Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shift-Invariant Kernel Additive Modelling for Audio Source Separation

A major goal in blind source separation to identify and separate sources is to model their inherent characteristics. While most state-of-the-art approaches are supervised methods trained on large datasets, interest in non-data-driven approaches such as Kernel Additive Modelling (KAM) remains high due to their interpretability and adaptability. KAM performs the separation of a given source applying robust statistics on the time-frequency bins selected by a source-specific kernel function, commonly the K-NN function. This choice assumes that the source of interest repeats in both time and frequency. In practice, this assumption does not always hold. Therefore, we introduce a shift-invariant kernel function capable of identifying similar spectral content even under frequency shifts. This way, we can considerably increase the amount of suitable sound material available to the robust statistics. While this leads to an increase in separation performance, a basic formulation, however, is computationally expensive. Therefore, we additionally present acceleration techniques that lower the overall computational complexity.
Off-line magnetic resonance imaging navigation of cervix cancer brachytherapy in patients with risk factors for uterine perforation

Purpose There are no reports on pre-insertion identification of cervix cancer patients at risk for uterine perforation during brachytherapy (BT). Our aim was to assess the incidence of risk factors in our patient cohort, and assess feasibility of a novel technique of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided navigation for applicator insertion (NAI) in high-risk cases. Material and methods All patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, treated with image guided adaptive BT at our department between October 2013 and June 2017 were considered for analysis. Tumor characteristics on initial MRI (MRIinitial), pre-BT MRI (MRIpre-BT), and BT MRI (MRIBT) were assessed. Frequency of risk factors (age above 60 years, retroverted/retroflected uterus, tumor necrosis, non-visible cervical orifice, distorted cervical canal) was recorded. Patients with two or more factors underwent MRI guided NAI. Time needed for NAI was estimated and procedure feasibility score assigned using a three-tiered scoring system. Results Twenty-seven patients (98 insertions) were included. Mean tumor volume was 70.2 (± 47.9), 17.8 (± 18.9), and 10.3 (± 9.1) cm3 on MRIinitial, MRIpre-BT, and MRIBT1, respectively (p < 0.05). In 16 (59%) cases, ≥ 1 perforation risk factor was found on MRIpre-BT: distorted canal in 12 (44%), necrosis in 9 (33%), retroverted/retroflected uterus in 8 (30%) cases. Nine (33%) patients had ≥ 2 risk factors and underwent MRI guided NAI. Additional time to perform NAI was estimated at 105 minutes, and feasibility score was 1 in all cases. There were no cases of uterine perforation. Conclusions Using pre-insertion MRI, we found ≥ 2 risk factors for uterine perforation in 1/3 of patients. Off-line MRI navigation was feasible and enabled non-complicated insertion in all cases. Further studies with larger sample size are warranted to assess its clinical efficacy.
Electrical Conductive Textiles Obtained by Screen Printing

Due to the emergence of smart textiles and wearable textile systems, the need for electrically conductive textiles has become increasingly clear. Often this conductivity is achieved by integrating metal particles, fibres or yarns into textiles or by coating a textile with a metallic layer. In this research, the potential of another method is explored, namely screen printing a textile with conductive ink. This printing technique is an interesting alternative because it is flexible and cost effective. In this study the conductivity was investigated by measuring the square resistance at different stages (i.e. after printing, abrading and washing, respectively). The printed textiles studied herein exhibit good electrical properties after printing and abrading, respectively. However, after twenty washing cycles, the conductivity decreased considerably. Therefore, in order to improve washability, a protective polyurethane layer was put on top of the printed samples, which resulted in the good conductivity of the fabrics, even after washing.
RFID 3D-LANDMARC Localization Algorithm Based on Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization

Location information is crucial in various location-based applications, the nodes in location system are often deployed in the 3D scenario in particle, so that localization algorithms in a three-dimensional space are necessary. The existing RFID three-dimensional (3D) localization technology based on the LANDMARC localization algorithm is widely used because of its low complexity, but its localization accuracy is low. In this paper, we proposed an improved 3D LANDMARC indoor localization algorithm to increase the localization accuracy. Firstly, we use the advantages of the RBF neural network in data fitting to pre-process the acquired signal and study the wireless signal transmission loss model to improve localization accuracy of the LANDMARC algorithm. With the purpose of solving the adaptive problem in the LANDMARC localization algorithm, we introduce the quantum particle swarm optimization (QPSO) algorithm, which has the technology advantages of global search and optimization, to solve the localization model. Experimental results have shown that the proposed algorithm improves the localization accuracy and adaptability significantly, compared with the basic LANDMARC algorithm and particle swarm optimization LANDMARC algorithm, and it can overcome the shortcoming of slow convergence existed in particle swarm optimization.
An Optimizing Technique based on Genetic Algorithm for Power Management in Heterogeneous Multi-Tier Web Clusters

The most serious drawback nowadays is the power management because the web applications are becoming more sophisticated and their processing power is gradually increasing. Current cluster are designed to handle peak loads, where all servers are equally utilized. In practice, peak load conditions barely happen and clusters are most of the time underutilized. This paper aims to optimize the performance (in terms of execution time) of a multi-tier system and decrease the power consumption of the servers. To achieve these objectives, an Energy Optimizing Genetic Algorithm (EOGA) technique is applied on a three-tier web cluster system. This technique has proved to be successful in decreasing the power consumption and increasing the performance of the system.
Psychological complaints and characteristics in postwar children of Dutch World War II victims: those seeking treatment as compared with their siblings.

BACKGROUND The notion of a second-generation or 'children of survivors' syndrome was studied by obtaining information about the extent to which psychological complaints of postwar children seeking treatment could be compared to their non-treatment-seeking brothers and sisters of roughly the same age. METHODS 46 treatment-seeking subjects, postwar children of Dutch World War II victims, and 22 brothers and sisters, who had not applied for treatment, answered psychological questionnaires about symptoms, psychological traits, coping styles, life events and impact of events. Mean score differences are tested for significance with the t test (two-tailed). RESULTS Statistically significant higher mean scores for several treatment-seeking client groups were consistently obtained on nearly all symptom subscales of the SCL-90, the traits of neuroticism, anxiety, depression, pessimism, and inward expression of negative emotions, as well as the coping style of depressive reaction and PTSD-related characteristics of intrusion and denial of experiences. These differences also remained when the data for the two sexes were separately analyzed or, alternatively, a sibling and sex match were included in the between-groups comparison. CONCLUSIONS Our findings tend to corroborate those of others, expressing doubts as to the ubiquity of enduring pernicious effects of parental traumatic wartime experiences on their offspring. Some members of the second generation seem to be adversely affected, others apparently are not. This conclusion may even be extended to members within the same families, which would seriously call into question the generality of intrafamilial transmission routes. These routes act selectively upon members of the same family.
Observational evaluation of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative characteristics in 117 Brazilian women without uterine prolapse undergoing vaginal hysterectomy

Background Despite the introduction of minimally invasive approaches for various benign uterine problems, hysterectomy is often still performed abdominally, but the vaginal route should be used whenever possible. The aim of this study was to identify the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative characteristics of women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy in the absence of uterine prolapse. Methods A prospective, descriptive, quantitative, noncomparative study was conducted in 117 women between August 2009 and February 2011 in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The women included had a uterine indication for hysterectomy, their surgeries were performed by the same team, and they were followed up for 12 months. An adapted Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system was used to check for uterine prolapse. Results The age range of the women was 33–59 years, uterine volume was 300–900 mL, and 73.50% has undergone prior cesarean section. The main indication for hysterectomy was uterine myoma (64.95%), with a surgery time of 30–60 minutes in 55 (59.82%) and 19 (15.98%) cases, respectively. Uterine volume reduction was performed in 41 (35.05%) cases, salpingectomy was the most common associated surgery (81.19%), and anesthesia was subdural (68.37%). Common intraoperative complications included bladder lesions (8.54%), with conversion to the abdominal route being necessary in one case (1.28%), and the most common postoperative complication being vaginal cupola granuloma (32.47%). There was a statistically significant relationship between surgery time and uterine volume (χ2 = 17.367; P = 0.002). Conclusion This study suggests that vaginal hysterectomy is a safe surgical procedure in view of its good performance and low complication rate.
The Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process and a New Correlation Algorithm to Urban Construction and Supervision Using Multi-Source Government Data in Tianjin

As the era of big data approaches, big data has attracted increasing amounts of attention from researchers. Various types of studies have been conducted and these studies have focused particularly on the management, organization, and correlation of data and calculations using data. Most studies involving big data address applications in scientific, commercial, and ecological fields. However, the application of big data to government management is also needed. This paper examines the application of multi-source government data to urban construction and supervision in Tianjin, China. The analytic hierarchy process and a new approach called the correlation degree algorithm are introduced to calculate the degree of correlation between different approval items in one construction project and between different construction projects. The results show that more than 75% of the construction projects and their approval items are highly correlated. The results of this study suggest that most of the examined construction projects are well supervised, have relatively high probabilities of satisfying the relevant legal requirements, and observe their initial planning schemes.
Hervey virus: Study on co-circulation with Henipaviruses in Pteropid bats within their distribution range from Australia to Africa

In 2011, an unusually large number of independent Hendra virus outbreaks were recorded on horse properties in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Urine from bat colonies adjacent to the outbreak sites were sampled and screened for Hendra and other viruses. Several novel paramyxoviruses were also isolated at different locations. Here one of the novel viruses, named Hervey virus (HerPV), is fully characterized by genome sequencing, annotation, phylogeny and in vitro host range, and its serological cross-reactivity and neutralization patterns are examined. HerPV may have ecological and spatial and temporal patterns similar to Hendra virus and could serve as a sentinel virus for the surveillance of this highly pathogenic virus. The suitability of HerPV as potential sentinel virus is further assessed by determining the serological prevalence of HerPV antibodies in fruit-eating bats from Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and the Gulf of Guinea, indicating the presence of similar viruses in regions beyond the Australian border.
Expression of microRNA‐155 in inflammatory cells modulates liver injury

MicroRNA 155 (miR‐155) is involved in immune and inflammatory diseases and is associated with liver fibrosis and steatohepatitis. However, the mechanisms involved in miR‐155 regulation of liver injury are largely unknown. The role of miR‐155 in acute liver injury was assessed in wild‐type (WT), miR‐155−/−, and miR‐155−/− mice transplanted with WT bone marrow. Additionally, miR‐155 expression was evaluated in liver tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with autoimmune hepatitis. Concanavalin A, but not acetaminophen, treatment increased the expression of miR‐155 in liver tissue of WT mice. Concanavalin A induced increases in cell death, liver aminotransferases, and expression of proinflammatory cytokines (chemokine [C‐X‐C motif] ligands 1, 5, 9, 10, and 11; chemokine [C‐C motif] ligands 2 and 20; and intercellular cell adhesion molecule 1) in miR‐155−/− compared to WT mice. Importantly, these animals showed a significant decrease in cluster of differentiation 4–positive/chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) receptor 3–positive and forkhead box p3–positive cell recruitment but no changes in other inflammatory cell populations. Mechanistically, miR‐155‐deficient regulatory T cells showed increased SH2 domain–containing inositol 5‐phosphatase 1 expression, a known target of miR‐155. Inhibition of SH2 domain–containing inositol 5‐phosphatase 1 in miR‐155−/− mice restored forkhead box p3 recruitment and reduced liver cytokine expression. Transplantation of bone marrow from WT animals into miR‐155−/− mice partially reversed the effect of concanavalin A on miR‐155−/− mice as assessed by proinflammatory cytokines and cell death protein expression. Patients with autoimmune hepatitis showed a marked increase in miR‐155 expression in the liver but reduced expression of miR‐155 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Conclusion: miR‐155 expression is altered in both liver tissue and circulating inflammatory cells during liver injury, thus regulating inflammatory cell recruitment and liver damage; these results suggest that maintaining miR‐155 expression in inflammatory cells might be a potential strategy to modulate liver injury. (Hepatology 2018).
Atrial remodelling in heart failure: recent developments and relevance for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

As specialized compartments of the heart, the atria feature unique mechanical and structural properties that differ considerably from those of the ventricular myocardium. Beyond their contribution to cardiac output as a reservoir, conduit, and booster pump at different phases of the cardiac cycle, the atria determine heart rhythm, regularity, and rate (chronotropy). They also function as mechanical sensors and exert relevant endocrine activity (e.g. natriuretic peptides). Atrial remodelling is often observed in association with ventricular remodelling in heart failure (HF) but by itself adds to the complexity of the disease.
A novel approach to identify the thermal conductivities of a thin anisotropic medium by the boundary element method

A common difficulty arises in characterizing the anisotropic properties of a thin sheet of anisotropic material, especially in the transverse direction. This difficulty is even more phenomenal for measuring its mechanical properties on account of its thickness. As the prelude of such investigation, this paper proposes a novel approach to identify the thermal conductivities of an unknown thin layer of anisotropic material. For this purpose, the unknown layer is sandwiched in isotropic materials with known conductivities. Prescribing proper boundary conditions, one may easily measure temperature data on a few sample boundary points. Therefore, the anisotropic thermal conductivities can be calculated inversely. For the inverse analysis, the boundary element method (BEM) is employed to combine with the conjugate gradient method (CGM). For verifying our analysis, numerical experiments were carried out. The obtained results have shown great computational efficiency and accuracy in identifying the thermal conductivities of the thin anisotropic layer.
Evaluation of the improvement of cephems on the prophylaxis of pelvic infection after radical hysterectomy.

Antibiotics, especially cephems, have been improved remarkably in the last 20 years. In order to evaluate the improvement of antibiotics used for the prophylaxis of infections after radical hysterectomy, two groups of patients (group A, 1978-1979, n = 54; group B, 1985-1987, n = 55) were examined in regard to bacteriological and clinical effects. In spite of the improvement of antibiotics, the positive rate of bacteriological analysis had increased from 44.4 to 76.4%. Obvious decrease of gram-negative bacilli and increase of gram-positive cocci (GPC), e.g. Enterococcus, were observed. In contrast, fever index and febrile morbidity of group B decreased significantly more than those of group A. These results indicate that the improvement of antibiotics has brought more effective prophylaxis in the postoperative infection in spite of the high positive rate of GPC.
The association between physical activity and the risk of symptomatic Barrett’s oesophagus: a UK prospective cohort study

Background Physical activity affects the functioning of the gastrointestinal system through both local and systemic effects and may play an important role in the aetiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett’s oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. We investigated, for the first time in a large prospective cohort study, associations between recreational and occupational levels of physical activity and the incidence of Barrett’s oesophagus. Participants and methods The European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk recruited 30 445 men and women between 1993 and 1997. Occupational and recreational levels of physical activity were measured using a baseline questionnaire. The cohort was followed up until 2015 to identify symptomatic cases of Barrett’s oesophagus. Cox proportional hazard regression estimated hazard ratios (HR) for physical activity and the development of disease. Results Two hundred and three participants developed Barrett’s oesophagus (mean age: 70.6 years) the majority of whom were men (70.9%). There was an inverse association between standing occupations and disease risk [HR: 0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.31–0.82, P=0.006] when compared with sedentary jobs. Heavy manual occupations were positively associated with disease risk (HR: 1.66, 95% CI: 0.91–3.00), but conventional statistical significance was not reached (P=0.09). No associations were found between recreational activity and the risk of Barrett’s oesophagus (HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 0.72–2.50, P=0.35, highest vs. lowest levels of activity). Conclusion Our study suggests that occupational levels of physical activity may be associated with the risk Barrett’s oesophagus. However, further work is required to confirm and describe specific occupations that may be protective.
Diagnosis of Malignant Granular Cell Tumor by Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology

BACKGROUND Malignant granular cell tumors (GCT) are the rarest of all sarcomas, and the histologic differentiation from their benign counterpart may be extremely difficult or impossible unless metastatic disease is demonstrated. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a malignant GCT diagnosed by fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. CASE A 70-year-old, Caucasian female presented with a progressively enlarging left supraclavicular mass. FNA of the mass revealed a metastatic tumor cytologically consistent with GCT. With this diagnosis, a search for other metastatic sites was initiated. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed several tumor nodules in the lungs and liver. CT-guided FNA and tru-cut needle biopsy of a liver mass confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic GCT. In searching for a primary site, the patient revealed a clinical history of having had a tumor removed from her back two months before; it was reported to be an atypical GCT. Comparison of the three tumors revealed similar histologic, cytologic and immunohistochemical features. CONCLUSION Evidence of mild to moderate cytologic atypia; increased mitotic activity; locally aggressive growth; increased proliferative activity as demonstrated by immunohistochemical evaluation of proliferation markers; and DNA ploidy analysis, as reported for this case, may be helpful in predicting malignant behavior of GCTs.
Differentiating Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy from Normal-Tension Glaucoma

ABSTRACT Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by thinning of neuroretinal rim, enlarged cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) and visual field damage. Although raised intraocular pressure is main risk factor for development of glaucoma, it can occur with consistently normal measurements in the intraocular pressure as normal tension glaucoma (NTG). Enlargement of CDR is a classical sign of glaucoma, but it can also result from non-glaucomatous optic neuropathies such as Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). We describe a case of LHON with increased CDR, discuss its differential diagnosis with NTG and highlight the reasons for misdiagnoses between these two entities.
Knockdown of wfs1, a fly homolog of Wolfram syndrome 1, in the nervous system increases susceptibility to age- and stress-induced neuronal dysfunction and degeneration in Drosophila

Wolfram syndrome (WS), caused by loss-of-function mutations in the Wolfram syndrome 1 gene (WFS1), is characterized by juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus, bilateral optic atrophy, and a wide spectrum of neurological and psychiatric manifestations. WFS1 encodes an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident transmembrane protein, and mutations in this gene lead to pancreatic β-cell death induced by high levels of ER stress. However, the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration caused by WFS1 deficiency remain elusive. Here, we investigated the role of WFS1 in the maintenance of neuronal integrity in vivo by knocking down the expression of wfs1, the Drosophila homolog of WFS1, in the central nervous system. Neuronal knockdown of wfs1 caused age-dependent behavioral deficits and neurodegeneration in the fly brain. Knockdown of wfs1 in neurons and glial cells resulted in premature death and significantly exacerbated behavioral deficits in flies, suggesting that wfs1 has important functions in both cell types. Although wfs1 knockdown alone did not promote ER stress, it increased the susceptibility to oxidative stress-, excitotoxicity- or tauopathy-induced behavioral deficits, and neurodegeneration. The glutamate release inhibitor riluzole significantly suppressed premature death phenotypes induced by neuronal and glial knockdown of wfs1. This study highlights the protective role of wfs1 against age-associated neurodegeneration and furthers our understanding of potential disease-modifying factors that determine susceptibility and resilience to age-associated neurodegenerative diseases.