Financial Risk, Privacy Risk, Perceived Satisfaction, Purchase Intention, Loyalty