Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Newly-Designed Wearable Robotic Hand Exoskeleton Controlled by EMG Signals and ROS Embedded Systems

One of the most difficult parts of stroke therapy is hand mobility recovery. Indeed, stroke is a serious medical disorder that can seriously impair hand and locomotor movement. To improve hand function in stroke patients, new medical technologies, such as various wearable devices and rehabilitation therapies, are being developed. In this study, a new design of electromyography (EMG)-controlled 3D-printed hand exoskeleton is presented. The exoskeleton was created to help stroke victims with their gripping abilities. Computer-aided design software was used to create the device’s 3D architecture, which was then printed using a polylactic acid filament. For online classifications, the performance of two classifiers—the support vector machine (SVM) and the K-near neighbor (KNN)—was compared. The Robot Operating System (ROS) connects all the various system nodes and generates the decision for the hand exoskeleton. The selected classifiers had high accuracy, reaching up to 98% for online classification performed with healthy subjects. These findings imply that the new wearable exoskeleton, which could be controlled in accordance with the subjects’ motion intentions, could aid in hand rehabilitation for a wider motion range and greater dexterity.
Structural connectivity reproducibility through multiple acquisitions

In this study, we investigate the reproducibility of connectivity matrices in cortico-cortical connectivity using probabilistic and deterministic streamline tractography. We show that connectivity matrices computed from probabilistic tractography have higher ratio of inter to intra-subject distances than those computed from deterministic tractography. Moreover, it suggests that the connectivity matrices can be used as a tool to compare tractography algorithms in terms reproducibility and subject specificity.
Limiting Spectral Distribution of

The empirical spectral distribution (ESD) of the sample variance covariance matrix of i.i. d. observations under suitable moment conditions converges almost surely as the dimension tends to infinity. The limiting spectral distribution (LSD) is universal and is known in closed form with support [0, 4]. In this article we show that the ESD of the sample autocovariance matrix converges as the dimension increases, when the time series is a linear process with reasonable restriction on the coefficients. This limit does not depend on the distribution of the underlying driving i.i. d. sequence but in contrast to the sample variance covariance matrix, its support is unbounded. The limit moments are certain functions of the autocovariances. This limit is inconsistent in the sense that it does not coincide with the spectral distribution of the theoretical autocovariance matrix. However, if we consider a suitably tapered version of the autocovariance matrix, then its LSD also exists and is consistent. We also discuss the existence of the LSD for banded sample autocovariance matrices. For banded matrices, the limit has unbounded support as long as the number of nonzero diagonals in proportion to the dimension of the matrix is bounded away from zero. If this ratio tends to zero, then the limit has bounded support and is consistent. Finally we also study the LSD of a naturally modified version of the autocovariance matrix which is not nonnegative definite.
Political skill in organizations: paths of an evolving concept

Purpose: To present a scientific mapping of the concept of Political Skill in Organizations and its measurement instrument to show how production has evolved, which themes cover this field, trends, and a global panorama of collaborations. Methodology: Statistical methods to delineate the structure of the scientific field and its dynamics. We used the RStudio (Bibliometrix package) and Vosviewer tools to examine metadata from two samples from the Scopus database (n1=797 and n2=807), covering the last 40 years of production on the subject. Findings: Political Skill in Organizations is a current and well-structured construct; its relationship constantly expands with several other concepts; its driving themes are job performance, power, and organizational politics. Emerging topics are stress, impression management, and leader political skill. We also highlighted the most influential authors and publications. The Political Skill Inventory measurement instrument remains widely used in different contexts. However, there need to be more collaborations in Latin America. Originality: An up-to-date analysis of the paths and scope of a concept in conjunction with its measurement instrument promotes theoretical-empirical integration and provides insights and starting points for researchers interested in organizational politics.
The effect of gadget-loving on service orientation: A study on the technology sales consultants

This study aims to determine the effect of gadget-loving sales consultants working in technology stores in Istanbul on the service orientation of the employees. In the model created in line with the purpose of the study, the effect of technological innovation, technical curiosity, technological optimism, need for uniqueness, materialistic personality traits on gadget-loving, and the effect of gadget-loving on technological opinion leadership were tried to be determined. Accordingly, a survey was conducted with the participation of 752 employees, and structural Equation Modelling analysis was performed. Findings show that gadget-loving has a positive effect on service orientation. Also, the high level of gadget-loving of the employees positively affects their technological opinion leadership. In conclusion, employees’ technological innovation, curiosity, optimism, and need for uniqueness. Materialistic personality traits affect gadget-loving, and gadget-loving emerges as a personal trait that should be taken into account by managers in human resources management for gaining a competitive advantage in technological product markets, increasing service quality, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Findings show that gadget loving has a positive effect on service orientation. Also, the high level of gadget loving of the employees positively affects their technological opinion leadership. In conclusion employees’ technological innovation, curiosity, optimism, need for uniqueness, and materialistic personality traits affect gadget loving and gadget loving emerges as a personal trait that should be taken into account by managers in human resources management for gaining a competitive advantage in technological product markets, increasing service quality, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Physicochemical Properties of 3D-Printed Polylactic Acid/Hydroxyapatite Scaffolds

The reconstruction or regeneration of damaged bone tissue is one of the challenges of orthopedic surgery and tissue engineering. Among all strategies investigated, additive manufacturing by fused deposition modeling (3D-FDM printing) opens the possibility to obtain patient-specific scaffolds with controlled architectures. The present work evaluates in depth 3D direct printing, avoiding the need for a pre-fabricated filament, to obtain bone-related scaffolds from direct mixtures of polylactic acid (PLA) and hydroxyapatite (HA). For it, a systematic physicochemical characterization (SEM-EDS, FT-Raman, XRD, micro-CT and nanoindentation) was performed, using different PLA/HA ratios and percentages of infill. Results prove the versatility of this methodology with an efficient HA incorporation in the 3D-printed scaffolds up to 13 wt. % of the total mass and a uniform distribution of the HA particles in the scaffold at the macro level, both longitudinal and cross sections. Moreover, an exponential distribution of the HA particles from the surface toward the interior of the biocomposite cord (micro level), within the first 80 µm (10% of the entire cord diameter), is also confirmed, providing the scaffold with surface roughness and higher bioavailability. In relation to the pores, they can range in size from 250 to 850 µm and can represent a percentage, in relation to the total volume of the scaffold, from 24% up to 76%. The mechanical properties indicate an increase in Young’s modulus with the HA content of up to ~50%, compared to the scaffolds without HA. Finally, the in vitro evaluation confirms MG63 cell proliferation on the 3D-printed PLA/HA scaffolds after up to 21 days of incubation.
Combining Symbolic and Function Evaluation Expressions In Neural Programs

Neural programming involves training neural networks to learn programs from data. Previous works have failed to achieve good generalization performance, especially on programs with high complexity or on large domains. This is because they mostly rely either on black-box function evaluations that do not capture the structure of the program, or on detailed execution traces that are expensive to obtain, and hence the training data has poor coverage of the domain under consideration. We present a novel framework that utilizes black-box function evaluations, in conjunction with symbolic expressions that integrate relationships between the given functions. We employ tree LSTMs to incorporate the structure of the symbolic expression trees. We use tree encoding for numbers present in function evaluation data, based on their decimal representation. We present an evaluation benchmark for this task to demonstrate our proposed model combines symbolic reasoning and function evaluation in a fruitful manner, obtaining high accuracies in our experiments. Our framework generalizes significantly better to expressions of higher depth and is able to fill partial equations with valid completions.
Coprime factors reduction of distributed nonstationary LPV systems

ABSTRACT This paper is on the coprime factors reduction of distributed systems formed by discrete-time, heterogeneous, nonstationary linear parameter-varying subsystems. The subsystems are represented in a linear fractional transformation framework and interconnected over arbitrary directed graphs, and the communication between the subsystems is subjected to a delay of one time-step. Two methods for constructing a contractive coprime factorisation for the full-order system are proposed. This factorisation forms an augmented system which is reducible by the structure-preserving balanced truncation method. A reduced-order contractive coprime factorisation is obtained from which the reduced-order system can be formed. A robustness theorem is also provided to interpret the error bound from coprime factors reduction in terms of robust stability of the closed-loop system. A numerical example is considered at the end of the paper.
Reducing the Impact of Bias in Likelihood Inference for Prominent Model Settings

The existence of bias in inferential procedures based on the likelihood function has given rise to a great deal of research in the statistical literature. The magnitude of such bias plays a crucial role in estimation: if large, misleading conclusions on the quantities of interest are likely to be drawn. This is a matter of serious concern when the available sample size is small to moderate or when the model under study does not meet the regularity conditions for usually reliable maximum likelihood inference. In the present thesis, we attempt to reduce the impact of bias in both these circumstances, by following distinct paths. For finite-sample problems, we propose a convenient way to refine Wald-type inference in regression settings through asymptotic bias correction of the $z$-statistic. Such approach stems from the intuition of seeing that pivot as the estimator of a model reparametrization. For non-regular problems, with special focus on scenarios characterized by the presence of incidental parameters, we suggest a strategy to extend the current range of applications of the modified profile likelihood. This solution, founded on Monte Carlo simulation, is versatile enough to cope with several nonstandard modeling frameworks for grouped data.
Eukaryotic Cell Membranes: Structure, Composition, Research Methods and Computational Modelling

This paper deals with the problems encountered in the study of eukaryotic cell membranes. A discussion on the structure and composition of membranes, lateral heterogeneity of membranes, lipid raft formation, and involvement of actin and cytoskeleton networks in the maintenance of membrane structure is included. Modern methods for the study of membranes and their constituent domains are discussed. Various simplified models of biomembranes and lipid rafts are presented. Computer modelling is considered as one of the most important methods. This is stated that from the study of the plasma membrane structure, it is desirable to proceed to the diverse membranes of all organelles of the cell. The qualitative composition and molar content of individual classes of polar lipids, free sterols and proteins in each of these membranes must be considered. A program to create an open access electronic database including results obtained from the membrane modelling of individual cell organelles and the key sites of the membranes, as well as models of individual molecules composing the membranes, has been proposed.
Exoplanet transit spectroscopy: development and application of a generic time domain simulator

IN this thesis I describe the development and validation of a generic time domain simulator of exoplanet transit spectroscopy called ExoSim, and apply it to various problems in the field. ExoSim models both the astrophysical scene and the optical system in an end-to-end simulation, outputting a time series of images akin to a real observation. The simulator was validated through a series of tests against predictions, alternate simulations and published data, showing it was accurate to within 5% of most comparisons. ExoSim modeled the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 IR instrument, finding that scanning mode was superior to staring mode (38% less noise), with no significant excess noise. The results supported uncertainties in published studies for GJ 1214b. ExoSim was used in the ARIEL Phase A study, playing a key role in formulating and verifying an instrument design that was low risk and compatible with the science case of spectroscopically surveying 1000 exoplanets. Spectral jitter noise was found to be a feature of ARIEL observations, but using ExoSim it was shown this could be mitigated in data reduction without design level changes. ExoSim was used to quantify the uncertainties due to stellar variability on the transmission spectrum, finding that noise from pulsations and granulation is not significant in ARIEL observations. For spots, variations of +3.9 to -5.2% in contrast ratio were projected for GJ 1214b and +0.9 to -0.5% for HD209458b in the visual range, but in the mid-IR range variations fall well within the photon noise limit. ExoSim was used to simulate observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system, from which we found that ARIEL could characterise primordial H2-He atmospheres on all 7 planets, but that only planets b and h would be candidates for observing high molecular weight atmospheres. Overall, ExoSim was found to be a valuable tool applicable to diverse problems in the field of transit spectroscopy.
Detection of Zoonotic Potential of Salmonella and Escherichia coli Isolated from Ostriches and Determine Their Antibiogram Study

The present research was conducted for molecular characterization of important zoonotic bacteria isolated from different samples in ostrich and also determined their antimicrobial activity. For this current research, 32 samples were randomly collected from 8 ostriches at different ages, of which 8 were oropharyngeal, 8 were cloacal swabs, 8 were environmental sand samples, and 8 were feces samples. In addition, the bacteria were isolated and identified by using standard microbiological methods, including cultural, biochemical and molecular techniques. 16S rRNA gene was used to detect Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. molecularly. The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was used to determine the antibiotic sensitivity test. Out of 32 samples, E. coli 8 (53.33%) and Salmonella spp. 7 (46.67%) were identified in young ostrich, while in adult ostrich, E. coli 2 (40%) and Salmonella spp. 3 (60%) were detected. According to our study, E. coli was the most predominant isolate found in cloacal swabs and ostrich feces. Escherichia coli were most sensitive to Amoxicillin and Azithromycin (100%), followed by Kanamycin, Chloramphenicol and Gentamicin (75%), while 100% resistant to Piperacillin, Bacitracin, Tetracycline, Cloxacillin, Novobiocin, Cefixime. Salmonella spp. was 100% sensitive to Azithromycin and also 100% resistant to Tetracycline, Piperacillin, Bacitracin, Chloramphenicol and Methicillin. Our research concluded that E. coli and Salmonella spp. are multi-drug resistant bacteria, and appropriate antibiotics should be used in ostrich farms to protect the multi-drug resistant bacteria. We suggest farm owners increase public awareness about zoonotic diseases and those working on ostrich farms.
Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles from Fiber of Trapa natans L. Shells and Their Impregnation Onto Polyamide-12 for Environmental Applications

ABSTRACT In this study, copper nanoparticles were synthesized from Trapa natans L. shells and loaded within polyamide-12 for use as an adsorbent. The synthesized nanocomposite was used for the first time to remove toxic methyl orange and brilliant green dye molecules from synthetic aqueous solutions. In order to characterize the plant-based nanocomposite, its functional groups, surface texture, elemental composition, structure, surface area, and crystallinity were determined. Adsorption efficiency was found to be affected by factors like pH (2–10), time (5–240 min.), and temperature (288–308 K). It was at pH 6 that the adsorbent reached the point of zero charge. During the adsorption process, electrostatic attraction played an influential role. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics data were well-fitted by Langmuir isotherms and pseudo-second-order models, respectively. A maximum adsorption capacity of 166.60 mg/gm was calculated for 93.90% methyl orange removal and 55.24 mg/gm for 97.30% brilliant green removal. The adsorption process was endothermic, spontaneous, and physical. The rapid desorption of dye molecules confirms the potential, and practicality of the nanocomposite as a promising adsorbent for decolorizing colored wastewater on an industrial scale.
Innovative engineering modeling technological process of urine collection in dogs

The problem statement is revealed as follows. It is recommended to collect urine in the morning, in a sterile vessel; however, the procedure of this biological material collection in animals is rather challenging in implementation and requires certain effort and practical skills. The purpose is revealed as follows. Meanwhile, urine collection in dogs is rather important in a veterinarian’s practice. The test of collected urine allows to check the animal’s state of health and to evaluate the obtained results, which is important for research. The methodology is revealed as follows. The research has been done using factual observation and documentation, systemic and morphological analyses. The mathematical model for the technological process has been compiled based on a set theory. The findings (results). A general model for technological process of urine collection has been developed and a description of the model components provided, which allows to view them as a vector of technical support. Originality (novelty). A distinguishing feature of the offered urine collection technological process model is that based on the aggregate of set elements combining processes, means, objects and phenomena of the model, a device has been developed allowing to select optimal sizes depending on the animal breed. The practical value is revealed as follows. The implementation will allow to obtain a convenient comfortable means for urine collection in dogs of different breeds using vessels of different volume.
Forward dynamic model for rowing performance; driven by rower specific data and variable rigging setup

In this research the influence of the rower behavior and rigging setup on the boat performance is investigated in a data-driven model. There are different rowing styles and techniques between rowers. Making rowers row in synchrony, while important for the boat performance, is not easy. Rowers have their own signature rowing curve, of which only few aspects can be changed. The signature rowing curve can be based on the oar angle or the relative displacement of the rower. The latter is assumed to be constant for changes in the rigging setup and therefore preferred. The data used in this study comes from a woman’s double, the rowers of which are members of the KNRB. In the boat measurements are done on the gate and foot forces, as well as the oar angles, the seat displacement and boat accelerations. From the free body diagrams of the different parts of the system, a one-dimensional rowing model is derived. The model is driven with the measured forces on the rower and the oar angles. It can be validated with the measured boat accelerations. The distribution of the masses in the system are slightly changed. All drag force on the system is assumed to be viscous and is assumed to be proportional to the square of the boat velocity. The lateral forces on the blade and the oar deformation are neglected. The relative motions of the rower are best predicted with the forces acting directly on the rower, after a compensation of the measured foot force. The best fit for the boat accelerations are found by combining the system acceleration with the relative accelerations of the rowers. With the assumption that the rower can be modeled as a force constraint model, the rigging setup of the modeled boat is changed. The blade forces have a leading role on the resulting boat motions when changing the rigging parameters. However the blade forces might not be realistically modeled. Changing the lever ratio of the oar, by increasing the inboard length leads to a bigger covered oar angle and a higher boat velocity, but a lower work per stroke applied on the handle by the rower. Moving the footstretcher towards the bow of the boat shifts the oar angle and leads to a higher boat velocity and lower handle work per stroke as well. Changing individual rigging parameters did not result in big differences between the rowers. No indications of improved synchronization between the rowers are found and the energy balance of the system is disrupted. The model simplifications of the blade forces may not be justified. After implementation of a more complex modeling of the blade forces indications of the synchronization might be found.