Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes Observed in the 6-minute Walk Test in Response to Exercise-based Cardiac Rehabilitation

Objectives: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is widely used in exercise based cardiac rehabilitation (EBCR) for assessment of functional capacity. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of structured exercise in an EBCR program on 6MWT change and to determine the significance of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), pathology and exercise attendance on influencing this outcome.Methods: Data from a single centre 6-week (twice weekly exercise and education of one-hour duration) exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program were analysed. Between 2006 and 2019, 2524 patients (males 1923, females 601, mean age 63.5 ± 11.2 years) with cardiovascular disease completed a pre and post 6MWT. Analysis included the effect of age, gender, pathology, BMI and exercise attendance on 6MWT outcome.Results: The group mean improvement in the 6MWT was 21.8% (pre 6MWT 432 ± 83, post 6MWT 527 ± 102 metres). The age-related improvement showed that both males and females achieved a post 6MWT results equivalent to the pre 6MWT result of patients two decades younger with improvement in the 6MWT unrelated to exercise attendance.Conclusions: The 6MWT provides simple safe method for assessment of functional capacity in an out-of-hospital environment being suitable for all ages. The post EBCR 6MWT results showed a group mean improvement in excess of 20% for both sexes. The decline per decade in 6MWT distance is less than 20 metres up to the sixth decade with a more marked decline from the sixth to the eighth decade, the decline being approximately 40-metres for both sexes in the eighth decade.
Clinical Effect of Bushen Huoxue Method Combined with Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis and Its Effect on IL-1, IL-6, VEGF, and PGE-2

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of the Bushen Huoxue method combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and its effect on serum and joint fluid interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE-2). Methods A total of 64 cases of KOA diagnosed and treated from January 2020 to January 2021 were randomly divided into research group and control group, with 32 cases in each group. The control group was treated with PRP, and the research group took the prescription of the Bushen Huoxue method on the basis of the control group. The clinical efficacy was assessed according to the criteria in “the diagnosis and Treatment of osteoarthritis,” osteoarthritis index score and pain visual analogue score (VAS). Serum and articular fluid VAS, IL-1, IL-6, VEGF, and PGE-2 levels were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The clinical effective rate of the research group was 93.8%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (90.6%). There was no significant difference in the scores of osteoarthritis index between the two groups before treatment, but the scores of both groups decreased after treatment and was lower in the research group than those in the control group. VAS was significantly decreased in two groups after treatment and it was lower in the research group than that in the control group. After treatment, the levels of IL-1, IL-6, and PGE-2 in serum and articular fluid all indexes were decreased, and the levels in the research group were lower than those in the control group. Conclusions PRP joint cavity injection combined with oral administration of Bushen Huoxue prescription, and PRP joint cavity injection alone can improve the efficacy of KOA, relieve knee pain, and promote the recovery of knee function. The mechanism may be related to the reduction of IL-1, IL-6, VEGF levels, and PGE-2 levels in the serum and joint fluid. However, the efficacy of combination therapy was superior to PRP alone.
Research on improved faster R-CNN polarization image detection method

Polarization imaging technology is an optical reconnaissance method based on the polarization characteristics of the target, which can simultaneously obtain a variety of information about the target. This information is very useful for visual tasks such as target detection. The traditional polarization parameter map as the input source for target detection has the problems of low accuracy and weak generalization ability. To solve the above problems, this paper builds a polarization parameter feature extraction network on the basis of Faster R-CNN, and adaptively generates polarization parameters. Perform feature extraction. It has been verified that the detection accuracy has been improved compared to the traditional network with polarization parameters as the input source.
A Metamaterial based Microstrip Patch Antenna with Improved Directionality

This paper focuses on improving the directive properties of a conventional patch antenna by using a known technique of applying metamaterial slab as a cover. The metamaterial under consideration is a modification of Pendry‟s SRR structure and is equivalent to two SRRs connected back to back. The unit cells were arranged in an array configuration, investigation of Sparameters was done for checking the Negative index property. As expected with the use of metamaterial as a cover, directionality of conventional patch antenna improved significantly and the 3 dB beam-width reduced. A conventional patch antenna generally shows 3 dB beam-width of ~80deg while the antenna presented in this paper with the metamaterial shows improved 3dB beam-width of 45 deg.
The Management of Clinical Varicocele: Robotic Surgery Approach

Varicocele is a pathologic dilation of the testicular veins within the spermatic cord. Varicocele is considered the most common problem in reproductive medicine practice. It is identified in 15% of healthy men and up to 35% of men with primary infertility. The exact pathophysiology of varicoceles is not very well understood, and several theories have been proposed to explain it. Varicocele can impair sperm quality and fertility via various mechanisms: reflux of adrenal metabolites, increased testicular hypoxia, oxidative stress, and increased testicular temperature have been proposed. Several studies have reported the significant benefits on semen parameters with the surgical treatment of varicocele: reducing oxidatively induced sperm DNA damage and potentially improving fertility. Varicocele repair should be offered as a part of treatment option for male partners of infertile couples presenting with palpable varicoceles. Nowadays, there are several surgical approaches available for the treatment of varicocele, such as the retroperitoneal approach, inguinal approach, and the subinguinal approach. The subinguinal microscopic approach offers the best outcomes, such as shorter hospital stays, preservation of the testicular arteries and lymphatics, least number of postoperative complications, recurrence, and a higher number of pregnancies. Currently robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery is widely adopted in urology and surgeons began to explore the potential applications of the robotic platform to male infertility microsurgical operations. Robotic approach offers many advantages: elimination of tremor, retraction with third arm, high quality, 3-dimensional visualization and surgeon ergonomics, all contributing to the precision of surgery.
Analysis of effect of impeller geometry including blade outlet angle on the performance of multi-pressure pumps: Simulation and experiment

In this paper, the effect of outlet angle geometry of the blades of the impeller of a multi-pressure pump on the pump’s head and efficiency using two approaches, namely numerical approach (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and experimentation are investigated. Herein, a closed single-suction, five-blade impeller with three different outlet angles (27°, 30°, and 33°) is analyzed. The impeller model was first built in SOLIDWORKS software before analyzing the fluid flow with the help of ANSYS Fluent software. All surfaces were meshed through irregular gridding. Considering high flow velocity along with low thickness of boundary layer near the blade tips, smaller mesh sizes were used across these areas. Blade surfaces were meshed using square elements. Furthermore, in order to model the volumes, irregular gridding and TGrid algorithm were undertaken. Generated with this algorithm are quadtrial elements of known size. In volumetric meshing stage, aspect ratio was set to a maximum of 0.6. In the experimentation phase of this research, a multi-stage pump was tested at 2000 rpm and 30 kW of input power with three impellers of different angles. At specific values of outlet angle and impeller outlet width, some reductions in hydraulic and mechanical losses within the impeller along with some rises in the pump head and efficiency were observed. Simulation results were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data; so as one can save time and money by using numerical simulation approaches in ANSYS Fluent rather than undertaking experimentations. Numerical and experimental analyses revealed that the maximum pump head and efficiency have been witnessed at the outlet angle of 30°. This is because of the reduced losses by water recirculation within the volute and outlet impellers.DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.mech. 23.1. 17676
Technologies of Manufacture of Bipolar High-Speed Transistors

Technologies of manufacture of bipolar high-speed transistors are classified to 4 groups according to the minimal width of base area and the methods used for contacts to electrodes formation. Technologies of the first group features obtaining of the electrodes by direct and lift-off metallization lithography. In the second group the distances between the electrodes are obtained by the self-alignment and self-formation processes. In the third group of technologies the electrodes are also depart sources. In the fourth group of technologies the microstructure of base is tree-dimensional. The width of base area within this group is equal only minimal size image of lithography.
The Effect of Inter-pulse Interval on TMS Motor Evoked Potentials in Active Muscles

Objective The time interval between transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses affects evoked muscle responses when the targeted muscle is resting. This necessitates using sufficiently long inter-pulse intervals (IPIs). However, there is some evidence that the IPI has no effect on the responses evoked in active muscles. Thus, we tested whether voluntary contraction could remove the effect of the IPI on TMS motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Methods In our study, we delivered sets of 30 TMS pulses with three different IPIs (2, 5, and 10 s) to the left primary motor cortex. These measurements were performed with the resting and active right hand first dorsal interosseous muscle in healthy participants (N = 9 and N = 10). MEP amplitudes were recorded through electromyography. Results We found that the IPI had no significant effect on the MEP amplitudes in the active muscle (p = 0.36), whereas in the resting muscle, the IPI significantly affected the MEP amplitudes (p < 0.001), decreasing the MEP amplitude of the 2 s IPI. Conclusions These results show that active muscle contraction removes the effect of the IPI on the MEP amplitude. Therefore, using active muscles in TMS motor mapping enables faster delivery of TMS pulses, reducing measurement time in novel TMS motor mapping studies.
The Pennsylvania State University

Histone modifications are the principal regulators of chromatin dynamics, mediating the extent of chromatin compaction which in turn alters DNA accessibility for gene regulation and repair. Large-scale chromatin remodeling, manifested by the progressive condensation of chromatin marked by the repressive histone modification H3K9me2, is essential to establish cell-specific gene expression patterns during lineage commitment and cellular differentiation. Dysregulation of this large-scale regulatory mechanism has been linked to cellular transformation and oncogenesis in cancer cell lines, diverse solid tumors and hematopoietic cancers. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly malignant blood cancer and many of the recurrent gene fusions and driver mutations associated with AML are directly related to epigenetic regulation and chromatin higher order structure, suggesting broad genetic and epigenetic disruption in the pathogenesis of AML. We conducted Chromatin Immunoprecipitation followed by massively parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq) to analyze genome-wide H3K9me2 distribution in primary AML patient samples, CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors, and mature granulocytes, and identified distinct genomic regions marked by significant bidirectional changes of H3K9me2, including domains persistently altered in AML patient samples. In addition, we showed that targeting the histone methyltransferase G9a, which is responsible for the majority of euchromatic H3K9me2, with a pharmacologically active inhibitor, reverses some of the changes observed in AML cells. We performed ChIP-qPCR and transcriptional analysis of genes within the specific regions and in
Educational experimental platform for engineering training in AI-assisted optical networks for data center

With the rapid development of optical network for data center techniques and artificial intelligent algorithms, it’s harder to train relevant professionals. Experimental course plays an important role for students to deepen understanding of complex theoretical knowledge. However, existing SDN-based experimental platforms face two challenges that increase the learning cost: (1) how to evaluate intelligent algorithms in optical network for data center rapidly and automatically, (2) how to provide a large-scale optical network for data center environment for students’ practice with acceptable cost. To overcome these two challenges, this paper proposed an innovative educational platform with two features: (1) Introducing an intelligent algorithm center in the control layer to store and manage students’ different customized intelligent algorithms. (2) Introducing the combination of physical domain and virtual domain in underlying devices layer to provide a large-scale network experimental environment for students. The main functions of the proposed platform have been realized. Many students have used this platform to evaluate their intelligent algorithms. The difficulty of evaluating intelligent algorithms is greatly reduced. Students can make it more clear how intelligent algorithm works on optical networks for data center.
“It’s a Heavy Lift”: How University Faculty and Students Experienced Emergency Remote Teaching During COVID-19

This mixed method, sequential explanatory study seeks to explore how faculty and students at a comprehensive university in a Mid-Atlantic American city were impacted by the shift to emergency remote teaching and learning during the spring of 2020. Data were collected through surveys, follow-up focus groups, and individual interviews. We tracked which technologies and teaching and learning supports faculty and students used when moving to emergency remote teaching and learning. Faculty and students reported overall positive experiences despite the challenges associated with the transition. Participants favored technologies that attempted to mirror the face-to-face experience and encouraged social presence. Quantitative and qualitative findings collectively indicated that participants were focused on variables that impacted student learning and fostered adaptions and accommodations in response to the needs of the university community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons learned from this study offer universities evidence-based ways to engage and support teaching and learning processes even after the pandemic is over. © 2022, Grand Canyon University. All rights reserved.
Extended Simulations for the Link Stress and Elevation Control of a Tethered Aerial Robot

This document is a technical attachment to the paper: M. Tognon and A. Franchi, “Nonlinear observer-based tracking control of link stress and elevation for a tethered aerial robot using inertial-only measurements,” in 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Seattle, WA, 2015; as an extension of the simulation’s section.
Field-circuit coupling simulation technology of microwave active circuit based on DGTD

With the increase of power and frequency, the internal electromagnetic environment of microwave active circuits is becoming more and more complex. It is urgent to strengthen the research of electromagnetic field-circuit coupling simulation and accurately analyze the electromagnetic characteristics of complex microwave active circuits. In this paper, a discontinuous Galerkin time domain method (DGTD) based on tetrahedron and hexahedron hybrid partition is proposed to analyze the electromagnetic characteristics of complex microwave active circuits. This method can effectively realize the coupling of electromagnetic field and circuit through numerical flux, and effectively reduce the computational unknowns and improve the computational efficiency through the tetrahedral hybrid subdivision method. The numerical results are in good agreement with those in references, which verifies the accuracy of the proposed method.
Benefits and motives for peer mentoring in higher education: an exploration through the lens of cultural capital

ABSTRACT Despite the large and diverse cohorts recruited annually across the globe to university sport programmes, few studies have assessed the value of peer support within sports education settings. Even more surprising is the lack of research to have explored the encounters of peer mentors who help deliver these schemes and the impact it had on their professional development. Conducted at a post-92 English university, this study explored the benefits and motives of students volunteering to become peer mentors in their second year of university. Drawing on Bourdieu’s key concepts as the guiding theoretical framework, the study suggests that participants, who were predominantly first generation to attend university, engaged in peer mentoring to develop cultural capital for their chosen professional field, but also to give back and support the development of social and cultural capital for mentees. Practical implications for developing future peer support programmes are presented, as are future research avenues and limitations.
An on-orbit high-precision angular vibration measuring device based on laser gyro

The micro-angle vibration of the structure caused by the satellite micro-vibration has a greater impact on the imaging of the optical imaging satellite payload camera, and it is difficult to measure in orbit. In this paper, an angular vibration measuring device based on four-frequency differential laser gyroscopes was presented to meet the needs of satellite in-orbit micro-angular vibration measurement. The gyroscope uses optical methods to overcome the lock-in effect, and there is no mechanical jitter, so the measuring device will not produce mechanical vibration interference to other satellite equipment. In order to improve the measurement accuracy, the pulse subdivision algorithm was used to reduce the quantization error of the laser gyroscopes. The high-precision satellite-time synchronization design was adopted to make the time scale of the measuring device and the load camera consistent to facilitate data use. In addition, a installation matrix calibration method was used to convert the measurement axis of the laser gyroscope and the optical axis of the load camera to the same coordinate system. Finally, the static resolution and dynamic calibration tests of the device were carried out using an angular vibration excitation platform. The results showed that the static resolution reached 0.004"(3σ), and the dynamic test performance was better than 5.69%. This device can provide accurate data reference for the satellite to improve the pointing accuracy and stability of the payload.
GPU implementation in real-time target search for push-broom hyperspectral imagery

The existing hyperspectral target recognition algorithms implemented on graphics processing units (GPU) have an outstanding performance in reducing the operation time. However, for push-broom hyperspectral imagery, real-time target search not only requires high computing performance for real-time response and rapid decisions but also requires synchronizing imaging, data transmission and target recognition. In terms of this problem, this paper proposes a new realtime target search method for push-broom hyperspectral imagery. This method takes the advantage of cross-execution and concurrent execution of compute unified device architecture (CUDA) streams in graphics processing units (GPU). The execution efficiency and process of this method are analyzed using GPU architecture by NVIDIA GeForce GTX745, which provides a reference for further application of real-time target search in the fields of civilian search and rescue, dangerous substances investigation and so on.
The contagion effect of COVID-19-induced uncertainty on US tourism sector: Evidence from time-varying granger causality test

This study investigates the effect of COVID-19-induced uncertainty on the overall stock market and the stock performance of the tourism and hospitality industry and its subsectors utilizing a novel time-varying robust Granger causality test. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic–induced uncertainty has an adverse impact on the overall economy, tourism and hospitality industry, and subsectors of tourism and hospitality. However, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic–induced uncertainty is more significant in the tourism and hospitality industry and its subsectors. In particular, hotels sector has experienced the largest impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by restaurants and airline sectors, respectively. Research and practical implications are discussed. JEL Classification: C1, C5, F2, G11, G17, G41
Programmed Topographic Substrates for Studying Roughness Gradient-Dependent Cell Migration Using Two-Photon Polymerization

The mediation of the extracellular matrix is one of the major environmental cues to direct cell migration, such as stiffness-dependent durotaxis and adhesiveness-dependent haptotaxis. In this study, we explore another possible contact guidance: roughness dependent topotaxis. Different from previously reported studies on topotaxis that use standard photolithography to create micron or submicron structures that have identical height and different spatial densities, we develop a new method to programmatically fabricate substrates with different patterns of surface roughness using two-photon polymerization. Surface roughness ranging from 0.29 to 1.11 μm can be created by controlling the voxel distance between adjacently cured ellipsoid voxels. Patterned Ormocomp® masters are transferred to polypropylene films using the nanoimprinting method for cell migration study. Our experimental results suggest that MG63 cells can sense the spatial distribution of their underlying extracellar roughness and modulate their migration velocity and direction. Three characteristic behaviors were identified. First, cells have a higher migration velocity on substrates with higher roughness. Second, cells preferred to migrate from regions of higher roughness to lower roughness, and their migration velocity also decreased with descending roughness. Third, the migration velocity remained unchanged on the lower roughness range on a graded substrate with a steeper roughness. The last cell migration characteristic suggests the steepness of the roughness gradient can be another environmental cue in addition to surface roughness. Finally, the combination of two-photon polymerization and nanoimprint methods could become a new fabrication methodology to create better 3D intricate structures for exploring topotactic cell migrations.