Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patients With Voice Prosthesis Rehabilitation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analyzing the Effectiveness of Remote Triage and Management

Objective To describe a remote approach used with patients with voice prosthesis after laryngectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting clinical outcomes in terms of voice prosthesis complications management, oncological monitoring, and psychophysical well-being. Study Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Otolaryngology Clinic of the University Polyclinic A. Gemelli, IRCCS Foundation. Subjects and Methods All patients with voice prosthesis who underwent laryngectomy followed by our institute were offered enrollment. Patients who agreed to participate were interviewed to inquire about the nature of the need and to plan a video call with the appropriate clinician. Before and 1 week after the clinician’s call, patients were tested with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Degrees of satisfaction were investigated with a visual analog scale. A comparison between those who accepted and refused telematic support was carried out to identify factors that influence patient interest in teleservice. Results Video call service allowed us to reach 37 (50.68%) of 73 patients. In 23 (62.16%) of 37 cases, the video call was sufficient to manage the problem. In the remaining 14 cases (37.83%), an outpatient visit was necessary. Participants who refused telematic support had a significantly shorter time interval from the last ear, nose, and throat visit than patients who accepted (57.95 vs 96.14 days, P = .03). Video-called patients showed significantly decreased levels of anxiety and depression (mean Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale total score pre– vs post–video call: 13.97 vs. 10.23, P < .0001) and reported high levels of satisfaction about the service. Conclusion Remote approach may be a viable support in the management of patients with voice prosthesis rehabilitation.
Asynchronous Video Target Detection Based on Single-Trial EEG Signals

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are widely used in brain-computer interface (BCI) systems to detect sensitive targets. However, asynchronous BCI systems based on video-target-evoked ERPs can pose a challenge in real-world applications due to the absence of an explicit target onset time and the time jitter of the detection latency. To address this challenge, we developed an asynchronous detection framework for video target detection. In this framework, an ERP alignment method based on the principle of iterative minimum distance square error (MDSE) was proposed for constructing an ERP template and aligning signals on the same base to compensate for possible time jitter. Using this method, ERP response characteristics induced by video targets were estimated. Online video target detection results indicated that alignment methods reduced the false alarm more effectively than non-alignment methods. The false alarm of the proposed Aligned-MDSE method was one-third lower than that of existing alignment methods under the same right hit level using limited individual samples. Furthermore, cross-subject results indicated that untrained subjects could directly perform online detection tasks and achieve excellent performance by a general model trained from more than 10 subjects. The proposed asynchronous video target detection framework can thus have a significant impact on real-world BCI applications.
Can we associate environmental footprints with production and consumption using Monte Carlo simulation? Case study with pork meat.

BACKGROUND Growing population demands for more animal protein products. Pork remains one of the traditional and relatively sustainable types of meats for human consumption. In this paper, life cycle assessment was performed using data from 12 pig farms. In parallel, a survey on the consumption of pork meat products was conducted analyzing responses from 806 pork meat consumers. This study aims to provide a quantitative calculation of six environmental footprints associated with the consumption of pork meat products in Serbia by analyzing data from pig farms and a pork meat consumption survey. RESULTS Results revealed that pork meat production is responsible for the emission of 3.50 kg CO2e /kg live weight, 16.1 MJe /kg, 0.151 mg R11e /kg, 31.257 g SO2e /kg, 55.030 g PO4e /kg and 3.641 kg 1.4 DBe /kg. Further calculations reveal that weekly emissions of various environmental potentials associated with an average consumer of pork meat products in Serbia are estimated at values of 4.032 kg CO2e /week, 18.504 MJe /week, 0.17435 mg R11e /week, 35.972 g SO2e /week and 63.466 g PO4e /week. CONCLUSION Results show that on one hand pork products are responsible for environmental production impacts that mainly occur on farms while on the other hand, consumption is characterized with high meat inclusion rates. As a leverage strategy it is recommended for the producers to concentrate on lowering the production impacts rather than trying to reach consumers for sustainability conciseness. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Microfeatures influencing writing quality: the case of Chinese students’ SAT essays

Abstract This study investigates the extent to which microfeatures – such as basic text features, readability, cohesion, and lexical diversity based on specific word lists – affect Chinese EFL writing quality. Data analysis was conducted using natural language processing, correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis on a corpus of 268 Chinese students’ SAT writing in response to a single prompt. The results show that word count, the number of words per sentence, the connecting word frequency, the number of commas per sentence, the stop word frequency and the Coleman-Liau readability index (CLI) contribute significantly towards predicting SAT essay scores of Chinese EFL students. The regression model explains 62.6% of the variance in predicting the SAT essay’s score where the number of commas per sentence acts as a suppressor. Surprisingly, none of the word lists were found to be a significant predictor. Consequently, EFL teachers can adopt these simple lexical features to formulate writing strategies for beginner level Chinese EFL students to improve their SAT writing quality. Moreover, developers can include these features as a personalized option in automated writing assistance systems targeted toward beginner level Chinese EFL students.
Over-expression and analysis of two Vitis vinifera carotenoid biosynthetic genes in transgenic Arabidopsis

Plants have evolved mechanisms to efficiently protect the photosynthetic apparatus against the damaging effects of excess light. Carotenoids, especially the xanthophyll cycle pigments, play important roles in the dissipation of excess light energy as heat. The β-carotene hydroxylase (VvBCH) and zeaxanthin epoxidase (VvZEP) genes were isolated from Vitis vinifera L. cv Pinotage. Respectively, they encode proteins that convert β-carotene to zeaxanthin and zeaxanthin to violaxanthin. To determine the effect of these genes on the carotenoid concentrations and their roles in photoprotection, they were transformed into the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Several independent transgenic lines stably over-expressing the VvBCH and VvZEP genes were generated, harbouring one to multiple copies of the transgene. Homozygous populations of the transgenic lines, the untransformed control as well as two well characterised Arabidopsis mutants affected in the xanthophyll cycle, npq1 and npq2 were used to evaluate the effect of the over-expressed genes on pigment levels and photosynthetic parameters under normal and excessive light conditions. The transgenic lines over-expressing the VvBCH gene had elevated xanthophyll cycle pigments, specifically violaxanthin, which was available for de-epoxidation under a high light stress treatment, resulting in a two-fold increase in zeaxanthin compared to the wild type. The additional zeaxanthin under high light conditions however, did not affect the magnitude of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of chlorophyll fluorescence. In contrast, the VvZEP over-expressing lines had reduced zeaxanthin levels possibly due to faster epoxidation of zeaxanthin to violaxanthin than the de-epoxidation of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin. This resulted in decreased induction and final extent of NPQ, and significantly increased photoinhibition compared to the wild type under high light conditions. These lines demonstrated that accumulation of zeaxanthin does not necessarily lead to increased photoprotection and that even small decreases in zeaxanthin can result in significantly increased photoinhibition.
An Electrochemical Biochip for Measuring Low Concentrations of Analytes With Adjustable Temporal Resolutions

Electrochemical micro-sensors made of nano-graphitic (NG) carbon materials could offer high sensitivity and support voltammetry measurements at vastly different temporal resolutions. Here, we implement a configurable CMOS biochip for measuring low concentrations of bio-analytes by leveraging these advantageous features of NG micro-sensors. In particular, the core of the biochip is a discrete-time <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta \Sigma$</tex-math></inline-formula> modulator, which can be configured for optimal power consumption according to the temporal resolution requirements of the sensing experiments while providing a required precision of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\approx$</tex-math></inline-formula>13 effective number of bits. We achieve this new functionality by developing a design methodology using the physical models of transistors, which allows the operating region of the modulator to be switched on-demand between weak and strong inversion. We show the application of this configurable biochip through <italic>in-vitro</italic> measurements of dopamine with concentrations as low as 50 nM and 200 nM at temporal resolutions of 100 ms and 10 s, respectively.
Association between dietary intake and serum biomarkers of long-chain PUFA in Japanese preschool children

Abstract Objective: Recent research supports the importance of PUFA intake in children, particularly of EPA and DHA; however, few verified methods to assess whether PUFA intake is adequate are available. Design: We assessed the correlation between serum PUFA and lipid concentrations with seafood and PUFA intake measured using a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire for Japanese preschool children (BDHQ3y). Setting: Single centre birth cohort in Japan. Participants: A total of 152 36-month-old Japanese children. Results: Average dietary intake of daily seafood, EPA and DHA was 13·83 (sd 10·36) g, 49·4 (sd 43·5) mg and 98·3 (sd 64·6) mg, respectively. Significant weak-to-moderate correlations were observed between dietary intake and serum EPA (Spearman rho = 0·41, P < 0·001; Pearson r = 0·44, P < 0·001); DHA (Spearman rho = 0·40, P < 0·001; Pearson r = 0·42, P < 0·001) and AA (arachidonic acid) (Spearman rho = 0·33, P < 0·001; Pearson r = 0·32, P < 0·001), whereas no significant correlation was observed for dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) (Spearman rho = 0·06, P = 0·484; Pearson r = 0·07, P = 0·387). Correlations between seafood intake and serum EPA and DHA were also moderate (0·39–0·43). A negative correlation between serum TAGs and serum EPA, as well as positive correlations between serum cholesterol (total cholesterol, LDL and HDL) with serum EPA and DHA were observed, whereas no significant correlations between seafood intake and serum lipid profiles. Based on this model, we estimated 61–98 g/week of seafood intake is required to meet current EPA/DHA intake recommendations by the WHO (100–150 mg/d). Conclusions: For children of 2–4 years of age, weekly intake of 61–98 g of seafood is required to meet WHO recommendations of EPA/DHA intake.
Robust dynamic and stochastic scheduling in permutation flow shops

The Permutation Flow Shop Scheduling Problem (PFSP) is a fundamental problem underlying many operational challenges in the field of logistic and supply chain management. The PFSP is a well-known NP-hard problem whereby the processing sequence of the jobs is the same for all machines. The dynamic and stochastic PFSP arise in practice whenever a number of different types of disruptions or uncertainties interrupt the system. Such disruptions could lead to deviate the disrupted schedule from its initial plan. Thus, it is important to consider different solution methods including: an optimisation model that minimise different objectives that take into account stability and robustness, efficient rescheduling approach, and algorithms that can handle large size and complex dynamic and stochastic PFSP, under different uncertainties. These contributions can be described as follows: 1. Develop a multi-objective optimisation model to handle different uncertainties by minimising three objectives namely; utility, instability and robustness. 2. Propose the predictive-reactive approach to accommodate the unpredicted uncertainties. 3. Adapt the Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO), the Iterated Greedy (IG) algorithm and the Biased Randomised IG algorithm (BRIG) to reschedule the PFSP at the reactive stage of the predictive-reactive approach. 4. Apply the Simulation-Optimisation (Sim-Opt) approach for the Stochastic PFSP (SPFSP) under different uncertainties. This approach consists of two methods, which are: the novel approach that hybridise the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) with the PSO (Sim-PSO) and the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) with the BRIG (Sim-BRIG). The main aim of using the multi-objective optimisation model with different solution methods is to minimise the instability and keep the solution as robust as possible. This is to handle uncertainty as well as to optimise against any worst instances that might arise due to data uncertainty. Several approaches have been proposed for the PFSP under dynamic and stochastic environments, where the PSO, IG and BRIG are developed for the PFSP under different uncertainties. Also, hybridised the PSO and the BRIG algorithms with the MCS to deal with
A Virtual-Reality System Integrated With Neuro-Behavior Sensing for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Intelligent Assessment

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder among children. Traditional assessment methods generally rely on behavioral rating scales (BRS) performed by clinicians, and sometimes parents or teachers. However, BRS assessment is time consuming, and the subjective ratings may lead to bias for the evaluation. Therefore, the major purpose of this study was to develop a Virtual Reality (VR) classroom associated with an intelligent assessment model to assist clinicians for the diagnosis of ADHD. In this study, an immersive VR classroom embedded with sustained and selective attention tasks was developed in which visual, audio, and visual-audio hybrid distractions, were triggered while attention tasks were conducted. A clinical experiment with 37 ADHD and 31 healthy subjects was performed. Data from BRS was compared with VR task performance and analyzed by rank-sum tests and Pearson Correlation. Results showed that 23 features out of total 28 were related to distinguish the ADHD and non-ADHD children. Several features of task performance and neuro-behavioral measurements were also correlated with features of the BRSs. Additionally, the machine learning models incorporating task performance and neuro-behavior were used to classify ADHD and non-ADHD children. The mean accuracy for the repeated cross-validation reached to 83.2%, which demonstrated a great potential for our system to provide more help for clinicians on assessment of ADHD.
Investigating cultural differences in the effects of expressive suppression when processing traumatic distressing material

Abstract Background: While suppression is associated with detrimental post-traumatic psychological adjustment, research has not considered the effect of culture on this relationship. Aims: This study investigated cultural differences in the effects of expressive suppression, whilst watching a traumatic film, on subjective distress, psychophysiological responses and intrusive memory. Method: Australians of European heritage or East Asian Australian participants (n = 82) were randomly assigned to either a suppression group (instructed to suppress their emotions during the film) or a control group (no instructions regarding emotion management). Electrodermal activity, heart rate and heart rate variability (root mean square of the successive differences; RMSSD) were measured pre-, during and post-film. Participants reported the number of film-related intrusions in the 5 min and 7 days post-viewing. Results: While the European Australian group did not differ significantly on RMSSD, the East Asian suppression group scored significantly higher on RMSSD during the film than the East Asian control group. Second, those in the suppression groups, regardless of cultural background, reported significantly fewer intrusions immediately post-film than controls. Third, we found that for the European Australian group, change in heart rate interacted with group (control versus suppression) when predicting weekly intrusions. However, for the East Asian group change in heart rate did not interact with group when predicting weekly intrusions. Conclusions: The findings are discussed in the context of current research on culture and emotion regulation and implications for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Effects of fishing on a protogynous hermaphrodite

Population dynamic models and simulations are analysed for a harvested reef fish species that is a monandric, protogynous hermaphrodite. The models are applied to data for the coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Pisces: Serranidae) on the Great Barrier Reef. One model examines the situation where sexual transition is induced by some exogenous behavioural mechanism, and another considers the case where transition is determined by some endogenous developmental schedule. The conclusions regarding the effects of fishing are common to both models, and the implementation of more efficient harvesting practices may not require a precise understanding of the mechanisms governing sexual transition.
Comparison of Thermal and High-Pressure Gelation of Potato Protein Isolates

Potato protein isolate (PPI), a commercial by-product of the starch industry, is a promising novel protein for food applications with limited information regarding its techno-functionality. This research focused on the formation of both thermal and high-pressure gels at acidic and neutral pH levels. Our results reveal that physical gels are formed after 30 min by heat at pH 7 and pH 3, while pressure (300–500 MPa) allows the formation of physical gels only at pH 3, and only when the system crosses 30 °C by adiabatic heating during pressurization. Texture profile analysis (TPA) revealed that gel hardness increased with both gelation temperature and pressure, while water-holding capacity was lower for the pressure-induced gels. The proteins released in the water-holding test suggested only partial involvement of patatin in the gel formation. Vitamin C as a model for a thermally liable compound verified the expected better conservation of such compounds in a pressure-induced gel compared to a thermal one of similar textural properties, presenting a possible advantage for pressure-induced gelation.
Intraoperative Neuroendovascular Rescue Therapy for Severe Donor Artery Vasospasm In Superficial Temporal Artery-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass Surgery: A Case Report

Superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral artery (MCA) bypass is a useful cerebral revascularization procedure adopted for the treatment of various cerebrovascular diseases. However, STA, as the donor artery, may become narrowed intraoperatively, and this phenomenon, if left un-noticed, could lead to graft failure or cerebral ischemia despite of a successful anastomosis procedure. Therefore, early detection and treatment of the STA problems will be mandatory. We described a case of 51-yearold male with medically refractory right MCA stenosis who had undergone STA-MCA bypass. After a successful anastomosis, however, a hemodynamically relevant vasospasm of the STA was confirmed immediately by the intraoperative angiography. To treat the vasospasm, the STA pedicle was catheterized with a microcatheter, and 3 mg of nimodipine was infused within the STA with good angiographic responses. This salvage procedure rescued the bypass graft successfully without complications. In this case, we demonstrated that vasospasm of the donor artery could be detected and salvaged early by intra operative neuro-endovascular procedures. This hybrid approach, which utilized advantages of both neurosurgical and neuroendovascular procedures as mutual back-ups, would become the mainstay of treatment strategies for cerebrovascular diseases in the modern era.
Process Neural Networks: Theory and Applications

"Process Neural Network: Theory and Applications" proposes the concept and model of a process neural network for the first time, showing how it expands the mapping relationship between the input and output of traditional neural networks and enhances the expression capability for practical problems, with broad applicability to solving problems relating to processes in practice. Some theoretical problems such as continuity, functional approximation capability, and computing capability, are closely examined. The application methods, network construction principles, and optimization algorithms of process neural networks in practical fields, such as nonlinear time-varying system modeling, process signal pattern recognition, dynamic system identification, and process forecast, are discussed in detail. The information processing flow and the mapping relationship between inputs and outputs of process neural networks are richly illustrated. Xingui He is a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering and also a professor at the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, China, where Shaohua Xu also serves as a professor.
Test-Retest Reliability of Kinematic Assessments for Upper Limb Robotic Rehabilitation

Robot-measured kinematic variables are increasingly used in neurorehabilitation to characterize motor recovery following stroke. However, few studies have evaluated the reliability of these kinematic variables. This study aimed at evaluating the test-retest reliability of typically-used robot-measured kinematic variables in healthy subjects (HS) and patients with stroke (SP). Sixty-one participants (40 HS, 21 SP) carried out a planar robot-pointing task on two consecutive days. Nine robot-measured kinematic variables were computed: movement time (T), mean velocity (mV), maximal velocity (MV), smoothness error (SE), number of velocity peaks (nP), mean arrest period ratio (MAPR), normalized path length (NPL), root mean square error (RMS) from a straight line and the orthogonal projection of the last point of movement (LP). Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), percentage of the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM measured as a percentage of the mean value of the variable (%SEM)) and percentage of the Minimum Detectable Difference (MDD measured as a percentage of the mean value of the variable (%MDD)) were used to analyze the test-retest reliability of the kinematic variables. ICC scores for all kinematic variables were above 0.75 in both groups. %SEM values were below 10% except for MAPR (13.4%) in HS and nP, MAPR and RMS in SP (13.0%, 11.7% and 15.2% respectively). %MDD values were higher for RMS in SP (42.1%) and MAPR in HS (37.1%) and lower for LP (1.6% in HS and 8.1% in SP). The nine robot-measured kinematic variables all demonstrated good reliability, with high ICC values (>0.75) and an acceptable level of measurement error (%SEM< 16%). However, 3/9 robot-measured kinematic variables, did not appear to be sufficiently sensitive to change (%MDD>30%) to be considered useful in patients with stroke.