Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dressing plantar wounds with foam dressings, is it too much pressure?

Diabetes and its associated complications have become a major concern locally, nationally and internationally. One such complication is lower extremity amputation, commonly preceded by chronic ulceration. The cause of this tissue breakdown is multi-faceted, but includes an increase in pressure, particularly plantar pressure. As such, the choice of dressing to be applied to a plantar wound should ideally not increase this pressure further. A commonly used and possibly more bulky dressing is the foam dressing. This pilot study investigates the plantar pressures associated with three common foam dressings (Allevyn®, Lyofoam® and Mepilex®) compared with a control dressing (Melolin®). Twelve healthy males and 19 females [SD] age 36.6 [10.4] were measured using the F-scan plantar pressure measurement system. Substantial variations in individual pressure changes occurred across the foot. No significant differences were identified, once a Bonferroni correction was applied. In healthy adults, it could be concluded that foam dressings do not have any effect on the plantar pressures of the foot. However, the need remains for a robust trial on a pathological population.
Dietary patterns in relation to prostate cancer in Iranian men: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND Prostate cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer among males in economically developed countries. Among the several risk factors that have been suggested, only age, ethnicity, diabetes, and family history of prostate cancer are well-established and primary prevention of this disease is limited. Prior studies had shown that dietary intake could be modified to reduce cancer risk. We conducted a hospital-based, case- control study to examine the association between dietary patterns and prostate cancer risk in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of fifty patients with prostate cancer and a hundred controls underwent face-to-face interviews. Factor analysis was used to determine the dietary patterns. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS We defined two major dietary patterns in this population: 'western diet'(high in sweets and desserts, organ meat, snacks, tea and coffee, French fries, salt, carbonated drinks, red or processed meat) and 'healthy diet' (high in legumes, fish, dairy products, fruits and fruit juice, vegetables, boiled potatoes ,whole cereal and egg). Both Healthy and western pattern scores were divided into two categories (based on medians). Higher scores on Healthy pattern was marginally significantly related to decreased risk of prostate cancer (above median vs below median, OR =0.4, 95%CI=0.2-1.0). An increased risk of prostate cancer was observed with the higher scores on the Western pattern (above median vs below median, OR=4.0, 95%CI=1.5-11.0). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggested that diet might be associated with prostate cancer among Iranian males.
Finite Element Evaluation of Stress Distribution in Mature and Immature Teeth

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic injuries may affect the vitality and development of tooth. So divergence or parallelism of canal walls induces an open apex which is very susceptible to fracture. The aim of this study was to determine the stress distribution pattern in immature teeth and compare it with mature teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In order to analyze stress distribution using finite element method, models were first designed according to actual samples by "ANSYS" software. Two models of the maxillary central incisors were designed, one mature and one with open apex. Mature tooth was designed as having undergone root canal therapy with gutta-percha and the immature one with both MTA plug and gutta-percha. Samples were loaded in seven stages and then, the stress distribution in each model was measured, using the "ANSYS" software. RESULTS: During gutta-percha condensation, the immature tooth transfers the stress directly to the external root surface where force is directly applied, whereas during masticatory occlusal forces, the stress is transferred to middle third of buccal and lingual surfaces and to buccal cervix in lunar shape. During traumatic forces, stress concentration was on the cervical region of buccal surface and middle third of buccal and lingual surfaces. MTA plug prevents stress distribution toward apical region and forces concentrate in dentin at the point where stress terminates. CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this simulated mechanical analysis, it was confirmed that the pattern of stress distribution in mature and immature teeth is different. Cervical area of the buccal surface in immature teeth is one of the stress concentration areas, which contribute to the high rate of fracture in this area.
Design Issues and Performance Analysis of Location-Aided Hierarchical Cluster Routing on the MANET

MANET (Mobile Ad-hoc Network) is a type of dynamic configuration wireless ad-hoc network that does not require the basic internet construction. Clustering of devices in MANET could reduce overhead, flooding and collision in communication and make the network topology more stable. Cluster Heads (CHs) are determined dynamically and in charge of the routing of the cluster. Frequent search of CH nodes would lower the efficiency of network. Many clustering algorithms used in searching CH nodes only consider the hop counts. However, the hop numbers do not demonstrate the exact distance between two CH nodes. Therefore, the Location Aided Hierarchical Cluster Routing (LHCR), a more suitable way for mobile ad-hoc network routing is proposed. The LHCR method arranges the nodes in the networks into hierarchical clusters by the amount and position of the data. Thereby, it avoids the nodes that are far away from each other being assigned to the same cluster, and at the same time taking the CH nodes' power amount into consideration to avoid over-transformation. Routing is taken care of by the highest level of the nodes in each cluster. Simulation results indicate that the LHCR is more efficient and effective than ZRP and AODV in larger networks.
2D motion extraction using an image interpolation technique

A new approach to optic flow calculation based on a well known image interpolation technique is presented. In this approach, the minimization of the squared differences between a second order Taylor expansion of pixel values in an image patch, and its associated pixel values in the next image is used to calculate the optic flow for four degrees of freedom. As a result, two translations, a rotation, and a dilation for every patch can be calculated. The results presented here are obtained without performing any spatial or temporal presmoothing. Therefore, the algorithm is computationally inexpensive and can be implemented in parallel for every single patch. This contributes to more efficient (real-time) implementation of optic flow methods. For the two translations using synthetic images, a similar accuracy is obtained to that reported in the study by Barron et al. (1994).
AUTOMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE CRY OF INFANTS WITH CLEFT PALATE

It is well known that the cry sound produced by an infant conveys information concerning the infant’s health or needs. In this paper, an Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based system for classification and monitoring of infants cry is presented. Classification tests among seven infants with cleft palate, with/without a palatal plate were performed in three forms: (1) age and subject dependent (2) age dependent – subject independent (3) age independent – subject dependent. The results were: 90%, 58% and 83% correct classification for the 1-3 case, respectively.
Balanced PV cascaded multilevel grid-connected inverters under level-shifted PWMs with fuzzy controller

This project presents the an optimization method for harmonic elimination in a cascaded multilevel inverter and energy balance in photovoltaic cells. The main objective in selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation strategy is eliminating low-order harmonics by solving nonlinear equations, while the fundamental component is satisfied. In this paper, the Energy balance algorithm (EB) is applied to a 7-level inverter for solving the equations. The algorithm is based on the cooling of a high temperature metal behavior under fast cooling constraint. This method has higher precision and probability of convergence than the genetic algorithm (BA). MATLAB software is used for optimization and comparison of BA and EB. Simulation results are expected to show superiority of EB over BA in attaining accurate global minima and higher convergence rate. Also, its performance is almost 10 times lesser time for running.
Chandra detection of the intracluster medium around 3C 294 at z=1.786

We present a Chandra observation of the powerful radio galaxy 3C294 showing clear evidence for a surrounding intracluster medium. At a redshift of 1.786 this is the most distant cluster of galaxies yet detected in X-rays. The radio core is detected as a point source, which has a spectrum consistent with a heavily-absorbed power law implying an intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosity of ~10^45 erg/s. A small excess of emission is associated with the southern radio hotspots. The soft, diffuse emission from the intracluster medium is centred on the radio source. It has an hour-glass shape in the N-S direction, extending to radii of at least 100 kpc, well beyond the radio source. The X-ray spectrum of this extended component is fit by a thermal model with temperature ~5 keV, or by gas cooling from above 7 keV at rates of ~400-700 Msolar/yr. The rest-frame 0.3-10 keV luminosity of the cluster is ~4.5x10^44 erg/s. The existence of such a cluster is consistent with a low density universe.
Calderón Projector for the Hessian of the Perturbed Chern–Simons Function on a 3‐Manifold with Boundary

The existence and continuity for the Calderón projector of the perturbed odd signature operator on a 3‐manifold is established. As an application we give a new proof of a result of Taubes relating the modulo 2 spectral flow of a family of operators on a homology 3‐sphere with the difference in local intersection numbers of the character varieties coming from a Heegard decomposition. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 57M27 (primary), 58J32 (secondary).
A Study of Spectator Emotions at the Tour de France

Research question: This paper contributes to the canon of literature on spectator emotions by examining spectator emotions at a major hallmark event. Research methods: Spectator experience emotions were surveyed via an online questionnaire resulting in 188 valid responses. This resulted in three groups of spectators being surveyed: i) those who watched live from the roadside ii) those watching via a spectator viewing hub and iii) those watching on television. Variables tested were via PANAS scale emotions. They included the positive emotions of interested, excited, strong, enthusiastic, proud, alert, inspired, determined, attentive and active. The negative emotions were distressed, upset, hostile, irritable, scared, nervous, afraid, guilty, ashamed and jittery. There are also nine categories within the model which are (1) attentive, (2) excited, (3) proud, (4) strong, (5) distressed, (6) angry, (7) fearful, (8) guilty and (9) nervous. Results and findings: The highest positive value feelings of ‘Interested, Excited and Enthusiastic’ occurred during the live action by those watching on the roadside. Negative feelings were more variable but a highest rating for ‘Afraid’ increased during the event, suggesting feelings of not wanting to miss anything (action). Further exploration of the emotions experienced before, during and after an event is required in order to more fully understand the complexity of the factors. Implications: For those planning and staging cycling and similar multi-stage or multi-site events the mapping (route) and layout of the active spectator and participant arena can be carefully constructed to provide potential emotional hot spots. Emotions vary across time and this appears to be related to mode and location of spectating. It implies that event organisers can utilise different ‘experiential components’ within an event setting to create conditions that would be conducive to an optimal viewing environment.
Dewetting films: bifurcations and concentrations

Under the influence of long-range attractive and short-range repulsive forces, thin liquid films rupture and form complex dewetting patterns. This paper studies this phenomenon in one space dimension within the framework of fourth-order degenerate parabolic equations of lubrication type. We derive the global structure of the bifurcation diagram for steady-state solutions. A stability analysis of the solution branches and numerical simulations suggest coarsening occurs. Furthermore, we study the behaviour of solutions in the limit that short-range repulsive forces are neglected. Both asymptotic analysis and numerical experiments show that this limit can concentrate mass in δ-distributions.
Quality of service analysis of access scheme of multimedia traffic in HSDPA channel using stochastic reward Nets

High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is being increasingly deployed to enhance UMTS Radio Access Networks. Scheduling of Node B (base station) buffered user data for transmission over a shared radio channel is a key HSDPA functionality which enables queue management techniques to be utilized to improve Quality of Service (QoS) for mixed 'multimedia' services. Thus, we have previously studied a control access scheme of multimedia stream in HSDPA channel using stochastic analytic (SA) approach. In this paper, we use stochastic reward Nets (SRN) approach to derive QoS metrics of access control scheme in HSDPA channel. By comparing with stochastic analytic approach, we show that both approaches are scalable, tractable and give the same results. Obtained results show the impact of workload aspects (e.g., arrival rate and service rate) and system capacity on two performance measures: mean response delay and job blocking probability.
Using Arduino and on-chip serial-to-parallel register to test widely-programmable ADCs

This paper presents an experimental set-up that combines on-chip digital techniques with off-chip Arduino-based hardware to simplify the test of widely-programmable analog-to-digital converters. The presented methodology is specially intended for analog and mixed-signal circuits which require a large number of digital signals to reconfigure their performance to different electrical specifications, environment signal conditions, battery status, etc. To this end, a serial-to-parallel register is implemented on chip in order to generate the required number of digital control signals from an input serial data provided offchip. Such serial data can be generated by using an Arduino-based hardware set-up, which can be easily programmed in MATLAB, with no additional test instruments required. As an application, the proposed method is applied to the experimental characterization of a fourth-order band-pass continuous-time ΣΔ modulator, integrated in a 65-nm CMOS technology, which can digitize signals placed at programmable carrier frequencies for software defined radio1.
Development and characterization of microsatellite DNA markers for the Alpine plant species Campanula thyrsoides

We isolated and characterized eight polymorphic microsatellite markers for the Alpine plant species Campanula thyrsoides (Campanulaceae). Number of alleles per locus ranged from six to 12 and the observed heterozygosity was between 0.529 and 0.900. Observed vs. expected heterozygote deficits were significantly different in one out of eight loci following Bonferroni's correction for multiple tests. We did not find evidence for linkage disequilibrium between locus pairs. The microsatellite markers are being used for the study of genetic variation and gene flow within and among populations of C. thyrsoides in the Swiss Alps.
Low-Pass Equivalent Behavioral Modeling of RF Power Amplifiers Using Two Independent Real-Valued Feed-Forward Neural Networks

Feed-forward artiflcial neural networks (ANNs) can provide the adequate model required for the linearization of power ampliflers (PAs) used in wireless communication systems. A common characteristic of previously available ANN-based models for linearization purposes is the use of a single real-valued ANN having two outputs. The contribution of this work is to report the beneflts of performing such behavioral modeling based on two independent real-valued ANNs, where each network has a unique output. The proposed ANN-based model is applied to the behavioral modeling of a GaN HEMT class AB PA, and its accuracy is compared to previous approaches in two difierent scenarios. First, in case of similar number of network parameters, it is observed that the proposed ANN-based model can reduce the normalized mean-square error (NMSE) by up to 1.3dB. Second, in a situation of comparable modeling accuracy (NMSE = i40dB), it is observed that the proposed ANN-based model can reduce the number of network parameters by up to 40% (from 62 to 38 real-valued parameters).
Do People Have Insight Into Their Abilities? A Metasynthesis

Having insight into one’s abilities is essential, yet it remains unclear whether people generally perceive their skills accurately or inaccurately. In the present analysis, we examined the overall correspondence between self-evaluations of ability (e.g., academic ability, intelligence, language competence, medical skills, sports ability, and vocational skills) and objective performance measures (e.g., standardized test scores, grades, and supervisor evaluations) across 22 meta-analyses, in addition to considering factors that moderate this relationship. Although individual meta-analytic effects ranged from . 09 to . 63, the mean correlation between ability self-evaluations and performance outcomes across meta-analyses was moderate (M = .29, SD = .11). Further, the relation was stronger when self-evaluations were specific to a given domain rather than broad and when performance tasks were objective, familiar, or low in complexity. Taken together, these findings indicate that people have only moderate insight into their abilities but also underscore the contextual factors that enable accurate self-perception of ability.
Design of Predictive Control Compensator for Network Delay in Networked Control

Networked control systems are becoming increasingly important due to its simplicity, scalability, flexibility. However, two challenges are network delay and packet dropout. Applying a real-time queuing protocol, we are able to limit the network delay within a control period. In this way, control signals are always sent to the actuator within a fixed time interval, making the performance of the overall NCS network deterministic and predictable, as needed in real-time control applications. This paper proposes to compensate for network delay at the actuator using past control signals. They are suitable for a large number of networked control systems.
Learning Curves for Error Minimum and Maximum Likelihood Algorithms

For the problem of dividing the space originally partitioned by a blurred boundary, every learning algorithm can make the probability of incorrect prediction of an individual example decrease with the number of training examples t. We address here the question of how the asymptotic form of (t) as well as its limit of convergence reflect the choice of learning algorithms. The error minimum algorithm is found to exhibit rather slow convergence of (t) to its lower bound 0, (t) - 0 O(t-2/3). Even for the purpose of minimizing prediction error, the maximum likelihood algorithm can be utilized as an alternative. If the true probability distribution happens to be contained in the family of hypothetical functions, then the boundary estimated from the hypothetical distribution function eventually converges to the best choice. Convergence of the prediction error is then (t) - 0 O(t-1). If the true distribution is not available from the algorithm, however, the boundary generally does not converge to the best choice, but instead (t) - 1 O(t-1/2), where 1 > 0 > 0.
Health Literacy at the Elementary School Level

: Health literacy measures are well established in school. Nevertheless, the differences between the offers are immense. From individual days for projects to comprehensive programs and codes of practice, such as good healthy school, one can find a broad range of measures in German school settings. Current research results also show that “school” can be a decisive factor to undermine the psychosocial well-being of teachers, students and other school staff. In this contribution, approaches to health promotion and health literacy in elementary schools are presented from different perspectives, which show that the competence modeling for health literacy in elementary schools remains to be investigated. This contribution introduces approaches to health promotion and health literacy, which are relevant for the school setting at the elementary level, from different perspectives .
Substanzgebrauch im Kontext von Trans*: Diagnostik und Implikationen

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Aufgrund von Minderheiten-stress leiden trans* Personen häufiger als cis* Personen an psychischen Störungen, jedoch nicht unbedingt auch häufiger unter schädlichem Gebrauch von psychoaktiven Substanzen. Dennoch kann die Frage der bedarfsgerechten Versorgung besonders dann komplex und relevant werden, wenn Minderheitenstress und schädlicher Konsum z. B. von Alkohol zeitgleich auftreten. Ziel der Arbeit Es soll die Diagnostik und Versorgungspraxis einer bedarfsgerechten Behandlung von trans* Menschen und die Bedeutung von möglichen Problemen bei schädlichem Substanzkonsum diskutiert werden. Material und Methoden Literaturrecherche zur Versorgungspraxis von trans* Personen im Suchthilfesystem. Exemplarische Vorstellung von Ergebnissen zum Alkohol- und Drogenkonsum aus einer klinischen Studie mit N=159 trans* Personen (European Initiative of Gender Incongruence, ENIGI), die zwischen 2007 und 2015 in Hamburg eine Behandlung gesucht und an der ENIGI-Studie teilgenommen haben. Darstellung von Wechselwirkungen zwischen Suchterkrankungen und transitionsunterstützenden Behandlungen. Ergebnisse Trans* Personen haben sowohl transitionsbezogene als auch transitionsunabhängige Bedarfe, die sich an das Gesundheitssystem richten. Hierzu zählen auch Suchtbehandlungen. Allerdings zeigen Ergebnisse aus der Hamburger ENIGI-Studie, dass der Alkoholkonsum von Trans* Personen nicht als grundsätzlich auffällig oder klinisch relevant eingestuft werden kann. Bei insgesamt 5,8% der befragten Stichprobe wurde der Alkohol- oder Drogenkonsum als schädlich oder abhängig eingestuft. Schlussfolgerungen Suchterkrankungen im Kontext von Trans* sollten im Rahmen eines integrativen und interdisziplinären Gesamtbehandlungsplans zielführend behandelt werden.
Derivation of the Linearity Principle of Intriligator-Leigh-Seiberg

Utilizing the techniques recently developed for N=1 super Yang-Mills theories by Dijkgraaf, Vafa and collaborators, we derive the linearity principle of Intriligator, Leigh and Seiberg, for the confinement phase of the theories with semi-simple gauge groups and matters in a non-chiral representation which satisfies a further technical assumption.