Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comprehensive review on automated systems for severity grading of diabetic retinopathy and macular edema

Diabetes mellitus is a major medical concern worldwide. Long‐term diabetes can affect the retina of the eye and lead to diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME). Proper screening and consultation with an ophthalmologist are necessary to prevent avoidable vision loss. As DR and DME have become more prevalent, automated screening is essential to provide cost‐effective and rapid solutions with reduced human resources requirements. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the literature on computer‐aided diagnosis of DR and DME. We identified the studies on automated five‐class grading of DR according to International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy severity scale and three class grading of diabetic maculopathy, using fundus images. A systematic search on research repositories was conducted, and relevant studies were scrutinized and included in the review. The studies were reported in nearly 100 different journals. We have reviewed the studies in all aspects including datasets, preprocessing, non‐deep learning, and deep learning‐based algorithms, and evaluation metrics. Significant contributions in developing automated tools for DR/DME grading are highlighted. We have identified and discussed research gaps and challenges. This will help researchers to get an updated summary of work done in the area. Deep learning‐based algorithms have outperformed the traditional algorithms in the domain. Despite their promising performance, these algorithms reveal the potential for significant improvements to become a reliable tool in clinical settings.
Low-cost Air Purifier Prototype using a Ventilating Fan and Pump against COVID-19 and Haze Pollution

Purpose: This study aimed to focus on the design and development of low-cost DIY air purifiers, using a ventilating fan, air pump, water pump, and an ultrasonic generator, with regard to filtration efficacy and also cost-effectiveness that can be used during the COVID-19 pandemic and haze pollution. Methods: Six types of household air purifiers, incorporating a HEPA filter, a HEPA filter & electrostatic fiber, an air pump, an air pump & ultrasonic wave, a water pump, and a water pump & ultrasonic wave, were fabricated. The amount of particulate matter (PM) and CO2 levels were recorded at 0, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min, then, repeated 3 times. After 10 min of the 3rd experiment of each study, the last measurement of air pollution would be recorded. Results: At 60 min, the HEPA filter & electrostatic fiber showed the best performance regarding reduction of PM and CO2 levels. The highest PM reduction rate had occurred at 30 min using an air pump procedure (99.330 to 100%). The CO2 levels of all experiments had fluctuated at different times. After 10 min of a closed machine, HEPA filter & electrostatic fiber revealed the highest rate of PM elevation, while PM levels of all water-based purifier systems were decreased. A water pump and air pump were the cheapest air cleaners, when taking into account maintenance expenses and electricity charges. Conclusion: An air pump is the optimum method for reducing particulate matter at minimum cost but without the benefit of reduced humidity, while the HEPA filter & electrostatic fiber is the best system to decrease PM levels, but this requires an enclosed structure at the inlet to prevent dust coming back into the room. As filtration efficiency is increased by the use of filters & electrostatic fiber mechanisms, the more expensive the system becomes.
Air quality deterioration episode associated with typhoon over the complex topographic environment in central Taiwan

Abstract. Air pollution is typically at its lowest in Taiwan during summer. The mean concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and daytime ozone (08:00–17:00 LST) during summer (June–August) over central Taiwan are 35–40 µg/m3, 18–22 µg/m3, and 30–42 ppb, respectively, between 2004 and 2019. Sampling analysis revealed that the contribution of organic carbon (OC) in PM2.5 could exceed 30 % in urban and inland mountain sites during July in 2017 and 2018. Frequent episodes of air quality deterioration occur over the western plains of Taiwan when an easterly typhoon circulation interacts with the complex topographic structure of the island. We explored an episode of air quality deterioration that was associated with a typhoon between 15 and 17 July 2018, using the Weather Research Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model. The results indicated that the continual formation of low-pressure systems or typhoons in the area between Taiwan and Luzon island in the Philippines provided a strong easterly ambient flow, which lasted for an extended period between 15 and 17 July. The interaction between the easterly flow and Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range (CMR) resulted in stable weather conditions and weak wind speed in western Taiwan during the study period. Numerical modeling also indicated that a lee side vortex easily formation and the wind direction could be changed from southwesterly to northwesterly over central Taiwan because of the interaction between the typhoon circulation and the CMR. The northwesterly wind coupled with a sea breeze was conducive to the transport of air pollutants, from the coastal upstream industrial and urban areas to the inland area. The dynamic process for the wind direction changed given a reasonable explanation why the observed SO42− became the major contributor to PM2.5 during the episode. SO42− contribution proportions (%) to PM2.5 at the coastal, urban, and mountain sites were 9.4 µg/m3 (30.5 %), 12.1 µg/m3 (29.9 %), and 11.6 µg/m3 (29.7 %), respectively. Moreover, the variation of the boundary layer height had a strong effect on the concentration level of both PM2.5 and ozone. The combination of the lee vortex and land-sea breeze, as well as the boundary layer development, were the key mechanisms in air pollutants accumulation and transport. As typhoons frequently occur around Taiwan during summer and fall, and their effect on the island’s air quality merits further research attention.
Influence of the sparsity of random speckle illumination on ghost imaging in a noise environment

The influence of the sparsity of random speckle illumination on traditional ghost imaging (GI) and GI via sparsity constraint (GISC) in a noise environment is investigated. The experiments demonstrate that both GI and GISC obtain their best imaging quality when the sparsity of random speckle illumination is 0.5, which is also explained by some parameters such as detection of the signal to noise ratio and mutual coherence of the measurement matrix.
Probe‐fed dipole antenna with parasitic patches for wideband and wide‐scanning planar phased arrays

National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: U1966201 and 61571084; Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities of the Central South University, Grant/ Award Number: A03019023801224; Science and Technology Planning Project in Sichuan Province, Grant/Award Number: 2014RZ0025 Abstract A probe‐fed dipole antenna with parasitic patches is proposed in this study as the element for wideband and wide‐scanning planar‐phased arrays. Parasitic patches are used to realize wideband performance by significantly reducing the active input impendence. The printed dipole antenna with parasitic patches is directly matched with the subminiature version A (SMA) connector through the modified probe structure. The cell size is 0.5 � 0.5 � 0.145 λhigh. The planar and low‐profile characteristics make it suitable for modular phased array applications. It is shown that the infinite array simulation results achieve 45.2% bandwidth (7.86–12.45 GHz) with active voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) < 2 at broadside, 60° scans in E‐, D‐planes and 50° scan inH‐plane. An 8� 8 prototype array has been manufactured and measured to validate the proposed design and the active element patterns agree well with simulation results.
Degradation assessment of in‐service aerial bundled cables in coastal areas leading to prognosis using infrared thermography

Of late, cross-linked polyethylene insulated aerial bundled cables have replaced conventional copper conductors being resistant to electricity pilferage, offer lower maintenance costs and reduced power losses. However, in coastal areas, aerial bundled cables experience frequent insulation breakdown causing sudden cable failures leading to unexpected power shutdowns. Condition monitoring, employing sophisticated diagnostic techniques, has thus become a major requirement of the energy sector. The reported research work utilizes infrared thermography as one such candidate NDT technique. A novel framework is proposed to investigate the progressive shift in the statistical parameters of the temperature distribution in aerial bundled cables’ insulation, as it degrades over time. The cumulative distribution function of pixel intensity data from a healthy/ operational aerial bundled cable is ﬁrst compared with a reported failed aerial bundled cable. A prominent difference in 0.9 cumulative distribution function values is observed in the temperature distributions. Therefore, 0.9 cumulative distribution function values are used for degradation quantiﬁcation with respect to ageing. Degradation rates are then computed using periodically acquired thermographic data from operational aerial bundled cables, installed at two different locations in a coastal region, each subjected to different marine climate. The proposed technique proved effective in degradation rate assessment
Accelerated Scale up of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision within the Military Health Services in Uganda: The Race towards 2020 HIV Epidemic Control

Background: Scaling up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) is a critical intervention in achieving HIV epidemic control by 2020. However, documentation of programmatic interventions to improve VMMC uptake among military populations, a population that is at high risk of HIV, is lacking. URC-Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) implemented a novel approach to accelerate VMMC uptake in the Ugandan military. We describe trends in VMMC uptake and associated operational costs following the intervention. We also contrast between military and civilian facilities. Program Description: We implemented monthly mobile VMMC services throughout the country targeting soldiers, their families and surrounding communities. Records gathered during implementation were used to describe the intervention. Quantitative methods were applied to compare VMMC post intervention rates with set targets and monthly VMMC trends country-wide between military and civilian facilities over a five months period. An operational VMMC service cost analysis was applied to determine per male circumcision unit cost, excluding cost of consumables. Lessons Learnt: Command-driven mobilization, multiple stakeholder engagement, use of mobile VMMC teams and data-driven planning increased demand for and uptake of VMMC services among the military. By the first month of intervention, VMMC performance had surpassed set monthly targets of 1,474 by 1457 circumcisions, accounting for a 99% increase (n=2,931 circumcisions) from 31% to 62% uptake. Overall VMMC performance achieved within the military was 132% in excess of set targets (n=7,408) at six months. The scaled-up operational VMMC cost per circumcision performed dropped from $15 to $7, a 47% unit cost saving within six months. While a positive trend in VMMC uptake was observed in the military facilities, the opposite was exhibited in civilian facilities over the observation period. Conclusion: It is feasible to rapidly scale up circumcision coverage in populations served by military health facilities through mobile short term episodic VMMC services which optimize volume and efficiency. Invoking command-led mobilization and multiple stakeholder involvement is critical in demand creation and overcoming the mobile nature of the military.
Light field editing in the gradient domain

This paper presents a new method for light ﬁeld applications such as content replacement and fusion in the gradient domain. This approach is inspired by successful gradient domain based image and video editing techniques. A necessary and important part of gradient-based solutions is recovering the signal of interest from artiﬁcially generated, and typically non-integrable, gradient data. As such, a new algorithm is developed to reconstruct a light ﬁeld from a given gradient data set. In the algorithm, ﬁrst, the 4D Haar wavelet decomposition of the light ﬁeld is obtained from the given gradient data. Then, the light ﬁeld is obtained from a wavelet synthesis step. This algorithm is intended as a building block for gradient-based light ﬁeld editing methods, and as such, its performance is analysed on a set of benchmark light ﬁeld data sets. The proposed reconstruction algorithm is an essential part in developing solutions for two light ﬁeld problems: light ﬁeld editing and light ﬁeld fusion. Results show that processing light ﬁelds in the gradient domain offers signiﬁcant advantages over processing in the intensity domain.
Effectiveness of Health Education Intervention on Water Sanitation and Hygiene Practice among Adolescent Girls in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State, Nigeria: A Cluster Randomised Control Trial

Poor water sanitation and hygiene practice can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of health education intervention using information, motivation and a behavioural skill model on water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practice among adolescent girls in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State, Nigeria. A school-based cluster randomized control trial was conducted among 417 adolescent girls (10 to 19 years old) in four schools. The KoBo collect toolbox was used for data collection from October 2019 to March 2020. The chi-squared test was used to compare the baseline differences between intervention and control groups for WASH practice. A generalized estimating equation was used to assess changes from baseline, post intervention and follow up. There was significant interaction for WASH practice during follow up. Religion, place of residence, monthly income and occupation of mother had a statistically significant effect on WASH practice among adolescent girls. Findings revealed that this health education intervention was effective in improving water sanitation and hygiene practice among adolescent girls. Furthermore, religion, place of residence, monthly income and occupation of mother were found to be associated with water sanitation and hygiene practice.
Global dissipativity of fuzzy bidirectional associative memory neural networks with proportional delays

This article aimed to investigate the problem of global dissipativity of Fuzzy Bidirectional Associative Memory Neural Networks (FBAMNNs- for short) with proportional delays. Via Lyapunov Functionals (LFs- for short) and Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI- for short) approach, we obtained new sufficient conditions to guarantee the global dissipativity and global exponential dissipativity of the proposed model. In addition, two different types of activation functions are considered, including general bounded and Lipschitz-type activation functions. Moreover, the globally attractive and globally exponentially attractive sets are presented. Lastly, two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed results.
Being a Leader and Doing Leadership: The Cross-domain Impact of Family and Friends on Leader Identity and Leader Behaviors at Work

This research presents a cross-domain exploration of leader identity. Drawing from theory about multidomain leader development and leader identity social processes, we examine how endorsement as a leader by those internal and external to work can impact an individual's own self-internalized sense of identity as a leader at work. Specifically, we examine how the collective endorsement of one's leader identity by family and friends in addition to work colleagues (managers, peers, and direct reports) influences the individual’s own self-internalized sense of identity as a leader at work. We also examine the relationship of the individual’s self-internalized sense of identity as a leader at work to enacted transformational leadership and contingent reward behaviors as rated by colleagues in the work domain. Data from a multisource and multidomain 360° evaluation of 256 leaders by 3,255 raters in the United States and Ireland provide support for the hypothesized relationships. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Understanding the Importance of International Quality Standards Regarding Global Trade in Food and Agricultural Products: Analysis of the German Media

Rapid globalization of the agrifood industry has important impacts on international trade and quality management (QM). Likewise, the European Union has negotiated a series of bilateral free trade agreements. Of note was the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States of America, where the debate focused on the mutual recognition and harmonization of quality standards, especially for agricultural and food products. This topic offered the mainstream media excellent substances for coverage. This paper explores German print media, television, and radio on the importance of international quality standards in the agrifood sectors in light of the TTIP. A quantitative and qualitative empirical content analysis was performed to investigate media reporting regarding (a) it is scientific character, (b) the use of the term “quality standards” of the agrifood industry, and (c) the reporting on the agrifood industry and QM linked with TTIP, focused on harmonization. The results showed that interrelations between QM and global trade were not presented to recipients in-depth. A trend toward information asymmetries in recipient’s knowledge is indicated. The study addresses recommendations for future collaborations between media, policy-makers, and further cooperation in the mutual recognition and harmonization of quality standards and control procedures within global trade.
A first-principles and machine learning combined method to investigate the interfacial friction between corrugated graphene

Simulating the frictional properties of complex interfaces is computational resource consuming. In this paper, we propose a density functional theory (DFT) calculation combined machine learning (ML) strategy to investigate the sliding potential energy corrugation between geometrical corrugated graphene (Gr) sheets. By the aid of few DFT calculations and geometrical descriptors Σr −n (n = 1, 2, 6, 12), the trained ML models can accurately predict the sliding potential evolutions of Gr/Pt and Gr/Re systems. To be specific, based on DFT calculations of sliding along [110] direction, the trained linear regression (LIN) models can properly give out the potential energy evolution along the [100] direction with deviation less than 5%. By the dataset of given distances (9.3 Å, 9.65 Å and 10 Å) between two Re monolayers in Gr/Re systems, LIN and Bayesian ridge regression (BR) models can quantitatively predict the potential energy evolution of unknown distances (9.2 Å, 9.4 Å, 9.5 Å and 9.6 Å). The predicted magnitudes of potential energy corrugations by BR model divert less than 3 meV Å−2 from DFT calculations. The prediction results for extrapolated distances (9.0 Å and 9.1 Å) deviate notably, but the extension of training dataset effectively improves the predictive ability of ML models, especially for the LIN model. Thus, the supposed strategy could become an effective method to investigate the frictional characteristics of complex interfaces.
Spectrophotometric determination of aciclovir, ceftazidime pentahydrate, famotidine and isoxsuprine hydrochloride by ternary complex formation with eosin and Cu(II)

A simple, rapid and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been described for the determination of aciclovir, ceftazidime pentahydrate, famotidine and isoxsuprine hydrochloride based on ternary complex formation with eosin and Cu(II). The method does not involve solvent extraction. The colour of the produced complex is measured at 545-548 nm. Appropriate conditions were established for the colour reaction and for the drug:Cu(II): eosin ratio to obtain maximum sensitivity. Under the proposed conditions this method is applicable over concentration range of 1-35 μg mL - 1 with molar absorpitivities ranging from 7.283 x 10 3 - 1.182 x 10 5 L.mol - 1 . cm - 1 and Sandell sensitivities ranging from 2.847 × 10 - 3 - 9.9016 × 10 - 3 μg cm - 2 . The results obtained demonstrated that the proposed method is equally accurate, precise and reproducible as the official or reported methods, and thus it is recommended for quality control and routine analysis where time, cost effectiveness and high specificity of analytical techniques are of great importance.
THBS4/integrin α2 axis mediates BM-MSCs to promote angiogenesis in gastric cancer associated with chronic Helicobacter pylori infection

Background: BM-MSCs contribute to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-induced gastric cancer, but their mechanism is still unclear. The aim of our study was to investigate the specific role and mechanism of BM-MSCs in H. pylori-induced gastric cancer. Main methods: Mice received total bone marrow transplants and were then infected with H. pylori. BM-MSCs were extracted and transplanted into the gastric serosal layer of mice chronically infected with H. pylori. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry staining and immunofluorescence were performed to detect tumor growth and angiogenesis in mouse stomach tissues. Chicken chorioallantoic membrane assays, xenograft tumor models, and human umbilical vein endothelial cell tube formation assays were used for in vivo and in vitro angiogenesis studies. THBS4 was screened from RNA-seq analysis of gastric tissues of BM-MSCs transplanted into H. pylori-infected mice. Results: BM-MSCs can migrate to the site of chronic mucosal injury and promote tumor angiogenesis associated with chronic H. pylori infection. Migration of BM-MSCs to the site of chronic mucosal injury induced the upregulation of THBS4, which was also evident in human gastric cancer and correlated with increased blood vessel formation and worse outcome. The THBS4/integrin α2 axis promoted angiogenesis by facilitating the PI3K/AKT pathway in endothelial cells. Conclusions: Our results revealed a novel proangiogenic effect of BM-MSCs in the chronic H. pylori infection microenvironment, primarily mediated by the THBS4/integrin α2 axis, which activates the PI3K/AKT pathway in endothelial cells and eventually induces the formation of new tumor vessels.