Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Compensation of Mode Crosstalk in MDM System Using Digital Optical Phase Conjugation

We propose to utilize the digital optical phase conjugation (D-OPC) technique for the compensation of mode crosstalk in the mode-division-multiplexed (MDM) transmission system. To realize the D-OPC technique, we send the CW light from the receiver side, measure its wavefront at the transmitter side, and then, transmit the phase-conjugated signal to the receiver. By using this technique, we demonstrate the transmission of four LP modes, each carrying 10-Gb/s ON–OFF keying signals, over a 100-m long few-mode fiber link. These signals are detected by using direct-detection receivers with no electrical equalizer. The results show that, by applying the proposed D-OPC technique, we can achieve the bit-error rate of < 10−3 for all four modes.
Recent Advances in Sediment Toxicity Identification Evaluations Emphasizing Pyrethroid Pesticides

Recent monitoring in California has indicated that sediment toxicity associated with pyrethroid pesticides is of concern in urban and agriculture-dominated watersheds. In some cases, waterbodies that are listed as impaired due to sediment toxicity may require development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocations to regulate chemicals of concern. This process will require identification of specific chemicals causing toxicity, and sediment toxicity identification evaluation procedures (TIEs) are one of the primary tools used in this process. This paper provides an overview of sediment TIE methods with an emphasis on those which have been demonstrated to be useful in resolving toxicity caused by pyrethroid pesticides. These include use of media for extracting non-polar organic chemicals from sediment and interstitial water and use of a carboxylesterase enzyme for hydrolyzing pyrethroids. Additional methods that have proven useful for identifying pyrethroid toxicity include addition of the metabolic inhibitor piperonyl butoxide, and manipulations of sample toxicity test temperatures. Methods are described for both solid-phase and interstitial water TIEs. In addition to discussing specific TIE methods, examples of studies that have successfully used the different procedures are cited. Results of two sediment TIE case studies which incorporate the majority of these methods are also provided to illustrate the utility of using a weight-of-evidence in the TIE approach. Results from the case study experiments conducted using samples from Westley Wasteway Creek (WWNCR) and an agriculture tailwater pond in the Salinas Valley (SV03) demonstrate that sediment toxicity at WWNCR was likely due to L-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin, and that toxicity at SV03 was likely due to L-cyhalothrin and cypermethrin. The results suggest that current solid-phase and interstitial water TIE methods are adequate for identifying toxicity caused by pyrethroid pesticides. Refinement of these methods will improve our ability to resolve causes of toxicity in sediments contaminated by complex chemical mixtures.
New Perspectives on the Role of Liquid Biopsy in Bladder Cancer: Applicability to Precision Medicine

Simple Summary Due to the high heterogeneity and variability of bladder cancer, the identification of new biomarkers involved in the development and mechanisms of tumor progression and resistance to treatment offers the possibility of adapting our treatment options based on the molecular characteristics of each specific tumor subtype. In recent years, liquid biopsy has emerged as an innovative technique to analyze unique tumor components released into the peripheral circulation in body fluids such as blood and urine. This review presents the most recent advances in researching the applicability of liquid biopsy in bladder cancer, as well as an update on the most commonly used biomarkers and new techniques for their evaluation. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are outlined based on the recent literature on the subject. Abstract Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common tumors in the world. Cystoscopy and tissue biopsy are the standard methods in screening and early diagnosis of suspicious bladder lesions. However, they are invasive procedures that may cause pain and infectious complications. Considering the limitations of both procedures, and the recurrence and resistance to BC treatment, it is necessary to develop a new non-invasive methodology for early diagnosis and multiple evaluations in patients under follow-up for bladder cancer. In recent years, liquid biopsy has proven to be a very useful diagnostic tool for the detection of tumor biomarkers. This non-invasive technique makes it possible to analyze single tumor components released into the peripheral circulation and to monitor tumor progression. Numerous biomarkers are being studied and interesting clinical applications for these in BC are being presented, with promising results in early diagnosis, detection of microscopic disease, and prediction of recurrence and response to treatment.
Frequentist, Bayesian Analysis and Complementary Statistical Tools for Geriatric and Rehabilitation Fields: Are Traditional Null-Hypothesis Significance Testing Methods Sufficient?

Abstract Null hypothesis significant testing (NHST) is the dominant statistical approach in the geriatric and rehabilitation fields. However, NHST is routinely misunderstood or misused. In this case, the findings from clinical trials would be taken as evidence of no effect, when in fact, a clinically relevant question may have a “non-significant” p-value. Conversely, findings are considered clinically relevant when significant differences are observed between groups. To assume that p-value is not an exclusive indicator of an association or the existence of an effect, researchers should be encouraged to report other statistical analysis approaches as Bayesian analysis and complementary statistical tools alongside the p-value (eg, effect size, confidence intervals, minimal clinically important difference, and magnitude-based inference) to improve interpretation of the findings of clinical trials by presenting a more efficient and comprehensive analysis. However, the focus on Bayesian analysis and secondary statistical analyses does not mean that NHST is less important. Only that, to observe a real intervention effect, researchers should use a combination of secondary statistical analyses in conjunction with NHST or Bayesian statistical analysis to reveal what p-values cannot show in the geriatric and rehabilitation studies (eg, the clinical importance of 1kg increase in handgrip strength in the intervention group of long-lived older adults compared to a control group). This paper provides potential insights for improving the interpretation of scientific data in rehabilitation and geriatric fields by utilizing Bayesian and secondary statistical analyses to better scrutinize the results of clinical trials where a p-value alone may not be appropriate to determine the efficacy of an intervention.
PIPO-SLAM: Lightweight Visual-Inertial SLAM With Preintegration Merging Theory and Pose-Only Descriptions of Multiple View Geometry

Optimization-based visual-inertial simultaneous localization and mapping system (VI-SLAM) focuses on the establishment of the loss function using both inertial and visual constraints. Preintegration theory is commonly used to express inertial constraints, but it lacks the merging equation between keyframes, challenging VI-SLAM from culling and merging redundant keyframes. To address this, we establish an on-manifold preintegration merging theory, including the merging of preintegrated terms, noise covariance, and Jacobians for bias updating, which significantly improves the preintegration theory and provides theoretical support for the keyframe management function of VI-SLAM. Visual constraints are typically expressed using multiple view geometry with 3-D points optimized as scene structure parameters. However, the excessive dimensionality of the optimization parameters generated by 3-D points can lead to computational bottlenecks. Through the recent pose-only imaging geometry representation, we construct a lightweight optimization algorithm for SLAM that avoids the dimensional explosion in bundle adjustment. Based on the above, we propose a 3-D points-free SLAM optimizer. The proposed algorithms are validated on simulation, public datasets, and real-world experiments, and compared against advanced open-source systems, such as ORB-SLAM3 and VINS.
Traumatic Brain Injury and Neuromodulation Techniques in Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review

Background and Objectives: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a condition in which an external force, usually a violent blow to the head, causes functional impairment in the brain. Neuromodulation techniques are thought to restore altered function in the brain, resulting in improved function and reduced symptoms. Brain stimulation can alter the firing of neurons, boost synaptic strength, alter neurotransmitters and excitotoxicity, and modify the connections in their neural networks. All these are potential effects on brain activity. Accordingly, this is a promising therapy for TBI. These techniques are flexible because they can target different brain areas and vary in frequency and amplitude. This review aims to investigate the recent literature about neuromodulation techniques used in the rehabilitation of TBI patients. Materials and Methods: The identification of studies was made possible by conducting online searches on PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Embase, and Scopus databases. Studies published between 2013 and 2023 were selected. This review has been registered on OSF (JEP3S). Results: We have found that neuromodulation techniques can improve the rehabilitation process for TBI patients in several ways. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) can improve cognitive functions such as recall ability, neural substrates, and overall improved performance on neuropsychological tests. Repetitive TMS has the potential to increase neural connections in many TBI patients but not in all patients, such as those with chronic diffuse axonal damage.Conclusions: This review has demonstrated that neuromodulation techniques are promising instruments in the rehabilitation field, including those affected by TBI. The efficacy of neuromodulation can have a significant impact on their lives and improve functional outcomes for TBI patients.
Macronutrient Intake and Association with the Risk Factors of Diabetic Complications among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Al-Madinah Al-Munawara

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. There is little research on the relationship between T2DM problems and daily macronutrient intake in Saudi Arabia, particularly in Al-Madina Al-Munawara. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between T2DM complications and daily carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake in T2DM patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 138 T2DM patients in Al-Madina Al-Munawara City, Saudi Arabia. The data were collected using a questionnaire that was published on social media. The macronutrient data were collected by a 24-h dietary recall questionnaire on 2 non-consecutive days. Appropriate statistical tests were done, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine the association of macronutrient intake with diabetes complications among the studied patients. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 53.8 ± 11.3 years, and 55.8% were females. The prevalence of T2DM complications was 55.8% for diabetic retinopathy, 30.4% for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), 26.1% for diabetic foot, 19.6% for stroke, and 5.3% for kidney diseases with no significant difference by patients’ sex. Daily carbohydrates intake >65% was associated with an increased risk of CVD, retinopathy, and diabetic foot with odds ratio (OR) of 4.75, 4.35, and 65.5, respectively. Daily proteins intake >20% and daily fat intake ≥30% were associated with a significant increased risk of stroke and CVD, respectively. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that high daily calorie intake from carbohydrate protein and fat plays an important role in the risk of T2DM complications. Patients with diabetes who understand the value of consuming calories from macronutrients and how to distribute their daily intake of these calories may reduce their risk of developing diabetic complications.
The distribution of plant consumption traits across habitat types and the patterns of fruit availability suggest a mechanism of coexistence of two sympatric frugivorous mammals

Abstract Understanding the mechanisms governing the coexistence of organisms is an important question in ecology, and providing potential solutions contributes to conservation science. In this study, we evaluated the contribution of several mechanisms to the coexistence of two sympatric frugivores, using western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in a tropical rainforest of southeast Cameroon as a model system. We collected great ape fecal samples to determine and classify fruit species consumed; we conducted great ape nest surveys to evaluate seasonal patterns of habitat use; and we collected botanical data to investigate the distribution of plant species across habitat types in relation to their “consumption traits” (which indicate whether plants are preferred or fallback for either gorilla, chimpanzee, or both). We found that patterns of habitat use varied seasonally for both gorillas and chimpanzees and that gorilla and chimpanzee preferred and fallback fruits differed. Also, the distribution of plant consumption traits was influenced by habitat type and matched accordingly with the patterns of habitat use by gorillas and chimpanzees. We show that neither habitat selection nor fruit preference alone can explain the coexistence of gorillas and chimpanzees, but that considering together the distribution of plant consumption traits of fruiting woody plants across habitats as well as the pattern of fruit availability may contribute to explaining coexistence. This supports the assumptions of niche theory with dominant and subordinate species in heterogeneous landscapes, whereby a species may prefer nesting in habitats where it is less subject to competitive exclusion and where food availability is higher. To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate the contribution of plant consumption traits, seasonality, and habitat heterogeneity to enabling the coexistence of two sympatric frugivores. OPEN RESEARCH BADGES This article has earned an Open Data Badge for making publicly available the digitally‐shareable data necessary to reproduce the reported results. The data is available at https://datadryad.org/resource/doi:10.5061/dryad.ms65f29.
An Efficient Resource Allocation Scheme for Applications in LR-WPANs Based on a Stable Matching With Externalities Approach

This paper deals with an efficient resource allocation algorithm for Wide-Area Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-WPANs), based on the IEEE 802.15. 4 m standard. The proposed scheme aims at lowering the spectrum congestion problems and optimizing performance in terms of data packets dropping probability for all the active clusters of end-devices. The algorithm realizes a many-to-one mapping between the sets of LR-WPANs and available access bands (i.e., TV white space bands). It is based on a matching game with externalities and involves two-side preferences, i.e., clusters over bands and bands over clusters, respectively. The procedure provides high resource reuse, adaptation to changes of system conditions, and improvements on quality of service. Furthermore, a post-matching procedure is also discussed to ensure stability of the provided many-to-one matching. Finally, the good behavior of the matching approach is validated by providing performance comparisons with alternative schemes based on the random assignment, the Brelaz graph coloring algorithm applied in a modified form, and potential game strategy.
Study of alloferon, a novel immunomodulatory antimicrobial peptide (AMP), and its analogues

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are widely distributed throughout the biosphere and represent a class of conserved peptide molecules with intrinsic antimicrobial properties. Their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and low risk to induce resistance have led to increased interest in AMPs as potential alternatives to traditional antibiotics. Among the AMPs, alloferon has been addressed due to its immunomodulatory properties that augment both innate and adaptive immune responses against various pathogens. Alloferon and its analogues have demonstrated pharmaceutical potential through their ability to enhance Natural Killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and stimulate interferon (IFN) synthesis in both mouse and human models. Additionally, they have shown promise in augmenting antiviral and antitumor activities in mice. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the biological effects of alloferon and its analogues, incorporating our own research findings as well. These insights may contribute to a deeper understanding of the therapeutic potential of these novel AMPs.
Using IAT to Measure Implicit Biases towards Mental Illness

Mental illness for many years has been perceived in a negative light, greatly impacting the degree of treatment-seeking behaviour, the public attitude towards mental illness, laws and policies and the negative attitudes and associations that are formed towards mental illness. Therefore the research study investigates the attitude of psychology students; given their psychological knowledge about mental illness and evaluates the attributions they make towards mental illness. Participants from different institutions in Lahore participated in this research study and attempted Implicit Association Test to assess whether psychology students are implicitly biased towards the mentally ill or not.Quantitative data were collected and statistically analyzed with the help of SPSS; Independent samples t-test, paired samples test, One-way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation were applied to analyze the data. The study concluded that regardless of knowledge and exposure, students of psychology have an implicit bias towards mental illness.
Evaluation of Antioxidant Effects of Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) Seed Extract on Aging- and Menopause-Related Diseases Using Saos-2 Cells and Ovariectomized Rats

Aging and menopause are associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. Here, we evaluated the antioxidant properties of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) seed extract and assessed its ameliorative effects on aging- and menopause-related diseases using Saos-2 cells and ovariectomized rats. The seed extract had bioactive components that exhibited antioxidant activity. The extract increased the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of Saos-2 cells. The oral administration of the extract to ovariectomized rats for 12 weeks decreased their body weight, fat weight, and cardiac risk indices. It also contributed to reductions in the levels of reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress, and inflammation, as assessed by measuring the serum levels of malondialdehyde and analyzing gene expression in rats. Furthermore, the administration of the extract also promoted an enhancement of the transcription of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (Ho-1), and catalase (Cat), involved in antioxidant activity; endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNos), involved in vasculoprotective activity; and PR/SET domain 16 (Prdm16) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator (Pgc1α), involved in brown adipogenesis and thermogenesis. Our results using ovariectomized rats show that pumpkin seed extract may have ameliorative effects on menopause-related diseases by increasing ALP activity, evaluating the antioxidant system, ameliorating oxidative stress and thermogenesis, and enhancing lipid profiles.
Advancing Hardware Security: A Review and Novel Design of Configurable Arbiter PUF with DCM-Induced Metastability for Enhanced Resource Efficiency and Unpredictability

As the Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain technologies continue to assert their dominance in the technical landscape, the demand to enhance security measures becomes foremost. In this context, Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are widely used hardware security primitives that can be used to solve a wide range of security issues. To support hardware security solutions, this paper presents an extensive overview and analysis of the existing Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) used as True Random Number Generators (TRNGs). Recognizing the shortcomings of current PUF designs, we propose a configurable Arbiter PUF design employing Digital Clock Manager (DCM)-induced metastability as an entropy source, presenting a robust solution for evolving hardware security. To mitigate the adverse consequences of metastability, the proposed Arbiter PUF includes a Carry Chain primitive with four Flip-Flop clones. Acknowledging the constantly evolving IoT and Blockchain environment, the suggested configurable Arbiter PUF is made to satisfy the highest security standards. By exploiting the inherent variations in FPGA technology, we aim to reduce system resource and area consumption, aligning with the efficiency criteria of modern applications. The system's performance is additionally enhanced by an on-chip post-processing based on DSP. Simulation results demonstrate successful implementation on a Xilinx Basys-3 FPGA board, offering a scalable and efficient solution. The generated sequences of the proposed PUF undergo rigorous testing, including National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) statistical tests for uniqueness, reliability, and randomness. This holistic approach aims to improve the PUF's performance and security.
Limitations of and Solutions to Using 6 mm Corneal Spherical Aberration and Q Value after Laser Refractive Surgery

This study aimed to evaluate the spherical aberration (SA) in different corneal areas before and after femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (fLASIK) and transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (tPRK), with the goal of identifying the limitations of and potential improvements in using SA within a 6 mm area. The study included 62 patients who underwent fLASIK and tPRK. Complete eye examinations including keratometry, corneal epithelial thickness, central corneal thickness, and topography were performed preoperatively and postoperatively. Anterior, posterior, and total corneal aberrations were measured preoperatively and three months postoperatively, with pupil diameters ranging from 2 to 8 mm. In the fLASIK group, compared to the preoperative SA, the anterior and total SA increased postoperatively in the 6 and 7 mm areas. In the tPRK group, meanwhile, the anterior and total SA of the 5 mm or larger areas increased postoperatively. An area of 6 mm or larger showed an increase in correlation with the changes in Q value and refractive correction. As the corneal SA and asphericity in the 6 mm zone cannot specifically demonstrate the status of areas smaller than 6 mm or changes in the optical zone after laser refractive surgery, comparison with normal values in various areas of the cornea is necessary.