Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laser Meager Listener: A Scientific Exploration of Laser-based Speech Eavesdropping in Commercial User Space

Human speech signals produce sound waves that induce vibrations on objects that they encounter. Such vibrations can be measured via laser vibrometers and possibly used in speech eavesdropping attacks. However, there is still much to learn about when this attack is feasible. In this paper, we aim to broaden our understanding of the viability of laser eavesdropping attacks to compromise speech in the commercial user space. In our study, we design experiments to measure the subtle vibrations induced on commonly-available objects by nearby speech, using commercially sold, high-precision laser vibrometers. To observe idealized success rates of the attack, we maintain certain physical parameters in favorable conditions that represent best case scenarios for an attacker. We test three primary attack scenarios considering different relative positions to the target object. Additionally, we consider many important experimental parameters to understand the generalizability of the attack, including: speech sources, loudness levels, vibration propagation media, and object materials. Our vibrometer recorded signals were analyzed via a two-pronged methodology including, (1) time domain, frequency spectrum, cross correlation, and speech intelligibility metric analyses and (2) an information extraction analysis using both human listeners and automated recognition tools. Our results suggest that eavesdropping attacks using a laser vibrometer may be practical in some situations and parameter settings (i.e., intelligence missions). However, we find that live aerial human speech and machine-rendered speech at a normal conversational loudness level does not show signs of significant leakage in our analysis.
Peptidoglycan-Like Components in Z-100, Extracted from Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain Aoyama B, Increase IL-12p40 via NOD2

Background Z-100 is a hot-water extract of the human-type Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain Aoyama B. While Z-100's macrophage-mediated immunomodulatory effects have been reported, the mechanistic details have not been fully clarified. Here, we studied the immunomodulatory effects of Z-100 on mouse bone marrow-derived cells, human CD14+ cells, and skin. Methods Mouse bone marrow-derived cells and CD14+ cells were cultured in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, differentiated into macrophage-like cells, and then stimulated with Z-100. Furthermore, since Z-100 is subcutaneously administered clinically, we injected Z-100 into mice and measured gene expression in the skin. Results While Z-100 stimulation increased the production of interleukin- (IL-) 12p40 and IL-1β in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages, levels of IL-1β were low. In contrast, TNF-α production did not increase. Meanwhile, stimulation of human CD14+ cells with Z-100 increased production of IL-12p40, TNF-α, and IL-1β. Because Z-100 appeared to have the most stable effect on IL-12p40, we examined the components of Z-100 that induce IL-12p40 production. We found that Z-100 contained peptidoglycan-like components. In addition, an siRNA study showed that Z-100 increased the production of IL-12p40 via nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2). Further, subcutaneous administration of Z-100 to mice significantly elevated expression of IL-12p40 and IL-1β and showed a trend towards increasing TNF-α in the skin. Conclusion Z-100 induced the production of immunomodulatory cytokines from various types of macrophages and specifically increased IL-12p40 production through peptidoglycan-like components via NOD2.
Low-Stiffness Hydrogels Promote Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Through the Rapid Release of Exosomes

A hydrogel system loaded with mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosome (MSC-Exos) is an attractive new tool for tissue regeneration. However, the effect of the stiffness of exosome-loaded hydrogels on tissue regeneration is unclear. Here, the role of exosome-loaded hydrogel stiffness, during the regeneration of injured nerves, was assessed in vivo. The results showed that the photocrosslinkable hyaluronic acid methacrylate hydrogel stiffness plays an important role in repairing nerve injury. Compared with the stiff hydrogels loaded with exosomes, soft hydrogels loaded with exosomes showed better repair of injured peripheral nerves. The soft hydrogel promoted nerve repair by quickly releasing exosomes to inhibit the infiltration of macrophages and the expression of the proinflammatory factors IL-1β and TNF-α in injured nerves. Our work revealed that exosome-loaded hydrogel stiffness plays an important role in tissue regeneration by regulating exosome release behavior and provided important clues for the clinical application of biological scaffold materials.
Tweets Related to Motivation and Physical Activity for Obesity-Related Behavior Change: Descriptive Analysis

Background Obesity is one of the greatest modern public health problems, due to the associated health and economic consequences. Decreased physical activity is one of the main societal changes driving the current obesity pandemic. Objective Our goals are to fill a gap in the literature and study whether users organically utilize a social media platform, Twitter, for providing motivation. We examine the topics of messages and social network structures on Twitter. We discuss social media’s potential for providing peer support and then draw insights to inform the development of interventions for long-term health-related behavior change. Methods We examined motivational messages related to physical activity on Twitter. First, we collected tweets related to physical activity. Second, we analyzed them using (1) a lexicon-based approach to extract and characterize motivation-related tweets, (2) a thematic analysis to examine common themes in retweets, and (3) topic models to understand prevalent factors concerning motivation and physical activity on Twitter. Third, we created 2 social networks to investigate organically arising peer-support network structures for sustaining physical activity and to form a deeper understanding of the feasibility of these networks in a real-world context. Results We collected over 1.5 million physical activity–related tweets posted from August 30 to November 6, 2018. A relatively small percentage of the tweets mentioned the term motivation; many of these were made on Mondays or during morning or late morning hours. The analysis of retweets showed that the following three themes were commonly conveyed on the platform: (1) using a number of different types of motivation (self, process, consolation, mental, or quotes), (2) promoting individuals or groups, and (3) sharing or requesting information. Topic models revealed that many of these users were weightlifters or people trying to lose weight. Twitter users also naturally forged relations, even though 98.12% (2824/2878) of these users were in different physical locations. Conclusions This study fills a knowledge gap on how individuals organically use social media to encourage and sustain physical activity. Elements related to peer support are found in the organic use of social media. Our findings suggest that geographical location is less important for providing peer support as long as the support provides motivation, despite users having few factors in common (eg, the weather) affecting their physical activity. This presents a unique opportunity to identify successful motivation-providing peer support groups in a large user base. However, further research on the effects in a real-world context, as well as additional design and usability features for improving user engagement, are warranted to develop a successful intervention counteracting the current obesity pandemic. This is especially important for young adults, the main user group for social media, as they develop lasting health-related behaviors.
Fully integrated high-efficiency high step-down ratio DC–DC buck converter with predictive over-current protection scheme

A high-efficiency fully integrated 36 V–3 A stepping down DC–DC converter with high step-down ratio and predictive over-current protection scheme is introduced. To achieve high-voltage conversion ratio, emulated current mode and dedicated current sensing circuits were involved. A novel predictive over-current scheme is proposed to overcome inherent lack of emulated current-mode control and provide fast response to over-current events. In addition, due to N-type field effect transistor (NFET) was adopted to improve efficiency, a floating rail regulator is presented to generate bootstrapped voltage for driver stage. The proposed converter was simulated and fabricated in 0.18 μm bipolar-complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS)-double-diffused MOS process. Experimental results show the features work well, and with 35 ns minimum on-time, this converter can convert up to 36 V input voltage to 1.8 V at 1 MHz switching frequency with single stage and compact solution. Measured peak efficiency is 89.5% and over 80% efficiency for 3 A output current is realised as well.
Associations of Pre-Diagnostic Serum Levels of Total Bilirubin and Albumin With Lung Cancer Risk: Results From the Southern Community Cohort Study

Background Previous studies conducted among European and Asian decedents reported inverse associations of serum total bilirubin and albumin with lung cancer risk. Yet, no study has been conducted among African Americans or low-income European Americans. Methods This study included 522 incident lung cancer cases and 979 matched controls nested in the Southern Community Cohort Study, a cohort of predominantly low-income African and European Americans. Serum levels of total bilirubin and albumin, collected up to 11 years prior to case diagnoses, were measured by a clinical chemistry analyzer. Conditional logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the associations of total bilirubin and albumin with lung cancer risk. Results Overall, serum levels of total bilirubin (ORT3 vs. T1 = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.66-1.39) were not significantly associated with lung cancer risk. However, higher levels of serum total bilirubin were significantly associated with decreased risk of lung cancer among participants who were diagnosed within two years following sample collection (ORT3 vs. T1 = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.15-0.87) and among former/never smokers (ORT3 vs. T1 = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.32-0.93). Serum levels of albumin were significantly associated with decreased risk of lung cancer overall (ORT3 vs. T1 = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50-0.98) and among African Americans (ORT3 vs. T1 = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.41-0.96), but not among European Americans. Conclusion Our results indicate that in a low-income African American and European American population, serum levels of total bilirubin may be related to lung cancer progression and differ by smoking status. Meanwhile, the association of serum albumin levels with lung cancer risk may differ by race. Further studies are warranted to confirm these results.
A New Exoskeleton Robot for Human Motion Assistance

This paper presents studies on the kinematics and dynamics of a new robotic system of the exoskeleton type to assist human locomotion. Based on previous achievements, we designed an original robotic system solution. Based on this structural solution, we created a virtual model using SolidWorks computerized design software. This virtual model is used for two purposes, namely in the first stage we will perform a motion simulation using the software of dynamic analysis of mobile mechanical systems ADAMS_View and then based on the virtual construction prototype we will manufacture the robotic system by classical techniques and additive manufacturing. The results presented in the paper prove the technical feasibility of the proposed solution for assisting the locomotion of people with disabilities.
Extraction and identification of β-carotene from unripe date palm

Carotenoids are one of the natural plant pigment and also valuable preventive medicines too. Recentresearch shows that there is strong relation between the foods which rich in carotenoids and certain types ofdiseases such as cardiovascular and particular types of malignant growth. The primary target of the currentinvestigation is to extract the carotenoids from two different varieties of unripe Phoenix dactylifera namelyBarhi (yellow in colour, YD) and Khenaizi (red in colour, RD) and then to identify the presence of β-carotenevarious techniques such as Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC). The experimental results of both the samples were compared to standard β-carotene. From the resultsobtained both the samples were contain notable amount of β-carotene, mainly Khenaizi shows more retentiontime (5.09) compared to that of Barhi (5.02). β-carotene is useful in giving likely advantage against deficiencydiseases such as vitamin A because it perhaps the most common public health problems.
Research and development of electronic speed control strategies for medium-speed marine diesel engines

Modern diesel engine systems rely more and more on electronic control systems. The benefits of such electronic control systems include reduced fuel consumption, limited emissions and enhanced performance. Following the trend, this article aims to derive an appropriate methodology for improving the performance of the speed regulation by upgrading an existing mechanical governing control system to an electronic one for the marine diesel engine. Hardware-in-loop simulations and the diesel engine test-bed experiments are applied to realize a V-type mode study of the speed control strategies for the marine medium-speed diesel engines. First, the algorithm of the strategies and the functions of the electronic control unit are verified through hardware-in-loop test bench which is established using hardware devices and a software tool chain from ETAS GmbH. Additionally, the specific parameters are modified and calibrated finely on the test bed with an online debugging system. Finally, to demonstrate the performances and the generality of the proposed control strategies, the test-bed results of the two types of marine diesel engines are illustrated. The experimental results indicate that a better performance is achieved by replacing the original controller with the proposed controller. And the methodology of the control strategies development is proven to be efficient.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Combined With Elastin-Like Recombinamers Increase Angiogenesis In Vivo After Hindlimb Ischemia

Hindlimb ischemia is an unmet medical need, especially for those patients unable to undergo vascular surgery. Cellular therapy, mainly through mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) administration, may be a potentially attractive approach in this setting. In the current work, we aimed to assess the potential of the combination of MSCs with a proangiogenic elastin-like recombinamer (ELR)–based hydrogel in a hindlimb ischemia murine model. Human bone marrow MSCs were isolated from four healthy donors, while ELR biomaterials were genetically engineered. Hindlimb ischemia was induced through ligation of the right femoral artery, and mice were intramuscularly injected with ELR biomaterial, 0.5 × 106 MSCs or the combination, and also compared to untreated animals. Tissue perfusion was monitored using laser Doppler perfusion imaging. Histological analysis of hindlimbs was performed after hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunofluorescence with anti–human mitochondria antibody was used for human MSC detection, and the biomaterial was detected by elastin staining. To analyze the capillary density, immunostaining with an anti–CD31 antibody was performed. Our results show that the injection of MSCs significantly improves tissue reperfusion from day 7 (p = 0.0044) to day 21 (p = 0.0216), similar to the infusion of MSC + ELR (p = 0.0038, p = 0.0014), without significant differences between both groups. After histological evaluation, ELR hydrogels induced minimal inflammation in the injection sites, showing biocompatibility. MSCs persisted with the biomaterial after 21 days, both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we observed a higher blood vessel density when mice were treated with MSCs compared to control (p<0.0001), but this effect was maximized and significantly different to the remaining experimental conditions when mice were treated with the combination of MSCs and the ELR biomaterial (p < 0.0001). In summary, the combination of an ELR-based hydrogel with MSCs may improve the angiogenic effects of both strategies on revascularization of ischemic tissues.
SRSG and S2SG: A Model and a Dataset for Scene Graph Generation of Remote Sensing Images From Segmentation Results

Remote sensing image analysis has drawn more attentions in the field of computer vision. At present, the methods commonly used in remote sensing image analysis are mainly at a low level semantically. The scene graph is an abstraction of objects and their relationships, which is a high-level image understanding task. To fully comprehend the meanings of remote sensing images, in this article, we propose a novel segmentation-based model to generate remote sensing image scene graphs (SRSG). In the SRSG model, a more complete and accurate scene graph is generated with the segmentation results as inputs, while the shapes of objects are reasonably coded. The morphological features of object pairs are embedded together by different branches of the SRSG model and then mapped to semantic space to predicate their relationships. Furthermore, a new dataset for scene graph generation of remote sensing images, namely, segmentation results to scene graphs (S2SG), is constructed based on pixel-level segmentation results. Experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the SRSG model is far superior to the previous methods in the task of generating remote sensing image scene graphs. The proposed SRSG model opens up new possibilities for remote sensing image analysis at a high level. Moreover, the S2SG dataset further allows for the evaluation of different approaches and is provided for the benefit of the research community.
Dietary Eugenol Nanoemulsion Potentiated Performance of Broiler Chickens: Orchestration of Digestive Enzymes, Intestinal Barrier Functions and Cytokines Related Gene Expression With a Consequence of Attenuating the Severity of E. coli O78 Infection

Recently, the use of essential oils (EOs) or their bioactive compounds encapsulated by nanoparticles as alternative supplements for in-feed antimicrobials is gaining attention, especially in organic poultry production. Focusing on eugenol, its incorporation into the nanoformulation is a novel strategy to improve its stability and bioavailability and thus augment its growth-boosting and antimicrobial activities. Therefore, we explored eugenol nanoemulsion activities in modulating growth, digestive and gut barrier functions, immunity, cecal microbiota, and broilers response to avian pathogenic E. coli challenge (APEC) O78. A total of 1,000 one-day-old broiler chicks were allocated into five groups; negative control (NC, fed basal diet), positive control (PC), and 100, 250, and 400 mg/kg eugenol nanoemulsion supplemented groups. All groups except NC were challenged with APEC O78 at 14 days of age. The results showed that birds fed eugenol nanoemulsion displayed higher BWG, FI, and survivability and most improved FCR over the whole rearing period. Birds fed 400 mg/kg of eugenol nanoemulsion sustained a higher growth rate (24% vs. PC) after infection. Likely, the expression of digestive enzymes' genes (AMY2A, CCK, CELA1, and PNLIP) was more prominently upregulated and unaffected by APEC O78 challenge in the group fed eugenol nanoemulsion at the level of 400 mg/kg. Enhanced gut barrier integrity was sustained post-challenge in the group supplemented with higher levels of eugenol nanoemulsion as evidenced by the overexpression of cathelicidins-2, β-defensin-1, MUC-2, JAM-2, occludin, CLDN-1, and FABP-2 genes. A distinct modulatory effect of dietary eugenol nanoemulsion was observed on cytokine genes (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10) expression with a prominent reduction in the excessive inflammatory reactions post-challenge. Supplementing eugenol nanoemulsion increased the relative cecal abundance of Lactobacillus species and reduced Enterobacteriaceae and Bacteriods counts. Notably, a prominent reduction in APEC O78 loads with downregulation of papC, iroN, iutA, and iss virulence genes and detrimental modifications in E. coli morphological features were noticed in the 400 mg/kg eugenol nanoemulsion group at the 3rd-week post-challenge. Collectively, we recommend the use of eugenol nanoemulsion as a prospective targeted delivery approach for achieving maximum broilers growth and protection against APEC O78 infection.
Using Information Available at the Time of Donor Offer to Predict Kidney Transplant Survival Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Prediction Models

Statistical models that can predict graft and patient survival outcomes following kidney transplantation could be of great clinical utility. We sought to appraise existing clinical prediction models for kidney transplant survival outcomes that could guide kidney donor acceptance decision-making. We searched for clinical prediction models for survival outcomes in adult recipients with single kidney-only transplants. Models that require information anticipated to become available only after the time of transplantation were excluded as, by that time, the kidney donor acceptance decision would have already been made. The outcomes of interest were all-cause and death-censored graft failure, and death. We summarised the methodological characteristics of the prediction models, predictive performance and risk of bias. We retrieved 4,026 citations from which 23 articles describing 74 models met the inclusion criteria. Discrimination was moderate for all-cause graft failure (C-statistic: 0.570–0.652; Harrell’s C: 0.580–0.660; AUC: 0.530–0.742), death-censored graft failure (C-statistic: 0.540–0.660; Harrell’s C: 0.590–0.700; AUC: 0.450–0.810) and death (C-statistic: 0.637–0.770; Harrell’s C: 0.570–0.735). Calibration was seldom reported. Risk of bias was high in 49 of the 74 models, primarily due to methods for handling missing data. The currently available prediction models using pre-transplantation information show moderate discrimination and varied calibration. Further model development is needed to improve predictions for the purpose of clinical decision-making. Systematic Review Registration: https://osf.io/c3ehp/l.
Curvature Regularized Similarity Based Ricci Flow Embedding

This work proposes a novel curvature regularization method to regularize the individual sectional curvatures in Similarity-Based Ricci Flow Embedding (SBRFE) to reduce the non-Euclidean artefacts and compute the Euclidean embedding of similarity-based data sets. In pattern recognition, pairwise similarity or dissimilarity data have been used as alternative to the more conventional feature vector representation. While similarity representations are rarely Euclidean, most methods involving statistical analysis or learning of such data require them to be Euclidean. In SBRFE, each similarity is considered an individual entity, and the respective sectional curvature is calculated and updated separately. This compromises the smoothness of the manifold and causes numerical instability. To overcome this problem, we used regularized Newton’s method (RNM) to regularize the sectional curvatures of each patch obtained from the initial curvature computation. It ensures numerical stability in the embedding and smoothens the manifold. It also preserves both the local and global geometry of the original data sets. Results show that proposed curvature regularized similarity-based Ricci Flow Embedding (CRRFE) is able to estimate the Euclidean embedding of similarity data sets with much lower computation cost and time complexity than the existing regularization method. Comparison results show that our proposed methodology outperforms other existing embedding methods in most data sets with a lower classification error rate.