Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Staged Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty: When Should the Second Knee be Replaced?

Background Bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA) under the same anesthesia (simultaneous) or staged are options for patients with end-stage arthritis of the knee that carries advantages and limitations. Not all patients are candidates for simultaneous BTKA, and therefore, surgeons prefer to stage the two TKAs. The optimal safe interval between two TKAs is not known. The present systematic review aimed to determine the optimal time interval between the two stages of BTKA. Methods Pubmed and Scopus databases were searched to identify publications from January 1979 to November 2017 in English that compared the outcomes of staged BTKA performed using various time intervals between the two TKAs. Data on systemic and local complications following staged BTKA were extracted, and the pooled data were analyzed to adjust for age. Results In total, 23 studies that enrolled 117,090 patients undergoing staged BTKA were included in this systematic review. A significant increase was observed in the incidence of myocardial infarction (OR=8.4 and 8.32), other cardiac complications (OR=17.71 and 18.18), deep vein thrombosis (OR=4.72 and 4.89), pneumonia (OR=3.37 and 3.45), and knee revision (OR=3.73 and 4.14) in patients undergoing the second TKA within 30 days or 90 days of the first TKA. However, the replacement of the second knee within this time interval was associated with a significantly lower risk of pulmonary embolism (OR=0.145 and 0.128), superficial (OR=0.14 and 0.79) and deep knee infection (OR=0.0 and 0.0), as well as vascular complications (OR=0.0 and 0.42). Conclusion Time interval of less than 30 or 90 days between two TKAs performed in patients with BTKA was associated with a higher risk of systematic complications. However, the shorter time intervals between the two TKA may reduce the risk of other complications. This information may help surgeons' council patients better when deciding on the optimal time interval between two TKAs.
Vocal Harmony Separation Using Time-Domain Neural Networks

Polyphonic vocal recordings are an inherently challenging source separation task due to the melodic structure of the vocal parts and unique timbre of its constituents. In this work we utilise a time-domain neural network architecture re-purposed from speech separation research and modify it to separate a capella mixtures at a high sampling rate. We use four-part (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) a capella recordings of Bach Chorales and Barbershop Quartets for our experiments. Unlike current deep learning based choral separation models where the training objective is to separate constituent sources based on their class, we train our model using a permutation invariant ob-jective. Using this we achieve state-of-the-art results for choral music separation. We introduce a novel method to estimate harmonic overlap between sung musical notes as a measure of task complexity. We also present an analysis of the impact of randomised mixing, input lengths and ﬁlterbank lengths for our task. Our results show a moderate negative correlation between the harmonic overlap of the target sources and source separation performance. We report that training our models with randomly mixed musically-incoherent mixtures drastically reduces the performance of vocal harmony separation as it decreases the average harmonic overlap presented during training.
Recognising Covid-19 from Coughing Using Ensembles of SVMs and LSTMs with Handcrafted and Deep Audio Features

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, digital health solutions can provide valuable insights and assist in diagnosis and prevention. Since the disease affects the respiratory system, it is hypothesised that sound formation is changed, and thus, an infection can be automatically recognised through audio analysis. We present an ensemble learning approach used in our entry to Track 1 of the DiCOVA 2021 Challenge, which aims at binary classification of Covid-19 infection on a crowd-sourced dataset of 1 040 cough sounds. Our system is based on a combination of hand-crafted features for paralinguistics with deep feature extraction from spectrograms using pre-trained CNNs. We extract features both at segment level and with a sliding window approach, and process them with SVMs and LSTMs, respectively. We then perform least-squares weighted late fusion of our classifiers. Our system surpasses the challenge baseline, with a ROC-AUC on the test set of 78.18 %.
Sweat-based wearable energy harvesting-storage hybrid textile devices

This study demonstrates the first example of a stretchable and wearable textile-based hybrid supercapacitor–biofuel cell (SC–BFC) system. The hybrid device, screen-printed on both sides of the fabric, is designed to scavenge biochemical energy from the wearer's sweat using the BFC module and to store it in the SC module for subsequent use. The BFC relies on lactate, which is oxidized enzymatically to generate electricity. The generated bioenergy is stored directly and rapidly in the printed in-plane SCs. The SC energy-storage module employs MnO2/carbon nanotube composites that offer high areal capacitance and cycling electrochemical stability. Both printed SC and BFC devices rely on optimal elastomer-containing ink formulations and serpentine structure patterns that impart a stable electrochemical performance after a variety of mechanical deformations. Such a fabrication route ensures that the energy-harvesting and storage properties of the two integrated devices are not compromised. The SC–BFC hybrid system can thus deliver stable output over long charging periods, boost the voltage output of the BFC, and exhibit favorable cycling ability. Such attractive performance, demonstrated in successful on-body testing, along with the unique architecture and low-cost scalable fabrication, make the new garment-ased hybrid energy device useful for meeting the power and mechanical resiliency requirements of wearable electronics and smart textiles.
Scavenging patterns of generalist predators in forested areas: The potential implications of increase in carrion availability on a threatened capercaillie population

The increases in ungulate populations and hunting bags throughout Europe and North America have resulted in higher carcass numbers available for mesocarnivore species in temperate and boreal forests. The increase in food resources can sustain denser predator populations, potentially affecting prey species such as the threatened western capercaillie Tetrao urogallus. We investigated the ungulate population trends in recent decades and the carrion use by facultative scavengers in areas of the Pyrenees occupied by capercaillie to assess the potential effects on predation of nests and adult birds, and on its population trend. We found a significant increase in the number of ungulates harvested during the period of sharp capercaillie population decline. Carrion was provided experimentally in forested areas occupied by capercaillie showing that remains were mainly consumed by red fox Vulpes vulpes, followed by wild boar Sus scrofa and marten species (Martes sp.). Season (cold or warm) was the most important factor determining scavenging activity in most species. Main predators of capercaillie nests and adults were martens and red fox, with no predation by wild boar. Our data show that main predators of capercaillie are the same species that mainly consume carrion, especially in winter, and that plentiful carrion resources could maintain higher populations of these species, potentially increasing predation pressure on the capercaillie population. This study shows that managing carrion arising from hunting activity in areas of capercaillie distribution is a necessary management action to reduce the available carrion biomass and so reduce the impact of mesocarnivores on capercaillie conservation.
Acidithiobacillus Its Application in Biomining Using a Quorum Sensing Modulation Approach

A group of particular acidophiles microorganisms (bacteria and archaea) known as chemolithoautotrophs are capable of using minerals as fuel. Its oxidation generates electrons to obtain energy and carbon that is obtained by fixing CO2 from the air. During this aerobic mineral oxidation, metals are solubilized or biodegraded. Metal bioleaching usually is used in biomining and urban biomining approaches to recovery metals such as copper, gold and zinc. Several species of bacterial genus Acidithiobacillus display a great bioleaching activity. Bacterial attachment and biofilm formation are the initial requirements to begin a successful bioleaching process. Biofilm formation in Acidithiobacillus bacteria is strongly regulated by cell to cell communication system called Quorum Sensing. The goal of this chapter is to review the Quorum Sensing system mediated by the autoinducer N-acyl- homoserine-lactones in the Bacterium Acidiothiobacillus ferroxidans, in order to enhance and to boost the bioleaching technologies based in the use of this bacterium. The main applications of the cell-to-cell communication system concepts in A. ferrooxidans are reviewed in this chapter. It is that the addition of synthetic autoinducers molecules, which act as agonist of quorum sensing system, especially those with long acyl chains, both as single molecules (C12-AHL, 3-hydroxy-C12-AHL, C14-AHL, and 3-hydroxy-C14-AHL) or as a mixture (C14-AHL/3- hydroxy-C14-AHL/3-oxo-C14-AHL) increased the adhesion to sulfur and pyrite and enhance the metal bioleaching in urban biomining approaches.
Ultra Fast Speech Separation Model with Teacher Student Learning

Transformer has been successfully applied to speech separation recently with its strong long-dependency modeling capacity using a self-attention mechanism. However, Transformer tends to have heavy run-time costs due to the deep encoder layers, which hinders its deployment on edge devices. A small Transformer model with fewer encoder layers is preferred for computational efficiency, but it is prone to performance degradation. In this paper, an ultra fast speech separation Transformer model is proposed to achieve both better performance and efficiency with teacher student learning (T-S learning). We introduce layer-wise T-S learning and objective shifting mechanisms to guide the small student model to learn intermediate representations from the large teacher model. Compared with the small Transformer model trained from scratch, the proposed T-S learning method reduces the word error rate (WER) by more than 5% for both multi-channel and single-channel speech separation on LibriCSS dataset. Utilizing more unlabeled speech data, our ultra fast speech separation models achieve more than 10% relative WER reduction.
Proximity-based non-contact perception and omnidirectional point-cloud generation based on hierarchical information on fingertip proximity sensors

In this study, we examine robotic proximity perception for both reactive control and 3D point-cloud acquisition using a multi-fingered robot hand. A reactive controller adjusts the relative position and orientation between the fingertips and the target object, while the robot-hand system gathers point-cloud data related to the shape of the object. An experimental result showed that the accuracy of the point-cloud generated using proximity perception was equivalent to or better than that of the point-cloud generated using a vision sensor. Based on the results, we propose proximity-based point-cloud acquisition using ‘non-contact perception’ motion to search the object's surface while preventing unintended collisions. The motion is then combined with the approaching and twisting motions of the robot hand. This enables multi-angles object detection complementarily with reactive fingertip control. Our experiments reveal that the proposed method can generate data-rich point-clouds for various general objects. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Preliminary evaluation of a multicomponent youth development program for siblings separated by foster care: pandemic related impacts to service delivery and youth well-being

ABSTRACT A preliminary evaluation of a multicomponent youth development program for siblings in foster care was conducted prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pretest posttest measures of youth well-being were collected from sixteen youth, caregivers, and caseworkers over a six-month period. Caregivers reported increased internalizing and externalizing behaviors, sibling relationship difficulties, prosocial behavior, and resilience during the study period. Youth reported reduced school engagement, increased resilience, and prosocial behavior. In-person sibling programming was associated with increased prosocial behavior. Virtual sibling programming was associated with lower hyperactivity, increased prosocial behavior, and increased emotional problems. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
The challenge of repurposed technologies for youth: Understanding the unique affordances of digital self-tracking for adolescents

Adults’ digital self-tracking practices are relatively well studied, but these pre-existing models of digital self-tracking do not fit for how adolescents use these technologies. We apply the mechanisms-and-conditions framework of affordance theory to examine adolescents’ imagined affordances of self-tracking apps and devices. Based on qualitative data from an online survey of 16- to 18-year-olds in the United Kingdom, we find the following three key themes in how adolescents imagine the affordances of digital self-tracking: (1) the variability of use across adolescents and with adults, (2) the role of the social control of data in school settings, and (3) the salience of social comparisons among their peers. Using these findings, we show how social and institutional configurations come to matter for technological affordances. By examining adolescents’ imagined affordances for self-tracking, we suggest self-tracking research move away from a “one size fits all approach” and begin to highlight the differences in practices from adults and across adolescents.
Proyección del discurso político en tiempos de campaña.

La trasformación digital ha evolucionado los modos de hacer política y las redes sociales se han convertido en espacios de debate público y escenarios de campaña. En esta investigación comparativa de enfoque mixto, se emplean las herramientas de monitorización Fanpage Karma y Twittonomy. Además, se utiliza la técnica de data mining y las herramientas Crimson Hexagon y Sysomos para la extracción de datos. El objetivo que se propone es determinar qué uso hacen de la potencialidad de estas plataformas (Twitter y Facebook) los líderes políticos seccionales/territoriales, ecuatorianos y españoles que poseen mayor número de seguidores en estas redes sociales. Para la investigación se seleccionaron cuatro casos de Ecuador y cuatro de España. Las publicaciones estudiadas corresponden a la recolección de un mes del año 2019, un total de 5.119 mensajes, de los que 1.099 fueron de Facebook y 4.020 de Twitter. Entre los resultados se observa que los políticos ecuatorianos son más activos que los españoles, también se evidencia que gran parte de las publicaciones son elementos multimedia (imagen y video) y que Twitter es una plataforma eminentemente política. Asimismo, se pudo observar que no existe una diferencia del uso de la herramienta según el sexo y que los hashtags que emplean los políticos responden mayormente a sus eslóganes de campaña.
Evaluation of Conservative therapy in two groups of patients with low back pain associated with iliolumbar ligament enthesopathy and injury of muscles around hip in comparison with patients with other causes of low back pain

Background and objective: The most common problem in patients referred to orthopedic clinics is low back pain. Iliolumbar ligament enthesopathy is one of the causes of low back pain. In this study, we investigated the results of conservative therapy in two groups of patients with low back pain.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 817 patients with back pain referred to our orthopedics clinic during 2013-2014. After diagnosis, patients were divided into two groups. Group A had pain with short external rotator muscles, iliolumbar ligament enthesopathy and gluteal muscle tenderness, and group B were presented with other causes of low back pain. After the end of the conservative therapy the Oswestry disability index were filled by subjects.Results and conclusion: Of total, 303 patients (37.1%) were entered the group A and 514 patients (62.9%) were considered as group B with other causes of back pain. Out of 817 patients, 251 were males and 566 were females. The most common cause of pain was found to be discopathy with 438 cases (53.5%). The mean score of the Oswestry pain severity questionnaire was not statistically significant between 2 groups (P = 0.065) prior to the treatment. However, there was found a significant difference between the frequency distribution of the two groups according to the severity of the pain after the treatment (P = 0.0001). In conclusion, the results of our study indicated that the degree of disability, paraclinical cost, diagnosis based on the correct clinical examination in patients could be different, and patients with injuries such as iliolumbar enthesopathy and injured short extensor muscles around the hip and gluteus responded well to conservative therapy.
Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Biofeedback-Assisted Jacobsons Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Jpmr) for Managingmild/Moderate Depression

Biofeedback is the way of gaining greater awareness of physiological functions with a goal of self-regulation. JPMR (Jacobsons progressive muscle relaxation) causes release of tension in the skeletal muscles, neuro-muscular system is thus seen as a mediator in the relief of depressive symptoms. This study aimed to see the Comparative efficacy of Biofeedback assisted JPMR, Escitalopram and Bimodal use of both in management in mild/moderate depression. The study was conducted at Mental hospital, Indore, with a Sample Size of 30 [Group A 10 ; biofeedback ,Group B 10 ; Escitalopram ,Group C 10;both]. 8 sessions of biofeedback assisted JPMR was given to group A and C . Escitalopram was given group B and C. HAM-D and BDI was applied at baseline , 4 weeks and 8 weeks. As per BDI scale scores, Biofeedback assisted JPMR combined with escitalopram has significantly better response than only biofeedback or only Escitalopram in patients of mild to moderate depression. As per HAM-D scale scores, Biofeedback assisted JPMR combined with escitalopram has significantly better response than only biofeedback or only Escitalopram in patients of mild to moderate depression. Thus Biofeedback appears to be a useful adjunctive treatment for mild to moderate depressive episode.
Eco-Friendly Dyeing of Pretreated Cotton Fabric Using a Natural Dye Extract from Erythrina abyssinica

ABSTRACT The increasing awareness of toxicity of synthetic dyes has considerably raised the demand for natural dyes. Retaining color fastness and strength of natural dyes on fabric is the main limitation in textile dyeing with natural dyes. In this study cotton fabric was pre-treated with aqueous tannic acid in order to enhance the fabric’s color fastness and strength of the natural dye. The untreated, treated and dyed cotton were characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopic analysis to confirm the modification of the cellulosic fiber. Different solvents were used to extract dye from Erythrina abyssinica plant and subjected to phytochemical quantification then used to dye cotton. The new FTIR peaks at 2646 cm−1and 1578 cm−1, which correspond to carbonyl (C=O) stretching mode and C=C stretching mode for aromatic ring, respectively, confirmed the modification and dyeing due to the attachment of the aromatic dye molecules to the cellulose structure. It was noted that modification of cellulose structure enhanced color strength and fastness. Mordanting with alum and ferrous sulfate using different methods formed variety of shades that ranged between light yellow to greenish yellow. Therefore, Erythrina abyssinica plant can be used as a source of natural dye for dyeing cotton fabric.
Factors Impact on Consumer Credit Card Usage Behaviour: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Credit cards are widely popular financial product around the world which is attached to consumer’s daily lifestyle. Credit cards are used for all sorts of payments by consumers based on their requirements. Consumer credit card usage is differing from person to person hence this study examines the factor’s that impact on consumer credit card usage behavior in Sri Lanka. The study was conducted in the western province where the primary data for the survey was collected through a self-completed questionnaire which was distributed among 100 diverse credit card users. The sample of 100 respondents was selected through the convenient sampling technique and collected data were analyzed using a regression model and correlation analysis. This study finds a significant positive relationship between credit card attributes and credit card usage. A similar relationship was evident for social status and lifestyle variable and psychographic variable. Based on the results; credit card attributes emerged as the prominent factor impact on credit card use among Sri Lankan consumers. Further, the factors considered under this study were based on the research model developed under the conceptual framework. Whereas there are many other factors that could have influenced consumer credit card usage behavior. The findings of this study are very much helpful for the credit card issuers to structure their marketing strategies and to enhance the market share of credit card market. Similarly, this research will assist in changing the revenue structure of the credit card business.
Nickel oxide nanoparticles induced DNA damages in human liver cells

Background and Aims: Nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) are one of the most used nanoparticles, especially as photosensitizers. Although some studies evaluate their toxicity in the liver, the information about their toxicity at the cellular and molecular levels is still controversial. In the present study, it was aimed to investigate the in vitro toxic potentials of NiO-NPs (average size 15.0 nm) in the liver (HepG2) cell line. Methods: NiO-NPs were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), the cellular uptake of NPs and the morphologic changes were evaluated by TEM and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), the cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT and neutral red uptake (NRU) tests, comet assay was used for genotoxicity, Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI) apoptosis detection kit was used for apoptosis/ necrosis evaluation and Enzyme-Linked Immune Sorbent Assays (ELISA) kits were used for the potential of oxidative damage. Results: Our results showed that cellular uptake of NiO-NPs led to morphological changes in the cells, and caused cell death (IC50 was 146.7 µg/mL by MTT) mainly by apoptosis. Genotoxicity and oxidative damage were observed to be in a dosedependent manner. Conclusion: Results confirm previous data and draw attention to the toxic effects of NiO-NPs; further in vivo and in vitro studies need to be done to clarify the safety or toxicity of NiO-NPs.