Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wirelessly Powered Drug-Free and Anti-Infective Smart Bandage for Chronic Wound Care

We present a wirelessly powered ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation-based disinfecting bandage for sterilization and treatment in chronic wound care and management. The bandage contains embedded low-power UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the 265 to 285 nm range with the light emission controlled via a microcontroller. An inductive coil is seamlessly concealed in the fabric bandage and coupled with a rectifier circuit to enable 6.78 MHz wireless power transfer (WPT). The maximum WPT efficiency of the coils is 83% in free space and 75% on the body at a coupling distance of 4.5 cm. Measurements show that the UVC LEDs are emitting radiant power of about 0.6 mW and 6.8 mW with and without fabric bandage, respectively, when wirelessly powered. The ability of the bandage to inactivate microorganisms was examined in a laboratory which shows that the system can effectively eradicate Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudoalteromonas sp. D41 strain, on surfaces in six hours. The proposed smart bandage system is low-cost, battery-free, flexible and can be easily mounted on the human body and, therefore, shows great promise for the treatment of persistent infections in chronic wound care.
Linear Transformations on Algebras of Matrices: The Invariance of the Elementary Symmetric Functions

In this paper we examine the structure of certain linear transformations T on the algebra of w-square matrices Mn into itself. In particular if A ∈ Mn let Er(A) be the rth elementary symmetric function of the eigenvalues of A. Our main result states that if 4 ≤ r ≤ n — 1 and Er(T(A)) = Er(A) for A ∈ Mn then T is essentially (modulo taking the transpose and multiplying by a constant) a similarity transformation: No such result as this is true for r = 1,2 and we shall exhibit certain classes of counterexamples. These counterexamples fail to work for r = 3 and the structure of those T such that E3(T(A)) = E3(A) for all ∈ Mn is unknown to us.
A Study of the Relation of Meteorological Variables to Monthly Provincial Area Burned by Wildfire in Canada (1953–80)

Abstract The relation between meteorological variables and the monthly area burned by wildfire from May to August 1953–80 in nine Canadian “provinces” was investigated. A purely statistical approach to estimating the monthly provincial area burned, using meteorological variables as predictors, succeeded in explaining 30% of the variance west of Lake Nipigon and about 11% east of Lake Nipigon. Long sequences of days with less than 1.5 mm of rain or days with relative humidities less than 60% proved to have the highest correlation with area burned. These long sequences were assumed to be associated with blocking highs in the westerlies. Bad fire months were independent of rainfall amount but significantly dependent on rainfall frequency, temperature, and relative humidity.
Pose-aware Attention Network for Flexible Motion Retargeting by Body Part

Motion retargeting is a fundamental problem in computer graphics and computer vision. Existing approaches usually have many strict requirements, such as the source-target skeletons needing to have the same number of joints or share the same topology. To tackle this problem, we note that skeletons with different structure may have some common body parts despite the differences in joint numbers. Following this observation, we propose a novel, flexible motion retargeting framework. The key idea of our method is to regard the body part as the basic retargeting unit rather than directly retargeting the whole body motion. To enhance the spatial modeling capability of the motion encoder, we introduce a pose-aware attention network (PAN) in the motion encoding phase. The PAN is pose-aware since it can dynamically predict the joint weights within each body part based on the input pose, and then construct a shared latent space for each body part by feature pooling. Extensive experiments show that our approach can generate better motion retargeting results both qualitatively and quantitatively than state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, we also show that our framework can generate reasonable results even for a more challenging retargeting scenario, like retargeting between bipedal and quadrupedal skeletons because of the body part retargeting strategy and PAN. Our code is publicly available.
Solving a Linear Inverse Problem by Using an $L^{\infty}$ Fitting and a Hybrid Penalty with an Application to an Inverse Heat Conduction Problem

In this paper, we aim at solving a linear inverse problem in the case of measurement data contaminated by uniform noises. Due to ill-posedness, we use a regularization method to solve this problem. The proposed method combines an L 1 fitting with a hybrid penalty which consists of a total variation penalty and an L 2 penalty. An L 1 fitting is utilized to denoise uniform noises. We reconstruct a piecewise constant function, and hence we employ a total variation penalty to identify sharp boundaries, and use an L 2 penalty to improve the stability of the numerical algorithm. We apply the proposed method to an inverse heat conduction problem for testing the validity of the method. The numerical experiments show that the proposed method is accurate and robust.
Nature-inspired in-flight foldable rotorcraft

The paper presents a novel rotary wing platform, that is capable of folding and expanding its wings during flight. Our source of inspiration came from birds’ ability to fold their wings to navigate through small spaces and dive. The design of the rotorcraft is based on the monocopter platform, which is inspired by the flight of Samara seeds. The wings are constructed by applying origami techniques to fold them in flight. Two configurations are presented, featuring active or passive mechanisms for wing-folding depending on specific application requirements. The two configurations can reduce their overall footprint by approximately 39% and 69% while in flight. A cyclic controller is implemented for controlling the translational motion, where the direction is controlled by pulsing the motors at a specific instance during each cycle of rotation. We have presented experimental results to prove the control of our platform in different modes while in flight. The presented platforms enhance the practical uses of the monocopter platform by providing it with the ability to reduce its footprint while in flight actively, or by allowing them to dive through the air without any additional actuator.
Protein Function Prediction With Functional and Topological Knowledge of Gene Ontology

Gene Ontology (GO) is a widely used bioinformatics resource for describing biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components of proteins. It covers more than 5000 terms hierarchically organized into a directed acyclic graph and known functional annotations. Automatically annotating protein functions by using GO-based computational models has been an area of active research for a long time. However, due to the limited functional annotation information and complex topological structures of GO, existing models cannot effectively capture the knowledge representation of GO. To solve this issue, we present a method that fuses the functional and topological knowledge of GO to guide protein function prediction. This method employs a multi-view GCN model to extract a variety of GO representations from functional information, topological structure, and their combinations. To dynamically learn the significance weights of these representations, it adopts an attention mechanism to learn the final knowledge representation of GO. Furthermore, it uses a pre-trained language model (i.e., ESM-1b) to efficiently learn biological features for each protein sequence. Finally, it obtains all predicted scores by calculating the dot product of sequence features and GO representation. Our method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods, as demonstrated by the experimental results on datasets from three different species, namely Yeast, Human and Arabidopsis. Our proposed method’s code can be accessed at: https://github.com/Candyperfect/Master.
Spin Defects in hBN assisted by Metallic Nanotrenches for Quantum Sensing.

The omnipresence of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in devices embedding two-dimensional materials has prompted it as the most sought after platform to implement quantum sensing due to its testing while operating capability. The negatively charged boron vacancy (VB-) in hBN plays a prominent role, as it can be easily generated while its spin population can be initialized and read out by optical means at room-temperature. But the lower quantum yield hinders its widespread use as an integrated quantum sensor. Here, we demonstrate an emission enhancement amounting to 400 by nanotrench arrays compatible with coplanar waveguide (CPW) electrodes employed for spin-state detection. By monitoring the reflectance spectrum of the resonators as additional layers of hBN are transferred, we have optimized the overall hBN/nanotrench optical response, maximizing thereby the luminescence enhancement. Based on these finely tuned heterostructures, we achieved an enhanced DC magnetic field sensitivity as high as 6 × 10-5 T/Hz1/2.
Applicability of Shoulder, Olecranon, and Wrist-based Skeletal Maturity Estimation Systems to the Modern Pediatric Population

Background: The proximal humerus ossification system (PHOS), olecranon apophyseal ossification system (OAOS), and modified Fels wrist skeletal maturity system (mFWS) were recently developed or updated using a historical, mostly White, pediatric population. These upper extremity skeletal maturity systems have demonstrated skeletal age estimation performance superior or equivalent to Greulich and Pyle in historical patients. Their applicability to modern pediatric populations has not yet been evaluated. Methods: We reviewed anteroposterior shoulder, lateral elbow, and anteroposterior hand and wrist x-rays of 4 pediatric cohorts: White males, Black males, White females, and Black females. Peripubertal x-rays were evaluated: males 9 to17 years and females 7 to 15 years. Five nonpathologic radiographs for each age and joint were randomly selected from each group. Skeletal age estimates made by each of the 3 skeletal maturity systems were plotted against the chronological age associated with each radiograph and compared between cohorts, and with the historical patients. Results: Five hundred forty modern radiographs were evaluated (180 shoulders, 180 elbows, and 180 wrists). All radiographic parameters had inter- and intra-rater reliability coefficients at or above 0.79, indicating very good reliability. For PHOS, White males had delayed skeletal age compared with Black males (Δ−0.12 y, P=0.02) and historical males (Δ−0.17 y, P<0.001). Black females were skeletally advanced compared with historical females (Δ0.11 y, P=0.01). For OAOS, White males (Δ−0.31 y, P<0.001) and Black males (Δ−0.24 y, P<0.001) had delayed skeletal age compared with historical males. For mFWS, White males (Δ0.29 y, P=0.024), Black males (Δ0.58 y, P<0.001), and Black females (Δ0.44 y, P<0.001) had advanced skeletal age compared with historical counterparts of the same sex. All other comparisons were not significant (P>0.05). Conclusions: The PHOS, OAOS, and mFWS have mild discrepancies in skeletal age estimates when applied to modern pediatric populations depending on the race and sex of the patient. Level of Evidence: Level III – retrospective chart review.
Testing cosmic microwave background polarization data using position angles

We consider a novel null test for contamination which can be applied to CMB polarization data that involves analysis of the statistics of the polarization position angles. Specifically, we will concentrate on using histograms of the measured position angles to illustrate the idea. Such a test has been used to identify systematics in the NVSS point source catalogue with an amplitude well below the noise level. We explore the statistical properties of polarization angles in CMB maps. If the polarization angle is not correlated between pixels, then the errors follow a simple $\sqrt{N_{pix}}$ law. However this is typically not the case for CMB maps since these have correlations which result in an increase in the variance since the effective number of independent pixels is reduced. Then we illustrate how certain classes of systematic errors can result in very obvious patterns in these histograms, and thus that these errors could possibly be identified using this method. We discuss how this idea might be applied in a realistic context, and make a preliminary analysis of the WMAP7 data, finding evidence of a systematic error in the Q and W band data, consistent with a constant offset in Q and U.
Disparities in geospatial patterns of cancer care within urban counties and structural inequities in access to oncology care

Abstract Objective To examine geospatial patterns of cancer care utilization across diverse populations in New Jersey—a state where most residents live in urban areas. Data Sources/Study Setting We used data from the New Jersey State Cancer Registry from 2012 to 2014. Study Design We examined the location of cancer treatment among patients 20–65 years of age diagnosed with breast, colorectal, or invasive cervical cancer and investigated differences in geospatial patterns of care by individual and area‐level (e.g., census tract‐level) characteristics. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Multivariate generalized estimating equation models were used to determine factors associated with receiving cancer treatment within residential counties, residential hospital service areas, and in‐state (versus out‐of‐state) care. Principal Findings We observed significant differences in geospatial patterns of cancer treatment by race/ethnicity, insurance type, and area‐level factors. Even after adjusting for tumor characteristics, insurance type, and other demographic factors, non‐Hispanic Black patients had a 5.6% higher likelihood of receiving care within their own residential county compared to non‐Hispanic White patients (95% CI: 2.80–8.41). Patients insured with Medicaid and those without insurance had higher likelihoods of receiving care within their residential county compared to privately insured individuals. Patients living in census tracts with the highest quintile of social vulnerability were 4.6% more likely to receive treatment within their residential county (95% CI: 0.00–9.30) and were 2.7% less likely to seek out‐of‐state care (95% CI: −4.85 to −0.61). Conclusions Urban populations are not homogenous in their geospatial patterns of cancer care utilization, and individuals living in areas with greater social vulnerability may have limited opportunities to access care outside of their immediate residential county. Geographically tailored efforts, along with socioculturally tailored efforts, are needed to help improve equity in cancer care access.
Longitudinal Exploration of Binding Ability across Early Childhood: The Differential Contribution of Hits and False Alarms

Abstract Childhood is a period of pronounced improvements in children's ability to remember connections between details of an event (i.e. binding ability). However, the mechanisms supporting these changes remain unclear. Prior evidence is mixed, with some proposing that improvements in the ability to identify previous connections (i.e. increases in hits) account for memory changes, whereas other evidence suggests changes are additionally supported by the ability to identify inaccurate connections (i.e. decreases in false alarms). To disentangle the role of each process, we investigated changes in hits and false alarms within the same paradigm. The present study of 200 4-to-8-year-old children (100 female) used a cohort sequential design to assess longitudinal change in binding ability. Developmental trajectories of d', hit, and false alarm rates were examined using latent growth analysis. Findings demonstrated non-linear improvements in children's binding ability from age 4-to-8-years. Improvements were differentially supported by hits and false alarms. Hit rates improved non-linearly from 4-to-8-years, with greater growth from 4-to-6-years. False alarm rates did not significantly change from 4-to-6-years, but significantly decreased from 6-to-8-years. Overall, findings show improvements in binding ability are predominantly supported by increased hit rates between 4-to-6-years and by both increasing hit rates and decreasing false alarms rates between 6-to-8-years. Together, these results suggest that binding development is non-linear and that mechanisms underlying improvements differ across childhood.
The effect of isometric exercise training on arterial stiffness: A randomized crossover controlled study

Isometric exercise training (IET) is an effective intervention for the management of resting blood pressure (BP). However, the effects of IET on arterial stiffness remain largely unknown. Eighteen unmedicated physically inactive participants were recruited. Participants were randomly allocated in a cross‐over design to 4 weeks of home‐based wall squat IET and control period, separated by a 3‐week washout period. Continuous beat‐to‐beat hemodynamics, including early and late systolic (sBP 1 and sBP 2, respectively) and diastolic blood pressure (dBP) were recorded for a period of 5 min and waveforms were extracted and analyzed to acquire the augmentation index (AIx) as a measure of arterial stiffness. sBP 1 (−7.7 ± 12.8 mmHg, p = 0.024), sBP 2 (−5.9 ± 9.9 mmHg, p = 0.042) and dBP (−4.4 ± 7.2 mmHg, p = 0.037) all significantly decreased following IET compared to the control period. Importantly, there was a significant reduction in AIx following IET (−6.6 ± 14.5%, p = 0.02) compared to the control period. There were also adjacent significant reductions in total peripheral resistance (−140.7 ± 65.8 dynes·cm‐5, p = 0.042) and pulse pressure (−3.8 ± 4.2, p = 0.003) compared to the control period. This study demonstrates an improvement in arterial stiffness following a short‐term IET intervention. These findings have important clinical implications regarding cardiovascular risk. Mechanistically, these results suggest that reductions in resting BP following IET are induced via favorable vascular adaptations, although the intricate details of such adaptations are not yet clear.
Variable Selection for Semiparametric Varying Coefficient Partially Linear Errors-in-Variables (EV) Model with Missing Response

This paper focuses on the variable selection for semiparametric varying coefficient partially linear model when the covariates are measured with additive errors and the response is missing. An adaptive lasso estimator and the smoothly clipped absolute deviation estimator as a comparison for the parameters are proposed. With the proper selection of regularization parameter, the sampling properties including the consistency of the two procedures and the oracle properties are established. Furthermore, the algorithms and corresponding standard error formulas are discussed. A simulation study is carried out to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed methods.
Parameter Estimation for a Mixture of Two Univariate Gaussian Distributions: A Comparative Analysis of The Proposed and Maximum Likelihood Methods

Two approaches to parameter estimation for a mixture of two univariate Gaussian distributions are numerically compared. The proposed method (PM) is based on decomposing a continuous function into its odd and even components and estimating them as polynomials, the other is the usual maximum likelihood (ML) method via the expected maximisation (EM) algorithm. An overlapped mixture of two univariate Gaussian distributions is simulated. The PM and ML are used to re-estimate the known mixture model parameters and the measure of performance is the absolute percentage error. The PM produces comparable results to those of to the ML approach. Given that the PM produces good estimates, and knowing that the ML always converges given good initial guess values (IGVs), it is thus recommended that the PM be used symbiotically with the ML to provide IGVs for the EM algorithm.
Brain volumes and white matter diffusion across the adult lifespan in temporal lobe epilepsy

Typical aging is associated with gradual cognitive decline and changes in brain structure. The observation that cognitive performance in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients diverges from controls early in life with subsequent decline running in parallel would suggest an initial insult but does not support accelerated decline secondary to seizures. Whether TLE patients demonstrate similar trajectories of age‐related gray (GM) and white matter (WM) changes as compared to healthy controls remains uncertain.
Techniques for Improving Element Bandwidth

This chapter contains sections titled: A Review of Bandwidth Enhancement Techniques for Microstrip Antennas An Impedance-Matching Technique for Increasing the Bandwidth of Microstrip Antennas Probe Compensation in Thick Microstrip Patches Increasing the Bandwidth of a Microstrip Antenna by Proximity Coupling Characteristics of a Two-Layer Electromagnetically Coupled Rectangular Patch Antenna The SSFIP: A Global Concept for High Performance Broadband Planar Antennas Millimeter-Wave Design of Wide-Band Aperture-Coupled Stacked Microstrip Antennas Multioctave Bandwidth Log-Periodic Microstrip Antenna Array
Biodistribution of Lipid 5, mRNA, and Its Translated Protein Following Intravenous Administration of mRNA-Encapsulated Lipid Nanoparticles in Rats

RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines represent a novel and expanding class of medicines, the success of which depends on the encapsulation and protection of mRNA molecules in lipid nanoparticle (LNP)–based carriers. With the development of mRNA-LNP modalities, which can incorporate xenobiotic constituents, extensive biodistribution analyses are necessary to better understand the factors that influence their in vivo exposure profiles. This study investigated the biodistribution of heptadecan-9-yl 8-((2-hydroxyethyl)(8-(nonyloxy)-8-oxooctyl)amino)octanoate (Lipid 5)—a xenobiotic amino lipid—and its metabolites in male and female pigmented (Long-Evans) and nonpigmented (Sprague Dawley) rats by using quantitative whole-body autoradiography (QWBA) and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) techniques. After intravenous injection of Lipid 5-containing LNPs, 14C-containing Lipid 5 ([14C]Lipid 5) and radiolabeled metabolites ([14C]metabolites) were rapidly distributed, with peak concentrations reached within 1 hour in most tissues. After 10 hours, [14C]Lipid 5 and [14C]metabolites concentrated primarily in the urinary and digestive tracts. By 24 hours, [14C]Lipid 5 and [14C]metabolites were localized almost exclusively in the liver and intestines, with few or no concentrations detected in non-excretory systems, which is suggestive of hepatobiliary and renal clearance. [14C]Lipid 5 and [14C]metabolites were completely cleared within 168 hours (7 days). Biodistribution profiles were similar between QWBA and LC-MS/MS techniques, pigmented and nonpigmented rats, and male and female rats, excluding the reproductive organs. In conclusion, the rapid clearance through known excretory systems, with no evidence of redistribution for Lipid 5 or accumulation of [14C]metabolites, provides confidence for the safe and effective use of Lipid 5-containing LNPs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study demonstrates the rapid, systemic distribution of intact and radiolabeled metabolites of Lipid 5, a xenobiotic amino lipid component of novel mRNA-LNP medicines, and its effective clearance without substantial redistribution after intravenous administration; additionally, findings were consistent between different mRNAs encapsulated within LNPs of similar composition. This study confirms the applicability of current analytical methods for lipid biodistribution analyses, and taken together with appropriate safety studies, supports the continued use of Lipid 5 in mRNA-medicines.