Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ARCTO: AIoT System for Reducing Carbon Emissions Using Traffic Optimization

In the status quo, traffic control systems operate on predetermined patterns and instructions devised from past data. While this method functions effectively for traffic under normal conditions, it becomes heavily congested and inefficient during instances of high traffic, which leads to a multitude of temporal, economic, health, and environmental harms. However, by combining traditional traffic controllers with modern technologies such as Internet of Things devices and computer vision, these issues can be effectively addressed. This research presents a novel, affordable Artificial Intelligence of Things traffic control system that enables accurate real-time vehicle detection and signal control. This work is split into two sections: (1) an AIoT physical system that can scan traffic conditions in real-time and (2) a realistic traffic simulator with a custom optimization algorithm. Combined, this research provides up to 35% greater throughput, 50% reduced waiting time, and 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emission reductions in comparison to nonoptimized algorithms used in the status quo. The implementation of this work leads to various temporal, economic, environmental, and health benefits; in addition to providing comparable emission reduction as the complete replacement of all internal combustion engine vehicles with battery electric vehicles, while significantly reducing vehicle travel time, systems installation time, and cost.
Joint Estimation of Vehicle's Position and Velocity With Distributed RSUs for OFDM Radar System

We develop a vehicle motion state estimation algorithm based on an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing radar system suitable for vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications scenarios. Due to the transverse movement with respect to the direction from the target to roadside unit (RSU), the measured velocity is distorted as the Doppler shift depends on the angle formed between the vehicle position and RSU. To compensate for the distorted velocity, the exact vehicle position is required. However, this cannot be obtained in a system with a single RSU. In this paper, we develop an efficient cooperative vehicle state estimation algorithm that reduces the number of RSUs required for localization compared to conventional schemes by eliminating unnecessary RSUs to overcome the degradation of target detection performance in low signal-to-noise ratio regimes. Furthermore, the singularity problem due to the absence of Doppler shift when the vehicle travels near the tangential direction can be addressed with spatially distributed RSUs. Numerical results verify that the proposed estimation algorithm outperforms the existing schemes in V2I scenarios.
CNN-based Joint State Estimation During Robotic Interaction with Articulated Objects

In this paper, we investigate the problem of state estimation of rotational articulated objects during robotic interaction. We estimate the position of a joint axis and the current rotation of an object from a pair of RGB-D images registered by the depth camera mounted on the robot. However, the camera mounted on the robot has a limited view due to occlusions of the robot's arm. Moreover, some configurations of objects are difficult to register by typical RGB-D sensors. Thus, the model-based methods fail in these cases. To deal with this problem, we propose a CNN-based architecture that gradually estimates the parameters and the state of the rotational joint. To meet real-time requirements on the real robot, we propose a fast inference on 2D images without directly operating on the 3D model of the object. The proposed method is trained and verified on the RBO dataset that contains RGB-D sequences of manipulated articulated objects.
A Consideration of Mechanical Kansei: Latent Representation of Topology-Optimized Structures in Variational Autoencoder

It is illustrated in general that the design process at the conceptual stage is highly dependent on individual skills and aesthetic sense. However, even in a subjective phase, objective aspects such as mechanical rationality are implicitly considered, and these two perspectives are inseparable. A concept of Mechanical Kansei defined as “the capability to evaluate and judge impressions in terms of unconscious, intuitive, and integrative information in mechanics,” has been proposed as a clue for interpreting the relationship between such impressions of objects and structural rationality in civil engineering and architecture fields. In this paper, we considered the Mechanical Kansei as the ability to intuitively recall shapes and forms that reflect the flow of forces from the given design domain and boundary conditions. The topology-optimized shape was taken as the structure that visualizes the flow. A Variational Autoencoder (VAE) was used to learn a set of shapes topology-optimized to the randomly located supports of a simple beam. The result shows that a two-dimensional latent variable space can derive the rational structures through the decoder without the mechanical model. This latent representation of topology-optimized shapes can be a clue to understanding the Mechanical Kansei.
Influence of industrial olive mill wastewater pre-treatment on the Scenedesmus obliquus growth

Industrial olive mill wastewater (OMW) is one of the more problematic wastewaters to treat by the conventional biological process since it has a high organic load expressed as high values for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC). In addition, to other inhibitory compounds such as phenolic compounds. High values for maximum specific growth rate and volumetric biomass productivity are mandatory to success in the industrial microalgal culture. In this work, three operating units, flocculation, artificial photolysis, and microfiltration before the microalga Scenedesmus obliquus culture were established. All experiments were carried out on a laboratory scale in stirred batch tank photobioreactors using different dilutions of OMW as culture medium (5% to 100% of OMW, v/v). The highest value of the maximum specific growth rate for Scenedesmus obliquus, $\mu_{\mathrm{m}}=0.0836\mathrm{h}^{-1}$, was determined in the culture medium at 100% of OMW. However, at the lowest concentration of OMW, 5% of OMW (v/v), in the culture medium was determined the highest biomass productivity, 0.587, mg/(Lh). Regarding the treated water quality, the COD removal (93.7%) was registered during the application of the pre-treatment units plus algal culture when 100% of OMW was used. The resulting treated water can be reused in irrigation.
Resource Allocation and UAVs Placement in Cell-free Wireless Networks

This paper investigates the use of cell-free unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)-assisted wireless networks and optimizes the number of deployed UAVs under quality of service and coverage constraints. The formulated problem tackles the user-UAVs association, UAVs placement, channel assignment and transmit power allocation while considering both access and backhaul networks. Since the problem is a non-convex and non-linear mixed-integer programming, low-complexity efficient greedy-based algorithmic solutions are proposed. The first one finds the UAVs' best positions and allocates resource whereas the second one guarantees the problem feasibility (i.e., all users can be satisfied) by removing the worst users. For comparison purposes, a meta-heuristic solution based on the Particle Swarm Optimization technique is proposed. Simulation results illustrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms in terms of the number of deployed UAVs in cell-free wireless networks.
Methods to measure blood flow and vascular reactivity in the retina

Disturbances of retinal perfusion are involved in the onset and maintenance of several ocular diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and retinal vascular occlusion. Hence, knowledge on ocular vascular anatomy and function is highly relevant for basic research studies and for clinical judgment and treatment. The retinal vasculature is composed of the superficial, intermediate, and deep vascular layer. Detection of changes in blood flow and vascular diameter especially in smaller vessels is essential to understand and to analyze vascular diseases. Several methods to evaluate blood flow regulation in the retina have been described so far, but no gold standard has been established. For highly reliable assessment of retinal blood flow, exact determination of vessel diameter is necessary. Several measurement methods have already been reported in humans. But for further analysis of retinal vascular diseases, studies in laboratory animals, including genetically modified mice, are important. As for mice, the small vessel size is challenging requiring devices with high optic resolution. In this review, we recapitulate different methods for retinal blood flow and vessel diameter measurement. Moreover, studies in humans and in experimental animals are described.
Public health nurses’ perceptions of health literacy in adolescent patients

Purpose: To obtain and document public health nurses’ thoughts about health literacy in, and related communication practices with, adolescent patients. Methods: Using a qualitative descriptive approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of public health nurses working with adolescents, either part- or full-time. Emerging themes were identified using content analysis and confirmed by two health literacy researchers and a public health nurse. Results: Nurses ascribed different meanings to the term health literacy, the most common being an understanding of one’s health or health-related information. They provided various types of health information to adolescent patients, used more than one mode of communication, and assessed adolescents’ understanding primarily by asking questions. Tailored approaches employed by nurses to communicate information to adolescents included the use of peer educators in schools; business cards with information on where to seek more information; and text messaging. These approaches, however, were not uniformly adopted and some nurses expressed concerns about the lack of security associated with the use of text messaging. Anxiety/fear in adolescents emerged as a prominent patient-related barrier to effective communication and stemmed, in some cases, from adolescents’ lack of understanding about confidentiality policies. Major provider-related barriers to effective communication included hours and locations of services that were inconvenient for adolescents, and limited time to spend with adolescent patients. Conclusions: Attention is needed to patient- and provider-related barriers that may limit or impeded efforts by public health nurses to promote health literacy in adolescent patients.
A functional MRI pre-processing and quality control protocol based on statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and MATLAB

Functional MRI (fMRI) has become a popular technique to study brain functions and their alterations in psychiatric and neurological conditions. The sample sizes for fMRI studies have been increasing steadily, and growing studies are sourced from open-access brain imaging repositories. Quality control becomes critical to ensure successful data processing and valid statistical results. Here, we outline a simple protocol for fMRI data pre-processing and quality control based on statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and MATLAB. The focus of this protocol is not only to identify and remove data with artifacts and anomalies, but also to ensure the processing has been performed properly. We apply this protocol to the data from fMRI Open quality control (QC) Project, and illustrate how each quality control step can help to identify potential issues. We also show that simple steps such as skull stripping can improve coregistration between the functional and anatomical images.
Multispacecraft wave analysis of current sheet flapping motions in Earth’s magnetotail

In our work, for the first time, we conducted a comprehensive multispacecraft wave study of flapping current sheet oscillations in Earth’s magnetotail. Measurements taken from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission were analyzed for two flapping events with different morphologies of oscillation behavior: stationary-like and kink-like type. A comparison of the results calculated by the methods of phase difference, wave surveyor, and Multipoint Signal Resonator technique was carried out. For the first time, using observations, it was found that the energy distribution of wavy magnetic field contains complex multi-branch dispersion dependencies on k y and k z . The phase velocities of propagation of flapping oscillations were estimated. The used methods complement each other, and their differences made it possible to assess the presence of non-linear wave packets during kink flapping and the azimuthal asymmetry of the current sheet profile.
Susceptibility identification for seasonal influenza A/H3N2 based on baseline blood transcriptome

Introduction Influenza susceptibility difference is a widely existing trait that has great practical significance for the accurate prevention and control of influenza. Methods Here, we focused on the human susceptibility to the seasonal influenza A/H3N2 of healthy adults at baseline level. Whole blood expression data for influenza A/H3N2 susceptibility from GEO were collected firstly (30 symptomatic and 19 asymptomatic). Then to explore the differences at baseline, a suite of systems biology approaches - the differential expression analysis, co-expression network analysis, and immune cell frequencies analysis were utilized. Results We found the baseline condition, especially immune condition between symptomatic and asymptomatic, was different. Co-expression module that is positively related to asymptomatic is also related to immune cell type of naïve B cell. Function enrichment analysis showed significantly correlation with “B cell receptor signaling pathway”, “immune response−activating cell surface receptor signaling pathway” and so on. Also, modules that are positively related to symptomatic are also correlated to immune cell type of neutrophils, with function enrichment analysis showing significantly correlations with “response to bacterium”, “inflammatory response”, “cAMP−dependent protein kinase complex” and so on. Responses of symptomatic and asymptomatic hosts after virus exposure show differences on resisting the virus, with more effective frontline defense for asymptomatic hosts. A prediction model was also built based on only baseline transcription information to differentiate symptomatic and asymptomatic population with accuracy of 0.79. Discussion The results not only improve our understanding of the immune system and influenza susceptibility, but also provide a new direction for precise and targeted prevention and therapy of influenza.
Development of a Nutrition Screening Tool for an Outpatient Wound Center.

OBJECTIVE: To construct a quickly and easily administered nutrition screening tool using variables believed to be predictive of malnutrition risk in the wound patient population. DESIGN: A prospective pilot study assessed patients on a list of suspected variables, as well as the Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), chosen as the criterion standard. Variables were analyzed to select the most appropriate items for inclusion on a new nutrition screening tool using preliminary bivariate correlations and # tests of association. Items significantly associated with malnutrition were dichotomized, and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to arrive at a final model. A sum score was computed, and receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine designation of risk. SETTING: An outpatient wound center in Northeast Ohio. PARTICIPANTS: The pilot study included a convenience sample of 105 outpatients with at least 1 active wound. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Malnutrition as assessed by the Scored PG-SGA. MAIN RESULTS: The final nutrition screening tool, the MEAL Scale, is composed of 4 dichotomous elements: multiple wounds (number of wounds), eats less than 3 meals per day, appetite decrease (eats less than usual), and level of activity. These variables predicted 83.7% of the malnutrition cases assessed by the Scored PG-SGA. The receiver operating characteristic analysis showed an acceptable area under the curve (0.8581), and a cutoff score of 2 or greater was selected to indicate risk (median sensitivity = 91.4%, median specificity = 60.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Although further studies of validity and reliability are necessary to establish the tool before widespread use, the MEAL Scale is a needed step toward nutrition screening in a wound patient population.
An innovation management perspective to the management of Home Automation Construction

• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
Research into the pathogenesis of macular corneal dystrophy.

: The morphology and histochemical attributes of the lesions in macular corneal dystrophy have been well characterized and thus far found to be restricted to the cornea. This inherited metabolic storage disease is thought to be a localized mucopolysaccharidosis and an enzymatic defect in the degradation of corneal keratan sulphate is suspected. Studies on cell cultures of fibroblasts from diseased corneas have as yet failed to extend our knowledge about the pathogenesis of the disorder. Such investigations have included the use of acridine orange and metachromatic dyes, assays for lysosomal enzymes, biochemical analyses of cells and media, as well as kinetic studies on the synthesis and degradation of radioactive glycosaminoglycans. Despite the lack of supportive evidence, the cell culture data nevertheless remain consistent with the hypothesis that macular corneal dystrophy is a disorder of keratan sulphate I catabolism, since the synthesis of keratan sulphate by corneal fibroblasts normally decreases markedly in culture. Studies on corneal explants with macular dystrophy have provided significant positive information about this dystrophy. Freshly excised corneas with macular dystrophy synthesize considerably less keratan sulphate than normal corneas, while they produce excessive amounts of glycopeptides which still need to be characterized.
Fusogenic membrane glycoproteins as a gene therapy for cancer.

Gene therapy strategies hold great promise for the treatment of cancer. This work tests the hypothesis that viral fusogenic membrane glycoproteins (FMG) have potential as cytotoxic gene therapy agents. The truncated, hyperfusogenic form of a C-type retrovirus envelope gene: the Gibbon ape leukaemia virus envelope (GALV), and the F and H genes of the paramyxovirus Measles, were the predominate FMG investigated. Initial studies demonstrated the cytotoxicicty of expressing FMG in tumour cells in vitro. Extensive cell death occured following cell-cell fusion and syncitia formation. Comparison with suicide genes indicated superior cell killing with FMG due to a greater bystander effect. FMG killing induced a stress response with induction and upregulation of heat shock proteins. Detailed analysis of cell death following FMG expression and syncitia formation suggested a non-apoptotic, necrotic mechanism. This was independent of the cell cycle. Viral vectors expressing FMG were developed. There was inefficient production of retroviral vectors based on the Moloney murine leukaemia virus expressing GALV. Improved titre was seen from a lentiviral vector expressing GALV. This vector, when injected intratumourally, was able to eradicate small tumours in nude mice. Adenoviral vectors expressing F and H were produced. Intratumoural injection of these vectors resulted in syncitia formation in vivo. Direct intratumoural injection of an H expressing adenoviral vector into human xenograft tumours expressing Measles F resulted in tumour eradication in 30% of mice. Production of an adenoviral vector expressing GALV required a strategy involving Cre recombinase and a transcriptional silencer to overcome the direct cytotoxicity to producer cells. Co-expression of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) with FMG by a number of mechanisms was developed. Their particular in vitro properties were analysed in detail. In summary this thesis represents the initial studies of a group of genes with their novel application as gene therapy agents for the treatment of cancer. Incorporation of FMG in the development of cytotoxic and immunomodulatory gene therapy strategies hold significant promise and merit further development.
Quality of life of Iranian married women: a comparative study of fertile and infertile women using a Health, Wellness and Quality of Life Questionnaire

Background: The treatment of infertility and the quality of life in women is now considered equally important. The aim of the study was to determine the quality of life (QoL) of married women aged 20-45 years and to compare QoL domain in fertile and infertile women. Methods: In a community based study, the Wellness and Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL) was used to assess the QoL of married women. A total of 1,140 women with the age range of 20-45 were selected using standard cluster sampling technique in Babol, Iran. Among those women who attempted conception, 168 of the women experienced difficulty conceiving at some stage in their lives. Then, the QoL of the women who had experienced infertility were compared with those of other fertile women. The questionnaire containing 55 items comprised five domains: physical state, mental/emotional state, stress evaluation, life enjoyment, and overall quality of life. Lower scores in three domains: physical state, mental/emotional state, and stress evaluation mean better QoL. Higher scores in life enjoyment and overall quality of life mean better QoL. Results: The means of the QoL of married women in physical status, mental/emotional state, stress evaluation, life enjoyment, and overall QoL were 19.0 ± 5.3, 20.0 ± 6.8, 23.4 ± 7.8, 32.6 ± 5.3, and 61.5 ± 10.1, respectively. There was no significant relationship in the mean scores in the five domains of QoL between the fertile and infertile groups. Logistic regression also indicated that infertility was associated with higher (worse) scores in the mental/emotional state domain (p= 0.018), and fertility was associated with higher scores (better) in overall score QoL (p= 0.003). Conclusion: The results can be regarded as useful findings to make more efficient interventions for infertile women.
A new Health Literacy Scale: Turkish Health Literacy Scale and its psychometric properties

Health literacy (HL) is an important public health issue. It concerns the knowledge and competences of persons to meet the complex demands of health in modern society. It is also a key dimension of Health 2020, the European health policy framework adopted by Member States in 2012. The instrument labeled HLS-EU-Q is derived from the conceptual model and definition developed by the HLS-EU consortium. This study aims to develop a …