Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dance movement therapy: crossing cultural and professional bridges

Abstract As the profession of dance movement therapy (DMT) grows and develops, more DMT’s are combining movement with counselling and psychology, making valuable contributions across the globe. The sudden threat of Covid-19 made the need for clarification and integration of cultural and professional boundaries clear. With a shrinking world and increasing threats of refugees, displacement, climate change, intergenerational trauma and pandemics, DMT’s can join with other healing disciplines to bring creative healing options into communities and the world. How can it adapt to meet these new challenges while protecting professional standards and ethics? What might this integration look like?
Temporally resolved coastal hypoxia forecasting and uncertainty assessment via Bayesian mechanistic modeling

Abstract. Low bottom water dissolved oxygen conditions (hypoxia) occur almost every summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico due to a combination of nutrient loadings and water column stratification. Several statistical and mechanistic models have been used to forecast the midsummer hypoxic area, based on spring nitrogen loading from major rivers. However, sub-seasonal forecasts are needed to fully characterize the dynamics of hypoxia over the summer season, which is important for informing fisheries and ecosystem management. Here, we present an approach to forecasting hypoxic conditions at a daily resolution through Bayesian mechanistic modeling that allows for rigorous uncertainty quantification. Within this framework, we develop and test different representations and projections of hydrometeorological model inputs. We find that May precipitation over the Mississippi River basin is a key predictor of summer discharge and loading that substantially improves forecast performance. Accounting for spring wind conditions also improves forecast performance, though to a lesser extent. The proposed approach generates forecasts for two different sections of the Louisiana–Texas shelf (east and west), and it explains about 50 % of the variability in the total hypoxic area when tested against historical observations (1985–2016). Results also show how forecast uncertainties build over the summer season, with longer lead times from the nominal forecast release date of 1 June, due to increasing stochasticity in riverine and meteorological inputs. Consequently, the portion of overall forecast variance associated with uncertainties in data inputs increases from 26 % to 41 % from June–July to August–September, respectively. Overall, the study demonstrates a unique approach to assessing and reducing uncertainties in temporally resolved hypoxia forecasting.
Effect of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Yoba Fermentation on Physicochemical Properties, Amino Acids, and Antioxidant Activity of Cowpea-Peanut Milk

The global renewed interest in plant-based milk and products is increasing amongst health-conscious consumers. There is increased utilisation of generic probiotics in the processing of legume milk as alternatives to dairy milk are scarce in Africa. This study evaluated the probiotic potential, physicochemical, and sensory properties of novel fermented cowpea-peanut milk with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Yoba. A 3 × 1 factorial design as ratio of cowpea-peanut milk (1 : 1, 2 : 1, 3 : 1v/v) and the application of 2% w/v L. rhamnosus Yoba obtained from Yoba for Life Foundation, Netherlands, was used. The chemical and mineral contents of the fermented cowpea-peanut milk was analysed using Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) methods. Quality parameters such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging rate, total antioxidant activity, antinutrient, and amino acids content were determined. The fermented cowpea-peanut milk samples had 7.7–8.1 log CFU/mL viable L. rhamnosus Yoba cells after fermentation. Nutrient content range was given in g/100 g: carbohydrate 5.18–6.05, crude fat 3.3–3.5, crude protein 5.6–7.1, ash 1.04–1.26, crude fibre 0.72–1.18, and total reducing sugars 1.80–2.20. Lysine, leucine, and methionine content was 6.30–7.31, 6.60–8.75, and 1.7–1.86 g/100 g, respectively. Phytic acid and trypsin inhibitor content range was 0.3–0.34 mg/100 g and 0.86–1.12 TIU/mg, respectively. Iron and potassium content (mg/100 g) was 0.48–0.58 and 202–243 with pH 4.1–4.2. DPPH free radical scavenging, and total antioxidant rate was 56–59% and 49–54%, respectively. Physicochemical parameters were significantly different ( p < 0.05). The fermented cowpea-peanut milk had an acceptance rating of 78%. The successful application and consumer acceptability of the fermented cowpea-peanut milk has the potential to increase the utilisation of these legumes and enhance their market value.
Growth response of Weaner rabbits to enzyme-supplemented maize milling waste based diets

The potential value of maize milling waste as an alternative feedstuff in rabbit diet and the effect on carcass traits, nutrient retention, haematology and enzyme activities were studied. Forty eight, six weeks old rabbits (male and female) of mixed breed weighing 520 -600g were fed eight diets containing 0% (control), 12%, 23% and 35% maize milling waste with and without enzyme (Nutrase-xyla) addition in a ten week feeding trial. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial arrangement.
Grafting: a potential method to reveal the differential accumulation mechanism of secondary metabolites

Abstract Plant secondary metabolites make a great contribution to the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. Their accumulation is determined by the integrated transport of target compounds and their biosynthesis-related RNA, protein, or DNA. However, it is hard to track the movement of these biomolecules in vivo. Grafting may be an ideal method to solve this problem. The differences in genetic and metabolic backgrounds between rootstock and scion, coupled with multiple omics approaches and other molecular tools, make it feasible to determine the movement of target compounds, RNAs, proteins, and DNAs. In this review, we will introduce methods of using the grafting technique, together with molecular biological tools, to reveal the differential accumulation mechanism of plant secondary metabolites at different levels. Details of the case of the transport of one diterpene alkaloid, fuziline, will be further illustrated to clarify how the specific accumulation model is shaped with the help of grafting and multiple molecular biological tools.
Wear evolution in rolling element bearings: a system model

Rolling element bearing is one of the most critical components that determine the machinery health and its remaining lifetime. Wear prognosis aims to predict the defect and its evolution progress before it occurs. The fundamental need for predictive intelligence tools is to monitor the degradation rather than just detecting the defects, otherwise it will be hard to optimise the asset utilisation in cost effective manner. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a prognosis model which is able to predict the evolution of rolling contact wear, using systems dynamics approach. The dynamic development of wear process is proposed. It considers multiple wear mechanisms and their interactions with respect to surface topological and tribological changes. Moreover, it considers the stress concentration mechanisms and their propagation processes. The study shows a principal agreement between the simulated and measured curves which is important to carry out useful lifetime prediction.
Design and optimization of a dual quadruped vehicle based on whole close-chain mechanism

A new “whole close-chain mechanism” concept is proposed for the design of the modular legged unit of walking vehicles. Based on this concept, the walking vehicle called dual quadruped vehicle is developed and constructed. The vehicle designed as an omnidirectional carrying platform contains two identical single-driven quadruped mechanisms. The details of the design procedure are given, including the single close-chain legged mechanism, the modular legged unit, and the dual quadruped vehicle. The construction description of the single leg is presented. With the optimum design of the whole close-chain legged mechanism, the two foot-point characteristic trajectories are investigated. Based on the strategies of the legged module integration, the best phase configuration in pitching movement and the steering analysis are discussed and illustrated. Dynamic simulations and experiments are performed to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis of the new concept and the maneuverability of the vehicle prototype.
Risk Assessment after ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Can Biomarkers Improve the Performance of Clinical Variables?

Introduction: Myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (STEMI) is the coronary artery disease associated with the highest risk of morbimortality; however, this risk is heterogeneous, usually being evaluated by clinical scores. Risk assessment is a key factor in personalized clinical management of patients with this disease. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess whether some new cardiac biomarkers considered alone, combined in a multibiomarker model or in association with clinical variables, improve the short- and long-term risk stratification of STEMI patients. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of 253 patients with STEMI. Blood samples were obtained before or during the angiography. The assessed biomarkers were C-terminal fragment of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 (CT-IGFBP4), high sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), N-terminal fragment of probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15); they reflect different cardiovascular (CV) physiopathological pathways and underlying pathologies. We registered in-hospital and follow-up mortalities and their causes (cardiovascular and all-cause) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) during a two year follow-up. Discrimination, survival analysis, model calibration, and reclassification of the biomarkers were comprehensively evaluated. Results and Discussion: In total, 55 patients (21.7%) died, 33 in-hospital and 22 during the follow-up, most of them (69.1%) from CV causes; 37 MACE occurred during follow-up. Biomarkers showed good prognostic ability to predict mortality, alone and combined with the multibiomarker model. A predictive clinical model based on age, Killip–Kimball class, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and heart rate was derived by multivariate analysis. GDF-15 and NT-proBNP significantly improved risk assessment of the clinical model, as shown by discrimination, calibration, and reclassification of all the end-points except for all-cause mortality. The combination of NT-proBNP and hs-cTnT improved CV mortality prediction. Conclusions: GDF-15 and NT-proBNP added value to the usual risk assessment of STEMI patients.
Unconventional practice placements as learning experiences. Social work students’ views in an online survey

ABSTRACT Practice learning is a significant opportunity for future social workers. In consideration of the central role it plays, the Catholic University of Milan offers the chance to carry out both traditional and unconventional practice placement. Unconventional Practice Placements (UPP) is closer to Service Learning, but it is also based on the theoretical framework known as the Relational Social Work method. The aim of UPPs is creating or implementing social intervention starting from collaboration with a network of people (professionals of public or private organizations, service users, caregivers and citizens). The process begins with the identification of a real need of the local community. The purpose of this paper is to analyse UPPs presenting the results of quantitative research. An online survey collects the students’ learning experience, who attended the academic years from 2015 to 2019. The research shows that UPPs important learning is achieved in the field, especially in relation to group and community work. Not only that, but the local communities benefit from the social interventions planned in a participatory manner emerging from the UPPs.
Innovative data in communities and crime research: an example at the intersection of racial segregation, neighborhood permeability, and crime

ABSTRACT Amidst the proliferation of community- and place-based, several innovative measurement tools have become more readily available for criminological and criminal justice researchers. The current study illustrates the utility of two novel data sources – Google transportation data and municipal infrastructure files – as a means of extending studies focused on racial and ethnic segregation’s effect on crime to include critical insights from environmental criminology regarding neighborhood boundary permeability. In doing so, we utilize data from over 120 block groups in Little Rock, Arkansas that include measures of Black isolation and boundary permeability: walk times to adjacent neighborhoods and thru streets captured in city infrastructure files. Our findings reveal that both segregation and neighborhood boundary permeability affect crime independently and net of key structural and spatial covariates, but that boundary permeability conditions the effect of segregation on crime. We conclude by discussing how the integration of newer and under-utilized measurement tools advances long-standing research on segregation and crime by operationalizing key theoretical concepts that have remained difficult to include using more standard secondary databases
Recent Developments in Arabic Conversational AI: A Literature Review

Conversational AI is one of the most active research areas in AI, and it has gained more attention from academia as well as industry. Given recent advancements in several conversational AI systems in addition to the availability of several datasets, the aim of this study is to explore the landscape of Arabic text-based conversational AI systems. In this work, we provide a thorough review of recent Arabic conversational AI systems. We group them into three categories based on their functionality: (1) question-answering (QA) systems, (2) task-oriented dialogue systems (DS), and (3) chatbots. Furthermore, we describe the common datasets used in building and evaluating conversational AI systems in Arabic. Few surveys have targeted the conversational AI field for the Arabic language, and we aim to cover this gap with this study. Our contribution focuses on reviewing and analyzing the literature in the field and highlighting future research directions towards human-like conversational AI systems in Arabic.
Patients Access to Medicines – A Critical Review of the Healthcare System in Kenya

Abstract Access to affordable, safe, effective, and quality-assured medicines by a patient is important for good health outcomes. Unfortunately, there is sparse literature published on the pharmaceutical enablers that may increase the sale of a substandard and falsified (SF) medicine to a patient in Kenya. The review highlights some of the factors that may facilitate the entry of SF medicines into the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain and discusses their impact on patient access to medicines. Lack of essential medicines in public health facilities is an important factor that may contribute to increased demand for medicine-related out-of-pocket expenses from private health facilities, thus a likelihood for a patient purchasing SF medicine from unlicensed and illegal medicine outlets or unregulated websites. The need to increase medicine availability in the public sector by the Ministry of Health (MOH) is emphasized in addition to the strengthening of public procurement to cushion it from corruption and mismanagement. In addition, the MOH should promote local pharmaceutical manufacturing and implement a medicine pricing containment policy to avoid abuse and prevent overexploitation of patients, increase medicine price transparency, and reduce pharmaceutical supply chain distortion. Recommended regulatory reviews include accreditation of unlicensed illegal medicine outlets to facilitate accountability, regulatory oversight, and active surveillance. The national post-market surveillance regulatory capacity should be strengthened to improve rational medicine use. A 3-year diploma course should be replaced with a shorter 1- or 2-year pharmaceutical support staff training not eligible to superintend a pharmacy. The recommended legislative review includes a mandatory clause to enforce generic prescribing and the implementation of generic substitution by health workers. Unethical manipulative pharmaceutical marketing practices should carry stiffer penalties to deter malpractice. Future research areas include investigation of medicine prescribing and dispensing practices, medicine consumption studies, medicine price differences within different health sub-sectors, and between licensed pharmacies and unlicensed illegal medicine outlets.
Comparison of Efficacy between Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Preventing Macular Edema after Cataract Surgery in Diabetic Patients

(1) Background: There is no consensus regarding the optimal strategy to prevent macular edema after cataract surgery in diabetic patients. The purpose of study is to compare the efficacy of topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) and intravitreal injections of anti-VEGFs for the prevention of macular edema after cataract surgery in diabetic patients without pre-existing macular edema. (2) Methods: A literature search of the MEDLINE, PUBMED, and EMBASE databases was conducted in July 2021. Studies involving either topical NSAIDs or intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF arms that reported either the occurrence of macular edema or changes in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were included. Weighted mean differences and risk ratios were calculated along with 95% confidence intervals. (3) Results: Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGFs provided short-term structural protection for one month in patients receiving cataract surgery, but the protective effect ceased to exist after three months. The structural protection of topical NSAIDs, however, can last for at least three months. Meanwhile, neither anti-VEGFs nor NSAIDs provided significant visual improvement. (4) Conclusions: Our study suggested that topical NSAIDs eye drops is an effective prevention strategy for macular edema after cataract surgery in diabetic patients.
Investigation on Mechanical and Microstructure Properties of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete

This paper studied the microscopic and mechanical property degradation of axially compressed concrete with different steel fiber content under chemical erosion and freeze-thaw environment. Concrete cylinders with three types of steel fiber contents (0%, 1%, 2%) were selected to study the durability behavior concerning different environmental effects up to 28 days, which included tap water, 3.5% sodium chloride solution, 10% sodium sulfate solution, 5% sulfuric acid solution, 2 mol/L sodium hydroxide solution, and 100 freeze-thaw cycles. The variation of specimens’ microstructure and axial bearing capacity with different fiber content was studied with the chemical erosion cycle increase, and the mass and pH variations of the specimen were measured. According to the law of micro-cracks, the deterioration degree was judged, and a numerical analysis model was established to quantify the reliability of the structure with different fiber content. The results show that the addition of steel fiber can effectively improve the axial bearing capacity of concrete, and a freeze-thaw environment and chemical erosion can accelerate fiber-reinforced concrete’s failure. The optimal content of steel fiber was determined, which is 1% for sodium chloride and sodium sulfate environments, and 2% for the freeze-thaw cycle, dilute sulfuric acid, and sodium hydroxide environments. The finite element software Abaqus was used to simulate and analyze the freeze-thaw cycle and mechanical test of concrete, which verified the rationality of the test results. Research results will provide a theoretical basis for predicting the performance deterioration of steel fiber reinforced concrete under different erosion conditions and periods.
Convolutional Neural Networks for Multi-scale Lung Nodule Classification in CT: Influence of Hyperparameter Tuning on Performance

In this study, a system based in Convolutional Neural Networks for differentiating lung nodules and non-nodules in Computed Tomography is developed. Multi-scale patches, extracted from LIDC-IDRI database, are used to train different CNN models. Adjustable hyperparameters are modified sequentially, to study their influence, evaluate learning process and find each size best performing network. Classification accuracies obtained are superior to 87% for all sizes with areas under Receiver Operating Characteristic in the interval (0.936-0.951). Trained models are tested with nodules from an independent database, providing sensitivities above 96%. Performance of trained models is similar to other published articles and show good classification capacities. As a basis for developing CAD systems, recommendations regarding hyperparameter tuning are provided.
Prevention of multiple pregnancies in gonadotropin-insemination cycles

Purpose of review Although elective single embryo transfer has significantly reduced, the rate of multiple pregnancy in IVF cycles, this rate is still relatively high in gonadotropin-insemination cycles. Patients who fail to ovulate or to conceive with oral agents and have constraints for IVF are usually candidates for gonadotropin injections. The current review article provides an up-to-date summation of the different strategies that can be adopted to reduce the risk of multiple pregnancies in gonadotropin-stimulated intrauterine insemination cycles. Recent findings Gonadotropin-insemination treatments should be used judiciously by experienced providers. One should always start with the lowest effective gonadotropin dose (∼37.5 IU), monitor closely the ovarian response, and consider cycle cancellation or conversion to IVF whenever a high response is encountered. Therefore, every infertility practice should define its own cancellation and ‘rescue IVF’ criteria depending on the number of mature ovarian follicles and the age of the female partner. Summary These preventive measures amongst others should mitigate the risk of multiple pregnancies that can arise from gonadotropin-insemination cycles.
Diagnostic Cytopathology of Peritoneal Washings

Peritoneal washings used for cytologic evaluation are collected at the outset of surgical exploration of women with gynecologic cancers to assist in determining extent of disease and follow-up therapy. While there are similarities to ascites, these samples have differences that must be recognized in order to avoid false positive interpretations. Non-neoplastic mesothelial alterations including heterogeneous reactive changes, endosalpingiosis , endometriosis and tumor rupture are typically not seen in ascites samples but can be seen in peritoneal washings from women with malignancies that have not extended to the peritoneal cavity. Awareness of these potential pitfalls and knowledge of the associated tumor type will facilitate accurate interpretation. When these caveats are recognized, peritoneal washing cytology results are a useful adjunct in helping to determine patient follow-up in women with gynecologic malignancies.