Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Keyhole to no hole hysterectomy - A retrospective analysis of NDVH and TLH in a teaching hospital

Introduction: Prior to medical advances in yester years VH was limited to uterine prolapse but in present techno-medical era the techniques and indications of vaginal hysterectomy have changed to give an excellent health care to women cosmetically at a reasonable cost with minimum invasion and maximum safety and satisfaction. Aims and objective: The aim of the study was to find out the answer of the question, IS REALLY TLH LESS INVASIVE THEN NDVH? By analyzing these two commonly performed procedures to find out the differences to decide whether NDVH is a simpler, less invasive, quicker, cost effective, environment friendly technique then TLH in the similar gynecological indications. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was done on 120 randomly selected patient of Hysterectomy for various reasons between March 2016 till September 2017 in Dept. of Ob/Gyn LNMC JKH, Bhopal. Patients' original files and surgery reports of the TLH and VH were analyzed and compared retrospectively for the indication of surgery, patients' age, weight, parity, uterus size, time taken for surgery, blood loss, post-operative analgesia, hospital stay, Intra and post op complications. A stastical analysis of the data was performed using independent t test and p value of less than 0.01 was considered statically significant. Results: The mean time taken to perform TLH was significantly longer i.e. 184.83 minutes compared with NDVH, i.e. 83.5. minutes (p
Enhanced energy conversion as a result of fluid-solid interaction in micro- and nanoscale

It is known that nano- and micromechanics require new approaches to right describing of surface-like phenomena which lead to an enhanced energy conversion. In this work, a general form of surface forces that consist of a contribution from both the friction and mobility components has been extended to collect the effects of bulk and surface motion of a fluid. Quite similar impact can be observed for a solid-fluid mixture, where the principle of effective stress for this new type of approach should be considered from the very beginning. The second motivation of our work is to present the multiscale domain of fluid-solid interaction which describes some “emergence effects” for materials with especially high volumetric surface densities.
Financing Patterns of European SMEs Revisited: An Updated Empirical Taxonomy and Determinants of SME Financing Clusters

This EIF Working Paper investigates financing patterns of European SMEs by looking at a large number of different financing instruments and their complementary and substitutive effects, using the SAFE dataset collected in 2015. We develop an empirical taxonomy of SME financing patterns in Europe, applying cluster analyses. In order to investigate the cluster stability over time, we replicate an approach by Moritz et al. (2016)2, who used the SAFE data from 2013. In addition, we extend that study by looking at the role of the country-specific macroeconomic and institutional environment for the financings patterns of SMEs. Our results confirm the results of Moritz et al. (2016) and show that European SME financing is not homogenous, but that different financing patterns exist. Our cluster analysis identifies seven distinct SME financing types based on the financing instruments used: mixed-financed SMEs with focus on other loans, mixed-financed SMEs with focus on retained earnings or sale of assets, state-subsidised SMEs, debt-financed SMEs, trade-financed SMEs, asset-based financed SMEs, and internally-financed SMEs. Moreover, the SME financing types can be profiled according to their firm-, product-, industry-, and country-specific characteristics. Our findings can support policy makers in assessing the impact of changes in policy measures for SME financing.
Surface pKa determination of benzoic acid modified gold electrode by electrochemical and contact angle measurement methods

pKa values of the organic surfaces were determined with ionizable carboxylic acid groups, obtained by the modification of gold electrode by reduction of p-benzoic acid diazonium tetrafluoroborate and oxidation of p-aminobenzoic acid. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were used in the surface pKa determination, by exploiting the barrier effect arising from the charged nature of the surface against the electrochemistry of Fe(CN)64-/3- redox probe. Contact angle measurement (CAM) technique was also used to compare the accuracy of the surface pKa values acquired by electrochemical methods. pKa values for Au-BA were found as 2.938±0.283, 4.128 ± 0.342 and 4.251±0.089 by CV, EIS, and CAM, respectively; while the values are 4.084±0.101 5.326±0.323 and 5.102±0.147 for Au-NHBA.
An Arbitrage-Free Nelson-Siegel Term Structure Model with Stochastic Volatility for the Determination of Currency Risk Premia

This paper uses a risk-averse formulation of the uncovered interest rate parity to determine exchange rates through interest rate differentials, and ultimately extract currency risk premia. The method proposed consists of developing an affine Arbitrage-Free class of dynamic Nelson-Siegel term structure models with stochastic volatility to obtain the domestic and foreign discount rate variations, which in turn are used to derive a representation of exchange rate depreciations. No-arbitrage restrictions allow to endogenously capturing currency risk premia. Empirical findings suggest that estimated currency risk premia are able to account for the forward premium puzzle and their properties are examined.
A numerical retro-action model relates rocky coast erosion to percolation theory

We discuss various situations where the formation of rocky coast morphology can be attributed to the retro-action of the coast morphology itself on the erosive power of the sea. Destroying the weaker elements of the coast, erosion can creates irregular seashores. In turn, the geometrical irregularity participates in the damping of sea-waves, decreasing their erosive power. There may then exist a mutual self-stabilization of the wave amplitude together with the irregular morphology of the coast. A simple model of this type of stabilization is discussed. The resulting coastline morphologies are diverse, depending mainly on the morphology/damping coupling. In the limit case of weak coupling, the process spontaneously builds fractal morphologies with a dimension close to 4/3. This provides a direct connection between the coastal erosion problem and the theory of percolation. For strong coupling, rugged but non-fractal coasts may emerge during the erosion process, and we investigate a geometrical characterization in these cases. The model is minimal, but can be extended to take into account heterogeneity in the rock lithology and various initial conditions. This allows to mimic coastline complexity, well beyond simple fractality. Our results suggest that the irregular morphology of coastlines as well as the stochastic nature of erosion are deeply connected with the critical aspects of percolation phenomena.
Contribution to the Improvement of Crash Test Dummies in Order to Decrease Abdominal Injuries in Road Accidents

This paper describes the first steps carried out in a joint effort of Ifsttar and Toyota to contribute to the development of a new abdomen for THOR dummy. Firstly, a review of accident data showed that abdominal injuries observed in frontal crashes were mainly caused by the steering wheel and the seat belt. However, abdomen injury rate was higher for side impacts, showing the importance of being able to predict such injuries for different impact angles. The steering wheel was mainly associated with injuries in the upper abdomen (liver and spleen injuries) whereas the seat belt was mainly associated with injuries to the lower abdomen (intestines). The former ones were well correlated with rib fractures and it was concluded that thoracic injury prediction could also give an indication of upper abdomen injury risk. Secondly, existing abdomen designs were studied to rate technical solutions and orient future design. Notably, several technical solutions including external or internal pressure, force and deflection measurements were considered for the evaluation of abdominal injuries in the last past years. Finally, all the conclusions were gathered in a design brief. Before modifying the THOR abdomen, the biofidelity of different existing THOR abdomens was evaluated through impactor and static seat belt tests. None of these abdomens were able to fully meet the biofidelity corridors. These results represent the starting point for future modifications of the THOR abdomen response.
Upper Cenozoic stratigraphy on the Mid-Norwegian continental shelf

A regional stratigraphy is established between 64°N and 65°N dividing the upper Pliocene and Quaternary sediments overlying IKU Bedrock Units IX and X into I l informal units ( L, K, I, H, G, F, E, D, B, A and U) separated by regional reflectors. The database consisted of about 5000 km of sei smie profiles ( si te surveys, multichannel sei smie tie lines between wells, selected conventional deep seismic lines, IKU's regional analog sparker grid), lithological and geophysical well information. 'Base Unit IX' represents the oldest event mapped and forms the basis for IKU Bedrock Units IX and X in the east and for the Plio/Pleistocene sediment wedge increasing to more than 1 500 m thickness westwards at the shelf edge. The delta-like coastal Unit IX ( of supposed Oligocene age) is very characteristic on seismic profiles. It has been mapped from Møre to Lofoten and probably consists mainly of sand. Most of the overlying sediments ( Units X to E) seem to have been deposited by glacial processes, which explains the high sedimentation rates compared to the older units. The undulating reflector forming the base of Unit D ( earlier assumed to be base Quaternary) is now interpreted as a result of the Saalian glaciation. The overlying layered sediments in Unit D consist of glaciomarine and marine ( Eemain) sediments. The three topmost units ( B , A and U) are dominated by unsorted material representing Weichselian tills.
RCSLenS: The Red Cluster Sequence Lensing Survey

We present the Red Cluster Sequence Lensing Survey (RCSLenS), an application of the methods developed for the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) to the ∼785 deg2, multi-band imaging data of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey 2. This project represents the largest public, sub-arcsecond seeing, multi-band survey to date that is suited for weak gravitational lensing measurements. With a careful assessment of systematic errors in shape measurements and photometric redshifts, we extend the use of this data set to allow cross-correlation analyses between weak lensing observables and other data sets. We describe the imaging data, the data reduction, masking, multi-colour photometry, photometric redshifts, shape measurements, tests for systematic errors, and a blinding scheme to allow for more objective measurements. In total, we analyse 761 pointings with r-band coverage, which constitutes our lensing sample. Residual large-scale B-mode systematics prevent the use of this shear catalogue for cosmic shear science. The effective number density of lensing sources over an unmasked area of 571.7 deg2 and down to a magnitude limit of r ∼ 24.5 is 8.1 galaxies per arcmin2 (weighted: 5.5 arcmin−2) distributed over 14 patches on the sky. Photometric redshifts based on four-band griz data are available for 513 pointings covering an unmasked area of 383.5 deg2. We present weak lensing mass reconstructions of some example clusters as well as the full survey representing the largest areas that have been mapped in this way. All our data products are publicly available through Canadian Astronomy Data Centre at http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc. ca/en/community/rcslens/query.html in a format very similar to the CFHTLenS data release.
Seismic isolation of Advanced LIGO: Review of strategy, instrumentation and performance

The new generation of gravitational waves detectors require unprecedented levels of isolation from seismic noise. This article reviews the seismic isolation strategy and instrumentation developed for the Advanced LIGO observatories. It summarizes over a decade of research on active inertial isolation and shows the performance recently achieved at the Advanced LIGO observatories. The paper emphasizes the scientific and technical challenges of this endeavor and how they have been addressed. An overview of the isolation strategy is given. It combines multiple layers of passive and active inertial isolation to provide suitable rejection of seismic noise at all frequencies. A detailed presentation of the three active platforms that have been developed is given. They are the hydraulic pre-isolator, the single-stage internal isolator and the two-stage internal isolator. The architecture, instrumentation, control scheme and isolation results are presented for each of the three systems. Results show that the seismic isolation sub-system meets Advanced LIGO’s stringent requirements and robustly supports the operation of the two detectors.
Beyond the Doomsday Economics of 'Proof-of-Work' in Cryptocurrencies

This paper discusses the economics of how Bitcoin achieves data immutability, and thus payment finality, via costly computations, ie "proof-of-work". Further, it explores what the future might hold for cryptocurrencies modelled on this type of consensus algorithm. The conclusions are, first, that Bitcoin counterfeiting via "double-spending" attacks is inherently profitable, making payment finality based on proof-of-work extremely expensive. Second, the transaction market cannot generate an adequate level of "mining" income via fees as users free-ride on the fees of other transactions in a block and in the subsequent blockchain. Instead, newly minted bitcoins, known as block rewards, have made up the bulk of mining income to date. Looking ahead, these two limitations imply that liquidity is set to fall dramatically as these block rewards are phased out. Simple calculations suggest that once block rewards are zero, it could take months before a Bitcoin payment is final, unless new technologies are deployed to speed up payment finality. Second-layer solutions such as the Lightning Network might help, but the only fundamental remedy would be to depart from proof-of-work, which would probably require some form of social coordination or institutionalisation.
STRUCTURES MANIFESTING SIMULTANEOUS EEG

Several current data indicate that intracranial records of the Bereitschaftspotential from some brain loci manifest baseline shifts (EBS) in the early pre-movement period that are separated from the movement components by a distinct plateau. In this context, main purpose of this study was to assess whether structures generating the EBSs that are simultaneously widespread in various structures of the brain will be specifically linked to higher levels of large-scale integration in comparison to structures that were not involved in EBS generation. In this study were included 21 epilepsy surgery candidates (12 men, 9 women; aged from 18 to 49 years), who were measured during self-paced clenching movements of the hand. Brain activities during the task were recorded using intracerebral electrodes and were evaluated in pairs. Eighty two percent of the EBSs started in various distant brain structures at the same time, eighteen percent at different time. Approximately half of the EBSs of the first group started in the prefrontal regions; the second half was obtained from pairs located in parietal and temporal regions. The first, the second, and the third groups exhibited a special degree of activity synchronization. The simultaneous EBS onsets associated synchronization strongly suggests significantly higher functional coupling of these brain areas which is supposed to be a basic mechanism of integration of various areas of the brain participating in cognitive and intentional functions.
Effects of SMR and Theta/Beta Neurofeedback on Reaction Times, Spatial Abilities, and Creativity

Neurofeedback training (NFT) has been demonstrated to be a useful, inexpensive, nonpharmacological tool in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and epilepsy in humans. Different neurofeedback training protocols have been associated with positive effects on performance in sports, creativity, memory, and simple reaction time tasks. During NFT, individuals receive visual or acoustic feedback of their brain oscillations, which are recorded by electroencephalogram (EEG). Through operant conditioning that employs this feedback, the individuals subsequently may be able to modulate the respective oscillations. The most widely used training protocols focus on either the enhancement of the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR; 12–15 Hz) or modulation of the theta/beta ratio (TBR; theta: 4.5–7.5 Hz, beta: 17–21 Hz). We investigated whether healthy individuals are able to learn, within 30 NFT sessions, how to modulate either the SMR (n = 13) or the TBR (n = 14), and whether such modulation can lead to an enh.
Prevalencia de ansiedad y depresión en pacientes con enfermedad cardiovascular durante la pandemia COVID-19

Introducción: La pandemia COVID-19 y las medidas sanitarias implementadas impactaron sobre la salud mental de las poblaciones más vulnerables. Objetivo: Conocer la prevalencia de ansiedad y depresión en pacientes con enfermedad cardiovascular y/o factores de riesgo después de finalizada la cuarentena y compararla con la prevalencia durante la cuarentena y antes de la pandemia COVID-19. Métodos: Se envió un cuestionario on-line a los 150 días de finalizada la cuarentena. Se utilizó la escala de Ansiedad-Depresión Hospitalaria (HAD, por sus siglas en inglés) y se registraron los datos clínicos y demográficos. Los resultados fueron comparados con las muestras obtenidas durante la cuarentena y el estudio EPICA realizado en 2016 antes de la pandemia COVID-19. Resultados: Las muestras incluyeron 1076, 3542 y 1035 pacientes respectivamente. La prevalencia de ansiedad fluctuó pero no cambió (20.8%, 13.5% y 21% respectivamente). La depresión incrementó su prevalencia (9.8%, 16.7% y 19.7% respectivamente). La depresión se asoció con la enfermedad coronaria y las conductas de riesgo (fumar cigarrillos y sedentarismo). Conclusión: Ladepresión duplicó su prevalencia durante la pandemia COVID-19 en pacientes con enfermedad cardiovascular y/o factores de riesgo. Los efectos de la pandemia parecen extenderse más allá de la duración de la cuarentena.
Comparisons between groundbased FTIR and MIPAS N 2 O and HNO 3 profiles before and after assimilation in BASCOE C

Within the framework of the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), regular ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements of many species are performed at several locations. Inversion schemes provide vertical profile information and characterization of the retrieved products which are therefore relevant for contributing to the validation of MIPAS profiles in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. We have focused on the species HNO3 and N2O at 5 NDACC-sites distributed in both hemispheres, i.e., Jungfraujoch (46.5 degrees N) and Kiruna (68 degrees N) for the northern hemisphere, and Wollongong (34 degrees S), Lauder (45 degrees S) and Arrival Heights (78 degrees S) for the southern hemisphere. These ground-based data have been compared with MIPAS offline profiles (v4.61) for the year 2003, collocated within 1000 km around the stations, in the lower to middle stratosphere. To get around the spatial collocation problem, comparisons have also been made between the same ground-based FTIR data and the corresponding profiles resulting from the stratospheric 4D-VAR data assimilation system BASCOE constrained by MIPAS data. This paper discusses the results of the comparisons and the usefullness of using BASCOE profiles as proxies for MIPAS data. It shows good agreement between MIPAS and FTIR N2O partial columns: the biases are below 5% for all the stations and the standard deviations are below 7% for the three mid-latitude stations, and below 10% for the high latitude ones. The comparisons with BASCOE partial columns give standard deviations below 4% for the mid-latitude stations to less than 8% for the high latitude ones. After making some corrections to take into account the known bias due to the use of different spectroscopic parameters, the comparisons of HNO3 partial columns show biases below 3% and standard deviations below 15% for all the stations except Arrival Heights (bias of 5%, standard deviation of 21%). The results for this species, which has a larger spatial variability, highlight the necessity of defining appropriate collocation criteria and of accounting for the spread of the observed airmasses. BASCOE appears to have more deficiencies in producing proxies of MIPAS HNO3 profiles compared to N2O, but the obtained standard deviation of less than 10% between BASCOE and FTIR is reasonable. Similar results on profiles comparisons are also shown in the paper, in addition to partial column ones.
Mechanical Behavior of a Calcium Phosphate Ceramic Bone Graft Used in the Rehabilitation of a C4 Human Vertebra

The main results of a static analysis with a finite element model of the cervical section between C3 – C5 of a human spine are reported. In this case, it is assumed that the element C4 is completely damaged and has to be replaced. Therefore, a bone graft was installed between the anterior side of C3 and C5. Besides, a cervical plate of 55 mm. was fixed at the same side with 4 expansive screws. The resultant stresses caused by compression loads were analyzed and the displacements between the graft and adjacent vertebrae were calculated. Three loading conditions were applied: 80 N, 637.5 N and 6374.5 N. The first one corresponds to the head weight. In the second case, it is assumed that the average patient weight is supported by those vertebrae, while in the last one; the compression load failure is applied on the vertebrae. Results show that displacements were lower than 3 mm between the graft and the adjacent vertebrae. In accordance with the concept of spine stability after Müller [1], the arrangement is a stable one. Another advantage is that no wires are used in this surgical technique. Two more issues should be noticed. There is no risk that the plate may be broken and the geometry of the bone graft allows bone regeneration. These results are on line with those observed in preliminary experimental tests with porcine vertebrae.
Title The synthetic progestin norgestrel modulates Nrf 2 signaling and acts as an antioxidant in a model of retinal degeneration

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is one of the most common retinal degenerative conditions affecting people worldwide, and is currently incurable. It is characterized by the progressive loss of photoreceptors, in which the death of rod cells leads to the secondary death of cone cells; the cause of eventual blindness. As rod cells die, retinal-oxygen metabolism becomes perturbed, leading to increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thus oxidative stress; a key factor in the secondary death of cones. In this study, norgestrel, an FDA-approved synthetic analog of progesterone, was found to be a powerful neuroprotective antioxidant, preventing lightinduced ROS in photoreceptor cells, and subsequent cell death. Norgestrel also prevented light-induced photoreceptor morphological changes that were associated with ROS production, and that are characteristic of RP. Further investigation showed that norgestrel acts via post-translational modulation of the major antioxidant transcription factor Nrf2; bringing about its phosphorylation, subsequent nuclear translocation, and increased levels of its effector protein superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2). In summary, these results demonstrate significant protection of photoreceptor cells from oxidative stress, and underscore the potential of norgestrel as a therapeutic option for RP.