Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sparse Autoregressive Modeling via the Least Absolute LP-Norm Penalized Solution

The conventional autoregressive (AR) model has been widely applied in the various electroencephalogram (EEG) analyses such as spectrum estimation, waveform fittings, and in classification tasks. Nevertheless, evoked EEG is usually inevitably contaminated by multiple background activities (ongoing EEG) as well as the strong outliers which may distort the AR estimates of various AR estimation methods including LS, Yule–Walker, and Burg. Moreover, current AR approaches perform well only when the length of the time-series is much larger than the number of brain sites studied, which is exactly the reverse of the situation in neuroimaging whereby relatively short time-series are measured over thousands of voxels thus the need for penalized methods to obtain sparse solutions. In this paper, we introduce a novel ADMM-based AR estimator termed LAPPS (Least Absolute LP (0 < p < 1) Penalized Solution) which employs the L1-loss function for the residual error to alleviate the influence of outliers and another Lp-penalty term (p = 0.5) to obtain the sparse AR parameters while suppressing any spurious noise that may be present. Our obtained simulations result quantitatively show that LAPPS-AR performs better than the commonly used AR estimation methods. In addition, we applied the method to real EEG visual oddball recording with ocular artifacts where LAPPS-AR effectively suppressed the outliers and estimated a P300 EEG power spectrum consistent with its physiological basis.
Preschoolers’ secure base script representations in relations to social competence, maternal narrative style and content in a Korean sample

ABSTRACT A central notion of attachment theory is that the security experienced in the context of interactions with caregiver(s) is reflected in the individual’s close interpersonal relationships and psychological adaptation throughout life. In this study, seventy-nine Korean preschoolers’ secure base script representations were assessed to examine their relations with social competence, and maternal narrative style and content. Secure base script (SBS) was assessed using three stories from the Attachment Story Completion Task. Preschoo-lers’ social competence was measured using maternal reports. Maternal narrative style and content were assessed using memory talk procedure. Results indicated that preschoolers with higher SBS scores were rated by their mothers as being more socially competent. Further, child SBS scores were significantly associated with maternal narrative style and content. Findings suggest that SBS representations are found among Korean preschoolers and SBS representations show a continuing connection to social competence and maternal narrative style and content.
Discrepancies between self‐reported tick bites and evidence of tick‐borne disease exposure among nomadic Mongolian herders

Twenty‐six per cent of Mongolians live pastoral lifestyles, increasing their likelihood of exposure to ticks and placing them at a higher risk for contracting tick‐borne diseases (TBDs). Anaplasma spp. and Rickettsia spp. have been identified in ticks, livestock and humans in Mongolia, but no known qualitative research has been conducted investigating the association between nomadic herder characteristics, tick bite history and exposure to TBDs. To better understand the association between self‐reported tick bites and symptoms versus actual exposure to TBDs, this study paired serological data with 335 surveys administered to Mongolian herders, ages 12–69, from 2014 to 2015. Logistic regression results identified no significant associations between reported tick bites or symptoms with serological evidence of Anaplasma spp. and Rickettsia spp. controlling for age, gender and aimag. Among the 335 respondents who were seropositive to either Anaplasma spp. or Rickettsia spp. , 32.9% self‐reported experiencing abnormal symptoms such as redness, inflammation, headache, arthritis or fever after being bitten. Alternatively, 17.3% (58/335) of individuals reported experiencing symptoms following a tick bite in instances where serological results indicated no exposure to Anaplasma spp. or Rickettsia spp. Results also identified inconsistencies in reporting and seroprevalence among different age groups, with children having the highest reporting and treatment seeking rates but low levels of exposure in comparison with other groups. While survey results showed that individuals were aware of peak tick seasons and tick species that inhabit specific areas, 58% of heads of households (49/84) were unaware that ticks can cause disease in livestock or dogs. This study suggests that herders are an at‐risk population in Mongolia with gaps in awareness of TBD risk. Increased surveillance paired with focused outreach to prevent TBDs targeted to the herder population is encouraged.
‘Big Five’ personality characteristics are associated with loneliness but not with social network size in older adults, irrespective of depression

ABSTRACTObjective:Loneliness and social isolation have negative health consequences and are associated with depression. Personality characteristics are important when studying persons at risk for loneliness and social isolation. The objective of this study was to clarify the association between personality factors, loneliness and social network, taking into account diagnosis of depression, partner status and gender. DESIGN Cross-sectional data of an ongoing prospective cohort study, the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO), were used. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS 474 participants were recruited from mental health care institutions and general practitioners in five different regions in the Netherlands. MEASUREMENTS NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) personality factors and loneliness and social network were measured as well as possible confounders. Multinominal logistic regression analyses were performed to analyse the associations between NEO-FFI factors and loneliness and social network. Interaction terms were investigated for depression, partner status and gender. RESULTS Higher neuroticism and lower extraversion in women and lower agreeableness in both men and women were associated with loneliness but not with social network size irrespective of the presence of depression. In the non-depressed group only, lower openness was associated with loneliness. Interaction terms with partner status were not significant. CONCLUSIONS Personality factors are associated with loneliness especially in women. In men lower agreeableness contributes to higher loneliness. In non-depressed men and women, lower openness is associated with loneliness. Personality factors are not associated with social network size.
Efficient Energy Management Techniques in Emerging Smart Grid Environment

Smart grid (SG) is a power grid system that aims to provide electricity from generation points to the consumers in a smart and controlled way. The transformation from traditional power grid into economical and reliably operated SG is contributed by demand side management (DSM). It has become one of the most vital areas of research for energy optimization in future SG. The DSM ensures the efficient utilization of electrical energy by altering the load profile with an active participation of consumers and contributes towards reducing peak demands so that system reliability increases. The participating users in DSM shift their loads to the low pricing hours. However, this results in the problem of rebound peak. This research work focuses on finding the efficient solution to minimize the overall cost of the consumed electricity while guaranteeing a low rebound peak. The optimization problem is formed in order to decrease the electric cost subjected to numerous constraints. By the use of convex optimization theory, two algorithms are proposed to efficiently solve the formulated problem. A novel concept of virtual price is presented to deal with the problem of rebound peak. Simulations results are presented to validate the benefits of proposed schemes. Results show a significant improvement in performance in terms of rebound peak and the cost reduction.
A Circular Patch Antenna Based Substrate Integrated Waveguide Technology for 5th Generation Systems

An SIW based antenna is introduced in this paper for 5G Applications. The proposed antenna consists of a circular slot and circular patch printed on the top of a single layer substrate. The proposed antenna structure is fed by a 50 Ω microstrip transmission line. An FR-4 as substrate material with a dielectric constant of 4.3 and height of 0.635 mm. Simulation results showed that the antenna resonates at 30.74 GHz and a bandwidth of 1.176 GHz. The return loss is equal to -48.1 dB with a gain of 5.88 dBi. Overall dimensions are 20×15 mm. The antenna has been designed and simulated using the full wave simulator MWS CST.
Multivariable Extremum Seeking Control for Power Maximization and PI Tuning of Wind Turbine System

Maximization of the power capture is an important issue for the turbines that are installed in low wind speed area. In order to achieve the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), a method for wind turbine operations regions 2 and 3 has been developed here based on Extremum Seeking Control (ESC) approach. The reference speed to the generator and the reference pitch angle to pitch control were generated via dither-modulation ESC scheme. In addition to using ESC for generating the desired reference trajectories, ESC is also used for tuning PI controllers in order to determine the optimal gain values that can achieve a better tracking. The purpose is to (i) ensure the stability of the system (ii) extract the maximum electrical power capture as well as reduce the mechanical loads to protect the turbine. Comparison between the performance of the system using ESC real-time optimization and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has been carried out in this paper. Furthermore, in the inner control loop, the implementation of Indirect Field Orientation Control (IFOC) has been presented to decouple the currents of the generator.
Does menopausal hormonal therapy have a role in treatment of knee osteoarthritis?

MHT for use of MHT 12 months. Covariates that were M usculoskeletal joint pains and arthritis are more common in women, and their frequency can increase with age. Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of degenerative arthritis, is a leading cause of disability with high physical, psychological, and socioeconomic burden. Some women have an increase in joint pains with the onset of menopause and an increased prevalence of OA after menopause has been reported. OA pathogenesis is poorly understood and there are no disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs) available. Studies to investigate effects of estrogen and estrogen receptors in joint tissues to potentially prevent development or progression of OA have been pursued but with inconsistent results. Lack of estrogen in animal models has been shown to accelerate cartilage damage. In the literature, there has long been a suggested association and perhaps causal link in reduced estrogen or estrogen deficiency to an increase in joint pain or symptomatic arthritis; however, few studies have looked at menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT) specifically for its impact on knee OA, the most common type of osteoarthritis. Interest in estrogen as a potential modifier of the progression of OA has been based on its known anti-inflammatory effect at high concentrations and role in cartilage preservation. In this issue, Jung et al add to our understanding of the relationship of hormonal changes in women, hormonal therapies, and knee osteoarthritis. This study was a large nationwide cross-sectional observational study of 4,766 postmenopausal Korean women over 50 years of age who had undergone knee joint radiography, and completed the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2009-2012). It aimed to assess the association between knee OA prevalence and MHT. MHT use was collected and duration of use was measured in months. Participants were assigned to the
Research on Reliability of Quartz Resonator for Solder Cracking Issue Based on Finite Element Method

As the most widely used frequency component, quartz resonator is seriously affected by the phenomenon of solder crack during actual use in hot and cold impact environment. For the phenomenon of solder crack, firstly, analyzed by the finite element software, the stress, creep and failure period distribution of solder are obtained. According to the results of simulation and combined with the theory of stress singularity, the structure of resonator package is improved. Through the finite element analysis of the improved structure and comparison with the original structure, it can be concluded that the structure is feasible in delaying solder crack. Finally, by comparing the two structures through experiments, it can be further concluded that the improved structure has a certain inhibitory effect on solder crack in practical applications.
A Wideband Low-Profile Tightly Coupled Antenna Array With a Very High Figure of Merit

A wideband, low-profile, tightly coupled antenna array with a simple feed network is presented. The dipole and feed networks in each unit cell are printed on both sides of a single RT/Duroid 6010 substrate with a relative dielectric constant of 10.2. The feed network, composed of meandered impedance transformer and balun sections, is designed based on Klopfenstein tapered microstrip lines. The wide-angle impedance matching is empowered by a novel wideband metasurface superstrate. For the optimum design, scanning to 70° along the E-plane is obtained together with a very high array figure of merit P<sub>A</sub> = 2.84. The H-plane scan extends to 55°. The broadside impedance bandwidth is 5.5:1 (0.80–4.38) GHz with an active voltage standing-wave ratio value ≤2. The overall height of the array above the ground plane is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.088\lambda _{\mathrm {L}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{\mathrm {L}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the wavelength at the lowest frequency of operation. A prototype was fabricated and tested to confirm the design concepts.
Early Ganglion Cell or Macular Vessel Loss After Acute Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy?

Dear Editor: We have read with enthusiasm the comments by Rebolleda et al. and thank them for their interest in our published article. In their letter, these authors focused primarily on the timing of ganglion cell inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thinning after acute nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). As they cited, we did not find GCIPL thinning at the initial presentation of acute NAION using Heidelberg Spectralis optical coherence tomography (OCT) (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) at 3and 6-mm macular scan diameters, which also permits manual correction of any GCIPL segmentation errors. However, after 1 month, we observed 28.7-mm loss of thickness in the inner 3-mm GCIPL and 12.1-mm loss in the outer 6-mm GCIPL. In contrast, De Dompablo et al. reported that NAION eyes had significant thinning of GCIPL minimum (GCIPL min) as early as 2.2 days after symptom onset using Cirrus-OCT, in which GCIPL measures an elliptical annulus (outer radius of 2 and 2.4 mm) around the fovea. In addition to the differences in the methods and areas of measurement between two studies, in their study, ‘‘mean’’ GCIPL thickness in NAION eyes was still not statistically thinner at first presentation and even at 2 weeks. As they mentioned, only GCIPL min was statistically thinner at first presentation, which is not measured by Spectralis OCT. Furthermore, another prospective study evaluated 29 acute NAION eyes with Cirrus OCT for 6 months using the three dimensional layer segmentation (method 1) and a commercial proprietary software (method 2), to compute the GCIPL thickness. At presentation, method 1 showed no significant thinning of GCIPL thickness in eyes with NAION compared with normal fellow eyes with a mean value of 80 lm, similar to our report. GCIPL thickness appeared reduced by the commercial method to 66.8 lm. That study concluded that the apparent erroneous GCIPL reduction by method 2 at presentation in some patients stemmed from segmentation errors due to severe disc swelling that distorted normal retinal layer architecture. If we carefully look at two examples of NAION in De Dompablo et al., we find that the first NAION with very high peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and severe disc edema shows thinner GCIPL than the other one with milder disc edema using commercial Cirrus software. Regarding their OCT-angiography (OCT-A) study, we congratulate them for their prospective study of six NAION eyes at both acute and atrophic stages, which is in contrast to our cross sectional study at the acute stage.
An Electronically Steerable Parasitic Array Radiator (ESPAR) Using Cavity-Backed Slot Antennas

The electronically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) is an inexpensive way to achieve beam steering. Planar ESPARs usually exhibit narrow fractional bandwidth (FBW) in terms of both impedance matching and beam squinting. Herein, an E-plane three-element ESPAR using cavity-backed slot antennas is presented to demonstrate a wider FBW, i.e., 4%, by investigating not only S11 but also beam squinting. It is found that a tunable load which uses a fixed inductor, a varactor, and a delay line can provide a much larger impedance tuning range compared to that without the inductor. This tunable load is critical to enhance the FBW by considering beam squinting. This ESPAR is able to scan from −26° to 20° in the E-plane, operating around 5.15 GHz. The measured peak gain is between 5.52 and 6.05 dBi at all scan angles. The radiation patterns are measured at different scan angles in the E-plane. In addition, they are measured at different frequencies to demonstrate the beam squinting performance.
Effects of tai chi on physiology, balance and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE To systematically synthesize and critically evaluate evidence on the effects of tai chi for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. DATA SOURCES Seven electronic databases (Wan Fang, SinoMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) were systematically searched from their inception to March 2018. STUDY SELECTION Randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of tai chi on individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus were eligible. DATA EXTRACTION Biomedical outcomes (fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting insulin, insulin resistance, body mass index, total cholesterol, blood pressure) as well as balance and quality of life-related outcomes were extracted independently by 2 reviewers. Stata 12.0 software was used to synthesize data if there was no or moderate heterogeneity across studies. Otherwise, narrative summaries were performed. DATA SYNTHESIS A total of 23 studies (25 articles) involving 1,235 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Significant changes in tai chi-related effects were observed in lowering fasting plasma glucose (standardized mean difference; SMD -0.67; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.87 to -0.47; p <0.001), HbA1c (mean difference; MD-0.88%; 95% CI -1.45% to -0.31%; p =0.002) and insulin resistance (MD -0.41; 95% CI -0.78 to -0.04; p = 0.029). Beneficial effects of tai chi were also found in decreasing body mass index (MD -0.82 kg/m2; 95% CI -1.28 to -0.37 kg/m2; p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (SMD -0.59; 95% CI -0.90 to -0.27; p < 0.001). In addition, tai chi reduced blood pressure (systolic blood pressure (MD -10.03 mmHg; 95% CI -15.78 to -4.29 mmHg; p = 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (MD -4.85 mmHg; 95% CI -8.23 to -1.47 mmHg; p = 0.005)) and improved quality of life-related outcomes (physical function (MD 7.07; 95% CI 0.79-13.35; p = 0.027), bodily pain (MD 4.30; 95% CI 0.83-7.77; p = 0.015) and social function (MD 13.84; 95% CI 6.22-21.47; p < 0.001)). However, no impact was exerted on fasting insulin (SMD -0.32; 95% CI -0.71 to 0.07; p = 0.110) or balance (MD 2.71 s; 95% CI -3.29 to 8.71 s; p = 0.376). CONCLUSION Tai chi is effective in controlling biomedical outcomes and improving quality of life-related outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, although no effects were observed on balance and fasting insulin. Further high-quality research is needed to elucidate the effects of different types of tai chi, the long-term effects of tai chi, the impact on respiratory function, and the association between tai chi and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in healthy individuals.
Lens Antenna With Planar Focal Surface for Wide-Angle Beam-Steering Application

A new lens antenna for wide-angle beam-steering application is presented. The 2-D lens permittivity profile according to Luneburg is modified using transformation optics to obtain a planar focal surface, allowing for a simple cost-effective planar feed technology. A slice of the lens is confined between two metallic surfaces forming a parallel-plate transmission line, enabling beam-steering in the plane containing the slice. Stacking up such slices result in a more focused beam and beam-steering capabilities in the perpendicular plane. As a result, full 2-D beam-steering becomes possible, with a very wide steering range of ±60° in one plane and a smaller steering range of ±15° in the orthogonal plane. The inhomogeneous dielectric slice is made of four dielectric materials with different permittivity, with a pattern of drilled holes of different diameters realizing a smooth gradient of the effective permittivity. The measured performance of the antenna prototype, operating at about 10 GHz includes 17.2 dB maximum directivity, a scan loss better than 0.8 dB, a sidelobe level better than 11 dB, and an aperture efficiency of 74%, outperforming any other reported beam steering antenna with planar focal surface.
A Dual-Band BPF Based on Asymmetrical-Meandered Configuration for Communication Systems

In this paper, a compact dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) with a linear phase filtering response is proposed. In this filter, a rectangular loop is adopted as a resonator such that every two sides of the loop have the same configuration of meandering. The rectangular loop dimensions are 13 × 11 mm2, while the overall filter dimensions are 34.5 × 19 mm2 using a substrate having a relative permittivity of 6.15 and a thickness of 1.5 mm. The obtained results demonstrated a dual-band behavior such that a return loss of less than −32 dB and insertion loss of about −0.23 dB with a fractional bandwidth of about 12.5% centered at 2.52 GHz for lower band. Furthermore, for the higher band a fractional bandwidth of about 4% centered at 5.11 GHz with a return loss of less than −21 dB and insertion loss of about −0.9 dB. Compactness and multiband features offered by the proposed filter make it more desirable for use in the design of modern wireless communication. Performance and simulation of the designed filter have been evaluated and accomplished using the Microwave Studio Suite, CST electromagnetic simulator.