Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characteristics and Symptom Burden of Patients Accessing Acupuncture Services at a Cancer Hospital

Background: Patients with cancer are often impacted by a significant symptom burden. Cancer hospitals increasingly recognize the value of complementary and integrative therapies to support the management of cancer related symptoms. The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of the demographic characteristics and symptoms experienced by cancer patients who access acupuncture services in a tertiary hospital in Australia. Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted of patients that presented to the acupuncture service at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse between July 2017 and December 2018. Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCaW) outcome measures were used. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Principal Component Analysis. Results: A total of 127 inpatients and outpatients (mean age 55, range 19-85) were included with 441 individual surveys completed (264 ESAS, 177 MYCaW). Patients were predominantly female (76.8%) and breast cancer was the most prevalent primary diagnosis (48%). The most prevalent symptoms in the ESAS were sleep problems (88.6%), fatigue (88.3%), lack of wellbeing (88.1%), and memory difficulty (82.6%). Similarly, symptoms with the highest mean scores were numbness, fatigue, sleep problems and hot flushes, whilst neuropathy, and hot flashes were scored as the most severe (score ≥7) by patients. Cluster analysis yielded 3 symptom clusters, 2 included “physical symptoms” (pain, sleep problems, fatigue and numbness/neuropathy), and (nausea, appetite, general well-being), whilst the third included “psychological” symptoms (anxiety, depression, spiritual pain, financial distress). The most frequent concerns expressed by patients (MyCaW) seeking acupuncture were side effects of chemotherapy (24.6%) and pain (20.8%). Conclusion: This audit highlights the most prevalent symptoms, the symptoms with the greatest burden and the types of patients that receive acupuncture services at an Australian tertiary hospital setting. The findings of this audit provide direction for future acupuncture practices and research in hospital settings.
Functional disability and post-traumatic stress disorder in survivors of mechanical ventilation: a cross-sectional study in Guangzhou, China

Background Critical illness is associated with cognitive, physical, and psychological impairments; however, evidence of the severity and frequency of impairments in Chinese survivors of mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU) remains limited. Our aim was to investigate the incidence and severity of impairments in Chinese survivors of mechanical ventilation in ICU and to explore risk factors influencing specific impairments. Methods Patients discharged alive after mechanical ventilation in a large general ICU for ≥2 days were enrolled in this single-center cross-sectional study. Survivors were evaluated using measures of functional disability (Activity of Daily Living Scale), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, The Impact of Event Scale-Revised) via telephone interview. Multivariable analysis was conducted. Results Data were obtained from 130 consenting survivors. At follow-up (mean: 19.64 months), among those in part-time or full-time employment prior to admission, only 45.1% had returned to work. Further, 29.2% of survivors had clear disabilities affecting daily living. Deficits in activities of daily living (ADL) were mainly characterized by impairment of instrumental ADL. Predictors of ADL in mechanically ventilated survivors included age, ICU admission diagnosis, and Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, which accounted for 33.5% of total variance. Furthermore, 17.7% of participants had symptoms consistent with PTSD. ICU length of stay was the only predictor of PTSD, and accounted for 7.5% of total variance. Conclusions ICU survivors of mechanical ventilation in China face negative impacts on employment, and commonly have ADL impairment and PTSD. Age, ICU admission diagnosis, and APACHE II score were key factors influencing ADL, while ICU length of stay was the only factor affecting PTSD. These findings suggest that some survivors who have had certain exposures may warrant closer follow-up, and systematic interventions for these high-risk survivors should be developed in China.
Visual cortical prosthesis: an electrical perspective

Abstract The electrical stimulation of the visual cortices has the potential to restore vision to blind individuals. Until now, the results of visual cortical prosthetics have been limited as no prosthesis has restored a full working vision but the field has shown a renewed interest these last years, thanks to wireless and technological advances. However, several scientific and technical challenges are still open to achieve the therapeutic benefit expected by these new devices. One of the main challenges is the electrical stimulation of the brain itself. In this review, we analyse the results in electrode-based visual cortical prosthetics from the electrical point of view. We first describe what is known about the electrode–tissue interface and safety of electrical stimulation. Then we focus on the psychophysics of prosthetic vision and the state-of-the-art on the interplay between the electrical stimulation of the visual cortex and the phosphene perception. Lastly, we discuss the challenges and perspectives of visual cortex electrical stimulation and electrode array design to develop the new generation implantable cortical visual prostheses.
The role of diffusion tensor imaging in characterizing injury patterns on athletes with concussion and subconcussive injury: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health problem. The majority of TBIs are in the form of mild TBI (also known as concussion) with sports-related concussion (SRC) receiving public attention in recent years. Here we have performed a systematic review of the literature on the use of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) on sports-related concussion and subconcussive injuries. Our review found different patterns of change in DTI parameters between concussed and subconcussed groups. The Fractional Anisotropy (FA) was either unchanged or increased for the concussion group, while the subconcussed group generally experienced a decrease in FA. A reverse pattern was observed for Mean Diffusivity (MD) – where the concussed group experienced a decrease in MD while the subconcussed group showed an increase in MD. However, in general, discrepancies were observed in the results reported in the literature – likely due to the huge variations in DTI acquisition parameters, and image processing and analysis methods used in these studies. This calls for more comprehensive and well-controlled studies in this field, including those that combine the advanced brain imaging with biomechancial modeling and kinematic sensors – to shed light on the underlying mechanisms behind the structural changes observed from the imaging studies.
Closed-form solution for a rectangular stepped fin involving all variable thermal parameters and nonlinear boundary conditions

In this paper, the implementation of the Adomian decomposition method is demonstrated to solve a nonlinear heat transfer problem for a stepped fin involving all temperature-dependent means of heat transfer and nonlinear boundary conditions. Unlike conventional insulated tip assumption, to make the present problem more practical, the fin tip is assumed to disperse heat by convection and radiation. Thermal parameters such as the thermal conductivity, the surface heat transfer coefficient and the surface emissivity are considered to be temperature-dependent. Adomian polynomials are first obtained and then a set of Adomian decomposition method results is validated with pertinent results of the differential transformation method reported in the literature. Effects of different thermo-physical parameters on the temperature distribution and the efficiency have been exemplified. The study reveals that for a given set of conditions, the stepped fin may perform better than the straight fin.
Psychiatric patients’ experience in receiving services provided by non-specialist community nurses, southern Thailand

Background: Psychiatric problems have been a growing and significant public health challenge. Community-based psychiatric services have been shown to contribute to the improvement of health and social-related outcomes, but with limited specialists in this field. Consequently, Thailand has integrated these services into the primary care system delivered by community nurses working in primary care units (PCUs). Aim: To describe the experiences of psychiatric patients in receiving services provided by non-specialist community nurses. Method: A phenomenological approach was used. Eleven psychiatric patients with 10 major depressive disorders and 1 with schizophrenia were interviewed. The results were evaluated using thematic content analysis. Results: The results revealed two main themes as barriers and facilitators experienced in receiving services from community nurses. Conclusion: Community-based services should be concerned about developing psychiatric nursing competency for community nurses to extend basic services to patients in communities and to assist family members.
Mid-wave interband cascade infrared photodetectors based on GaInAsSb absorbers

In this work, we report the demonstration of quaternary GaInAsSb-based mid-wavelength infrared photodetectors with cutoff wavelengths longer than 4 μm at 300 K. Both interband cascade infrared photodetector (ICIP) with a three-stage discrete absorber architecture and conventional one-stage detector structures have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy and investigated in experiments for their electrical and optical properties. High absorption coefficient and gain were observed in both detector structures. The three-stage ICIPs had superior carrier transport over the one-stage detectors. A detectivity as high as 1.0 × 109 cm Hz1/2 W−1 was achieved at 3.3 μm for both one- and three-stage detectors under zero bias at 300 K. The implications of these results are discussed along with potential of GaInAsSb-based ICIPs for high-speed applications.
Which factors influence individual pro-environmental behavior in the tourism context: rationality, affect, or morality?

ABSTRACT Explaining the factors that influence individual pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in the tourism context may help to enhance sustainability. This study employs a meta-analysis to systematically compare the influence of rational, affective, and moral factors on individual PEB in the tourism context. According to the results, individual PEB in the tourism context is jointly influenced by rational, affective, and moral factors, among which the influence of affective factors plays a leading role. On this basis, this study further explores the moderating effects of related variables from the perspectives of rationality, affect, and morality, including personal characteristics and region characteristics.
Walras or Pareto: Who is to Blame for the State of Modern Economic Theory?

ABSTRACT Walras and Pareto are considered founders of the Ecole de Lausanne. However, their points of view on economics as a science were at considerable variance and their appreciation of each other was limited. On the path from Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand to Arrow and Debreu’s proof of the existence of equilibrium, Walras is thought of as having formulated the general equilibrium model and Pareto as having improved upon and advanced theory and economics down the path that Walras had envisaged. The purpose of this article is to suggest that this is too simple a picture, that the road to an adequate explanation of the Invisible Hand petered out and Pareto’s contribution was instrumental in its demise. Paradoxically, the almost technical generalization of the Walrasian model that Pareto developed locked pure economic theory and modern macroeconomics, which has based itself on that theory, into a dead end. Both their different scientific visions and their antagonistic personal relationship meant that, while their interests coincided for a period, they could hardly be regarded as having a common project and thus the Ecole de Lausanne is a misnomer.
A comparison of features in a crowdsourced phishing warning system

Initial research on using crowdsourcing as a collaborative method for helping individuals identify phishing messages has shown promising results. However, the vast majority of crowdsourcing research has focussed on crowdsourced system components broadly and understanding individuals' motivation in contributing to crowdsourced systems. Little research has examined the features of crowdsourced systems that influence whether individuals utilise this information, particularly in the context of warnings for phishing emails. Thus, the present study examined four features related to warnings derived from a mock crowdsourced anti‐phishing warning system that 438 participants were provided to aid in their evaluation of a series of email messages: the number of times an email message was reported as being potentially suspicious, the source of the reports, the accuracy rate of the warnings (based on reports) and the disclosure of the accuracy rate. The results showed that crowdsourcing features work together to encourage warning acceptance and reduce anxiety. Accuracy rate demonstrated the most prominent effects on outcomes related to judgement accuracy, adherence to warning recommendations and anxiety with system use. The results are discussed regarding implications for organisations considering the design and implementation of crowdsourced phishing warning systems that facilitate accurate recommendations.
Tau aggregates are RNA-protein assemblies that mislocalize multiple nuclear speckle components

Tau aggregates contribute to neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although RNA promotes tau aggregation in vitro, whether tau aggregates in cells contain RNA is unknown. We demonstrate in cell culture and mouse brains that both cytosolic and nuclear tau aggregates contain RNA, with enrichment for snRNAs and snoRNAs. Nuclear tau aggregates colocalize with and alter the composition, dynamics, and organization of nuclear speckles, which are membraneless organelles involved in pre-mRNA splicing. Moreover, several nuclear speckle components, including SRRM2, mislocalize to cytosolic tau aggregates in cells, mouse brains, and patient brains with AD, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Consistent with these alterations we observe the presence of tau aggregates is sufficient to alter pre-mRNA splicing. This work identifies tau alteration of nuclear speckles as a feature of tau aggregation that may contribute to the pathology of tau aggregates.
An Intelligent Offloading System Based on Multiagent Reinforcement Learning

Intelligent vehicles have provided a variety of services; there is still a great challenge to execute some computing-intensive applications. Edge computing can provide plenty of computing resources for intelligent vehicles, because it offloads complex services from the base station (BS) to the edge computing nodes. Before the selection of the computing node for services, it is necessary to clarify the resource requirement of vehicles, the user mobility, and the situation of the mobile core network; they will affect the users’ quality of experience (QoE). To maximize the QoE, we use multiagent reinforcement learning to build an intelligent offloading system; we divide this goal into two suboptimization problems; they include global node scheduling and independent exploration of agents. We apply the improved Kuhn–Munkres (KM) algorithm to node scheduling and make full use of existing edge computing nodes; meanwhile, we guide intelligent vehicles to the potential areas of idle computing nodes; it can encourage their autonomous exploration. Finally, we make some performance evaluations to illustrate the effectiveness of our constructed system on the simulated dataset.
Measurement of Absolute Cross Sections of Electron Scattering by Isolated Molecules

There is twofold interest in the measurement of the various quantitative cross sections described in this chapter. The first is direct use of the measured quantities to understand and to model systems where electron-molecule (atom) collisions occur, that is, technological plasmas, upper partially ionized layers of planetary atmospheres, comets, but also in flames. The second is providing data for testing various theories. The two areas are related. Experiments can not measure all the quantities required for the applications, it is very hard to measure for example cross sections for reactive intermediates and for electronically excited atoms and molecules and these quantities must be provided by theory. On the other hand development of theory is not possible without experimental data for comparison. The electron scattering research is not new, pioneering studies date from the 1930’s and has been revived by the discovery of resonances in late 1960’s (Schulz 1973). But the field goes through a phase of intense activity, caused by novel areas of application (radiation therapy, nanofabrication), improvement of instrumentation permitting observation not available in the past, and by improvement of theory and computational power leading to demand for new experimental data for comparison. Recently, there has been increasing emphasis on the processes which cause chemical change and thus promise to be useful in plasma chemistry, material science or radiation therapy. They include the dissociative electron attachment (DEA), electronic excitation followed by dissociation, and dissociative ionization.
The Biological Removal of Phosphorus in a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) – Practical Considerations and Research Observations

Biological phosphorus removal was first proposed in 1955 by Greenburgh et al.1 The authors suggested that activated sludge could take up phosphorus at a concentration beyond that required for normal growth. The progress made since that time is summarized in the publications from two conferences in 1982; the International Association on Water Pollution Research (IAWPR) Post Conference on Phosphorus Removal in Biological Treatment Processes, Pretoria, South Africa,2 and a U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Workshop on Biological Phosphorus Removal in Municipal Wastewater Treatment, Annapolis, Md.3 The report on the Annapolis workshop discusses the probable economic advantages of in corporating biological rather than chemical phosphorus removal at treatment facilities. A major conclusion of the report was that biological phosphorus removal is a viable alternative to chemical treatment and should be considered in either retrofit or new plant designs. Proprietary biological phosphorus removal systems are cur rently marketed by several manufacturers. The A/O process is patented and marketed by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. The system has a short hydraulic retention time. A sludge with approximately 6% phosphorus is wasted from the system.4,5 The Bardenpho system, licensed to the EIMCO Process Equip ment Company in the U. S. , has a long hydraulic retention time. Sludge production results in a phosphorus-rich sludge containing 4 to 6% phosphorus.6 The PhoStrip system is marketed by Biospherics Incorporated. Phosphorus removal occurs by lime precipitation of phosphorus that is elutriated from a sludge side stream.7 The University of Cape Town (UCT) process is used with wastewaters containing a low ratio of total chemical oxygen demand to Kjeldahl nitrogen (COD/ TKN)8 with an additional recycle stream for eliminating nitrate from the anaerobic zone. Other systems have been brought to the attention of the authors including a periodic system marketed in Denmark9 but the four mentioned above constitute the major configurations either in operation or being discussed at this time.
Simple Ways to Improve NER in Every Language using Markup

We explore three diﬀerent methods for improving Named Entity Recognition (NER) systems based on BERT, each responding to one of three potential issues: the processing of uppercase tokens, the detection of entity boundaries and low generalization. Speciﬁcally, we ﬁrst explore the marking of uppercase tokens for providing extra casing information. We then randomly mask tokens, as in a masked language model, and predict them along with the NER task to improve NER generalization. Finally, we predict entity boundaries to ameliorate named entity detection. The experiments were done over ﬁve languages, three of which are low-resourced: Slovene, Croatian, Finnish, English and Spanish. Results show that predicting masked tokens can be beneﬁcial for most languages, while marking uppercase tokens can be a simple method for dealing with uppercase sentences in NER. Furthermore, our methods improved the state of the art for Croatian and Finnish.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Adolescent Major Depressive Disorder: A Focus on Neurodevelopment

Adolescent depression is a potentially lethal condition and a leading cause of disability for this age group. There is an urgent need for novel efficacious treatments since half of adolescents with depression fail to respond to current therapies and up to 70% of those who respond will relapse within 5 years. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has emerged as a promising treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) in adults who do not respond to pharmacological or behavioral interventions. In contrast, rTMS has not demonstrated the same degree of efficacy in adolescent MDD. We argue that this is due, in part, to conceptual and methodological shortcomings in the existing literature. In our review, we first provide a neurodevelopmentally focused overview of adolescent depression. We then summarize the rTMS literature in adult and adolescent MDD focusing on both the putative mechanisms of action and neurodevelopmental factors that may influence efficacy in adolescents. We then identify limitations in the existing adolescent MDD rTMS literature and propose specific parameters and approaches that may be used to optimize efficacy in this uniquely vulnerable age group. Specifically, we suggest ways in which future studies reduce clinical and neural heterogeneity, optimize neuronavigation by drawing from functional brain imaging, apply current knowledge of rTMS parameters and neurodevelopment, and employ an experimental therapeutics platform to identify neural targets and biomarkers for response. We conclude that rTMS is worthy of further investigation. Furthermore, we suggest that following these recommendations in future studies will offer a more rigorous test of rTMS as an effective treatment for adolescent depression.
IoT-Based Smart Alert System for Drowsy Driver Detection

In current years, drowsy driver detection is the most necessary procedure to prevent any road accidents, probably worldwide. The aim of this study was to construct a smart alert technique for building intelligent vehicles that can automatically avoid drowsy driver impairment. But drowsiness is a natural phenomenon in the human body that happens due to different factors. Hence, it is required to design a robust alert system to avoid the cause of the mishap. In this proposed paper, we address a drowsy driver alert system that has been developed using such a technique in which the Video Stream Processing (VSP) is analyzed by eye blink concept through an Eye Aspect Ratio (EAR) and Euclidean distance of the eye. Face landmark algorithm is also used as a proper way to eye detection. When the driver’s fatigue is detected, the IoT module issues a warning message along with impact of collision and location information, thereby alerting with the help of a voice speaking through the Raspberry Pi monitoring system.