Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of stroke on weight transfer before voluntary lateral and forward steps

There is a higher rate of falls in the first year after a stroke, and the ability to step in different directions is essential for avoiding a fall and navigating small spaces where falls commonly occur. The lateral transfer of weight is important for stabilizing the body before initiating a step. Hence, understanding the ability to control lateral weight transfer (WT) in different step directions might help understand falls in individuals with stroke. The present study aimed to compare the WT characteristics (onset time, duration, mediolateral center of pressure (ML COP) velocity, and ML COP displacement) and hip abduction torque preceding a lateral and forward voluntary step between individuals with stroke (paretic and non-paretic leg) and controls. Twenty individuals with stroke and ten controls performed voluntary choice reaction tests in the lateral and forward directions. Ten trials (five on each side—right and left) were performed for each step direction. The overall primary findings were that (1) the WT before a lateral step was shorter and initiated earlier, with a larger ML COP displacement and greater hip abductor torque in the stepping leg than the forward step, (2) there was greater hip abductor produced in the stance leg before a forward step than a lateral step, (3) the WT before the lateral step took longer to initiate and was slower to execute in individuals with stroke regardless of the leg (4) the WT before the forward step had more differences in the paretic than the non-paretic leg. Thus, for the first time, it was shown that the WT characteristics and hip abduction torque during the WT are different according to step direction and also appear to be impaired in individuals with stroke. These results have implications for understanding the direction that individuals with stroke are more susceptible to being unable to recover balance and are at risk of falling.
Molecular phylogeny of Annonaceae species from Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve based on two chloroplast gene regions

In this study, based on molecular biology techniques, the matK and trnL-F regions of ten Annonaceae species grown in Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve, Vietnam were successfully amplified and sequenced for the first time. Along with other highly homologous DNA sequences from the GenBank database, the molecular phylogeny of ten studied species was also established. By using the alignment tool of NCBI database, the percentage of identity among sequences of studied species was also presented. The study aims to partially contribute to the further understanding of the evolutionary relationships among Annonaceae species.
A Highly Parallelizable Algorithm for Routing With Automatic Tunneling

Most current routing protocols are based on path computation algorithms in graphs (e.g., Dijkstra, Bellman-Ford, etc.). These algorithms have been studied for a long time and are very well understood, both in a centralized and distributed context, as long as they are applied to a network having a single communication protocol. The problem becomes more complex in the multi-protocol case, where there is a possibility of encapsulation of some network protocols into others, therefore inducing nested tunnels. The classic algorithms cited above no longer work in this case because they cannot manage the protocol encapsulations and the corresponding protocol stacks. In this work, we propose a highly parallelizable algorithm that takes into account protocol encapsulations as well as protocol conversions in order to compute shortest paths in a multi-protocol network. To achieve this computation efficiently, we study the transitive closure between sub-paths (i.e., the concatenation of two sub-paths to obtain a longer one) in the case where each sub-path induces a protocol stack, and thus tunnels. Leveraging on Software-Defined Networks with a controller having a highly parallel architecture enables us to compute the routing tables of all nodes in a very efficient way. Experimentation results on both random and realistic topologies show that our algorithm outperforms the previous solutions proposed in the literature.
Influences of Breathing Exercises and Breathing Exercise Combined with Aerobic Exercise on Changes in Basic Spirometry Parameters in Patients with Bronchial Asthma

Scientific evidence shows that breathing or aerobic programs can improve the quality of life of asthma patients. The aim of this work was to find out the influences of breathing exercises and breathing exercises combined with aerobic exercise on changes in spirometry parameters in patients with bronchial asthma. Participants: The group consisted of 33 women with bronchial asthma—mild to moderate persistent levels of FEV1 reduction (80–50%)—with a mean age of 34.73 ± 1.53 years. They were randomly assigned to experimental group 1 (EX1), experimental group 2 (EX2) or the control group (CG). Materials and methods: Changes in spirometry parameters were evaluated over a 16-week period in the three groups: CG (placebo), EX1 (breathing exercises) and EX 2 (combination of breathing exercises with an aerobic program). To evaluate the pre-training and post-training diagnostics, we used MIR Spirobank II. The influences of the experimental and control factors were assessed using the following dependent variables: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), Tiffeneau–Pinelli index (FEV1/FVC ratio), peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF25–75%). We used the Wilcoxon t-test and the Kruskal–Wallis test to evaluate the differences in the measured parameters. To examine the effect of our protocols, we used effect size (ES). Results: In CG we observed improvements in: FVC—(5%; p < 0.05; ES = 0.437). FEV1—(7.33%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.585). FEV1/FVC ratio (5.27%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.570). PEF (11.22%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.448). FEF25–75% (7.02%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.628). In EX1 we observed improvements in: FVC (5.23%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.631), FEV1 (20.67%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.627), FEV1/FVC ratio (16.06%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.628), PEF (13.35%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.627) and FEF25–75% (13.75%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.607). In EX2 we observed improvements in: FVC (9.12%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.627), FEV1 (27.37%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.626), FEV1/FVC ratio (15.32%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.610), PEF (30.66%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.626) and FEF25–75% (58.99%; p < 0.01; ES = 0.626). Significant differences compared to the control group were observed in EX1 for FEV1 (p < 0.05) and FEV1/FVC ratio (p < 0.01); and in EX2 for FEV1 (p < 0.05), FEV1/FVC ratio (p < 0.01), PEF (p < 0.05) and FEF (p < 0.05). A significant difference between EX1 and EX2 was observed in PEF (p < 0.05). Conclusions: It appears to be that combination of breathing exercises with aerobic activities is a more beneficial option for patients with bronchial asthma.
Musculoskeletal Conditions and Secondary Cardiovascular Morbidity Increase Veterans’ Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Service Utilization

Background Musculoskeletal conditions often affect patients’ mobility and ability to participate in health behaviors such as exercise, potentially affecting their systemic health. The purpose of this research is to determine how frequently cardiac-related comorbidities present in a veteran population with musculoskeletal service-connected disability and how this affects musculoskeletal health care utilization. Methodology A retrospective cohort of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans who received a Veterans Affairs (VA) disability determination for service-connected musculoskeletal disability were categorized according to the diagnosis of cardiac comorbidity including diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and obesity, and atherosclerosis disease documented by ICD-9 codes in the VA administrative data. Among veterans with musculoskeletal service-connected disability, logistic regression was modeled to determine if musculoskeletal clinic utilization was associated with also having a cardiac comorbid condition. Results Veterans with musculoskeletal disability had a comorbid cardiac disorder 43% of the time. Post-traumatic arthritis was the only musculoskeletal condition positively associated with comorbid cardiac conditions. Veterans with comorbid cardiac diagnoses had 26-37% higher odds of receiving care by physical and occupational therapy, physical medicine, and orthopaedic surgery clinics compared to veterans without comorbid cardiac disease. Conclusions Veterans in this cohort with musculoskeletal service-connected disability, plus cardiac conditions had greater clinic use for musculoskeletal and rehabilitation services compared to those without cardiac conditions. These results have implications for the rehabilitation and other health service needs of a new generation of veterans.
Further Insights on RNA Expression and Sperm Motility

Asthenozoospermia is one of the main causes of male infertility and it is characterized by reduced sperm motility. Several mutations in genes that code for structural or functional constituents of the sperm have already been identified as known causes of asthenozoospermia. In contrast, the role of sperm RNA in regulating sperm motility is still not fully understood. Consequently, here we aim to contribute to the knowledge regarding the expression of sperm RNA, and ultimately, to provide further insights into its relationship with sperm motility. We investigated the expression of a group of mRNAs by using real-time PCR (CATSPER3, CFAP44, CRHR1, HIP1, IQCG KRT34, LRRC6, QRICH2, RSPH6A, SPATA33 and TEKT2) and the highest score corresponding to the target miRNA for each mRNA in asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic individuals. We observed a reduced expression of all mRNAs and miRNAs in asthenozoospermic patients compared to controls, with a more accentuated reduction in patients with progressive sperm motility lower than 15%. Our work provides further insights regarding the role of RNA in regulating sperm motility. Further studies are required to determine how these genes and their corresponding miRNA act regarding sperm motility, particularly KRT34 and CRHR1, which have not previously been seen to play a significant role in regulating sperm motility.
Antibiotics Resistance and Virulence of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates Isolated from Raw Milk from Handmade Dairy Retail Stores in Hefei City, China

Handmade dairy products, which retain the nutrients in milk to the greatest extent, have become popular in China recently. However, no investigation regarding the characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in raw milk of handmade dairy retail stores has been reported. Here, we investigated the antimicrobial susceptibility, virulence, biofilm formation, and genetic diversity of S. aureus in raw milk from handmade dairy retail stores in Hefei, China. After 10 months of long-term monitoring, 50 S. aureus strains were isolated from 69 different raw milk samples, of which 6 were positive for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The resistance rates of these isolates to ampicillin, erythromycin, kanamycin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, gentamicin, ofloxacin, oxacillin, chloramphenicol, and doxycycline were 56, 54, 40, 24, 22, 22, 18, 14, 8 and 6%, respectively. All 50 isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and 29 strains (58%) showed multidrug resistance phenotype. For enterotoxins genes, selp (14%) was detected the most frequently, followed by sea (6%), sec (4%), sei (4%), ser (4%), selj (4%), and seh (2%). By microplate assay, 32 and 68% of the strains showed moderate and strong biofilm formation ability, respectively. Fifty isolates were discriminated into nine spa types, and the most common spa typing was t034 (42%). The results of this study indicate that S. aureus from raw milk may constitute a risk concerning food poisoning, and more attention must be given to awareness and hygienic measures in the food industry.
Distant mission management and dynamic allocation of functions 1

Dynamic function allocation (DFA) refers to systems in which both the user and the system can initiate changes in the level of automation in real time in order to reach overall system performance. This paper first discusses some human factor issues of the distant management of unmanned systems pleading for the capacity of th e system to dynamically reallocate the functions required to perform the mi ssion. Then it proposes a human-centered methodology to guide the implementation of dynamic function allocation. This methodology is based on several st eps inspired from the principles of human-human cooperation. Last, an experiment is envisaged to apply and to refine this methodological approach in the context of separation assurance of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Methods of Primary Selection of Young Football Players

There is a conflict between the objective need to improve the training of young players, the identification of promising athletes and the lack of scientifically sound methods of their selection on the indicators of physical development, physical fitness, functional status, personal psychological status. The aim of the study was to scien- tifically explain the methodology of sports selection of children for football. Methods included analysis and gen- eralization of literature and content of the Internet, questionnaires, interviews, pedagogical observation, testing, pedagogical experiment, methods of mathematical statistics. The study involved 15 football coaches and 32 nov- ice players aged 6-7 years. The study was divided into two stages. We found that the reason for dropout during the first year of training was the lack of a well-developed system of initial selection parameters. The methodology of primary selection of children for football lessons is developed and experimentally tested, consists of two parts, each of which defines the key organizational stages, tasks and relevant selection criteria. The conclusion and rec- ommendation for football was based on a comprehensive assessment of indicators and the degree of motivation to play football. The effectiveness of the developed selection method was confirmed by the increase of physical and technical fitness after 1 year of training in the group of initial training.
Improved Modulation Bandwidth of Blue Mini-LEDs by Atomic-Layer Deposition Sidewall Passivation

By adopting atomic layer deposition (ALD) sidewall passivation, the electroluminescence (EL) and communication performances of mini-light emitting diodes (mini-LEDs) of different sizes were improved. In particular, the most significant improvement in the electroluminescence properties of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) (a 7.2% increase), leakage current, and the communication properties of the modulation bandwidth (a 20% increase) transmission rate and bit error rate (BER) was found in the smallest mini-LEDs (80 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}\,\,\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> 120 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). According to the results of time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements, the carrier lifetime of the samples can be affected by both the size and ALD sidewall passivation. In addition, the effects of ALD sidewall passivation for visible-light communication (VLC) were demonstrated.
Enhancing Structure Preservation in Coreference Resolution by Constrained Graph Encoding

Coreference resolution is a challenging yet practical problem. Most previous methods are designed to better utilize sequential features of language but can hardly capture the structural associations between mentions. In addition, it is often observed that during long-term training, the embeddings projected from unrelated mentions tend to move closer or even mix together, which increases the difficulty of learning decision boundaries. To tackle these issues: i) We propose a general graph schema derived from diverse knowledge sources (e.g., lemma, type, and semantic roles) to directly link mentions, so that rich information can be exchanged via the relevant connections; ii) We impose two adaptive constraints during graph encoding to regularize the embedding space. One is used to force different sub-modules to generate consistent predictions for the same mention pairs, and the other aims to make the learned embeddings corresponding to unrelated mentions more distinguishable while those of coreferential mentions more similar. Results on two public datasets (ECB+ and ACE05) show that our model consistently outperforms state-of-the-art baselines under different settings with $p$-value less than 0.01 in $t$-test, especially learning effectively from the limited labeled data.
An improved energy management control strategy for a standalone solar photovoltaic/battery system

This paper proposes efficient energy management in hybrid microgrid-comprising of photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems. The proposed technique. The hybrid system's power balance is based on smart control to meet the demands of isolated off-grid direct current (DC) loads as well as to stabilize the voltage to DC Bus. The Perturb and Observe technique (P&O) is used to achieve maximum power point tracking by adjusting the duty cycle of the Bidirectional converter, which links the Li-ion battery to the DC Bus of stand-alone power systems (SPS). The proposed controller regulates the power flow of the battery for efficiency voltage control in a microgrid. The energy management system proposed has been approved using MATLAB/Simulink under variable solar irradiation conditions. The simulation results show that the technique used increases the battery cycle-life and better energy management and voltage control performance compared with previous examples.
Influence of the Laser Welding Direction of Thin DP600 and the Residual Stresses Relaxation Obtained by Simulation and Neutron Diffraction

Laser-welded structures are often subjected to dynamic service loads ranging from cyclic fluctuations to completely random ones. The laser-welded lap joints suffer from defects resulting in notch effects, surface cracks, residual strains and stresses. The fatigue strength of the laser-welded lap joints is reduced significantly because of the presence of these defects, and the size of the welded joints is small. Therefore, the mechanical strength of laser-welded structures must be defined in terms of the fatigue strength and residual stress of the obtained joints or assemblies. To analyze the above-discussed effects, this paper proposed two approaches: numerical and experimental methods. The originality of the work is to weld the rolled sheet in three directions (0°, 45°, 90°). The residual stresses before and after low cyclic tensile tests of assemblies obtained from overlapped thin DP600 steel sheets were calculated by ABAQUS. The obtained results were compared to the experimental data by neutron diffraction. The presented results in terms of residual stresses curves, spatial distributions of residual stresses obtained at the end of laser welding and low-cycle fatigue. It showed the relaxation effect of residual stresses and the direction effect of welding. These results have been explained by several factors.
Overview of the EEG-Based Classification of Motor Imagery Activities Using Machine Learning Methods and Inference Acceleration with FPGA-Based Cards

In this article, we provide a brief overview of the EEG-based classification of motor imagery activities using machine learning methods. We examined the effect of data segmentation and different neural network structures. By applying proper window size and using a purely convolutional neural network, we achieved 97.7% recognition accuracy on data from twenty subjects in three classes. The proposed architecture outperforms several networks used in previous research and makes the motor imagery-based BCI more efficient in some applications. In addition, we examined the performance of the neural network on a FPGA-based card and compared it with the inference speed and accuracy provided by a general-purpose processor.
Multifidelity uncertainty quantification and model validation of large-scale multidisciplinary systems

Abstract. A simulation-based framework for multifidelity uncertainty quantification is presented, which informs and guides the design process of complex, large-scale, multidisciplinary systems throughout their life cycle. In this framework, uncertainty in system models is identified, characterized, and propagated in an integrated manner through the analysis cycles needed to quantify the effects of uncertainty on the quantities of interest. This is part of the process to design systems and verify their compliance to performance requirements. Uncertainty quantification is performed through mean and variance estimators as well as global sensitivity analyses. These computational analyses are made tractable by the use of multifidelity methods, which leverage a variety of low-fidelity models to obtain speed-ups, while keeping the main high-fidelity model in the loop to guarantee convergence to the correct result. This framework was applied to the James Webb Space Telescope observatory integrated model used to calculate the wavefront error caused by thermal distortions. The framework proved to reduce the time required to perform global sensitivity analyses from more than 2 months to less than 2 days, while reducing the error in the final estimates of the quantities of interest, including model uncertainty factors. These technical performance improvements are crucial to the optimization of project resources such as schedule and budget and ultimately mission success.
Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues

The ability to travel (independently) is very important for participation in education, work, leisure activities, and all other aspects of modern life. Blind and partially sighted people experience a number of barriers to travel, including inaccessible information and environments, and consequently require support from technology or other people to overcome them. Despite the potential of advanced technologies and the development of electronic travel aids, the long cane and guide dog remains the most commonly used solutions. Wearable technologies are becoming increasingly popular. They have the particular advantage of keeping the hands free, thereby facilitating the use of a long cane, guide dog or another device at the same time. They also have the potential to change the ways in which users interact with the environment. The main contributions of this paper are surveying the current state-of-the-art of travel aids from a design perspective and investigating the following issues: (1) The important design issues in wearable travel aids and the extent to which they are taken into account in different devices; (2) The relationship, if any, between where and how travel aids are worn and their design, features and functions; (3) Limitations of existing devices, gaps in provision and future research directions, particularly with regard to meeting potential users’ needs.
Isolation, characterisation and transferability of microsatellites for Paraserianthes lophantha, Cape Wattle (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae): a significant weed worldwide

We isolated microsatellite markers from Paraserianthes lophantha and screened these, plus eight loci from species of Acacia s.s. and Pithecellobium, for polymorphism in 42 individuals of P. lophantha: 20 from one native population and 22 from across the native and introduced range in southern Australia. Nine loci were polymorphic. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0 to 0.800 (mean 0.389) and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 1 to 6 (average of 3.444) in the native population. Crossspecies transferability of polymorphic loci was tested on eight species of Acacia s.s. and 11 of tribe Ingeae. Amplification success varied between loci and taxa; the ingioid taxa from South-East Asia and Australia amplified most successfully. These loci will be useful in understanding the genetic variation and control of this significant worldwide weed.