Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-invasive carbon dioxide monitoring during moderate sedation at different oxygen flow rates in patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography

ABSTRACT Background All patients receiving sedation to facilitate endoscopic procedures should have monitoring of cardiorespiratory parameters before, during, and after administration of sedation/analgesia. We evaluated the effects of different O2 flow rates on the non-invasive CO2 monitoring (EtCO2) in adult patients that were breathing spontaneously under moderate sedation during ERCP. Methods This prospective randomized double-blind study was conducted on 120 patients assigned randomly to one of the three equal groups (n = 40) (Group I; 2 L/min oxygen flow rate, Group II; 4 L/min oxygen flow rate, and Group III; 6 L/min oxygen flow rate). Primary outcome was EtCO2 at the end of procedure. Secondary outcomes included peripheral O2 saturation, hemodynamics, time to recovery, total propofol dose, patients’ satisfaction, sedation score, and complications. Results EtCO2 increased significantly between the studied groups at pre-intervention, induction, 5, 10, 20, and 30 min but without any clinical significance (p-value ˂ 0.05). The HR changes were statistically significant at 10 and 20 min after induction of anesthesia. While SpO2, MBP, and RR differences were statistically not significant between groups throughout the whole study periods (p-value >0.05). Arterial blood gas analysis showed PCO2 was significantly different between the study groups but still within the normal range of readings, while pH and HCO3 showed statistically insignificant differences between the three groups. Conclusion The study demonstrated that different O2 flow rates did not affect the non-invasive EtCO2 measurements by the Dual-Guard device during moderate sedation in patients undergoing ERCP. Non-invasive EtCO2 monitoring can provide an early warning sign of hypoventilation during moderate sedation.
Antifungal Activity of Spent Coffee Ground Extracts

Coffee is one of the most popular and consumed products in the world, generating tons of solid waste known as spent coffee grounds (SCG), containing several bioactive compounds. Here, the antifungal activity of ethanolic SCG extract from caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee capsules was evaluated against yeasts and filamentous fungi. These extracts had antifungal activity against Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Trichophyton rubrum, all skin fungal agents. Moreover, SCG had fungicidal activity against T. mentagrophytes and T. rubrum. To understand the underlying mechanisms of the antifungal activity, fungal cell membrane and cell wall components were quantified. SCG caused a significant reduction of the ergosterol, chitin, and β-(1,3)-glucan content of C. parapsilosis, revealing the synthesis of this membrane component and cell wall components as possible targets of these extracts. These extracts were cytotoxic for the tumoral cell lines tested but not for the non-tumoral PLP2 cell line. The analysis of the phenolic compounds of these extracts revealed the presence of caffeoylquinic acid, feruloylquinic acid, and caffeoylshikimic acid derivatives. Overall, this confirmed the antifungal activity of spent coffee grounds, presenting a potential increase in the sustainability of the life cycle of coffee grounds, as a source for the development of novel antifungal formulations, especially for skin or mucosal fungal infections.
The Characterization of the Symmetric Lorenz Curves by Doubly Truncated Mean Function

We characterize symmetric Lorenz curves by the relation m(x, μ2/x) = μ (where μ =E(X) and m(x, y) = E(X | x ≤ X ≤ y) is the doubly truncated mean function). We establish that the points of the r.v. which generate the symmetric points on the Lorenz curve are x and μ2/x, and that all the distribution functions defined on the same support which are generators of the symmetric Lorenz curves have the same mean. We obtain the conditions under which doubly truncated distributions generate symmetrical Lorenz curves.
A Point Cloud Data-Driven Pallet Pose Estimation Method Using an Active Binocular Vision Sensor

Pallet pose estimation is one of the key technologies for automated fork pickup of driverless industrial trucks. Due to the complex working environment and the enormous amount of data, the existing pose estimation approaches cannot meet the working requirements of intelligent logistics equipment in terms of high accuracy and real time. A point cloud data-driven pallet pose estimation method using an active binocular vision sensor is proposed, which consists of point cloud preprocessing, Adaptive Gaussian Weight-based Fast Point Feature Histogram extraction and point cloud registration. The proposed method overcomes the shortcomings of traditional pose estimation methods, such as poor robustness, time consumption and low accuracy, and realizes the efficient and accurate estimation of pallet pose for driverless industrial trucks. Compared with traditional Fast Point Feature Histogram and Signature of Histogram of Orientation, the experimental results show that the proposed approach is superior to the above two methods, improving the accuracy by over 35% and reducing the feature extraction time by over 30%, thereby verifying the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.
Characterization and measurement of time and frequency stability

The roles which spectral density of fractional frequency fluctuations, two-sample variance, and power spectra play in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are introduced. Their relationship is discussed. Data acquisition in the frequency and the time domain is considered, and examples are given throughout the spectrum. Recently proposed methods for the characterization of a single high-quality frequency source are briefly described. Possible difficulties and limitations in the interpretation of measurement results are specified, mostly in the presence of a dead time between measurements. The link between past developments in the field, such as two-sample variance and spectral analysis from time domain measurement, and recently introduced structure functions is emphasized.
Action Integrals and Partition Functions in Quantum Gravity

One can evaluate the action for a gravitational field on a section of the complexified spacetime which avoids the singularities. In this manner we obtain finite, purely imaginary values for the actions of the Kerr-Newman solutions and de Sitter space. One interpretation of these values is that they give the probabilities for finding such metrics in the vacuum state. Another interpretation is that they give the contribution of that metric to the partition function for a grand canonical ensemble at a certain temperature, angular momentum, and charge. We use this approach to evaluate the entropy of these metrics and find that it is always equal to one quarter the area of the event horizon in fundamental units. This agrees with previous derivations by completely different methods. In the case of a stationary system such as a star with no event horizon, the gravitational field has no entropy.
Very simple method to find the minimum polynomial of an arbitrary nonzero element of a finite field

A method is described of finding the minimum polynomial of an arbitrary, nonzero element of GF(2m). This method requires finite arithmetic on only a single element of the field, and not on each of the k+1 coefficients over GF(2m), where k is the degree of the minimum polynomial. Applications include the design of error-correcting codes and of apparatus to process them, as well as cryptographic systems.
MO‐FF‐A3‐06: Preliminary Feasibility Study: Modeling 3D Deformations of the Prostate From Whole‐Mount Histology to in Vivo MRI

Purpose: To investigate the accuracy of a 3D biomechanical model‐based deformation algorithm (MORFEUS) in modeling the prostate deformation that occurs between in vivomagnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and identification of the tumor on whole‐mount histology. Method and Materials: Three image sets were acquired for 10 patients: 1) in vivo T2‐weighted MRimages acquired prior to prostatectomy, 2) ex vivo T2‐weighted MRimages, and 3) digital images of the histological slices, rigidly registered to construct a 3D volumetric image. All three images sets were imported into the radiation treatment planning system for contouring. The entire prostate gland, the peripheral zone and central gland were contoured. The prostate was converted into a finite element model, where each zone was assigned the appropriate material property. Naturally occurring structural and morphological features (e.g. urethra) were identified as verification points in the in vivo, ex vivo, and histological images, for quantification of the accuracy of the deformable registration. MORFEUS was used to model the deformations that occur due to excision and fixation either directly, deforming histology to in vivoMRI, or using a two‐step process, histology to in vivoMRI via an intermediate step, using ex vivoMRI.Results: Initial analysis has been completed for a subset of the patients. Uncertainties following rigid registration alone exceeded 8.0mm. No significant improvements were observed when including the intermediate deformation step. The average absolute error following deformable registration, based on the verification points, was 1.3, 1.2, and 1.9mm in the left/right, anterior/posterior, and superior/inferior directions, respectively. This error is smaller than the 3 mm image slice thickness. Conclusions: Substantial deformation confounds the ability to compare histology with in vivoimaging. Deformable registration using MORFEUS can be used to resolve the deformation, enabling quantitative evaluation of in vivoimaging based on histology as a gold standard for tumor definition.
Student research peer support group: reflections on mutual aid in qualitative research

ABSTRACT This paper details a doctoral student research peer support group that was established consisting of three social work researchers at various stages (doctoral student, doctoral candidate, and postdoctoral fellow) as they trained for qualitative simulation-based research within a research lab at a school of social work in Canada. Grounded in mutual aid, this paper highlights the development of this student research peer support group which focused on experiential, collaborative, and reflective learning. Benefits of establishing similar groups are discussed, and suggestions for doctoral students and faculty interested in developing similar groups are provided.
A Systematic Investigation on the Influence of Intumescent Flame Retardants on the Properties of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA)/Liner Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Blends

Because of their high filler loadings, commercial-grade clean flame-retardant materials have unstable mechanical properties. To address this issue, intumescent polymers can be used to develop clean flame retardants with very low levels of smoke and toxicity generation. An intumescent flame retardant (IFR) system composed of red phosphorus (RP), zinc borate (ZB), and a terpolymer of ethylene, butyl acrylate, and maleic anhydride (EBM) was used to prepare EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) and EVA/LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene) composites; their mechanical and flammability properties were systematically investigated. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) of the EVA/LLDPE (as base material) composite containing RP and ZB mixed with nonhalogenated flame retardant, mainly magnesium hydroxide (MH) and coadditives, including processing aids and thermal stabilizers, was established. RP was found to have little effect on the tensile properties of EVA/LLDPE 118W/120 phr flame-retardant (MH + RP) composites. There was a minute difference in the effective trend of RP between tensile strength and elongation at break. Following the addition of ZB, the elongation at break of the composites gradually decreased with increasing RP content and then leveled off when the RP content was over 10 phr. Mechanical properties (elongation at break and tensile strength) can be best maintained at below 10 phr content of RP. The mechanical properties decreased with lower amounts of EBM content. In addition, flame retardancy increased when the EBM content decreased. The findings further revealed that MH and RP have poor compatibility, yielding poor mechanical properties. The LOI greatly increased with RP content, even though the total content of flame retardants (main + intumescent flame retardant) was the same in all formulations. Only over 5 phr RP content formulations passed V-0 of the UL-94 test. When under 5 phr, the RP content formulations did not pass V-0 of the UL-94 test.
SVM Regression to Assess Meat Characteristics of Bísaro Pig Loins Using NIRS Methodology

This study evaluates the ability of the near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to estimate the aW, protein, moisture, ash, fat, collagen, texture, pigments, and WHC in the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) of Bísaro pig. Samples (n = 40) of the LTL muscle were minced and scanned in an FT-NIR MasterTM N500 (BÜCHI) over a NIR spectral range of 4000–10,000 cm−1 with a resolution of 4 cm−1. The PLS and SVM regression models were developed using the spectra’s math treatment, DV1, DV2, MSC, SNV, and SMT (n = 40). PLS models showed acceptable fits (estimation models with RMSE ≤ 0.5% and R2 ≥ 0.95) except for the RT variable (RMSE of 0.891% and R2 of 0.748). The SVM models presented better overall prediction results than those obtained by PLS, where only the variables pigments and WHC presented estimation models (respectively: RMSE of 0.069 and 0.472%; R2 of 0.993 and 0.996; slope of 0.985 ± 0.006 and 0.925 ± 0.006). The results showed NIRs capacity to predict the meat quality traits of Bísaro pig breed in order to guarantee its characterization.
A Vertical-Horizontal Framework for Building Rack-Aware Regenerating Codes

Rack-aware regenerating codes (RRCs) achieve the optimal repair bandwidth for single node failures in the hierarchical data center where nodes are organized into racks and the intra-rack communication is cost-free. In this work, a vertical-horizontal framework is proposed for building RRCs from MDS array codes and regenerating codes (RCs). Particularly for RRCs with the minimum storage (i.e., MSRR codes), the framework is further improved to achieve lower sub-packetization. As a key for building MSRR codes, MSR codes (i.e., RCs with the minimum storage) with improved sub-packetization level are also developed. Applying the newly derived MSR codes into the vertical-horizontal framework, MSRR codes with an improved sub-packetization level are explicitly constructed, and those achieving the lowest sub-packetization by far are proved to exist over sufficiently large fields.
Do Wages Reflect Growth Productivity – Comparing the European East and West?

ABSTRACT The research determines the gap (Great Decoupling) between labour productivity and workers’ compensation in the two blocks of EU countries (Western versus Eastern). The division of countries into two groups provides a basis further to determine whether the previous socio-economic and political evolutionary development of these countries blocks still has a significant impact on the functional distribution of national income, on the extent to which labour productivity growth is transmitted to workers. The results are heterogeneous. In the sample of highly developed Western EU countries where higher levels of labour productivity, as well as high levels of technological development, lead to an increase in labour productivity to be followed by a lower increase in workers’ compensation. On the sample of Eastern EU countries, results indicate different relationships and the strength of causality between productivity and labour compensation. Central-East EU countries had a more positive relationship between real workers’ compensation and labour productivity, compared to the Southeast Europe (Balkan) countries where an increase in workers’ compensation causes a reduction in labour productivity. The results also offer a solid basis for understanding wage/income/productivity relationships d for creating policies for a more efficient distribution of national income.
Swarm algorithms for single- and multi-objective optimization problems incorporating sensitivity analysis

Swarm algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO) are non-gradient probabilistic optimization algorithms that have been successfully applied for global searches in complex problems such as multi-peak problems. However, application of these algorithms to structural and mechanical optimization problems still remains a complex matter since local optimization capability is still inferior to general numerical optimization methods. This article discusses new swarm metaphors that incorporate design sensitivities concerning objective and constraint functions and are applicable to structural and mechanical design optimization problems. Single- and multi-objective optimization techniques using swarm algorithms are combined with a gradient-based method. In the proposed techniques, swarm optimization algorithms and a sequential linear programming (SLP) method are conducted simultaneously. Finally, truss structure design optimization problems are solved by the proposed hybrid method to verify the optimization efficiency.
Duality in a maximum generalized entropy model

This paper discusses a possible generalization for the maximum entropy principle. A class of generalized entropy is introduced by that of generator functions, in which the maximum generalized distribution model is explicitly derived including q-Gaussian distributions, Wigner semicircle distributions and Pareto distributions. We define a totally geodesic subspace in the total space of all probability density functions in a framework of information geometry. The model of maximum generalized entropy distributions is shown to be totally geodesic. The duality of the model and the estimation in the maximum generalized principle is elucidated to give intrinsic understandings from the point of information geometry.
Trade liberalization and firms’ productivity in Vietnam: the role of local business environment

ABSTRACT This paper examines how frictions in the local business environment where firms operate alter the productivity gains from trade. Using Vietnamese firm-level data from 2006 to 2012, the analysis provides robust evidence of a positive effect of trade opening on firms’ efficiency. However, distortions that operate through certain local market features in the form of unenforceable property rights, an ineffective land-titling system, bureaucratic hurdles and labour market frictions play a crucial role in the transmission of trade liberalization shocks. These findings have important policy implications because they suggest that complementary policies addressing local market constraints need to be implemented alongside trade reforms.
On the Global Exchange of Mass between the Stratosphere and Troposphere

Abstract Seasonal mean downward mass fluxes across the 100 mb level in the extratropics of both hemispheres are computed using the meridionally integrated residual vertical circulation as determined from the transformed Eulerian mean equations. The eddy momentum and heat flux data required for the calculation are taken from Oort's 15-year climatology. Upward mass flux from the troposphere to the stratosphere in the tropics is computed from mass continuity. The flux is a maximum during Northern Hemisphere winter and a minimum during Northern Hemisphere summer. The computed fluxes imply a 2.5 year turnover time for the global atmospheric layer above 100 mb.
Early Outcomes of Extended Hepatectomy: An Experience from the University Hospital of Nepal

Background Extended hepatectomy (≥ 5 liver segments resection) may be required to have a complete surgical resection and provide the best chance of cure of hepatobiliary tumors. It is associated with high morbidity and mortality but with good perioperative care, its outcomes can be improved. This study was conducted to evaluate the early outcomes of extended hepatectomy at a university hospital in Nepal. Methods For this study, prospectively collected data from all patients who underwent extended hepatectomy from October 2012 to April 2022 were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. Demographic data, liver volume augmentation methods used, intraoperative variables, and postoperative complications were analyzed. Results Seventeen patients underwent extended hepatectomy from October 2012 to April 2022. Among them 11 (64.7%) were female and the mean age was 53.9 ±16.3 years (18-72 years). Right extended hepatectomy was the most commonly performed procedure (n = 15, 88.2%), and left extended hepatectomy was performed in the remaining (n = 2, 11.8%). Six patients underwent liver volume augmentation procedures (35.3%) with portal vein embolization (PVE) in three, portal vein ligation (PVL) in one, and partial associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) in two patients. Overall complications were 70% with major complications (Clavien Dindo ≥ IIIa) constituting 35.3%. The most common hepatectomy-specific complication was post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) in six cases. The 30-day mortality was 17.6% (three patients). Conclusion Extended hepatectomy can be performed with acceptable major complications and mortality rates in selected patients.
PROPERTIES OF DUST IN EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES BASED ON THE ALL-SKY-SURVEY DATA AND NEAR-INFRARED SPECTRA

We present the properties of dust and the near-infrared spectral features in nearby early-type galaxies. The properties of dust are obtained from the AKARI far-infrared all-sky survey diffuse map. The AKARI/IRC is used for the near-infrared spectra. We improve spectral data with the new dark subtraction method on the basis of the knowledge acquired in our laboratory experiments of the engineering-model detector for the IRC. We have succeeded in fitting the continuum by a power-law function and detecting CO and SiO absorption features in early-type galaxy spectra. Comparing the properties of dust and near-infrared spectral features, we find that the power-law slope depends on dust temperature, but not on the dust mass, which suggests that low-luminosity AGNs may contribute to the changes in the power-law slope and dust temperature.
HOW DO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MEDAN CITY UNDERSTAND AND IMPLEMENT DIGITAL DETOXIFICATION?

This study examines the pattern of using digital devices and efforts to implement detoxification among high school students. This study aims to obtain in-depth information on how high school students carry out digital detoxification efforts to reduce the impact of addiction. This type of research is qualitative with a case study method on the senior high school in Medan City, North Sumatra Province. This study uses a focus group discussion approach to obtain information from research informants. The informants comprised 14 students from 6 senior high schools and vocational high schools in Medan City. In this research, students take digital detoxification steps to minimize the negative impact of using digital devices. High school students use digital detoxification to neutralize their addiction to digital media daily. Things to do to detoxify digitally are learning to manage time when using digital devices, limiting internet access, implementing healthy lifestyles such as exercising or socializing, and following a social media detox.