Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Effects of Rewards and Schedule Length on Response Rates to Ecological Momentary Assessment Surveys: Randomized Controlled Trials

Background Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) are short, repeated surveys designed to collect information on experiences in real-time, real-life contexts. Embedding periodic bursts of EMAs within cohort studies enables the study of experiences on multiple timescales and could greatly enhance the accuracy of self-reported information. However, the burden on participants may be high and should be minimized to optimize EMA response rates. Objective We aimed to evaluate the effects of study design features on EMA response rates. Methods Embedded within an ongoing cohort study (Health@NUS), 3 bursts of EMAs were implemented over a 7-month period (April to October 2021). The response rate (percentage of completed EMA surveys from all sent EMA surveys; 30-42 individual EMA surveys sent/burst) for each burst was examined. Following a low response rate in burst 1, changes were made to the subsequent implementation strategy (SMS text message announcements instead of emails). In addition, 2 consecutive randomized controlled trials were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 4 different reward structures (with fixed and bonus components) and 2 different schedule lengths (7 or 14 d) on changes to the EMA response rate. Analyses were conducted from 2021 to 2022 using ANOVA and analysis of covariance to examine group differences and mixed models to assess changes across all 3 bursts. Results Participants (N=384) were university students (n=232, 60.4% female; mean age 23, SD 1.3 y) in Singapore. Changing the reward structure did not significantly change the response rate (F3,380=1.75; P=.16). Changing the schedule length did significantly change the response rate (F1,382=6.23; P=.01); the response rate was higher for the longer schedule (14 d; mean 48.34%, SD 33.17%) than the shorter schedule (7 d; mean 38.52%, SD 33.44%). The average response rate was higher in burst 2 and burst 3 (mean 50.56, SD 33.61 and mean 48.34, SD 33.17, respectively) than in burst 1 (mean 25.78, SD 30.12), and the difference was statistically significant (F2,766=93.83; P<.001). Conclusions Small changes to the implementation strategy (SMS text messages instead of emails) may have contributed to increasing the response rate over time. Changing the available rewards did not lead to a significant difference in the response rate, whereas changing the schedule length did lead to a significant difference in the response rate. Our study provides novel insights on how to implement EMA surveys in ongoing cohort studies. This knowledge is essential for conducting high-quality studies using EMA surveys. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05154227; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05154227
The bifurcation analysis of turing pattern formation induced by delay and diffusion in the Schnakenberg system

A delayed reaction-diffusion Schnakenberg system with Neumann boundary conditions is considered in the context of long range biological self-organisation dynamics incorporating gene expression delays. We perform a detailed stability and Hopf bifurcation analysis and derive conditions for determining the direction of bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solution. The delay-diffusion driven instability of the unique spatially homogeneous steady state solution and the diffusion-driven instability of the spatially homogeneous periodic solution are investigated, with limited simulations to support our theoretical analysis. These studies analytically demonstrate that the modelling of gene expression time delays in Turing systems can eliminate or disrupt the formation of a stationary heterogeneous pattern in the Schnakenberg system.
HCS-Splice: A High-Content Screening Method to Advance the Discovery of RNA Splicing-Modulating Therapeutics

Nucleic acid therapeutics have demonstrated an impressive acceleration in recent years. They work through multiple mechanisms of action, including the downregulation of gene expression and the modulation of RNA splicing. While several drugs based on the former mechanism have been approved, few target the latter, despite the promise of RNA splicing modulation. To improve our ability to discover novel RNA splicing-modulating therapies, we developed HCS-Splice, a robust cell-based High-Content Screening (HCS) assay. By implementing the use of a two-colour (GFP/RFP) fluorescent splicing reporter plasmid, we developed a versatile, effective, rapid, and robust high-throughput strategy for the identification of potent splicing-modulating molecules. The HCS-Splice strategy can also be used to functionally confirm splicing mutations in human genetic disorders or to screen drug candidates. As a proof-of-concept, we introduced a dementia-related splice-switching mutation in the Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau (MAPT) exon 10 splicing reporter. We applied HCS-Splice to the wild-type and mutant reporters and measured the functional change in exon 10 inclusion. To demonstrate the applicability of the method in cell-based drug discovery, HCS-Splice was used to evaluate the efficacy of an exon 10-targeting siRNA, which was able to restore the correct alternative splicing balance.
Mitochondrial DNA in Human Diversity and Health: From the Golden Age to the Omics Era

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a small fraction of our hereditary material. However, this molecule has had an overwhelming presence in scientific research for decades until the arrival of high-throughput studies. Several appealing properties justify the application of mtDNA to understand how human populations are—from a genetic perspective—and how individuals exhibit phenotypes of biomedical importance. Here, I review the basics of mitochondrial studies with a focus on the dawn of the field, analysis methods and the connection between two sides of mitochondrial genetics: anthropological and biomedical. The particularities of mtDNA, with respect to inheritance pattern, evolutionary rate and dependence on the nuclear genome, explain the challenges of associating mtDNA composition and diseases. Finally, I consider the relevance of this single locus in the context of omics research. The present work may serve as a tribute to a tool that has provided important insights into the past and present of humankind.
Cross-Cultural Participation in Food-Related Activities and Quality of Life among Children with Celiac Disease

Children with celiac disease may face challenges in managing a gluten-free diet during their daily interactions and activities. The objective of this study was to compare how children with celiac disease manage their gluten-free diet and participate in food-related activities in Italy and Israel and to assess their quality of life. The previously validated Children’s Activities Report (CD-Chart) and the Disease-specific Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children with Celiac Disease (CDDUX) were administered in Italy to children aged 8–16 diagnosed with CD (n = 39). The results were compared to data that had been previously gathered from Israeli children with CD (n = 106). The CD-Chart demonstrated satisfactory internal reliability within each cultural group (Italy: α = 0.82; Israel: α = 0.76). Mann–Whitney U-tests indicated significant differences between the two groups. The Italian children exhibited a significantly higher preference for participating in the activities compared to the Israelis (U = 3283.50, p < 0.001). Nonetheless, the Italian children displayed a notable decrease in their level of involvement in the preparation required before engaging in different activities (U = 760.50, p < 0.001). Moreover, they exhibited significantly lower self-determination in this preparatory process compared to the Israeli children (U = 726.00, p < 0.001). Significant group differences were found between the CDDUX children’s self-reports and parents’ proxy reports in the Israeli group but not in the Italian group. The CD-Chart revealed both shared and distinct participation characteristics in daily food-related activities across different cultural contexts. By incorporating the CD-Chart and the CDDUX, healthcare professionals can emphasize crucial aspects of day-to-day health management and guide them in establishing suitable intervention objectives to enhance effective health self-management.
An Appearance-Motion Network for Vision-Based Crash Detection: Improving the Accuracy in Congested Traffic

Crash detection is of great significance for traffic emergency management. Video-based approaches can effectively save the manpower monitoring cost and have achieved promising results in recent studies. However, they sometimes fail to correctly identify crashes in congested traffic. To fill the gap, this paper proposes a novel appearance-motion network for improving video-based crash detection performance in congested traffic. The appearance-motion network utilizes two paralleled convolutional networks (i.e., an appearance network and a motion network) to extract both appearance features and motion features of crashes. To learn discriminative appearance features for differentiating crashes in congested traffic scene (CCT) with non-crashes in congested traffic scene (NCCT), an auxiliary network combined with a triplet loss are introduced to train the appearance network. To better capture crash motion features in congested traffic, an optical flow learner is built in the motion network and trained to extract more fine-grained motion information. Moreover, a temporal attention module is applied to enable the motion network to focus on valuable frames. Experimental results show that the proposed network achieves a state-of-the-art result on crash detection and the introduction of the three components (i.e., the auxiliary network, the optical flow learner and the temporal attention module) effectively reduces false alarm rate by 28.07% and miss rate by 27.08% on crash detection in congested traffic. Our dataset will be available at https://github.com/vvgoder/Dataset_for_crashdetection.
An efficient discretisation scheme for one dimensional SDEs with a diffusion coefficient function of the form |x|^a, a in [1/2,1)

In this paper, we study the rate of convergence of a symmetrized version of the classical Euler scheme, applied to the discretisation of the solution of a stochastic differential equation with a diffusion coefficient function of the form |x|^a, a in [1/2,1). For smooth test functions, we show that the weak error is of order one as for the classical Euler scheme. More over, the symmetrized version is very easy to simulate on a computer.
Effect on kinematic gait variables of two methods of inertial measurement unit sensor attachment to the extremities of horses under controlled conditions of treadmill exercise in sound horses at the walk and trot: A pilot study

The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the effects of two different methods (straps vs. glued-on) of attaching extremity mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs) to the distal tibia and radius for the evaluation of kinematic variables under controlled conditions of treadmill exercise at the walk and trot. This was performed as a cross over design where three orthopedically sound horses entered two groups: straps and glued-on. Horses were instrumented with eight IMUs at distal radii, tibias and third metacarpal and metatarsal regions. Data were collected three consecutive times during walk and trot on a treadmill at three different times during a time interval of 1 hour. Specifically designed software was used to process the accelerometer and gyroscope signals to obtain spatial and temporal data that described selected kinematic variables predetermined by the system. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to assess the differences between groups. The results showed the use of straps producing a statistically significant reduction of sagittal range of motion (ROM) on the attached joints and bone segments, namely tarsi, carpi, crus and antebrachium. To conclude the observed reduction of joint’s sagittal ROM while variable (0.8 to 12 degrees) should be taken into account when using this system for the evaluation of gait quality profile.
Market-Based Coordinated Planning of Fast Charging Station and Dynamic Wireless Charging System Considering Energy Demand Assignment

With the rapid growth of electric vehicle (EV) penetration, EV charging demand is becoming greater and diversified. To meet the diverse EV charging demand, we propose a market-based coordinated planning method of fast charging station (FCS) and dynamic wireless charging system (DWCS). Firstly, a bi-level coordinated planning model considering the benefits of charging service provider and EV user group is built. It can make full use of the complementary characteristics of FCSs and DWCSs. Then, the energy demand assignment(EDA) approach that can directly assign energy demand to roads and power nodes is proposed and applied in the inner level of bi-level coordinated planning model. Finally, the cases that consider the impact of differentiated traffic demand and land prices in different regions are proposed. The case studies are formulated based on the 21 power nodes-12 traffic nodes network and the 54 power nodes-25 traffic nodes network. To calculate the optimal solution, the KKT conditions, the McCormick relaxation approach, the optimization-based bound tightening approach (OBBT) and the sequential bound tightening approach (SBT) are employed. Numerical simulation results validate that the proposed method can effectively improve the profits of charging service provider and keep the EV users’ charging cost at relatively low range.
High-Resolution Bistatic Spotlight SAR Imagery With General Configuration and Accelerated Track

Due to the flexible configuration and maneuvering platform, bistatic synthetic aperture radar (BiSAR) plays an important role in modern remote sensing applications, but the nonideal track simultaneously introduces model mismatch and spatial-variant phase problems. This article proposes a subaperture (SA) parametric polar format algorithm (PFA) for high-resolution bistatic spotlight SAR (BSSAR) imaging. First, a bistatic parametric PFA (BPPFA) is proposed to focus on the generally configured BiSAR data. A high-precision range model in the bistatic range and ellipsoid parameter angle coordinate space is established to modify the PFA interpolation kernels. To further enhance the azimuth resolution, the PFA subimages are fused in the image domain based on the coordinate transformation between the unified Cartesian coordinates and local imaging polar coordinates. During the subimage fusion, in order to ensure the accurate projection and nonaliasing spectrum, we also consider the geometric deformation of the coarse PFA image and analyze the wavenumber support region along with the Nyquist sampling requirement. This novel SA method, which is theoretically more efficient than the fast back-projection algorithm (BPA), alleviates the limitation of full aperture resolution on PFA’s depth of focus (DOF). Finally, our method is applied to the general BSSAR data, involving the level-flight airborne transmitter and the dive hypersonic vehicle-borne receiver, and the results of both points and distributed targets demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency.
A Supplementary Analytical Appendix to A Bias-Corrected Estimator of the Covariation Matrix of Multiple Security Prices when both Microstructure Eects and Sampling Durations are Persistent and Endogenous

1 Notations and Definitions 3 1.1 List of abbreviations for earlier studies . 3 1.2 General notations . 3 1.3 Notations for multiple summations . 3 1.4 Notations for matrix operations . 3 1.5 Joint cumulants of random vectors . 5 1.6 Data-generating mechanism and general results . 6 1.7 Matrix-valued normal variables . 8 1.8 Several concepts of convergence in law . 9
Az éghajlatváltozás, hatásai és az intézkedések az IPCC negyedik értékelő jelentése tükrében

Az Éghajlat-változási Kormányközi Testület (IPCC) 2007-ben közreadott Negyedik Értékelő Jelentése megállapította, hogy a Föld éghajlata az ipari forradalom óta eltelt időben melegedett. A melegedés nagyon valószínű oka, hogy a különféle emberi tevékenységek során a növekszik a légkörbe jutó, a természetes üvegházhatást fokozó üvegházgázok, mindenekelőtt a szén-dioxid mennyisége. Amennyiben a kibocsátás a jelenlegi vagy azt meghaladó ütemben folytatódik, a globális melegedés mértéke a 21. század végére elérheti a 2,5–5,5 °C-ot. A globális melegedés hatással lesz a regionális éghajlatra, a természetes fizikai és biológiai rendszerekre, a humán rendszerekre. Számos jelzés van arról, hogy a változások máris elkezdődtek. A melegedés következtében olvad a sarkkörüli tengerjég, csökken a gleccserek és a permafroszt kiterjedése, emelkedik a tengerek vízszintje, a száraz éghajlatú térségekben csökken a hasznosítható vízkészlet, gyakoribbá válnak a szélsőséges időjárási jelenségek (aszály, árvizek). Az éghajlatváltozás a nem éghajlati hatásokkal (földhasználati változások, szennyezés, a természeti erőforrások túlzott igénybevétele) együtt veszélyezteti számos ökoszisztéma fennmaradását, különösen a 2–3 °C-ot meghaladó globális melegedésnél. Folytatódik a biogeográfia övezetek eltolódása, pl. erdők északi terjeszkedése a tundra rovására, a szubtrópusi területek bővülése a trópusok rovására. Az éghajlatváltozás veszélyezteti a biodiverzitást, az eddig ismert fajok 20–30%-a kipusztulhat. A tengerek melegedése miatt eltűnhet a koralltelepek jó része, a sarki jég olvadása miatt szűkülhet egyes fajok élettere, a tengervízszint emelkedése miatt veszélybe kerülnek a parti mangrove-erdők. A humán szférában nő a vízhiányos területeken élők száma, hosszabb távon romlik az élelmiszer-ellátás biztonsága, nő a fertőzéses betegedések kockázata. A tengerszint emelkedése több millió parti lakos biztonságát veszélyezteti. Az éghajlatváltozás kedvezőtlen hatásainak kivédésére vagy csökkentésére két út kínálkozik: az egyik az éghajlatváltozás mérséklése, a másik az új éghajlati viszonyokhoz való alkalmazkodás.
FIXED POINTS PARAMETERS FOR TEICHM ¨ ULLER SPACE OF CLOSED

3) polynomials.The particularity of this set of ﬁxed points parameters is that nomultipliers or traces are used. Another explicit parameters (involvingtraces or multipliers) can be seen in [7], [6], [10], [8], [9], [11], [12], [15],[17] and [19], for instance.The diﬃculty to read from the trace or multiplier the presence ofparabolic elements makes sense to look for coordinates from whichparabolic transformations can be readed. In fact, this will be the caseif one wants to look boundary points in deformation spaces.Description of the parameter space
Robust Anti-windup Compensator Synthesis via Integral Quadratic Constraints

Abstract We develop an anti-windup (AW) compensator synthesis approach using Integral Quadratic Constraints (IQC). The synthesis finds the AW compensator that achieves a specified robustness against additive or input multiplicative uncertainty, provided there exists a feasible solution. We also incorporate a performance criterion into the AW compensator synthesis to achieve an appropriate trade-off between the performance and robustness. The efficacy of this approach is demonstrated by a numerical example.
Switchable and tunable erbium-doped fiber lasers using a hollow-core Bragg fiber

A switchable and tunable erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this paper. A novel comb filter, which consists of a section of hollow-core Bragg fiber cascaded with Sagnac loop based on a polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF), is developed to suppress the mode competition in the EDFL. By carefully adjusting the polarization controllers, switchable and tunable single- or dual-wavelength lasing outputs with side-mode suppression ratios as high as 50 dB can be achieved. Single-wavelength lasing outputs with a 3 dB linewidth of 0.02 nm can be tuned within the wavelength range from 1562.4 nm to 1565.8 nm. Two kinds of dual-wavelength lasing outputs with different wavelength intervals of 1 nm and 2.1 nm can be obtained and the corresponding tunable wavelength range is 0.5 nm. Moreover, the wavelength shift and peak power fluctuation of both the single- and dual-wavelength lasing outputs are less than 0.1 nm and 2 dB over half an hour at room temperature, which indicates that the proposed fiber laser has good stability. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that a hollow-core Bragg fiber has been used as a comb filter in the EDFL.
Modern and Non-Invasive Methods of Fat Removal

Adipocytes accumulate triacylglycerols as an energy store, thereby causing an increase in the adipose tissue volume. Weight gain can be prevented through damage to the adipocyte structure or an increase in the body’s metabolic rate. Commonly used methods to disintegrate the cell membrane of adipocytes include injection lipolysis, cryolipolysis, ultrasonic lipolysis, radiofrequency lipolysis, laser lipolysis, carboxytherapy, and lipolysis using an electromagnetic field. The names of these methods suggest which substances are being used, and their main advantages are a very low invasiveness, as well as effectiveness. However, new discoveries in medicine, along with individuals’ desire to improve their appearance, have resulted in numerous studies on more ways of reducing body fat. Great potential is seen in beige adipocytes, which can be transformed, i.e., “recruited” from white adipocytes, or synthesized de novo; they also show thermogenic properties. One of the stimuli inducing the formation of beige adipocytes is cold and B3-adrenergic stimulation. Based on these findings, the researchers created, for example, cooling clothing. Additionally, curcumin and natural anthocyanins have proven to be helpful in the treatment of obesity and diabetes, by stimulating the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1, and inducing the formation of beige adipocytes. Another study showed that the conversion of white adipose tissue is indirectly influenced by interleukin-6 secreted by the muscles, the expression of which is increased in people actively exercising. Moreover, there is potential in adenosine analogs, fenoldopam, rhubarb, the herbal extract Ephedra sinica Stapf, electroacupuncture simulation, and the drug CBL-514. Despite knowledge and experience, the ideal method for a quick and noticeable, but safe and non-invasive reduction of body fat has not been found yet. The research conducted nowadays may bring us closer to the development of a universal method, and turn out to be a breakthrough in the fight against overweight and obesity.
High Performance Flexible Organic Phototransistors with Ultrashort Channel Length

Organic phototransistors with high responsivity and sensitivity to light irradiance have great potential applications in environmental monitoring, space exploration, security, image sensors and healthcare systems. In this manuscript, a novel polymer bulk heterojunction field effect phototransistor with ultrashort channel length (tens of nanometers) and ultrahigh sensitivity to visible light was proposed. Due to the nanoscale channel and bulk heterojunction structure, a high-performance phototransistor with high responsivity of 750 A/W, photosensitivity of 1.0 × 106, and detectivity as high as 4.54 × 1015 Jones was demonstrated under 720 nm light illumination with 0.1 mW/cm2 intensity, which was even better that those lateral organic phototransistors. Moreover, organic phototransistors with ultrashort channel length were investigated for the first time on a flexible substrate, which exhibited outstanding mechanical flexibility due to their unique designs. Further investigation of the correlation between th.