Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Hemoglobin A1C in Diabetes Screening and Diabetic Retinopathy

Hemoglobin A1C (A1C) is used in various settings. Its performance has not been evaluated systemically. We compared A1C in diagnosis of diabetes with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-h postchallenged plasma glucose (2hPG) parameters in a cross-sectional cohort in the United Stated. Adult subjects (≥20 years) were identified from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2016 without a history of diabetes who had BMI, A1C, FPG, and 2hPG (n = 10,416). For comparisons, we calculated the sample weighted prevalence, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) with subgroup analyses. For the retinopathy study, diabetic subjects with established diabetes who responded to the question of diabetic retinopathy were evaluated (n = 3907). Compared to the FPG/2hPG criteria, A1C ≥ 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) had a low sensitivity at 25.90%, with specificity 99.70%, PPV 84.70%, and NPV 95.70%. Subgroup analyses revealed a lower sensitivity in males (24.52%); the lowest in non-Hispanic White (21.35%), in the third decade (14.32%), and in the BMI < 22.50 kg/m2 group (7.21%). The prevalence of self-reported diabetic retinopathy increased drastically with an inflection point at A1C 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) from 11.52% to 18.32% (p < 0.0001). A1C ≥ 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) should be cautiously used to diagnose diabetes in certain subgroups due to very low sensitivity in certain groups. With the confirmation of the association of increasing self-reported diabetic retinopathy with A1C ≥ 48 mmol/mol (6.5%), the current A1C cutoff is an acceptable value with the understanding of especially low sensitivity in certain subgroups.
A 3D head pointer: a manipulation method that enables the spatial
 position and posture for supernumerary robotic limbs

This paper introduces a novel interface ‘3D head pointer’ for the operation of a wearable robotic arm in 3D space. The developed system is intended to assist its user in the execution of routine tasks while operating a robotic arm. Previous studies have demonstrated the difficulty a user faces in simultaneously controlling a robotic arm and their own hands. The proposed method combines a head-based pointing device and voice recognition to manipulate the position and orientation as well as to switch between these two modes. In a virtual reality environment, the position instructions of the proposed system and its usefulness were evaluated by measuring the accuracy of the instructions and the time required using a fully immersive head-mounted display (HMD). In addition, the entire system, including posture instructions with two switching methods (voice recognition and head gestures), was evaluated using an optical transparent HMD. The obtained results displayed an accuracy of 1.25 cm and 3.56° with the 20-s time span necessary for communicating an instruction. These results demonstrate that voice recognition is a more effective switching method than head gestures.
Understanding Islamic Values in Meaning of Work for Millennial Generation

The millennial generation is a generation that cannot be separated from technology in their lives. Almost all of his daily activities require digital assistance. This makes the millennial generation have a different view of life from previous generations, including a view on the meaning of work. Significance of this work is associated with the spirituality of Islamic work that existed at the millennial generation. The purpose of this research is to explore the meaning of work on the millennial generation based on an Islamic perspective. The research was conducted using qualitative methods and purposive sampling. The sample of this study comprised 20 students of the final semester at Islamic University in Semarang, Indonesia. The data were collected through observation, interviews also documentation, and using thematic analysis. The results indicated that the millennial work to fulfill the needs of life, worship, and self-actualization. The millennial described their job as bonding with the work institutions. They also work following Islamic principles and pursue the goal of the hereafter. In the long run, the millennial consider work should have a comfortable environment, ease them to perform worship and provide adequate facilities.
Flexible Ionic Conjugated Microporous Polymer Membranes for Fast and Selective Ion Transport

Membranes with fast and selective ion transport have great potential for use in water‐ and energy‐related applications. The structure and material design of the membranes play a key role in improving their performance. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) as emerging membrane materials have shown uniform pore size, high surface area, and excellent chemical stability, but their mechanical properties are poor due to their brittleness. Herein, a flexible ionic CMP membrane with precisely tailored pore architecture and chemistry prepared by a coelectropolymerization (COEP) strategy is reported. The structure contains rigid monomers to maintain structural uniformity and flexible and charged monomers to enhance mechanical flexibility and improve ion selectivity by combining precise size sieving and Donnan effect. The resulting 40 nm thick CMP membranes show equivalent ion conductance compared to the commercial Nafion 117 membrane, but an order of magnitude higher ion selectivity for ion systems such as K+/Mg2+ and Li+/Mg2+.
Evaluation of the Antitumour and Antiproliferative Effect of Xanthohumol-Loaded PLGA Nanoparticles on Melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer and current treatment is still inadequate, with low patient survival rates. The polyphenol xanthohumol has been shown to inhibit tumourigenesis and metastasization, however its physicochemical properties restrict its application. In this work, we developed PLGA nanoparticles encapsulating xanthohumol and tested its antiproliferative, antitumour, and migration effect on B16F10, malignant cutaneous melanoma, and RAW 264.7, macrophagic, mouse cell lines. PLGA nanoparticles had a size of 312 ± 41 nm and a PdI of 0.259, while achieving a xanthohumol loading of about 90%. The viability study showed similar cytoxicity between the xanthohumol and xanthohumol-loaded PLGA nanoparticles at 48 h with the IC50 established at 10 µM. Similar antimigration effects were observed for free and the encapsulated xanthohumol. It was also observed that the M1 antitumor phenotype was stimulated on macrophages. The ultimate anti-melanoma effect emerges from an association between the viability, migration and macrophagic phenotype modulation. These results display the remarkable antitumour effect of the xanthohumol-loaded PLGA nanoparticles and are the first advance towards the application of a nanoformulation to deliver xanthohumol to reduce adverse effects by currently employed chemotherapeutics.
New Method for Nondestructive Evaluation of Concrete Strength

This paper presents information on a newly developed test method of non-destructive type called "twist-off" test, which can be used for investigations in to in-situ concrete strength of structures built and used under different circumstances. The twist-off test is a near-to-surface method in which a circular steel disc is glued to the surface of the concrete with an epoxy or polyester resin. The force required to twist this disc off the surface, together with an attached layer of concrete, is measured. Ordinary torque-wrench is used for this purpose. In order to make the applicability of the use of this new method as wide as possible, eight different concrete mixtures with design compressive strengths of 10-75 MPa were exposed to six different curing regimes and the correlations between their twist-off and compressive strengths are discussed.
methylation status of the 5 HTT promoter region Depression in systemic lupus erythematosus patients is associated with link-polymorphism but not

http://lup.sagepub. com/content/22/10/1001 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/0961203313498793 2013 22: 1001 originally published online 26 July 2013 Lupus J Xu, YQ Cheng, B Chen, R Bai, S Li, XF Xu, L Xu, JF Wen, ZP Lu and XF Zeng methylation status of the 5HTT promoter region Depression in systemic lupus erythematosus patients is associated with link-polymorphism but not
Uniform Fabrication of Hollow Titania Using Anionic Modified Acrylated Polymer Template for Phase Composition Effect as Photocatalyst and Infrared Reflective Coating

Polymer coatings containing thermal blocking and near-infrared (NIR)-reflective pigments have received much attention for their potential applications in energy-saving fields. A drawback of these coatings is sustainability providing similar long-term performance. Surface cleaning is mandatory to remove contaminants that decrease reflectance. In this study, synthesized hollow titania as photocatalyst was used to impart anti-contamination to infrared (IR)-reflective coatings. A TiO2 shell was selectively formed on an anionic polystyrene core, modified by methacrylic acid. According to sintering temperature, the enhancement of light absorption ability and photocatalytic activity as methyl orange decomposition was observed with phase composition change. The methylene blue decomposition reaction, reflectance measurement, and measuring thermal profiling of coated steel confirmed the manifestation of hollow particles to dust degradation characteristics and the enhancement of reflection and thermal shielding.
Similarities and differences between the Chaetopterus variopedatus polychaete luciferases depending on the type of habitat

The marine polychaete Chaetopterus variopedatus (Renier) (family Chaetopteridae) is a cosmopolitan species complex, consisting of distinct populations/ subspecies. The worms release glowing (460 nm) clouds of mucus when disturbed, and their parapodia often glow brightly. Currently, it is still unclear how exactly the bioluminescence system of these polychaetes functions. It has been previously assumed that the C. variopedatus luciferase may be used for detection of ferroptosis, the recently explored pathway of programmed cell death, resulting from accumulation of the ferrous ions. This study was aimed to extract and characterize the C. variopedatus luciferases, as well as to compare luciferases obtained from C. variopedatus of different populations. When extracting the enzyme responsible for bioluminescence from the frozen samples of Brazilian C. variopedatus using the improved method, two active luciferases, L1 and L2, were obtained. We assumed that one of the listed above luciferases was responsible for luminescence of the mucus and the other luciferase was responsible for luminescence in parapodia, and used the method for the distinct samples of mucus and parapodia of the living Far Eastern C. variopedatus. However, mucus of the latter turned out to be non-glowing. It is shown that luciferase L2 is responsible for luminescence in the parapodia of the C. variopedatus polychaete, since this luciferase has been found in the total biomass of Brazilian polychaetes and parapodia of Far Eastern polychaetes. Luminescence of the Brazilian C. variopedatus mucus is attributed to the functioning of luciferase L1, which is lacking in the mucus of the Far Eastern subspecies. The range of luciferase isoforms in polychaetes C. variopedatus depends on the place of origin.
A tube-based robust MPC for duty-cycled rotation needle steering systems with bounded disturbances

In this paper, we aim to design the trajectory tracking controller for variable curvature duty-cycled rotation flexible needles with a tube-based model predictive control approach. A non-linear model is adopted according to the kinematic characteristics of the flexible needle and a bicycle method. The modeling error is assumed to be an unknown but bounded disturbance. The non-linear model is transformed to a discrete time form for the benefit of predictive controller design. From the application perspective, the flexible needle system states and control inputs are bounded within a robust invariant set when subject to disturbance. Then, the tube-based model predictive control is designed for the system with bounded state vector and inputs. Finally, the simulation experiments are carried out with tube-based model predictive control and proportional integral derivative controller based on the particle swarm optimisation method. The simulation results show that the tube-based model predictive control method is more robust and it leads to much smaller tracking errors in different scenarios.
Deformation-induced phase transformation and twinning in Fe and Fe–C alloys

The phase transformations and twinning in a nano-sized face-centred cubic (FCC) crystal of iron with different carbon contents are studied by molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The simulation cells are stretched uniaxially along the direction. It is found that the FCC matrix transforms into the body-centred cubic (BCC) phase following the Nishiyama–Wassermann orientation relationship (OR). Then, the ‘BCC hexagonal close-packed (HCP)’ and ‘BCC FCC’ transformations occur following different variants of the Burgers OR and the Pitsch OR, respectively. The twins form between two neighbouring BCC grains. Additionally, the carbon atoms can destabilise the BCC phase, inhibit the phase transformation and pin phase interfaces, leading to tiny BCC twins.
Six-Axis Force/Torque Sensors for Robotics Applications: A Review

Six-axis force/torque sensors are transducers capable of measuring three dimensions of force and three dimensions of torque, and have a wide range of applications in robotic systems. The sensing principle behind the greatest majority of these is based on detecting strains in an elastic structure, and there are multiple modalities for strain measurement, including resistive strain gauge, piezoelectric, capacitive, and optoelectronic techniques. Developed sensors can be evaluated based on a range of parameters, including decoupling error, nonlinearity error, and measurement isotropy, where the primary design challenge is to maximise the allowable sensing range while minimising measurement errors. This literature review describes the state of the art of the field, and includes all relevant research associated with the search term “six-axis force/torque sensor” spanning 2015 - June 2021. The published literature for each sensing technique is summarised and evaluated, and a generalised sensor selection framework is proposed to assist the reader with the selection procedure for a state of the art sensor. In the period considered, there have been no significant improvements with the sensors documented in terms of measurement errors. Researchers have instead focused on features such as fault tolerance, alternative sensing techniques, cost reduction, and miniaturisation. These trends are expected to continue, and moving forward, the most significant challenge in the field is expected to be the lowering of manufacturing costs, as trends indicate measurement performance has reached maturity.
Radiocarbon Analyses Quantify Peat Carbon Losses With Increasing Temperature in a Whole Ecosystem Warming Experiment

Climate warming is expected to accelerate peatland degradation and release rates of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Spruce and Peatlands Responses Under Changing Environments is an ecosystem‐scale climate manipulation experiment, designed to examine peatland ecosystem response to climate forcings. We examined whether heating up to +9 °C to 3 m‐deep in a peat bog over a 7‐year period led to higher C turnover and CO2 and CH4 emissions, by measuring 14C of solid peat, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), CH4, and dissolved CO2 (DIC). DOC, a major substrate for heterotrophic respiration, increased significantly with warming. There was no 7‐year trend in the DI14 C of the ambient plots which remained similar to their DO14 C. At +6.75 °C and +9 °C, the 14C of DIC, a product of microbial respiration, initially resembled ambient plots but became more depleted over 7 years of warming. We attributed the shifts in DI14 C to the increasing importance of solid phase peat as a substrate for microbial respiration and quantified this shift via the radiocarbon mass balance. The mass‐balance model revealed increases in peat‐supported respiration of the catotelm depths in heated plots over time and relative to ambient enclosures, from a baseline of 20%–25% in ambient enclosures, to 35%–40% in the heated plots. We find that warming stimulates microorganisms to respire ancient peat C, deposited under prior climate (cooler) conditions. This apparent destabilization of the large peat C reservoir has implications for peatland‐climate feedbacks especially if the balance of the peatland is tipped from net C sink to C source.
Parallel Multilevel Constructions for Constant Dimension Codes

Constant dimension codes (CDCs), as special subspace codes, have received a lot of attention due to their application in random network coding. This paper introduces a family of new codes, called rank metric codes with given ranks (GRMCs), to generalize the parallel construction in [Xu and Chen, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, 64 (2018), 6315–6319] and the classic multilevel construction. A Singleton-like upper bound and a lower bound for GRMCs derived from Gabidulin codes are given. Via GRMCs, two effective constructions for CDCs are presented by combining the parallel construction and the multilevel construction. Many CDCs with larger size than the previously best known codes are given. The ratio between the new lower bound and the known upper bound for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(4\delta,2\delta,2\delta)_{q}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-CDCs is calculated. It is greater than 0.99926 for any prime power <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and any <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\delta \geq 3$ </tex-math></inline-formula>.
Potential use of kraft and organosolv lignins as a natural additive for healthcare products

The growing interest in substituting synthetic products coming from non-renewable sources with products from biomass has focused attention on the lignin biopolymer. Its high availability, low price and properties make the development of new and valuable uses for lignin interesting, thus improving the economic and environmental aspects of the biomass conversion. To achieve this objective, the potential use of industrial kraft and organosolv lignins as antioxidants, antimicrobials and sunscreen products has been evaluated. The results of a detailed antibacterial and antifungal study demonstrated the high potential of kraft lignins against a variety of foodborne and human pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, both organosolv and kraft lignins presented an effective protection factor (SPF values from 10–20), demonstrating their effectiveness as natural additives for the sun lotion market. In addition, lignin samples presented high antioxidant capacity compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), one common commercial antioxidant industrially used. Therefore, the development of innovative applications of lignins as a commodity for the chemical, pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries could expand their possible uses in the market giving new added values to lignin.
Whence to Learn? Transferring Knowledge in Configurable Systems Using BEETLE

As software systems grow in complexity and the space of possible configurations increases exponentially, finding the near-optimal configuration of a software system becomes challenging. Recent approaches address this challenge by learning performance models based on a sample set of configurations. However, collecting enough sample configurations can be very expensive since each such sample requires configuring, compiling, and executing the entire system using a complex test suite. When learning on new data is too expensive, it is possible to use <italic>Transfer Learning</italic> to “transfer” old lessons to the new context. Traditional transfer learning has a number of challenges, specifically, (a) learning from excessive data takes excessive time, and (b) the performance of the models built via transfer can deteriorate as a result of learning from a poor source. To resolve these problems, we propose a novel transfer learning framework called BEETLE, which is a “bellwether”-based transfer learner that focuses on identifying and learning from the most relevant source from amongst the old data. This paper evaluates BEETLE with 57 different software configuration problems based on five software systems (a video encoder, an SAT solver, a SQL database, a high-performance C-compiler, and a streaming data analytics tool). In each of these cases, BEETLE found configurations that are as good as or better than those found by other state-of-the-art transfer learners while requiring only a fraction (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\frac{1}{7}$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mfrac><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:mfrac></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="krishna-ieq1-2983927.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>th) of the measurements needed by those other methods. Based on these results, we say that BEETLE is a new high-water mark in optimally configuring software.
Learning to Annotate: Modularizing Data Augmentation for Text Classifiers with Natural Language Explanations

Deep neural networks usually require massive labeled data, which restricts their applications in scenarios where data annotation is expensive. Natural language (NL) explanations have been demonstrated very useful additional supervision, which can provide sufficient domain knowledge for generating more labeled data over new instances, while the annotation time only doubles. However, directly applying them for augmenting model learning encounters two challenges: (1) NL explanations are unstructured and inherently compositional. (2) NL explanations often have large numbers of linguistic variants, resulting in low recall and limited generalization ability. In this paper, we propose a novel Neural EXecution Tree (NEXT) framework to augment training data for text classification using NL explanations. After transforming NL explanations into executable logical forms by semantic parsing, NEXT generalizes different types of actions specified by the logical forms for labeling data instances, which substantially increases the coverage of each NL explanation. Experiments on two NLP tasks (relation extraction and sentiment analysis) demonstrate its superiority over baseline methods. Its extension to multi-hop question answering achieves performance gain with light annotation effort.
Corrosion sensors for condensate corrosivity in heat exchangers

Sensor technology, particularly that based on microelectronic fabrication methods, can measure properties of condensates in real time and can increase the quantity and quality of information gathered from accelerated testing in the laboratory. The objective of these studies is to develop a series of electrochemical corrosion sensors to measure the corrosivity of condensates formed within heat exchangers and vents of gas furnaces. Corrosion sensors have been developed to measure several corrosion parameters such as pH, time-of-wetness, and temperature. Measurements have been made on a series of simulated and real condensates ranging from aggressive to benign corrosivity. Subsequent testing of the sensors was performed at the American Gas Association Laboratories on 0as fired appliances. Data is presented from these tests and related to the corrosion behavior of the heat exchangers. Prototype systems were developed and tested for each type of sensor.