Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Respiratory Motion and Airflow Estimation During Sleep Using Tracheal Movement and Sound

Purpose Due to lack of access and high cost of polysomnography, portable sleep apnea testing has been developed to diagnose sleep apnea. Despite being less expensive, and having fewer sensors and reasonable accuracy in identifying sleep apnea, such devices can be less accurate than polysomnography in detecting apneas/hypopneas. To increase the accuracy of apnea/hypopnea detection, an accurate airflow estimation is required. However, current airflow measurement techniques employed in portable devices are inconvenient and subject to displacement during sleep. In this study, algorithms were developed to estimate respiratory motion and airflow using tracheo-sternal motion and tracheal sounds. Patients and Methods Adults referred for polysomnography were included. Simultaneous to polysomnography, a patch device with an embedded 3-dimensional accelerometer and microphone was affixed to the suprasternal notch to record tracheo-sternal motion and tracheal sounds, respectively. Tracheo-sternal motion was used to train two mathematical models for estimating changes in respiratory motion and airflow compared to simultaneously measured thoracoabdominal motion and nasal pressure from polysomnography. The amplitude of the estimated airflow was then adjusted by the tracheal sound envelope in segments with unstable breathing. Results Two hundred and fifty-two subjects participated in this study. Overall, the algorithms provided highly accurate estimates of changes in respiratory motion and airflow with mean square errors (MSE) of 3.58 ± 0.82% and 2.82 ± 0.71%, respectively, compared to polysomnographic signals. The estimated motion and airflow from the patch signals detected apneas and hypopneas scored on polysomnography in 63.9% and 88.3% of cases, respectively. Conclusion This study presents algorithms to accurately estimate changes in respiratory motion and airflow, which provides the ability to detect respiratory events during sleep. Our study suggests that such a simple and convenient method could be used for portable monitoring to detect sleep apnea. Further studies will be required to test this possibility.
Electrical Resistivity Measurement of Carbon Anodes Using the Van der Pauw Method

The electrical resistivity of carbon anodes is an important parameter in the overall efficiency of the aluminum smelting process. The aim of this work is to explore the Van der Pauw (VdP) method as an alternative technique to the standard method, which is commonly used in the aluminum industry, in order to characterize the electrical resistivity of carbon anodes and to assess the accuracy of the method. For this purpose, a cylindrical core is extracted from the top of the anodes. The electrical resistivity of the core samples is measured according to the ISO 11713 standard method. This method consists of applying a 1 A current along the revolution axis of the sample, and then measuring the voltage drop on its side, along the same direction. Theoretically, this technique appears to be satisfying, but cracks in the sample that are generated either during the anode production or while coring the sample may induce high variations in the measured signal. The VdP method, as presented in 1958 by L.J. Van der Pauw, enables the electrical resistivity of any plain sample with an arbitrary shape and low thickness to be measured, even in the presence of cracks. In this work, measurements were performed using both the standard method and the Van der Pauw method, on both flawless and cracked samples. Results provided by the VdP method appeared to be more reliable and repeatable. Furthermore, numerical simulations using the finite element method (FEM) were performed in order to assess the effect of the presence of cracks and their thicknesses on the accuracy of the VdP method.
Extensive exploration of comprehensive vehicle attributes using D-CNN with weighted multi-attribute strategy

As a classical machine learning method, multi-task learning (MTL) has been widely applied in computer vision technology. Due to deep convolutional neural network (D-CNN) having strong ability of feature representation, the combination of MTL and D-CNN has attracted much attention from researchers recently. However, this kind of combination has rarely been explored in the field of vehicle analysis. The authors propose a D-CNN enhanced with weighted multi-attribute strategy for extensive exploration of comprehensive vehicle attributes over surveillance images. Specifically, regarding to recognising vehicle model and make/manufacturer, several related attributes as auxiliary tasks are incorporated in the training process of D-CNN structure. The proposed strategy focuses more on the main task compared with traditional MTL methods, which has assigned different weights for the main task and auxiliary tasks rather than treating all involved tasks equally. To the extent of their knowledge, this is the first report relating to the combination of D-CNN and weighted MTL for exploration of comprehensive vehicle attributes. The following experiments will show that the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art method for the vehicle recognition and improves the accuracy rate by about 10% for the analysis of other vehicle attributes on the recently public CompCars dataset.
The Relationship Between Resilience Degree and Perceived Parental Relationship, Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Personality Traits in the Emerging Adulthood

This study examines the relationships between resilience level and perceived parental relationship, cognitive emotion regulation, and personality traits in emerging adulthood. The sample of the research consists of undergraduate students whose age range is 18-25. The study was conducted with 609 people, 317 (52%) female and 292 (48%) male students. Resilience Scale (RS), The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), Big Five Inventory (BFI) and Demographic Information Form were applied to the participants. One-way ANOVA analysis, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient Analysis and Hierarchical Linear Regression analysis were used to analyse the data. In the study, resilience mean scores of female students were found to be higher than male students. A positive relationship was found between the resilience scores of university students and their perceived parental relationship scores. A significant negative relationship was found with self-blame, which is the sub-dimension of cognitive emotion regulation. A positive and significant relationship was found with the other sub-dimensions of cognitive emotion regulation, respectively; acceptance, rumination, positive refocusing, re-focus on the plan, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, other-blame and catastrophising. At the same time, a significant positive correlation was found between resilience scores and personality traits dimensions. According to the hierarchical regression analysis findings, it was concluded that perceived parental relationship, especially perceived father relationship, the catastrophising sub-dimension of cognitive emotion regulation, and personality traits predicted resilience. The study findings were discussed according to the relevant field, and recommendations were presented.
Broadband Rectenna for Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting Application

Abstract A microstrip feed, double-sided printed monopole antenna is presented for radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting application. The antenna structure consists of a circular patch with a truncated ground plane. The ground plane consists of a rectangular notch right below the feed line, which helps to increase the bandwidth of the antenna. In addition, using a rectangular patch in the ground plane increases the effective area of the radiator due to loading effect, which leads to downshifting the lower cut-off frequency, and subsequently bandwidth enhancement. It is found that the ground patch provides the total antenna size reduction of 35.2% along with bandwidth and gain enhancement of 34.7% and 2.03 dBi at 0.9 GHz, respectively. The measured result shows that the proposed antenna offers an impedance bandwidth of 144.5% (0.89–5.53 GHz) with a peak gain of 4.3 dBi. Later, a rectenna system was designed and tested using the developed antenna for a wide range of frequencies. The rectenna system offers the maximum efficiency of 62.5% at 1.8 GHz at the load impedance of 5 kΩ.
Effect of Feeding Methods on Rumen Bacterial Flora in Chinese Tan Sheep Based on 16S rDNA High-throughput Analysis

This study examined the effect of different feeding methods on the rumen bacterial flora of Tan sheep, a Chinese indigenous breed, using 16S rDNA high-throughput analysis. The rumen fluid was collected from 9-month-old Tan sheep that were either house-fed or grazed. The results showed that the diversity of rumen flora in the grazing group was significantly higher than that in the house-raised group ( P < 0.01). In the grazing group, the abundance of 96 genera was significantly higher than that in the house-raised group ( P < 0.05), whereas in the house-raised group, the abundance of only 24 genera was significantly higher than that in the grazing group ( P < 0.05). At the phylum level, the abundance of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fibrobacteres, and Tenericutes in the rumen of grazing Tan sheep was significantly higher than that in the house-raised group (P < 0.01), whereas the abundance of Proteobacteria in the rumen of the house-raised group was significantly higher than that in the grazing group (P < 0.01). At the generic level, the abundance of Fibrobacter, Ruminococcus , Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group, and Lachnospiraceae_NA, which are associated with hemicellulose degradation, and Desulfovibrio , which is associated with lactic acid oxidation, was significantly higher in the grazing than in the house-raised group (P < 0.01). The abundance of the acid-producing Enterobacter, Vibrio , and Selenomonas in the house-raised group was significantly higher than that in the grazing group (P < 0.05). The abundance of Prevotella _7 and Succinivibrionaceae-UCG-001 in the house-raised group was 272.07 and 7605.75% higher than that in the grazing group, respectively, but the abundance of Prevotella _1 in the house-raised group was 3657.96% lower than that in the grazing group, with these differences highly significant (P < 0.01). The higher abundance of Prevotella _7 in the house-raised group and the higher abundance of Prevotella _1 in the grazing group are differences worthy of further study in Tan sheep.
Extended bounded real lemma based sum of squares for static output feedback H∞ heading control

Aim at the fore and aft asymmetry of unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and the loss of linear velocity, a static output feedback (SOF) H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ control method is proposed by the sum of squares (SOS) based on two types of extended bounded real lemmas (EBRL) for heading regulation to guarantee the robustness and improve the rapidity. First, an asymmetric nonlinear heading error model with hydrodynamic parameters is established by the consideration of lack of linear velocity. Second, SOF controller with H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ performance is presented for the asymmetric nonlinear USV model, and it's SOS conditions to solve controller parameters is deduced from EBRL by homogeneous Lyapunov function (HERBL) to maintain the system robustness. Further, the solution of SOF H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ controller relies on the state feedback gain matrix, EBRL is deduced by quadratic Lyapunov function (QEBRL) to obtain the SOS conditions without the addition of an extended matrix to cut computing cost for the solution of the state feedback gain matrix. Finally, the heading control simulations for USV indicate that, QEBRL method takes less time for SOS conditions to solve the state feedback gain matrix, and SOF H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ system of HERBL has a superior performance on the transient response and the robustness.
Karyotyping of Lymphocytes and Epithelial Cells of Distinct Embryonic Origin Does Not Help to Predict the Turner Syndrome Features

Background: In Turner syndrome (TS), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) karyotyping offers an alternative to classical karyotyping. Objective: We tested the added value of FISH karyotyping from lymphocytes (mesodermal origin), buccal cells (ectodermal origin), and a rear-tongue smear (endodermal origin) to determine the 45,X cell line fraction and its impact on patient phenotype. Design and Patients: Classical karyotyping and three FISH assays were done in 153 girls and women previously diagnosed with TS in four university hospitals. The 45,X cell line fraction was determined for each method and correlated with the major phenotypic signs. Results: Classical karyotyping identified 45,X/46,XX mosaicism in 77/153 subjects (50%), 45,X monosomy in 52/153 (34%), and other karyotypes in 24/153 (16%). FISH from lymphocytes verified 45,X in 47/52 original cases, whereas 4/52 had 45,X/46,XX and 1/52 45,X/47,XYY mosaicism. The 45,X cell line fraction was higher in FISH from lymphocytes compared to classical karyotyping (median 86.4% vs. 70.0%; p < 0.001), while there was no difference for FISH from buccal or rear-tongue smear cells. The mean 45,X cell line fraction was more abundant in patients with several of the characteristic phenotypic signs compared to patients without them (p < 0.01), but the predictive power was insufficient. Conclusion: FISH analysis confirmed the findings of classical karyotyping; only a few 45,X monosomy cases were reclassified as mosaics. The 45,X cell line fraction did not show clinically meaningful prediction of the phenotype. FISH analysis of buccal or rear-tongue epithelial cells may be a non-inferior, less invasive alternative to classical karyotyping.
Virtual Power Plants of Electric Vehicles in Sustainable Smart Electricity Markets

markdownabstractThe batteries of electric vehicles can be used as Virtual Power Plants to balance out frequency deviations in the electricity grid. Carsharing fleet owners have the options to charge an electric vehicle's battery, discharge an electric vehicle's battery, or keep an electric vehicle idle for potential rentals. Charging and discharging can be used to provide reliable operating reserves. We develop an analytical model that manages carsharing fleets. On the one hand, the energy in the batteries of an electric vehicle can be made available to the grid as operating reserves. On the other hand, the electric vehicle can be made available for rental, where the location within the city matters: drivers want a car to be close to their place of departure or arrival. The model can also be used by Transportation Network Companies such as Uber to preposition their vehicles conveniently in a city or optimize zonal pricing. To validate our model we develop a Discrete Event Simulation platform. We calibrate this simulation with locational information (GPS), rental, and charging transactions of 1,500 electric vehicles from the carsharing services Car2Go (Daimler) and DriveNow (BMW) over several years. We investigate the influence of the charging infrastructure density, battery technology, and rental demand for vehicles on the payoff for the carsharing operator and make an international comparison between the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. We show that Virtual Power Plants of electric vehicles create sustainable revenue streams for electric vehicle carsharing companies without compromising their rental business.
Plugging the Gap and Niching the NICHE: Nursing Informatics Competencies for Higher Education

Despite the rapid advancement and evolution of nursing informatics applications in healthcare, the incorporation and refurbishing of undergraduate informatics competencies in the curriculum has been organized. the integration of informatics in the Philippine curriculum began decade ago. However, it is still not identified whether these initiatives are successful in enhancing NI skills among graduates considering the low rate of technology utilization by most hospitals in the country. As a result, it requires a global need for nursing informatics competencies to be updated and revisited into the nursing curriculum. The objective of this study is to gather accord from the literature and to determine the definition of fundamental nursing informatics competencies for baccalaureate nursing programs in the Philippines. A review of related studies and corroboration of related literature such as different nursing curricula, perspectives of nursing informatics competencies in every country and to the resource organizations standards providing trainings, conducts research and guide HEIs was performed. International and local organizations were preparing the advancement of informatics through research, trainings, continuous quality improvement, and innovations in HIT. The identified common ground plugging the gap in nursing informatics competencies were nursing care and management proficiencies, information literacy and management, computer skills, health facilities’ technology resources, and ethics and legal understanding in HIT (NICHE). The prior competencies (basic computer skills, information literacy, and information) should be adaptable to local differences and consulted to industry partners and stakeholders. These attempts at competency standardization have to be balanced with suppleness to account for local variations and conditions.
Acute Unilateral Peripheral Vestibulopathy After COVID-19 Vaccination: Initial Experience in a Tertiary Neurotology Center

Objective The aim of the present study was to identify patients who developed acute unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy (AUPVP) after COVID-19 vaccination. Methods For this single-center, retrospective study, we screened the medical records of our tertiary interdisciplinary neurotology center for patients who had presented with AUPVP within 30 days after COVID-19 vaccination (study period: 1 June−31 December 2021). The initial diagnosis of AUPVP was based on a comprehensive bedside neurotological examination. Laboratory vestibular testing (video head impulse test, cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials, dynamic visual acuity, subjective visual vertical, video-oculography, caloric testing) was performed 1–5 months later. Results Twenty-six patients were diagnosed with AUPVP within the study period. Of those, n = 8 (31%) had developed acute vestibular symptoms within 30 days after COVID-19 vaccination (mean interval: 11.9 days, SD: 4.8, range: 6–20) and were thus included in the study. The mean age of the patients (two females, six males) was 46 years (SD: 11.7). Seven patients had received the Moderna mRNA vaccine and one the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine. All patients displayed a horizontal(-torsional) spontaneous nystagmus toward the unaffected ear and a pathological clinical head impulse test toward the affected ear on initial clinical examination. Receptor-specific laboratory vestibular testing performed 1–5 months later revealed recovery of vestibular function in two patients, and heterogeneous lesion patterns of vestibular endorgans in the remaining six patients. Discussion and Conclusions The present study should raise clinicians' awareness for AUPVP after COVID-19 vaccination. The relatively high fraction of such cases among our AUPVP patients may be due to a certain selection bias at a tertiary neurotology center. Patients presenting with acute vestibular symptoms should be questioned about their vaccination status and the date of the last vaccination dose. Furthermore, cases of AUPVP occurring shortly after a COVID-19 vaccination should be reported to the health authorities to help determining a possible causal relationship.
Does a Diet Rich in the Bacterium Rhodopirellula rubra Improve Daphnia magna Performance?

BACKGROUND In the wild various organisms contribute to daphnids diet. This study, intendeds to evaluate the potential of the concentration of Rhodopirellula rubra as a single or supplementary food source for Daphnia magna. METHODS Feeding assays were performed according to standard guidelines for chronic assays (21 days), and life-history parameters and several biomarkers (protein content, oxidative stress, energetic reserves and pigments) were measured. Five food regimens were conducted with 20 individual replicates (A - R. subcapitata; 0.2 - suspension of R. rubra at 0.2 arbitrary units (AU); 0.4 - suspension of R. rubra at 0.4 AU; 0.2+A - suspension of R. rubra at 0.2+alga; 0.2+A-suspension of R. rubra at 0.4 AU + alga). Additionally, the effects of three diets (A, 0.2, and 0.2+A) on the longevity of D. magna were assessed. RESULTS The five diets showed a different C, N, and carotenoids composition, with an increase in the mixed diets. The results confirmed that the mixed diets improved D. magna life-history parameters. A decrease in glycogen, and the increase of haemoglobin, protein, and gluthione-S-transferase (GST) were observed. Furthermore, D. magna fed with bacterial single diets, presented worsen life history parameters and a decrease in the protein content. An induction of oxidative stress response (increased catalase and GST), and a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation and an accumulation of glycogen and carotenoids were observed. Overall, an increase in the amount of R. rubra provided to D. magna, from 0.2 AU to 0.4 AU, negatively impacted daphnid performance. No significant effects on Daphnia longevity (a 110-day assay) were observed among the three diets tested. However, a significant survival percentage and fertility (cumulative offspring is more than twice) was observed when D. magna was fed with the mixed diet. CONCLUSIONS Results demonstrated that different diets provided a nutritional diversified food to the daphnids that induced differences in D. magna performance. The mixed diets proved to be beneficial (with increase in offspring) on D. magna performance, independently of the bacterial concentration tested. When in single diet, bacterial concentration is not nutritionally sufficient to raise D. magna even when in increased concentration.
Conceptual basis for developing of trainig models in complex system software assembling generator

This paper presents conceptual basis for developing of training models of interactive assembling system for automatic building of application software systems, obtained during practical works over "Design and architecture of software systems" and "Object-oriented analysis and design" courses. The system is intended for practical demonstration of basic stages and operations in development of complex and critical software. This also includes a consideration of solutions for some substantial problems of complex systems software generation, such as: program module compatibility, formalization of computer interaction and choosing of formal model for human machine interface. In addition, several training model implementations are provided.