Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vertebrobasilar and Basilar Dolichoectasia Causing Audio-Vestibular Manifestations: A Case Series with a Brief Literature Review

Audio-vestibular symptoms can arise from vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) and basilar dolichoectasia (BD). Given the dearth of available information, herein we reported our experience with different audio-vestibular disorders (AVDs) observed in a case series of VBD patients. Furthermore, a literature review analyzed the possible relationships between epidemiological, clinical, and neuroradiological findings and audiological prognosis. The electronic archive of our audiological tertiary referral center was screened. All identified patients had a diagnosis of VBD/BD according to Smoker’s criteria and a comprehensive audiological evaluation. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched for inherent papers published from 1 January 2000 to 1 March 2023. Three subjects were found; all of them had high blood pressure, and only the patient with high-grade VBD showed progressive sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Seven original studies were retrieved from the literature, overall including 90 cases. AVDs were more common in males and present in late adulthood (mean age 65 years, range 37–71), with symptoms including progressive and sudden SNHL, tinnitus, and vertigo. Diagnosis was made using different audiological and vestibular tests and cerebral MRI. Management was hearing aid fitting and long-term follow-up, with only one case of microvascular decompression surgery. The mechanism by which VBD and BD can cause AVD is debated, with the main hypothesis being VIII cranial nerve compression and vascular impairment. Our reported cases suggested the possibility of central auditory dysfunction of retro-cochlear origin due to VBD, followed by rapidly progressing SNHL and/or unnoticed sudden SNHL. More research is needed to better understand this audiological entity and achieve an evidence-based effective treatment.
Sparcl1 and Atherosclerosis

Abstract Atherosclerosis and its complications constitute some of the major diseases affecting humans worldwide. A core component of atherogenesis is endothelial cell damage and dysfunction, which also includes factors such as adhesion and proliferation of various cells. Multiple studies have shown that atherosclerosis and cancer share a common pathophysiological process and exhibit a degree of similarity. Sparcl-1 is a cysteine-rich secretory stromal cell protein present in the extracellular matrix and belongs to the Sparc family of proteins. Its role in tumor development has been widely investigated; however, its role in cardiovascular diseases has rarely been studied. Sparcl-1 is considered an oncogene correlated with the regulation of cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation and is also related to blood vessel integrity. In this review, the potential link between Sparcl-1 and atherosclerosis development is investigated, and recommendations on future research on the role of Sparcl-1 in atherogenesis are provided.
DIASTOLIC AND ISOPERIMETRIC INEQUALITIES ON SURFACES

Nous demontrons une inegalite universelle entre la diastole, definie par un procede de minimax sur l'espace des 1-cycles, et l'aire d'une surface riemannienne fermee. De maniere informelle, nous prouvons que toute surface riemannienne fermee peut etre balayee par une famille de multi-lacets dont les longueurs sont controlees par l'aire de la surface. Cette inegalite diastolique, qui repose sur une majoration de la constante de Cheeger, fournit en particulier un procede effectif pour trouver de courtes geodesiques fermees sur une 2-sphere. Nous deduisons que toute surface riemannienne peut etre decomposee en deux domaines de meme aire dont la longueur du bord commun est majoree a l'aide de l'aire de la surface. Nous comparons egalement divers invariants riemanniens sur la 2-sphere afin de souligner le role special joue par la diastole.
Pole-to-pole involvement of varicella zoster virus reactivation following COVID-19 vaccination

The aim of this study is to report the clinical features, imaging findings including confocal imaging, corneal nerve fiber analysis, and management outcomes in a series of three cases of varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation following one dose of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. This was a retrospective and observational study. All the patients who developed uveitis post-vaccination were pooled together. Patients who had VZV reactivation were included. Two cases had polymerase chain reaction positive for VZV from aqueous humor. At the time of presentation, IgG and IgM spike protein antibodies for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) were tested. Out of this pool, three patients with classical features to describe pole-to-pole manifestations were chosen. A 36-year-old lady with post-vaccination sclerokeratouveitis associated with reactivation of herpes zoster ophthalmicus, a 56-year-old lady with post-vaccination acute anterior uveitis associated with herpes zoster ophthalmicus, and a 43-year-old gentleman with post-vaccination acute retinal necrosis were included. We present a possible link between anti-SARS-CoV-2 virus vaccination and varicella zoster reactivation in these patients and also describe the clinical features, imaging findings including confocal imaging, corneal nerve fiber analysis, and management with detailed discussion.
Pengembangan Ensiklopedia Plantae pada Mata Pelajaran Biologi SMA Berbasis Potensi Lokal Kabupaten Musi Banyuasin

This research has a background of the gap between the need for learning resources and the availability of additional learning resources in schools. Where interesting learning resources are one way to help students achieve an understanding of the material. Plantae materials have quite a lot of material content and make students bored if they only learn using printed books and lead to lower interest and learning outcomes compared to other materials. The purpose of this study was to describe the planning, procedures for developing the encyclopedia plantae based on the local potential of the Musi Banyuasin district and the perceptions of teachers and students towards the developed encyclopedia product. This research includes the type of research and development or R&D that will produce a product. This encyclopedia research uses the ADDIE model where there are several processes, namely Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. This encyclopedia is based on validation by material experts and learning media design experts with a "very valid" validity result. The subjects of this study were students in class X SMA Negeri 1 Bayung Lencir/ UPT SMAN 6 Musi Banyuasin and Biology teachers at SMA Negeri 1 Bayung Lencir/ UPT SMAN 6 Musi Banyuasin. Based on the results of the validation and trials as well as the responses given, it can be concluded that the Encyclopedia of Plantae Based on Local Potential in Musi Banyuasin Regency is feasible to use
HMM-based speech synthesis and its applications

This thesis describes a novel approach to text-to-speech synthesis (TTS) based on hidden Markov model (HMM). There have been several attempts proposed to utilize HMM for constructing TTS systems. Most of such systems are based on waveform concatenation techniques. In the proposed approach, on the contrary, speech parameter sequences are generated from HMM directly based on maximum likelihood criterion. By considering relationship between static and dynamic parameters, smooth spectral sequences are generated according to the statistics of static and dynamic parameters modeled by HMMs. As a result, natural sounding speech can be synthesized. Subjective experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of dynamic features. Relationship between model complexity and synthesized speech quality is also investigated. To synthesize speech, fundamental frequency (F0) patterns are also required to be modeled and generated. The conventional discrete or continuous HMMs, however, cannot be applied for modeling F0 patterns, since observation sequences of F0 patterns are composed of one-dimensional continuous values and discrete symbol which represents " unvoiced. " To overcome this problem, the HMM is extended so as to be able to model a sequence of observation vectors with variable dimensionality including zero-dimensional observations, i.e., discrete symbols. It is shown that by using this extended HMM, referred to as the multi-space probability distribution HMM (MSD-HMM), spectral parameter sequences and F0 patterns can be modeled and generated in a unified framework of HMM. Since speech parameter sequences are generated directly from HMMs, it is possible to covert voice characteristics of synthetic speech to a given target speaker by applying speaker adaptation techniques proposed in speech recog-i ii nition area. In this thesis, the MAP-VFS algorithm, which is combination of a maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation and a vector field smoothing (VFS) technique, is applied to the HMM-based TTS system. Results of ABX listening tests averaged for four target speakers (two males and two females) show that speech samples synthesized from adapted models were judged to be closer to target speakers' models than initial speaker independent models by 88% using only one adaptation sentences from each target speaker. Since it has been shown that the HMM-based speech synthesis system have an ability to synthesize speech with arbitrarily given text and speaker's voice characteristics, the HMM-based TTS system can be considered to be applicable to imposture against speaker verification systems. From this point of view, security of speaker verification systems against synthetic speech is investigated. Experimental …
MANDARIN EXISTENTIAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND THE PREDICATE RESTRICTION

In this paper I raise questions about the predicate restriction, which claims that only stage-level predicates may appear in the coda of an existential sentence. I present novel data from Mandarin to show that the predicate restriction is not universal: It is systematically absent in Mandarin. I propose that the reason behind its absence is syntactic. Specifically, I show that the English existential coda cannot be as large as a TP, while the Mandarin existential coda contains a full TP. This, in combination with Diesing’s (1992) Mapping Hypothesis, which says individual-level predicates need to be in TPs, naturally derives the difference between existentials of the English-type and those of the Mandarin-type. Finally, I show that the Mandarin existential coda is not a relative clause, despite being a full clause. Thus, this paper seeks to attain two purposes: (i) to bring attention to the possibility of violations of the predicate restriction, which has largely been thought to be universal; and (ii) to make a first attempt at explaining why the predicate restriction is absent in Mandarin.
Nonlinear Gain Dynamics of Quantum Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

In this work the nonlinear gain dynamics of electrically injected quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers is investigated. At first the semiclassical modeling ansatz on the basis of Maxwell-Bloch equations is presented. An important aspect are here the carrier scattering processes between the confined quantum dot states and the surrounding quasi-2D carrier reservoir states. Based on a detailed microscopic description of the Coulomb scattering processes density and temperature dependent scattering rates for the quantum dot-quantum well Auger scattering processes are calculated. In the next part of this work the dynamic properties of quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers are investigated. The impact of the different scattering channels on the gain recovery of the device is investigated. As a main result it is shown that a cascading relaxation scattering channel drives the ultrafast gain recovery dynamics associated with quantum dot amplifiers. Furthermore, comparisons with gain recovery measurements suggest that carrier heating significantly enhances the gain recovery dynamics. The stability properties of lasers are closely related to the linewidth enhancement factor, or α-factor. In the next part of this work the impact of the coherent interaction of the quantum dot states and the 2D reservoir states on the static α-factor is investigated. As a main result it is shown, that the α-factor of quantum dot based devices is largely determined by the coherent interaction of the reservoir. Furthermore, it is shown that the coherent interaction of the reservoir states also has a huge impact on the phase dynamics and the chirp of ultrashort input pulses. The last part of this work deals with nonlinear wavelength conversion using nondegenerate four-wave mixing. Based on the results on Coulomb scattering, it can be shown that the high bandwidth of nonlinear wavelength conversion in quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers is linked to the efficient scattering mechanisms between the reservoir and the quantum dot states.
Painless Capillary Blood Collection: A Rapid Evaluation of the Onflow Device

Blood-based diagnostics are critical for many medical decisions, but mostly rely on venepuncture, which can be inconvenient and painful. The Onflow Serum Gel (Loop Medical SA, Vaud, Lausanne, Switzerland) is a novel blood collection device that utilises needle-free technology to collect capillary blood. In this pilot study, 100 healthy participants were enrolled and provided two Onflow collected specimens and one venous blood specimen. Five chemistry analytes (AST, ALT, LDH, potassium, creatinine) and haemolysis were measured per specimen, and laboratory analyte results were compared. Onflow was found to be more acceptable than venepuncture with lower pain ratings, and 96.5% of participants would use the Onflow method again. All phlebotomists (100%) found Onflow intuitive and user-friendly, with ~1 mL of Onflow blood successfully collected from 99% of participants in <12 min (mean: 6 min, 40 s) and 91% collected on the first attempt. ALT and AST analytes showed no difference in performance, while creatinine generated a negative bias (−5.6 µmol/L), and increased variability was noted with potassium (3.6%CV) and LDH (6.7%CV), although none were clinically relevant. These differences may be due to 35% of Onflow collected specimens having “mild” haemolysis. Onflow is a promising alternative blood collection device that should now be evaluated in participants with expected abnormal chemistries and as an option for self-collection.
TOPOLOGY CODING IN SPECTRAL DOMAIN FOR EFFECTIVE MEDICAL IMAGE RETRIEVAL

This paper present an approach for image retrieval based on shape based approach. The approach is developed with a curvature representation approach and the information for the contour variation is explored with the usage of spectral based approach. The integration of spectral transform approach with shape based representation by the usage of curvature scale space representation for contour evolution is proposed. The suggested approach is used as in representative co-efficient for a given image and the resolution information exploit the curvature nature of the curvature scale information. This approach is observed to be faster and higher accurate approach than the existing shape based segmentation approach. Keyword: Discrete Spectral transform, curvature representation, shape based coding, image retrieval.
The Influence of E-Trust and E-Satisfaction on Customer E-Loyalty toward Online Shop in E-Marketplace during Pandemic Covid-19

Pandemic COVID-19 encouraged Indonesia retail migrate their business to e-commerce, especially e-marketplace or online shop. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of e-trust and e-satisfaction in building e-loyalty. This study also aims to examine the impact of e-coupon, information quality and financial risk on e-trust and e-satisfaction. This study is one of the few studies that examine the relationship of e-coupon, e-satisfaction, e-trust, and e-loyalty simultaneously. The population of this study is Indonesia consumers that already shopping online through e-marketplace. This study employs a structural equation model (SEM) PLS to analyze the research model and data. This study uses non-probability – quota sampling to collect data. The samples were collected through online questionnaires from 423 online shop customers in Indonesia. The result found that e-trust and e-satisfaction are essential factors in developing e- loyalty toward Indonesia's online shop in pandemic COVID-19. This study also found that e-coupon and information quality have an essential role in building e-satisfaction and e-trust. The finding from this study has a theory and practical implications.
Curcumin: Overview of Extraction Methods, Health Benefits, and Encapsulation and Delivery Using Microemulsions and Nanoemulsions

Curcumin is the principal curcuminoid found in the rhizomes of turmeric. Due to its therapeutic action against cancer, depression, diabetes, some bacteria, and oxidative stress, it has been used widely in medicine since ancient times. Due to its low solubility, the human organism cannot completely absorb it. Advanced extraction technologies, followed by encapsulation in microemulsion and nanoemulsion systems, are currently being used to improve bioavailability. This review discusses the different methods available for curcumin extraction from plant material, methods for the identification of curcumin in the resulting extracts, its beneficial effects on human health, and the encapsulation techniques into small colloidal systems that have been used over the past decade to deliver this compound.
Measurement Problem and Two-State Vector Formalism

In this paper, I show that an interpretation of quantum mechanics using two-state vector formalism proposed by Aharonov, Bergmann, and Lebowitz, can solve one of the measurement problems formulated by Maudlin. According to this interpretation, we can simultaneously insist that the wave function of a system is complete, that the wave function is determined by the Schrodinger equation, and that the measurement of a physical quantity always has determinate outcomes, although Maudlin in his formulation of the measurement problem states that these three claims are mutually inconsistent. Further, I show that my interpretation does not contradict the uncertainty relation and the no-go theorem.
The Random Effects in Multilevel Models: Getting Them Wrong and Getting Them Right

Many surveys of respondents from multiple countries or subnational regions have now been fielded on multiple occasions. Social scientists are regularly using multilevel models to analyse the data generated by such surveys, investigating variation across both space and time. We show, however, that such models are usually specified erroneously. They typically omit one or more relevant random effects, thereby ignoring important clustering in the data, which leads to downward biases in the standard errors. These biases occur even if the fixed effects are specified correctly; if the fixed effects are incorrect, erroneous specification of the random effects worsens biases in the coefficients. We illustrate these problems using Monte Carlo simulations and two empirical examples. Our recommendation to researchers fitting multilevel models to comparative longitudinal survey data is to include random effects at all potentially relevant levels, thereby avoiding any mismatch between the random and fixed parts of their models.
3-D Integrated Sub-Domain Model for On-Load Magnetic Field and Force Analysis of 6-DOF Screw-Motion Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

This article presents the 3-D integrated sub-domain model (3-D ISM) for the 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) screw-motion permanent-magnet synchronous motors (Sm-PMSMs). For the actively controlled and decoupled 6-DOF motion, the novel pattern of PM-array is introduced, consisting of the checker-board PMs to drive the 2-DOF screw motion and the additional tilting PMs for the other 4-DOF magnetic bearings. The armature of the proposed Sm-PMSM design contains both the linear coil sets and the rotational coil sets, where the D-Q current excitation scheme with the peak current modulation method is utilized to generate the 6-DOF forces and torques in a decoupled manner. The 3-D ISM presented in this article accurately estimates the magnetic fields in the 3-D cylindrical space with an on-load condition, integrating the PM-induced fields from the magnetic scalar potential model and the current-induced fields from the hybrid vector potential model. The proposed 3-D ISM is validated by the equivalent 3-D finite element analysis (FEA) model, comparing the on-load magnetic fields, and the decoupled 6-DOF forces and torques. The fidelity of the proposed model is observed with an accuracy greater than 96%, while simultaneously improving the computational speed by two orders-of-magnitude as compared to the 3-D FEA.
Towards a practical compact magnifying superlens—a simple simplical design

A magnifying superlens is a resonant lens that can enhance the radar cross section of an object beyond its physical size. Although these lenses have many potential applications and the recipe to design and make these lenses is relatively straightforward, the general superlens is too complicated to be built. In this work, we introduce a simple, systematic and versatile method to construct the simplest possible magnifying superlens. With this methodology we hope that one day this will lead to the construction of practical superlenses.
Study of the Influence of Silicon-Containing Diamond-like Carbon Coatings on the Wear Resistance of SiAlON Tool Ceramics

DLC coatings have low adhesive bond strength with the substrate and a high level of residual stresses. This paper is devoted to researching a complex of characteristics of a DLC-Si coating deposited on samples of SiAlON ceramics with intermediate coatings (CrAlSi)N pre-formed to improve the adhesive bond strength employing vacuum-plasma spraying. DLC-Si coatings were formed by chemical vapor deposition in a gas mixture of acetylene, argon, and tetramethylsilane supplied through a multichannel gas purge system controlling the tetramethylsilane volume by 1, 4, 7, and 10%. The SiAlON samples with deposited (CrAlSi)N/DLC-Si coatings with different silicon content in the DLC layer were subjected to XPS and EDX analyses. Tribological tests were carried out under conditions of high-temperature heating at 800C. The nanohardness and elasticity modulus of the rational (CrAlSi)N/DLC-Si coating with Si-content of 4.1% wt. were 26 ± 1.5 GPa and 238 ± 6 GPa, correspondingly. The rational composition of (CrAlSi)N/DLC-Si coating was deposited on cutters made of SiAlON ceramics and tested in high-speed machining of aircraft nickel-chromium alloy compared to uncoated and DLC-coated samples. The average operating time (wear resistance) of (CrAlSi)N/DLC-Si(4.1% wt.)-coated end mills before reaching the accepted failure criterion was 15.5 min when it was 10.5 min for the original cutters.