Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Harmful Alcohol and Drug Use Is Associated with Syndemic Risk Factors among Female Sex Workers in Nairobi, Kenya

Background: Female Sex Workers (FSWs) are at high risk of harmful alcohol and other drug use. We use quantitative data to describe the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use and identify associated occupational and socio-economic risk factors, and aim to elucidate patterns of alcohol and drug use through information drawn from qualitative data. Methods: Maisha Fiti was a mixed-method longitudinal study conducted in 2019 among a random sample of FSWs in Nairobi, Kenya. We used baseline date from the behavioural–biological survey, which included the WHO Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test that measures harmful alcohol and other drug use in the past three months (moderate/high risk score: >11 for alcohol; >4 for other drugs). In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 randomly selected FSWs. Findings: Of 1003 participants, 29.9% (95%CI 27.0–32.6%) reported harmful (moderate/high risk) alcohol use, 21.5% harmful amphetamine use (95%CI 19.1–24.1%) and 16.9% harmful cannabis use (95%CI 14.7–19.2%). Quantitative analysis found that harmful alcohol, cannabis and amphetamine use were associated with differing risk factors including higher Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) scores, street homelessness, food insecurity (recent hunger), recent violence from clients, reduced condom use, depression/anxiety and police arrest. Qualitative interviews found that childhood neglect and violence were drivers of entry into sex work and alcohol use, and that alcohol and cannabis helped women cope with sex work. Conclusions: There is a need for individual and structural-level interventions, tailored for FSWs, to address harmful alcohol and other drug use and associated syndemic risks including ACEs, violence and sexual risk behaviours.
How digital natives make their self-disclosure decisions: a cross-cultural comparison

Purpose Digital natives have become significant users of social network sites (SNSs); therefore, their disclosed personal information can be misused by SNS providers and/or other users. The purpose of this paper is to understand how digital natives make their self-disclosure decisions on SNSs, as well as whether the concept of culture can still be relevant to digital natives. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested with survey data collected from the USA and China. Findings The results show that trust in SNSs and trust in SNS users are positively related to social rewards. Social rewards are positively related to intention to self-disclose, while privacy risk is positively related to privacy concerns. Further, culture significantly moderates the relationship between trust and social rewards. Research limitations/implications The study clarifies the effects of different types of trust on privacy in the context of SNSs. Further, the study shows the effects of culture when digital natives make self-disclosure decisions. Practical implications SNS providers also need to focus on different types of trust when operating in different cultural contexts. Further, SNS providers expanding their markets should emphasize social rewards to increase the likelihood of self-disclosure. Originality/value The results show that while culture can still be helpful to explain digital natives’ trust beliefs, digital natives have started to converge regarding their perceptions about privacy concerns and self-disclosure.
Exploring the Transition to Working Life of Entrepreneurship Education Graduates: A Longitudinal Study

In this research, we explore the transition of entrepreneurship education (EE) graduates to working life. Even though many EE graduates find employment in established organisations rather than starting a new venture, few studies have empirically investigated the relevance of EE in this context. This paper addresses this gap by providing an in-depth longitudinal analysis of graduates’ transition from EE to working life, from entering the labour market to becoming an effective operator. In the study we interview 10 graduates from three master’s programmes directly after their graduation and then follow up with an interview 2 years into their careers. It explores how these graduates learn to become legitimate members of their workplace and how they apply their entrepreneurial competencies in this process. This study contributes to the broader debate on the relevance of EE for employability by demonstrating how entrepreneurial competencies foster the transition from EE to working life.
One-Year Changes in Optic Nerve Head Parameters in Recovered COVID-19 Patients

Background: The main purpose was to evaluate the changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and vessel density (VD) in post–COVID-19 patients during 12-month follow-up. Methods: In this prospective study, patients with COVID-19 who were attended in the Hospital Clinico San Carlos (Madrid, Spain) were included. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, optic nerve head optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT angiography (OCTA) using the Cirrus HD-OCT 5,000 with AngioPlex OCTA 1, 3, and 12 months after laboratory-confirmed diagnosis. Sociodemographic data, medical history, disease severity, and laboratory workup were registered. Results: A total of 180 eyes of 90 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were included; the mean age was 55.5 ± 8.9 years, and 46 patients (51%) were females. The mean visual acuity was 0.76 ± 0.16, and no abnormalities attributable to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in the ocular or fundus examination. No differences in the OCT and OCTA data were found between severity groups in each visit (all P > 0.05). Overall, there was a decrease in RNFL global thickness (P < 0.001) from the first to the last visit, and an increase in VD and flux index was noted in some sectors at the 12-month examination. A significant correlation was detected at 12 months between vascularization parameters and RNFL thickness. Conclusions: One year after SARS-CoV-2 infection, changes in peripapillary RNFL thickness and vascularization occur, possibly indicating a recovery in such parameters.
Theoretical study and experimental identification of elastic-magnetic vibration isolation system

A vibration isolation system featuring a combination of elastic and magnetic springs and viscous and magnetic damping is presented. A mechanical flat spring houses a permanent magnet that is levitated between two stationary magnets. A prototype of the isolator is manufactured. COMSOL models are developed for the mechanical and magnetic springs. Measured data and model simulations show that the magnets arrangement results in nonlinear magnetic spring with negative linear stiffness. The mechanical spring exhibits linear behavior with positive stiffness. Experiments are performed and a nonlinear dynamic model is developed. The fabricated isolator is characterized at low and high acceleration levels. Results from model show good agreement with measured data at lower acceleration levels. Slight mismatch between model and experiment is evident at higher accelerations. This mismatch is due to the existence of lateral vibrations that are not accounted for in the unidirectional model. Results show that the combination of mechanical flat spring and magnetic spring reduces the resonant frequency of the isolator. In addition, results confirm the ability of the isolator to attenuate vibrations higher than 11.91 Hz when excited at 2.4525 [m s−2].
Sedimentary evolution of the Pennsylvanian–Permian Mulargia–Escalaplano molassic basin (Sardinia, Italy): the most complete record in the Southern Variscan Realm

Abstract Field investigations into the sedimentary evolution of the Mulargia–Escalaplano late- to post-Variscan basin in Sardinia have been carried out. This basin is the only Variscan molassic basin in the Southern Variscan Realm where relationships between all the Late Pennsylvanian to Middle Triassic sedimentary cycles have been detailed for the first time. Here the interplay between tectonics and sedimentation can also be inferred. The investigations evidence that the sedimentary response recorded in the basin matches the progress and final collapse of the southern Variscan chain branch. The basin preserves continental deposits of decreasing energy organized in cycles, separated by weak unconformities related to abrupt volcano-tectonic climaxes and influenced by progressively drying climates. The sedimentary facies and stratigraphy suggest a progressive widening of the basin and decreasing depositional energy to the southeast as well as the migration of the basin depocentre in the same direction. Stratigraphic, environmental and evolutionary correlations between the presently separated NW and SE parts of the basin are reconstructed by considering the role of tectonics. As a result, a detailed lithostratigraphic framework for the Mulargia–Escalaplano basin is proposed. The findings in the sedimentary evolution match the evolution of similar coeval basins of France and Germany, following a pull-apart to extensional model. Based on comparisons with the other Sardinian and SW Europe coeval basins, relationships between ‘limnic’ and red bed successions in SW Europe during the collapse of the Variscan chain are discussed. The renaming of the European tectonomagmatic ‘Mid-Permian Episode’ to the ‘Lower Permian Episode’ is proposed.
Octave Spanning Supercontinuum in Titanium Dioxide Waveguides

We report on the experimental generation of an octave-spanning supercontinuum in a 2.2 cm-long titanium dioxide optical waveguide with two zero dispersion wavelengths. The resulting on-chip supercontinuum reaches the visible wavelength range as well as the mid-infrared region by using a femtosecond fiber laser pump at 1.64 µm.
Continuous-Scan Phased Array Measurement Methods for Turbofan Engine Acoustic Testing

Imaging of aeroacoustic noise sources is routinely accomplished with geometrically fixed phased arrays of microphones. Several decades of research have gone into improvement and optimization of sensor layouts, selection of basis models, and deconvolution algorithms to produce sharper and more localized images of sound-producing regions in space. This paper explores an extension to conventional phased array measurements that uses slowly, continuously moving microphone arrays with and without coupling to rigid fixed arrays to improve image quality and better describe noise mechanisms on turbofan engine sources such as jet exhausts and turbomachinery components. Three approaches are compared in the paper: fixed receiver beamforming (FRBF), continuous-scan beamforming (CSBF), and multireference CSBF (MRCSBF). The third takes advantage of transfer function matrices formed between fixed and moving sensors to achieve effective virtual arrays with spatial density one to two orders of magnitude higher, with practical sensor budgets and scan speeds. The MRCSBF technique produces array sidelobe rejection that approaches the theoretical array pattern of a continuous two-dimensional (2D) aperture. The implications of this finding are that better source localization may be achieved with conventional delay and sum (DAS) beamforming (BF) with practical sensor budgets, and that an improved starting image of the sound source can be provided to deconvolution algorithms. These findings are demonstrated on analytical and experimental examples from a low-cost rotating phased array using point sound sources, as well as linear scanning array experiments of an impinging jets point source and a near-sonic jet nozzle exhaust.
The proximity and dynamics of intercity technology transfers in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area: Evidence from patent transfer networks

The patent transfer provides an important indication of technology flows and knowledge diffusion across space. Drawing on patent transfer data, we modeled intercity technology transfer networks in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area, a city region special for its “one country, two systems” structure, in the periods 2007–2011 and 2012–2016. We then explored the evolutionary characteristics of the networks and further examined the impact of, and interaction between, different forms of proximities in relation to technology transfer over time. Our results show that some kinds of proximities (institutional, cognitive, and social) are able to promote technology transfers, while others (geographical and cultural) do not exert significant impacts. Of the latter category, geographical proximity can, however, indirectly affect technology transfer by acting on the proximity of other dimensions (institutional, cognitive, and social). For instance, cognitive proximity can compensate for the lack of geographical proximity and social proximity frequently accompanies geographical proximity—and both relationships are reinforced over time. In contrast, the interrelatedness of geographical and institutional proximities have transformed from a relation of substitution to complementarity.
Utilising a Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitor as Part of a Low Glycaemic Index and Load Diet and Determining Its Effect on Improving Dietary Intake, Body Composition and Metabolic Parameters of Overweight and Obese Young Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial

A randomised controlled trial to measure the effects of integrating real-time continuous glucose monitor (rtCGM) into a low glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) dietary intervention on dietary intake, body composition and specific metabolic parameters was carried out. A total of 40 overweight young adults [(means ± SD) age: 26.4 ± 5.3 years, BMI: 29.4 ± 4.7 kg/m2] were randomised into an intervention and control groups for a period of eight weeks. Both groups received nutrition education on low GI and GL foods. The intervention group also received an rtCGM system to monitor their glucose levels 24 h a day. While controlling for physical activities and GI and GL nutrition knowledge, the results indicated that the rtCGM system further improved body weight, BMI, fat mass, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the intervention group (p < 0.05). This trial unveils the robustness of the rtCGM where non-diabetic overweight and obese young adults can benefit from this device and utilise it as a management tool for overweight and obesity and a primary prevention tool for type 2 diabetes, as it provides real-time and personalised information on physiological changes.
Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Can Predict the Efficacy of Volume Expansion Therapy in Patients With Hepatitis B Cirrhosis and AKI

Backgrounds: Kidney biomarkers in urine appear to be useful in differential diagnosis between acute tubular necrosis and other types of acute kidney injury (AKI) in cirrhosis. In clinical practice, prerenal azotemia (PRA) is often distinguished from other types of AKI by volume expansion therapy. The aim of the current study was to investigate the accuracy of urinary biomarkers in the differential diagnosis between PRA and other types of AKI. Methods: A total of 65 patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis were prospectively included and divided into AKI and non-AKI groups. Patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and AKI discontinue diuretics, vasodilators, and nephrotoxic drugs and give volume expansion therapy. The efficacy was judged after 48 h of treatment. Urinary biomarkers were measured at the time of diagnosis of AKI and 48 h after volume expansion therapy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify independent risk factors for nonresponse to volume expansion therapy. Results: Of the 65 patients, 49 patients with newly diagnosed AKI were screened in the study, and 16 hospitalized patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis without AKI at the same period were screened as the control group. In patients with cirrhosis and AKI, 29 (59.18%) patients were in the response group and 20 (40.81%) patients were in the nonresponse group. The mortality rate in the nonresponse group was significantly higher than that in the response group (75% vs. 13.8% p < 0.001). After logistic regression analysis, urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and serum creatinine (SCr) at diagnosis of AKI showed significant association with nonresponse to volume expansion therapy. The cutoff values for SCr and urinary NGAL were 128.50 µmol/L and 90.75 ng/ml, respectively. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) for SCr and urinary NGAL was 0.815 and 0.831. Conclusion: Elevated urinary NGAL can reflect the degree of kidney injury and is an independent risk factor for nonresponse to volume expansion therapy in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and AKI.
A Hierarchical LiDAR Odometry via Maximum Likelihood Estimation With Tightly Associated Distributions

LiDAR odometry has gained popularity due to accurate depth measurement with the robustness to illuminations. However, existing distribution-based methods do not sufficiently exploit the information from source point cloud, which affects the odometry performance. In this paper, a novel distribution-to-distribution matching method is proposed based on maximum likelihood estimation to solve relative transformation, where source and target point sets are tightly jointed to represent the sampling distribution in the objective function. On this basis, a hierarchical 3D LiDAR odometry with the low-level scan-to-map matching and high-level fixed-lag smoothing is designed. With the decoupling strategy, the matching method is extended to a fixed-lag smoothing module and the heavy computation burden is overcome. Our smoothing module is universal, which can be attached to LiDAR odometry framework for performance improvement. The experiments on KITTI dataset, Newer College dataset, and large-scale KITTI-360 dataset verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Morphological pattern of non-diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Abstract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of kidney biopsy performed with an appropriate indication to diagnosis and treatment in diabetic patients with nephropathy. Methods: In this retrospective study 32 type 2 diabetes patients who underwent kidney biopsy in a single center between 2012-2019 were included. Kidney biopsy indications were determined as patients with diabetes without diabetic retinopathy and with proteinuria above 1 g/day. Results: Diabetic (DN) and non-diabetic (NDN) nephropathies were diagnosed with renal biopsy. In 14 (43.7%) of 32 patients, NDN was reported in histopathological evaluation. Membranous nephropathy was detected in 4 of these patients, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in the other 4 patients, light chain disease in 2 patients, IgA nephropathy in 2 of the patients, minimal change nephropathy in another patient, and finally AA amyloid in one patient. NDRD seen superimposed on DN (DN + interstitial nephritis and DN + FSGS) was observed in 2 patients. DN was detected in 16 (50%) of 32 type 2 diabetic patients. Conclusion: Kidney biopsy in patients with type 2 diabetes is an important tool for diagnosing NDN, choosing the right treatment tactics and determining kidney prognosis.
Modelling and evaluation of the hunting behaviour of a high-speed railway vehicle on curved track

Nowadays, rail transport is a very important part of the transportation network for any countries. The demand for high operational speed makes hunting a very common instability problem in railway vehicles. Hunting leads to discomfort and causes physical damage to carriage components, such as wheels, rails, etc. The causes of instability and derailment should be identified and eliminated at the designing stage of a train to ensure its safe operation. In most of the earlier studies on hunting behaviour, a simplified model with a lower degree of freedom were considered, which resulted in incorrect results in some instances. In this study, a complete bond graph model of a railway vehicle with 31 degrees of freedom is presented to determine the response of a high-speed railway vehicle. For this purpose, two wheel–rail contacts grounded on a flange contact and Kalker’s linear creep theory are implemented. The model is simulated to observe the effects of suspension elements on the vehicle’s critical hunting velocity. It is observed that the critical hunting speed is extremely sensitive to the primary longitudinal and lateral springs. Other primary and secondary springs and dampers also affect the critical speed to some extent. However, the critical hunting velocity is insensitive to vertical suspension elements for both the primary and secondary suspensions. Also, the critical speed is found to be inversely related to the conicity of the wheel.
Swarm intelligence based optimal linear fir high pass filter design using Particle Swarm Optimization with Constriction Factor and Inertia Weight Approach

In this paper, an optimal design of linear phase digital high pass finite impulse response (FIR) filter using Particle Swarm Optimization with Constriction Factor and Inertia Weight Approach (PSO-CFIWA) has been presented. In the design process, the filter length, pass band and stop band frequencies, feasible pass band and stop band ripple sizes are specified. FIR filter design is a multi-modal optimization problem. The conventional gradient based optimization techniques are not efficient for digital filter design. Given the filter specifications to be realized, the PSO-CFIWA algorithm generates a set of optimal filter coefficients and tries to meet the ideal frequency response characteristic. In this paper, for the given problem, the designs of the optimal FIR high pass filters of different orders have been performed. The simulation results have been compared to those obtained by the well accepted algorithms such as Parks and McClellan algorithm (PM), genetic algorithm (GA). The results justify that the proposed optimal filter design approach using PSO-CFIWA outperforms PM and GA, not only in the accuracy of the designed filter but also in the convergence speed and solution quality.
Attention for Emotion—How Young Adults With Neurodevelopmental Disorders Look at Facial Expressions of Affect

While Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Schizophrenia (SCZ) differ in many clinically relevant features such as symptomatology and course, they may also share genetic underpinnings, affective problems, deviancies in social interactions, and are all characterized by some kind of cognitive impairment. This situation calls for a joint investigation of the specifics of cognitive (dys-)functions of the three disorders. Such endeavor should focus, among other domains, on the inter-section of processing cognitive, affective and social information that is crucial in effective real-life interactions and can be accomplished when attentional preferences for human facial expressions of emotions is studied. To that end, attention to facial expressions of basic emotions was examined in young adults with ASD, ADHD, or SCZ in the present study. The three clinical groups were compared with an age-matched group of typically-developing participants (TD) during the free contemplation of five different facial emotions presented simultaneously, by varying identities, through the registration of eye movements. We showed, that dwell times and fixation counts differed for the different emotions in TD and in a highly similar way in ADHD. Patients with ASD differed from TD by showing a stronger differentiation between emotions and partially different attentional preferences. In contrast, the SCZ group showed an overall more restricted scanning behavior and a lack of differentiation between emotions. The ADHD group, showed an emotion-specific gazing pattern that was highly similar to that of controls. Thus, by analyzing eye movements, we were able to differentiate three different viewing patterns that allowed us to distinguish between the three clinical groups. This outcome suggests that attention for emotion may not tap into common pathophysiological processes and argues for a multi-dimensional approach to the grouping of disorders with neurodevelopmental etiology.