Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effectiveness of an Integrated Treatment for Functional Speech Sound Disorders—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The treatment of functional speech sound disorders (SSDs) in children is often lengthy, ill-defined, and without satisfactory evidence of success; effectiveness studies on SSDs are rare. This randomized controlled trial evaluates the effectiveness of the integrated SSD treatment program PhonoSens, which focuses on integrating phonological and phonetic processing according to the Integrated Psycholinguistic Model of Speech Processing (IPMSP). Methods: Thirty-two German-speaking children aged from 3.5 to 5.5 years (median 4.6) with functional SSD were randomly assigned to a treatment or a wait-list control group with 16 children each. All children in the treatment group and, after an average waiting period of 6 months, 12 children in the control group underwent PhonoSens treatment. Results: The treatment group showed more percent correct consonants (PCC) and a greater reduction in phonological processes after 15 therapy sessions than the wait-list control group, both with large effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.89 and 1.04). All 28 children treated achieved normal phonological abilities: 21 before entering school and 7 during first grade. The average number of treatment sessions was 28; the average treatment duration was 11.5 months. Conclusion: IPMSP-aligned therapy is effective in the treatment of SSD and is well adaptable for languages other than German.
Synthesis of layered vs planar Mo2C: role of Mo diffusion

Chemical vapor deposition growth of metal carbides is of great interest as this method provides large area growth of MXenes. This growth is mainly done using a melted diffusion based process; however, different morphologies in growth process is not well understood. In this work, we report deterministic synthesis of layered (non-uniform c-axis growth) and planar (uniform c-axis growth) of molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) using a diffusion-mediated growth. Mo-diffusion limited growth mechanism is proposed where the competition between Mo and C adatoms determines the morphology of grown crystals. Difference in thickness of catalyst at the edge and center lead to enhanced Mo diffusion which plays a vital role in determining the structure of Mo2C. The layered structures exhibit an expansion in the lattice confirmed by the presence of strain. Density functional theory shows consistent presence of strain which is dependent upon Mo diffusion during growth. This work demonstrates the importance of precise control of diffusion through the catalyst in determining the structure of Mo2C and contributes to broader understanding of metal diffusion in growth of MXenes.
Global challenges of students dropout: A prediction model development using machine learning algorithms on higher education datasets

Research background: In this era of globalization, data growth in research and educational communities have shown an increase in analysis accuracy, benefits dropout detection, academic status prediction, and trend analysis. However, the analysis accuracy is low when the quality of educational data is incomplete. Moreover, the current approaches on dropout prediction cannot utilize available sources. Purpose of the article: This article aims to develop a prediction model for students’ dropout prediction using machine learning techniques. Methods: The study used machine learning methods to identify early dropouts of students during their study. The performance of different machine learning methods was evaluated using accuracy, precision, support, and f-score methods. The algorithm that best suits the datasets for these performance measurements was used to create the best prediction model. Findings & value added: This study contributes to tackling the current global challenges of student dropouts from their study. The developed prediction model allows higher education institutions to target students who are likely to dropout and intervene timely to improve retention rates and quality of education. It can also help the institutions to plan resources in advance for the coming academic semester and allocate it appropriately. Generally, the learning analytics prediction model would allow higher education institutions to target students who are likely to dropout and intervene timely to improve retention rates and quality of education.
Optimal Adaptive Magnetic Suspension Control of Rotary Impeller for Artificial Heart Pump

Abstract This study presents the development of adaptive control algorithm based on backstepping methodology for magnetic suspension of rotating impeller for artificial heart pump subjected to external disturbance. The magnetic bearing system for pump impeller consists of two pairs of magnetic coils, one pair at each end of the impeller. These coils are injected by the required control currents to produce the necessary magnetic field for correctly suspending the axial motions of impeller in both horizontal and vertical planes. The adaptive backstepping control algorithm has been established by following a rigorous Lyapunov-based stability analysis, to prove the asymptotic convergence of errors in the presence of unknown external uncertainty. The setting of design parameters for the adaptive controller is another issue which has been solved by suggesting particle swarm optimization to tune the design parameters of adaptive controller toward optimal performance. The computer simulation showed that the optimal adaptive controller could successfully and quickly suspend the impeller for both regulation and tracking scenarios irrespective to all initial deviations of rotating shaft under exerted disturbance. Also, the developed adaptive laws of proposed adaptive controller could estimate the uncertainty without drift, which ensures the asymptotic convergence of errors.
Vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern protects mice from challenge with wild-type virus

Vaccines against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been highly efficient in protecting against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the emergence of viral variants that are more transmissible and, in some cases, escape from neutralizing antibody responses has raised concerns. Here, we evaluated recombinant protein spike antigens derived from wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and from variants B.1. 1.7, B.1. 351, and P.1 for their immunogenicity and protective effect in vivo against challenge with wild-type SARS-CoV-2 in the mouse model. All proteins induced high neutralizing antibodies against the respective viruses but also induced high cross-neutralizing antibody responses. The decline in neutralizing titers between variants was moderate, with B.1. 1.7-vaccinated animals having a maximum fold reduction of 4.8 against B.1. 351 virus. P.1 induced the most cross-reactive antibody responses but was also the least immunogenic in terms of homologous neutralization titers. However, all antigens protected from challenge with wild-type SARS-CoV-2 in a mouse model.
Proportional-integral Control for SEPIC Converter

The object of this study is to design and analyze a Proportional-Integral (PI) control for SEPIC, which is the start-of-the-art DC-DC converter. The single Ended Primary Inductor converter performs the voltage conversion from positive source voltage to positive load voltage. This study proposes a development of PI control capable of providing the good static and dynamic performance compared to Proportional-Integral Derivative (PID) controller. Using state space average method derives the dynamic equations describing the SEPIC converter and PI control is designed. The simulation model of the SEPIC converter with its control circuit is implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The PI control for SEPIC is tested for transient region, line changes, load changes, steady state region and also for components variations.
Association of APOE ɛ4 and Plasma p-tau181 with Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease and Longitudinal Change in Hippocampus Function

Background: The Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele has been linked to increased tau phosphorylation and tangle formation. APOE ɛ4 carriers with elevated tau might be at the higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression. Previous studies showed that tau pathology begins early in areas of the medial temporal lobe. Similarly, APOE ɛ4 carriers showed altered hippocampal functional integrity. However, it remains unknown whether the influence of elevated tau accumulation on hippocampal functional changes would be more pronounced for APOE ɛ4 carriers. Objective: We related ɛ4 carriage to levels of plasma phosphorylated tau (p-tau181) up to 15 years prior to AD onset. Furthermore, elevated p-tau181 was explored in relation to longitudinal changes in hippocampal function and connectivity. Methods: Plasma p-tau181 was analyzed in 142 clinically defined AD cases and 126 matched controls. The longitudinal analysis involved 87 non-demented individuals (from population-based study) with two waves of plasma samples and three waves of functional magnetic resonance imaging during rest and memory encoding. Results: Increased p-tau181 was observed for both ɛ4 carriers and non-carriers close to AD onset, but exclusively for ɛ4 carriers in the early preclinical groups (7- and 13-years pre-AD). In ɛ4 carriers, longitudinal p-tau181 increase was paralleled by elevated local hippocampal connectivity at rest and subsequent reduction of hippocampus encoding-related activity. Conclusion: Our findings support an association of APOE ɛ4 and p-tau181 with preclinical AD and hippocampus functioning.
Design of Nonlinear Controllers for Active Vehicle Suspensions Using Parameter-Varying Control Synthesis

Nonlinear suspension controllers have the potential to achieve superior performance compared to their linear counterparts. A nonlinear controller can focus on maximizing passenger comfort when the suspension deflection is small compared to its structural limit. As the deflection limit is approached, the controller can shift focus to prevent the suspension deflection from exceeding this limit. This results in superior ride quality over the range of road surfaces, as well as reduced wear of suspension components. This paper presents a novel approach to the design of such nonlinear controllers, based on linear parameter-varying control techniques. Parameter-dependent weighting functions are used to design active suspensions that stiffen as the suspension limits are reached. The controllers use only suspension deflection as a feedback signal. The proposed framework easily extends to the more general case where all the three main performance metrics, i.e., passenger comfort, suspension travel and road holding are considered, and to the design of road adaptive suspensions.
Analysis for Impacts of Detection Error Rates on Optimal Decisions of Closed-Loop Logistics Network

In the closed-loop logistics network, in order to ensure the reusing degree of the collected used-products, its needed to test and evaluate the used-products that are waiting for being collected. This will inevitably appear errors of the status inspection, thus affecting the optimal values of the closed-loop logistics network. In this paper, a closed-loop logistics network planning model with detection errors is established, and the impacts of the detection error rates on the optimal solution of the logistics network have been analyzed.
The emerging field of health engineering

Background: Health has grown in importance in recent years to maintain ‘healthy’ systems in optimum conditions. Objective: The goals of this article are to introduce the emerging field of health engineering, to examine its roots, to establish a framework for the inter-disciplinary studies of health engineering and to propose a blueprint for health engineering education and research. An additional goal is to propose a framework for the design and analysis of field studies as to demonstrate the versatility of field study designs and applications within the context of the proposed framework. Methods: An electronic search of databases was conducted to survey the concept of health engineering and its related topics. Results: The findings suggest that the field of health engineering has been practiced in fragmented fashion in isolated (not inter-disciplinary) disciplines. A global definition of HE was provided and it was distinguished from other related fields that are narrower in scope. A framework was established for inter-disciplinary studies on HE research and education. The proposed curriculum consisted of five elements on the basis of the Drexel E4 innovative model for undergraduate engineering education: (1) mathematical and scientific foundations; (2) HE fundamentals; (3) HE laboratory; (4) professional practice and personal enrichment; and (5) specialized knowledge. Finally, the ‘Define–Measure–Analyse–Improve–Control’ framework of the Six-Sigma methodology was proposed as a guide to researchers and practitioners concerned with designing and analysing field studies aiming at the identification, improvement and maintenance of the health or well-being of individuals. Concluding remarks: Future efforts should concentrate on defining the scope of the emerging field of HE for the different stakeholders.
Roughness Amplitude Reduction Under Non-Newtonian EHD Lubrication Conditions

Over the last decade, the operating conditions of the Elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) contact have become increasingly severe. Consequently, the average film thickness decreased and became comparable to the surface roughness. Under those conditions, the surface features can reduce the minimum film thickness and can thus increase wear. They can also increase the temperature and the pressure fluctuations, which directly affect the component life. In order to describe the roughness geometry inside an EHL contact, the amplitude reduction of harmonic waviness has been studied over the last decade. This theory currently allows a quantitative prediction of the waviness amplitude and includes the influence of wavelength and contact operating conditions. However, the model assumes a Newtonian behavior of the lubricant. The current paper contributes to the extension of the roughness amplitude reduction for EHL point contacts including non-Newtonian effects. A generalized model is derived that includes both types of behavior.
Associations of Serum Magnesium with Brain Morphology and Subclinical Cerebrovascular Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Neurocognitive Study

Circulating magnesium has been associated with a lower risk of dementia, but the physiologic effects by which magnesium may prevent neurological insults remain unclear. We studied 1466 individuals (mean age 76.2 ± 5.3, 28.8% black, 60.1% female) free of prevalent stroke, with measured serum magnesium and with available MRI scans obtained in 2011–2013, participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study (ARIC-NCS). Cross-sectional differences in frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobe volume, along with deep grey matter, total brain, and white matter hyperintensity volume across serum magnesium (categorized into quintiles and per standard deviation increases) were assessed using multiple linear regression. We also examined associations of magnesium with the prevalence of cortical, subcortical, and lacunar infarcts using multiple logistic regression. After adjusting for demographics, biomarkers, medications, and cardiometabolic risk factors, higher circulating magnesium was associated with greater total brain volume and frontal, temporal, and parietal lobe volumes (volumes 0.14 to 0.19 standard deviations higher comparing Q5 to Q1). Elevated magnesium was also associated with lower odds of subcortical infarcts (OR (95%CI): 0.44 (0.25, 0.77) comparing Q5 to Q1) and lacunar infarcts (OR (95%CI): 0.40 (0.22, 0.71) comparing Q5 to Q1). Elevated serum magnesium was cross-sectionally associated with greater brain volumes and lower odds of subclinical cerebrovascular disease, suggesting beneficial effects on pathways related to neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular damage. Further exploration through prospective analyses is needed to assess increasing circulating magnesium as a potential neuroprotective intervention.
On Gate Level Power Optimization Using

In this paper, we present an approach for applying two supply voltages to optimize power in CMOS digital circuits under the timing constraints. Given a technology-mapped net- work, we first analyze the power/delay model and the timing slack distribution in the network. Then a new strategy is developed for timing-constrained optimization issues by making full use of slacks. Based on this strategy, the power reduction is translated into the polynomial-time-solvable maximal-weighted-indepen- dent-set problem on transitive graphs. Since different supply voltages used in the circuit lead to totally different power con- sumption, we propose a fast heuristic approach to predict the optimum dual-supply voltages by looking at the lower bound of power consumption in the given circuit. To deal with the possible power penalty due to the level converters at the interface of different supply voltages, we use a "constrained F-M" algorithm to minimize the number of level converters. We have implemented our approach under SIS environment. Experiment shows that the resulting lower bound of power is tight for most circuits and that the predicted "optimum" supply voltages are exactly or very close to the best choice of actual ones. The total power saving of up to 26% (average of about 20%) is achieved without degrading the circuit performance, compared to the average power improve- ment of about 7% by gate sizing technique based on a standard cell library. Our technique provides the power-delay tradeoff by specifying different timing constraints in circuits for power optimization.
Characteristics of the Cervicovaginal Microenvironment in Childbearing-Age Women with Different Degrees of Cervical Lesions and HR-HPV Positivity

Abstract Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is the most important determinate in the development of cervical cancer, and cervical microecology can modulate cervical viral infection. However, few studies have been conducted on the microecological analysis of cervical diseases using strict physiological factors. This study investigated the characteristics and dynamics of cervical microecology in childbearing-age Chinese women with different degrees of HR-HPV-positive cervical lesions. A total of 168 subjects were selected according to the selection criteria, including healthy HPV-negative individuals (n = 29), HR-HPV-infected individuals (n = 29), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion individuals (LSIL, n = 32), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion individuals (HSIL, n = 40), and cervical cancer individuals (n = 38). We sampled cervical secretions from each subject and performed comparative analysis using the 16S rRNA sequencing method. Comparison analysis showed that Lactobacillus and Ignatzschineria were the dominant genera in the healthy group, while Gardnerella and Prevotella were more enriched in the disease groups. Based on the taxa composition, we roughly divided the development of cervical cancer into two phases: phase I was from healthy status to HR-HPV infection and LSIL; phase II was from LSIL to HSIL and cervical cancer. Different interactions among different genera were observed in different groups. Prevotella inhibited the abundance of Lactobacillus in the healthy group, while Prevotella inhabited the abundance of Gardnerella in the other groups. In the HR-HPV infection group, Ignatzschineria and Enterococcus showed a positive interaction but dissociated with the increase in cervical lesions, which might eventually lead to a continuous decrease in the abundances of Lactobacillus and Ignatzschineria.
Spatial variability of annual and monthly Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) over India

In this study, meteorological data for well distributed 140 locations in India for the period (1971-2005) have been utilized for estimation of potential evapotranspiration (PET) by Penman-Monteith equation. The highest average annual PET of 2342 mm was at Jalgaon and lowest of 921 mm at Ging. Range of average annual PET is 1421 mm. The mean annual PET averaged for all stations over India is 1547 mm with 12% contribution in winter, 34% in pre-monsoon, 35% in monsoon and 19% in post-monsoon seasons. The lowest centers with annual PET less than 1400 mm are mainly located above 30 degree N latitude. The high centers with annual PET more than 1800 mm are located in desert area and central India, with lowest values at hill stations during most of the months. The higher monthly PET values in excess of 200 mm are normally observed during pre-monsoon and monsoon over western and Central India. As the monsoon advances, the PET values over western India decrease gradually. The lower PET values are observed during winter and post-monsoon season. The lowest mean monthly PET of 82.1 mm is in December and highest mean monthly PET of 199.6 mm is in May. Mean annual and monthly PET over (2° × 2°) latitude/longitude grids have been developed and presented.
Response of nuclear materials in storage and transport to malevolent environments

Abstract Work related to the assessment of radiological health consequences resulting from a sabotage attack on nuclear fuel storage or transport casks has been continuing since the late 1970s. While the level of effort in this area has been uneven over these three decades due to policy priorities, funding levels and programmatic priorities of the countries funding this type of work, substantial progress has been made. From phenomenology of in cask transport processes to development of aerosol production in high energy attack environments, the analytical and experimental work performed provides substantial justification to consequence assessments that heretofore have had to rely on conservative assumptions in lieu of empirical data. One constant since the late 1990s in addressing this problem has been an international working group whose primary focus has been to develop source term data from experimental simulations of sabotage types of attacks. This working group, titled the International Working Group for Sabotage Concerns of Transport and Storage Casks (WGSTSC) is comprised of experts mainly from the USA, France and Germany. Technical support has also been provided, on an intermittent basis, from the UK and Japan. The WGSTSC has pooled resources and expertise to design and conduct experiments to produce the data needed to perform radiological consequence assessments. In addition to the experimental programme, this group also has coupled modern analytical techniques with experimental results to understand the effects of high energy density devices on nuclear materials. This paper reviews the paradigm that has guided the WGSTSC effort and shows how the results from the experimental programmes of the past three decades have brought us to the current level of understanding of the potential consequences from a malevolent attack on nuclear transport and storage facilities. In addition, the paper provides an update on the status of the work of the WGSTSC and describes what additional experimental and analytical efforts would be most productive in further narrowing of uncertainty in consequence prediction.