Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
USAGE OF PHOTOGRAMMETRIC PROCESSING OF THERMAL IMAGES FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS

Abstract. In climate conditions of the Czech Republic is getting more important to carry out thermal inspection during documentation and inventory of buildings. Capturing and photogrammetric processing of thermal images requires special photogrammetric approaches especially because of low thermal image resolution. Part of this paper is focused on photogrammetric processing of thermal images using different methods with different 2D and 3D results which help civil engineers and architects better interpretation of thermal imaging. Those results are presented on chosen test objects. Photogrammetric results are also analysed in terms of geometric accuracy. The importance of integration of 2D and 3D results to GIS and BIM for facility management is discussed in final part of the paper.
Antihypercholesterolemic Power of Red Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) Peel Extract

maceration is a process of immersing materials using organic solvents at room effectively filter bioactive substances because the pressure difference between within and outside the cell causes a breakdown of cell walls and membranes, allowing secondary metabolites in the cytoplasm to dissolve in the solvent ABSTRACT Background: The decoction of red dragon fruit peel contains chemical components with antioxidant activity of lowering blood LDL cholesterol levels. Objective: This research aimed to evaluate the antihypercholesterolemic power of red dragon fruit peel ethanolic extract. Materials and Methods: A total of 24 mice were divided into four treatment groups, each receiving distilled water at dose 0.39 ml/20 g body weight (A), red dragon fruit peel extract at dose 5.40 mg/20 g body weight (B) and 10.80 mg/20 g body weight (C), also simvastatin at dose 0.026 mg/20 g body weight (D). All experimental animals were given high fat intake in cow brain suspension for 60 days to increase LDL cholesterol levels in the blood. For 14 consecutive days, hypercholesterolemic mice were given test preparations. Mice were sacrificed on day 75 for blood and aortic samples. Results: The average blood LDL cholesterol levels in mice were 91.67 mg/dl, 63.23 mg/dl, 43.52 mg/dl, and 32.94 mg/dl (p<0.05%). Meanwhile, the average aortic score was 1.09, 0.79, 0.76, and 0.91 in the groups A, B, C and D, respectively. Conclusion: Red dragon fruit peel extract at a dose of 5.4 mg/20 g and 10.8 mg/20 g body weight reduces blood LDL cholesterol levels and the risk of atherosclerosis.
On the trade-off between compression efficiency and distortion of a new compression algorithm for multichannel EEG signals based on singular value decomposition

In this article we investigate the trade-off between the compression ratio and distortion of a recently published compression technique specifically devised for multichannel electroencephalograph (EEG) signals. In our previous paper, we proved that, when singular value decomposition (SVD) is already performed for denoising or removing unwanted artifacts, it is possible to exploit the same SVD for compression purpose by achieving a compression ratio in the order of 10 and a percentage root mean square distortion in the order of 0.01 %. In this article, we successfully demonstrate how, with a negligible increase in the computational cost of the algorithm, it is possible to further improve the compression ratio by about 10 % by maintaining the same distortion level or, alternatively, to improve the compression ratio by about 50 % by still maintaining the distortion level below the 0.1 %.
A perspective of yoga on smartphone addiction: A narrative review

Evolution in technology is drastically becoming automatic and making life easier. Among those technologies, smartphones are fast-changing technology that is equipping humans to work from anywhere. Frequent usage and dependency on smartphones have increased, which in turn contributes to changes in psychosocial behavioral aspects. Addiction plays an important role in modifying the healthy habits of individuals. Problematic usage of smartphones affects both physical and psychosocial health and emerges as a cornerstone of psychosocial disorder. However, there is a dearth of data to understand the core concepts of smartphone addiction and there is a need to understand from the broader perspective. Yoga is considered one of the viable protocols to provide the way for digital detoxification from technology and smartphone addiction by promoting self-regulation. Yoga brings back a healthy living style, which allows individuals to have enough physical activity through asanas, emotional stability, and awareness through meditation and breathing practices. We hypothesize that a holistic approach to yoga can regulate the symptoms associated with smartphone addiction by increasing the stability of the body and mind and promoting emotional detachment and self-regulation, which play an important role in the de-addiction process.
Impact of Gemini Surfactants on the Stability of Insulin using Computational Tools

Herein, a theoretical model has been designed to study the aggregation behaviour of native bovine insulin using computational tools. Herein, self-association and aggregation of insulin in the presence of Gemini surfactant was investigated. The data showed the noteworthy interaction and stabilization of insulin due to the Gemini surfactants. Using Gemini surfactants having spacer of two carbons i.e., ethylene group, it was found that Gemini surfactant, 71 found to be best for the stabilization of insulin. This conclusion is based on the energy contributed due to hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interaction and Van der Waals interactions. Further, Gemini surfactant, 71 has been proven a better stabilizer when the results were compared with the reported ligands as in PDB files (1ZNI, 2HR7 and 2OLY). Further, its comparison was done with conventional surfactants. It was found that Gemini surfactant, 71 is more potent than the conventional surfactants.
Motion control of valve-controlled hydraulic actuators with input saturation and modelling uncertainties

This article mainly concerns the high-performance motion control of valve-controlled hydraulic actuators with input saturation and modelling uncertainties. The nonlinear mathematic model including a continuously differentiable static friction model is constructed, and then adaptive robust design framework is adopted to cope with the modelling uncertainties, which always impede the progress of high-performance motion controller. Input saturation, which frequently exists in most physical systems, has been found to be prone to performance decay. To address this specific issue, an embedded anti-windup block containing two adjusting mechanisms is properly designed to improve the motion controller to ensure the stability and performance preservation in circumstance of input saturation, which is proved via rigorous Lyapunov analysis. Typical simulation is implemented to illustrate the availability of the proposed control method.
Oral Sedation is Non-Inferior to Intravenous Sedation for Cornea and Glaucoma Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose To determine whether oral sedation is as safe and effective as IV sedation for ophthalmic surgeries other than cataract surgery, we tested whether patient satisfaction with oral triazolam was non-inferior to IV midazolam for cornea and glaucoma surgeries. Patients and Methods Seventy-five cornea and 49 glaucoma surgery patients 18 years and older at Boston Medical Center (Boston, MA) were randomized within each study group (cornea or glaucoma) to receive oral triazolam + IV placebo, or oral placebo + IV midazolam before surgery in a double-masked fashion. Supplemental IV anesthesia was administered as needed during surgery. The primary outcome measure was patient satisfaction with anesthesia, compared between oral and IV sedation groups via t-test for non-inferiority, based on 70 cornea and 43 glaucoma subjects completing the study. Secondary outcome measures included surgeon and anesthesia provider satisfaction with anesthesia, rate of supplemental IV anesthesia, and incidence of adverse events and surgical complications. Results Using an a priori non-inferiority margin of 0.5, initial oral sedation was non-inferior to initial IV sedation in cornea (n=70, p<0.001) and glaucoma (n=43, p=0.017) groups, even after excluding subjects administered supplemental IV anesthesia. There were no significant differences in anesthesia provider or surgeon satisfaction, intra-operative complications, adverse events, or supplemental anesthesia between groups, except for higher anesthesia provider satisfaction with oral sedation in an Ahmed or Baerveldt implant ± cataract surgery sub-group (p=0.04). Subjects receiving supplemental anesthesia included 6 oral (18.2%) and 5 IV (13.5%) in the cornea group (p=0.59), and 7 oral (29.2%) and 6 IV (31.6%) in the glaucoma group (p=0.50). Conclusion Our results suggest that an initial dose of oral triazolam is equivalent to IV midazolam for non-cataract anterior segment surgeries. However, there was a relatively high need for supplemental IV anesthesia during some surgery types, particularly with glaucoma tube shunt implantation.
High-Resolution Urban Air Quality Mapping for Multiple Pollutants Based on Dense Monitoring Data and Machine Learning

Spatially explicit urban air quality information is important for urban fine-management and public life. However, existing air quality measurement methods still have some limitations on spatial coverage and system stability. A micro station is an emerging monitoring system with multiple sensors, which can be deployed to provide dense air quality monitoring data. Here, we proposed a method for urban air quality mapping at high-resolution for multiple pollutants. By using the dense air quality monitoring data from 448 micro stations in Lanzhou city, we developed a decision tree model to infer the distribution of citywide air quality at a 500 m × 500 m × 1 h resolution, with a coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.740 for PM2.5, 0.754 for CO and 0.716 for SO2. Meanwhile, we also show that the deployment density of the monitoring stations can have a significant impact on the air quality inference results. Our method is able to show both short-term and long-term distribution of multiple important pollutants in the city, which demonstrates the potential and feasibility of dense monitoring data combined with advanced data science methods to support urban atmospheric environment fine-management, policy making, and public health studies.
Evidence for further non-coding RNA genes in the fungal rDNA region

﻿Abstract Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes play important, but incompletely understood, roles in various cellular processes, notably translation and gene regulation. A recent report on the detection of the ncRNA Signal Recognition Particle gene in the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region of several species of three genera of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes prompted a more thorough bioinformatics search for additional ncRNA genes in the full fungal ribosomal operon. This study reports on the detection of three ncRNA genes hitherto not known from the fungal ribosomal region: nuclear RNase P RNA, RNase MRP RNA, and a possible snoRNA U14 in a total of five species of Auricularia and Inocybe. We verified their presence through resequencing of independent specimens. Two completed Auricularia genomes were found to lack these ncRNAs elsewhere than in the ribosomal operon, suggesting that these are functional genes. It seems clear that ncRNA genes play a larger role in fungal ribosomal genetics than hitherto thought.
Different postharvest storage conditions of Arbutus unedo L. fruits, and their physicochemical and microbiological characterisation

Arbutus unedo L. is a species with great economic impact in rural areas, and its fruits have several food applications and beneficial properties on human health. However, the fruits are highly perishable, and little is known about their characteristics. The present work thus aimed to evaluate the physicochemical and microbiological parameters of Arbutus unedo L. during two consecutive years from four different samples. Microbiological analysis was conducted at different times of preservation (days 0, 4, 11, and 21) and temperatures (room temperature, refrigeration, and freezing). Six fungal strains as representatives of the most prevalent mycobiota in fruits were used for molecular identification. The fruits had aw values of 0.916 ± 0.01 to 0.930 ± 0.01, pH values of 3.81 ± 0.01 to 3.82 ± 0.01, and ºBrix values of 25.02 ± 0.49 to 28.52 ± 1.02. Microbiological analysis revealed that the predominant microbiota in fresh fruits were psychrotrophs (4.07 ± 0.25 log CFU/g), yeasts (3.39 ± 0.18 log CFU/g), mesophiles (3.26 ± 1.20 log CFU/g), and moulds (2.70 ± 0.55 log CFU/g). After a preservation period of 11 days, the microbial loads increased from 66 to 116% at 25 ± 1°C; while at 6.5 ± 1°C, the increase varied from 3 to 53%; except for moulds, for which a decrease was observed. The application of freezing temperature (21 days) showed a small increase for psychrotrophs and yeasts of 1.5 and 2.9%, respectively. The most prevalent moulds identified belonged to Rhizopus stolonifer var. stolonifer, Aspergillus carbonarius, and Penicillium brevicompactum, while yeasts belonged to Aureobasidium sp. and Saccothecium rubi.
Stent Selection in Preoperative Biliary Drainage for Patients With Operable Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Therapy: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

With the increasing use of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in patients with pancreatic cancer to reduce tumor burden on prognosis, preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) is becoming increasingly necessary. The aim of this study was to summarize the latest evidence and compare the clinical efficacy of metal stents (MS) and plastic stents (PS) in patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy for operable pancreatic cancer. Eligible studies were searched in PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library from their inception to September 2021. In this study, RevMan 5.4 was used to perform the analyses. Two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and six retrospective studies with 316 patients were included. All patients had pancreatic cancer and received NAT before surgical resection. Meta-analysis showed that the rate of endoscopic reintervention in MS (26/143, 18%) group was lower than that of PS (122/153, 80%) group (P < 0.05). The rate of stent-related complications in MS group was lower (18/118, 15%) than that of PS (52/117, 44%) group (P = 0.02). But there were no significant differences in operative time, operative blood loss, overall postoperative complications, postoperative hospitalization days and total medical costs between the two groups. For operable pancreatic cancer patients undergoing NAT surgery, MS was preferred over PS in terms of the incidence of endoscopic reintervention and stent-related complications. More clinical trials are needed in the future to confirm these data with higher levels of evidence.
Gut Commensal Parabacteroides goldsteinii MTS01 Alters Gut Microbiota Composition and Reduces Cholesterol to Mitigate Helicobacter pylori-Induced Pathogenesis

Helicobacter pylori infection is closely associated with various gastrointestinal diseases and poses a serious threat to human health owing to its increasing antimicrobial resistance. H. pylori possesses two major virulence factors, vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) and cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA), which are involved in its pathogenesis. Probiotics have recently been used to eradicate H. pylori infection and reduce the adverse effects of antibiotic-based therapies. Parabacteroides goldsteinii MTS01 is a novel next-generation probiotic (NGP) with activities that can alleviate specific diseases by altering the gut microbiota. However, the mechanism by which P. goldsteinii MTS01 exerts its probiotic effects against H. pylori infection remains unclear. Our results showed that administration of P. goldsteinii MTS01 to H. pylori-infected model mice altered the composition of the gut microbiota and significantly reduced serum cholesterol levels, which mitigated H. pylori-induced gastric inflammation. In addition, the pathogenic effects of H. pylori VacA and CagA on gastric epithelial cells were markedly abrogated by treatment with P. goldsteinii MTS01. These results indicate that P. goldsteinii MTS01 can modulate gut microbiota composition and has anti-virulence factor functions, and thus could be developed as a novel functional probiotic for reducing H. pylori-induced pathogenesis.
Hybrid Multilevel Converters: Topologies, Evolutions and Verifications

Multilevel converters have good potential in high power and high voltage applications due to their advantages of reduced voltage or current stress on power devices. In recent years, hybrid multilevel converter (HMC) have attracted increasing attention since less equipment is required. In this paper, the topologies and evolutions of HMCs are presented, where five topology derivation ways are given by using basic cells in series-parallel/parallel-series. Some general topologies or structures that are used to generate higher levels are also deducted. Then many existing HMCs can be derived, and new topologies of the HMC might be inspired. The capabilities of neutral point and FC voltage balancing control are investigated. The performance of the selected FC-based HMCs is analyzed. Finally, the verifications of operation principle and control strategies for the derived HMCs are carried out.
Robust Optimization for Microgrid Defense Resource Planning and Allocation Against Multi-Period Attacks

This paper investigates a microgrid defense resource planning and allocation problem with the consideration of multi-period attacks. The defensive transmission lines and distributed generators (DGs) are, respectively, planned and allocated to mitigate the multi-period attack damage on transmission lines and minimize the shed loads for microgrid, based on a multi-period defender–attacker–defender model. Robust optimization technique is utilized for the problem formulation, resulting in a two-stage decision process: in the first stage, the defender proposes defensive line plan and DG allocation scheme for the purpose of minimizing the attacker’s damage; and in the second stage, the attacker disrupts the transmission lines of microgrid system aiming at the maximum damage by the multi-period attacks, then the defender reacts to optimize the power flow on the remaining microgrid system to minimize the shed loads. Solution process is developed based on the customized column-and-constraint generation algorithm. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed model and algorithm are validated with numerical experiments. In addition, sensitivity analysis is also carried out with various parameters and settings.
Aneuploid embryos as a proposal for improving Artificial Intelligence performance

RESEARCH QUESTION Could we improve the performance of Machine Learning algorithms by using aneuploid embryos instead of non-implanted embryos as the contrary reference to Live-Birth embryos? DESIGN A single-center retrospective analysis of 343 embryos through 3 ML algorithms, based on manually annotated morphokinetics from Day 1 to Day 3. Two datasets were built including the same Live-Birth embryos (117). Dataset A included 123 non-implanted embryos, while Dataset B included 103 aneuploid embryos. V-Fold Cross-Validation was performed for each dataset and algorithm and the Area Under the Curve (AUC) was registered. RESULTS AUC for Dataset A did not reach 0.6 for any of the algorithms; while AUC values for “Dataset B” surpassed 0.7. According to this, different morphokinetic patterns were detected by Machine Learning algorithms. CONCLUSIONS Algorithms’ minor performance with non-implanted embryos may be due to an increased Label Noise effect, suggesting that including aneuploid embryos could be more appropriate when building predictive algorithms for embryo viability. Machine Learning algorithms results were improved when aneuploid embryos were taken into consideration.
Polyphenols for the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke: New Applications and Insights

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Currently, the main therapeutic strategy involves the use of intravenous thrombolysis to restore cerebral blood flow to prevent the transition of the penumbra to the infarct core. However, due to various limitations and complications, including the narrow time window in which this approach is effective, less than 10% of patients benefit from such therapy. Thus, there is an urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies, with neuroprotection against the ischemic cascade response after IS being one of the most promising options. In the past few decades, polyphenolic compounds have shown great potential in animal models of IS because of their high biocompatibility and ability to target multiple ischemic cascade signaling pathways, although low bioavailability is an issue that limits the applications of several polyphenols. Here, we review the pathophysiological changes following cerebral ischemia and summarize the research progress regarding the applications of polyphenolic compounds in the treatment of IS over the past 5 years. Furthermore, we discuss several potential strategies for improving the bioavailability of polyphenolic compounds as well as some essential issues that remain to be addressed for the translation of the related therapies to the clinic.
Meaning Over Things: How Objects and Places Matter to the Residential Happiness of Older Adults

Abstract In previous research on aging and place, it comes forward that many people mainly prefer to age in place because they feel connected to their homes and secure in a familiar environment. This paper aims to understand how older adults living independently at home construct their residential happiness. We used photo-elicitation to explore how objects and places are considered important for their residential happiness by older adults (n = 37) in various residential settings in The Netherlands. The findings demonstrate that places and objects either directly evoke unique feelings of residential happiness or via attached personal stories.
The effects of gold nanoparticles with different surface coatings and sizes on biochemical parameters in mice

Objectives: Gold nanoparticles are very popular metallic nanomaterials and they have a wide spectrum of biomedical applications. This study was aimed to the production of stable and monodisperse polyethyleneimine (PEI) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) coated gold nanoparticles (AuNP20 and AuNP50), investigation of their in vivo biochemical effects in the BALB/c mice. Methods: Gold nanoparticles were synthesized and their surfaces were modified by PEI and PEG. All the necessary physicochemical characterizations were performed. After the single high dose i.v. injection (5 mg Au/kg animal weight) of the AuNP groups, their in vivo biochemical effects were evaluated multiparametrically in the mice on day 14. Results: Highly monodisperse and stable AuNPs were synthesized successfully. Significant changes in the biochemical hemogram parameters were observed depending on the surface coatings of the AuNPs. PEI and PEG surface coatings increased biocompatibility. No excessive oxidative stress response was observed in all the gold nanoparticle groups. Conclusions: It has been concluded that the surface chemistry of the particles is a more decisive parameter than the size in terms of in vivo biochemical toxicity. The surface functionalization, stability and biocompatibility of the AuNPs are important parameters for the potential biomedical applications of gold nanoparticles in future studies.