Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation into the Use of a Fourier Based Edge Detection Image Processing Approach for Assessing Cocoa Pod Stem Cut Quality

As the cocoa industry continues to grow, there is an increasing need for greater efficiency and higher levels of quality in all areas. The objective assessment of pod stem cut quality is one such critical area, as it not only directly impacts productivity but wider industry economics. Despite this, and the significance of cut quality in other agricultural applications, there is little done in the area of developing an objective and reliable assessment method. This work proposes, develops and tests a Fourier based image processing approach for assessing cut quality. The proposed Fourier Peak Index (FPI) method is implemented in MATLAB 2013 via a series of algorithms. Further, a windowed FPI (WFPI) is also developed and implemented in the same environment. Both methods are tested using a set of 40 images, comprising of 10 reference images, 15 poor cut images and 15 good cut images. The results obtained showed that the FPI method had a 93% accuracy in categorising good cuts, 60% accuracy in categorising poor cuts and an overall accuracy of approximately 77%. It was particularly noted that poor cuts with long, smooth excess bark material attached to the stems, were poorly categorised by the FPI method. Additionally, the method’s effectiveness was found to be significantly influenced by image lighting, as this determined the amount of data loss during the image binarisation step. Notwithstanding, the WFPI method was found to be effective in categorising the images that were incorrectly categorised by the FPI method. The combined efforts of both methods had the potential to increase detection and categorisation accuracy to a maximum of 97%
Characteristics of Extracellular Vesicles and Preclinical Testing Considerations Prior to Clinical Applications

Cell therapy products have significant limitations, such as storage instability, difficulties with transportation, and toxicity issues such as tumorigenicity and immunogenicity. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from cells show potential for therapeutic agent development. EVs have not been widely examined as investigational drugs, and non-clinical studies for the clinical approval of EV therapeutic agents are challenging. EVs contain various materials, such as DNA, cellular RNA, cytokines, chemokines, and microRNAs, but do not proliferate or divide like cells, thus avoiding safety concerns related to tumorigenicity. However, the constituents of EVs may induce the proliferation of normal cells; therefore, the suitability of vesicles should be verified through non-clinical safety evaluations. In this review, the findings of non-clinical studies on EVs are summarized. We describe non-clinical toxicity studies of EVs, which should be useful for researchers who aim to develop these vesicles into therapeutic agents. A new method for evaluating the immunotoxicity and tumorigenicity of EVs should also be developed.
An efficient column generation heuristic for vehicle routing with multiple use of vehicles for a rental business

Optimization of daily vehicle routes with deliveries and pickups as well as multiple use of vehicles for a rental business is considered. The problem is formulated as a variant of generalized set covering problems in which variables correspond to workdays of vehicles. Two variants of column generation heuristic algorithms are developed: one to obtain near-optimal solutions with moderate amount of CPU time together with the associated lower bound, and the other to get solutions with maximum of 8% GAP within 30 CPU seconds. The speed-up of the algorithm is achieved by approximately solving subproblems which exploits information of optimal dual prices associated with the restricted LP master problem. The column generation heuristic algorithms are applied successfully not only to single-depot problems but also to multi-depot problems.
Excess Identification and Mapping in Engineered Systems

A system must continue to meet stakeholder needs throughout its service life to maintain value. Excess that is embedded into components during the design phase can enable in-service system evolution when new or changed requirements are introduced. However, while the concept of excess has been established in the literature, it is not clear how to identify and quantify the set of excesses in a particular design. This paper uses component properties and functional flow information to map and quantify the excess that exists within a system. Understanding the functional flow relationships between components allows for the bottlenecks at component interfaces to be identified. Those flows that do not limit the potential evolvability of a system can be removed from consideration, allowing for critical interface parameters to be highlighted and their capabilities quantified. The method is demonstrated on a consumer heat gun, where quantifying the excess within components allows for a reduced map to be created with irrelevant flows removed. Finally, changes to the system are explored to demonstrate how knowledge of component excess can be used to initially validate a proposed evolution. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4033884]
Genome-wide DNA hypomethylation drives a more invasive pancreatic cancer phenotype and has predictive occult distant metastasis and prognosis potential

Genome-wide DNA hypomethylation is the most common molecular feature in human cancers associated with chromosomal instability (CIN), which is involved in the mechanisms that regulate pancreatic cancer (PC) metastasis. It was investigated whether genome-wide DNA hypomethylation affects the phenotype in PC via CIN in vitro, and its significance on the biological behavior of PC was verified. The relative demethylation level (RDL) of long interspersed nucleotide element-1 (LINE-1) in human PC cell lines was used to characterize DNA hypomethylation using methylation-specific quantitative (q)PCR. CIN was estimated by changes in chromosomal copy number using comparative genomic hybridization analysis. Abnormal segregation of chromosomes was assessed by immunocytochemistry, and the DNA damage response was evaluated using the number of anti-γH2AX positive cells. Invasion ability was assessed using a Matrigel invasion assay. Clinical specimens from 49 patients with PC who underwent curative surgery were evaluated for a correlation of DNA hypomethylation with clinical outcome. Successful induction of genome-wide DNA hypomethylation in PC cells led to copy number changes in specific chromosomal regions. The number of cells with abnormal segregation of chromosomes significantly increased with the number of anti-γH2AX positive cells. The invasive potential of these cells also significantly increased. The occurrence of occult distant metastasis in the clinical specimens and receiver operating characteristic analysis clearly identified those who were and were not likely to have occult distant metastasis, with high LINE-1 RDL significantly correlated with the presence of occult distant metastasis (P=0.035) and poor prognosis (P=0.048). The significance of genome-wide DNA hypomethylation on the biological behavior of PC, which promotes a more invasive phenotype via CIN in vitro and predicts the susceptibility to occult distant metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with PC was revealed.
High-Precision Composite Control Based on Dual-Sampling-Rate Extended State Observer for Ultra-Low Speed Gimbal Servo System

This article aims to deal with the speed control performance of the gimbal servo system at ultra-low speed to guarantee the accuracy of the output torque of the control moment gyroscope (CMG). The main factors leading to the speed fluctuation of the gimbal servo system are the speed measurement error and disturbance torque. This article proposes a composite controller that consists of the dual-sampling-rate reduced-order extended state observer (DSRESO) and sliding-mode controller (SMC) in the speed loop so as to improve the speed control performance at ultra-low speed. DSRESO is designed to deal with the speed measurement as well as the disturbance estimation in ultra-low speed conditions. Then, the SMC-based DSRESO is applied for speed closed-loop control so as to suppress the speed fluctuation of the gimbal servo system under ultra-low speed and disturbance torque conditions. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme have been verified by the simulations and experiments compared with other methods. Also, the resultant effect is that the speed tracking precision of the gimbal servo system at ultra-low speed is improved significantly.
Papierstruktur in z-Richtung

Two methods are presented for the analysis of the paper structure in z-direction. Sheets are split by laminating slides into several layers, in order to win new information about the paper structure and to analyze these with considerations from sheet forming theories. On the one hand a procedure for the characterisation of the formation in z-direction is described and on the other hand a methodology for the measurement of fibre orientation over the thickness of a paper sheet is presented. Trials on different paper machines show influences of sheet forming on paper structure under different criteria.
The Determinants of Vaccine Literacy in the Italian Population: Results from the Health Literacy Survey 2019

Vaccines are among the most important public health achievements of the last century; however, vaccine awareness and uptake still face significant challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this phenomenon. Vaccine Literacy (VL) is the ability to find, understand and judge immunisation-related information to make appropriate immunisation decisions. A cross-sectional study on a sample of 3500 participants, representative of the Italian adult population aged 18+ years, was conducted in Italy in 2021. A validated questionnaire, including sections on health literacy (HL), sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors, and lifestyles of respondents, was used. VL was measured by four items (item 19, 22, 26 and 29) of the HL section. While 67.6% of the respondents had a “good” (47.5%) or “sufficient” (20.1%) level of VL, 32.4% had “limited” VL levels. Although the overall VL level was quite high, many participants reported difficulties in dealing with vaccination information, particularly those with a lower educational level, those living in southern and insular regions of Italy, those with greater financial deprivation and those with a migration background. Improving VL in Italy should be a top priority in the political agenda, with special regard to socially and geographically disadvantaged communities.
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS INDICATORS FIBER-OPTIC COMMUNICATION LINES USING SPECTRAL TECHNOLOGIES

The fiber-optic communication lines and fiber-optic transmission systems using fiber-optic cable, receiving and transmitting optical modules based on WDM and DWDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing & Dense WDM) technologies are studied. A method for calculating the transmission characteristics fiber-optic communication lines is proposed and relationships are obtained that establish an analytical relationship between the length regeneration section and the transmission rate. This paper discusses the study and analysis indicators fiber-optic communication lines using spectral WDM and DWDM technologies.
Full dynamic model of Golden Gate Bridge

An investigation into the structural systems of the Golden Gate Bridge when subject to dead, live, wind and earthquake loading was carried out using finite element modelling. This investigation was carried out using Strand7 and was verified through analytical calculations. This report begins with a study into the structural elements of the actual bridge which includes a summary of the member and section sizes and dimensions. From this study a finite element model was produced. This report outlines the modelling techniques, element types and analysis solvers used in modelling and analysing the structure. This report then considers the member sizes used in the model and outlines any variations in member sizes required for a successful analysis. Finally, this report discusses this results produces by the analysis and verifies the results through simple hand calculations.
Hospital-Acquired Condition Rate of Admitting Facility Does Not Predict Mortality in Traumatically Injured Patients

Background: Hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) are increasingly scrutinized as markers of hospital quality and are subject to increasing regulatory and financial pressure. Despite this, there is little evidence that HACs are associated with poor outcomes in traumatically injured patients, or that lower HAC rates are a marker of a better quality of care. Our study compares mortality rates in hospitals with high versus low rates of HAC. Our hypothesis is that high HAC trauma centers have higher mortality. Methods: The latest editions of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) containing facility identification keys (2011 to 2015) were combined. The HACs targeted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) were identified. Hospital-acquired conditions per 1000 patient-days were calculated for individual trauma centers, and these facilities were stratified into quartiles by HAC rate. Propensity score matching was used to match patients admitted to hospitals in the highest versus the lowest quartiles. Results: Complete data was available for 3,510,818 patients; 58,296 (1.67%) developed HACs recorded in the NTDB. Good performing centers had a mean of 0.84 HACs per 1000 patient-days compared to 7.82 at poor-performing centers. After propensity matching, patients treated at good performing centers had higher mortality of 1.22% versus 1.02% at poor-performing centers (p<0.001). The facility characteristics most over-represented in the poor performing quartile were: University (45.19% vs 10.59%, p<0.001), American College of Surgeons (ACS) Level I Status (31.85% vs 2.24%, p<0.001), and bed size > 600 (28.15% vs 5.5%, p<0.001). Conclusion: Injured patients treated at poor-performing centers (high HAC) have reduced mortality relative to good performing centers (low HAC). Large academic centers were overwhelmingly represented in the poor-performing quartile. Hospital-acquired conditions may be markers of a non-modifiable underlying patient and facility characteristics rather than markers of poor hospital quality.
Fluorescence of Single Rhodamine Molecules Near the Surface of Gold

Fluorescent properties of single Rhodamine molecules at different distances to the surface of a high‐quality polycrystalline gold film are investigated by the time‐correlated single‐photon counting technique. The fluorescence lifetime and the fluorescence intensity of the dye molecules as a function of their distance to the gold surface are modeled quantitatively by a classical model for a horizontal electric dipole. The analysis shown herein represents a useful tool to model and further to control molecular fluorescence near complex plasmonic structures, where delicate manipulation of fluorescence emission intensity is of paramount importance.
Broadband Dual-Polarized Metal Lens With Theoretically Arbitrarily Variable Focal Diameter Ratio Using 3-D Printing Technology

A wideband dual-polarized metal lens is proposed in this article for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications. Compared with the traditional lens, the focal length of the proposed novel metal lens can be of any value in theory; in other words, the focal diameter ratio (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f/D$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) can be arbitrarily adjusted. The metal 3-D printed technology is used to reduce the fabrication cost. The unit cell of the lens is a square open-ended waveguide. Since the phase velocity of the electromagnetic wave in the metal waveguide is faster than that in the air, the phase compensation can be controlled by adjusting the height of each unit of the lens. It helps to realize the conversion from the quasi-spherical wave of the feed source to the plane wave radiation of the lens. Due to the use of symmetrical elements, the lens can support different dual-polarized radiation (dual-linear polarization and dual-circular polarization). Considering the processing cost and design difficulty, a metal lens with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$9\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> 9 unit cells was processed to verify our design. The <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f/D$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is selected as 1. Simulated results for the lens antenna show a peak aperture efficiency (AE) of 43.8% and 38% for linearly polarized (LP) and circularly polarized (CP) radiation, respectively. The antenna shows a stable pattern and wide 3 dB gain bandwidth (26–40 GHz), which covers the entire Ka-band. The measured results of the lens demonstrate a peak gain of 24 dBi and 23 dBic for LP and CP radiation with an aperture of about <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$7.5\,\,\lambda \times 7.5\,\,\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the free space wavelength at 30 GHz). The proposed lens features a wide gain bandwidth with dual polarization, low cost, and good radiation performance, which is well suited for mm-wave wireless applications.
A New Approach to Fourth-Order Quadrature Signal Generation for a Fast and Noise-Free PLL Output Under Non-Ideal Grid Voltage Conditions

Dual quadrature signal generator (QSG) along with a positive sequence calculator (PSC) eliminates the negative sequence components from unbalanced grid voltages. The QSGs also offer attenuation to harmonics and dc-offset present in the sensed input voltages. Fourth-order QSGs offer superior harmonic attenuation with complete dc-offset rejection compared to lower-order QSGs. Therefore, dual fourth-order QSG + PSC is an apt solution for pre-filtering in phase-locked loops (PLLs) under non-ideal grid voltage conditions. Two fourth-order QSGs (FO-QSGs) namely, second-order SOGI-QSG (SO-SOGI-QSG) and cascaded SOGI-QSG have been proposed in the literature. Parameter selection for these FO-QSGs to achieve a faster dynamic response is challenging due to the higher order of the transfer functions. The response time of the QSGs directly impact the response time of the PLL. This paper proposes a new approach to fourth-order quadrature signal generation that achieves a lower settling time for the QSG compared to existing FO-QSGs. The proposed method achieves a faster response time by setting the QSG parameters using equations that directly relate to the system settling time. Using the proposed method, the QSG settles within 25.4 ms while maintaining a low total harmonic distortion.
A Meshfree Approach for Simulating Fluid Flow in Fractured Porous Media

This paper presents a meshfree approach for simulating fluid flow in fractured porous media using a novel fracture (FM) mapping approach. Fracture mapping is a continuum-based approach which simulates the flow interaction between the porous matrix and existing fractures via a transfer function. The approach simulates fluid flow through both the matrix and the fractures and is well suited to models containing sparsely spaced, unconnected fractures. The presented approach determines the fluid flow using approximating functions constructed employing the radial point interpolation method (RPIM) meshfree formulation which uses radial basis functions (RBFs) augmented with polynomials. As part of this meshfree scheme a nodal integration procedure has been implemented thereby removing the need for background integration cells that are usually required for meshfree schemes that rely on Gaussian integration. Numerical test results illustrate the methods ability to adequately describe the fluid pressure fields within a fractured porous domain
Study of the Influencing Factors of Sichuan Online Consumer Shopping Experience in Purchase Intention

Online shopping would have been viewed as a rapidly developing phenomenon in Sichuan, China. The general perception of the exponential growth of significant suppliers in the industry indicated that e-commerce showed great market demand potential. The convenience of online shopping made it an emerging trend for consumers, especially Sichuan residents. The prevalence of online shopping aroused concern among retailers in this area. The three focuses of this research focused on: exploring the influence mechanism between purchase intention and consumer shopping experience, verifying the types of online purchase attitudes and behaviors, and analyzing the impact of various dimensions of purchase intentions by selecting the online platform.
Univariate Analysis for Rolling Mill Using Artificial Neural Network

behavior of any company is complicated. This work aims at evaluation of financial performance for business specific company. Numerous financial indicators can be tabled; but bear sparing relation to output performance. Several efforts were made by scientists to bind input output parameters. Neural network is similar technique to grip input output binder. It handles any non-linearity with an ease. This work employs Artificial Neural Network based model to estimate profit using four independent parameters for Rolling Mill. The output so obtained has less error, compared to Regression Analysis. Established relation permits to understand detailed intricate behavior of the sector and thereby analyze the criticality of parameters under consideration. It may be useful to Companies, Board Members, Stock Holders, and Entrepreneurs.
Advances in Immunomodulation and Immune Engineering Approaches to Improve Healing of Extremity Wounds

Delayed healing of traumatic wounds often stems from a dysregulated immune response initiated or exacerbated by existing comorbidities, multiple tissue injury or wound contamination. Over decades, approaches towards alleviating wound inflammation have been centered on interventions capable of a collective dampening of various inflammatory factors and/or cells. However, a progressive understanding of immune physiology has rendered deeper knowledge on the dynamic interplay of secreted factors and effector cells following an acute injury. There is a wide body of literature, both in vitro and in vivo, abstracted on the immunomodulatory approaches to control inflammation. Recently, targeted modulation of the immune response via biotechnological approaches and biomaterials has gained attention as a means to restore the pro-healing phenotype and promote tissue regeneration. In order to fully realize the potential of these approaches in traumatic wounds, a critical and nuanced understanding of the relationships between immune dysregulation and healing outcomes is needed. This review provides an insight on paradigm shift towards interventional approaches to control exacerbated immune response following a traumatic injury from an agonistic to a targeted path. We address such a need by (1) providing a targeted discussion of the wound healing processes to assist in the identification of novel therapeutic targets and (2) highlighting emerging technologies and interventions that utilize an immunoengineering-based approach. In addition, we have underscored the importance of immune engineering as an emerging tool to provide precision medicine as an option to modulate acute immune response following a traumatic injury. Finally, an overview is provided on how an intervention can follow through a successful clinical application and regulatory pathway following laboratory and animal model evaluation.