Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Novel LSTM-Based Approaches for Enhancing Outdoor Localization Accuracy in 4G Networks

Fingerprint localization using neural networks is emerging as the state-of-the-art technique for outdoor localization using mobile network features. In this paper, we introduce two sequence-based frameworks showing major accuracy enhancements in large-scale outdoor environments compared to the state of the art in this domain. The first uses a uni-directional LSTM network called SeqOutLoc, and the second uses a bi-directional LSTM network called BiOutLoc. We also introduce the AngleNoiseSynth augmenter to expand the dataset, taking into account the angle of user movement and system noise. For SeqOutLoc, we show how adding sequence information enhances the accuracy of localization in a large-scale outdoor urban area of 45 km2 by 25% compared to previous work, while using 35% fewer network parameters. The second model, BiOutLoc, enhances the localization accuracy with fewer network parameters by utilizing both past and future information, which is useful in near-real-time localization. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first to use a Bi-LSTM model in outdoor fingerprint-based localization. BiOutLoc achieves a median localization accuracy of 9.4 meters, surpassing other deep learning-based localization systems by 31%, while reducing the number of parameters by 67%. Finally, we use transfer learning to fine-tune the parameters of BiOutLoc trained in a certain area using the data from a new area. This results in an 18% enhancement in accuracy and a 71% reduction in training time compared to training the model using only the data of the new area.
Early-stage modeling and analysis of continuum compliant structure for multi-DOF endoluminal forceps using pseudo-rigid-body model

Early detection and treatment of intraluminal diseases enable minimally invasive surgery and can lead to a high cure rate. Advanced devices with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs) make narrow intraluminal procedures easier and safer. In a previous study, we developed a multi-DOF compliant endoluminal forceps with a tendon-sheath mechanism. The maximum bending stress of this design was reduced by changing the thickness of a compliant hinge in each segment, and the forceps achieved a wide range of motion. However, its deformed shapes with a non-constant curvature, due to a compliant inhomogeneous-thickness hinge structure, hinder fine manipulation in a narrow lumen. Here, we construct an accurate model of this compliant inhomogeneous-thickness hinge structure using pseudo-rigid-body model. In the proposed method, each compliant hinge is represented by a torsion spring and rotational joint, and the deformed shape is estimated from the bending angle caused by the tensile force. We derive the coefficient of dynamic friction by considering the friction between the wire and compliant joint based on a belt friction model. These novel calculations allow to consider individual differences in material properties and surface roughness. We experimentally confirm the feasibility of constructing a highly accurate model with a lower calculation cost than the finite element method. Our proposal seems suitable for developing dexterous forceps and other endoluminal devices, such as catheters, which mitigate operation errors and help approach lesions in narrow lumens. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Asymmetrically Layered Unit Cell Topology to Reduce Cell Gap of Liquid Crystals for 5G Millimeter-Wave Transmissive Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Applications

This study presents transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface (TRIS) unit cells (UCs) with slimmed liquid crystals (LCs), where the effective cell gap is electromagnetically tailored to control the LC using empirically practical voltage values. Prior LC-based transmissive UCs utilize thickened cell gaps at millimeter-wave frequencies due to limited parametric degrees of freedom, aiming for enhanced performance, but this approach is unfavorable in terms of LC controllability. Therefore, a coupled resonator-loaded UC featuring a dumbbell-shaped complementary loop with intrinsically reduced coupling strength is proposed, despite the close proximity due to the slimmed cell gap. Moreover, a cleverly designed asymmetrical topology is proposed, where the resonators are positioned apart from each other in the perpendicular direction of the coupled dominant current. The designed UC achieves a simulated phase tuning range (PTR) of 123° by employing only a single-layered LC with a cell gap of 0.21 mm, which is improved more than two times than that of the previously studied counterpart. In addition, an operating range of 27.9–29 GHz with reasonable loss sustainable for entire range of LC dielectric constant is attained successfully, contrary to previous works where low loss is maintained only for a single tone (ST) frequency.
Look Back Before Leaping Forward : Four Decades of Domestic Energy Enquiry

The problem of reducing domestic energy consumption is a hot topic in the pervasive computing and CHI communities, though it is also one with a long and varied history. In this survey we give a brief overview of the history and current state of four approaches to this problem, from feedbackoriented and technology-centric systems found in pervasive computing, to social factors research and economics-based studies. We aim to provide an introductory set of references that allows readers to explore the rich background of this topic more deeply and broadly, and complement more focused reviews already published.
The influence of oil cake granulation and ultrasonic pretreatment on the properties of biopolymer films based on Camelina sativa oilseed cake

This study aimed at investigating the synthesis of biopolymer films based on the Camelina sativa cake, an agricultural waste which remains after cold pressing of the oil from seed. During the film synthesis, three different granulations of the camelina cake were used: the whole cake, fractions with a size of 180-250 µm and fractions smaller than 180 µm. Half of the samples were pretreated with an ultrasonic bath in order to examine the influence of the native mucilage from the cake on the properties of the obtained films. The biopolymer film samples were tested for mechanical, barrier, physicochemical and structural properties. The obtained films were dark, firm and flexible. Application of mucilage removal pretreatment contributed to lower tensile strength and higher elongation at break. Significantly lower water vapor permeability was recorded in the samples not pre-treated regarding mucilage removal. A foil with optimal physicochemical characteristics was produced using oilcake with a particle size less than 180 µm, regardless of the pre-treatment application. There were no structural differences or differences in thermal behaviour among the tested samples. Statistical analysis (Z-Score analysis) showed the sample CSoC ˂180,wo was optimal due to good mechanical, barrier and physicochemical properties.
Isolation and identification of Taylorella asinigenitalis from a mare in Oklahoma, USA

Contagious equine metritis (CEM) is a highly contagious venereal disease of horses whose etiologic agent has been identified as Taylorella equigenitalis . The bacterium is a catalase and oxidase positive pleomorphic Gram-negative coccobacillus which grows best in a humidified environment of reduced oxygen (95% air containing 5% CO 2 ) on Eugon chocolate agar. During routine screening of an Oklahoma equine breeding population slated for export, a T. equigenitalis -like organism was isolated. Based on results from requisite conditions for cultivation, biochemical tests, 16S rDNA and intergenic spacer region (ISR) sequence analyses, the isolated organism was identified as Taylorella asinigenitalis . As required by federal regulations, this identification was confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, IA. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis revealed that the newly identified strain has a distinct genomic fingerprint from the two previously characterized T. asinigenitalis isolates from the United States and represents the second strain to be recovered from a horse in the US.
Mechanistic Insights into a Novel Controllable Phase-Transition Polymer for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Mature Waterflooding Reservoirs

Expanding swept volume technology via continuous-phase polymer solution and dispersed-phase particle gel is an important technique to increase oil production and control water production in mature waterflooding reservoirs. However, problems such as the low viscosity retention rate, deep migration, and weak mobility control of conventional polymers, and the contradiction between migration distance of particle gel and plugging strength, restrict the long-term effectiveness of oil displacement agents and the in-depth sweep efficiency expanding capability in reservoirs. Combined with the technical advantages of polymer and particle gel, a novel controllable phase-transition polymer was developed and systematically studied to gain mechanistic insights into enhanced oil recovery for mature waterflooding reservoirs. To reveal the phase-transition mechanism, the molecular structure, morphology, and rheological properties of the controllable phase-transition polymer were characterized before and after phase transition. The propagation behavior of the controllable phase-transition polymer in porous media was studied by conducting long core flow experiments. Two-dimensional micro visualization and parallel core flooding experiments were performed to investigate the EOR mechanism from porous media to pore level. Results show that the controllable phase-transition polymer could change phase from dispersed-phase particle gel to continuous-phase solution with the prolongation of ageing time. The controllable phase-transition polymer exhibited phase-transition behavior and good propagation capability in porous media. The results of micro visualization flooding experiments showed that the incremental oil recovery of the controllable phase-transition polymer was highest when a particle gel and polymer solution coexisted, followed by a pure continuous-phase polymer solution and pure dispersed-phase particle gel suspension. The recovery rate of the novel controllable phase-transition polymer was 27.2% after waterflooding, which was 8.9% higher than that of conventional polymer, providing a promising candidate for oilfield application.
Stereotactic intensity-modulated radiotherapy for skull base meningioma using the HybridArc with Novalis STx system

Background: Skull base meningiomas are often difficult to remove completely with preserved nerve function and may require radiation therapy. However, the Gamma Knife is unsuitable for large tumor volume or the optic nerve, which is difficult to identify on imaging. We report the results of stereotactic radiotherapy with HybridArc using Novalis STx for skull base meningiomas. Methods: We retrospectively examined 28 patients with skull base meningioma who underwent stereotactic radiotherapy (54 Gy/30 fractions) with HybridArc. Results: The 28 patients, nine males and 19 females, were aged 31–83 years (mean 58.4 years), and the tumor volume was 2.6–97.1 mL (mean 29.7 mL). HybridArc irradiation was performed with D95 54 Gy/30 fractions for all patients with a median follow-up period of 36.0 months (range: 12–78 months). Tumor control rates at 1, 2, and 5 years after radiotherapy were 92.6%, 89.1%, and 82.8%, respectively. Only one non-atypical meningioma remained uncontrolled; thus, the tumor control rate for non-atypical meningioma at 1, 2, and 5 years was 94.1%. Tumor control rates for atypical meningioma at 1, 2, and 5 years were 85.7%, 71.4%, and 53.6%, respectively, significantly worse than for non-atypical meningiomas (P = 0.0395). Radiation injury was observed in two cases (7.1%). Visual field defects were observed in 16 patients, and diplopia in 6. Visual field and diplopia improvements were achieved in 5 and 2 patients, respectively (with overlap). Conclusion: Stereotactic radiotherapy (54 Gy/30 fractions) with HybridArc using Novalis STx is a safe and effective approach for relatively large skull base meningiomas.
Rotational Augmented Noise2Inverse for Low-Dose Computed Tomography Reconstruction

In this work, we present a novel self-supervised method for low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) reconstruction. Reducing the radiation dose to patients during a computed tomography (CT) scan is a crucial challenge since the quality of the reconstruction highly degrades because of low photons or limited measurements. Supervised deep learning DL methods have shown the ability to remove noise in images but require accurate ground truth which can be obtained only by performing additional high-radiation CT scans. Therefore, we propose a novel self-supervised framework for LDCT, in which ground truth is not required for training the convolutional neural network (CNN). Based on the noise2inverse (N2I) method, we enforce in the training loss the equivariant property of rotation transformation, which is induced by the CT imaging system, to improve the quality of the CT image in a lower dose. Numerical and experimental results show that the reconstruction accuracy of N2I with sparse views is degrading while the proposed rotational augmented noise2inverse (RAN2I) method keeps better-image quality over a different range of sampling angles. Finally, the quantitative results demonstrate that RAN2I achieves higher-image quality compared to N2I, and experimental results of RAN2I on real projection data show comparable performance to supervised learning.
Impact of Pharmacist-Led Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotic Therapy in Critically Ill Patients With Pneumonia

Purpose: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a peptide that is released in response to bacterial infections. The 2016 Infectious Diseases Society of America pneumonia guidelines recommend PCT monitoring to help guide antibiotic discontinuation. Utilization of PCT is well described in the literature; however, there is a paucity of literature regarding pharmacists’ involvement for using PCT in antibiotic interventions. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pharmacist-led intervention with PCT-guided antibiotic therapy in critically ill patients with pneumonia. Methods: This was a pre-post study conducted at a 1368-bed community teaching hospital in the United States. A prospective cohort with pharmacist intervention utilizing PCT-algorithm guidance was compared with a retrospective historical cohort with standard therapy. Adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with pneumonia were included. The primary endpoint was duration of antibiotic therapy. Secondary endpoints included 28-day mortality, ICU and hospital length of stay, reinitiation of antibiotic therapy, and the incidence of Clostridium difficile infection. Results: From August 2016 to July 2017, 113 patients were screened in the PCT group and 123 patients in the standard therapy group. Of these, 37 patients were included in the PCT group and 37 patients in the standard therapy group. Baseline characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. The antibiotic duration of therapy was 6.3 days in the PCT group versus 9.7 days in the standard therapy group (P < .001). There were no differences in secondary endpoints between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Clinical pharmacists’ intervention with PCT-guided antibiotic therapy led to a reduction in the duration of antibiotic therapy in critically ill patients with pneumonia without increasing complications.
Comparison of a novel tablet formulation of tacrolimus and conventional capsule formulation in de novo kidney transplant recipients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The work aimed to compare the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles and other outcomes reported in observational studies in de novo kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) receiving novel once-daily extended-release tablet tacrolimus (LCPT; LCP-tacrolimus; Envarsus XR) or receiving standard-of-care capsule tacrolimus (PR-Tac; prolonged-release tacrolimus; Advagraf/IR-Tac; immediate-release tacrolimus; Prograf). Methods: A systematic review was conducted for all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies investigating the outcomes in KTRs receiving LCPT or PR-Tac/IR-Tac. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE, with no language restriction. The registered trials and references listed in relevant studies were also searched. Data were extracted for the PK profile, tacrolimus trough level (TTL), and changes in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and serum creatinine (Scr), biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR) rate, delayed graft function (DGF) rate, post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) rate, tremor rate (TR), death rate (DR), and rate of infection by cytomegalovirus (CMV). This study was registered with PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42023403787). Results: A total of seven eligible articles including 1,428 patients with 712 in the LCPT group versus 716 in the PR-Tac/IR-Tac group were included in this study for evidence synthesis. The baseline characteristics of the LCPT, PR-Tac, and IR-Tac groups were similar. The pooled analysis showed a higher PK profile in the LCPT group, and this result was consistent with those of all the included studies. In addition, no significant difference was observed for other outcomes. Conclusion: Considering heterogeneity between studies and potential bias, care providers should select agents based on patient-specific factors and their clinical experience for the immunosuppressive treatment of de novo KTRs.
Correlation of SWAP (short wavelength automated perimetry) with OCT (optical coherence tomography in pre perimetric glaucoma

Purpose: To find out correlation of swap and OCT in preperimetric glaucoma patient coming to Dhiraj general hospital. Materials and Methods: A complete ophthalmological examination will be done including uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity, slit lamp examination, central corneal thickness measurement by pachymetry, applanation tonometry, gonioscopy and dilated fundus examination and Humphrey perimetry followed by SWAP and FDT. Result: In the present study a total of 50 patients were screened. Out of this 22 patients had a CDR of 0.5 with healthy neuro-retinal rim (HNRR) in both the eyes. One patient had 0.5 CDR with inferior thinning in both the eyes. 8 patients had a CDR of 0.6 with HNRR and 1 had 0.6 CDR with inferior thinning. 2 patients had a large cup to disc ratio of 0.7 CDR but the neuro retinal rim on clinical examination appeared to be healthy. 14 patients had a large cup to disc ratio of 0.7 in both the eyes. Out of this 8 had inferior thinning of the neuro-retinal rim and 6 had superior thinning of the neuro retinal rim. 2 patients included in this study had 0.8 CDR with one having superior thinning and one having inferior thinning of the neuro retinal rim. The accuracy of OCT in detecting even the smallest nerve fiber layer defect was much higher than seen on SWAP. About 52% showed normal OCT as compared to perimetry group which was 60% and about 48% of patients showed affected nerve fiber layer thinning as compared to perimetry where visual field changes were 40%. Conclusion: In this study it was concluded that SD-OCT is better in detection very early stages of glaucoma where SAP or SWAP modality of perimetry does not detect. The sensitivity of OCT is much higher than perimetry and can help in detecting the suspects of glaucoma. Patients at with high risk (family history, smokers, large cup to disc ratio etc) should be screen for both OCT and SWAP. This will help us for manage patients better as they will be detected at a very early stage.
Resilience and Coping by Parents of Children with Intellectual Disability in Kerala, South India

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between the resilience and coping mechanisms of parents of children with intellectual disability. Method: Study participants were recruited from special schools and neighbourhood groups of parents of children with special needs in Kerala, a southern state of India. Around 121 parents completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Coping Strategies Screen. The correlational analysis revealed a significant relationship between their coping strategies and resilience. Results: Problem focussed coping strategies such as problem-solving skills, taking professional assistance, seeking information about managing the condition, taking time to discuss the ways of handling child’s condition with the family members/significant others and having recreational activities improved parental resilience. Whereas, emotion focused coping strategies for example, reliance on religious leaders for emotional support, weeping, blaming fate and doing nothing decreased their resilience. Rehabilitation professionals may plan interventions to expand problem focused coping skills so as to improve their resilience Conclusion: The findings have specific applications in developing interventions for parents of children with intellectual disability.
Denoising EEG using mMSE, Kurtosis and Wavelet-ICA

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is electrical signal recorded from the scalp which represents the neural activity of human brain. EEG is often contaminated by the ocular artifacts viz. saccades, voluntarily or involuntarily eye movement and eye blink. Various methods have been proposed both in signal processing field as well as in neuroscience for identification and correction of ocular artifacts. Among many methods based on wavelet transform, adaptive filters, independent component analysis have shown promising results in removal of such artifacts. In this paper unsupervised robust and computationally fast algorithm using multi scale sample entropy (mMSE) and Kurtosis is used to automatically identify independent artifactual components and then denoising these components using wavelet decomposition. Results have shown improved reconstructed EEG signals. The proposed algorithm does not need manual identification of artifactual components. Keywords— Electroencephalography (EEG), ocular Artifact (OAs), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), Kurtosis, modified multi-scale sample entropy (mMSE)
China’s “One-child family” demographic policy - Analyzing the consequences of the measures taken to confine the demographic growth of China

The so called “one-child policy” has brought economic benefits in China for the three decades since it was enforced, but it has also brought a series of disadvantages with consequences in the near future: increase of the dependency ratio in China with the accentuation of the population ageing phenomenon and the occurrence of disparities in the sex ratio that will lead to special social problems. Some experts believe that the simplistic reasoning behind the “one-child policy” might be responsible for the next demographic crisis. On one hand, the number of Chinese citizens is still growing. On the other hand China faces a very rapid aging of the population.