Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Normative reference values and regression equations to predict the 6-minute walk distance in the Asian adult population aged 21–80 years

Summary at a glance: The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is a widely used field walking test. This study reports the normative reference values (NRV) of distance walked during 6MWT (6MWD) in healthy Singaporeans (aged 21–80) and updates the 6MWD reference equations. This information may facilitate the interpretation of the 6MWD in clinical populations. Ethics approval: The Singapore Institute of Technology-Institutional Review Board (SIT-IRB Project Number: 2019099) approved this study to be carried out from June 2019 to January 2021. All participants gave written informed consent before data collection began. Background: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is a widely adopted submaximal field-walking test to evaluate functional exercise capacity. This validated test is a reliable, safe, inexpensive, and straightforward assessment tool commonly used as an outcome measure, using the distance walked (6MWD) as the primary outcome. An earlier study has established the normative reference values (NRV) and equation in healthy Singaporeans — however, the small sample size and narrow age range curb adequate representation of the adult population profile. Objectives: This study aims to update the NRV and reference equations to predict the distance walked during 6MWT (6MWD) for healthy Singaporeans aged 21–80. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited community-dwelling healthy subjects aged 21–80 via convenience sampling. Each subject completed two trials of 6MWT according to the standard protocol. Primary outcome measures included 6MWD, pre-and post-test heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation, and blood pressure (BP). Results: 172 healthy Singaporeans (females=90, males=82) participated. The overall mean 6MWD was 578.00±75.38 metres. The age-stratified mean 6MWD ranged from 601.3±71.79 metres (aged 21–39) to 519.02±55.42 metres (aged 60–80). Age, gender, and percentage maximum HR predicted (%PredHRmax) were the most significant variables (p<0.001). 6MWD reference equation=288.282(height,m)+27.463×Gender (male=1;female=0)+4.349(%predHRmax)+1.191 (HR reserve, bpm) −185.431−1.343(age,years)−1.614 (weight, kg), R2=58%. Applying equations from other studies to the Singaporean population resulted in an overestimation of the 6MWD. Conclusion: This study updated the NRV and reference equations of 6MWD for healthy Singaporeans aged between 21–80 years. This update revises the local benchmarks of 6MWD in Singapore, a widely adopted outcome measure.
Sulfated Galactofucans: An Outstanding Class of Fucoidans with Promising Bioactivities

Fucoidans encompass versatile and heterogeneous sulfated biopolysaccharides of marine origin, specifically brown algae and marine invertebrates. Their chemistry and bioactivities have been extensively investigated in the last few decades. The reported studies revealed diverse chemical skeletons in which l-fucose is the main sugar monomer. However, other sugars, i.e., galactose, mannose, etc., have been identified to be interspersed, forming several heteropolymers, including galactofucans/fucogalactans (G-fucoidans). Particularly, sulfated galactofucans are associated with rich chemistry contributing to more promising bioactivities than fucans and other marine polysaccharides. The previous reports in the last 20 years showed that G-fucoidans derived from Undaria pinnatifida were the most studied; 21 bioactivities were investigated, especially antitumor and antiviral activities, and unique biomedical applications compared to other marine polysaccharides were demonstrated. Hence, the current article specifically reviews the biogenic sources, chemistry, and outstanding bioactivities of G-fucoidans providing the opportunity to discover novel drug candidates.
Effect of Sea Salt AOT on Precipitation Processes Associated with Red Sea Moisture Flux on Iraq, a Case Study

Sea salt acquires importance in the process of precipitation formation through its hygroscopic nature. and its role in accelerating the droplet formation process within a moisture saturation less than if it was not present. In this work, the maps of precipitation distribution with sea salt aerosol optical thickness (AOT) as well as moisture flux and wind at an altitude of 50 meters were compared. The data of Three rainy cases, characterized by heavy rains and moisture feeding from the Red Sea were selected. They are respectively 13 to 15 November 2018, 1 December 2018, and 27 to 29 January 2019. Cloud top temperature (CTT) data were obtained from Meteosat satellites (Meteosat 9, and 10). Total Precipitable water (TPW) and sea salt (AOT) were obtained from Model projects: a modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications 2 (MERRA-2). the correlation coefficient (R) was used to test the relation between the variables like Total Precipitable water (TPW), Cloud top temperature (CTT), precipitation, and Sea Salt AOT. The results showed that there is a good correlation between the sea salt AOT and the amount of precipitation. The work also showed the roles that other variables play in the precipitation process. Where the relationships showed values of correlation coefficients about 0,6 to 0,7 between the variables, leading to the enhancement of precipitation.
Finances and Fate: Parent Financial Socialization, Locus of Control, and Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood

Utilizing a sample of 4182 U.S. emerging adults and structural equation modeling, we examined how parent financial socialization received during childhood and adolescence is associated with mental health in emerging adulthood and whether locus of control is an intervening variable. Financial socialization was negatively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and positively associated with life satisfaction. Indirect pathways were found through locus of control. That is, emerging adults who had received better financial socialization were more likely to report an internal locus of control and thus were less likely to be experiencing anxiety and depressive symptoms and more likely to be satisfied with life. These findings provide educators with further evidence of the importance of parent financial socialization, being associated with not only financial health but also mental health. Clinicians of emerging adults may consider financial education and internal locus of control development as intervention points for mental health improvement.
Cytocompatibility and Antibacterial Properties of Coaxial Electrospun Nanofibers Containing Ciprofloxacin and Indomethacin Drugs

A coaxial nanofibrous scaffold of poly (ε-caprolactone) and gelatin/cellulose acetate encapsulating anti-inflammatory and antibacterial drugs was co-electrospun for skin tissue regeneration. Indomethacin and ciprofloxacin as model drugs were added to the core and the shell solutions, respectively. The effect of the drugs’ presence and crosslinking on the scaffold properties was investigated. TEM images confirmed the core–shell structure of the scaffold. The fiber diameter and the pore size of the scaffold increased after crosslinking. The tensile properties of the scaffold improved after crosslinking. The crosslinked scaffold illustrated a higher rate of swelling, and a lower rate of degradation and drug release compared to the uncrosslinked one. Fitting the release data into the Peppas equation showed that Fickian diffusion was the dominant mechanism of drug release from the scaffolds. The results of biocompatibility evaluations showed no cytotoxicity and suitable adhesion and cell growth on the prepared core–shell structure. The antibacterial activity of the scaffolds was studied against one of the most common pathogens in skin wounds, where the existence of ciprofloxacin could prevent the growth of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria around the scaffold. The obtained results suggested a new coaxial nanofibrous scaffold as a promising candidate for simultaneous tissue regeneration and controlled drug release.
Correlation of serum leptin and ghrelin levels with endocrine and reproductive parameters in women with clomiphene citrate resistant polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: To investigate the changes in serum ghrelin and leptin levels in patients with clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five patients who could not achieve ovulation or pregnancy despite using 150 mg/day of clomiphene citrate (CC) participated in the study. Thirty-five patients who were compatible with the study group in terms of age and body mass index (BMI) but did not have clinical and laboratory findings of PCOS constituted the control group. On the third day of the cycle, in addition to the basal hormone profile, ghrelin and leptin levels were also measured. Patients in both groups went to IVF/ICSI. Basal hormone values, leptin, ghrelin, metabolic, demographic parameters, and clinical pregnancy rates were correlated. Results: Patients in both groups were recorded to be similar in terms of age (29.4±0.11 vs 28.5±7.30), BMI (24.3±3.07 vs 23.8±1.55), and infertility time (6.14±4.30 vs 6.03±1.28). Serum ghrelin levels of the PCOS group were significantly lower than the control group (0.48±2.21 vs 1.19±4.02) Serum leptin levels of the PCOS group were significantly higher than the control patients (45.6±304 vs 16.5±0.32). Serum leptin levels and BMI (r=0.65, p<0.01) A positive correlation was found between luteinizing hormone (LH) (r=0.53, p<0.02), and insulin resistance (r=0.74, p<0.03). There was a negative (r=-0.76, p<0.03) correlation between serum ghrelin and LH. A positive and significant correlation was found between serum ghrelin, testosterone, mature oocyte, and implantation rates. Conclusion: Serum ghrelin correlates with fertility outcomes in women with CC-resistant PCOS undergoing IVF/ICSI.
The Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on the Severity of Symptoms and the Quality of Life in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a gastrointestinal disorder affecting 7–12% of the population, is characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, and alternating bowel patterns. Data on risk and protective influences have yielded conflicting evidence on the effects of alternative interventions, such as vitamin D. This review focuses on the effects of vitamin D on IBS. A systematic review and meta-analysis considered all articles published until 4 April 2022. The search for randomized controlled trials assessing vitamin D efficacy in IBS with outcomes, primary (Irritable Bowel Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS)) and secondary (IBS quality of life (IBS-QoL) and serum level of calcifediol (25(OH)D)), was performed on six databases, Google Scholar, Web of Science, SCOPUS, EMBASE, PubMed (MEDLINE), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We included six trials with 616 patients. The pooled analysis found no difference between vitamin D and placebo in improving IBS-SSS (MD: −45.82 with 95% CI [−93.62, 1.98], p = 0.06). However, the pooled analysis favored vitamin D over placebo in improving the IBS-Qol (MD: 6.19 with 95% CI [0.35, 12.03], p = 0.04) and serum 25(OH)D (MD: 25.2 with 95% CI [18.41, 31.98], p = 0.00001). Therefore, further clinical trials are required to reach clinically applicable and generalizable findings.
Brain Tumor Detection and Classification Using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)

According to the World Health Organization, brain tumors are one of the leading causes of mortality globally. Early identification of this disease is difficult due to its intricacy and quiet character. Chronic brain tumor disease is linked to the risk of clinical occurrences, making it a serious public health issue around the world. Despite the fact that it is commonly acknowledged that chronic brain tumor disease has significant associations with increased risks of end-stage excretory organ disease, vascular occurrences, and all-cause mortality, there is still a scarcity of reliable data on individual individuals. For this brain tumor prediction challenge, we will utilize the deep learning-based Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) technique, which no one has used before in the research, especially on Image Dataset. CNN has been a popular method and highly sought-after model classification today. With input, neurons, hidden layers, and output, the CNN-based expert system works similarly to the human brain. Chronic brain tumor photos of healthy and unhealthy photographs were taken in good lighting circumstances for this study to discover any hidden features. The image samples are then processed using techniques such as Grayscale, B&W, Complement, Robert, Resize, and Power Transform. The chronic is then run through a Convolutional Neural Network texture feature extraction technique (CNN). Contrast, Correlation, Energy, Homogeneity, Entropy, Mean, Standard deviation, Variance, Skewness, and Kurtosis are the characteristics. The data is organized on a spreadsheet, which acts as a record, after feature extraction. Finally, there is one hidden layer, 16 input neurons, and two healthy or not outputs in a convolutional neural network. The data is divided into train and test datasets, with 70% of the data used for training, 10% for validation, and 20% for testing. The detection accuracy was 92.78 percent, with a 5.33-second execution time depending only on the number of iterations or epochs. For the confusion matrix of brain tumor detection and classification, an accuracy of 97.9% was recorded, a precision of 98.3% was accounted with a recall of 98.5%, and an AUC of 99.7% was calculated for this dedicated research work.
When “Low-Hanging Fruit” Are Beyond Reach: Management Practices and Firm Energy Efficiency

Research shows that firms with sophisticated management systems are on average found to have better economic performance—productivity, profitability, lower rates of exit—as well as superior social performance—lower energy intensity, CO 2 emissions, and labor practices. But do structured management practices help firms benefit from an energy efficiency intervention designed to improve both economic and environmental performance? Our study uses an experiment to answer this question. We find that the likelihood of adopting an energy efficiency recommendation increases with a firm’s management practice score. However, the intervention’s main effect—a reduction in the unit cost of electricity—is larger in firms with less developed structured practices. Below we explain this seemingly paradoxical finding.
Motion Descriptors for Intention Recognition in Robot Teleoperation Tasks

—Human-robot collaboration as well as real-time robotic assistance can offer an enhanced user experience if the robot is able to recognize the operator’s intention. This is particularly important in the case of robot teleoperation using non-traditional input devices such as a brain computer interface. This paper proposes augmenting the PDDL action description with motion descriptors, which are geometric functions to describe motion primitives involved in each action. Using both the symbolic and geometric world state, we are able to filter the feasible actions narrowing down the search space. We conduct a preliminary user study that shows promising results in terms of usability. Our study shows that motion descriptors can be used with ease even by inexperienced users with no programming or robotics background.
Can Reinforcement Learning solve the Human Allocation Problem?

In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL) has emerged as a new, promising way to solve old problems. The algorithms’ role in ﬁnding approximate solutions in NP-hard complexity became crucial for developing modern intelligent decisions. In this paper, we consider the human resource allocation problem, which is one of classical NP-hard complexity problem, with the ﬁxed number of workers and tasks, using various RL methods, such as deep contextual bandit, double deep Q-learning network (DDQN), and a combined approach of DDQN with the Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). The deep contextual bandit algorithm showed good performance for the low dimensional cases, but it is inappropriate for real problems in the chosen setting. To overcome such barriers, we decomposed the task in terms of Markov decision processes and reduced the action space so that all sequential RL meth-ods became available. In this paper, we proposed a way to deal with NP-hard problems via modern RL approaches and compare different methods’ performance. We studied different algorithms in the RL family, namely Contextual Bandit, DDQN, DDQN with MCTS. Those algorithms worked with appropriate settings and improved at least 30% in time reduction compared to random assignment.
STATIC FILE PATH ANALYSIS FOR RELIABLE RESOURCE LOCATING

v List of Tables . ix List of Figures . x Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Motivation . 1 1.2 Thesis Statement . 1 1.3 Contributions . 2 1.4 Organization . 2 Chapter 2: Background and Related Work . 3 2.1 Network Traffic . 3 2.1.1 Network Behavior Summarization . 3 2.1.2 Analysis of Mobile Applications . 5 2.2 Dockerfile Analysis . 5 2.2.1 Studies and Analyses of Dockerfiles. 5 2.2.2 Analysis of Building Configuration Files. 6 2.3 Analysis and Study of Build and Deployment Failures . 6 2.4 String Analysis . 7 2.4. 1 Bug Detection of Shell Scripts . 8 Chapter 3: Summarizing Network Behavior of Android Apps for Network Code Maintenance . 9 3.
Optimising High-Rise Buildings for Self-Sufficiency in Energy Consumption and Food Production Using Artificial Intelligence Case of Europoint Complex in Rotterdam

: The increase in global population, which negatively affects energy consumption, CO 2 emissions, and arable land, necessitates designing sustainable habitation alternatives. Self-sufﬁcient high-rise buildings, which integrate (electricity) generation and efﬁcient usage of resources with dense habitation, can be a sustainable solution for future urbanisation. This paper focuses on transforming Europoint Towers in Rotterdam into self-sufﬁcient buildings considering energy consumption and food production (lettuce crops) using artiﬁcial intelligence. Design parameters consist of the number of farming ﬂoors, shape, and the properties of the proposed façade skin that includes shading devices. Nine thousand samples are collected from various ﬂoor levels to predict self-sufﬁciency criteria using artiﬁcial neural networks (ANN). Optimisation problems with 117 decision variables are formulated using 45 ANN models that have very high prediction accuracies. 13 optimisation algorithms are used for an in-detail investigation of self-sufﬁciency at the building scale, and potential sufﬁciency at the neighbourhood scale. Results indicate that 100% and 43.7% self-sufﬁciencies could be reached for lettuce crops and electricity, respectively, for three buildings with 1800 residents. At the neighbourhood scale, lettuce production could be sufﬁcient for 27,000 people with a decrease of self-sufﬁciency in terms of energy use of up to 11.6%. Consequently, this paper discusses the potentials and the improvements for self-sufﬁcient high-rise buildings.
Poverty, early care and stress reactivity in adolescence: findings from a prospective, longitudinal study in a low-middle income country

A considerable body of evidence suggests that early caregiving may affect the short-term functioning and longer-term development of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Despite this, most research to date has been cross-sectional in nature or restricted to relatively short–term longitudinal follow-ups. More importantly, there is a paucity of research on the role of caregiving in low and middle income countries, where the protective effects of high quality care in buffering the child’s developing stress regulation systems may be crucial. In this paper, we report findings from a longitudinal study ( N = 232) conducted in an impoverished peri-urban settlement in Cape Town, South Africa. We measured caregiving sensitivity and security of attachment in infancy and followed children up at age 13 years, when we conducted assessments of HPA axis reactivity, as indexed by salivary cortisol during the Trier Social Stress Test. The findings indicated that insecure attachment was predictive of reduced cortisol responses to social stress, particularly in boys, and that attachment status moderated the impact of contextual adversity on stress responses: secure children in highly adverse circumstances did not show the blunted cortisol response shown by their insecure counterparts. Some evidence was found that sensitivity of care in infancy was also associated with cortisol reactivity, but in this case insensitivity was associated with heightened cortisol reactivity, and only for girls. The discussion focuses on the potentially important role of caregiving in the long-term calibration of the stress system and the need to better understand the social and biological mechanisms shaping the stress response across development in low and middle income countries.
HistoTrust: Attestation of a Data History based on off-the-shelf Secure Hardware Components

Device-or user-centric system architectures allow everyone to manage their personal or confidential data. But how to provide the trust required between the stakeholders of a given ecosystem to work together, each preserving their interest and their business? HistoTrust introduces a solution to this problem. A system architecture separat-ing the data belonging to each stakeholder and the cryptographic proofs (attestations) on their history is implemented. An Ethereum ledger is deployed to maintain the history of the attestations, thus guaranteeing their tamper-resistance, their timestamp and their order. The ledger allows these attestations to be shared between the stakeholders in order to create trust without revealing secret or critical data. In each IoT device, the root-of-trust secrets used to attest the data produced are protected at storage in a TPM ST33 and during execution within an ARM Cortex-A7 TrustZone. The designed solution aims to be resilient, robust to software attacks and to present a high level of protection against side-channel attacks and fault injections. Furthermore, the real-time constraints of an embedded industrial application are respected. The integration of the security measures does not impact the performance in use.
Investigation of region in measurements of

— The dielectric properties of tissues are key parameters in electromagnetic medical technologies. Despite the apparent simplicity of the dielectric measurement process, reported data has been inconsistent for heterogeneous tissues. Dielectric properties may be attributed to heterogeneous tissues by identifying the tissue types that contributed to the measurement through histological analysis. However, accurate interpretation of the measurements with histological analysis requires first defining an appropriate histology region to examine. Here, we investigate multiple definitions for the probe sensing depth and uniquely calculate this parameter for measurements with a realistic range of tissues. We demonstrate that different sensing depth definitions are not equivalent, and may introduce error in dielectric data. Lastly, we propose an improved definition, given by the depth to which the probe can detect changes in the tissue sample, within the measurement uncertainty. We equate this sensing depth with histology depth, thus supporting the need of having the tissue region that contributes to the dielectric data be the same as that which is analysed histologically. This study demonstrates that, for these tissues, the histology depth is both frequency and tissue dependent. Therefore, the histology depth should be selected based on the measurement scenario, otherwise inaccuracies in the data may result. and