Search

The ongoing biodiversity crisis, driven by factors such as land-use change and global warming, emphasizes the need for effective ecological monitoring methods. Acoustic monitoring of biodiversity has emerged as an important monitoring tool. Detecting human voices in soundscape monitoring projects is useful both for analyzing human disturbance and for privacy filtering. Despite significant strides in deep learning in recent years, the deployment of large neural networks on compact devices poses challenges due to memory and latency constraints. Our approach focuses on leveraging knowledge distillation techniques to design efficient, lightweight student models for speech detection in bioacoustics. In particular, we employed the MobileNetV3-Small-Pi model to create compact yet effective student architectures to compare against the larger EcoVAD teacher model, a well-regarded voice detection architecture in eco-acoustic monitoring. The comparative analysis included examining various configurations of the MobileNetV3-Small-Pi-derived student models to identify optimal performance. Additionally, a thorough evaluation of different distillation techniques was conducted to ascertain the most effective method for model selection. Our findings revealed that the distilled models exhibited comparable performance to the EcoVAD teacher model, indicating a promising approach to overcoming computational barriers for real-time ecological monitoring.

Background: The field of face transplantation continues to evolve, with more complex defects being addressed, and, at the same time, increased outcome expectations. Given our unique long-term experience in this field, we consented one of the youngest patients to undergo a full-face transplant., Methods: An 18-year-old woman presented with complete destruction of her central face and craniofacial structures. She had coexisting major injuries, including pituitary gland, visual axis, and motor control. After extensive rehabilitation and reconstruction techniques, the patient underwent face transplant on May 4, 2017, at the age of 21 years., Results: The total operative time for the recipient was 26 hours. There were no major perioperative complications. Since transplant, the patient has undergone 3 revision surgeries. She is near completely independent from a daily life activity standpoint. She has had 1 episode of rejection above grade II that was successfully treated with a short-term increased in immunosuppression., Conclusions: Contrary to data in solid organ transplantation where youth is associated with increased risk of rejection, our current algorithm in immunosuppression, combined with this patient's compliance, has led to only 1 rejection episode beyond grade II. This successful transplant can serve as a model for future vascularized composite transplants in younger populations., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: This face transplant was supported by the Department of Defense Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, grant number W81XWH-08-2-0034., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: As a high-volume referral center for facial transplantation, we have learned significantly from the screening, evaluation, and enrollment process. This report analyzes our algorithm for the assessment of potential face transplant candidates referred to our institution., Methods: After institutional review board approval in 2004, a prospectively maintained database was created for patients who were referred face transplant. Records were reviewed for the nature of tissue defect, functional deficit, surgical and medical history, and expert recommendations.Our algorithm begins with a review of a patient's file with a focus on institutional review board criteria. After screening, a phone interview is conducted, and transplantation is discussed. Patients are presented to the team to analyze the medical, psychiatric, and surgical history; support network; and geographic location. Eligible patients are invited for an in-person evaluation, and the case is reviewed again with the team. If approved, the patient can provide consent for transplantation., Results: More than 200 patients were referred for transplant evaluation at the Cleveland Clinic from 2004 to 2016. Sixty were eligible for further evaluation for face transplantation based on preliminary screening. Thirteen (6.5% of original cohort) were invited for in-person evaluation and physical examination. Five (2.5% of original cohort, 38.4% invited cohort) of these 13 patients underwent face transplantation, of whom, 3 (1.5% of original cohort, 23.1% invited cohort) underwent face transplantation at our institution. All 3 patients who were ultimately transplanted were referred by a physician., Discussion: As the availability of public information on face transplant increases, it is likely that an increase in self-referral for face transplantation will occur. Thus, it is critical that institutions adopt a systematic approach to triage in order to identify appropriate patients. Our algorithm allowed for a high enrollment and transplantation ratio to save patient and institution time and resources. This could be easily adopted by other institutions to save time, money, and resources.

Uterus transplantation is the only known potential treatment for absolute uterine factor infertility. It offers a unique setting for the investigation of immunologic adaptations of pregnancy in the context of the pharmacologic-induced tolerance of solid organ transplants, thus providing valuable insights into the early maternal-fetal interface. Until recently, all live births resulting from uterus transplantation involved living donors, with only 1 prior birth from a deceased donor. The Cleveland Clinic clinical trial of uterus transplantation opened in 2015. In 2017, a 35 year old woman with congenital absence of the uterus was matched to a 24 year old parous deceased brain-dead donor. Transplantation of the uterus was performed with vaginal anastomosis and vascular anastomoses bilaterally from internal iliac vessels of the donor to the external iliac vessels of the recipient. Induction and maintenance immunosuppression were achieved and subsequently modified in anticipation of pregnancy 6 months after transplant. Prior to planned embryo transfer, ectocervical biopsy revealed ulceration and a significant diffuse, plasma cell-rich mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate, with histology interpreted as grade 3 rejection suspicious for an antibody-mediated component. Aggressive immunosuppressive regimen targeting both cellular and humoral rejection was initiated. After 3 months of treatment, there was no histologic evidence of rejection, and after 3 months from complete clearance of rejection, an uneventful embryo transfer was performed and a pregnancy was established. At 21 weeks, central placenta previa with accreta was diagnosed. A healthy neonate was delivered by cesarean hysterectomy at 34 weeks' gestation. In summary, this paper highlights the first live birth in North America resulting from a deceased donor uterus transplant. This achievement underscores the capacity of the transplanted uterus to recover from a severe, prolonged rejection and yet produce a viable neonate. This is the first delivery from our ongoing clinical trial in uterus transplantation, including the first reported incidence of severe mixed cellular/humoral rejection as well as the first reported placenta accreta., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This article describes common principles of biomechanics for running, jumping, and kicking. These activities form the basis for much of sports activity. Understanding human movement allows the physician to prescribe appropriate prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation to patients.

Orthodontic tooth movement can be compared to a stimulus-response model, where the stimulus is the applied force system and the response is the resulting tooth movement. Although the principles of mechanics have been applied to orthodontic appliance design, the expression of treatment responses to the force systems is less well known. The purpose of this study was to compare measured tooth movements with the theoretical force system exerted by differential moment closing loops. Sixteen subjects requiring maximum posterior anchorage control were selected to participate in this prospective investigation. T-loop springs designed to deliver a differential moment-to-force ratio to the posterior vs the anterior teeth were used. Initial cephalometric radiographs were taken with special devices attached to the molar and canine teeth to allow precise identification. Immediately after the radiograph, the T-loop archwires were inserted and activated. After an observation period of approximately 90 days, the wires were removed, devices reinserted into the molars and canines, and a second cephalometric radiograph was obtained. Superimposition techniques were used to compare the actual tooth movements. The results showed tooth movements consistent with the prescribed force system. The anterior teeth, as represented by the canines, were retracted an average of 1.73 mm, whereas the posterior anchorage (molars) moved mesially only 0.50 mm. Furthermore, the canine teeth exhibited tipping or translation, and the molars showed mesial root movement. The variability of the treatment response as a function of the stimulus (appliance design), response (biological variation), and measurement technique was described.