Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SPUR-27 – Psychometric Properties of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure of Medication Adherence in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Purpose People living with COPD who struggle to take their medicines often experience poorer health outcomes such as exacerbations of symptoms, more frequent and lengthy hospital admissions, and worsening mortality rates. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the previously validated SPUR-27 model, a multi-factorial model of medication adherence. Patients and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 adult patients living with COPD in a hospital setting in Southwest London. Medication adherence was assessed using a shortened SPUR model (SPUR-27) against the validated Inhaler Adherence Scale (IAS) as a comparator. In addition, objective medication adherence data, presented as the Medication Possession Ratio (MPR), were derived from patient medical and pharmacy records. The COPD Assessment Tool (CAT) score was used to examine the relationship between medication adherence and COPD symptom severity. Reliability of SPUR-27 was assessed using internal consistency estimates. Exploratory factor analysis, partial confirmatory factor analysis, and maximum likelihood analysis were conducted in conjunction with construct, concurrent, and known-group validity testing to explore the psychometric properties of the SPUR model in this population. Results A 7-factor model for SPUR-27 was derived with adequate factor loadings. SPUR (α=0.893) observed strong internal consistency (>0.8). The model was significantly positively correlated with IAS score (p<0.001) as well as MPR (p<0.01). A significant (p<0.01) relationship between poor medication adherence and worsening symptom severity, as defined by the CAT score, was identified for SPUR (χ2 = 8.570) using Chi-Square analysis. Furthermore, SPUR-27 demonstrated early evidence of validity with good incremental fit indices: NFI (0.96), TFI (0.97), and CFI (0.93) were all reported as >0.9 in addition to the RMSEA, which was <0.08 (0.059). Conclusion SPUR demonstrated strong psychometric properties in patients living with COPD. Further work should look to examine the test–retest reliability of the model and its application in broader sample populations.
Vertical motions of the tropical convective cloud spectrum over Darwin, Australia

Three months of profiler observations from Darwin, Australia are separated into seven cloud types (shallow, mid‐level, and deep convective; weak and robust stratiform rain; and transitional and ice‐only anvil) to provide vertical velocity statistics on the full spectrum of tropical convective clouds over the course of a monsoon season. Consistent with past studies, convective updraughts increase in height and magnitude as the convective cloud height increases. Shallow/mid‐level/deep convection has a mean maximum value of 0.3 m s−1 at 3 km/0.6 m s−1 at 5 km/2.5 m s−1 at 8 km. Deep convective extremes approach 18 m s−1 above 8 km while downdraughts in all convective cloud types are maximum below 4 km. Stratiform vertical velocities are weaker and less varied than in active convection, with maximum mean values <0.25 m s−1. However, stratiform rain regions associated with larger near‐surface reflectivities (and thus rain rates) have stronger mesoscale up‐ and downdraughts than weaker stratiform rain regions. Anvil cloud with little or no rain near the surface also exhibits mesoscale up‐ and downdraughts, but the vertical velocity profile is shifted up in height by at least 2 km. In addition, anvil updraughts were only 20–50% of the magnitudes in the stratiform rain region. Overall, the vertical motion statistics were similar across the pre‐, active and suppressed monsoon periods. The vertical velocity distributions for each cloud type were also generally consistent with the reflectivity distributions (i.e. the strongest updraughts were often linked to the largest reflectivities), allowing for some linkages between the dynamical and microphysical cloud properties. For example, strong updraughts above the 0 °C level in deep convection are associated with strongly sloping reflectivity profiles supporting the importance of cold rain growth processes, and stronger vertical motions are associated with stratiform rain that has a robust bright band.
Mobile Health Application-Based Interventions to Improve Self-management of Chemotherapy-Related Symptoms Among People with Breast Cancer Who Are Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of studies on using mobile health (mHealth) to support the symptom self-management of patients with breast cancer (BC). However, the components of such programs remain unexplored. This systematic review aimed to identify the components of existing mHealth app-based interventions for patients with BC who are undergoing chemotherapy and to uncover self-efficacy enhancement elements from among them. Methods A systematic review was conducted for randomized controlled trials published from 2010 to 2021. Two strategies were used to assess the mHealth apps: The Omaha System, a structured classification system for patient care, and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, which assesses sources of influence that determine an individual’s confidence in being able to manage a problem. Intervention components identified in the studies were grouped under the 4 domains of the intervention scheme of the Omaha System. Four hierarchical sources of self-efficacy enhancement elements were extracted from the studies using Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. Results The search uncovered 1,668 records. Full-text screening was conducted on 44 articles, and 5 randomized controlled trials (n = 537 participants) were included. Self-monitoring under the domain of “Treatments and procedure” was the most frequently used mHealth intervention for improving symptom self-management in patients with BC undergoing chemotherapy. Most mHealth apps used various “mastery experience” strategies including reminders, self-care advice, videos, and learning forums. Conclusion Self-monitoring was commonly utilized in mHealth-based interventions for patients with BC undergoing chemotherapy. Our survey uncovered evident variation in strategies to support self-management of symptoms and standardized reporting is required. More evidence is required to make conclusive recommendations related to mHealth tools for BC chemotherapy self-management.
Navigating the Role of LGBTQ+ Identity in Self-Disclosure and Strategies Used for Uncertainty Reduction in Online Dating

ABSTRACT Online dating platforms pose novel challenges for personal privacy, self-disclosure, and uncertainty management. Emerging evidence suggests that LGBTQ+ users may be especially impacted by issues like personal privacy and misrepresentation online. LGBTQ+ identity disclosure is often fraught with pressures related to stigma, fear of accidental disclosure to unintended, undesired audiences, and the possibility of facing harassment and violence. How these identity concerns may manifest in uncertainty reduction strategies in online dating contexts has not yet been examined. To understand this relationship, we replicated and extended precious work examining self-disclosure concerns and uncertainty reduction strategies when online dating with a focus on LGBTQ+ users. Participants were surveyed on the amount of personal information they disclosed, the uncertainty reduction strategies they used, and concerns about disclosure. We found that use of uncertainty reduction strategies was predicted by concerns of personal security, misrepresentation of communication partners, and the possibility of being recognized. We also found that using these strategies predicted the frequency of specific self-disclosure in online dating situations. These findings support the value in continuing to understand the ways in which online information sharing and relationship development are influenced by social identity.
Approximation of functional depending on jumps by elliptic functional via t-convergence

We show how it is possible to approximate the Mumford-Shah (see [29]) image segmentation functional by elliptic functionals defined on Sobolev spaces. The heuristic idea is to consider functionals h(u, z) with z ranging between 0 and 1 and related to the set K. The minimizing zh are near to 1 in a neighborhood of the set K, and far from the neighborhood they are very small. The neighborhood shrinks as h → + ∞. For a similar approach to the problem compare Kulkarni; see [25]. The approximation of h to takes place in a variational sense, the De Giorgi F-convergence.
Quadratic stabilization of uncertain discrete-time fuzzy dynamic systems

New approaches to quadratic stabilization of uncertain discrete-time fuzzy dynamic systems are developed in this paper. This uncertain fuzzy dynamic model is used to represent a class of uncertain discrete-time complex nonlinear systems which include both linguistic information and system uncertainties. It is shown that the uncertain fuzzy dynamic system is stabilizable if a suitable Riccati equation or a set of Riccati equations have solutions. Constructive algorithms are also developed to obtain the stabilization feedback control laws. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the application of the proposed method.
A weighted overlap-add method of short-time Fourier analysis/Synthesis

In this correspondence we present a new structure and a simplified interpretation of short-time Fourier synthesis using synthesis windows. We show that this approach can be interpreted as a modification of the overlap-add method where we inverse the Fourier transform and window by the synthesis window prior to overlap-adding. This simplified interpretation results in a more efficient structure for short-time synthesis when a synthesis window is desired. In addition, we show how this structure can be used for analysis/synthesis applications which require different analysis and synthesis rates, such as time compression or expansion.
Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside and anethole ameliorate lipid abnormalities, oxidative injury, hypercholesterolemia, heart, and liver conditions

Abstract Fennel seeds and flaxseed have been traditionally used against many medical ailments due to their medicinal characteristics. The aim of the study was to investigate the health properties of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) and anethole from flaxseed and fennel seeds in rats fed with high‐fat diet. Histopathological changes in the heart and liver were also examined. Sixty rats were divided into two main groups. Group I (10 rats) was used as a negative control group and fed on the basal diet only. Group II (50 rats) was fed a hypercholesterolemic diet but not given any drugs during the trial for 2 weeks. This group was further divided into five subgroups (10 rats each). One of them was fed on the basal diet and used as a positive control group. However, the other four subgroups were fed on basal diets and anethole (20 mg/kg/day, orally), SDG (20 mg/kg/day, orally), a mixture of anethole + SDG (10 + 10 mg/kg/day, orally), and atorvastatin (10 mg/kg/day, orally) for 6 weeks. Compared to control, treatment with a combination of anethole + SDG showed a significant (p ≤ .05) improvement in serum levels of triglyceride (TG) (137.88 ± 1.61 mg/dL), total cholesterol‐(TC) (180.12 ± 8.99 mg/dL), LDL‐C (46.40 ± 6.67 mg/dL), VLDL‐C (11.81 ± 1.07 mg/dL), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (75.97 ± 6.92 U/L), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (34.83 ± 2.17 U/L), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (130.65 ± 1.05 U/L), and malondialdehyde (MDA) (30.12 ± 1.89 mmol/g), and improved activities of catalase (70.99 ± 3.29 U/g) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) (35.13 ± 2.53 U/dL) enzymes while SDG and anethole group had relatively less impact. Atorvastatin also improved serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL‐C, and VLDL‐C significantly and rose serum high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) levels considerably meanwhile it had a minor but negative impact on AST, ALT, and ALP, and negligible impact on activities of MDA, CAT, and SOD enzymes compared to the positive control group. The study revealed that combining anethole and SDG may improve dyslipidemia, improve lipid profile, decrease risks of chronic heart diseases, increase HDL‐C, and enhance antioxidant enzymes' activities.
A Solar Flare Model Based on Magnetic Reconnection between Current-carrying Loops

A model for solar flares is proposed in which the flare energy is the magnetic energy released when two current-carrying flux loops reconnect to form two new current-carrying flux loops between the original four footpoints. It is assumed that a magnetic flux, ΔΨ, and an electric current, ΔI, are transferred during the reconnection, subject to the constraint that the flux and the current at each footpoint are unchanged. The change in the magnetic energy is separated into parts due to the transfer of current and of “potential” field, and the latter is neglected (although the argument for doing so is a weak one). The current transferred, ΔI, is assumed equal to its maximum possible value, which is the weaker of the two currents in the initial flux loops. The change in magnetic energy is calculated for some specific simple configurations of the spots (footpoints of the loops). Some favorable configurations for energy release are when a positive polarity spot is near a negative polarity spot (so that one of the final loops is very small) and when the two initial loops are at a large angle to each other. The model allows reconnection only between loops with the same handedness (the sign of the helicity ∝I/Ψ) and the handedness is preserved during reconnection. Observational evidence that there is a preferred handedness for coronal magnetic structures suggests that this requirement of the model is automatically satisfied, but specific data on the helicity in active regions is less conclusive. It is energetically favorable for overlapping colinear loops to reconnect to form a longer and a shorter (nested) loop, and it is suggested that very long loops connecting different active regions form through a sequence of such reconnections involving ephemeral flux loops that emerge between the active regions.
Solar energy technology: Knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of solar energy in Ngada, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

One of the Indonesian Government's efforts to meet the target of 23% fulfillment of new and renewable energy by 2030 is to provide solar electricity through government assistance. The priority of solar energy projects by the government, one of which is East Nusa Tenggara. The area is area that has a pretty good potential for solar energy. In addition, the site has a low level of access to electricity in Indonesia. In 2007, solar energy projects through a microgrid system were started and continued with a home system. However, the receiving group is a group that lacks knowledge of new renewable energy and is also economically vulnerable. This research was conducted to identify the level of understanding, awareness, and acceptance of solar energy users, which generally demands good knowledge and economic strength. Questionnaires containing demographic, attention, and approval information to utilize solar PV technology were distributed to 20 selected respondents from Maghilewa, Jere, Watu, and Belaraghi in Ngada, East Nusa Tenggara. The study revealed that although 90% of respondents had no basic knowledge of science, their level of awareness of solar energy technology and its use was at an average score. However, respondents showed a high level of technology acceptance because of the hope for social and economic improvement. In addition, the study also found that respondents in 4 kampongs were deeply involved in the changes that new technology products brought to society. The respondent gives total commitment to using and maintaining solar power.
The Neuronal Cotransmission: Mechanistic Insights From the Autonomic Nervous System

It is now scientifically accepted that neurons have the ability to release multiple transmitter substances simultaneously, yet, cotransmission's functionality is still limited to the scientific community. Acetylcholine is released by the noradrenergic neurons, and then the acetylcholine works prejunctionally in the promotion of the noradrenaline release. This hypothesis significantly challenged the previous idea of autonomic transmission as being a simple process that had a single transmitter. Norepinephrine was thought to be the single transmitter at the sympathetic neurovascular junction according to “Dale’s principle". However, more evidence of the involvement of other neurotransmitters has been shown by many researchers in conjunction with Dale's principle and established terms such as adrenergic, purinergic, and peptidergic nerves. With the discovery of cotransmission, we now understand the existence of more than one neurotransmitter at a sympathetic neurovascular junction.
How Sugars Protect Dry Protein Structure

Extremotolerant organisms and industry exploit sugars as desiccation protectants, with trehalose being widely used by both. How sugars, in general, and the hydrolytically stable sugar trehalose, in particular, protect proteins is poorly understood, which hinders the rational design of new excipients and implementation of novel formulations for preserving lifesaving protein drugs and industrial enzymes. We employed liquid-observed vapor exchange nuclear magnetic resonance (LOVE NMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) to show how trehalose and other sugars protect two model proteins: the B1 domain of streptococcal protein G (GB1) and truncated barley chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 (CI2). Residues with intramolecular H-bonds are most protected. The LOVE NMR and DSC data indicate that vitrification may be protective. Combining LOVE NMR and TGA data shows that water retention is not important. Our data suggest that sugars protect protein structure as they dry by strengthening intraprotein H-bonds and water replacement and that trehalose is the stress-tolerance sugar of choice because of its covalent stability.
Thermoelectric properties of pure and doped FeMSb (M=V,Nb)

The thermoelectric properties of the pure and doped half-Heusler compounds FeVSb and FeNbSb are reported. The electrical resistivities are between 0.2 and 20 mΩ cm at room temperature. Thermoelectric power measurements indicate that FeVSb is an n-type material with moderate Seebeck coefficients near −70 μV/K at 300 K. The thermal conductivity at room temperature is large, approximately 0.1 W/cm K, and increases with decreasing temperature. Chemical substitutions, which have a dramatic effect on the transport properties, were performed in an effort to enhance the thermoelectric performance. Band-structure calculations are presented for the pure materials.
A rail gun plasma armature model

A simple model is constructed for the plasma armature of a rail gun. We make the assumption that no gun tube ablation occurs, and then calculate the barrel inner wall heating when swept by the armature. The model thus provides operating parameters for which rail guns can be fired without melting or ablation. In this ablation-free domain, formulas for turbulent hydrodynamic flow in pipes can be used as a guideline for the heat flow from the turbulent plasma armature. This model is complementary to the Los Alamos ablative model of Parker et al. in which it was assumed that the energy dissipated in the armature arc is converted to ablated wall material which enters the arc.
Simulation of programmed incremental open-die forging processes based on spread coefficient and geometric transformation

Abstract A typical open-die forging process, square bar drawing, is investigated, which is the most commonly adopted process in a programmed open-die forging system that includes press and co-ordinated forging manipulators. The simulation algorithm for the square bar drawing between simple dies is proposed based on the spread coefficient theory and geometric transformation. The geometry of the as-forged workpiece is modelled by using the concept of the Characteristic Point Set; the spatial motion of the workpiece is computed by using the norma-lized co-ordinate transformation; and the plastic deformation of the deforming part is described by using a geometric transformation based on spread coefficient and reasonable simplifications. The real-time simulation algorithm of the programmed forging process is then formed, which can be used in pass schedule design, providing codes for the coordination control of the press and the manipulator, and can be incorporated into the virtual reality integrated forging plant as the process simulation model.
Permutation Tests for Correlation in Regression Errors

Abstract This article is about tests for serial, spatial, or other correlation in e, the error vector in the linear model Y = Xβ + e. The errors need not come from a particular parametric distribution such as the normal. P values are computed using permutations of the regression residuals. In the special cases that Y = e or X is a vector of Is, the tests are valid and consistent. In general, regression residuals are not exchangeable, so the tests are only approximate. It is shown, however, that under mild conditions, the permutation tests are asymptotically valid and consistent. The test statistics are asymptotically normal. In the serial case, the tests are closely related to the Durbin-Watson (DW) test. The spatial case is illustrated with a test based on a triangulation of observation locations. In addition to providing a spatial analog to the DW test, the permutation tests circumvent two of the DW test's difficulties: dependency on the normality of errors and the need to accommodate “indifference zones. ”
Automatic detection of exudates and optic disk in retinal images using curvelet transform

This work presents a curvelet-based algorithm for detection of optic disk (OD) and exudates on low contrast images. This algorithm which is composed of three main stages does not require user initialisation and is robust to the changes in the appearance of retinal fundus images. At first, bright candidate lesions in the image are extracted by employing DCUT and modification of curvelet coefficients of enhanced retinal image. For this purpose, the authors apply a new bright lesions enhancement on green plane of retinal image to obtain adequate illumination normalisation in the regions near the OD, and to increase brightness of lesions in dark areas such as fovea. Following this step, the authors introduce a new OD detection and boundary extraction method based on DCUT and level set method. Finally, bright lesions map (BLM) image is generated and to distinguish between exudates and OD (i.e. a false detection for the final exudates detection), the extracted candidate pixels in BLM that are not in OD regions (detected in previous step) are considered as actual bright lesions. The sensitivity and specificity of the authors exudates detection method are 98.4 and 90.1%, respectively, and the average accuracy of their OD boundary extraction method is 94.51%.
Left ventricular analysis from cardiac images using deformable models

An image understanding system that applies flexible constraints in the form of a probabilistic deformable model to the problem of segmenting the left ventricle from cardiac image sequences is discussed. The parametric model is based on the elliptic Fourier decomposition of the boundary. The segmentation problem is solved as an optimization problem, where the best match between the boundary, as defined by the parameter or vector, and the image data is found. From the boundary determined, the motion and shape of the left ventricle can then be characterized to give a quantitative evaluation of cardiac function. The system is a model for the intelligent segmentation of natural objects whose diversity and irregularity of shape makes them poorly represented in terms of fixed features or form. This technique is being applied to radionuclide angiocardiography and two-dimensional echocardiography. <<ETX>>