Unsupervised Deep Learning-based clustering for Human Activity Recognition

One of the main problems in applying deep learning techniques to recognize activities of daily living (ADLs) based on inertial sensors is the lack of appropriately large labelled datasets to train deep learning-based models. A large amount of data would be available due to the wide spread of mobile devices equipped with inertial sensors that can collect data to recognize human activities. Unfortunately, this data is not labelled. The paper proposes DISC (Deep Inertial Sensory Clustering), a DL-based clustering architecture that automatically labels multi-dimensional inertial signals. In particular, the architecture combines a recurrent AutoEncoder and a clustering criterion to predict unlabelled human activities-related signals. The proposed architecture is evaluated on three publicly available HAR datasets and compared with four well-known end-to-end deep clustering approaches. The experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of DISC on both clustering accuracy and normalized mutual information metrics.Comment: 2022 IEEE 12th International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE-Berlin

Sukuk: Literature Review

Abstract. At the heart of a global financial crisis triggered since 2008, Islamic finance has been seen as an alternative less affected by the global crisis to cover the financing and investment needs and bringing a new vision that involves sharing of losses and gains and thus prohibit the notion of the interest rate. With the emergence of the concept of Islamic finance a new market has emerged known as sukuk market where its last ones play the role of bonds. These financial instruments have been able, like conventional bonds, to constitute a reliable investment alternative for both companies and governments that want to conduct their business within a framework that respects the precepts of the Sharia. The purpose of this article is to understand the concept and the mechanism of these obligations and to present a review of the literature on sukuks.Keywords. Sukuk, Islamic Finance, Bonds, Financial Instruments.JEL. A10, H12

Mechanical Parameters Effects on Acoustic Absorption at Polymer Foam

Polymer foams have acoustic absorption properties that play an important role in reducing noise level. When the skeleton is set to motion, it is necessary to use generalized Biot-Allard model which takes into account the deformation of the skeleton and the fluid and the interactions between them. The aim of this work is to study the quality of acoustic absorption in polyurethane foam and to show the importance of the structural vibration of this foam on the absorption by varying mechanical parameters (Young’s modulus E, Poisson’s coefficient ν, structural damping factor η, and the density ρ1). We calculated the absorption coefficient analytically using classical Biot formulation (us, uf) and numerically using Biot mixed formulation (us, p) in 3D COMSOL Multiphysics. The obtained results are compared together and show an excellent agreement. Afterwards, we studied the effect of varying each mechanical parameter independently on the absorption in interval of ±20%. The simulations show that these parameters have an influence on the sound absorption around the resonance frequency fr

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Mechanical Parameters Effects on Acoustic Absorption at Polymer Foam

Polymer foams have acoustic absorption properties that play an important role in reducing noise level. When the skeleton is set to motion, it is necessary to use generalized Biot-Allard model which takes into account the deformation of the skeleton and the fluid and the interactions between them. The aim of this work is to study the quality of acoustic absorption in polyurethane foam and to show the importance of the structural vibration of this foam on the absorption by varying mechanical parameters (Young&apos;s modulus , Poisson&apos;s coefficient ], structural damping factor , and the density 1 ). We calculated the absorption coefficient analytically using classical Biot formulation ( , ) and numerically using Biot mixed formulation ( , ) in 3D COMSOL Multiphysics. The obtained results are compared together and show an excellent agreement. Afterwards, we studied the effect of varying each mechanical parameter independently on the absorption in interval of ±20%. The simulations show that these parameters have an influence on the sound absorption around the resonance frequency

Rosmarinic acid as a potential anti-hyperlipidemic agent

Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a natural phytochemical that occurs in numerous plants, including Rosmarinus officinalis. This bioactive compound is widely reported to exert various pharmacological effects, including anti-hyperlipidemic activity. In this study, we reviewed the literature data on RA and hyperlipidemia research. In silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies were retrieved from Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus. The In silico studies revealed that RA possesses squalene synthase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl–coenzyme A reductase enzymes inhibiting effect. Additionally, in vitro reports revealed that RA exerts remarkable lipid-lowering effects and also exhibits anti-adipogenic and anti-atherosclerotic activities. The lipid-lowering action was modulated by numerous mechanisms including the regulation of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant signaling pathways. Moreover, in vivo studies revealed that RA alleviates hyperlipidemia in animal models by modulating the expression of genes involved in hyperlipidemia as well as the regulation of gut microbiota and anti-inflammatory pathways. We conclude that RA is a multi-target anti-hyperlipidemic agent. Moreover, we suggest that the use of this bioactive compound as an anti-hyperlipidemic drug would be an effective pharmacological strategy that could provide promising options for the treatment and prevention of hyperlipidemia and its related disorders including atherosclerosis.

The learning curve of laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery of millennial surgeons: Lessons for a safe implementation in low- and middle-income countries

Objective: This study aimed to analyse the learning curve (LC) in laparoscopic rectal cancer resections of 2 millennial surgeons during the implementation of the first laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery programme in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) cancer centre. Methods: All consecutive patients operated by two millennial surgeons for primary rectal adenocarcinoma between January 2018 and March 2020 were included. The LC was analysed for operative duration and conversion to open surgery using both cumulative sum (CUSUM) and/or variable life-adjusted display (VLAD) charts. Results: Eighty-four patients were included, 45 (53.6%) men with a mean age of 57.3 years. Abdominoperineal resection was performed in 31 (36.9%) cases and resections were extended to other organs in 20 (23.8%) patients. Thirteen patients (15.5%) had conversion to open surgery. Using CUSUM, Learning curve based on conversion was completed at 12 cases for the first surgeon versus 10 cases for the second. While using VLAD and learning curve-CUSUM (LC-CUSUM), the cases needed were 26 vs 24 respectively. The median operative duration was 314 min with a LC completed at cases (17 vs. 26), and (18 vs. 29) using, respectively, standard and LC-CUSUM. Conclusions: This study shows a safe and short LC of millennial surgeons during the implementation of a laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery in an LMIC cancer centre, and the valuable use of modern statistical methods in the prospective assessment of LC safety during surgical training

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Aim: This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Method: This was an international cohort study of patients undergoing elective resection of colon or rectal cancer without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Centres entered data from their first recorded case of COVID-19 until 19 April 2020. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included anastomotic leak, postoperative SARS-CoV-2 and a comparison with prepandemic European Society of Coloproctology cohort data. Results: From 2073 patients in 40 countries, 1.3% (27/2073) had a defunctioning stoma and 3.0% (63/2073) had an end stoma instead of an anastomosis only. Thirty-day mortality was 1.8% (38/2073), the incidence of postoperative SARS-CoV-2 was 3.8% (78/2073) and the anastomotic leak rate was 4.9% (86/1738). Mortality was lowest in patients without a leak or SARS-CoV-2 (14/1601, 0.9%) and highest in patients with both a leak and SARS-CoV-2 (5/13, 38.5%). Mortality was independently associated with anastomotic leak (adjusted odds ratio 6.01, 95% confidence interval 2.58–14.06), postoperative SARS-CoV-2 (16.90, 7.86–36.38), male sex (2.46, 1.01–5.93), age &gt;70&nbsp;years (2.87, 1.32–6.20) and advanced cancer stage (3.43, 1.16–10.21). Compared with prepandemic data, there were fewer anastomotic leaks (4.9% versus 7.7%) and an overall shorter length of stay (6 versus 7&nbsp;days) but higher mortality (1.7% versus 1.1%). Conclusion: Surgeons need to further mitigate against both SARS-CoV-2 and anastomotic leak when offering surgery during current and future COVID-19 waves based on patient, operative and organizational risks