Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Posture Monitoring and Correction Exercises for Workers in Hostile Environments Utilizing Non-Invasive Sensors: Algorithm Development and Validation

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an essential key factor in standardizing safety within the workplace. Harsh working environments with long working hours can cause stress on the human body that may lead to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). MSD refers to injuries that impact the muscles, nerves, joints, and many other human body areas. Most work-related MSD results from hazardous manual tasks involving repetitive, sustained force, or repetitive movements in awkward postures. This paper presents collaborative research from the School of Electrical Engineering and School of Allied Health at Curtin University. The main objective was to develop a framework for posture correction exercises for workers in hostile environments, utilizing inertial measurement units (IMU). The developed system uses IMUs to record the head, back, and pelvis movements of a healthy participant without MSD and determine the range of motion of each joint. A simulation was developed to analyze the participant’s posture to determine whether the posture present would pose an increased risk of MSD with limits to a range of movement set based on the literature. When compared to measurements made by a goniometer, the body movement recorded 94% accuracy and the wrist movement recorded 96% accuracy.
High-quality Ge epilayers on Si with low threading-dislocation densities

High-quality Ge epilayers on Si with low threading-dislocation densities were achieved by a two-step ultrahigh vacuum/chemical-vapor-deposition process followed by cyclic thermal annealing. On large Si wafers, Ge on Si with threading-dislocation density of 2.3×107 cm−2 was obtained. Combining selective area growth with cyclic thermal annealing produced an average threading-dislocation density of 2.3×106 cm−2.We also demonstrated small mesas of Ge on Si with no threading dislocations. The process described in this letter for making high-quality Ge on Si is uncomplicated and can be easily integrated with standard Si processes.
Uncertainties in estimates of the mean vertical velocity from MST radar observations

Mean values of the vertical velocity based on time series of clear-air Doppler radar observations are subject to uncertainties due to several factors. This paper examines the statistical uncertainties due to estimating the population means using only finite periods of record and the uncertainties that are introduced by systematic gaps in the series of observations. The statistical uncertainty, the standard error of the mean, depends on the variance of the data and on the effective sample size. The largest change in the variance of vertical velocity is about a factor of 3 and is seen between clear and cloudy sky conditions. Very little change in the effective sample size is seen under any conditions. The averaging time required to estimate the mean with a standard error of the mean of 2 cm/s is found to be about 6 hours under typical conditions at Flatland. The uncertainty of the mean due to systematic gaps in the data increases with the length of the gaps, even though the total observation period remains constant. The root-mean-square value of this uncertainty is about 2 cm/s; about the size of the standard error of the mean and about half as large as typical expected subsynoptic scale motions. These results suggest that future sampling programs should be designed to eliminate systematic gaps in the data.
Self-assembling of InAs nanocrystals on GaAs: The effect of electronic coupling and embedded gold nanoparticles on the photoluminescence

InAs∕ZnSe core/shell nanoparticles (NP) were self-assembled on GaAs substrates using different organic molecules of varying length and properties as linkers. The molecules provide control over the coupling and tunneling properties between the substrate and the nanocrystals. By coadsorbing of gold NP on the GaAs substrate, enhancement of the photoluminescence from the InAs NP was achieved. The enhancement factor was found to depend on the properties of the organic linkers.
Mediterranean diet score is associated with greater allocentric processing in the EPAD LCS cohort: A comparative analysis by biogeographical region

Background: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), a primarily plant-based eating pattern, has been associated with lower dementia incidence. Much of the research has focused on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), with less research looking at the preclinical symptomatically silent stages that pre-empt MCI and AD dementia. Although there is evidence from studies conducted globally, no studies have compared the effects of the MedDiet within and outside of the Mediterranean region in one cohort. Methods: Our study explored cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between MedDiet and cognition in the pan-European EPAD LCS, comparing those living within and outside of the Mediterranean region (as classified by European Union biogeographical definitions). After deriving MEDAS scores to quantify adherence to the MedDiet, we used linear regression and linear mixed effects models to test for associations between the MEDAS score and cognitive function measured by the Four Mountains Test (FMT) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). We additionally calculated MEDAS continuous and PYRAMID scores to provide alternative measures of MedDiet adherence. Results: We included 1826 participants, mean age 65.69 (±7.42) years, majority female (56.2%) with family history (65.8%) and minority APOEε4 carriers (38.9%). Higher MEDAS scores were associated with better performance on the FMT both cross-sectionally (n = 1,144, ß: −0.11, SE: 0.04, p = 0.007) and longitudinally (slope: 0.10, 95% CI: 0.04–0.17, p: 0.002). The effect was marginally greater in the Mediterranean region in the cross-sectional analysis, with a stronger effect emerging longitudinally. In exploratory analyses, the association between MEDAS and FMT scores was only seen in female participants. A sensitivity analysis excluding Toulouse and Perugia, as cities near, but not within, the biogeographical region, found significant associations between higher MEDAS and MEDAS continuous scores, and a number of RBANS total and index scores. Conclusion: MedDiet adherence is associated with better FMT scores, with effects seen most strongly in the Mediterranean region from longitudinal data. Our sensitivity analysis suggested a more global cognitive benefit of MedDiet adherence. This study highlights the need to further explore for whom and for what brain health outcomes the MedDiet confers benefit. This evidence would identify a window of opportunity in the life-course to maximise the benefit and better inform public health campaigns and patient-level interventions.
Super Summed and Differential Harmonic Oscillations in a Slender Beam

Various types of nonlinear forced oscillations are expected to occur in a beam subjected to harmonic excitation. The present paper concerns among others the summed and differential harmonic oscillations. Theoretical as well as experimental analyses are carried out for the oscillations. The theoretical analysis shows that only the summed type can occur in a beam, and that a constant term is necessary in the excitation for the oscillations to occur. The theoretical analysis also reveals that the transition to the state in which only the harmonic oscillation occurs, is made continuously by increasing the excitation frequency. The experimental analysis verifies the results of the theoretical analysis.
Prelimbic Cortex Activity during a Distress Tolerance Task Predicts Cocaine-Seeking Behavior in Male, But Not Female Rats

Distress tolerance (DT) is defined as the ability to persist in challenging goal-directed behavior in the face of stress, and individuals with low DT exhibit heightened drug-seeking behavior. However, no preclinical studies have examined the neurobiology underlying this phenomenon. To assess this, in vivo electrophysiology was used in Long Evans male and female rats during a DT task to record neural activity in the prelimbic cortex (PrL), a brain region implicated in drug-seeking. Rats were first assessed for DT, defined as the amount of time elapsed before rats quit seeking reward in an increasingly difficult operant task. Subsequently, rats underwent 2 weeks of self-administration for either water/saline or cocaine for 6 h/day. Animals then began a 1 month period of experimenter-imposed abstinence to induce heightened drug-seeking behavior. On day 28 of abstinence, DT and neural activity were reassessed; and on day 30, cocaine-seeking behavior was examined under extinction. Males had significantly higher DT than females and exhibited significantly more phasic PrL activity during the DT task. Furthermore, in male rats with a history of cocaine, PrL activity shifted to track DT; and this change in activity significantly correlated with the change in DT. Additionally, male (but not female) rats with low DT after 28 d of abstinence had significantly heightened drug-seeking behavior. Finally, PrL activity during the DT task predicted cocaine-seeking behavior. Collectively, these data demonstrate an important role for the PrL in DT in males, and link this neural activity and behavior to drug-seeking, particularly in males. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Distress tolerance (DT) is defined as the ability to persist in challenging goal-directed behavior in the face of stress, and individuals with low DT exhibit heightened drug-seeking. Here, we investigated the role of the prelimbic cortex (PrL) in DT and its relationship to cocaine-seeking in male and female rats. We found that males had significantly higher DT than females and exhibited significantly more PrL activity during the DT task. Furthermore, male (but not female) rats with low DT after 28 d of abstinence had significantly heightened drug-seeking behavior. Finally, PrL activity during the DT task predicted cocaine-seeking. These data demonstrate an important role for the PrL in DT and link this neural activity and behavior to drug-seeking in males.
Redescription of the dorsal vertebrae of the mamenchisaurid sauropod Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis Wu et al. 2013

ABSTRACT The dorsal vertebrae of Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis (SSV12001) from the Late Jurassic Qigu Formation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, are redescribed based on the further exposure and preparation of the holotype. As a mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur, Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis displays a unique combination of autapomorphic and plesiomorphic features, such as the presences of both lateral spinopostzygapophyseal laminae (L.SPOL) and medial spinopostzygapophyseal lamina (M.SPOL) in dorsal vertebrae and a shallow intralaminar fossa (SPOL-F) between the L.SPOL and M.SPOL; anterior spinodiapophyseal laminae (A.SPDL), posterior spinodiapophyseal laminae (P.SPDL) and middle spinodiapophyseal lamina (M.SPDL) in dorsals 3–5; bifurcated anterior and middle dorsal neural spines with the median tubercle and the triangular lateral processes. Phylogenetic analysis and morphological comparison show that Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis probably shares a close relationship with Hudiesaurus and Mamenchisaurus and provide new information for future taxonomic revision of the mamenchisaurids.
Evaluation of Antibacterial and Cytotoxicity Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized by Precipitation Method against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

A novel technique for nanoparticles with a chemical method and impact for resistance bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), UV-visible analysis confirmed the by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction pattern estimation antimicrobial excellent antibacterial activity against MRSA (with zone of inhibition of 11 ± 02 mm , 9 ± 01 mm,8 ± 03 mm and 7.5 ± 02 mm and 6.5 ± 02 mm) at different concentrations (0.5 ,0.25, 0.125, 0.0625, 0.03125) mg/ml while good activity was 16 ± 03 mm at 17 ± 02 mm zone at 0.25, 0.125 mg/mL, respectively. The increase in microorganism resistance to antibiotics a couple of have caused Antimicrobial factors are widely recognized (ZnO NPs) and are less toxic and biological safety . evaluation of MRSA by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) (0.5, 0.25, 0.125, 0.0625, 0.03125) mg/Ml of ZnO NPs. This research aims to study zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles synthesis and antibacterial. In vivo evaluation precipitation method of cytotoxicity was determined WRL68 normal A375 cells.
A review on innovative optical devices for the diagnosis of human soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis: from research and development to commercialization

Abstract Abstract Diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) and schistosome infections relies largely on conventional microscopy which has limited sensitivity, requires highly trained personnel and is error-prone. Rapid advances in miniaturization of optical systems, sensors and processors have enhanced research and development of digital and automated microscopes suitable for the detection of these diseases in resource-limited settings. While some studies have reported proof-of-principle results, others have evaluated the performance of working prototypes in field settings. The extensive commercialization of these innovative devices has, however, not yet been achieved. This review provides an overview of recent publications (2010–2022) on innovative field applicable optical devices which can be used for the diagnosis of STH and schistosome infections. Using an adapted technology readiness level (TRL) scale taking into account the WHO target product profile (TPP) for these diseases, the developmental stages of the devices were ranked to determine the readiness for practical applications in field settings. From the reviewed 18 articles, 19 innovative optical devices were identified and ranked. Almost all of the devices (85%) were ranked with a TRL score below 8 indicating that, most of the devices are not ready for commercialization and field use. The potential limitations of these innovative devices were discussed. We believe that the outcome of this review can guide the end-to-end development of automated digital microscopes aligned with the WHO TPP for the diagnosis of STH and schistosome infections in resource-limited settings.
Risk Factors Associated with Preventable Hospitalisation among Rural Community-Dwelling Patients: A Systematic Review

Potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPHs) are common and increase the burden on already stretched healthcare services. Increasingly, psychosocial factors have been recognised as contributing to PPHs and these may be mitigated through greater attention to social capital. This systematic review investigates the factors associated with PPHs within rural populations. The review was designed, conducted, and reported according to PRISMA guidelines and registered with Prospero (ID: CRD42020152194). Four databases were systematically searched, and all potentially relevant papers were screened at the title/abstract level, followed by full-text review by at least two reviewers. Papers published between 2000–2022 were included. Quality assessment was conducted using Newcastle–Ottawa Scale and CASP Qualitative checklist. Of the thirteen papers included, eight were quantitative/descriptive and five were qualitative studies. All were from either Australia or the USA. Access to primary healthcare was frequently identified as a determinant of PPH. Socioeconomic, psychosocial, and geographical factors were commonly identified in the qualitative studies. This systematic review highlights the inherent attributes of rural populations that predispose them to PPHs. Equal importance should be given to supply/system factors that restrict access and patient-level factors that influence the ability and capacity of rural communities to receive appropriate primary healthcare.
Idealized Numerical Experiments on Cyclone Development in the Tropical, Subtropical, and Extratropical Environments

AbstractThe development of cyclones, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere summer, is active in the tropics and extratropics but is inactive in the subtropics. To elucidate the influence of environmental fields on the cyclone development in the tropics, subtropics, and extratropics, idealized numerical experiments are conducted using a nonhydrostatic channel model. The experiments examine the development of a weak initial vortex within a zonally uniform environmental field that consists of five factors: the Coriolis parameter, zonal wind, potential temperature, relative humidity, and surface temperature difference between the ocean and atmosphere. The idealized experiments successfully reproduce the significant cyclone development in the tropical and extratropical environment as well as no cyclone development in the subtropical environment. This result confirms the dominant role of the environmental field in controlling the cyclone development. To clarify which environmental factor is responsible for th.
A Novel Fault Feature Selection and Diagnosis Method for Rotating Machinery With Symmetrized Dot Pattern Representation

Fault diagnosis methods based on machine learning have made great progress for rotating machinery. The main steps of the machine learning process involve feature extraction, selection, and classification. Feature selection improves classification accuracy and reduces diagnosis time by selecting the better features. Due to the difficulty of traditional feature selection methods to rank the feature importance of each class, the best subset of features could hardly be obtained. Therefore, this article proposes a new feature selection method to address the shortcomings of the above traditional methods, called Feature Ranking based on Optimal Class Distance Ratio (FROCDR), which can choose the optimal features between every two classes of samples to obtain feature ranking that is conducive to classification. In order to comprehensively extract the fault information in the signal, the multiscale analysis and the variational mode decomposition (VMD) method are applied to process the vibration signals under different scales and frequency bands, and the processed signals are visualized by symmetrized dot pattern (SDP). In addition, features are extracted from the obtained SDP images, and the proposed FROCDR method is used to select the best subset of features. The final diagnosis task is accomplished by a random forest (RF) classifier. Experimental cases of bearing and gear data show that the proposed method has higher diagnostic accuracy and stability.
From fundamental matrix to trifocal tensor

In this paper a new method of deriving the trifocal tensor based on fundamental matrix is presented. Given the matching points in the three images of the same scene, we calculate the two fundamental matrixes with the high accuracy, then we construct the three projection matrixes of the images, and the trifocal tensor could be obtained from the three projection matrixes. With the great simplicity of the method, the experiments show that the transfer eros of our method is less than that of the trilinearity estimating method SVD and it has the same result with that of MLE.
Comparison of Spatial Encodings for Ultrasound Imaging

Ultrasound pulse sequencing and receive signal focusing work hand-in-hand to determine image quality. These are commonly linked by geometry, for example, using focused beams or plane waves in transmission paired with appropriate time-of-flight calculations for focusing. Spatial encoding allows a broader class of array transmissions but requires decoding of the recorded echoes before geometric focusing can be applied. Recent work has expanded spatial encoding to include not only element apodizations, but also element time delays. This powerful technique allows for a unified beamforming strategy across different pulse sequences and increased flexibility in array signal processing giving access to estimates of individual transmit element signals, but tradeoffs in image quality between these encodings have not been previously studied. We evaluate in simulation several commonly used time delay and amplitude encodings and investigate the optimization of the parameter space for each. Using the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), point resolution, and lesion detectability, we found tradeoffs between focused beams, plane waves, and Hadamard weight encodings. Beams with broader geometries maintained a wider field of view after decoding at the cost of the SNR and lesion detectability. Focused beams and plane waves showed slightly reduced resolution compared to Hadamard weights in some cases, especially close to the array. We also found overall degraded image quality using random weight or random delay encodings. We validate these findings with experimental phantom imaging for select cases. We believe that these findings provide a starting point for sequence optimization and improved image quality using the spatial encoding approach for imaging.
Development of a Psychological Intervention to Improve Depressive Symptoms and Enhance Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy among Adolescents and Young People Living with HIV in Dar es Salaam Tanzania

Background: Interventions that simultaneously target depression and antiretroviral therapy (ART) medication adherence are recommended for improving HIV treatment outcomes and quality of life for adolescents living with HIV. However, evidence is scarce on culturally feasible and acceptable interventions that can be implemented for HIV-positive adolescents in Tanzania. We, therefore, developed a manualized brief psychological intervention that utilizes evidence-based strategies to address depression and ART adherence in adolescents living with HIV in Tanzania. Methods: We used the Theory of Change Enhanced Medical Research Council framework (TOCMRC) for developing complex interventions in health care to develop the intervention in five phases. First, the literature was reviewed to identify potential intervention components. Second, we conducted a situational analysis using qualitative interviews with adolescents living with HIV, health care providers, and caregivers. Third, we conducted a mental health expert workshop; and fourth, theory of change workshops with representatives from the Ministry of Health, mental health professionals, HIV implementing partners, adolescents, and healthcare providers. Lastly, we synthesized results to finalize the intervention and a theory of change map showing the causal pathway for how we expect the developed intervention to achieve its impact. Results: Adolescents living with HIV in Tanzania experience several unmet mental health needs ranging from overwhelming depressive symptoms to not feeling understood by healthcare providers who lack mental health knowledge. Participants perceived psychological intervention that utilizes a task-shifting approach to be acceptable and beneficial to addressing those problems. The novel components of the NITUE intervention included incorporating evidence-based intervention components, namely, cognitive–behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and problem solving. In addition, caregiver inclusion in the treatment was essential to ensure access to care, compliance, and improved outcomes. Conclusions: A culturally appropriate brief psychological intervention that utilizes a task-shifting approach to address depression and medication adherence for adolescents living with HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was developed. The intervention will be piloted for appropriateness, feasibility, and acceptability and will provide material for a future trial to determine its effectiveness.