Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Four-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusions

Study Design: A retrospective review of prospectively collected case series. Objective: This is a retrospective review of prospectively collected data regarding the clinical outcomes, complications, and fusion rates of patients who underwent a 4-level (C3–C7) anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Summary of Background: The use of multilevel ACDF for cervical spondylosis has been controversial. The literature regarding fusion rates and outcomes have been variable. This study intends to evaluate the outcomes following multilevel ACDF in a large cohort of patients. Clinical Materials and Methods: Between 1994 and 2011, 60 patients underwent a 4-level ACDF by a single surgeon. All patients were followed for a minimum of 12 months, and outcome measures included neurological findings, presence or absence of radiographic fusion, and complication rates. All patients had radiographic documentation of spinal cord stenosis at 4 consecutive cervical levels as well as myelopathy and/or radiculopathy symptoms. Results: Forty-eight patients underwent a single anterior procedure, only 5 patients underwent concurrent anterior and posterior fusion, and 7 patients required a second posterior surgery due to new-onset or residual symptoms or hardware complications after undergoing ACDF. Patients most commonly presented with paresthesias and were diagnosed with cervical stenosis. Overall, 18.3% reported early postoperative dysphagia; however, only 2 patients continued to have mild dysphagia symptoms on long-term follow-up. Other complications included hardware failure (11), residual neck pain (7), residual paresthesias (6), new-onset weakness (3), neck hematoma (1), cellulitis (1), and C5 radiculopathy (1). Overall, 88.3% of patients reported improvement in initial symptoms. Nurick scores were significantly lower following 4-level ACDF. The radiographic fusion rate for all levels was 95%. No patients required reoperation for pseudarthrosis. Conclusion: In appropriate patients, 4-level ACDF is a safe, efficacious method for treating multilevel cervical spinal cord compression, with acceptable complication rates and the ability to achieve neurological improvement and high fusion rates.
GGR Biennial Critical Review: Analytical Developments Since 2010

Advances in the chemical and isotopic characterisation of geological and environmental materials can often be ascribed to technological improvements in analytical hardware. Equally, the creation of novel methods of data acquisition and interpretation, including access to better reference materials, can also be crucial components enabling important breakthroughs. This biennial review highlights key advances in either instrumentation or data acquisition and treatment, which have appeared since January 2010. This review is based on the assessments by scientists prominent in each of the given analytical fields; it is not intended as an exhaustive summary, but rather provides insight from experts of the most significant advances and trends in their given field of expertise. In contrast to earlier reviews, this presentation has been formulated into a unified work, providing a single source covering a broad spectrum of geoanalytical techniques. Additionally, some themes that were not previously emphasised, in particular thermal ionisation mass spectrometry, accelerator‐based methods and vibrational spectroscopy, are also presented in detail.
Extended scope of practice audiology in the ENT outpatient clinic – a pilot study

Abstract Objective To investigate the feasibility of using an extended scope (ES) audiology service to provide care to non-urgent adult patients waiting for an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) appointment. Design Based on suitability criteria developed by the Audiology and ENT departments, an internal review of the ENT wait list identified patients who would be suitable for an ES audiology clinic. Study sample 220 non-urgent patients on the ENT wait list with hearing loss and/or tinnitus. Results A total of 220 patients were transferred from the ENT wait list to the ES audiology clinic: 200 (90.9%) were seen by the ES Audiologist and 20 (9.1%) patients self-discharged or did not attend the appointment. Out of the 200 patients seen, 175 (87.5%) were assessed, managed and discharged without the need for input from an Otologist. The remaining 25 (12.5%) patients needed an Otologist’s input. Conclusion This study has demonstrated the feasibility of an ES audiology clinic in a tertiary teaching hospital. Of those seen by ES audiologist, 87.5% were discharged from the ENT wait list without medical intervention. This model may represent an effective alternative pathway for lengthy outpatient waiting list management whilst providing patients with timely access to care.
Colloidal arrest by capillary forces

Three situations are compared in which capillary forces, arising at a solid–fluid–fluid contact line, can lead to an arrested state. In the first, an isotropic fluid that enters a biphasic isotropic/nematic coexistence is arrested in its phase separation by the presence of colloids. In the second, colloids coating an interface between two fluids can inhibit the Rayleigh–Plateau instability. In the third case, capillary stresses acting at the surface of a droplet of dense colloidal suspension, surrounded by air, can explain the observed bistability between a fluid droplet and a jammed ‘granule’. Common features between these problems are emphasized.
Complex band structures and decay length in polyethylene chains

The complex band structure of an isolated polyethylene chain is calculated within density functional theory (DFT). A plane wave basis and ultrasoft pseudopotentials are used. The results are compared with those obtained via a local basis set. We obtain a gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the antibonding unoccupied molecular orbitals of 9.3 eV and a non-resonant tunnelling β parameter of 0.9 per monomer, in reasonable agreement with experiment and with results obtained via local basis. Polyethylene is a negative electron affinity material and the actual gap should be the energy of the HOMO with respect to the vacuum level (in DFT approximation only about 5.14 eV). The Bloch states at imaginary k are mainly free-electron-like parabolic bands which are missing in the local basis. We present also the complex bands of bulk polyethylene in order to estimate the effects of the chain–chain interactions on the complex band structure. The relevance of these results for the tunnelling conduction of n-alkane chains is discussed.
Influence of Montmorillonite on the Dissolution and Bioavailablity of Phenyton

AbstractThe dissolution of phenytoin were studied from various phentyoin-montmorillonite combinations. Firstly, phentoin-montmorllionite combinations were obtained by precipitating phenytoin from two different solvents on to montmorillonite using drug to montmorillonite ratios. Secondly, physical mixtures of phenytoin and montmorillonite were prepared in were compressed into tablets and the dissolution rates were determined. The dissolution rates of phenytoin with the dissolution rates of the combinations. The montmorillonite increased the dissolution rate of phenyton from all the combinations to such an extent that the dissolution rates compressed well with those obtained form phenytoin sodium.The bioavailability of phentyoin from three different phenytoin-montmorillonite mixutres were compared well the bioavailability from a phenytoin sodium capsule in four volunters. More phenytoin were absorbed from the phenytoin-montrillonite mixtures than from the phenytoin sodium. The absorption rate of phenytoin f.
Fuzzy matching and without Central Authority: Multi-authority Attribute Searchable Encryption

Attribute-based Keyword Search (ABKS) support the access control on the search result based upon fuzzy identity over encrypted data, when the search operation is performed over outsourced encrypted data in cloud. However, almost ABKS schemes trust a single authority to monitor the attribute key for users. In practice, we usually have diﬀerent entities responsible for monitoring diﬀerent attribute keys to a user. Thus, it is not realistic to trust a single authority to monitor all attributes keys for ABKS scheme in practical situation. Although a large body of ABKS schemes have been proposed, few works have been done on multi-authority attribute searchable encryption. We propose a multi-authority attribute searchable encryption without central authority in this paper. Comparing previous ABKS schemes, we extend the single authority ABKS scheme to multi-authority ABKS scheme and remove the central authority in multi-authority ABKS scheme. We analyze our scheme
Fast Variational Quantum Algorithms for Training Neural Networks and Solving Convex Optimizations. Physical Review

Variational hybrid quantum classical algorithms to optimizations are important applications for near-term quantum computing. This paper proposes two quantum algorithms (the second one is variational) for training neural networks. Both of them obtain exponential speedup at the number of samples and polynomial speedup at the dimension of the samples over classical training algorithms. Moreover, the proposed quantum algorithms return the classical information of the training weight so that the outputs can be used directly to solve other problems. For practicality, we draw the quantum circuits to implement the two algorithms. Finally, as an inspiration, we show how to apply the variational algorithm to achieve speedup at the number of constraints in solving convex optimization problems.
Overview of SHINRA2020-ML Task

In this paper, a Knowledge Base (KB) construction project, SHINRA [1] and a new shared-task we conducted under NTCIR15, SHINRA2020-ML [5] are described. SHINRA is a project to structure Wikipedia based on a pre-defined set of attributes for given categories. The categories and the attributes follow the definition of the Extended Named Entity (ENE) [2]. In our previous work, we conducted a shared task of automatic knowledge base construction (AKBC) [3] and used the submitted results to construct a large and more accurate KB. In the shared tasks, the participants are not notified which is the test data so they must run their systems on all entities in the target Wikipedia dataset. By this method, the organizers receive information for the entities, later made public, and will be used to build structured knowledge by ensemble learning. We call this recourse construction scheme "Resource by Collaborative Contribution (RbCC)". SHINRA2020-ML, a new shared-task of SHINRA, targets the categorization of Wikipedia entities in 30 languages. We conducted the task and received the submission results from 10 participant groups. We would like to utilize the results and work on making the KB more valuable by the RbCC scheme.
Comparative study to evaluate the effect of smart phone addiction on various components of mental health among high school students of Surat city

Background: Mobile phones are an important part of high school student’s life. Addiction to smartphone usage is a common worldwide problem among students, which might negatively affect their mental wellbeing. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of mobile phone use on mental health of high school students by measuring the levels of depression, anxiety, fear of missing out, isolation and sleep quality among higher secondary students of various schools of Surat city. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 250 numbers of higher secondary students (Grade 10-12) aged between 14-16 years. All the subjects were asked to complete a selfreported Smartphone Addiction Scale-short version (SAS-sv) for measuring smart phone addiction. Subjects were assigned to 2 groups based on their scores on the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version for Adolescents (SAS-SV): addicted group (score > 32, n = 155) and non-addicted group (score ≤ to 32, n = 95). Secondary outcome measures were Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) for anxiety and depression, FOMO scale for fear of missing out, PROMIS sleep disturbance short form for sleep disturbances. 6 items from the Children’s Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to measure social isolation. Results: Statistical analysis indicates that 62% of students were addicted to smart phone. Anxiety, depression, fear of missing out, isolation and sleep disturbance had positive significant correlation with smart phone addiction (p<0.05). Anxiety and depression (p = 0.000) were highly correlated with smart phone addiction followed by Sleep disturbance (0.002), isolation (p = 0.029) and fear of missing out (p = 0.049). The results revealed there were high chances of anxiety and stress for cell phone addicts. Conclusions: The results indicated that the intensity and modality of mobile phone use could be a factor that can influence causal pathways leading to mental health problems in the high school student population of Surat. The positive correlation between smartphone addiction and various components of mental health is alarming.
A Review on the Comparison of Box-Jenkins ARIMA and LSTM of Deep Learning

A time-series is a set of events, sequentially calculated over time. Predicting the Time Series is mostly about predicting the future. The ability of a time series forecasting model is determined by its success in predicting the future. This is often at the expense of being able to explain why a specific prediction was made. The Box-Jenkins model implies that the time series is stationary, and thus suggests differentiating non-stationary series once or several times to obtain stationary effects. This generates a model for ARIMA, the "I" being the word for "Integrated". The LSTM networks, comparable to computer memory, enforce a gated cell for storing information. Such as the previously mentioned networks, the LSTM cells also recognize when to make preceding time-steps reads and writes information. Even though the work is new, it is obvious that LSTM architectures provide tremendous prospects as contenders for modeling and forecasting time series. The outcomes of the overall discrepancy in error indicate that in regards of both RMSE and MAE, the LSTM-model tended to have greater predictive accuracy than the ARIMA-model.
LES of the convective boundary layer: A minimum-dissipation modeling approach

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is an important tool for studying the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) (Deardorff 1974; Moeng 1984; Nieuwstadt et al. 1993; Mason 1994; Kosovic 1997; Porté-Agel et al. 2000; Bou-Zeid et al. 2005; Beare et al. 2006; Sullivan & Patton 2011; Zhou & Chow 2011). In LES, turbulent structures larger than a filter scale are resolved, and a subfilter model is used to account for the contribution of the unresolved small scales. Applying a spatial filter to the Navier-Stokes equations (here, including buoyancy and Coriolis effects) as well as the transport equation for the potential temperature leads to
Dew duration and amount on corn leaves as determined from measurements during SMEX05 and simulation using the ALEX model

Dew plagues crop producers in many facets of agriculture. Many studies have been done on the effects of dew in terms of pest infestation and disease development on crops. The presence of intercepted precipitation and dew has been found to decrease the microwave brightness temperature of corn at the plot-scale, which in turn affects soil moisture readings. Although the formation of dew is significant on amicro-scale, satellite remote sensing instruments such as the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission aim to measure soil moisture on a meso or synoptic scale. The purpose of the dew collection portion of the Soil Moisture EXperiment in 2005 (SMEX05) was to manually measure dew so that this effect could be studied on measurements at the field scale made by remote sensing instruments on an aircraft . The use of physical models for atmosphere-land interactions can provide a great benefit to remote satellite measurements of soil moisture. Although direct measurements of dew are important, spatial coverage of manual measurements are minimal. Land-atmosphere transfer models, validated by manual measurements, must be used at the satellite scale. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether manual dew measurements obtained during SMEX05 are accurately modeled by the Atmosphere-Land EXchange model, ALEX. Dew measurements were taken during SMEX05 from June 16 t0 July 3, 2005 in corn (Zea malts, L.), soybean (Glgcine max, L.), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa, L.) fields south of Ames, Iowa. Collection usually began at approximately 5:45 Central Standard Time (CST) and concluded at approximately 8:00 CST each morning. My hypothesis was that dew amount and duration collected from SMEX05 are accurately predicted by the ALEX model. Accuracy for dew amount is defined as an amount within 0.05 to 0.1 mm of manual measurements. Accuracy for dew duration is defined as 0.5 hours within
The Influence of Presentation Format on Responses of Male Sex Offenders to Digital Paintings that illustrate the Consequences Sexual Crimes

Although art viewing experiences occur in varied contexts, responses of audience may be profoundly affected by the presentation format. In this paper, focus is drawn upon participation in a digital paintings exhibition and visual representation in assessing the responses of male sex offenders to digital paintings that illustrate the consequences of sexual crimes. The relationship between arts and technology is an emerging area of interest in modern research. In addition to the traditional gallery displays, digital technologies have provided new ways of audience participation in arts, enabling more involvement in the way art is consumed. The authors sought to determine the effect of viewing screen projected images in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation and in a gallery display. The study applied brief repeated exposures as described in Mere Exposure research. The study utilized temporary exhibition displays and projection by Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) where the respondents were passive participants, simply viewing the artwork. The participants were drawn from male sexual offenders aged 18-45 years at Nairobi West Prison, a male offenders’ facility in Nairobi City County. Stratified random sampling was used to select 61 male offenders convicted for defilement and rape. Respondents were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions involving viewing in projection by RSVP and gallery display. A five-point Liker scale was used to measure the participants’ responses to digital paintings illustrating consequences of sexual crimes. A Multivariate Analysis was used to assess ratings of the digital paintings against the various components of art. Findings show that painting style, colour schemes, themes and exposure frequency significantly influenced the participants’ responses to the digital paintings. The study recommends use of comparative analysis to determine how exposure to digital paintings impacts differently on other types of audiences.
A backbone-based communication scheduling scheme for A backbone-based communication scheduling scheme for wireless sensor networks wireless sensor networks

Prolonging network lifetime and retaining maximum communication fidelity are important to many applications of ad-hoc wireless sensor networks. Many energy-efficient communication protocols have been proposed to allow as many sensors as possible to be in idling. Typically, these techniques reduce energy consumption by minimizing the number of transmission packets and the size of each packet. However, recent researches have shown that energy consumed by the sensors in idling state is not negligible. In this research, we address this problem with a novel Backbone-based Communication Scheduling (BCS) technique. This scheme reduces the idling energy dissipation by keeping only a small set of sensors active at any time and leaving the rest of them in sleeping. The active sensors form a communication backbone that maintains the communication fidelity of the entire network. The backbone nodes are rotated with a highly efficient backbone election algorithm to balance the energy consumption of the sensors in the whole network. Our simulations results show that the proposed scheme can significantly extend the network lifetime without compromising the communication fidelity.
SELECTING OPTIMAL DOSAGE VOLUMES FOR EYE IRRITATION TESTS IN THE RABBIT

AbstractThe elimination kinetics of sodium fluorescein applied into the conjunctival sac of the rabbit eye was studied at two dosages, 100 μl and 50 μl Tear samples were taken during the first 30 min after application. The concentration of sodium fluorescein in the sample was determined using high performance liquid chromatography with UV-VIS detector. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated on computer with the ESTRIP program. From the results of this study it can be concluded that the drainage kinetics of sodium fluorescein consist of a rapid and a slow phase. After application of 100 μl into the conjunctival sac of the eye, a time lag was observed before the concentration started to decrease in the eye. The time lag of 5–8 min observed at 100 μl disappeared when a volume of 50 μl was applied. This difference in time lag is indicative for the difference in eye toxicity, which has been observed between dosage volumes of 100 μl and 50 μl in earlier studies. The other pharmacokinetic parameters were.
University of Birmingham Identification of regional activation by factorization of high-density surface EMG signals

: 24 In this study, we investigated whether principal component analysis (PCA) and non-negative matrix 25 factorization (NMF) perform similarly for the identification of regional activation within the human 26 vastus medialis. EMG signals from 64 locations over the VM were collected from twelve participants 27 while performing a low-force isometric knee extension. The envelope of the EMG signal of each channel 28 was calculated by low-pass filtering (8 Hz) the monopolar EMG signal after rectification. The data matrix 29 was factorized using PCA and NMF, and up to 5 factors were considered for each algorithm. Association 30 between explained variance, spatial weights and temporal scores between the two algorithms were 31 compared using Pearson correlation. For both PCA and NMF, a single factor explained approximately 32 70% of the variance of the signal, while two and three factors explained just over 85% or 90%. The 33 variance explained by PCA and NMF was highly comparable (R > 0.99). Spatial weights and temporal 34 scores extracted with non-negative reconstruction of PCA and NMF were highly associated (all p < 0.001, 35 mean R > 0.99). Regional VM activation can be identified using high-density surface EMG and 36 factorization algorithms. Regional activation explains up to 30% of the variance of the signal, as 37 identified through both PCA and NMF. 38
Do Cross-Cultural Differences in Visual Attention Patterns Affect Search Efficiency on Websites?

Prior work in cross-cultural psychology and neuroscience has shown robust variations in visual attention patterns. People from East Asian societies, in which a holistic thinking style predominates, have been found to attend to contextual information in scenes more than Westerners, whose tendency to think analytically expresses itself in greater attention to foreground objects. This paper applies these findings to website design, using an online study to evaluate whether Japanese (N=65) remember more and are faster at finding contextual website information than US Americans (N=84). Our results do not support this hypothesis. Instead, Japanese overall took significantly longer to find information than US participants—a difference that was exacerbated by an increase in website complexity—suggesting that Japanese may holistically take in a website before engaging with detailed information. We discuss implications of these findings for website design and cross-cultural research.