Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Industry 4.0 Application in Manufacturing for Real-Time Monitoring and Control

Modern manufacturing aims to reduce downtime and track process anomalies to make profitable business decisions. This ideology is strengthened by Industry 4.0, which aims to continuously monitor high-value manufacturing assets. This article builds upon the Industry 4.0-concept to improve the efficiency of manufacturing systems. The major contribution is a framework for continuous monitoring and feedback-based control in the friction stir welding (FSW) process. It consists of a CNC manufacturing machine, sensors, edge, cloud systems, and deep neural networks, all working cohesively in real-time. The edge device, located near the FSW machine, consists of a neural network that receives sensory information and predicts weld quality in real-time. It addresses time-critical manufacturing decisions. Cloud receives the sensory data if weld quality is poor, and a second neural network predicts the new set of welding parameters that are sent as feedback to the welding machine. Several experiments are conducted for training the neural networks. The framework successfully tracks process quality and improves the welding by controlling it in real-time. The system enables faster monitoring and control achieved in less than 1 second. The framework is validated through several experiments.
Detection of Household Furniture Storage Space in Depth Images

Autonomous service robots assisting in homes and institutions should be able to store and retrieve items in household furniture. This paper presents a neural network-based computer vision method for detection of storage space within storage furniture. The method consists of automatic storage volume detection and annotation within 3D models of furniture, and automatic generation of a large number of depth images of storage furniture with assigned bounding boxes representing the storage space above the furniture shelves. These scenes are used for the training of a neural network. The proposed method enables storage space detection in depth images acquired by a real 3D camera. Depth images with annotations of storage space bounding boxes are also a contribution of this paper and are available for further research. The proposed approach represents a novel research topic, and the results show that it is possible to facilitate a network originally developed for object detection to detect empty or cluttered storage volumes.
Validation of Biomarker-Based ABCD Score in Atrial Fibrillation Patients with a Non-Gender CHA2DS2-VASc Score 0–1: A Korean Multi-Center Cohort

Purpose Atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with low to intermediate risk, defined as non-gender CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0–1, are still at risk of stroke. This study verified the usefulness of ABCD score [age (≥60 years), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal pro-BNP (≥300 pg/mL), creatinine clearance (<50 mL/min/1.73 m2), and dimension of the left atrium (≥45 mm)] for stroke risk stratification in non-gender CHA2DS2-VASc score 0–1. Materials and Methods This multi-center cohort study retrospectively analyzed AF patients with non-gender CHA2DS2-VASc score 0–1. The primary endpoint was the incidence of stroke with or without antithrombotic therapy (ATT). An ABCD score was validated. Results Overall, 2694 patients [56.3±9.5 years; female, 726 (26.9%)] were followed-up for 4.0±2.8 years. The overall stroke rate was 0.84/100 person-years (P-Y), stratified as follows: 0.46/100 P-Y for an ABCD score of 0; 1.02/100 P-Y for an ABCD score ≥1. The ABCD score was superior to non-gender CHA2DS2-VASc score in the stroke risk stratification (C-index=0.618, p=0.015; net reclassification improvement=0.576, p=0.040; integrated differential improvement=0.033, p=0.066). ATT was prescribed in 2353 patients (86.5%), and the stroke rate was significantly lower in patients receiving non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) therapy and an ABCD score ≥1 than in those without ATT (0.44/100 P–Y vs. 1.55/100 P-Y; hazard ratio=0.26, 95% confidence interval 0.11–0.63, p=0.003). Conclusion The biomarker-based ABCD score demonstrated improved stroke risk stratification in AF patients with non-gender CHA2DS2-VASc score 0–1. Furthermore, NOAC with an ABCD score ≥1 was associated with significantly lower stroke rate in AF patients with non-gender CHA2DS2-VASc score 0–1.
Full-Scale Fire Smoke Root Detection Based on Connected Particles

Smoke is an early visual phenomenon of forest fires, and the timely detection of smoke is of great significance for early warning systems. However, most existing smoke detection algorithms have varying levels of accuracy over different distances. This paper proposes a new smoke root detection algorithm that integrates the static and dynamic features of smoke and detects the final smoke root based on clustering and the circumcircle. Compared with the existing methods, the newly developed method has a higher accuracy and detection efficiency on the full scale, indicating that the method has a wider range of applications in the quicker detection of smoke in forests and the prevention of potential forest fire spread.
Contribution Head Injury and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Recent data showed that soccer players in Italy had an unusually high risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and that repeated head trauma might have contributed to this increase. The authors examined whether head injury was related to ALS risk in a case-control study of 109 New England ALS cases diagnosed in 1993–1996 and 255 matched controls. They also conducted a meta-analysis of the published literature. Overall, ever having experienced a head injury was nonsignificantly associated with a higher ALS risk. When compared with persons without a head injury, a statistically significant ALS risk elevation was found for participants with more than one head injury (odds ratio (OR) 1⁄4 3.1, 95 percent confidence interval (CI): 1.2, 8.1) and patients who had had a head injury during the past 10 years (OR 1⁄4 3.2, 95 percent CI: 1.0, 10.2). For participants who had had multiple head injuries with the latest occurring in the past 10 years, risk was elevated more than 11-fold. The meta-analysis also indicated a moderately elevated risk of ALS among persons with previous head injuries (OR 1⁄4 1.7, 95 percent CI: 1.3, 2.2). In this study population, physical injuries to other body parts, including the trunk, arms, or legs, were not related to ALS risk. These data support the notion that head injury may increase the risk of ALS.
Spectral Element Method for the Simulation of Unsteady Compressible Flows

This work uses a discontinuous-Galerkin spectral-element method (DGSEM) to solve the compressible Navier-Stokesequations [1{3]. The inviscid ux is computed using the approximate Riemann solver of Roe [4]. The viscous uxesare computed using the second form of Bassi and Rebay (BR2) [5] in a manner consistent with the spectral-elementapproximation. The method of lines with the classical 4th-order explicit Runge-Kutta scheme is used for timeintegration. Results for polynomial orders up to p= 15 (16th order) are presented.The code is parallelized using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). The computations presented in this work areperformed using the Sandy Bridge nodes of the NASA Pleiades supercomputer at NASA Ames Research Center.Each Sandy Bridge node consists of 2 eight-core Intel Xeon E5-2670 processors with a clock speed of 2.6Ghz and2GB per core memory. On a Sandy Bridge node the Tau Benchmark [6] runs in a time of 7.6s.
Exploring the Expression of Pro-Inflammatory and Hypoxia-Related MicroRNA-20a, MicroRNA-30e, and MicroRNA-93 in Periodontitis and Gingival Mesenchymal Stem Cells under Hypoxia

Hypoxia associated with inflammation are common hallmarks observed in several diseases, and it plays a major role in the expression of non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs). In addition, the miRNA target genes for hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and nuclear factor of activated T cells-5 (NFAT5) modulate the adaptation to hypoxia. The objective of the present study was to explore hypoxia-related miRNA target genes for HIF-1α and NFAT5, as well as miRNA-20a, miRNA-30e, and miRNA-93 expression in periodontitis versus healthy gingival tissues and gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs) cultured under hypoxic conditions. Thus, a case-control study was conducted, including healthy and periodontitis subjects. Clinical data and gingival tissue biopsies were collected to analyze the expression of miRNA-20a, miRNA-30e, miRNA-93, HIF-1α, and NFAT5 by qRT-PCR. Subsequently, GMSCs were isolated and cultured under hypoxic conditions (1% O2) to explore the expression of the HIF-1α, NFAT5, and miRNAs. The results showed a significant upregulation of miRNA-20a (p = 0.028), miRNA-30e (p = 0.035), and miRNA-93 (p = 0.026) in periodontitis tissues compared to healthy gingival biopsies. NFAT5 mRNA was downregulated in periodontitis tissues (p = 0.037), but HIF-1α was not affected (p = 0.60). Interestingly, hypoxic GMSCs upregulated the expression of miRNA-20a and HIF-1α, but they downregulated miRNA-93e. In addition, NFAT5 mRNA expression was not affected in hypoxic GMSCs. In conclusion, in periodontitis patients, the expression of miRNA-20a, miRNA-30e, and miRNA-93 increased, but a decreased expression of NFAT5 mRNA was detected. In addition, GMSCs under hypoxic conditions upregulate the HIF-1α and increase miRNA-20a (p = 0.049) expression. This study explores the role of inflammatory and hypoxia-related miRNAs and their target genes in periodontitis and GMSCs. It is crucial to determine the potential therapeutic target of these miRNAs and hypoxia during the periodontal immune–inflammatory response, which should be analyzed in greater depth in future studies.
Evaluating Actions to Improve Air Quality at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Air pollution is the single largest environmental risk to human health in the UK, exerting a major healthcare sector burden and exacerbating health and social inequalities. The NHS Long Term Plan commits the healthcare sector to reducing emissions from all sources, however, to date few Acute NHS Trusts have implemented air quality focused sustainability plans. In this case study, we assess potential air quality improvement actions at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK as a test case for NHS sustainability actions. We generate an evidenced based, prioritized shortlist of actions to mitigate emissions and protect patients, staff, and local communities from air pollution exposure. The project supports adoption of an evidence-based, contextually relevant, approach to air quality management within healthcare provision. The methodology used could be employed by organizations with similar goals to address environmental concerns.
A Validation Study of the Deep-Learning-Based Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System Scoring Algorithm

Purpose: The Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) was introduced to standardize prostate cancer diagnosis by MRI. However, the inter-reader agreement by PI-RADS scoring is not always high. The purpose of this study was to validate a deep-learning-based diagnostic algorithm of PI-RADS. Methods: We applied a Siemens Healthineers Prostate Artificial Intelligence (AI) prototype (work in progress) for fully automated prostate lesion detection, classification and reporting. More than 2000 bi-parametric MRI studies along with the PI-RADS reports were included as training, validation, and test data. This prospective validation study includes 101 consecutive patients suspected of prostate cancer, and 100 patients were included in the analysis. All subjects underwent a noncontrast-enhanced bi-parametric MRI including T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging. Two board-certified radiologists independently scored the PI-RADS, validated and shown to help score PI-RADS.
Nutrition and Health through the Use of Probiotic Strains in Fermentation to Produce Non-Dairy Functional Beverage Products Supporting Gut Microbiota

Pure viable strains of microorganisms identified and characterised as probiotic cultures are used in the fermentation process to prepare functional beverages. The fermented probiotic products can be consumed as a source of nutrition and also for the maintenance of healthy gut microbiota. The functional beverages contain the substrates used for the preparation of product with a specific culture or a mixture of known strains used to perform the fermentation, hence these drinks can be considered as a healthy formulation of synbiotic products. If a beverage is prepared using agriculturally sourced materials, the fermented substrates with their oligosaccharides and fiber content act as prebiotics. Both the components (probiotic strain/s and prebiotic substrate) exist in a synergistic relationship in the product and contribute to several benefits for nutrition and gut health. The preparation of such probiotic beverages has been studied using non-dairy-based materials, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and cassava, a staple diet source in many regions. The consumption of beverages prepared with the use of probiotics, which contain active microbial cells and their metabolites, contributes to the functional properties of beverages. In addition, the non-dairy probiotic products can be used by consumers of all groups and food cultures, including vegans and vegetarians, and particularly consumers with allergies to dairy-based products. The aim of this article is to present a review of published research highlighting specific probiotic strains, which have the potential to enhance sustainability of healthy GIT microbiota, used in the fermentation process for the preparation of non-dairy beverages.
Respiratory-Induced Amplitude Modulation of Forcecardiography Signals

Forcecardiography (FCG) is a novel technique that records the weak forces induced on the chest wall by cardio-respiratory activity, by using specific force sensors. FCG sensors feature a wide frequency band, which allows us to capture respiration, heart wall motion, heart valves opening and closing (similar to the Seismocardiogram, SCG) and heart sounds, all simultaneously from a single contact point on the chest. As a result, the raw FCG sensors signals exhibit a large component related to the respiratory activity, referred to as a Forcerespirogram (FRG), with a much smaller, superimposed component related to the cardiac activity (the actual FCG) that contains both infrasonic vibrations, referred to as LF-FCG and HF-FCG, and heart sounds. Although respiration can be readily monitored by extracting the very low-frequency component of the raw FCG signal (FRG), it has been observed that the respiratory activity also influences other FCG components, particularly causing amplitude modulations (AM). This preliminary study aimed to assess the consistency of the amplitude modulations of the LF-FCG and HF-FCG signals within the respiratory cycle. A retrospective analysis was performed on the FCG signals acquired in a previous study on six healthy subjects at rest, during quiet breathing. To this aim, the AM of LF-FCG and HF-FCG were first extracted via a linear envelope (LE) operation, consisting of rectification followed by low-pass filtering; then, the inspiratory peaks were located both in the LE of LF-FCG and HF-FCG, and in the reference respiratory signal (FRG). Finally, the inter-breath intervals were extracted from the obtained inspiratory peaks, and further analyzed via statistical analyses. The AM of HF-FCG exhibited higher consistency within the respiratory cycle, as compared to the LF-FCG. Indeed, the inspiratory peaks were recognized with a sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) in excess of 99% in the LE of HF-FCG, and with a sensitivity and PPV of 96.7% and 92.6%, respectively, in the LE of LF-FCG. In addition, the inter-breath intervals estimated from the HF-FCG scored a higher R2 value (0.95 vs. 0.86) and lower limits of agreement (± 0.710 s vs. ±1.34 s) as compared to LF-FCG, by considering those extracted from the FRG as the reference. The obtained results are consistent with those observed in previous studies on SCG. A possible explanation of these results was discussed. However, the preliminary results obtained in this study must be confirmed on a larger cohort of subjects and in different experimental conditions.
CONVERGENCE ACCELERATION OF A GENERAL NEWTON METHOD FOR SYSTEMS OF NONLINEAR EQUATIONS

The general Newton method proposed in [13] is q-linear convergent. We de ne a modi cation of the general Newton method. The main idea of this method is to use a given number of inner iterations for calculating approximation of the inverse Jacobian matrix, because it has an important in uence on the convergence rate of the method. Local q-linear, q-superlinear and q-quadratic convergence of the modi cation of the general Newton method is proved. Some numerical experiments are also presented.
Cold Laser Micro-Machining of PDMS as an Encapsulation Layer for Soft Implantable Neural Interface

PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) is an important soft biocompatible material, which has various applications such as an implantable neural interface, a microfluidic chip, a wearable brain–computer interface, etc. However, the selective removal of the PDMS encapsulation layer is still a big challenge due to its chemical inertness and soft mechanical properties. Here, we use an excimer laser as a cold micro-machining tool for the precise removal of the PDMS encapsulation layer which can expose the electrode sites in an implantable neural interface. This study investigated and optimized the effect of excimer laser cutting parameters on the electrochemical impedance of a neural electrode by using orthogonal experiment design. Electrochemical impedance at the representative frequencies is discussed, which helps to construct the equivalent circuit model. Furthermore, the parameters of the equivalent circuit model are fitted, which reveals details about the electrochemical property of neural electrode using PDMS as an encapsulation layer. Our experimental findings suggest the promising application of excimer lasers in the micro-machining of implantable neural interface.
Parental Involvement, Essential Life Skills, Struggles and Coping Strategies in Assisting Primary Pupils

This study determined parental involvement, life skills, struggles and their coping strategies in assisting primary pupils on their homeschooling during the pandemic. Descriptive-correlation research design was utilized in this study using mean and Pearson Product Moment Correlation to determine the relationship between parents’ involvement, life skills, struggles, and coping strategies. There were 150 parents comprising half of the entire population of a public elementary school in the province. The results showed strong parental involvement in the homeschooling of the pupils with decision-making as the essential life skill necessary to assist their children. Moreover, learning outcomes came out to be the most struggled factor. To address the issues, parent’s coping strategies include maintaining good communication with society, family and self. The findings also revealed positive significant relationship between parental involvement, life skills, and struggles of remote learning with their coping strategies. This study suggests that building a positive atmosphere in education requires uniting the work at home and school. Listening and showing care about their point of view, involving them in decision making, and alternative solutions to problems can help assess parents that concern children. With these results, it was highly recommended for the school administrators to provide a support system between the school community and parents. Parents should be informed about the progress of their children through one-to-one, conferences, online or face-to-face meetings and instill in them how they address family issues that affect children’s behavior in school.
Correlation Analysis for Seed Yield and its Related Attributes in Genotypes of Sesame (Sesame indicum L.)

The present study was conducted to determine the correlation coefficients among the seed yield and yield contributing characters in 65 genotypes of sesame. The seed yield per plant recorded significant and positive association with capsule length (cm), plant height (cm), number of capsules, number of seeds per capsules, 1000- seed weight (g) and oil content (%) at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. As per correlations analysis, it is concluded that, the selection for these characters can be helpful for improving the yield potential of sesame.
Are Routine Chest X-rays Necessary following Thoracic Surgery? A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Simple Summary X-rays of the chest have become part of the clinical routine for patients undergoing surgery of the chest. Each of these X-rays exposes the patient and the medical staff to radiation, increasing the treatment costs and the workload. The scientific evidence for performing X-rays after chest surgery (excluding heart surgery) is limited. The purpose of this study was to gather the evidence and analyze it in order to find out how often these X-rays have consequences or lead to a change in patient care. The results of this study could potentially help reduce the number of X-rays that are routinely performed following surgery of the chest. Abstract (1) Background: The number of chest X-rays that are performed in the perioperative window of thoracic surgery varies. Many clinics X-ray patients daily, while others only perform X-rays if there are clinical concerns. The purpose of this study was to assess the evidence of perioperative X-rays following thoracic surgery and estimate the clinical value with regard to changes in patient care. (2) Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted up until November 2021. Studies reporting X-ray outcomes in adult patients undergoing general thoracic surgery were included. (3) Results: In total, 11 studies (3841 patients/4784 X-rays) were included. The X-ray resulted in changes in patient care in 488 cases (10.74%). In patients undergoing mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy or thoracoscopic sympathectomy, postoperative X-ray never led to changes in patient care. (4) Conclusions: There are no data to recommend an X-ray before surgery or to recommend daily X-rays. X-rays immediately after surgery seem to rarely have any consequences. It is probably reasonable to keep requesting X-rays after drain removal since they serve multiple purposes and alter patient care in 7.30% of the cases.
Crosstalk between the Gut Microbiome and Colonic Motility in Chronic Constipation: Potential Mechanisms and Microbiota Modulation

Chronic constipation (CC) is a highly prevalent and burdensome gastrointestinal disorder. Accumulating evidence highlights the link between imbalances in the gut microbiome and constipation. However, the mechanisms by which the microbiome and microbial metabolites affect gut movement remain poorly understood. In this review, we discuss recent studies on the alteration in the gut microbiota in patients with CC and the effectiveness of probiotics in treating gut motility disorder. We highlight the mechanisms that explain how the gut microbiome and its metabolism are linked to gut movement and how intestinal microecological interventions may counteract these changes based on the enteric nervous system, the central nervous system, the immune function, and the ability to modify intestinal secretion and the hormonal milieu. In particular, microbiota-based approaches that modulate the levels of short-chain fatty acids and tryptophan catabolites or that target the 5-hydroxytryptamine and Toll-like receptor pathways may hold therapeutic promise. Finally, we discuss the existing limitations of microecological management in treating constipation and suggest feasible directions for future research.