Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Anesthetic Techniques Affect Operating Room Efficiency? Comparison of Target-Controlled Infusion of Propofol and Desflurane Anesthesia in Breast Cancer Surgery

Background: Anesthetic techniques may contribute to the reduction of operating room (OR) costs by decreasing anesthesia-controlled time. Anesthesia induction and emergence have to be time-optimized without neglecting patient care. The purpose of this study was to compare total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA group) and desflurane anesthesia (desflurane group) with respect to OR efficiency and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in breast cancer surgery. Design: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Information from the anesthesia database of the Tri-Service General Hospital for January 2010 to December 2011 was retrieved for patients who underwent breast cancer surgery. Three hundred and sixteen patients were included in the TIVA group (n = 196) or the desflurane group (n = 120). Emergence from anesthesia, OR time, and PONV were compared. Results: Emergence time was significantly shorter in the TIVA group than in the desflurane group (4.5±4.6 min vs. 10.4±6.4 min; P ＜ 0.01). There were no significant differences in postanesthesia recovery (PAR) discharge time between the groups. However, the total OR stay time was significantly shorter in the TIVA group than in the desflurane group (167±34 min vs. 173 ± 33 min; P ＜ 0.05). Increased PONV (30.9% vs. 12.2%; P ＜ 0.01) and antiemetic usage (19 vs. 5; P ＜ 0.05) were reported in the desflurane group compared with the TIVA group. Conclusion: TIVA provided faster emergence, increased OR efficiency, and decreased PONV compared with desflurane anesthesia in breast cancer surgery.
Optimization of unsupervised affinity propagation clustering method

Affinity propagation (AP) is one of the most recent unsupervised classification methods used. Its property is very interesting, but its use reveals the existence of three drawbacks which seriously hamper its usage. These concern its sensitivity to: (i) the presence of identical objects in the population to be partitioned; (ii) the value of the preference parameter p and (iii) the value of the regularization parameter λ introduced for the updating of responsibilities and availabilities criteria. In this paper, an optimization of AP clustering method is proposed which provides an appropriate solution to each drawback underlined above. For the first two, we adapt the value of the preference parameter p for a given object, to the values of the similarities between this object and the others only. In the similarity matrix, any null distance for a given row is reassigned a preference value p, which corresponds to the minimum or average value of this row. Finally, to eliminate the regularization parameter while ensuring the convergence of the algorithm and the optimality of the solution, a smoothing operation on the elements of the responsibilities and the availabilities is introduced, involving the current estimated value and the three previous ones. This approach is tested on synthetic data and hyperspectral images and shows its efficiency. We show both the relevance of the results and their stability without the identified three drawbacks.
Abortifacient Potentials of Zingiberaceae Aframomum Melegueta (Alligator Pepper) in Adult Female Wistar Rats

This study investigates the abortifacient potential of aqueous seed extract of Alligator pepper (zingiberaceae Aframomum Melegueta ) in pregnant rats. In a bid to achieve this objective, seven female rats were paired with seven male rats of proven fertility from an initial pilot study. After pregnancy was achieved, the males were removed and female rats 1 – 5 served as the experimental group while female rats 6 and 7 served as the control group. The experimental group receives 2ml/kg single dose of alligator pepper extracts intra-peritoneal at the 4 th day while the control was given 2ml/kg distill water orally. Thereafter, the weights of the animals were monitored for the next 17 days. The group fed aqueous seed extract of Alligator pepper showed weight loss in the 2 nd trimester (206.40±36.77g) compared to weight in the 1 st trimester (215.20±41.99g) but then gain weight again in the 3 rd trimester while the control had a progressive weight gain. At the end of pregnancy, while the control produced litters, the experimental rats did not produce any litter. The results of this study showed that aqueous seed extract of Alligator pepper is abortifacient and this was noted in the 2 nd trimester. There is therefore need to communicate the danger pregnant women are exposed to, when this substance is used as an ingredient in food or served during religious rites and cultural practices.
Artificial Finger Control - Inverse kinematics in soft robotics

More compliant robots have certain benefits when coming to cooperating with humans. Standard industrial robots today require many safety measurements to be legal and safe to operate. Soft robots can therefor be safer, have more compliance for external forces naturally. Positioning and control of a robot can be a difficult task and computational heavy. In this thesis, we explore the possibility of controlling a soft artificial finger with heuristic methods such as neural networks. The finger would be compliant and in no way be endangering humans or the environment it is in. Due to the compliance in the materials the servos, cannot be broken as a result of misuse or external forces applied to the finger. Design of the finger will be discussed and reasoned. Inspiration from the human anatomy will be used, but for machine learning purposes there will be simplifications. Datasets will be generated using the model made and a webcam for tracking the fingertip. The collection of data and the impact the data have on the algorithms will be discussed. We will test different dataset with different amounts of joints. Distal supervised learning will be used as an approach to solve the inverse kinematics of the soft finger and see if the neural net can control the finger. Focusing on being accurate enough to position in space, but also learning fast to be able to adapt to external changes, that may affect the finger. The thesis will also implement a smaller regression method for the dataset. KNN-regression will be tested and compared to the result of the distal supervised learning. Both of the methods were able to learn the inverse kinematics of the soft robot.
An Energy Efficient Multilevel Hierarchal Cache based Scheme for Wireless Sensor Network

: The wireless sensor network is the decentralized type of network in which sensor nodes join or leave the network when they want. The sensor network is deployed on the far places and size of sensor nodes is very small due to which energy consumption is the major issue of WSN. The data gathered from the aimed environment is sent directly to the main station because sensor nodes have only restricted power. The data from a bunch of sensor nodes is received by the base station. For the implementation of decision making procedure, base station identifies and removes the resemblance find between the data of different sensor nodes. Further, base station not only utilize the obtain data locally but it is also capable of transmitting these data to the distant situated networks. The existing research work CTNR is the energy efficient protocol which improve lifetime of wireless sensor networks. The CTNR protocol has the two level hierarchies to reduce energy consumption of wireless sensor network. In the CTNR protocol, the cluster heads are selected in the network on the basis of distance and energy. In this research work CTNR routing protocol will be further improved to improve lifetime of wireless sensor network.
Archaeological anastylosis of two Macedonian tombs in a 3D virtual environment

Archaeological restoration of monuments is a practice requiring extreme caution and thorough study. Archaeologists and conservation experts are very reluctant to proceed to restoration and indeed to reconstruction actions without detailed consultation and thought. Nowadays, anastylosis executed on the real object is practically prohibited. Contemporary technologies have provided archaeologists and other conservation experts with the tools to embark on virtual restorations or anastyloses, thus testing various alternatives without physical intervention on the monument itself. In this way, the values of the monuments are respected according to international conventions. In this paper, two such examples of virtual archaeological anastyloses of two important Macedonian tombs in northern Greece are presented. The anastyloses were performed on three-dimensional (3D) models which have been produced using modern digital 3D documentation techniques, such as image-based modelling and terrestrial laser scanning. The reader is introduced to the history and importance –as well as the peculiarities– of the Macedonian tombs. In addition, the two tombs are described in detail mainly from an archaeological point of view The process of field data acquisition and processing to produce the 3D models are described. Simple and more or less standard methods were employed in acquiring the raw data. Processing was carried out using commercial software. The resulting 3D models and other documentation products are assessed for their accuracy and completeness. The decisions for the virtual anastylosis are explained in detail and the actual process is also described. The restored monuments are presented and evaluated by the conservation experts. Thus, it is shown how important virtual anastylosis of monuments is to archaeological researchers, as it enables them to conduct in-depth studies, without actually tampering with the monuments themselves. Digital 3D models are contributing to many disciplines, especially in archaeology, as they enable a wider audience to easily access both archaeological and geometric information as well as offering a high degree of interaction possibilities.
A 12.08-TOPS/W All-Digital Time-Domain CNN Engine Using Bi-Directional Memory Delay Lines for Energy Efficient Edge Computing

In this article, we demonstrate an energy efficient convolutional neural network (CNN) engine by performing multiply-and-accumulate (MAC) operations in the time domain. The multi-bit inputs are compactly represented as a single pulse width encoded input. This translates into reduced switching capacitance (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$C_{\mathrm{ DYN}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), compared to baseline digital implementation, and can enable low power neural network computing in an edge device. The time-domain CNN engine employs a novel bi-directional memory delay line (MDL) unit to perform signed accumulation of input and weight products. The proposed MDL design leverages standard digital circuits and does not require any capacitors and complex analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to realize the convolution operation, thereby enabling easy scaling across the process technology nodes. Four speed-up modes and a configurable MDL length are supported to address throughput versus accuracy trade-off of the time-domain computing approach. Delay calibration units have been accommodated to mitigate the process variation induced delay mismatch among concurrently operating MDL units. The proposed time-domain MDL design implements a LeNet-5 CNN engine in a commercial 40-nm CMOS process achieving an energy efficiency of 12.08 TOPS/W, a throughput of 0.365 GOPS at 537 mV in the 16<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> speed-up mode. 40-nm CMOS test-chip measurements over 100 MNIST images show 97% classification accuracy. Simulation results over the entire 10 000 MNIST validation dataset images taking into account the circuit non-ideal effects of the MDL-based time-domain approach show a classification accuracy of 98.42%. The test-chip is operational down to the near-threshold voltage (up to 375 mV) while maintaining the classification accuracy over 90% in the 1<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> speed-up mode. Furthermore, two methods of scaling MDLs to multi-bit weights are proposed. Simulation results for 1000-class AlexNet over 50 000 ImageNet validation dataset images show classification accuracy loss within 1% when compared with software implementation. The proposed MDL based time-domain approach performing 1-bit/8-bit weight and 8-bit input MAC operations when compared with the corresponding baseline digital implementations shows 2.09<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula>−2.32<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> higher energy efficiency and 2.22<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula>−3.45<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> smaller area.
Enhanced Complex Space Vector Modeling and Control System Design of Multiphase Magnetically Levitated Rotary–Linear Machines

Rotary–linear electric machines can perform coupled rotary and linear motion. In addition, they can have magnetic bearings (MBs) integrated and magnetically coupled with the rotary, linear, or rotary–linear machine operation. Since rotary–linear machines with MBs have not been thoroughly analyzed in the literature, the models that provide understanding of their operation and give basis for the control system implementation are not entirely covered. Hence, in this article, an enhanced complex space vector-based model of the rotary–linear machine with MBs is derived and expressions for the torque, thrust force, and MB force are given. The rotary–linear machine complex space vector of the voltage, current, or flux linkage is defined using the proposed transformation with two complex frames: one related to the rotation and MBs and another to the linear motion. This results in complex space vectors with two complex units; however, the techniques used for a conventional complex space vector calculation can also be applied to the proposed complex space vector description. This is also experimentally validated on a hardware prototype of a magnetically levitated linear tubular actuator (MALTA), whose position control system is designed and implemented based on the enhanced space vector modeling approach, with the dynamic operation of the MALTA, including linear motor operation with an axial stroke of 10mm and a mechanical frequency of 17Hz.
Limiting Noise Exposure Associated with Hearing Aid Use

An abstract of the thesis of Alison Mary Gilbert for the Master of Science in Speech Communication: Speech and Hearing Science presented December 1, 1995. Title: Limiting Noise Exposure Associated with Hearing Aid Use. Industrial workers who have sustained hearing losses often wear hearing aids on the job in order to hear their co-worker's speech. However they risk damaging their hearing further by amplifying the high levels of background noise typical of such environments. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established guidelines to protect workers' hearing. A maximum allowable level of 90 dBA averaged over a period of eight hours is considered safe. Wearing hearing aids on the job may expose an individual to a considerably higher levels, however no guidelines as to maximum allowable levels of amplified noise exist at this time. This study evaluated the performance of four hearing aids in noise to determine which would provide appropriate amplification without exceeding the OSHA maximum. The instruments were adjusted to provide 14 different frequency responses and placed on the Knowles Mannequin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR). A microphone in the position of KEMAR's eardrum recorded amplified levels of taped industrial noise. A sound level meter integrated the levels to give the OSHA Time Weighted Average (TWA), simulating the acoustic effect of an 8-hour noise exposure on an industrial worker.
Advising Big Data Transfer Over Dedicated Connections Based on Profiling Optimization

Big data transfer in next-generation scientific applications is now commonly carried out over dedicated channels in high-performance networks (HPNs), where transport protocols play a critical role in maximizing application-level throughput. Optimizing the performance of these protocols is challenging: i) transport protocols perform differently in various network environments, and the protocol choice is not straightforward; ii) even for a given protocol in a given environment, different parameter settings of the protocol may lead to significantly different performance and oftentimes the default setting does not yield the best performance. However, it is prohibitively time-consuming to conduct exhaustive transport profiling due to the large parameter space. In this paper, we propose a PRofiling Optimization Based DAta Transfer Advisor (ProbData) to help end users determine the most effective transport method with the most appropriate parameter settings to achieve satisfactory performance for big data transfer over dedicated connections in HPNs. ProbData employs a fast profiling scheme based on the Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation algorithm, namely, FastProf, to accelerate the exploration of the optimal operational zones of various transport methods to improve profiling efficiency. We first present a theoretical background of the optimized profiling approach in ProbData and then detail its design and implementation. The advising procedure and performance benefits of FastProf and ProbData are illustrated and evaluated by both extensive emulations based on real-life performance measurements and experiments over various physical connections in existing production HPNs.
Young males’ perceptions and use of reproductive health services in Lusaka, Zambia

Background Male adolescent‘s needs, behaviours and expectations are unique due to the influence of social constructions of masculinity. These behaviours and expectations have an effect on their health seeking behavior. The routine health services are generally not organized to provide the services that can meet the needs of male adolescents. The aim of this study was to describe the health seeking behaviours, knowledge about the available services, as well as experiences, and barriers to access and utilization of the reproductive health services among male adolescents in Lusaka. Study design A descriptive, qualitative study was conducted among male adolescents in a peri-urban setting in Lusaka. Four focus group discussions were conducted with 46 adolescents aged between 13 and 24 years of age, and six key informant interviews. Data was audio-tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic content analysis was done. Results Health concerns were related to the social, psychological, societal and puberty needs of participants. Concerns, questions and queries about masturbation were common, especially among the younger adolescents. Most problems related to puberty and body changes rather than sexual and reproductive health matters per se. Knowledge about the available sexual and reproductive health services was generally low, with some young men being completely unaware of the existence of youth friendly services at the local clinic. Contrary to popular opinion, adolescents in this community reported that they did not seek help on sexual matters from friends and did not want to discuss their problems with their peers, due to fears of being marginalized. Perceived gender, cultural and social norms, lack of knowledge about the availability of adolescent reproductive health services, and poor attitudes among the health care providers were some of the identified barriers to seeking health care. Adolescents perceived health providers to be judgmental, not helpful and condescending towards young people. Lack of privacy and confidentiality were also reported as barriers to access and utilization of sexual and reproductive health services. Adolescents were happy to accept available services from nongovernmental organizations and other private organizations rather than the public clinics and other health facilities. Conclusions Despite acknowledging their needs, male adolescents did not access the needed services at Chawama clinic due to negative perceptions of the health services and the health care workers in particular. Gender, cultural and social norms, lack of knowledge on available services, confidentiality and quality of care remained major barriers to accessing SRH services. The current public health service is not ―appropriate‖ for meeting male adolescents‘ sexual and reproductive health needs. Major restructuring and re orientation is needed to ―win‖ over male adolescents to the services.
Secure and Lightweight Authentication Scheme for Smart Metering Infrastructure in Smart Grid

In this article, a secure and lightweight authentication scheme, which provides trust, anonymity, and mutual authentication, with reduced energy, communicational, and computational overheads, is proposed for resource-constrained smart meters (SMs). The designed mutual authentication-based key agreement protocol leverages the advantages of fully hashed menezes-qu-vanstone key exchange mechanism along with Elliptic curve cryptography and one-way hash functions. Moreover, it allows to securely establish and verify the trust between the two communicating parties, i.e., SMs and neighbourhood area network gateway. These entities communicate over the insecure channel and form an important component of the smart metering infrastructure. Furthermore, extensive performance evaluation validates the supremacy of the designed protocol over the state-of-the-art in furnishing higher security features with minimal communicational and computational overheads. The obtained results also reflect that the proposed protocol is fit for implementation on resource-constrained SMs as it leads to minimal energy consumption.
Ethnicity recording in primary care: multiple imputation of missing data in ethnicity recording using The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database

Ethnicity is an important factor to be considered in many epidemiological studies because of its association with inequality in disease prevalence and the utilisation of healthcare. Ethnicity recording has been incorporated in primary care electronic health records, and therefore is available in a number of large UK primary care databases such as The Health Improvement Network (THIN). However, since primary care data are routinely collected to serve clinical purposes, a large amount of data that are relevant for research purposes including ethnicity is often missing. A popular approach is to use multiple imputation, but the standard multiple imputation does not give plausible estimates of the ethnicity distribution in THIN compared to the general UK population. However, census data can be utilised to form weights to use in multiple imputation such that the correct ethnicity distribution is recovered. I will describe how the method of weighted multiple imputation of missing data is implemented using the Stata’s mi impute suite, note some issues, and introduce a new procedure to implement the method for multiple incomplete variables which require different imputation weights. Finally, I will give an example showing how the method works when ethnicity is used as an explanatory variable in a cohort study.
Healthy Aging through Fall Prevention among Older Aboriginal People: From Many Voices to a Shared Vision

Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Organizers of the Symposium gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following organizations in making this event possible: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S. Indian Health Service; Ministry of Health, British Columbia; and University of Victoria Centre on Aging.