Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discussion on Repolarization Reserve between Patients with Coronary Heart Disease and Normal Controls

Objective To investigate the repolarization reserve of normal controls (NCs) and patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods From January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2018, 200 age- and gender-matched inpatients in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University and Heji Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College were selected for treadmill exercise test (TET), including 67 patients in the myocardial ischemia group, 66 patients in the suspected myocardial ischemia group, and 67 patients in the normal control group. Coronary angiography (CAG) was performed on 49 of 133 patients in the myocardial ischemia group and the suspected myocardial ischemia group, and 9 positives and 40 negatives were identified. The heart rate (HR) and QT interval of TET examiners before exercise, during exercise (90 beats/min, 120 beats/min, maximum HR), and in the recovery period (1 minute and 3 minutes after exercise) were reviewed, and QTc values were calculated after being corrected by BaZett's. Results The mean QTc values in NCs were all below 452 ms, before exercise, during exercise (90 beats/min, 120 beats/min and maximum HR), and during the recovery period (1 minute and 3 minutes after exercise). The comparison results of the RR interval between the two groups revealed P > 0.05, indicating no statistical significance. Significant differences were present when comparing the QT intervals when the HRs were 90 beats/minute and 120 beats/minute during exercise (P < 0.05). And comparing the QTc values, it was found that the QTc values during different exercise periods were statistically different between groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions NCs have good repolarization reserve. CAG can confirm true myocardial ischemia patients (i.e., patients with CHD) among myocardial ischemia and suspected myocardial ischemia patients screened by TET. Patients with positive CAG have poor repolarization reserve as QT interval represents ventricular repolarization adaptability.
Point contact spectroscopy: a powerful technique for the low temperature characterization of superconducting materials

We describe the Point Contact Spectroscopy technique for the characterization of superconducting materials. By pushing a metallic tip on the superconducting surface, it is possible to tune the interface properties, from a perfect transparent barrier up to the case of insulating barrier separating the two electrodes of a tunnel junction. The experiments can be described in the framework of Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijck theory. In this paper, we show both cases, observed on two different kinds of superconductors and compare the results with the theory.
Automated Segmentation for Knee Joint MRI Images Using Hybrid UNet+Attention

Automated segmentation of knee subchondral bone structures such as area and shape using deep learning approaches is a significant task for medical MRI images. However, existing techniques usually suffer from many challenges due to complex tissue structure when utilized in 3D due to their large memory requirements, and unusual image contrast/ brightness. This paper aims to exhibit proof of the concurrent effectiveness and reliability of the dynamic segmentation technique currently used to quantify 3D statistical shape/image-based in knee assessment and to propose suggestions for their utilization in the treatment of osteoarthritis disease. The proposed automated Hybrid UNet+Attention technique involves the enhancement of contrast of knee MRI bone surface images and can process large full-size 3D input samples (no patches) within seconds using the CPU. The overall performance of the proposed technique was estimated against ground truths by computing performance metrics like Intersection over union (IoU), dice similarity coefficient (DSC), precision, and recall.
Mobile applications and improving the quality of life in people with obesity

When it comes to obesity, it is one of today's biggest problems from several perspectives. Obesity increases cardiovascular risk, can cause shortened life expectancy, and many others. The possibilities of treating obesity are growing every day, from pharmacological to surgical, but in the end, the key is to change life habits (lifestyle) that will enable a healthier life and a favorable trend in body mass index. Mobile applications stand out as very useful health intervention tool because they are available almost to everyone. The paper describes applications that count daily steps, caloric intake, and the ones which promote exercise. The most effective applications in reducing weight are those easy to use, combined with traditional healthy lifestyle methods, promoting healthy competition, giving positive feedback to users, with straightforward exercise and food intake plans and goal settings, apps measuring both the physical activity and caloric intake. Such applications improve the quality of life of people with obesity.
BCB-Based Thin-Film Ka-Band Quarter-Mode SIW Packaged Filters With Ultrawide Stopband and Independently Controlled TZs

In this article, quarter-mode substrate-integrated waveguide (QMSIW) filters featuring ultrawide stopband and flexibly allocated transmission zeros (TZs) are proposed. Eight higher modes with resonant frequencies up to 4.7 times of the fundamental mode are highly suppressed. It is realized by the combination of three approaches without extra circuit areas. First, a slot is cut in the first and last QMSIW resonators to make their resonant frequencies of higher modes different from those of other resonators. Second, avoid exciting the specific higher modes by setting the feed point in the area where the electric field strength of the higher modes is weak. Third, mismatch the higher modes when matching the passband. It is realized by using a stripline impedance transformer with its main body not exceeding the area of QMSIW resonators. Furthermore, except for the TZs derived by the classical cross-coupling matrix, two more independently controlled TZs are generated. The packaged filter is fabricated by using a benzocyclobutene (BCB)-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) process, which is suitable for millimeter-wave 3-D system-on-package (SOP) applications. The fabricated thin-film filter is measured with an insertion loss of 2.96 dB at 29.4 GHz and a fractional bandwidth (BW) of 17%. Higher mode suppressions up to 138.3 GHz are achieved.
Baseline and lifetime alcohol consumption and risk of skin cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort (EPIC)

Experimental evidence suggests that alcohol induces cutaneous carcinogenesis, yet epidemiological studies on the link between alcohol intake and skin cancer have been inconsistent. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is a prospective cohort initiated in 1992 in 10 European countries. Alcohol intake at baseline and average lifetime alcohol intake were assessed using validated country‐specific dietary and lifestyle questionnaires. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated in Cox models. A total of 14 037 skin cancer cases (melanoma: n = 2457; basal‐cell carcinoma (BCC): n = 8711; squamous‐cell carcinoma (SCC): n = 1928; unknown: n = 941) were identified among 450 112 participants (average follow‐up: 15 years). Baseline alcohol intake was positively associated with SCC (>15 vs 0.1‐4.9 g/day: HR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.17‐1.77; Ptrend = .001), BCC (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.01‐1.23; Ptrend = .04), and melanoma risks in men (HR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.95‐1.44; Ptrend = .17), while associations were more modest in women (SCC: HR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.90‐1.30; Ptrend = .13; BCC: HR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.00‐1.17, Ptrend = .03; melanoma: HR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.80‐1.08, Ptrend = .13). Associations were similar for lifetime alcohol intake, with an attenuated linear trend. Lifetime liquor/spirit intake was positively associated with melanoma (fourth vs first quartile: HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.08‐1.99; Ptrend = .0009) and BCC risks in men (HR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.04‐1.31; Ptrend = .14). Baseline and lifetime intakes of wine were associated with BCC risk (HR = 1.25 in men; HR = 1.11‐1.12; in women). No statistically significant associations were found between beverage types and SCC risk. Intake of beer was not associated with skin cancer risk. Our study suggests positive relationships between alcohol intake and skin cancer risk, which may have important implications for the primary prevention of skin cancer.
VIREO: Web-based Graphical Authoring of Vibrotactile Feedback for Interactions with Mobile and Wearable Devices

Abstract We introduce VIREO, a web-based software tool for graphical authoring of vibrotactile feedback for mobile and wearable applications. VIREO enables flexible specification of vibrotactile patterns with model-based and free-draw input, and is compatible with devices that run JavaScript, either natively or in a web browser. We demonstrate VIREO with applications developed for smartphones, smartwatches, armbands, and smartglasses, and we present the results of a usability evaluation study with sixteen participants represented by coders with various programming experience. We discuss our contributions in the context of the results of a Systematic Literature Review conducted on the topic of software tools, editors, and platforms developed in the scientific community for authoring vibrotactile feedback. Given that one finding of our review is the little availability of such contributions, we release VIREO as a free resource on the web for researchers and practitioners to author and integrate vibrotactile feedback in mobile and wearable applications.
An ensemble evolutionary approach in evaluation of surface finish reduction of vibratory finishing process

Purpose – The functioning of multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP) algorithm suffers from the problem of difficulty in model selection. During the preliminary analysis, it is observed that there are many models in the population whose performance is better than that of the model selected with a little compromise on training error. Therefore, an ensemble evolutionary (Ensemble-MGGP) approach is proposed and applied to the data obtained from the vibratory finishing process. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Unlike the standard GP, each model participating in Ensemble-MGGP approach is made by combining the set of genes. Predicted residual sum of squares criterion (PRESS) criterion is integrated to improve its evolutionary search. The parametric analysis and sensitivity analysis (SA) conducted on the proposed model validates its robustness by unveiling dominant input parameters and hidden non-linear relationships. Findings – The results indicate that the proposed Ensemble-M.
Microbial Profiling of Potato-Associated Rhizosphere Bacteria under Bacteriophage Therapy

Potato soft rot and wilt are economically problematic diseases due to the lack of effective bactericides. Bacteriophages have been studied as a novel and environment-friendly alternative to control plant diseases. However, few experiments have been conducted to study the changes in plants and soil microbiomes after bacteriophage therapy. In this study, rhizosphere microbiomes were examined after potatoes were separately infected with three bacteria (Ralstonia solanacearum, Pectobacterium carotovorum, Pectobacterium atrosepticum) and subsequently treated with a single phage or a phage cocktail consisting of three phages each. Results showed that using the phage cocktails had better efficacy in reducing the disease incidence and disease symptoms’ levels when compared to the application of a single phage under greenhouse conditions. At the same time, the rhizosphere microbiota in the soil was affected by the changes in micro-organisms’ richness and counts. In conclusion, the explicit phage mixers have the potential to control plant pathogenic bacteria and cause changes in the rhizosphere bacteria, but not affect the beneficial rhizosphere microbes.
Outcome of endodontic treatments performed by Brazilian undergraduate students: 3- to 8-year follow up

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the success rate of endodontic treatments performed by undergraduate students and the factors associated with the outcome. Materials and Methods A follow-up of 3 to 8 years after root canal filling was carried out in 91 patients. At the follow-up visits, medical and dental history questionnaires were applied along with clinical and radiographic examinations. Data collected in the clinical exam included: the presence of pain, swelling, sinus tract, mobility, tenderness to palpation and percussion, periodontal probing profile, and type/quality of coronal restoration. Postoperative and follow-up radiographs were digitalized and analyzed by 2 trained and calibrated examiners to assess periapical healing. The treatment outcome was based on strict clinical and radiographic criteria and classified as success (absence of any clinical and radiographic sign of apical periodontitis) or failure (other combination). Logistic regression was used to investigate the impact of clinical and radiographic variables on endodontic treatment outcomes at a 5% significance level. Results The success rate of endodontic treatments was 60.7%. The only risk factor significantly associated with failure was the presence of a periapical lesion on the postoperative radiograph (odds ratio, 3.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.17–9.54). Conclusions The success rate of endodontic treatments performed by undergraduate students was low and was jeopardized by the presence of a periapical lesion on the postoperative radiograph.
Control of a far‐red/near‐infrared spectral switch in an artificial fluorescent biliprotein derived from allophycocyanin

The molecular structure of mBDFP, a far‐red fluorescent protein (FPs) derived from an allophycocyanin homolog was resolved to 2.52 Å. Its biliverdin chromophore was found to be attached to the protein in an unusual way that was never observed in natural phycobiliproteins, and only once in a sub‐population of artificial bacteriophytochrome‐derived FPs. One of the biliverdin's vinyl groups had two cysteine residues covalently bound to its two carbon atoms. This reduces the conjugation length of the biliverdin π‐electron system, which shifts the absorption and emission spectra by about 40 nm, from the near‐infrared to the far‐red region of the spectrum. By spectrally characterizing a set of mBDFP mutants, we show that such spectral shifts can be induced by modifying a single residue in either one of two critical positions in the vicinity of the binding cysteines. This changes the reactivity of biliverdin and the cysteine's thiols towards forming one, or two thioether bonds to the vinyl group. The ability to control the spectral properties of BDFP by specific point mutations opens many possibilities for rational design of far‐red and near‐infrared FPs that are of great interest to the development of fluorescence markers for bioimaging since most biological tissues are transparent in this spectral window.
Nebulized Non-Immunogenic Staphylokinase in the Mice Acute Lung Injury Model

Acute lung injury (ALI) as a model of acute respiratory distress syndrome is characterized by inflammation, complex coagulation, and hematologic abnormalities which result in the formation of fibrin-platelet microthrombi in the pulmonary vessels with the rapid development of progressive respiratory dysfunction. We hypothesize that a nebulized fibrinolytic agent, non-immunogenic staphylokinase (nSta), may be useful for ALI therapy. First, the effect of the nebulized nSta (0.2 mg/kg, 1.0 mg/kg, or 2.0 mg/kg) on the coagulogram parameters was studied in healthy rats. ALI was induced in mice by nebulized administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at a dose of 10 mg/kg. nSta (0.2 mg/kg, 0.4 mg/kg or 0.6 mg/kg) was nebulized 30 min, 24 h, and 48 h after LPS administration. The level of pro-inflammatory cytokines was determined in the blood on the 8th day after LPS and nSta administration. The assessment of lung damage was based on their weighing and microscopic analysis. Fibrin/fibrinogen deposition in the lungs was determined by immunohistochemistry. After nSta nebulization in healthy rats, the fibrinogen blood level as well as activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time did not change. In the nebulized ALI model, the mice showed an increase in lung weight due to their edema and rising fibrin deposition. An imbalance of proinflammatory cytokines was also found. Forty percent of mice with ALI without nSta nebulization had died. Nebulized nSta at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg reduced the severity of ALI: a decrease in interstitial edema and inflammatory infiltration was noted. At a dose of 0.4 mg/kg of nebulized nSta, the animals showed no peribronchial edema and the bronchi had an open clear lumen. At a dose of 0.6 mg/kg of nebulized nSta, the manifestations of ALI were completely eliminated. A significant dose-dependent reduction of the fibrin-positive areas in the lungs of mice with ALI was established. Nebulized nSta had a normalizing effect on the proinflammatory cytokines in blood— interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-17A, IL-6, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). These data showed the effectiveness of nebulized nSta and the perspectives of its clinical usage in COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Testing Structuration Theory in E-Government System Assimilation: Mediating Role of Pakistani Cotton Ginners’ Absorption Capacity

Electronic Government (e-government) is a significant and vital application of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable functional relations and communication with key government stakeholders. Governments have launched E-Government system for the basic objective of delivery and transfer of electronic information as well as services to their targeted citizens and for enhancing interaction with businesses and commerce. Therefore, assimilation and integration of E-Government systems in organizations is a strategic need. However, existing literature on E-Government system assimilation and meta-structures of organization (signification, domination, and legitimization) is limited. Therefore, in this paper, based upon structuration theory, we have developed a theoretical model with the aim to investigate the effect of organizational meta-structures of signification, domination, and legitimization on E-Government system assimilation with mediating effect of E-government absorption capacity. To test the proposed model, data collected from 292 ginning firms listed in the Pakistan Cotton Ginning Association (PCGA). The results confirm the direct relation between organizational meta structures and E-Government system assimilation and also support the mediating relationship of E-Government absorption capacity between the E-Government system assimilation and organizational meta structures. Moreover, the theoretical and managerial implications along with limitations and direction for future research also have been discussed in this study.
Creating Better Health Worker - Patient Interaction Using ICT; Design for Applicability and Acceptance

Case studies in three different healthcare settings were carried out to investigate the extent to which a User Centered Design approach (UCD) increases applicability and acceptance of telecare applications. These settings concerned (a) supervisory tasks, (b) domestic support for the disabled, and (c) remote healthcare diagnostics. The qualitative results of all studies were translatable into a direct positive effect on the Performance Expectancy and Effort Expectancy constructs of the UTAUT model, thereby increasing the acceptance of the application by the user. A relationship between a UCD approach and increased acceptance is shown. Better substantiation of these results is subject of on-going research.
Multimodal Pedestrian Trajectory Prediction Based on Relative Interactive Spatial-Temporal Graph

Predicting and understanding pedestrian intentions is crucial for autonomous vehicles and mobile robots to navigate in a crowd. However, the movement of pedestrian is random. Pedestrian trajectory modeling needs to consider not only the past movement of pedestrians, the interaction between different pedestrians, the constraints of static obstacles in the scene, but also multi-modal of the human trajectory, which brings challenges to pedestrian trajectory prediction. Most of the existing trajectory prediction methods only consider the interaction between pedestrians in the scene, ignoring the static obstacles in the scene can also have impacts on the trajectory of pedestrian. In this paper, a scalable relative interactive spatial-temporal graph generation adversarial network architecture (RISTG-GAN) is proposed to generate a reasonable multi-modal prediction trajectory by considering the interaction effects of all agents in the scene. Our method extends recent work on trajectory prediction. First, LSTM nodes are flexibly used to model the spatial-temporal graph of human-environment interactions, and the spatial-temporal graph is converted into feed-forward differentiable feature coding, and the time attention module is proposed to capture the trajectory information in time domain and learn the time dependence in long time range. Then, we capture the relative importance of the interaction of all agents in the scene on the pedestrian trajectory through the improved relative scaled dot product attention and use the generative adversarial network architecture for training to generate reasonable pedestrian future trajectory distribution. Experiments on five commonly used real public datasets show that RISTG-GAN is better than previous work in terms of reasoning speed, accuracy and the rationality of trajectory prediction.
Statistical Reconstruction of 3D Paper Structure Using Simulated Annealing Algorithm Based on 2D Scanning Electron Microscopy Image

ABSTRACT The microstructure of fibrous paper plays an important role in its property investigation. In this study, an approach is proposed to extrapolate a 2D image into a virtual 3D microstructure. Five types of handsheets made of different pulps were prepared. Then, a hybrid function of two-point correlation and lineal-path function (S 2 &L 2) and co-occurrence correlation functions (CCFs) was used in the simulated annealing reconstruction method. Thus, microstructures of two-phase fiber-pore handsheets were reconstructed using 2D scanning electron microscopy images. Finally, penetration simulations and calculations of the absolute permeability of handsheets were conducted. The statistical values of two-point correlation function (S 2) and lineal-path function (L 2) extracted from the reconstructed images were used to characterize the reconstruction accuracy, and the comparisons of reconstruction accuracy and time were made. The study results showed that the 3D microstructures of fibrous handsheets could be reconstructed effectively by S 2 &L 2 and CCFs, identifying with the targets. The accuracies were around 10− 5, and the reconstruction times by CCFs were shortened by 30–60% compared with S 2 &L 2. Moreover, the visual permeability simulation results could reflect the structural difference of handsheets, according to the calculated absolute permeability. These findings provide a guidance for 3D reconstruction of natural fiber paper.
Extended ZVS/ZCS operation of Class-E Inverter for Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer

In this work, a control strategy for a Class-E inverter for Capacitive Wireless Power Transfer (CWPT) application is proposed. The presented approach allows to stabilize the output power regulating the components values of the resonant tank. A matrix of capacitors is used to adjust the values of capacitances and the magnetic design procedure for the variable inductor is proposed. The obtained performances are evaluated through Plecs simulations and compared with the case without a control strategy.