Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of ICT-driven innovation: a comparative study on national innovation efficiency between developed and emerging countries

ABSTRACT In the Big Data era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), including the Internet and sensors, digitises physical activity extensively. This leads to the development of ICT Driven Innovation (IDI) which may have a strong influence on National Innovation Efficiency (NIE). The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the impact of IDI on NIE in both advanced and emerging countries. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed to obtain the individual score for each country. We focus on comparing IDI between advanced and emerging economies in particular. We believe that IDI is an important reason why the average NIE score is higher in developed countries than in emerging countries. Obviously, developed countries have shown good capabilities in IDI in excess of most emerging countries. This includes but is not limited to R&D expenditure across the ICT industry, ICT patents etc. Several emerging economies received high NIE scores such as China and Brazil, who also have a good performance in IDI. On this basis, we discuss the mechanism of how IDI affects NIE. ICT industry innovation, non-ICT industries innovation, and ICT infrastructure are summarised as the primary factor affecting NIE by IDI. Further empirical research is required in the future.
Multicomponent dark matter in a simplified 
E6SSM

We study Dark Matter (DM) in the Exceptional Supersymmetric Standard Model (E$_6$SSM). The model has both active and inert Higgs superfields and by imposing discrete symmetries one can generate two DM candidates. We show that the lightest higgsinos of the active and inert sectors give a viable setup for two-component DM. We also illustrate the scope of both direct and indirect detection experiments in extracting such a DM sector. Future experiments of the former kind have a good chance of finding the active component while the inert higgsino will be very hard to detect while those of the latter kind will have no sensitivity to either candidate.
A Unified Framework for SINR Analysis in Poisson Networks With Traffic Dynamics

We study the performance of wireless links for a class of Poisson networks, in which packets arrive at the transmitters following Bernoulli processes. By combining stochastic geometry with queueing theory, two fundamental measures are analyzed, namely the transmission success probability and the meta distribution of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). Different from the conventional approaches that assume independent active states across the nodes and use homogeneous point processes to model the locations of interferers, our analysis accounts for the interdependency amongst active states of the transmitters in space and arrives at a non-homogeneous point process for the modeling of interferers’ positions, which leads to a more accurate characterization of the SINR. The accuracy of the theoretical results is verified by simulations, and the developed framework is then used to devise design guidelines for the deployment strategies of wireless networks.
Importance of internal pattern contrast and contrast against the background in aposematic signals.

Aposematic color patterns that signal prey unprofitability are suggested to work best when there is high contrast within the animal color pattern or between the animal and its background. Studies show that prey contrast against the background increases the signal efficiency. This has occasionally been extended to also explain the presence of internal patterns. We used domestic chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, to investigate the relative importance for avoidance learning of within-prey pattern contrast and prey contrast against the background. In a series of trials, birds were first trained to avoid artificially made aposematic mealworms that were plain red or red with black stripes, and to discriminate them from palatable brown mealworms, on either a red or a brown background. Second, we investigated how the birds generalized between striped and nonstriped prey. The chicks showed faster avoidance learning when the basic color of the aposematic prey (red) contrasted with the background color (brown). However, there was no similar effect of internal pattern contrast. The generalization test showed a complete generalization between the nonstriped and the striped prey. We conclude that contrasting internal patterns do not necessarily affect predator avoidance learning the same way as shown for prey-to-background contrast in aposematic prey. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
Incentives for Federated Learning: a Hypothesis Elicitation Approach

Federated learning provides a promising paradigm for collecting machine learning models from distributed data sources without compromising users' data privacy. The success of a credible federated learning system builds on the assumption that the decentralized and self-interested users will be willing to participate to contribute their local models in a trustworthy way. However, without proper incentives, users might simply opt out the contribution cycle, or will be mis-incentivized to contribute spam/false information. This paper introduces solutions to incentivize truthful reporting of a local, user-side machine learning model for federated learning. Our results build on the literature of information elicitation, but focus on the questions of eliciting hypothesis (rather than eliciting human predictions). We provide a scoring rule based framework that incentivizes truthful reporting of local hypotheses at a Bayesian Nash Equilibrium. We study the market implementation, accuracy as well as robustness properties of our proposed solution too. We verify the effectiveness of our methods using MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets. Particularly we show that by reporting low-quality hypotheses, users will receive decreasing scores (rewards, or payments).
A temporal-to-spatial deep convolutional neural network for classification of hand movements from multichannel electromyography data.

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are appealing for the purpose of classification of hand movements from surface electromyography (sEMG) data because they have the ability to perform automated person-specific feature extraction from raw data. In this paper, we make the novel contribution of proposing and evaluating a design for the early processing layers in the deep CNN for multichannel sEMG. Specifically, we propose a novel temporal-to-spatial (TtS) CNN architecture, where the first layer performs convolution separately on each sEMG channel to extract temporal features. This is motivated by the idea that sEMG signals in each channel are mediated by one or a small subset of muscles, whose temporal activation patterns are associated with the signature features of a gesture. The temporal layer captures these signature features for each channel separately, which are then spatially mixed in successive layers to recognise a specific gesture. A practical advantage is that this approach also makes the CNN simple to design for different sample rates. We use NinaPro database 1 (27 subjects and 52 movements + rest), sampled at 100 Hz, and database 2 (40 subjects and 40 movements + rest), sampled at 2 kHz, to evaluate our proposed CNN design. We benchmark against a feature-based support vector machine (SVM) classifier, two CNNs from the literature, and an additional standard design of CNN. We find that our novel TtS CNN design achieves 66.6% per-class accuracy on database 1, and 67.8% on database 2, and that the TtS CNN outperforms all other compared classifiers using a statistical hypothesis test at the 2% significance level.
FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH HOT SPOTS IN FARM STORED GRAIN

The temperature, moisture, germination and fungal relationships of normal and heated wheat and oats collected from grain bulks in 13 granaries in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were determined during the falls and winters of 1957–60. Eight bulks were studied in detail. It was found that hot spots could develop anywhere in a bin. Temperatures up to 53 °C. (in winter) were obtained and were usually highest at the base of the bulk. Heating grain was relatively dry (less than 11 per cent) except along the surface. The highest water contents (27 per cent) in the bulks always occurred in the gram along the surface layers. Loss of germinability could occur anywhere in the bulk. Field fungi, such as Alternaria, were common in viable seed, but negligible in heated grain. The seeds in hot spots were predominantly infected by storage fungi, among which Penicillium spp. were the most abundant, even in relatively dry grain at the 6-foot depth. Other fungi commonly found were Aspergillus spp. , especially A. flavus Link, A.
Leveraging Stereo-Camera Data for Real-Time Dynamic Obstacle Detection and Tracking

Dynamic obstacle avoidance is one crucial component for compliant navigation in crowded environments. In this paper we present a system for accurate and reliable detection and tracking of dynamic objects using noisy point cloud data generated by stereo cameras. Our solution is real-time capable and specifically designed for the deployment on computationally-constrained unmanned ground vehicles. The proposed approach identifies individual objects in the robot’s surroundings and classifies them as either static or dynamic. The dynamic objects are labeled as either a person or a generic dynamic object. We then estimate their velocities to generate a 2D occupancy grid that is suitable for performing obstacle avoidance. We evaluate the system in indoor and outdoor scenarios and achieve real-time performance on a consumergrade computer. On our test-dataset, we reach a MOTP of 0.07 ± 0.07m, and a MOTA of 85.3% for the detection and tracking of dynamic objects. We reach a precision of 96.9% for the detection of static objects.
Challenges With Developing Secure Mobile Health Applications: Systematic Review

Background Mobile health (mHealth) apps have gained significant popularity over the last few years due to their tremendous benefits, such as lowering health care costs and increasing patient awareness. However, the sensitivity of health care data makes the security of mHealth apps a serious concern. Poor security practices and lack of security knowledge on the developers’ side can cause several vulnerabilities in mHealth apps. Objective In this review paper, we aimed to identify and analyze the reported challenges concerning security that developers of mHealth apps face. Additionally, our study aimed to develop a conceptual framework with the challenges for developing secure apps faced by mHealth app development organizations. The knowledge of such challenges can help to reduce the risk of developing insecure mHealth apps. Methods We followed the systematic literature review method for this review. We selected studies that were published between January 2008 and October 2020 since the major app stores launched in 2008. We selected 32 primary studies using predefined criteria and used a thematic analysis method for analyzing the extracted data. Results Of the 1867 articles obtained, 32 were included in this review based on the predefined criteria. We identified 9 challenges that can affect the development of secure mHealth apps. These challenges include lack of security guidelines and regulations for developing secure mHealth apps (20/32, 63%), developers’ lack of knowledge and expertise for secure mHealth app development (18/32, 56%), lack of stakeholders’ involvement during mHealth app development (6/32, 19%), no/little developer attention towards the security of mHealth apps (5/32, 16%), lack of resources for developing a secure mHealth app (4/32, 13%), project constraints during the mHealth app development process (4/32, 13%), lack of security testing during mHealth app development (4/32, 13%), developers’ lack of motivation and ethical considerations (3/32, 9%), and lack of security experts’ engagement during mHealth app development (2/32, 6%). Based on our analysis, we have presented a conceptual framework that highlights the correlation between the identified challenges. Conclusions While mHealth app development organizations might overlook security, we conclude that our findings can help them to identify the weaknesses and improve their security practices. Similarly, mHealth app developers can identify the challenges they face to develop mHealth apps that do not pose security risks for users. Our review is a step towards providing insights into the development of secure mHealth apps. Our proposed conceptual framework can act as a practice guideline for practitioners to enhance secure mHealth app development.
Química y Funcionalidad Biológica de Mollinedia racemosa (Monimiaceae)

Mollinedia racemosa, a species collected in Yopal-Casanare-Colombia, has been characterized from the point of view of its phytochemical profile, quantification of some of its secondary metabolites, antioxidant potential, composition and chemical profile of essential oil, antimicrobial activity and acute toxicity. The objective was giving scientific support to the empirical knowledge from Colombian indigenous and peasant communities and to contribute to better understanding of this type of plant in Colombia. The ethanolic extract of the plant has a high content of phenolic constituents, while volatiles compounds obtained from its leaves have high content of sesquiterpenes. The bioactivity revealed by the plant could be associated to phytophenols, alkaloids and essential oil constituents.
Workplace Violence Against Doctors in India: A Traditional Review

Workplace violence against doctors is not new, but in recent times, it has grown up in epidemic proportions. Doctors are more worried about their safety and life in the workplace. Meager government spending on healthcare associated with the poor socioeconomic status of the patient and the ever-rising cost of treatment had worsened the situation in present times. The article aims to address this critical issue and try to find possible ways to prevent it.
Mass-preserving approximation of a chemotaxis multi-domain transmission model for microfluidic chips

The present work is inspired by the recent developments in laboratory experiments made on chips, where the culturing of multiple cell species was possible. The model is based on coupled reaction-diffusion-transport equations with chemotaxis and takes into account the interactions among cell populations and the possibility of drug administration for drug testing effects. Our effort is devoted to the development of a simulation tool that is able to reproduce the chemotactic movement and the interactions between different cell species (immune and cancer cells) living in a microfluidic chip environment. The main issues faced in this work are the introduction of mass-preserving and positivity-preserving conditions, involving the balancing of incoming and outgoing fluxes passing through interfaces between 2D and 1D domains of the chip and the development of mass-preserving and positivity preserving numerical conditions at the external boundaries and at the interfaces between 2D and 1D domains.
Full-Thickness Gluteus Medius Tears With or Without Concomitant Hip Arthroscopy: Minimum 2-Year Outcomes Using an Open Approach and Contemporary Tendon Repair Techniques

Background: Gluteus medius (GM) tears are a well-established source of pain and disability. An open approach has been recognized with complete full-thickness and large GM tears, yet the current literature provides few reports on outcomes for this specific situation. Purpose: To report and analyze minimum 2-year patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from patients who underwent open GM repair in the setting of a full-thickness tear with or without concomitant hip arthroscopy through use of contemporary tendon repair techniques. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Prospectively collected data were retrospectively reviewed for patients who underwent hip preservation surgery and total hip arthroplasty (THA) between April 2008 and May 2017. Patients were included in this study if they underwent open repair of GM full-thickness tears. The exclusion criteria were incomplete follow-up, workers’ compensation status, repair regarding size and pattern of the GM, open repair of partial GM tear, open repair with allograft or autograft augmentation, and/or additional gluteus maximus transfer. Pre- and postoperative PROs for the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Non-Arthritic Hip Score (NAHS), Hip Outcome Score Sport-Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS), and visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain and satisfaction were recorded. Statistical significance was set at P < . 05. Results: A total of 36 patients were included, of whom 12 received concomitant hip arthroscopy for intra-articular procedures. The mean ± SD age, body mass index, and follow-up time were 65.18 ± 12.69 years, 28.97 ± 4.95 kg/m2, and 40.8 ± 26.19 months, respectively. At minimum 2-year follow-up, the following outcome measures improved significantly: mHHS (from 54.72 ± 15.89 to 73.12 ± 19.47; P < .0001), NAHS (from 56.05 ± 12.47 to 75.22 ± 19.15; P < .0001); HOS-SSS (from 20.30 ± 20.21 to 44.23 ± 35.85; P < .0001), and VAS (from 4.95 ± 2.70 to 2.67 ± 2.81; P < .0001). There was 1 (2.8%) conversion to THA at 48 months after the index procedure. Conclusion: Patients who underwent open repairs in the setting of full-thickness GM tears via contemporary tendon repair techniques, with or without concomitant hip arthroscopy, achieved favorable results in several PRO scores at minimum 2-year follow-up.
PISTIS: From a Word-of-Mouth to a Gentleman's Agreement

The accelerated digitalisation of society along with technological evolution have extended the geographical span of cyber-physical systems. Two main threats have made the reliable and real-time control of these systems challenging: (i) uncertainty in the communication infrastructure induced by scale, openness and heterogeneity of the environment and devices; and (ii) targeted attacks maliciously worsening the impact of the above-mentioned communication uncertainties, disrupting the correctness of real-time applications. This paper addresses those challenges by showing how to build distributed protocols that provide both real-time with practical performance, and scalability in the presence of network faults and attacks. We provide a suite of real-time Byzantine protocols, which we prove correct, starting from a reliable broadcast protocol, called PISTIS, up to atomic broadcast and consensus. This suite simplifies the construction of powerful distributed and decentralized monitoring and control applications, including state-machine replication. Extensive empirical evaluations showcase PISTIS's robustness, latency, and scalability. For example, PISTIS can withstand message loss (and delay) rates up to 40% in systems with 49 nodes and provides bounded delivery latencies in the order of a few milliseconds.
Prevention strategies adopted by physiotherapists in response to work related musculoskeletal disorders

Objective: To study the preventive strategies adopt by physiotherapists in their field work to overcome their musculoskeletal injuries. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted among physiotherapists of Karachi for six months. A Questionnaire was used to collect the data from physiotherapists who worked in different hospital, clinics & rehabilitation centers. Both genders had equally participated in the study with the age group (up to 45 years) regardless of their experience, designation, mode of job & type of work. Results: We found that 79% of the physiotherapists were affected from musculoskeletal injuries. Females had participated more as compared to males. Most of them adopted preventive strategies like modification of position, selection of techniques that would not aggravate the symptoms and adjustment of bed height. Conclusion: A large percentage of physiotherapists developed work related musculoskeletal injuries. Many strategies were used like modification of working station, awareness of injuries to control these problems.
Culture, maintenance and control of mouse embryonic stem cells

Embryonic stem cells are considered to have a potential use in Regenerative Medicine due to three key properties: a) pluripotency, that is, the plasticity to differentiate into any cell type through asymmetric divisions, b) high proliferation rate and clonal regeneration through symmetric divisions, and c) the ability, although limited, to maintain an undifferentiated state in culture. For these reasons, the use of mouse embryonic stem cells is a fundamental tool for the deciphering of the operating mechanisms that need to occur for the in vitro differentiation of insulin-producing cells. This strategy may have an enormous implication in Regenerative Medicine for the treatment of diabetes. In this context, the in vitro culture of embryonic stem cells requires the control of a number of factors. Variability in such factors can compromise the differentiation potential of these cells in both directed and spontaneous differentiation protocols, resulting in a dramatic alteration of the final cell product.
Seizure as the first manifestation of transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis

Abstract Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is a rare genitourinary entity of the renal pelvis and the ureter characterized by an aggressive behavior. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is the first-line therapy of metastatic UTUC. However, a large number of patients with metastatic UTUC are considered ineligible for cisplatin. Immunotherapy emerged as a promising treatment in this setting. Brain metastasis from UTUC is unusual, occurring most often in the presence of systemic metastases. Local therapies such as stereotactic radiosurgery, neurosurgical resection and whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) remain the main therapeutic options for brain metastasis. We report a case of a 65-year-old male patient presenting with generalized tonic–clonic seizure. Imaging studies confirmed the presence of multiple brain metastasis. During an evaluation for the primary, he was found to be having metastatic UTUC of the renal pelvis. The brain metastases were treated by hippocampal sparing WBRT with minimal neurotoxicity. The primary tumor was treated by pembrolizumab.
Inhaled Corticosteroids as an Associated Risk Factor for Asthmatic Pneumonia: A Literature Review

Asthma patients have commonly been prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) as the first line of control therapy. ICSs are associated with an increased risk of pneumonia in chronic obstructive airway disease (COPD) patients. However, the evidence remains controversial in asthma patients. Several observational studies reported an increased risk of pneumonia; however, COPD patients were not excluded clearly in these studies. In observational studies that excluded COPD patients and in randomized controlled trials, ICS use was not found to be associated with the risk of pneumonia. Hence, COPD patients should be excluded in future studies, and the currently available evidence demonstrates that ICS use is not associated with an increased risk of pneumonia in asthma patients.