Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Communication Challenges and Strength of Nurses’ Intensive Corona Care during the Two First Pandemic Waves: A Qualitative Descriptive Phenomenology Study

Intensive care nurses working with patients with severe COVID-19 illness are at the center and frontline of the dynamic pandemic, which poses communication challenges and demands of unusual strength on their part. The study aim was to capture the lived experience of intensive care COVID nurses’ communication challenges and strengths as they cared for COVID-19 intensive care patients during the two first pandemic waves. The study used qualitative descriptive-phenomenology research designs. Twenty-two nurses were selected using snowball sampling, and online interviews were conducted with them. Data were recorded and transcribed, then reflexively double-coded for increased rigor. Four major themes emerged from the data. The first two expressed the communication challenges and difficulties communicating with patients due to the extreme protection needed and/or their medical condition. However, the other two themes expressed the nurses’ strengths—sharing feelings with other caregivers and family. Accordingly, we recommend using simple language and ensuring patient comprehension, as well as creating an optimistic environment for fostering caregiver bonding.
Survey of Energy Harvesting Systems for Wireless Sensor Networks in Environmental Monitoring

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have existed for many years and had assimilated many interesting innovations. Advances in electronics, radio transceivers, processes of IC manufacturing and development of algorithms for operation of such networks now enable creating energy-efficient devices that provide practical levels of performance and a sufficient number of features. Environmental monitoring is one of the areas in which WSNs can be successfully used. At the same time this is a field where devices must either bring their own power reservoir, such as a battery, or scavenge energy locally from some natural phenomena. Improving the efficiency of energy harvesting methods reduces complexity of WSN structures. This survey is based on practical examples from the real world and provides an overview of state-of-the-art methods and techniques that are used to create energy-efficient WSNs with energy harvesting.
Loss of endothelial CFTR drives barrier failure and edema formation in lung infection and can be targeted by CFTR potentiation

Pneumonia is the most common cause of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Here, we identified loss of endothelial cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) as an important pathomechanism leading to lung barrier failure in pneumonia-induced ARDS. CFTR was down-regulated after Streptococcus pneumoniae infection ex vivo or in vivo in human or murine lung tissue, respectively. Analysis of isolated perfused rat lungs revealed that CFTR inhibition increased endothelial permeability in parallel with intracellular chloride ion and calcium ion concentrations ([Cl−]i and [Ca2+]i). Inhibition of the chloride ion–sensitive with-no-lysine kinase 1 (WNK1) protein with tyrphostin 47 or WNK463 replicated the effect of CFTR inhibition on endothelial permeability and endothelial [Ca2+]i, whereas WNK1 activation by temozolomide attenuated it. Endothelial [Ca2+]i transients and permeability in response to inhibition of either CFTR or WNK1 were prevented by inhibition of the cation channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4). Mice deficient in Trpv4 (Trpv4−/−) developed less lung edema and protein leak than their wild-type littermates after infection with S. pneumoniae. The CFTR potentiator ivacaftor prevented lung CFTR loss, edema, and protein leak after S. pneumoniae infection in wild-type mice. In conclusion, lung infection caused loss of CFTR that promoted lung edema formation through intracellular chloride ion accumulation, inhibition of WNK1, and subsequent disinhibition of TRPV4, resulting in endothelial calcium ion influx and vascular barrier failure. Ivacaftor prevented CFTR loss in the lungs of mice with pneumonia and may, therefore, represent a possible therapeutic strategy in people suffering from ARDS due to severe pneumonia. Description Lung infection leads to CFTR loss and disinhibition of TRPV4, resulting in endothelial barrier failure that can be alleviated by CFTR potentiation. A potent(iator) treatment for ARDS A potent(iator) treatment for ARDSPneumonia can result in development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), characterized by increased permeability of lung endothelial barriers to fluid and protein. However targeted treatments for ARDS are limited. Here, Erfinanda and colleagues noted downregulation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in pneumonia, resulting in increased endothelial permeability. The authors identified the mechanisms involved and showed that the CFTR potentiator ivacaftor stabilized CFTR abundance and rescued CFTR function in vitro. In wild-type mice, treatment with ivacaftor before or six hours after initiation of Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia resulted in improved barrier function and CFTR abundance, with reduced signs of lung injury, suggesting a role for ivacaftor in the treatment of ARDS in humans. -MN
Support vector machines and self-organizing maps for the recognition of sound events in urban soundscapes

Sound event recognition is a crucial aspect of human auditory perception. Hence, it has to be taken into account when it comes to understanding how humans perceive soundscapes. In that context, both unsupervised and supervised learning techniques can be used. On the one hand, this paper takes the latter approach for the recognition of sound events typically encountered in urban environments. Sound signals are described using a set of auditory-based features and then sound event recognition is performed employing multi-class Support Vector Machines. On the other hand, a combined approach including unsupervised learning (specifically, Self-Organizing Maps) for clustering and collecting real world samples and supervised learning for labeling is introduced. Finally, listening tests are also carried out in order to compare the accuracy achieved by the proposed system with the human ability.
Research on Optimal Control Method of Tennis Racket String Diameter Based on Kalman Filter Algorithm

In order to explore the optimal control method of tennis racket string diameter, this paper applies the Kalman filter algorithm to the collection and processing of tennis sports parameters. When the Kalman filter uses the optimal gain (the Kalman filter enters the steady state), the corresponding cost function is established based on the noncorrelated nature of its residual sequence, which is used as the judgment condition for the sampling strategy switch to improve the stability of the system. In addition, this paper improves the real-time performance and calculation accuracy of data transformation through adaptive sampling strategy and adaptive scale factor, improves the stability and estimation accuracy of the system as a whole, and builds an intelligent monitoring system. Finally, this paper systematically studied the optimization control method of tennis racket string diameter and verified that the Kalman filter algorithm can play a certain role in the optimization control of tennis racket string diameter.
Secondary school students’ awareness and use of mobile phones for academic purpose

The study examined secondary school students’ awareness of the educational use of mobile phones and their use of the device. The study adopted survey research design in which 250 senior secondary school students were purposively selected from four public high schools in Ilesa metropolis of Osun State, Nigeria. The instrument for data collection was a self-developed questionnaire divided into two sections with 16 items on each section based on the research topic. Three research questions were generated and answered. The result showed that majority of the respondents are aware of educational use of mobile phone though, the frequency of the use for the purpose of learning is not encouraging but there is significant relationship between the students’ level of awareness and their use of mobile phone for learning. The study therefore suggests that blanket ban should not be placed on the use of mobile phones within the school environment by secondary school students. Curriculum planners should incorporate the use of mobile phone as a tool for learning in secondary school while appropriate rules and regulations should be put in place to guide the use of mobile phones within the school environment by secondary school student.
4 new short-acting hormonal contraceptives offer enhancement over earlier options

Short-term hormonal contraceptives remain the most popular class of reversible contraceptives in the United States, despite the availability of longer-acting methods. Oral contraceptives (OCs), contraceptive patches, and contraceptive vaginal rings are extensively used not only because these methods are easy to initiate but also because their ongoing use remains under the control of the woman herself and also provides her with a wide range of important noncontraceptive benefits. Despite the more than 60 years of innovation that have made hormonal contraceptives safer, more tolerable, and more convenient, there has been room for improvement. Over the last few years, 4 new hormonal methods have been introduced, and each addresses different limitations and problems associated with the existing, often generic, products. Compared with the traditional norethindrone pill (Micronor and generics), a new drospirenone progestin-only pill (POP) increases ovulation suppression, offers an improved cyclical bleeding profile, and relaxes the tight missedpill rules that are usually associated with POPs. In contrast with the older norelgestromin patch (Evra, Xulane), a new contraceptive transdermal patch significantly decreases total estrogen exposure and pairs its estrogen with levonorgestrel, the progestin associated with the lowest venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk in combined hormonal pills. While existing combination OCs are formulated with the potent estrogen ethinyl estradiol (EE), a new combination pill, formulated with estetrol (E4) and drospirenone, introduces the first new estrogen (estetrol) used in a contraceptive in more than 50 years. Estetrol, a native estrogen, has selective tissue activity with minimal hepatic and breast impacts. Combined with drospirenone, this formulation offers women good contraceptive efficacy and bleeding patterns. A new contraceptive vaginal ring introduces a new long-acting, specific progestin (segesterone acetate) and pairs it with OC with drospirenone alone
Compact dual-band antennas with large frequency ratio and bandwidth enhancement for wireless applications

In this paper, compact single-feed dual-band antennas for different wireless applications are proposed. First, a dual-band antenna with a comparatively large frequency ratio of 2.58 is designed. Then, a novel dual-band antenna is introduced in order to enhance the upper frequency band. The technique consists of modifying the feed line structure, which leads to a 9.23% of impedance bandwidth at the central frequency of 6.5 GHz instead of 2.06%. The designed antennas are fabricated and tested in the laboratory and in a small anechoic chamber in order to measure their reflection coefficient, gains, and efficiencies. Good agreement between simulated and measured results is obtained. The designed antennas are particular because they have low profile, very simple single-feed technique, can be designed for large frequency ratios, and also the bandwidth can be clearly enhanced. Therefore, they can be used for different wireless applications.
A Simulation-Based Approach to Training Operational Cultural Competence

Cultural knowledge and skills are critically important for military operations, emergency response, or any job that involves interaction with a culturally diverse population. However, it is not obvious what cultural knowledge and skills need to be trained, and how to integrate that training with the other training that trainees must undergo. Cultural training needs to be broad enough to encompass both regional (culture-specific) and cross-cultural (culture-general) competencies, yet be focused enough to result in targeted improvements in on-the-job performance. This paper describes a comprehensive instructional development methodology and training technology framework that focuses cultural training on operational needs. It supports knowledge acquisition, skill acquisition, and skill transfer. It supports both training and assessment, and integrates with other aspects of operational skills training. Two training systems will be used to illustrate this approach: the Virtual Cultural Awareness Trainer (VCAT) and the Tactical Dari language and culture training system. The paper also discusses new and emerging capabilities that are integrating cultural competence training more strongly with other aspects of training and mission rehearsal.
A Novel Resolution Scheme of Time-Energy Optimal Trajectory for Precise Acceleration Controlled Industrial Robot Using Neural Networks

The surging popularity of adopting industrial robots in smart manufacturing has led to an increasing trend in the simultaneous improvement of the energy costs and operational efficiency of motion trajectory. Motivated by this, multi-objective trajectory planning subject to kinematic and dynamic constraints at multiple levels has been considered as a promising paradigm to achieve the improvement. However, most existing model-based multi-objective optimization algorithms tend to come out with infeasible solutions, which results in non-zero initial and final acceleration. Popular commercial software toolkits applied to solve multi-objective optimization problems in actual situations are mostly based on the fussy conversion of the original objective and constraints into strict convex functions or linear functions, which could induce a failure of duality and obtain results exceeding limits. To address the problem, this paper proposes a time-energy optimization model in a phase plane based on the Riemann approximation method and a solution scheme using an iterative learning algorithm with neural networks. We present forward-substitution interpolation functions as basic functions to calculate indirect kinematic and dynamic expressions introduced in a discrete optimization model with coupled constraints. Moreover, we develop a solution scheme of the complex trajectory optimization problem based on artificial neural networks to generate candidate solutions for each iteration without any conversion into a strict convex function, until minimum optimization objectives are achieved. Experiments were carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimization solution scheme by comparing it with state-of-the-art trajectory optimization methods using Yalmip software. The proposed method was observed to improve the acceleration control performance of the solved robot trajectory by reducing accelerations exceeding values of joints 2, 3 and 5 by 3.277 rad/s2, 26.674 rad/s2, and 7.620 rad/s2, respectively.
All-Trans-Retinoic Acid Plus Oxaliplatin/Fluorouracil/Leucovorin for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Pulmonary Metastasis: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

Aim To study the impact of All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) plus FOLFOX4 compared to FOLFOX4 alone in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with pulmonary metastasis. Methods The data of patients with advanced HCC who underwent systemic chemotherapy using FOLFOX4 or ATRA plus FOLFOX4 at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, First Hospital of Jilin University, Zhejiang Sian International Hospital and Fujian Cancer Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The survival outcomes in the 2 groups were compared. Results From May 2014 to July 2020, 66 patients were suitable to enter into this study. The median survival (14.0 vs 8.0 months, p=0.012), and the median time to progression in the ATRA plus FOLFOX4 group were both significantly longer than those in the FOLFOX4 group (8.7 vs 3.2 months, p=0.002). The 6 month-, 1 year- and 2 year- overall survival rates were also significantly better in the ATRA plus FOLFOX4 group (100.0%, 64.7% and 20.5%; respectively) than the FOLFOX4 group (59.4%, 21.9%, and 12.5%, respectively; p<0.001). Leukocytopenia, fatigue, anorexia, nausea, were the most common acute toxicities, but these were mostly NCI CTCAE Grade 1 or 2. There was no significant difference in adverse events between the two groups. Conclusion ATRA plus FOLFOX4 significantly improved the survival outcomes in patients with advanced HCC with pulmonary metastasis.
Nonlinear Elasticity Assessment with Optical Coherence Elastography for High-Selectivity Differentiation of Breast Cancer Tissues

Soft biological tissues, breast cancer tissues in particular, often manifest pronounced nonlinear elasticity, i.e., strong dependence of their Young’s modulus on the applied stress. We showed that compression optical coherence elastography (C-OCE) is a promising tool enabling the evaluation of nonlinear properties in addition to the conventionally discussed Young’s modulus in order to improve diagnostic accuracy of elastographic examination of tumorous tissues. The aim of this study was to reveal and quantify variations in stiffness for various breast tissue components depending on the applied pressure. We discussed nonlinear elastic properties of different breast cancer samples excised from 50 patients during breast-conserving surgery. Significant differences were found among various subtypes of tumorous and nontumorous breast tissues in terms of the initial Young’s modulus (estimated for stress < 1 kPa) and the nonlinearity parameter determining the rate of stiffness increase with increasing stress. However, Young’s modulus alone or the nonlinearity parameter alone may be insufficient to differentiate some malignant breast tissue subtypes from benign. For instance, benign fibrous stroma and fibrous stroma with isolated individual cancer cells or small agglomerates of cancer cells do not yet exhibit significant difference in the Young’s modulus. Nevertheless, they can be clearly singled out by their nonlinearity parameter, which is the main novelty of the proposed OCE-based discrimination of various breast tissue subtypes. This ability of OCE is very important for finding a clean resection boundary. Overall, morphological segmentation of OCE images accounting for both linear and nonlinear elastic parameters strongly enhances the correspondence with the histological slices and radically improves the diagnostic possibilities of C-OCE for a reliable clinical outcome.
Photonic Crystals for the Control of Light Extraction from III-Nitride Light-Emitting Diodes

This thesis investigates the effect and exploitation of photonic crystals (PhCs) for light extraction in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs have come some way to meeting the requirements for several applications, but are limited in their suitability, particularly for etendue-limited applications requiring high directivity. Light extraction from LEDs presents a challenge, due to total internal reflection at the surface of the LED chip and current commercial light extraction techniques offer limited control over the direction of emission. PhC LEDs can operate in either a weak regime, where the PhC acts principally as a diffraction grating, or in strong regime where the PhC introduces a significant periodic (Bloch) component to the optical modes supported in the device. Experimental LEDs incorporating a buried photonic quasi-crystal are investigated and their weak-regime behaviour described by a simple model, with a 2D part concerning the PhC tiling and a 1D part considering the slab waveguiding properties of the device when the PhC is considered as an effective medium. A transfer and scattering matrix model for arbitrary slab waveguides is developed, including a model for emission from an embedded source layer. Experimental devices are shown to operate in the strong regime, possibly for the first time, comprised of large-area periodic arrays of nanorods with embedded light emitters suitable for large area fabrication and electrical contacting. Through confinement of light by index guiding or Fresnel reflection to the periodic layers, Bloch modes can be formed. Exploitation of both the strong and weak regimes in device designs for highly directional LEDs are discussed, with a comparison made between the two approaches. The strong PhC operating regime enabled by this work may facilitate significant performance improvements for practical highly directional LEDs over alternative methods.
A Study Of Risk Communication In Engineering And Management Curricula

An examination of problems in risk assessment and communication among management and engineering disciplines is undertaken in an attempt to recognize inadequacies in engineering students skills in properly communicating risk. This paper presents a study devised to test a set of hypotheses concerning opportunities for improvement in engineering curricula. A better understanding of these shortcomings can lead to the development of methods to improve the learning process for students of engineering in this area. Additionally, within an educational framework, enhanced interaction between engineers and managers would provide for a more effective relationship in industry. This paper describes this protocol study in detail along with observations of students communication. Data is presented, conclusions drawn and recommendations given. It is believed that certain areas that contribute to the development of the skill of communication across fields are lacking in engineering curricula. This study attempts to identify these areas to provide insight into the nature of risk communication problems in industry.
Effect of Different Lithium Salts on the Structure and Morphology of Polystyrene-co-acrylonitrile Based Composite Solid Polymer Electrolytes

In the present study, a series of poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) polymer electrolytes and SAN- poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer blend electrolytes were prepared with different lithium salts using a solvent casting technique. The morphology of prepared polymer blend electrolytes was studied by XRD studies. FT-IR spectroscopy studies reveal the interaction between polymer host and the lithium salt.