Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RESPIRATORY FUNCTION IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS WITH MILD AND MODERATE IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is defined as the abnormal lateral curvature of the spine more than 10° that is measured using the Cobb method from a standing posterior radiograph from an anterior radiograph of an individual who is between 10 years old and the end of maturity(1). AIS comprises about 80% of all idiopathic scoliosis (IS), and its common prevalence ranges from approximately 2% to 4%(2,3). The female to male ratio is 1.3:1 when the scoliosis is mild (Cobb angle 10°-20°), but the ratio increases to 5.4:1 when the Cobb angle is between 20° and 30°(4). Spinal deformities are seen in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes in scoliosis because of the vertebral rotation(5). The thoracic cage is directly affected by this threedimensional deformity, aesthetically as well as functionally(6). A narrower rib cage in children with AIS was documented earlier when compared with their counterparts without scoliosis(2). It was reported that lung compliance is reduced secondary to scoliosis. So, much effort is needed to breathe at rest and/ or during physical activity, especially in children with severe IS(7-9). Although it has been well established that restrictive lung disorder is characteristic of severe scoliosis, less data is available on the respiratory function (RF) of patients with AIS with both mild and moderate Cobb angles, and conflicting results have been reported. Some authors suggest that respiratory dysfunction occurs in scoliosis cases in which the Cobb angle exceeded 50 or 65 degrees(8,10-12). However, other researchers have confirmed respiratory disorders in mild scoliosis (Cobb angles below 30 degrees)(13,14). It is reported that AIS with mild curves do not have significant reductions in ventilatory parameters when compared with healthy subjects.
Reply to Comment by Dario Bilardello on “New late Pennsylvanian Paleomagnetic Results From Paraná Basin (southern Brazil): Is the Recent Giant Gaussian Process Model Valid for the Kiaman Superchron?”

In this response, we address the comments by D. Bilardello on the paper by Brandt et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016968). His main point is that the Mafra rhythmites are remagnetized as are supposed to be all Paleozoic sediments in the Paraná Basin in the context of a widespread Jurassic‐Cretaceous remagnetization in South America. In this way, the obtained results are not suitable for investigations of the paleosecular variation models. The authors do not agree with his conclusions and present counterevidence to support the approach and the conclusions of Brandt et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016968).
A Unified Methodology for Heartbeats Detection in Seismocardiogram and Ballistocardiogram Signals

This work presents a methodology to analyze and segment both seismocardiogram (SCG) and ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals in a unified fashion. An unsupervised approach is followed to extract a template of SCG/BCG heartbeats, which is then used to fine-tune temporal waveform annotation. Rigorous performance assessment is conducted in terms of sensitivity, precision, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of annotation. The methodology is tested on four independent datasets, covering different measurement setups and time resolutions. A wide application range is therefore explored, which better characterizes the robustness and generality of the method with respect to a single dataset. Overall, sensitivity and precision scores are uniform across all datasets ( p > 0.05 from the Kruskal–Wallis test): the average sensitivity among datasets is 98.7%, with 98.2% precision. On the other hand, a slight yet significant difference in RMSE and MAE scores was found ( p < 0.01 ) in favor of datasets with higher sampling frequency. The best RMSE scores for SCG and BCG are 4.5 and 4.8 ms, respectively; similarly, the best MAE scores are 3.3 and 3.6 ms. The results were compared to relevant recent literature and are found to improve both detection performance and temporal annotation errors.
Sound and Startle Responses in Herring Shoals

The behavioural experiments described in this paper were carried out to complement earlier physiological work on the acoustico-lateralis system of the clupeid fishes. Previous work, summarized by Blaxter, Denton & Gray (1981a), has shown that the sense organs of the clupeid utriculus are highly sensitive to alternating pressures. Since the utriculus signals the polarity and amplitude of each peak in a complex pressure wave form separately, independently of the rate of change of pressure over a range equivalent to a frequency band of 30–800 Hz, it is well suited to give information on brief noises. In the clupeids the lateral line is hydrodynamically connected with the ear and we have suggested that the signals arising from the inner ear and the neuromasts of the lateral line are used in conjunction to provide information about direction and range.
Antimicrobial, Antipyretic, and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Selected Philippine Medicinal Pteridophytes

Pteridophytes are some of the herbal plants used to cure ailments. The present study scientifically finds out the folkloric therapeutic claims of 15 species of Philippine medicinal pteridophytes. Phytochemical components namely alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, and anthraquinones of each plant samples were qualitatively determined. Antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extract was tested on Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. The antipyretic activity using yeast-induced pyrexia and the anti-inflammatory activity using egg-albumin-induced paw edema were done on white rats. The results revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, and tannins in most of the extracts. Anthraquinones were absent. Extract form three species of pteridophytes namely: Equisetum ramosissimum, Pyrrosia piloselloides, and Selaginella usterii did not manifest any antibacterial activity. Blechnum orientale has no antifungal activity. All extracts showed significant effect in reducing yeast-induced pyrexia when compared with the negative control (NSS). Fourteen (14) out of the fifteen (15) plant extracts in 400 mg/kg Body Weight dosage inhibited anti-inflammatory activities in eggalbumin induced rat paw edema except for Pyrossia piloselloides. However, all plant extracts in 800 mg/kg Body Weight dosage showed significant rat paw reduction. A dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect was observed within 6 hours of paw thickness observation. Â Keywords - Phytochemicals, Ferns, Bioassay, Philippines. Â
Forms of stimuli and their effects on idea generation in terms of creativity metrics and non-obviousness

ABSTRACT Idea generation is acknowledged to benefit from intentionally administered stimuli or designers’ processes that include the search for external sources of inspiration. Text-based and graphic forms of stimuli are the most leveraged in design literature, but it has not been yet demonstrated which form is most effective for boosting creativity. This is due to the fact that previous studies have employed many varying conditions which do not allow for comparisons to be made. The present paper presents an experiment in which three groups of 27 participants were asked to generate new ideas for new-borns’ outfits. To perform the task, the participants first considered five stimuli presented to them in one of the forms depending on which group the participants had been assigned to, i.e. textual, pictorial or combined (juxtaposition of the two). The stimuli were intended to share the semantic content, thus limiting potential bias due to different meanings. The outcomes of the experiment were evaluated in terms of creativity and non-obviousness. The presence of a pictorial dimension resulted in a significant increase in terms of rarity and non-obviousness of ideas, but did not affect quality, originality or quantity. The limited overlap among ideas emerging from the three forms suggests the potential value of developing design tools for idea generation that mix multiple forms of stimuli.
Ultraviolet and temperature effects on planktonic rotifers and crustaceans in northern temperate lakes

Summary 1. Anthropogenic stressors such as climate change, ozone depletion and acidification may act in concert to alter ultraviolet (UV) light and temperature regimes in freshwater ecosystems. These physical and chemical changes will inevitably affect zooplankton community dynamics, but little is known about their relative effects on different species in natural communities. During spring, species that migrate to surface waters to take advantage of warmer temperatures may be especially vulnerable as UV levels can be high. 2. The objective of this study was to investigate the in situ effects of UV and temperature on a natural assemblage of planktonic rotifers and crustaceans during the spring. We performed in situ exposure experiments in two lakes with different surface temperatures. 3. Exposure to UV had a significant effect on the abundance and/or reproduction of four rotifers: Gastropus spp. , Kellicottia bostonensis, Kellicottia longispina, Keratella spp. ; two cladocerans: Holopedium gibberum, Daphnia catawba, and one copepod: Leptodiaptomus minutus. Incubation under cooler temperatures had a negative effect on K. longispina and H. gibberum. Temperature and UV had a significant interactive effect on abundance and/or reproduction of L. minutus and Ploesoma truncatum. Our results indicate that changes in underwater UV and temperature can significantly influence the composition of the zooplankton community and ultimately food web dynamics.
Worldwide lake level trends and responses to background climate variation

Abstract. Lakes provide many important benefits to society, including drinking water, flood attenuation, nutrition, and recreation. Anthropogenic environmental changes may affect these benefits by altering lake water levels. However, background climate oscillations such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation can obscure long-term trends in water levels, creating uncertainty over the strength and ubiquity of anthropogenic effects on lakes. Here we account for the effects of background climate variation and test for long-term (1992–2019) trends in water levels in 200 globally distributed large lakes using satellite altimetry data. The median percentage of water level variation associated with background climate variation was 58 %, with an additional 10 % explained by seasonal variation and 25 % by the long-term trend. The relative influence of specific axes of background climate variation on water levels varied substantially across and within regions. After removing the effects of background climate variation on water levels, long-term water level trend estimates were lower (median: +0.8 cm yr−1) than calculated from raw water level data (median: +1.2 cm yr−1). However, the trends became more statistically significant in 86 % of lakes after removing the effects of background climate variation (the median p value of trends changed from 0.16 to 0.02). Thus, robust tests for long-term trends in lake water levels which may or may not be anthropogenic will require prior isolation and removal of the effects of background climate variation. Our findings suggest that background climate variation often masks long-term trends in environmental variables but can be accounted for through more comprehensive statistical analyses.
Microsatellite loci for Bombus spp.

We report the details and characteristics of a total of 44 novel microsatelllite loci for Bombus spp. Most of them are highly polymorphic in Bombus terrestris, and a high degree of polymorphism is also found where these primers have been tested in 10 other bumblebee species. These markers will therefore be useful for the genetic study of this group.
Different impacts of plant proteins and animal proteins on human health through altering gut microbiotaant proteins and animal proteins on human health through altering gut microbiota

Dietary proteins exert a wide range of nutritional and biological functions. Apart from their nutritional roles as the source of amino acids for protein synthesis, they take part mainly in the regulation of food intake, blood pressure, bone metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, and immune functions. The interaction of dietary proteins with the gastrointestinal (GI) tract plays a chief role in determining the physiological properties of proteins. The enzymes protease and peptidase hydrolyze dietary protein to generate dipeptides, tripeptides, and amino acids in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. These products digested from dietary proteins are utilized in the small intestine by microbes. Moreover, the microbes also convert the macro and micronutrients from the diet into an enormous number of compounds that may have either beneficial or adverse effects on human health. The present review discusses the various impacts caused by both dietary plant and animal protein sources on microbiota in the GI tract. Keywords: Animal protein; Plant protein; Dietary proteins; Gut microbiota; Human health.
Willingness-to-Pay for District Heating from Renewables of Private Households in Germany

Recent discussion about future energy production promotes the recovery of industrial heat as a potential solution to reduce carbon emissions. Experts call for an expansion of central heating by renewable energy systems to ensure a decarbonization of energy systems. In this context, district heating could play a significant role in city and district planning. Nonetheless, for private households, environmental aspects are only one factor amongst others as, e.g., capital costs, comfort and security. In this study, we focus on private household preferences and willingness-to-pay for district heating and district heating from renewables compared to gas condensing boilers and heat pumps. For the study, we decided to apply a discrete-choice experiment and collected data on attitudes towards sustainability, economic aspects and demands for providers of heat supply as dimensions for a factor and cluster analysis in order to apply a market segmentation. The results show that district heating by renewables is the most preferred heating option for households followed by district heating from fossil fuels, heat pumps and gas boilers. Furthermore, the study offers more profound insight into the willingness-to-pay for each heating option and reports interaction effects for the different market segments that could be identified in the analysis.
Analysis and Design of the LLC LED Driver Based on State-Space Representation Direct Time-Domain Solution

The LLC resonant converter has been widely used in switched power supply covering several kinds of applications. Although it has been the focus of numerous analysis, their general time-domain (TD) solution is not completely enclosed due to its complexity given by the multiple resonance nature and its variable structure behavior. Consequently, the LLC converter design is also impaired by the lack of an enclosed TD solution. To overcome these issues, this article systematically presents a highly accurate TD solution of the LLC converter supplying a light-emitting diode (LED) load, which is obtained from the state-space representation direct TD solution. Dissimilar to preceding analyses, all the converter states are considered and no current and voltage sinusoidal or average value approximations are taken. Finally, supported by the TD analysis, a new LLC LED driver design procedure is introduced, which is oriented by weighted-average-efficiency concept and constraints that ensure zero voltage switching, enough power gain, and practical switching frequency range over a wide operating window. Experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed design procedure as well as the accurate TD behavior prediction of the LLC converter supplying an LED load. This article is accompanied by active content that exemplifies the proposed TD solution and design procedure.
Strategies for Spatial Reconstruction along the Street in the Old Urban Area Based on the Block System of Shenyang City

The street space in old urban areas in many Chinese cities is relatively narrow, with street networks dense. The layout of old neighborhoods is not in line with the living mode of modern residents and city master plans, which makes the old urban areas prone to traffic congestion and environmental degradation. The streets in the old urban area in Shenyang City are disordered in structure, restraining the city's vitality and playing a negative role in city development and management. Based on the current situation of the block system, the paper puts forward the strategies for spatial reconstruction of streets in the old urban area in Shenyang by means of analyzing several streets space along the old neighbourhoods.
Limestone particle size and artificial light for laying hens in the second laying cycle

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of limestone particle size and the use of artificial light for laying hens in the second laying cycle. We used 240 Hisex White laying hens at 82 weeks of age in a completely randomized design in a 5 × 2 factorial arrangement, resulting in 10 treatments with 4 replicates of 6 birds. The variables were the five particle sizes obtained by increasing the proportion of thick limestone (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) compared with thin limestone and two lighting programs: with and without artificial light. Limestone particle size and light did not affect performance or egg quality. However, there were changes in bird feeding schedule throughout the day as a response to the lighting program. Bone quality, density and mineral content of the tibia were not affected by the treatments, but limestone particle size had a quadratic effect of on bone deformity and strength, obtaining maximum inclusion points with 63% and 59% of thick limestone, respectively. The use of large particles of limestone in the diet and the use of a lighting program does not influence the performance and quality of the eggs of laying hens in the second production cycle, but the use of a proportion of 63.3 g of average particle size (0.60 mm) replacing the fine limestone (0.23 mm) per 100 g of total limestone added to the diet improves bone quality in these birds.
Circulating Vα24+ Vβ11+ NKT Cell Numbers Are Decreased in a Wide Variety of Diseases That Are Characterized by Autoreactive Tissue Damage

Natural killer T (NKT) cells have been implicated as playing an important role in regulating immune responses. Defects in the NKT cell population were reported in animal autoimmune disease models and in distinct human autoimmune diseases. Here, we report that circulating V(alpha24+) Vbeta11+ NKT cell numbers are decreased in a broad variety of disorders with (auto)immune-mediated pathology, affecting the skin, bowel, central nervous system, and joints, regardless of disease duration or activity. Remarkably, normal circulating V(alpha24+) Vbeta11+ NKT cell numbers were found in Graves disease and coeliac disease. Since earlier studies noted a rise in NKT cells in myasthenia gravis, the picture emerges in which a defective NKT cell population is associated with autoreactive tissue damage rather than with the propensity to develop autoimmune disease. The present data support the idea that therapies aiming at the in vivo expansion of regulatory NKT cells might help to control immune-mediated damage in autoimmune disease.
Modelling, Implementation, and Assessment of Virtual Synchronous Generator in Power Systems

As more and more power electronic based generation units are integrated into power systems, the stable operation of power systems has been challenged due to the lack of system inertia. In order to solve this issue, the virtual synchronous generator (VSG), in which the power electronic inverter is controlled to mimic the characteristics of traditional synchronous generators, is a promising strategy. In this paper, the representation of the synchronous generator in power systems is firstly presented as the basis for the VSG. Then the modelling methods of VSG are comprehensively reviewed and compared. Applications of the VSG in power systems are summarized as well. Finally, the challenges and future trends of the VSG implementation are discussed.
Context-dependent foraging by seed-eating birds does not necessarily mean low ecological predictability

Flexibility of foraging behaviour affects our capacity to predict ecological outputs such as population responses to habitat change. Some birds forage following rules of absolute value of the food item (i.e., absolute valuation). Their realized diet is strongly correlated with the profitability of the food item and it is predictable. Consumers, however, do not always follow absolute rules. Opportunistic foragers adjust food consumption based on the availability of the food item. Their diet is still predictable but more elusive. Relativistic or context-dependent foragers change the ranks of food preferences depending on the presence of alternative food options in the choice set. Predicting their contingent diet is particularly difficult. We tested if the context of seed availability affects foraging decisions of three seed-eating bird species (the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis (Statius Muller, 1776)), the Many-colored Chaco Finch (Saltatricula multicolor (Burmeister, 1860)), and the Common .
Visual-Guided Robotic Object Grasping Using Dual Neural Network Controllers

It has been a challenging task for a robotic arm to accurately reach and grasp objects, which has drawn much research attention. This article proposes a robotic hand–eye coordination system by simulating the human behavior pattern to achieve a fast and robust reaching ability. This is achieved by two neural-network-based controllers, including a rough reaching movement controller implemented by a pretrained radial basis function for rough reaching movements, and a correction movement controller built from a specifically designed brain emotional nesting network (BENN) for smooth correction movements. In particular, the proposed BENN is designed with high nonlinear mapping ability, with its adaptive laws derived from the Lyapunov stability theorem; from this, the robust tracking performance and accordingly the stability of the proposed control system are guaranteed by the utilization of the $H^{\infty }$ control approach. The proposed BENN is validated and evaluated by a chaos synchronization simulation, and the overall control system by object grasping tasks through a physical robotic arm in a real-world environment. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed control system in reference to those with single neural networks.
Near-Field Parameter Estimation for Polarized Source Using Spatial Amplitude Ratio

In array signal processing, source-sensor amplitude responses are in general assumed to be in equality and signal parameters are estimated by exploiting spatial phase difference caused by propagation delay. This is unrealistic when sources are located in the near-field of the array. In near field, array sensors’ amplitude responses are inversely proportional to the radial distance from the sources. This spatial amplitude ratio is exploited for near-field parameter estimation in this letter. We derive an angle, range and polarization parameters estimation algorithm for multiple polarized sources using a linear cocentered orthogonal loop and dipole (COLD) array. We define the algorithm’s name as SPatial Amplitude Ratio based Estimator (SPARE). Compared with previous phase-based algorithms, SPARE has the following advantages: (1) it is closed-form, non-iterative, and search-free, (2) it is applicable to irregular array geometry, and has no restrict on minimum sensor-spacing, since array sensors’ amplitude responses are necessarily unambiguous, and (3) it can be applied to the arrays with phase uncertainties.