Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk Assessment of Magnesium in Food Supplements

This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. The opinion has been assessed and approved by the Panel on Nutrition, Dietetic Products, Novel Food and Allergy of VKM. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. ABSTRACT The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (Vitenskapskomiteen for mattrygghet, VKM) and supplements. Almost the same percentage was below the recommended intakes among 9-year-old children, while approximately 70% of 13-year-olds had an intake of magnesium below the recommendations. It should be noted that the intakes have been estimated with use of different dietary survey methods for the different age categories and a comparison of estimates across age groups can be misleading and has a high degree of uncertainty. Concentration of magnesium in water is low and about 60% of the waterworks reporting to the Norwegian Waterworks Registry had a magnesium concentration below 2 mg/L, indicating water as a negligible source of magnesium for the majority of the population.
Digital Implementation via FPGA of Controllers for Active Control of Ground Vehicles

This paper studies the implementation issues of a discrete-time super-twisting controller on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). It is shown how it is possible to enhance this implementation using a pipelining technique. The controller is designed on the basis of a discrete-time vehicle model recently presented. The super-twisting algorithm ensures some robustness properties in the presence of unknown bounded perturbations. It is shown that the pipelined implementation of the super-twisting controller on an FPGA allows lower execution times, and hence, smaller sampling times than its naive implementation. Therefore, the pipelining technique allows the implementation of more sophisticated controllers for vehicle control. Moreover, it is shown that the power consumption of the pipelined control algorithm is lower than a conventional one, which is an important aspect for onboard automobile systems. Since the pipelined implementation of the controller requires shorter times, even if the controller performance is similar to that of the no-pipelined one, the use of pipelining techniques allows the consideration of cheaper FPGAs with less performance. Such results show that the FPGA technology, along with methodological solutions for optimal controller implementation, represents an appealing alternative to electronic control units.
Towards automated conceptual design space exploration

In mature and safety-concerned industries, such as the aerospace industry, product development is often incremental and design solutions are limited to improvements of an existing design. Radical changes to the known product architecture are avoided, for reasons of reliability, lack of technology or lack of design space exploration (DSE) methods. This thesis aims to investigate into the challenges for DSE, and how it can be improved to be faster, wider and more systematic. This research has been undertaken in four different research projects, addressing the challenges of the aerospace industry. The process of exploring the design space, the set of all possible designs, can be divided into three phases: to define the design space boundaries, to populate this design space with concepts, and lastly, to analyse the different concepts to find the one which provides the highest value. A deficiency in the description of functions and constraints which constitute the design space dimensions and boundaries, rooted in the lack of methods, has been identified to reduce the available search space already in the beginning. To populate this search space, developers need to generate representations of their new designs. These representations, commonly 3D geometries in the form of CAD models, are too rigid in the form they are used today. Therefore, it is expensive to create many variants, which differ in solutions and shape. This reduces the design space population to only a few concepts, derived from the legacy design. The analysis of alternative concepts is challenged through different maturities and variety of concepts. The coverage of multiple hierarchical search spaces, from geometry over solutions to value, has been identified as a driver for wider DSE. Furthermore, the need for a product development approach that is capable to bridge the levels of modelling abstraction. Enhanced Function-Means (EF-M) modelling, a function model applied in all studies referenced in this thesis, bridges the abstraction from a verbal description to a teleological graph, while enabling a more systematic capture of the design space boundaries. However, a subsequent gap towards geometry models could be observed in all studies. This hindered a faster design space exploration, since extensive manual labour is required to bridge these abstraction levels. For further work, the closing of the abstraction gap in the product modelling methods is seen as the primary goal for further work, either by extending the already applied function- and geometry modelling methods, or by including other frameworks.
TA : Deteksi dan Tracking Obyek Berbentuk Bola Menggunakan Kalman Filter

Object tracking merupakan suatu proses pelacakan dan pendeteksian suatu obyek tertentu. Pengenalan obyek sangat penting pada object tracking, karena dalam pelacakan dan pendeteksian terdapat berbagai macam bentuk obyek. Pada Tugas Akhir ini obyek yang digunakan adalah bola tenis. Proses pendeteksian dan pelacakan obyek menggunakan metode gabungan, yaitu Hough Transform dengan HSV (Hue, Saturaton, Value) dan Kalman Filter. Ketika kamera mendeteksi adanya obyek tersebut, maka kamera akan melakukan tracking terhadap obyek tersebut. Pengaruh perpindahan posisi terhadap nilai pengukuran dan estimasi yang dihasilkan Kalman Filter menghasilkan rata-rata error pengukuran untuk koordinat x dan y sebesar 14,08 pixel dan 7,17 pixel, dengan nilai standar deviasi sebesar 14,24 pixel dan 9,94 pixel. Sedangkan rata-rata error estimasi untuk koordinat x dan y sebesar 15,85 pixel dan 8,09 pixel, dengan nilai standar deviasi 16,08 pixel dan 10,27 pixel. Setiap perubahan posisi gerakan obyek menyebabkan perubahan nilai koordinat x dan y, baik nilai real, pengukuran dan estimasi. Hal ini mempengaruhi posisi titik tengah dalam matriks (i, j) sebelum dan sesudah pergerakan obyek.
Ultrasound Characteristics of the Nutcracker Syndrome

The article presents the results of color Doppler ultrasonography of the left renal vein and gonadal vein with the determination of the peak systolic velocity of blood flow and abnormal blood reflux in patients with left-sided varicocele. The objective of the research was to compare preoperative ultrasound characteristics of the left renal vein, left gonadal vein, peak systolic velocity of blood flow and the presence of abnormal blood reflux, the formation of ultrasound criteria for the selection of patients for surgical correction of phlebohypertension. Results. Ultrasound signs of aorta mesenteric compression were absent in 24 (24.5%) patients; the signs of aorta mesenteric compression without critical left renal vein stenosis were observed in 64 (65.3%) patients; critical stenosis of the left renal vein was diagnosed in 10 (10.2 %) patients. The patients with critical stenosis of the left renal vein underwent left renal vein transposition. Conclusions. Ivanissevich surgery with prognostically low risk of relapse is recommended for the patients with left-sided varicocele without any signs of aorta mesenteric compression. Patients with the signs of aorta mesenteric compression require clear determination of the degree of left renal vein stenosis. We consider the transposition of the left renal vein to be indicated in case of critical stenosis when the correlation of the diameters of the distal and proximal segments of the left renal vein is ≥ 3 and the ratio of peak systolic velocities in the proximal and distal segments is ≥ 6. Thus, the diagnosis of phleborenohypertension in the patients with varicocele by means of color Doppler ultrasonography with the determination of blood flow velocity indicators in the left renal vein circulation and the determination of the critical stenosis of the left renal vein is decisive in choosing the surgical method of treatment. This provides an opportunity to evaluate the cause of varicocele occurrence and choose the optimal method of surgical treatment.
High Performance Three Level ANPC Inverter with Thermal Balancing PWM Strategy for Grid Connected PV System

This paper proposes a high performance grid connected Photovoltaic (PV) system based on a three-phase transformerless three level Active Neutral Point Clamped (3L-ANPC) inverter. The ANPC is one of the derived topologies from the Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) one, which is widely used for transformerless grid connected PV applications thanks to its inherent advantages such as: reduced voltage stress on its power switches, reduced output current THD, low , high efficiency, and loss and heat balancing capability. The 3L ANPC topology has mainly been proposed to overcome the NPC major issue of unbalanced loss and temperature distribution among its power devices. Furthermore, the modulation strategy is a key issue for loss and temperature balancing inside the ANPC topology. In this paper, the 3L-ANPC PV inverter is controlled by a Thermal Balancing PWM (ThB-PWM) strategy. This strategy allows an efficient balance of the loss and temperature distribution inside the inverter and a reduced total dissipated losses when compared with the conventional PWM strategies. The effectiveness of the proposed grid connected PV system based on a 6.37 kW 3L-ANPC inverter controlled by the ThB-PWM strategy is proven through simulation tests performed on PSIM simulator.
Effectiveness of Peyton’s four-step approach on nursing students’ performance in skill-lab training

Objective: Conveying technical skills to students requires certain techniques and approaches. Peyton’s four-step approach is a model that is becoming increasingly prevalent in medical education. This study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of Peyton’s four-step approach on nursing students’ outcome in skill-lab training.Methods: The current study was conducted at Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University. A total of 80 students completed the study. The subjects were divided into two groups: Group (I) the intervention group composed of 40 students; 20 students from first level and 20 students from fourth level who received Peyton’s four-step approach. Group (II) included 40 students considered as a control group composed of 20 students from first level and 20 students from fourth level who received the traditional method of lab training in our faculty. Two procedures were selected to be taught to the students; Intramuscular injection for first level students and arterial puncture for fourth level students.Results: The studied groups significantly exceeded the control group in performance scoring in both intramuscular injection and arterial puncture procedures. The results of the current study also revealed that fourth level students show more acceptances and learning through Peyton’s four-step approach than those of first level students.Conclusions: In the light of the results of our study, we can emphasize that the use of Peyton's four-step approach as a model for teaching practical skills was helpful as reported by nursing students especially for fourth level students.
Clinical Considerations of High Sensitivity Troponins and CVD

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 1. Describe high-sensitivity troponin clinical utility in the primary diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS)/ acute myocardial infarction in conjunction with other clinical data2. Explain the use of high-sensitivity troponin in risk stratification of patients with ACS in terms of outcomes, adverse events, and mortality3. Discuss other clinical scenarios that lead to elevation of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin levels. ABSTRACT Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the number one cause of death in the United States (US). According to the American Heart Association, it causes roughly 2300 deaths per day, and one death about every 38 seconds. The introduction and generalized use of high-sensitivity cardiac troponins (hs-cTn) has the potential to improve diagnosis, which would allow for shorter times to reperfusion and better patient outcomes. Emergency departments in the US have established evidence-based protocols that aid providers in ruling out acute coronary syndrome or acute myocardial infarction. These protocols currently use traditional troponin assays, but are validated using high-sensitivity troponin assays. With the advent of high-sensitivity troponin assays, however, clinicians must have care in their interpretation. The myonecrosis that leads to elevations in serum troponins is not a disease-specific phenomenon, but rather is organ-specific. As such, several diseases exist other than acute myocardial infarction (AMI) that can lead to troponin elevations. It is important for providers to use these biomarkers as an adjunct to the clinical picture to determine diagnosis, management, and treatment. High-sensitivity troponin assays are also being studied to evaluate risk stratification and prognosis for CVD disorders such as procedural outcomes, transplant recipients, and chronic stable angina. The data shows mixed results in terms of applicability for risk stratification and prognosis but will likely evolve over time. Finally, the 2015 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines include an algorithm for managing acute coronary syndrome (ACS) using a 0/1-hour hs-cTn testing based on studies that demonstrated a 97% sensitivity for a 1 h testing protocol. The guidelines included 2 methods of ruling out AMI, (1) a single sample with hs-cTn levels that were undetectable and (2) a change of 6ng/L between 0 and 1 h or absolute threshold concentration > 52ng/L. In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared high-sensitivity assays for use in the United States. Continued studies are needed in the United States to determine if protocols using hs-cTn lead to early diagnosis and, subsequently, improved patient outcomes. Studies are needed to incorporate the use of hs-cTn as a better prognostic indicator for various cardiac diseases and interventions.
Protein Intake Recommendation for Korean Older Adults to Prevent Sarcopenia: Expert Consensus by the Korean Geriatric Society and the Korean Nutrition Society

Sarcopenia, a common clinical syndrome in older adults, is defined as decreased muscle mass, strength, and physical performance. Since sarcopenia is associated with the incidence of functional decline, falls, and even mortality in older adults, researchers and health care providers have been keen to accumulate clinical evidence to advocate the screening and prevention of sarcopenia progression in older adults. The factors that may accelerate the loss of muscle mass and function include chronic diseases, inactivity, and deficiency in appropriate nutritional support. Among these, nutritional support is considered an initial step to delay the progression of muscle wasting and improve physical performance in community-dwelling older adults. However, a nationwide study suggested that most Korean older adults do not consume sufficient dietary protein to maintain their muscle mass. Furthermore, considering age-associated anabolic resistance to dietary protein, higher protein intake should be emphasized in older adults than in younger people. To develop a dietary protein recommendation for older adults in Korea, we reviewed the relevant literature, including interventional studies from Korea. From these, we recommend that older adults consume at least 1.2 g of protein per kg of body weight per day (g/kg/day) to delay the progression of muscle wasting. The amount we recommend (1.2 g/kg/day) is 31.4% higher than the previously suggested recommended daily allowance (i.e., 0.91 g/kg/day) for the general population of Korea. Also, evidence to date suggests that the combination of exercise and nutritional support may enhance the beneficial effects of protein intake in older adults in Korea. We found that the current studies are insufficient to build population-based guidelines for older adults, and we call for further researches in Korea.
Self-Tuning Networks: Bilevel Optimization of Hyperparameters using Structured Best-Response Functions

Hyperparameter optimization can be formulated as a bilevel optimization problem, where the optimal parameters on the training set depend on the hyperparameters. We aim to adapt regularization hyperparameters for neural networks by fitting compact approximations to the best-response function, which maps hyperparameters to optimal weights and biases. We show how to construct scalable best-response approximations for neural networks by modeling the best-response as a single network whose hidden units are gated conditionally on the regularizer. We justify this approximation by showing the exact best-response for a shallow linear network with L2-regularized Jacobian can be represented by a similar gating mechanism. We fit this model using a gradient-based hyperparameter optimization algorithm which alternates between approximating the best-response around the current hyperparameters and optimizing the hyperparameters using the approximate best-response function. Unlike other gradient-based approaches, we do not require differentiating the training loss with respect to the hyperparameters, allowing us to tune discrete hyperparameters, data augmentation hyperparameters, and dropout probabilities. Because the hyperparameters are adapted online, our approach discovers hyperparameter schedules that can outperform fixed hyperparameter values. Empirically, our approach outperforms competing hyperparameter optimization methods on large-scale deep learning problems. We call our networks, which update their own hyperparameters online during training, Self-Tuning Networks (STNs).
Evaluatie van de ecologische effectiviteit van de houtconstructies in de Snelle loop

In de Snelle Loop zijn in 2012 verschillende typen houtconstructies aangebracht. Waterschap Aa en Maas en studenten van de HAS Hogeschool in Den Bosch verrichten sindsdien jaarlijks fysisch-chemische, hydromorfologische en biologische metingen. In deze studie zijn de tot nu toe verzamelde gegevens over de effecten op de levensgemeenschap na drie jaar geevalueerd. Het hout bleek effect te hebben op de levensgemeenschap, maar grote jaarlijkse verschillen lieten zien dat met name effecten op een groter schaalniveau een sturende rol spelen. Er worden aanbevelingen gedaan voor de opzet van monitoring om onderscheid te kunnen maken tussen effecten op verschillende schaalniveaus
A Reliability Study of the Scale for Contraversive Pushing in Stroke Patients

Purpose: Pusher syndrome in stroke patients is the tendency to push strongly toward the paretic side with the non-affected limbs. The purpose of this study was to estimated inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the Scale for Contraversive Pushing (SCP). Methods: Fourteen patients in the acute phase after stroke onset were diagnosed with pusher syndrome. Two physical therapists randomly assessed the same patients on different occasions on the same day. Almost all patients were assessed on more than one day. The inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the SCP was estimated by calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: The intra-rater reliability of the SCP ranged from 0.87 to 0.97; the inter-rater reliability of the SCP ranged from 0.71 to 0.99 in sitting and standing positions. These results show good reliability for the calculated variables. Conclusion: The results provide support for the use of the SCP in assessing pusher syndrome based on its reliability in stroke patients. It may use the standardized clinical assessments in clinical implication.
Understanding Social Media Competence in Higher Education: Development and Validation of an Instrument

The rapid integration of social media into personal, professional, and educational settings has catalyzed the need to assess social media competence. This study provides the rationale for developing an instrument to conduct such an assessment, and the research illustrates evidence of validity and reliability in assessing social media competence in the field of higher education. The instrument includes 28 items and 4 dimensions: technical usability, content interpretation, content generation, and anticipatory reflection. Data were collected from a sample of 622 college students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and this study finds that the instrument shows no signs of deficiency in its validity or reliability when measuring social media competence. Accordingly, the instrument could be used to evaluate and improve levels of social media competence in higher education.
The relationship between patient satisfaction and functional status in inpatient rehabilitation: a comparison over time

Patient perceptions of their health status may or may not correlate highly with functional ratings of their capabilities. This may be further complicated by the fact that in rehabilitation medicine, clinicians often are concerned with such subjective conditions as pain and fatigue. Patients may report satisfaction if they make functional gains, but satisfaction may also depend upon other factors, including psychosocial and personal characteristics that may also play an important role in achieving the goals of rehabilitation.1–3 Perceived characteristics of the rehabilitation unit’s environment3 may additionally contribute to patient dissatisfaction as well as, for example, dysfunctional family dynamics and substance abuse. It is also the case that clinician and patient perspectives can differ. For example, Cushman and Scherer documented discrepancies in perceptions between therapists and consumers regarding utility and aesthetic aspects of prescribed assistive devices. Scherer,4 has also demonstrated that patient and therapist judgments of what constitutes successful rehabilitation also vary significantly. Similarly, Lewinter & Mikkelsen5,6 separately interviewed both therapists and patients in an experimental stroke unit about the rehabilitation process after stroke and the focus of the comments was entirely different for the two groups. Fairclough,7 notes that while physiological responses may be the optimal endpoint for assessing treatment/intervention outcomes, it is important to assess and address whether functional outcomes make a noticeable difference to the patient. Thus, in rehabilitation medicine, patient reported outcomes (PROs) are crucial to evaluate.
Stigmata of Congenital Syphilis on a High Status Juvenile at Yuguë, Oaxaca, Mexico

Presented here is a case study from Mesoamerica whose dentition resembles the dental stigmata of others who have been described as having congenital syphilis. Found with a green stone bracelet, this child was likely a high-status member of a pre-Colombian population from the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico (late Terminal Formative Period, 150 BCE – CE 250). While taphonomic changes precluded in-depth observations of the skeleton, dental traits such as plane-like hypoplastic defect and Fournier’s molars are described and compared to previous studies. Additionally, a two-tier system is introduced for describing dental malformations that may suggest either environmental variation in the bacterial assault or in host response.