Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Informed Consent in Clinical Studies Involving Human Participants: Ethical Insights of Medical Researchers in Germany and Poland

Background The internationalization of clinical studies requires a shared understanding of the fundamental ethical values guiding clinical studies. It is important that these values are not only embraced at the legal level but also adopted by clinicians themselves during clinical studies. Objective Our goal is to provide an insight on how clinicians in Germany and Poland perceive and identify the different ethical issues regarding informed consent in clinical studies. Methods To gain an understanding of how clinicians view clinical studies in the countries they work in, we carried out semi-structured problem-centered interviews per telephone in Poland (n = 6) and Germany (n = 6). Our interviewees concentrated on three main topics: an appraisal of the normative framework, challenges in the information process and the protection of all participants in clinical studies. Results Clinicians generally supported the normative framework, even though they considered it quite complex. In the two study countries, a widely noted dilemma in the information process was whether to overburden participants with extensive information or risking leaving out important facts. Clinicians were ready to exclude larger population groups from participating in clinical studies when the information process could not be carried out with standard procedures or when their inclusion was ethically sensitive. Conclusion Clinicians need to gain a better understanding of the consequences of excluding larger population groups form participating in clinical studies. They should seek assistance in improving the information process for the inclusion of underrepresented groups in clinical studies.
A Control Strategy for Wireless EV Charging System to Improve Weak Coupling Output Based on Variable Inductor and Capacitor

The double-sided inductor capacitor capacitor topology has been proposed in some national standards for wireless charging systems. However, misalignment between the transmitting and receiving coils usually leads to detuning and weak coupling, resulting in low output power and inefficiency. To improve power output under weak coupling, this article proposes a control method based on the variable inductor and capacitor (VLC). First, it is deduced that the zero phase angle input and full output power can be achieved by VLC regulation under certain misalignment. Second, the variable inductor using an EE-shaped core and pulsewidth modulation controlled capacitor are applied to achieve VLC regulation, and the principles and implementation of VLC are analyzed. Third, as the coupling coefficient k can be identified through the primary electrical parameters, a convenient and accurate coupling coefficient identification method is utilized to help VLC regulation. Finally, a prototype with a 3.3 kW output power and an 87.5% maximum system efficiency (dc–dc) is built to validate the proposed method. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, proving that the output power is almost constant when k varies from 0.08 to 0.18.
Quantifying the extent of local damage of a 60-year-old prestressed concrete bridge: A hybrid SHM approach

The increasing demand for civil infrastructures, the aging of existing assets, and the strengthening of safety and liability laws have led to the inclusion of structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques into the structural management process. With the latest developments in the sensors field and computational power, real-scale SHM systems’ deployment has become logistically and economically feasible. However, it is still challenging to perform a quantitative evaluation of the structural condition based on measured data. The paper addresses recent efforts to associate measured observations with an identification of local stiffness reduction as a global parameter for damage onset and growth. It proposes a hybrid methodology for model updating and damage identification. The proposed methodology is built on data feature extraction using the principal component analysis (PCA), finite element (FE) simulation, and Monte Carlo simulation to quantify the extent of local damage of a 60-year-old prestressed concrete bridge. The methodology allows a sensor-specific quantification of the local stiffness reduction and makes it possible to focus succeeding bridge inspection, recalculation, and repair works on these areas. Even more, the monitoring in combination with the FE model and proposed methodology provides continuous information on developing stiffness reduction and the acuteness of rehabilitation measures.
Pengukuran Kinerja Karyawan Berdasarkan Penerapan Sistem Manajemen Mutu di PT AKAM Kota Sorong Provinsi Papua Barat

Abstrak—Manajemen Mutu Terpadu adalah manajemen fungsional dengan pendekatan yang secara terus menerus difokuskann pada peningkatan kualitas, agar produknya sesuai dengan standar kualitas dari masyarakat yang dilayani dalam pelaksanaan tugas pelayanan umum dan pembangunan masyarakat (Community Development) atau sistem manajemen yang mengangkat kualitas sebagai strategi usaha dan berorientasi pada kepuasan pelanggan dengan melibatkan seluruh anggota organisasi. Sistem manajemen mutu memberikan dorongan positif kepada kinerja karyawan secara terus menerus. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengukur kinerja karyawan berdasarkan penerapan sistem manajemen mutu di PT AKAM Sorong yang akan diukur dari delapan prinsip yaitu kepemimpinan, keterlibatan semua karyawan, pendekatan proses, pendekatan sistem manajemen, perbaikan secara terus menerus, fokus pada pelanggan, pembuatan keputusan berdasarkan fakta, dan hubungan saling menguntungkan dengan pemasok terhadap kinerja karyawan di PT AKAM Sorong. Dengan responden sebanyak 105 karyawan, metode analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi logistik biner. Faktor-faktor sistem manajemen mutu yang berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja karyawan di PT AKAM Sorong adalah kepemimpinan, pendekatan sistem manajemen, dan fokus pada pelanggan.
Tunable nano-pattern generation and photolithography using hybrid Kretschmann and Otto structures

We propose a continuous tuning SPPs interference photolithography using hybrid Kretschmann and Otto structures. The patterns are formed by the interference of two kinds of SPPs excited by Kretschmann structure and Otto structure respectively, and the tuning capability is implemented by changing the angle between the two kinds of SPPs beams and varying the amplitude and phase of corresponding incident beams. Numerical results show the flexibility and convenience in tuning of interference patterns and resolutions with high contrast, both one and two dimension periodic patterns can be generated and tuned easily. This proposed method is possible to develop a new tunable SPPs photolithography technique for fabrication of periodic nanostructures.
Digital-Twin-Enabled IoMT System for Surgical Simulation Using rAC-GAN

A digital-twin (DT)-enabled Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) system for telemedical simulation is developed, systematically integrated with mixed reality (MR), 5G cloud computing, and a generative adversarial network (GAN) to achieve remote lung cancer implementation. Patient-specific data from 90 lung cancer with pulmonary embolism (PE)-positive patients, with 1372 lung cancer control groups, were gathered from Qujing and Dehong, and then transmitted and preprocessed using 5G. A novel robust auxiliary classifier GAN (rAC-GAN)-based intelligent network is employed to facilitate lung cancer with the PE prediction model. To improve the accuracy and immersion during remote surgical implementation, a real-time operating room perspective from the perception layer with a surgical navigation image is projected to the surgeon’s helmet in the application layer using the DT-based MR guide clue with 5G. The accuracies of the area under the curve (AUC) of our new intelligent IoMT system were 0.92 and 0.93. Furthermore, the pathogenic features learned from our rAC-GAN model are highly consistent with the statistical epidemiological results. The proposed intelligent IoMT system generates significant performance improvement to process substantial clinical data at cloud centers and shows a novel framework for remote medical data transfer and deep learning analytics for DT-based surgical implementation.
Does process matter more for predicting trust in government? Participation, performance, and process, in local government in Japan

Trust in government and its antecedents and development remain leading policy and research concerns. Drawing on a broadly representative online survey of 3100 respondents in Japan, we examine measures of trust in three local government actors. We find political participation is not associated with trust in local government, contrary to our expectations. Civic participation is associated with trust in the mayor, but not councillors or administrators. Satisfaction with services provided by local government, and positive perceptions of policy process, are associated with trust, with interactions suggesting process is the stronger antecedent. To develop greater trust in local government, it is important that public sector actors exhibit respect for rights and follow procedure, laws, and regulations, as well as deliver positive outcomes. Points for practitioners Building trust in government remains a key concern for policy makers, as it is related to successful adoption of policies. Trust in local government in Japan is related to perceived performance and citizen satisfaction. Civic participation is also related to some forms of trust in government. However, possibly more important are citizen perceptions that policy processes respect rights, procedures, and laws. To increase trust in government, practitioners need to practice, and show that they practice, good processes in developing and delivering policy, and show that policy leads to better perceived outcomes.
Diaphragm Muscle Function in a Mouse Model of Early Onset Spasticity.

Spasticity is a common symptom in many developmental motor disorders, including spastic cerebral palsy (sCP). In sCP, respiratory dysfunction is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality, yet it is unknown how spasticity influences respiratory physiology or diaphragm muscle (DIAm) function. To investigate the influence of spasticity on DIAm function, we assessed in vivo transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi - measured using intra-esophageal and intragastric pressure catheters under conditions of eupnea, hypoxia/hypercapnia and occlusion) including maximum Pdi (Pdimax via bilateral phrenic nerve stimulation), ex vivo DIAm specific force and fatigue (using muscle strips stimulated with platinum plate electrodes) and type-specific characteristics of DIAm fiber cross-sections (using immunoreactivity against myosin heavy chain slow and 2A) in spa and wildtype mice. Spa mice show reduced Pdimax, reduced DIAm specific force, altered fatigability and atrophy of type IIx/IIb fibers. These findings suggest marked DIAm dysfunction may underlie the respiratory phenotype of sCP.
Laptop Computer Shock and Vibration Characterization in Commuter Bike Packs

Bicycle commuting has seen an increase in popularity over the past decade; with this influx of bicycle commuters, there has developed a need to understand the equipment associated with bicycle commuting. Specifically, the protection that carrying devices provide their contents – notably expensive electronic devices such as laptop computers – has not been well understood. It was hypothesized that a backpack would reduce the forces due to shock and vibration on a laptop computer during a typical bicycle commute by 10% compared to other commercial bicycle commuting packs. An experiment was performed which investigated the relative protection that four common carrying devices a backpack, a courier bag, and two rear-wheel panniers – provided a laptop computer. A 3-axis accelerometer was mounted to a laptop computer and placed inside each carrying device. A second 3-axis accelerometer was mounted to the bicycle frame seat post. Data was collected for three bicycle paths of varying terrain: a smooth, paved road, a rough sidewalk, and several curb drops. Five human subjects were used to test each carrying device on each of the three courses. Results show that the laptop in the backpack experienced the lowest root mean square force over all courses while the laptop in the courier bag experienced the lowest peak force over each course; however, the respective root mean square forces experienced by the laptop in each of the four tested carrying devices over all tests were all within 20% and are well below the force threshold of a laptop computer. Furthermore, transfer function estimations were found for each of the carrying devices and provide further insight into the protection that each carrying device provides. The results of this study indicate that common commuter bike packs provide adequate protection for commuters’ laptops.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound Education During a Pandemic: From Webinar to Progressive Dinner-Style Bedside Learning

Objective: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), traditionally, requires the proximity of learners and educators, making POCUS education challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. We set out to evaluate three alternate approaches to teaching POCUS in UME. Sessions progressed from an online seminar to a remote, interactive simulation to a “progressive dinner” style session, as precautions evolved throughout the pandemic. Methods: This prospective study details a series of three POCUS workshops that were designed to align with prevailing social distancing precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 656 medical students were included. The first and second workshops used web-based conferencing technology with real-time ultrasound imaging, with the second workshop focusing on clinical integration through simulation. As distancing precautions were updated, a novel “progressive dinner” technique was used for the third workshop. Surveys were conducted after each session to obtain feedback on students’ attitudes toward alternative teaching techniques and quantitative and qualitative analyses were used. Results: The initial, remote POCUS workshop was performed for 180 medical students. Ninety-nine (177) percent of students felt the session was “intellectually challenging” and “stimulating. ” Ninety-nine percent of students (340/344), after the second workshop, indicated the session was intellectually challenging, stimulating, and a positive learning experience. Students' ability to correctly identify pathologic images increased post-session evaluation from in-session polling. For workshop three, 99% (107/108) of students indicated that the session was “informative. ” There was a significant improvement in pre- to post-workshop knowledge regarding image acquisition, interpretation, and clinical integration. Conclusion: While image acquisition skills are best conveyed at the bedside, these modified POCUS teaching techniques developed and delivered in alignment with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during a series of three workshops were shown to be effective surrogates for traditional teaching approaches when social distancing requirements, a large learner pool, or lack of local expertise exist.
Risk factors related to obesity in adolescents in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

Objective: to map the scientific evidence linking the risks of developing obesity in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: a scoping review as recom-mended by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The guiding question was as follows: What scientific evidence relates the risks of developing obesity in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic? The searches were carried out in five databases and in another three sources from the gray literature. Thus, 12 studies comprised the final sample. Results: the risk factors related to the development of obesity among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic are physical inactivity in daily living, fragility in psychological care, difficulty in nutritional education, and lack of body and complementary care measures. Conclusion: the risks related to adolescents’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic are modifiable and Nursing plays an essential role for health promotion, disease prevention and encouraging the adoption of healthy habits.
IoT-Based Hybrid Ensemble Machine Learning Model for Efficient Diabetes Mellitus Prediction

Nowadays, there is a growing need for Internet of Things (IoT)-based mobile healthcare applications that help to predict diseases. In recent years, several people have been diagnosed with diabetes, and according to World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes affects 346 million individuals worldwide. Therefore, we propose a noninvasive self-care system based on the IoT and machine learning (ML) that analyses blood sugar and other key indicators to predict diabetes early. The main purpose of this work is to develop enhanced diabetes management applications which help in patient monitoring and technology-assisted decision-making. The proposed hybrid ensemble ML model predicts diabetes mellitus by combining both bagging and boosting methods. An online IoT-based application and offline questionnaire with 15 questions about health, family history, and lifestyle were used to recruit a total of 10221 people for the study. For both datasets, the experimental findings suggest that our proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art techniques.
O genoma da alga vermelha Gracilaria domingensis (Rhodophyta, Gracilariales)

The multicellular red alga Gracilaria domingensis can be found along all of the Brazillian coast, and shows a large potencial for cultivation and exploration for the extraction of compounds of industrial interest. Furthermore, red algae, which make up the Rhodophyta phylum, are a group with an important role in the evolutionary history of multicellularity and photosynthesis, as well as in the maintenance of marine ecosystems. However, there are still few Rhodophyta genomes published. To obtain and describe a novel genome is a great step to clarify its metabolical potential and evolutionary relationships, in addition to serving as a basis for further analytical and experimental studies. In this work, the genome of Gracilaria domingensis was obtained through the assembly and automatic annotation with computational methods, from its sequencing by PacBio platform. The sequencing of Gracilaria domingensis produced 6,011,680 long reads, resulting in the assembly of 3,332 contigs, and a total of 212 Mbp. After assembly, followed the process of in silico decontamination, resulting in a clean assembly of 78 Mbp, distributed in 684 scaffolds, with an N50 of 180,332 bp. The structural and functional annotation of genes was performed with the use of various softwares and public databases. We identified 11,437 protein coding genes, of which 38% (4,075) did not have matches in the NCBI-nr sequence database, suggesting them to be potential novel proteins. In addition to the automatic annotation, we identified genes related to important biological processes and biosynthesis of metabolites of industrial interest, from only the in silico annotation of the genome, through BLAST searchs. The results from the assembly and structural and functional annotation were compared to the ones from the other published Rhodophyta genomes, which were reannotated in this work with the same methodology, in the attempt to avoid methodological biases that could impact the comparative analysis.
Detecting Potentially Adaptive Mutations from the Parallel and Fixed Patterns in SARS-CoV-2 Evolution

Early identification of adaptive mutations could provide timely help for the control and prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fast accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data provides important support, while also raising a great challenge for the recognition of adaptive mutations. Here, we proposed a computational strategy to detect potentially adaptive mutations from their fixed and parallel patterns in the phylogenetic trajectory. We found that the biological meanings of fixed substitution and parallel mutation are highly complementary, and can reasonably be integrated as a fixed and parallel (paraFix) mutation, to identify potentially adaptive mutations. Tracking the dynamic evolution of SARS-CoV-2, 37 sites in spike protein were identified as having experienced paraFix mutations. Interestingly, 70% (26/37) of them have already been experimentally confirmed as adaptive mutations. Moreover, most of the mutations could be inferred as paraFix mutations one month earlier than when they became regionally dominant. Overall, we believe that the concept of paraFix mutations will help researchers to identify potentially adaptive mutations quickly and accurately, which will provide invaluable clues for disease control and prevention.
Anti‐inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of Lactobacillus spp. as a preservative and therapeutic agent for IBD control

Probiotics have a beneficial effect on inflammatory responses and immune regulation, via Janus kinase/signal transduction and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) and NF‐κB signaling pathways. To evaluate the precise effects of Lactobacillus spp. as a protective and therapeutic agent, we aimed to investigate the efficacy of Lactobacillus spp. in modulating JAK/STAT and nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) inflammatory signaling pathways.
Development of Indian Coin based automatic shoe Polishing Machine using Raspberry pi with Open CV

: Aimed at challenging the drawbacks of conventional shoe polishing machine operations, a new automatic shoe polishing machine system is designed for performing polishing work instead of manual legs oscillation that is characteristic of low safety, low efficiency, long time and body stress problems. In this system proposed to design an automatic shoe polishing machine with portable coin box using Raspberry pi with open source computer vision library (openCV) as this image processing library tool has more advantages compared to the previous one used in the machine. The automated system replaced the single or specific coin system by denomination Indian coins like one rupee, two rupees, five rupees, ten rupees. When a put the coin into the coin box after that coin recognized by open CV with Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) keypoint detector and Fast Library for Approximate Nearest Neighbor (FLANN) keypoints matcher algorithm which detects the coin and instructs to the raspberry pi board also control the polishing facilities. This system can be located at stations for Airports, Hospitals, and Bus stands. Further, located at institutions and industrials.