Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistical Methods for Individual-Level Data in Cohort Mortality Studies of Rheumatic Diseases

In the field of rheumatic diseases, prospective individual-level data on (prevalent) cohorts of patients over a long period of time are collected. One of the many uses of such data is to investigate mortality. Excess mortality, time trends (temporal variation) in mortality rates, life expectancy and life years lost of patients, and risk factors for mortality may all be of interest. In this article, we show how careful application of Poisson and Cox relative risk regression models can be used to tackle these questions, illustrating the methods with cohort data from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and psoriatic arthritis. For external comparisons of a cohort with a standard (or reference) population, Poisson regression can be used to generalize the usual standardized mortality ratio (SMR) analyses. For assessing the pattern of (excess) mortality over time, unadjusted and adjusted “rolling average” SMRs are developed and shown to provide further insight concerning an observed decline in SMR over time for psoriatic arthritis patients. An extension of the traditional life expectancy and years of life lost calculations is also derived. For comparisons within a cohort, we demonstrate how Cox regression models can incorporate time measured on a variety of scales to allow the identification of a calendar time decline in mortality risk for lupus patients which is demonstrably independent of possible declines with disease duration and/or time in clinic and of other disease related explanatory variables.
Tibial Nerve Block as Treatment of Chronic Foot Pain

Background Minimally invasive therapies can alleviate pain and improve walking in individuals with persistent foot and ankle pain. Objectives The current study aimed to define the protracted consequences of tibial nerve blocks with steroids for individuals with persistent foot pain and to investigate the link between the thermography of the plantar foot and the beneficial effect of a tibial nerve block with steroids. Methods All patients with chronic foot pain (n = 45) in this cohort underwent a block of the tibial nerve in the Department of Pain Therapy of Pain Clinic De Bilt, Utrecht, Netherlands, within November 2019 to April 2020. The thermographic images of patients were taken before and after injection. Results were retrospectively evaluated after 18 months. Results In this study, 53% of the patients had pain relief at 7 weeks of follow-up with a unilateral or bilateral block of the tibial nerve. An improvement in walking distance was reported by 22% of the patients. Side effects of the tibial nerve block reported at 7 weeks of follow-up increased pain (5%) and the occurrence of leg cramps (5%) among the treated patients. At 18 months, 45% of the successfully treated feet still had benefits. A difference between the big toe’s temperature and the foot’s average temperature of less than -0.9°C on thermography before and after the tibial nerve block can predict a beneficial result of therapy. Conclusions Tibial nerve block provides a safe, minimally invasive treatment option for almost half of the patients with painful feet in this cohort, and when successful, it can last a long term. Thermographic imaging of the plantar foot can predict only to a small extent the beneficial effect of the tibial nerve block with steroids on foot pain. Tibial nerve block should be considered when custom foot orthoses have been inadequate for pain relief or restricted walking distance.
Developing a Card Game for Assessment and Intervention in the Person and the Family in Palliative Care: “Pallium Game”

Communication between the multidisciplinary team, the person, and the family in palliative and end-of-life situations implies, in most situations, a high negative emotional burden. Therefore, innovative strategies are needed to reduce it. The goal of this study is to describe the various stages of development and validation of a collaborative card game for people in palliative care and their families. Phase one is an exploratory study, Phase two is a Delphi study, and Phase three is a multiple case study. Participants for phases 2 and 3 were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The results demonstrate in an organized and structured way the different phases required to build a collaborative card game. The use of the game was found to be useful and effective. Four categories emerged from the content analysis of the open-ended responses: usability, evaluation tool, communication and therapeutic relationship, and meaning when using the game. A collaborative game in palliative care helps to create a space for individuals and families to express feelings and experiences, meeting the myriad of physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs. The “Pallium game” is a useful and impactful approach to discussing sensitive topics in palliative care.
Ecological factors influencing the breeding performance of great tits (Parus major) in artificial nest boxes

: Installing an artificial nest box has a positive effect on the cavity nesters such as great tit ( Parus major ). Beyond the process of installing an artificial nest box, a study on the effect of ecological factors on breeding performance is necessary. This study was conducted to evaluate the ecological factors influencing breeding performance of great tits ( Parus major ) in artificial nest boxes in temperate mixed forests. In this study, the first egg-laying date and percentage of shrub were closely related among ecological factors. Variable influencing clutch size was date of first egg-laying date. Percentage of shrub had a positive relation to hatching success and fledgling success. First egg-laying date may represent quality of parental individuals. In addition, shrub can provide better food resources and has an impact on hatching success and fledgling success. These results suggest that higher quality of parental individual predominates the better the foraging site for enhancing breeding success. Also, managing shrubs in the forest appear to have a positive effect on breeding performance. Moreover, long-term ecological research is needed for the conservation of the birds and their habitats.
Evolution of the rest-frame UV LF from z ~ 8 to z ~ 4

Abstract We have assembled large samples of galaxies at redshift z ~ 4, 5 and 6 (totalling >4300 objects, >1000 objects, >500 objects, respectively) from all the deep HST ACS and NICMOS data taken to date (over 2000 orbits of data). From these we have derived rest-frame UV luminosity functions, luminosity densities, and star formation rates in a very robust and consistent way to very faint luminosities (0.01L* to 0.04L*). The faint-end slopes α of these luminosity functions are remarkably uniform and steep (α ~ −1.7), indicating very little evolution from z ~ 6 to z ~ 4. The characteristic luminosity L* brightens considerably (by ~1 mag) over this period, but the overall change in the luminosity function is such as to lead to little change in the luminosity density and star formation rate over this time. We also have detected galaxies at z ~ 7 − 8 and set strong limits at z ~ 10 directly from deep HST NICMOS observations. Spitzer observations of these z ~ 7 galaxies have been used to estimate masses and ages, suggesting substantial formation at z ~ 10 or earlier. These results show that this hierachical build-up continues into the reionization epoch.
Association between Selenium Intake and Optimal Sleep Duration: A National Longitudinal Study

Inconsistent findings have been discovered in studies examining the link between dietary selenium (Se) and sleep. Data were obtained from 17,176 people aged 20 and over who participated in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 2004 to 2011. Face-to-face interviews were used to measure sleep duration in 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011. To track dietary Se consumption, a 3-day, 24-h recall was undertaken. In the analysis, multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression was employed. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of optimal sleep duration (7–9 h/day) in the regression of Model 4 were 1.00, 1.01 (0.89–1.15) and 1.19 (1.02–1.38) for the three tertiles of selenium consumption, respectively. Only overweight patients displayed a substantial positive connection between Se intake and the optimal sleep duration in the subgroup analysis. In summary, Se intake was significantly associated with optimal sleep duration.
Automatic Mesh Generation: Application to Finite Element Methods

This textbook concentrates on mesh generation, an essential prerequisite for the numerical analysis of engineering problems, through the use of computational geometry. The author provides a detailed survey of existing methods and highlights the increasing need for automatic techniques. Traditional structured grids are considered alongside the unstructured meshes of triangles and tetrahedra. The text contains information on the algorithms for the creation of two-and three-dimensional cases, and details tools for the modification and exploitation of meshes.
A regional and seasonal approach to explain the observed trends in the Antarctic sea ice in recent decades

In contrast to the declining sea ice extent across most of the Arctic in the past several decades, sea ice extent in the Antarctic has experienced opposite regional trends with regions of sea ice expansion exceeding those of contraction. Various mechanisms have been put forward to explain the Antarctic sea ice trends, but few have been successful at explaining a large portion of the observed trends. Dividing the Southern Ocean into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean sectors and examining the trends over 1979–2018 separately for each sector and for each season of the year, we are able to identify modes of variability that statistically explain more than 42% of the trends in all three sectors and all four seasons. In certain sector and season, up to 94% of the trends can be explained. The leading modes of variability that explain a substantial portion of the trends appear to be related to several known climate variability modes including the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), the Pacific South American (PSA) 1 and 2, and the Zonal Wavenumber 2–6 patterns. In the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sectors, the changes in the occurrences of the main contributing modes to sea ice trends are dominated by local sea‐surface temperature (SST) variations, while in the Pacific sector, they are related to changes in global SST.
Methods for global concave minimization: A bibliographic survey

The global concave minimization problem is to find the constrained global minimum of a concave function. Since such a function may have many local minima, finding the global minimum is a computationally difficult problem. In this bibliographic survey, which includes most of the recent papers on constrained global concave minimization, we have attempted to briefly summarize the main ideas in each paper. These recent papers include those concerned with large scale global concave minimization and bilinear programming.
Second-derivative estimates for solutions of two-dimensional Monge-Ampère equations

Heinz-Lewy type a priori estimates are derived for the absolute values of the second derivatives of solutions z(x, y) E C"1 (Q) of MongeAmp&re equations of the general form Ar+2Bs+Ct+(rt-s2) =E in the interior of the domain Q. The coefficients A, B, C, E depend in particular on the gradient of z(x, y) and satisfy certain structural conditions.
Experiences of cognitive coaching: A qualitative study

Objectives:Cognitive coaching and cognitive behavioural coaching are approaches practiced by many coaching psychologists (Palmer & Whybrow, 2007). However, there is a lack of qualitative studies evaluating these approaches. The main objective of/with the present study was to investigate a number of participants’ experiences of cognitive coaching.Design:As the study aimed to explore individuals’ experiences of cognitive coaching, a qualitative design was used. In particular, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2003) was used to analyse the data.Methods:The study took place in Sweden and 10 individuals, who had participated in cognitive coaching in the workplace, were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data.Results:Four main themes emerged from the analysis, and one of these ‘new cognitive and emotional knowledge’ will be discussed in this article. This main theme had two sub-themes, ‘working with thoughts’ and ‘regulate emotions’. Conclusions:The study found that cognitive coaching helped participants to change unhelpful thinking and regulate difficult emotions, and these findings support the continuing development of cognitive/cognitive behavioural coaching.
DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM USING VALUE STREAM MAPPING: A CASE STUDY

: Many logistics companies have faced intense competition in the domestic and international markets due to the effects of globalization and the rapid development of technologies. In order to achieve a competitive advantage over other companies, managers transform their organizations by applying some management philosophies, such as the Just-In-Time philosophy, the Six Sigma concept, Lean Manufacturing Systems, etc. The group of lean tools consists of numerous techniques and approaches for business improvement. One of the most commonly used is Value Stream Mapping, which is implemented in this paper. Paper analyzes the production system of a company in Serbia that deals with plastic processing. The company’s current state was analyzed using VSM, and as a result, potential areas for improvement in the production process and internal transportation were identified. In order to improve the production process, the paper suggests solutions to the problems that were pointed out, led by the flexibility of combining VSM with other methods as one of its key strengths. The results indicate that a system configured according to the ideal VSM would produce more products per shift, reducing waste, delays, and total costs to achieve sustainable production. This paper identified some of the key potential gaps as guidelines for further research in this area.
Phemenology of Filling, Investigation of Growth Kinetics and Electronic Properties for Applications of Filled Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

This review discusses the phemenology of filling, the investigation of kinetics, and the electronic properties for applications of filled single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and summarizes five main achievements that were obtained in processing the spectroscopic data of SWCNTs filled with metal halogenide, metal chalcogenide, metal and metallocenes. First, the methods of processing kinetic data were developed to reveal precise trends in growth rates and activation energies of the growth of SWCNTs. Second, the metal-dependence of kinetics was revealed. Third, metallicity-sorted (metallic and semiconducting) SWCNTs were filled with a range of substances and the electronic properties were investigated. Fourth, new approaches to processing the data of spectroscopic investigations of filled SWCNTs were developed, which allowed more reliable and precise analysis of the experimental results. Fifth, the correlation between the physical and chemical properties of encapsulated substances and the electronic properties of SWCNTs were elucidated. These points are highlighted in the review.
Analyzing head-related transfer function measurements using surface spherical harmonics

A continuous, functional representation of a large set of head-related transfer function measurements (HRTFs) is developed. The HRTFs are represented as a weighted sum of surface spherical harmonics (SSHs) up to degree 17. A Gaussian quadrature method is used to pick out a set of experimentally efficient measurement directions. Anechoic impulse responses are measured for these directions between a source loudspeaker and the entrance to the ear canal of a head-and-torso simulator (HATS). Three separate SSH analyses are carried out: The first forms a SSH representation from the time responses, with the variable onset delay caused by interaural differences intact, by applying the analysis to each time sample in turn. The second SSH model is formed in exactly the same way, except using impulse responses in which the variable onset delays have been equalized. The final SSH analysis is carried out in the frequency domain by applying the technique on a frequency bin by frequency bin basis to the magnitude and un.
Weakly symmetric algebras of Euclidean type

Abstract A finite dimensional algebra A over an algebraically closed field is called a selfinjective algebra of Euclidean type if A is the orbit algebra B̂∣G, where B̂ is the repetitive algebra of a tilted algebra B of Euclidean type and G is an admissible group of automorphisms of B̂. It is known that the class of selfinjective algebras of Euclidean type coincides with the class of tame selfinjective algebras having simply connected Galois coverings and a finite (nonempty) family of generic modules. We classify all weakly symmetric algebras of Euclidean type.
Hearing hazard from the noise of air bag deployment.

Recent studies have questioned the adequacy of current noise standards for intense impulses, especially those with large low‐frequency content, a category which includes air bag deployments. Unfortunately, almost no tests have been done with real ears and air bag impulses. Such data are also needed for development of theory and validation of our hearing loss model [G. R. Price and J. T. Kalb, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 90, 219–227 (1991)]. Therefore, 32 anesthetized cats positioned at the driver and passenger locations in a pickup truck were exposed in pairs to one air bag deployment (electrically initiated). Hearing was tested at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 kHz by evoked‐response audiometry before exposure, immediately after, 1 month, and 6 months later. Exposure conditions included doors open, compartment closed, and closed compartment sealed with tape; seven exposures to passenger bag only and nine to driver and passenger bags. Pressures at inboard ears ranged from 167‐ to 173‐dB peak and B durations from approximatel.
Single-Leg Squat and Reported Pain in Collegiate Softball Pitchers

Background: Single-leg squat (SLS) performance is related to altered mechanics related to injury during the windmill softball pitch; however, it is unknown if SLS kinematics differ between softball pitchers with and without upper extremity pain. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to compare knee valgus, trunk rotation, trunk lateral flexion, and trunk flexion during an SLS in collegiate softball pitchers with and without self-reported upper extremity pain. It was hypothesized that those who reported upper extremity pain would show increased compensatory trunk and knee kinematics compared with those without pain. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: A total of 75 collegiate softball players (mean age, 20.4 ± 1.7 years; mean height, 173.3 ± 7.7 cm; mean weight, 79.1 ± 11.6 kg) participated and were placed in pain (n = 20) or no-pain (n = 55) groups. Participants performed an SLS once per side. Kinematic data were collected at 100 Hz using an electromagnetic tracking system. A 2 (pain vs no pain) × 2 (descent vs ascent) × 2 (drive leg vs stride leg) mixed-design multivariate analysis of variance with Wilks lambda distribution was used to determine differences in drive-leg and stride-leg lower body mechanics between the descent and ascent phases of the SLS between the pitchers in the current study with and without pain. Results: There was no significant effect in the 3-way interaction between upper extremity pain, side, and phase (Λ = 0.960; F[4, 70] = 0.726; P = .577; η2 = 0.04). However, there were large effects for the phase × side interaction (Λ = 0.850; P = .021; η2 = 0.150). There was a main effect of phase (Λ = 0.283; P < .001; η2 = 0.717). Conclusion: Study findings indicated that SLS mechanics do not differ between collegiate softball pitchers with and without reported upper extremity pain. Drive-leg mechanics showed more stability in the SLS than stride-leg mechanics. Clinical Relevance: Softball pitchers are at risk of upper extremity injury. It is important to identify mechanisms that may lead to pain in order to mitigate the risk of injury.
Impact of film properties of atomic layer deposited HfO2 resulting from annealing with a TiN capping layer

Atomic layer deposited HfO2 films void and exhibit poor electrical characteristics when annealed at high temperature unless a TiN capping layer is used. The TiN is removed prior to characterization of the dielectric. The authors find that capped HfO2 films annealed at 1000°C by rapid thermal process are smooth and void-free. The microstructure of HfO2 is modified from fully monoclinic to a mixed monoclinic and tetragonal phase when the capping layer is used. Conducting atomic force microscopy performed on these films shows fewer areas with high leakage current. Mo∕HfO2 capacitors show improved CV characteristics and lower leakage current density.
Walking with springs

Developing bionic ankles poses great challenges due to the large moment, power, and energy that are required at the ankle. Researchers have added springs in series with a motor to reduce the peak power and energy requirements of a robotic ankle. We developed a "robotic tendon" that reduces the peak power by altering the required motor speed. By changing the required speed, the spring acts as a "load variable transmission. " If a simple motor/gearbox solution is used, one walking step would require 38.8J and a peak motor power of 257 W. Using an optimized robotic tendon, the energy required is 21.2 J and the peak motor power is reduced to 96.6 W. We show that adding a passive spring in parallel with the robotic tendon reduces peak loads but the power and energy increase. Adding a passive spring in series with the robotic tendon reduces the energy requirements. We have built a prosthetic ankle SPARKy, Spring Ankle with Regenerative Kinetics, that allows a user to walk forwards, backwards, ascend and descend stairs, walk up and down slopes as well as jog.
Methods for Reducing Subdivision Error within One Signal Period of Single-Field Scanning Absolute Linear Encoder

Optical encoders are widely used in accurate displacement measurement and motion-control technologies. Based on different measurement methods, optical encoders can be divided into absolute and incremental optical encoders. Absolute linear encoders are commonly used in advanced computer numerical control (CNC) machines. The subdivision error within one signal period (SDE) of the absolute linear encoder is vital to the positioning accuracy and low velocity control of CNC machines. In our paper, we study the working principle of the absolute linear encoder. We proposed two methods for reducing the SDE of the absolute linear encoder, a single-field scanning method based on the shutter-shaped Moiré fringe, as well as a method for suppressing harmonics through a phase shift of index grating. We established a SDE measuring device to determine the absolute linear encoder’s SDE, which we measured using a constant-speed approach. With our proposed methods, the SDE was reduced from ±0.218 μm to ±0.135 μm, which is a decrease of 38.07%. Our fast Fourier transformation (FFT) analysis of the collected Moiré fringe signals demonstrated that the third-, fifth-, and seventh-order harmonics were effectively suppressed.