Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Squared envelope sparsification via blind deconvolution and its application to railway axle bearing diagnostics

A sparse squared envelope is crucial for efficient and accurate diagnosis of bearing faults. Blind deconvolution (BD) is a well-established sparse feature enhancement method for the diagnostics of rolling bearings. Traditional BD methods, such as minimum entropy deconvolution (MED), are susceptible to random transients, making it difficult to enhance fault features of rolling bearings subject to strong random shocks. Deconvolution methods that take the fault characteristic frequency (or fault impulse period) of interest as an algorithm input parameter, such as maximum second-order cyclostationarity blind deconvolution (CYCBD), can alleviate this deficiency. However, bearing fault features are difficult to be enhanced by these methods when the specified characteristic frequency deviates from the actual value greatly. To overcome these problems, the modified smoothness index (MSI) of the squared envelope is proposed as the objective function of the deconvolution method, and a new BD method is developed to achieve a sparse squared envelope for fault diagnosis of rolling bearings. Furthermore, the methodology is extended to the frequency domain, and another new BD method that utilizes the MSI of the squared envelope spectrum as the objective function is established to achieve a sparse squared envelope spectrum for bearing diagnostics. These two proposed BD methods are robust to random transients and do not require characteristic frequency or impulse period as an input parameter for feature enhancement. The performance of the two proposed BD methods is verified on experimental datasets from two different railway axle bearing test rigs and compared with the state-of-the-art deconvolution methods. The results show that the two proposed methods can effectively enhance repetitive transient features in noisy vibration signals and accurately diagnose different faults of railway axle bearings.
Exploring the common pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus via microarray data analysis

Background Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) have an increased incidence in modern society. Although more and more evidence has supported that DM is prone to AD, the interrelational mechanisms remain fully elucidated. Purpose The primary purpose of this study is to explore the shared pathophysiological mechanisms of AD and DM. Methods Download the expression matrix of AD and DM from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database with sequence numbers GSE97760 and GSE95849, respectively. The common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by limma package analysis. Then we analyzed the six kinds of module analysis: gene functional annotation, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, potential drug screening, immune cell infiltration, hub genes identification and validation, and prediction of transcription factors (TFs). Results The subsequent analyses included 339 common DEGs, and the importance of immunity, hormone, cytokines, neurotransmitters, and insulin in these diseases was underscored by functional analysis. In addition, serotonergic synapse, ovarian steroidogenesis, estrogen signaling pathway, and regulation of lipolysis are closely related to both. DEGs were input into the CMap database to screen small molecule compounds with the potential to reverse AD and DM pathological functions. L-690488, exemestane, and BMS-345541 ranked top three among the screened small molecule compounds. Finally, 10 essential hub genes were identified using cytoHubba, including PTGS2, RAB10, LRRK2, SOS1, EEA1, NF1, RAB14, ADCY5, RAPGEF3, and PRKACG. For the characteristic Aβ and Tau pathology of AD, RAPGEF3 was associated significantly positively with AD and NF1 significantly negatively with AD. In addition, we also found ADCY5 and NF1 significant correlations with DM phenotypes. Other datasets verified that NF1, RAB14, ADCY5, and RAPGEF3 could be used as key markers of DM complicated with AD. Meanwhile, the immune cell infiltration score reflects the different cellular immune microenvironments of the two diseases. Conclusion The common pathogenesis of AD and DM was revealed in our research. These common pathways and hub genes directions for further exploration of the pathogenesis or treatment of these two diseases.
Shared Components of Worldwide Successful Sexuality Education Interventions for Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials

A crucial aspect of human development is sexuality which has implications for health, particularly in adolescence, since unfavorable sexual experiences may result in physical and mental problems. Sexuality education interventions (SEI) are one of the most used actions to promote sexual health in adolescents. Nevertheless, there is variability across their components; therefore, key elements for an effective SEI targeted at adolescents (A-SEI) are not well known. Based on this background, this study aims to identify the shared components of successful A-SEI through a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCT). This study followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses statement. A search was conducted in CINAHL, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science between November and December 2021. A total of 21 studies passed the inclusion test after the review of 8318 reports. A total of 18 A-SEIs were identified in these studies. The components analyzed were the intervention’s approach, dose, type of intervention, theoretical framework, facilitators’ training, and intervention methodology. The results established that components that should be present in the design of an effective A-SEI are behavior change theoretical models, the use of participatory methodology, be targeted at mixed-sex groups, facilitators’ training, and at least ten hours of weekly intervention.
3-D Transducer Mounted Shear Wave Absolute Vibro-Elastography: Proof of Concept

Quantitative tissue stiffness characterization using ultrasound (US) has been shown to improve prostate cancer (PCa) detection in multiple studies. Shear wave absolute vibro-elastography (SWAVE) allows quantitative and volumetric assessment of tissue stiffness using external multifrequency excitation. This article presents a proof of concept of a first-of-a-kind 3-D hand-operated endorectal SWAVE system designed to be used during systematic prostate biopsy. The system is developed with a clinical US machine, requiring only an external exciter that can be mounted directly to the transducer. Subsector acquisition of radio frequency (RF) data allows imaging of shear waves with a high effective frame rate (up to 250 Hz). The system was characterized using eight different quality assurance phantoms. Due to the invasive nature of prostate imaging, at this early stage of development, validation of in vivo human tissue was instead carried out by intercostally scanning the livers of $n = 7$ healthy volunteers. The results are compared with 3-D magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and an existing 3-D SWAVE system with a matrix array transducer (M-SWAVE). High correlations were found with MRE (99% in phantoms, 94% in liver data) and with M-SWAVE (99% in phantoms, 98% in liver data).
Effect of Pink Perch Gelatin on Physiochemical, Textural, Sensory, and Storage Characteristics of Ready-to-Cook Low-Fat Chicken Meatballs

In recent years consumer demand for low-fat convenience food is increasing rapidly. This study was designed to develop low-fat ready-to-cook (RTC) chicken meatballs using pink perch gelatin. Meatballs were prepared using different concentrations of fish gelatin (3%, 4%, 5%, and 6%). The effect of fish gelatin content on the physico-chemical, textural, cooking, and sensory properties of meatballs was studied. Further, the shelf-life of meatballs was also studied at 4 °C for 15 days and −18 °C for 60 days. The addition of fish gelatin to meatballs decreased the fat content by 67.2% and 79.7% and increased the protein content by 20.1% and 66.4% in comparison to control and Branded Meatballs, respectively. As compared to the Control Meatballs, the addition of fish gelatin also reduced hardness by 26.4% and increased yield and moisture retention in the RTC meatballs by 15.4% and 20.9%, respectively. Sensory analysis suggested that a 5% fish gelatin addition in meatballs has the best acceptability among all tested treatments. Storage study indicated that the addition of fish gelatin to RTC meatballs delayed lipid oxidation during both refrigerated and frozen storage. The results suggested that pink perch gelatin can be used as a fat replacer in chicken meatballs and can potentially increase their shelf-life.
Kidney Biopsy in Pregnant Women with Glomerular Diseases: Focus on Lupus Nephritis

Despite significant improvements of renal and obstetrical management, pregnancies in women with glomerular diseases and with lupus nephritis continue to be associated with increased complications both for the mother and the fetus as compared to those of pregnancies in healthy women. To reduce the risk of these complications, planning pregnancy in a phase of stable remission of the underlining disease is necessary. A kidney biopsy is an important event in any phase of pregnancy. A kidney biopsy can be of help during counselling before pregnancy in cases of incomplete remission of the renal manifestations. In these situations, histological data may differentiate active lesions that require the reinforcement of therapy from chronic irreversible lesions that may increase the risk of complications. In pregnant women, a kidney biopsy can identify new-onset systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) and necrotizing or primitive glomerular diseases and distinguish them from other, more common complications. Increasing proteinuria, hypertension, and the deterioration of kidney function during pregnancy may be either due to a reactivation of the underlying disease or to pre-eclampsia. The results of the kidney biopsy suggest the need to initiate an appropriate treatment, allowing the progression of the pregnancy and the fetal viability or the anticipation of delivery. Data from the literature suggest avoiding a kidney biopsy beyond 28 weeks of gestation to minimize the risks associated with the procedure vs. the risk of preterm delivery. In case of the persistence of renal manifestations after delivery in women with a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, a renal kidney assessment allows the final diagnosis and guides the therapy.
Semianalytical method for calculating the impedance variation of an arbitrary eddy-current probe

We present an explicit analytical solution to the problem of a point current source in a half-space or a plate. Under the hypothesis of a first-order Born approximation, the expression of the vector potential above the plate can then be used to calculate impedance variations due to a flaw in a number of configurations. We demonstrate the method and validate it on a simple case.
Reward-dependent dynamics and changes in risk taking in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task

ABSTRACT The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) assesses real-world decision-making processes in a laboratory setting and has been applied to both healthy and clinical populations. Whereas many previous studies established reliable links between behaviour in the BART and individual characteristics, such as gender, age, and educational level, little is known to date how dynamic, contextual features of the BART impact risk taking behaviour. The present paper fills this gap and reports the results of an online BART administered to a sample of 141 voluntary participants. Taking a novel, single-trial perspective, we document significant associations between experience and expectation related variables, in particular reward and punishment dynamics, and risk-taking behaviour in the BART. Having accrued more money increases risk-taking behaviour as does experiencing foregone profits through exploded balloons. Our findings are consistent with prominent theories of decision-making under risk which postulate intra-person changes in risk-appetite. Our results have important implications for future research as they stress that a more dynamic perspective on the BART can enrich our understanding of the factors that shape risk-taking behaviour.
Climate change in tropical regions from high‐resolution time‐slice AGCM experiments

In this study we discuss present‐day climate conditions (1961–90) and climate change projections (2071–2100) for four tropical regions as produced with a high‐resolution time‐slice AGCM experiment. We use the National Aeronautics and Space Agency/National Center for Atmospheric Research finite‐volume element global model FVGCM with a horizontal grid interval of 1° latitude and 1.25° longitude. The regions considered are South Asia, tropical South America, Sahel/equatorial Africa, and southern equatorial Africa, and the projections refer to the IPCC A2 emission scenario forcing. We focus on the rainy seasons of the four regions.
Treatment of Calcific Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy: Knotless Internal Brace versus Knot-Tying Suture Bridge

Background: This study aimed to compare the knotless internal brace technique and the knot-tying suture bridge technique via the medial approach in the treatment of calcific Achilles tendinopathy. Methods: The clinical data of 25 cases of calcific Achilles tendinopathy in which nonoperative treatments had failed were retrospectively collected. All the patients received Achilles tendon debridement and Haglund deformity excision through a medial approach, followed by repair using the knotless internal brace technique or the knot-tying suture bridge technique. Pain was evaluated by using the visual analog scale (VAS). The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Score (AOFAS) questionnaire was administered preoperatively and postoperatively. Results: The mean follow-up time was 2.6 (range 2–3.5) years. There were no wound complications and no Achilles tendon ruptures. At 1 year postoperatively, the internal brace group was superior to the suture bridge group in terms of the VAS scores (p = 0.003). However, no differences were noticed between the two groups in either the VAS or the AOFAS scores at 2 years postoperatively. Conclusions: The medial approach in combination with the suture bridge technique was effective in treating calcific Achilles tendinopathy. The knotless internal brace technique involved less pain compared to the knot-tying suture bridge technique only at the early postoperative stage.
Comparison of the Effects of Prebiotics and Synbiotics Supplementation on the Immune Function of Male University Football Players

This study was conducted to compare the effects of long-term prebiotic and synbiotic supplementations on the immunosuppression of male football players after daily high-intensity training and a one-time strenuous exercise. A total of 30 male university student-athletes were recruited and randomly assigned to the prebiotic (PG, n = 15) or synbiotic group (SG, n = 15), receiving a prebiotic or synbiotic once per day for six weeks. Physiological assessments were conducted by a maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) test and an exhaustive constant load exercise (75% VO2max test). Inflammatory cytokine and secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) were measured. VO2max, maximal heart rate (HRmax), and lactic acid elimination rate (ER) were used to evaluate aerobic capacity. Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) complaints were evaluated using a questionnaire. URTI incidence and duration were significantly lower in the SG group than that in the PG group (p < 0.05). At baseline, SIgA and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in the SG group (p < 0.01) as well as IL-1β and IL-6 in the PG group (p < 0.05) were significantly increased, and IL-4 concentration was markedly reduced in the PG group (p < 0.01). The concentrations of IL-4, IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) were significantly reduced in the PG and SG group immediately after the constant load exercise. Significantly decreased HRmax and enhanced ER (increased by 193.78%) were detected in the SG group, not in the PG group, during the constant load experiment (p < 0.05) and the recovery period (p < 0.01), respectively. However, VO2max value was not changed. These data suggest that synbiotic supplementation for six weeks has a more positive effect than prebiotics on the immune function and athletic performance of male university football players.
Substrate Integrated Waveguide-Based Dual-Polarized Self-Diplexing Antenna Array

Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) cavity backed self-diplexing slot antenna array is proposed with dual-polarized capability. The antenna array is composed of four linearly placed full-duplex elements operating at 3.5 and 4 GHz independently. The antennas are designed inside a Half Mode SIW (HMSIW) cavity, and two capacitive slots adjust the resonant frequencies. Furthermore, two 1 by 4 power dividers all including 50-ohm transmission lines are designed to feed the radiators, thus resulting in a single layer antenna array integrated with feeding networks. Upon evaluating the simulated and measured results, the minimum reflection coefficients of −25 dB were observed at both operating frequencies. In addition, the data showed that the suggested structure brings about a high isolation level of more than 23 dB between two bands. It is also worth expressing that maximum gains of 10 and 11.5 dBi are obtained at 3.5 and 4 GHz, respectively. And, the radiation efficiencies are 0.78 and 0.9 for the low and high frequency bands.
Occult Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium ST117 Displaying a Highly Mutated vanB2 Operon

Rare information is available on clinical Enterococcus faecium encountered in Sardinia, Italy. This study investigated the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles and genotypic characteristics of E. faecium isolated at the University Hospital of Sassari, Italy, using the Vitek2 system and PCR, MLST, or WGS. Vitek2 revealed two VanB-type vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) isolates (MICs mg/L = 8 and ≥32) but failed to detect vancomycin resistance in one isolate (MIC mg/L ≤ 1) despite positive genotypic confirmation of vanB gene, which proved to be vancomycin resistant by additional phenotypic methods (MICs mg/L = 8). This vanB isolate was able to increase its vancomycin MIC after exposure to vancomycin, unlike the “classic” occult vanB-carrying E. faecium, becoming detectable by Vitek 2 (MICs mg/L ≥ 32). All three E. faecium had highly mutated vanB2 operons, as part of a chromosomally integrated Tn1549 transposon, with common missense mutations in VanH and VanB2 resistance proteins and specific missense mutations in the VanW accessory protein. There were additional missense mutations in VanS, VanH, and VanB proteins in the vanB2-carrying VREfm isolates compared to Vitek2. The molecular typing revealed a polyclonal hospital-associated E. faecium population from Clade A1, and that vanB2-VREfm, and nearly half of vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSEfm) analyzed, belonged to ST117. Based on core genome-MLST, ST117 strains had different clonal types (CT), excluding nosocomial transmission of specific CT. Detecting vanB2-carrying VREfm isolates by Vitek2 may be problematic, and alternative methods are needed to prevent therapeutic failure and spread.
Effects of Dietary Glutamine Supplementation on Heat-Induced Oxidative Stress in Broiler Chickens: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

In avian species, heat stress (HS) is usually the result of being exposed to high ambient temperatures, whereas oxidative stress (OS) results from the overproduction of reactive oxygen species. The current literature suggests that HS often leads to OS. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of glutamine on the antioxidant status and growth performances in heat-stressed broilers. A total of 13 studies were deemed eligible after an exhaustive search of the literature from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. Briefly, the following criteria were used to select the studies: trials performed on broilers; publication in peer-review journals using English as the text language; and sufficient details about the design and inclusion of dietary glutamine as a treatment for HS. Two main categories of outcomes were extracted from the studies included in the review: growth parameters and OS markers. For the meta-analysis, a random effect model was used when the heterogeneity was higher than 50%, and a fixed effect model was applied otherwise. Pooled standardized mean differences (SMD), and mean differences (MD) with their confidence intervals (CI) from the studies revealed that dietary glutamine could increase body weight gain (SMD = 0.70, CI = 0.50 to 0.90, p < 0.05), and feed intake (FI) (SMD = 0.64, CI = 0.43 to 0.86, p < 0.05), and reduce the feed conversion ratio (MD = −0.05, CI = −0.07 to −0.02, p < 0.05) in heat-exposed birds. Additionally, higher glutamine (SMD = 1.21, CI = 1.00 to 1.43, p < 0.05), glutathione (SMD = 1.25, CI = 0.88 to 1.62, p < 0.05), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (SMD = 0.97, CI = 0.58 to 1.36, p < 0.05), and catalase (SMD = 0.94, CI = 0.72 to 1.16, p < 0.05) levels were recorded in the serum, breast, and thigh muscle after supplementation of glutamine. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis revealed that malondialdehydes levels were decreased only in the serum (SMD = −0.83, CI = −1.25 to −0.41, p < 0.001) and thigh muscle (SMD = −1.30, CI = −1.86 to −0.35, p < 0.001) while glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity was increased in the breast (SMD = 1.32, CI = 0.95 to 1.68, p < 0.05) and thigh muscle (SMD = 1.53, CI = 1.06 to 1.99, p < 0.05). Meta-regression models indicated that longer periods of heat exposure were inversely associated with the effectiveness of dietary glutamine in increasing FI, GPX, and SOD (p < 0.05). Besides, increasing the dietary concentration of glutamine led to higher GPX and SOD levels (p < 0.05). Taken together, results suggest that dietary supplementation of glutamine can effectively mitigate the deleterious effects of HS by enhancing the antioxidant status and increasing growth performances in broilers.
Color features for quality control in ceramic tile industry

We study visual quality control in the ceramics industry. In tile manufacturing, it is important that in each set of tiles, every single tile looks similar. Currently, the estimation is usually done by human vision. Our goal is to design a machine vision system that can estimate the sufficient similarity, or same appearance, to the human eye. Our main approach is to use accurate spectral representation of color, and com- pare spectral features to the RGB color features. A laboratory system for color measurements is built. Experimentations with five classes of brown tiles are presented and discussed. In addition to the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classifier, a neural network called the self-organizing map (SOM) is used to provide understanding of the spectral features. Every single spectrum in each tile of a training set is used as input to a 2-D SOM. The SOM is analyzed to understand how spectra are clustered. As a result, tiles are classified using a trained 2-D SOM. It is also of interest to know whether the order of spectral colors can be determined. In our approach, all spectra are clustered in a 1-D SOM, and each pixel (spectrum) is presented by pseudocolors according to the trained nodes. Finally, the results are compared to experiments with human vision. © 2001 Society of