Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved structuring element for handwriting and hand printed characters skeleton

This paper advocates the use of an optimized homotropic transformation structural element. Its use improves the sequential thinning procedure producing less coarse skeleton lines with a reduced number of thinning cycles. The employment of adaptive binarization is also discussed when the documents' images are not best quality. Experimental results are shown for both handwrite and hand printed documents' processing.
Research on an Automatic Sorting System Based on Machine Vision

The sorting and handling of materials is an essential part of the automated production line. However, the traditional sorting method cannot meet the current development needs due to low efficiency. This paper proposes an automatic sorting system by pneumatic robots with machine vision technology. The system is composed of machine vision unit, automatic conveying unit, pneumatic robot unit and controller unit. The machine vision software Halcon is selected to recognize the image accurately, and a sorting execution device is designed which is combined with pneumatic manipulator and pushing mechanism. Programmable controller (PLC) is selected as the controller, and the hardware and software of the control system are designed. Finally, the system is simulated and the results show that the system can quickly realize the sorting of materials of different shapes and colours, and improve the efficiency and accuracy of sorting.
Comparing and contrasting manual direct touch interaction with tangible user interfaces for mapping applications

Multi-touch interfaces are growing in popularity for many forms of computing devices, including mobile devices, as well as personal and shared workstations. There has been limited exploration into the use of tangible user interfaces in conjunction with multi-touch displays for extracting data from geocoded data. Specifically, it is not known if tangible user interfaces are faster, easier or more intuitive to use than existing touch based controls. We hypothesize that tangible user interfaces will be faster, more satisfying and more desirable than touch based controls for extracting data from geocoded data. We set out to explore one tangible user interface and two touch based interfaces as inputs to a new mapping application.
Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for Coordinated Energy Trading and Flexibility Services Provision in Local Electricity Markets

Local electricity markets (LEM) have recently attracted great interest as an effective solution to the challenging problem of distributed energy resources’ (DER) management. However, LEM designs combining the market functions of local energy trading and flexibility services (FS) provision to wider system operators have not attracted sufficient attention. In the context of addressing this research gap, this paper firstly provides a new model-based system-centric formulation for the coordination of such a LEM, which provides a theoretical optimality benchmark. Compared to previous formulations, it considers the time-coupling operating characteristics of flexible DERs, and optimizes the two market functions simultaneously. Furthermore, this paper explores for the very first time a model-free prosumer-centric coordination approach for such a LEM, in order to address the practical limitations of model-based system-centric approaches. This is achieved through a new multi-agent deep reinforcement learning method which combines the beneficial properties of the multi-actor-attention-critic and the prioritized experience replay approaches. Case studies on a real-world, large-scale setting validate that the proposed LEM design successfully encapsulates the economic benefits of both local energy trading and FS provision functions, and demonstrate that the proposed learning method outperforms previous methods.
The Effect of Muscle Endurance Training on Blood Pressure, Resting Heart Rate and Endothelin-1 Levels in Inactive Men

Background and Aim: Sports activities play a protective and preventive role against heart diseases by reducing their risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of resistance training by muscle endurance method on blood pressure, heart rate, and plasma endothelin-1 levels of inactive healthy men. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 30 middle-aged men (Mean±SD age: 47.03±2.12 years, Mean±SD height: 172.90±3 cm, Mean±SD weight: 80.70±3.1 kg, Mean±SD Body Mass Index: 27.47±3.66 kg/m², and Mean±SD waist to hip ratio: 0.98 0±1.27) were purposefully selected and then randomly divided into the control and experimental groups (each 15 members). The experimental group performed 8 weeks of resistance training, three sessions per week with an intensity of 40% to 70% of 1 repetition maximum. Plasma endothelin-1, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate were measured before and after 8 weeks of exercise. The dependent t-test was used to examine intra-group changes, and the independent t-test was used for inter-group differences. The significance level was considered less than 0.05. Results: Eight weeks of muscular endurance resistance training significantly reduced endothelin-1 plasma levels of inactive middle-aged men (P=0.002). Also, 8 weeks of resistance training significantly reduced their systolic blood pressure (P=0.001) and resting heart rate (P=0.01), but the decrease in diastolic blood pressure was not significant (P=0.0411). Conclusion: Based on the present study results, muscular endurance resistance training as a preventive factor can decrease the risk of hypertension and heart disease in healthy middle-aged men by reducing plasma endothelin-1 levels, systolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate.
Empowerment discrepancies: are employees empowered as they prefer in hotels in selected areas of Thailand?

ABSTRACT Empowerment has been extensively studied in the nursing field, and, in recent years, management has shown increasing attention. However, critics have raised an important issue about whether the effectiveness of empowerment practices in organizations depends on employees’ perceptions and their organizational contexts. In this article, we address this critique by: 1) assessing the discrepancies between perceived experiences and expectations of contextual empowerment, 2) examining the effect of the discrepancies between perceived experiences and expectations of contextual empowerment on psychological empowerment, in four-star hotels in Thailand. The contextual empowerment instrument, along with the psychological empowerment measurement, were tested for their psychometric properties and confirmed using factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was then performed to test the hypothesized model. The findings contribute to human resource development as we believe that this study responds to the recent call for addressing discrepancies between perceived experiences and expectations of contextual empowerment with an enlarging understanding of how these discrepancies affect psychological empowerment.
Experimental investigation into machinability of hardened AISI D6 steel using newly developed AlTiSiN coated carbide tools under sustainable finish dry hard turning

In the present study, a newly developed AlTiSiN coating material deposited on carbide insert by scalable pulsed power plasma (SPPP) technique is used for machinability investigation of hardened AISI D6 die steel (65HRC) in finish dry turning. Also, the cutting tool is characterized by various diagnostic tests to evaluate the effectiveness of nanocomposite AlTISiN coating material and its cutting performance. A series of machining trials have been performed under varied cutting conditions (feed, depth of cut, speed) to investigate the machinability concerning surface roughness, flank wear, and chip morphology. Further, an approach towards multi-response optimization and predictive modelling for minimization of flank wear and surface roughness have been performed using response surface methodology. Finally, a unique approach has been proposed for economic analysis and sustainability assessment in hard turning. Result shows that the nanostructured AlTiSiN coating developed lower range of tool wear (VB = 0.044–0.076 mm), produced surface finish (Ra) within 0.322–0.905 µm which is approaching the surface quality to that of cylindrical grinding because of minimum friction coefficient, good bonding capability and enhancement in hardness as well as wear resistance of coating material. Statistical analysis reveals that Ra and VB are influenced principally by feed (84.14%) and cutting speed (53.43%), respectively. With the tool life of 34 min, Gilbert's machining economic model calculated the overall machining cost per part of Rs.61. 04 in hard turning using coated carbide insert. Chip morphology confirmed the formation of serrated type saw tooth chips. It is established that machining under dry condition provides environment friendliness, techno-economically feasible to improve sustainability.
Gear Fault Diagnosis Method Using Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition Energy Distribution and Grey Similar Incidence

Focusing on some correspondence between energy distribution of different frequency bands and fault types when gear fault occurs, a new comprehensive fault diagnosis method is proposed based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition and grey similar incidence. The idea of circle statistics is introduced to improve the shortcoming of traditional morphological filter; and the rank-order morphological filter is defined. The line structure element is selected for rank-order morphological filter to denoise the original acceleration vibration signal. Denoised vibration signals are decomposed into a finite number of stationary intrinsic mode functions and some containing the most dominant fault information are calculated the energy distribution. Due to the grey similar incidence has good classify capacity for small sample pattern identification; these energy distributions could serve as the feature vectors, the grey incidence of different gear vibration signals is calculated to identify the fault pattern and condition. Practical results show that the proposed method can be used in gear fault diagnosis effectively.
Magnetic Characterization of Co and Zn Nano Ferrites: Property Consideration for Oil-Spill Clean Up

Nano-magnetic particles are significantly finding applications in environmental remediation. This work studied the magnetic properties of Co and Zn nano-ferrites, CoFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 respectively, with considerations for the properties that are desirable for oil spill cleanup. The ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by the glycol-thermal method at 200 ºC for 6 hours using a stirred pressure reactor. Single phase spinel crystal structures were obtained for both samples as determined by an X-ray diffraction (XRD) machine. The high-resolution transmission electron microscope and surface electron microscope images showed nano structures. The magnetic properties and magnetic hyperfine parameters were determined using a lakeshore vibrating sample magnetometer and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. The XRD peaks were consistent with that of a single phase spinel structure. No impurity phase was detected. The nano-ferrites have crystallite sizes of about 10 nm and 17 nm for CoFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4. The nano almost-spherical nature of the samples was also confirmed from their morphology studies. The saturation magnetization of CoFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 were about 50 emu/g and 30 emu/g respectively. They both exhibited superparamagnetic properties with a component of para-magnetism observed in ZnFe2O4 nano-ferrites. CoFe2O4 nano-ferrites exhibited better desired property for oil spill cleanup. The ZnFe2O4 nano-ferrites showed tendencies of slow response to magnetic field, however, it is more environmentally friendly. The magnetic hyperfine parameters and the isomer shift values for CoFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 showed strong internal magnetic fields and the obtained values are consistent with spinel structure. The oxidation state of Fe was observed to be Fe3+. Due to the low coercivity and high magnetization values, these particles could be considered as potential candidates for oil spill cleanup. These desirable magnetic properties will improve the recyclability of the nanoparticles using low applied magnetic fields.
Effects of the Dental Caries Preventive Procedure on the White Spot Lesions during Orthodontic Treatment—An Open Label Randomized Controlled Trial

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to assess the preventive effect of tooth surface disinfection treatment, in addition to fluoride application, during fixed orthodontic treatment. (2) Methods: An open label randomized control trial for the evaluation of the dental caries preventive procedure was performed for the patients with high caries risk who had been visited at Department of Orthodontics, Tsurumi University Dental Hospital for orthodontics treatment. The follow-up period was six months. White spot lesions (WSLs) were evaluated by quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF). Cariogenic bacteria were monitored and evaluated by bacterial culture. In addition, the oral microbiome was evaluated by a next-generation sequence (NGS). (3) Results: By the mixed effect modeling, tooth surface disinfection treatment significantly reduced cariogenic bacteria and all parameters obtained by QLF. (4) Conclusions: Tooth surface disinfection treatment, in addition to PMTC and fluoride application, were effective for dental caries prevention and keeping a healthy microbiome during orthodontic treatment.
Machining-path mapping from free-state to clamped-state for thin-walled parts

Thin-walled parts with curved surface are widely used in industrial applications and the high-quality machining is still a major problem because of the low stiffness. By using the machining-path obtained from the design model of thin-walled parts with curved surface, the machining accuracy requirement may easily not be met due to the springback of clamping deformation when the machining process is finished. It is a novel idea that when the machining-path mapping from free-state to clamped-state is realized based on the clamping deformation, the final machining-path of thin-walled parts can be re-designed to directly ensure the machining accuracy requirement after the fixture is released. Based on the concomitant thought of curved surface and the elastic deformation theory of thin shell in this study, the mathematical model for the machining-path mapping from free-state to clamped-state is established for the thin-walled parts with curved surface. Then, the corresponding relationship of cutter contact (CC) points is calculated by grid mapping. Finally, the machining-path for the thin-walled parts with curved surface is re-designed under the clamped-state. Taking a thin-walled cylinder workpiece as an example, the experiment results show that the proposed method can achieve the avoiding purpose for the machining error caused by clamping deformation. These research achievements are of vital importance for realizing high-quality machining of the thin-walled parts with curved surface.
A Pro-Inflammatory Signature Constitutively Activated in Monogenic Autoinflammatory Diseases

Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) are disorders characterised by recurrent inflammatory episodes in charge of different organs with no apparent involvement of autoantibodies or antigen-specific T lymphocytes. Few common clinical features have been identified among all monogenic AIDs (mAIDs), while the search for a common molecular pattern is still ongoing. The aim of this study was to increase knowledge on the inflammatory pathways in the development of mAIDs in order to identify possible predictive or diagnostic biomarkers for each disease and to develop future preventive and therapeutic strategies. Using protein array-based systems, we evaluated two signalling pathways known to be involved in inflammation and a wide range of inflammatory mediators (pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines) in a cohort of 23 patients affected by different mAIDs, as FMF, TRAPS, MKD, Blau syndrome (BS), and NLRP12D. Overall, we observed upregulation of multiple signalling pathway intermediates at protein levels in mAIDs patients’ PBMCs, compared with healthy controls, with significant differences also between patients. FMF, TRAPS, and BS presented also peculiar activations of inflammatory pathways that can distinguish them. MAPK pathway activation, however, seems to be a common feature. The serum level of cytokines and chemokines produced clear differences between patients with distinct diseases, which can help distinguish each autoinflammatory disease. The FMF cytokine production profile appears broader than that of TRAPS, which, in turn, has higher cytokine levels than BS. Our findings suggest an ongoing subclinical inflammation related to the abnormal and constitutive signalling pathways and define an elevated inflammatory cytokine signature. Moreover, the upregulation of Th17-related cytokines emphasises the important role for Th17 and/or Th17-like cells also in monogenic AIDs.
The Localisation Outsourcing Decision: How to

◆ Efficiency, improvement of operational performance, including cost (McFarlan and Nolan, 1995; Embleton and Wright, 1998; Hiemstra and van Tilburg, 1993; Akomode et al., 1998; Downey, 1995; Lonsdale and Cox, 2000; Blumberg, 1998; Lankford and Parsa, 1999), speed (Brown, 1997; Lonsdale and Cox, 2000; McFarlan and Nolan, 1995; Embleton and Wright, 1998), quality (McFarlan and Nolan, 1995; Embleton and Wright, 1998; Akomode et al., 1998), dependability (Embleton and Wright, 1998), and flexibility (Embleton and Wright, 1998; McFarlan and Nolan, 1995; Brown, 1997; Hiemstra and van Tilburg, 1993; Fill and Visser, 2000; Downey, 1995)
A model of flight safety situation evaluation based on fuzzy matter-element

In order to grasp the overall flight safety situation and trends accurately, and further improve the ability of risk prediction, this paper put forward a model for flight safety situation evaluation based on fuzzy matter-element by considering the vagueness of flight safety situation and incompatibility of evaluation index. Firstly, based on the "Human -MachineEnvironment" theory, a indicator system of flight safety situation evaluation was established, and the weight of evaluation index was determined by using analytic hierarchy process(AHP) and entropy-weight; Secondly, combining the fuzzy set theory with Euclid approach degree, the model for flight safety situation evaluation was built, and the steps of evaluation was also cleared; Finally, a flight training group was taken a example, and its flight safety situation was analyzed quantitatively based on the data from January to August in 2020. The results show that the model is effective and feasible to portray the safety trends, the quantitative results are objective and effective, can provide a new way for flight safety management.
Looking at Developmental Neurotoxicity Testing from the Perspective of an Invertebrate Embryo

Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) of chemical compounds disrupts the formation of a normal brain. There is impressive progress in the development of alternative testing methods for DNT potential in chemicals, some of which also incorporate invertebrate animals. This review briefly touches upon studies on the genetically tractable model organisms of Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster about the action of specific developmental neurotoxicants. The formation of a functional nervous system requires precisely timed axonal pathfinding to the correct cellular targets. To address this complex key event, our lab developed an alternative assay using a serum-free culture of intact locust embryos. The first neural pathways in the leg of embryonic locusts are established by a pair of afferent pioneer neurons which use guidance cues from membrane-bound and diffusible semaphorin proteins. In a systematic approach according to recommendations for alternative testing, the embryo assay quantifies defects in pioneer navigation after exposure to a panel of recognized test compounds for DNT. The outcome indicates a high predictability for test-compound classification. Since the pyramidal neurons of the mammalian cortex also use a semaphorin gradient for neurite guidance, the assay is based on evolutionary conserved cellular mechanisms, supporting its relevance for cortical development.
Exploring healthcare professionals’ perceptions of artificial intelligence: Piloting the Shinners Artificial Intelligence Perception tool

Objective There is an urgent need to prepare the healthcare workforce for the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) into the healthcare setting. Insights into workforce perception of AI could identify potential challenges that an organisation may face when implementing this new technology. The aim of this study was to psychometrically evaluate and pilot the Shinners Artificial Intelligence Perception (SHAIP) questionnaire that is designed to explore healthcare professionals’ perceptions of AI. Instrument validation was achieved through a cross-sectional study of healthcare professionals (n = 252) from a regional health district in Australia. Methods and Results Exploratory factor analysis was conducted and analysis yielded a two-factor solution consisting of 10 items and explained 51.7% of the total variance. Factor one represented perceptions of ‘Professional impact of AI’ (α = .832) and Factor two represented ‘Preparedness for AI’ (α = .632). An analysis of variance indicated that ‘use of AI’ had a significant effect on healthcare professionals’ perceptions of both factors. ‘Discipline’ had a significant effect on Allied Health professionals’ perception of Factor one and low mean scale score across all disciplines suggests that all disciplines perceive that they are not prepared for AI. Conclusions The results of this study provide preliminary support for the SHAIP tool and a two-factor solution that measures healthcare professionals’ perceptions of AI. Further testing is needed to establish the reliability or re-modelling of Factor 2 and the overall performance of the SHAIP tool as a global instrument.
Wavelet Analysis of Humans with Osteoarthritis

In this research proposal we want to develop from kinematic data, measures using thewavelets theory to characterize normal and osteoarthritis knee locomotion. The kinematic data of theradio-carpal flexion-extension angles were analyzed using the wavelet transform. The experimentaldata was acquired with a complex goniometer system. The detail energy for the level 5 is an importantfactor to characterize the osteoarthritis patients and normal subjects.
Slope Micrometeorological Analysis and Prediction Based on an ARIMA Model and Data-Fitting System

The rapid development of highway engineering has made slope stability an important issue in infrastructure construction. To meet the needs of green vegetation growth, ecological recovery, landscape beautification and the economy, long-term monitoring research on high-slope micrometeorology has important practical significance. Because of that, we designed and created a new slope micrometeorological monitoring and predicting system (SMMPS). We innovatively upgraded the cloud platform system, by adding an ARIMA prediction system and data-fitting system. From regularly sensor-monitored slope micrometeorological factors (soil temperature and humidity, slope temperature and humidity, and slope rainfall), a data-fitting system was used to fit atmospheric data with slope micrometeorological data, the trend of which ARIMA predicted. The slope was protected in time to prevent severe weather damage to the slope vegetation on a large scale. The SMMPS, which upgrades its cloud platform, significantly reduces the cost of long-term monitoring, protects slope stability, and improves the safety of rail and road projects.