LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Pig castration: will the EU manage to ban pig castration by 2018?

BACKGROUND
In 2010, the 'European Declaration on alternatives to surgical castration of pigs' was agreed. The Declaration stipulates that from January 1, 2012, surgical castration of pigs shall only be performed with prolonged analgesia and/or anaesthesia and from 2018 surgical castration of pigs should be phased out altogether. The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe together with the European Commission carried out an online survey via SurveyMonkey© to investigate the progress made in different European countries. This study provides descriptive information on the practice of piglet castration across 24 European countries. It gives also an overview on published literature regarding the practicability and effectiveness of the alternatives to surgical castration without anaesthesia/analgesia.


RESULTS
Forty usable survey responses from 24 countries were received. Besides Ireland, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom, who have of history in producing entire males, 18 countries surgically castrate 80% or more of their male pig population. Overall, in 5% of the male pigs surgically castrated across the 24 European countries surveyed, castration is performed with anaesthesia and analgesia and 41% with analgesia (alone). Meloxicam, ketoprofen and flunixin were the most frequently used drugs for analgesia. Procaine was the most frequent local anaesthetic. The sedative azaperone was frequently mentioned even though it does not have analgesic properties. Half of the countries surveyed believed that the method of anaesthesia/analgesia applied is not practicable and effective. However, countries that have experience in using both anaesthesia and post-operative analgesics, such as Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands, found this method practical and effective. The estimated average percentage of immunocastrated pigs in the countries surveyed was 2.7% (median = 0.2%), where Belgium presented the highest estimated percentage of immunocastrated pigs (18%).


CONCLUSION
The deadlines of January 1, 2012, and of 2018 are far from being met. The opinions on the animal-welfare-conformity and the practicability of the alternatives to surgical castration without analgesia/anaesthesia and the alternatives to surgical castration are widely dispersed. Although countries using analgesia/anaesthesia routinely found this method practical and effective, only few countries seem to aim at meeting the deadline to phase out surgical castration completely.
Correlates of adherence to supervised exercise in patients awaiting surgical removal of malignant lung lesions: results of a pilot study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To examine the demographic, medical, and social-cognitive correlates of adherence to a presurgical exercise training intervention in patients awaiting surgery for suspected malignant lung lesions.


DESIGN
Pilot study, single-group, prospective design with convenience sampling.


SETTING
Exercise training was performed at a university research fitness center in western Canada.


SAMPLE
19 patients awaiting surgical resection of suspected malignant lung lesions.


METHODS
At baseline, participants completed a questionnaire including the Theory of Planned Behavior variables of perceived behavioral control, attitude, and subjective norm, as well as medical and demographic information. Participants were asked to attend five supervised exercise sessions per week during surgical wait time (X = 8 +/- 2.4 weeks).


MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Theory of Planned Behavior variables and exercise adherence.


FINDINGS
Adherence to the exercise intervention was 73% (range = 0%-100%). Correlates of adherence were perceived behavioral control (r = 0.63; p = 0.004) and subjective norm (r = 0.51; p = 0.014). Participants with greater than 80% adherence reported significantly higher behavioral control than participants with less than 80% adherence (X difference = 1.1; 95% confidence interval = 0.1-2.2; p = 0.035). Men had better adherence than women (X difference = 24.9%; 95% confidence interval = 0.4-49.4; p = 0.047).


CONCLUSIONS
Perceived behavioral control and subjective norm were the strongest correlates of exercise adherence. Women could be at risk for poor exercise adherence prior to lung surgery.


IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
This information could be useful for clinicians in their attempts to improve adherence to exercise interventions in patients awaiting surgery for malignant lung lesions.
Statistical estimation of gene expression using multiple laser scans of microarrays

UNLABELLED
We propose a statistical model for estimating gene expression using data from multiple laser scans at different settings of hybridized microarrays. A functional regression model is used, based on a non-linear relationship with both additive and multiplicative error terms. The function is derived as the expected value of a pixel, given that values are censored at 65 535, the maximum detectable intensity for double precision scanning software. Maximum likelihood estimation based on a Cauchy distribution is used to fit the model, which is able to estimate gene expressions taking account of outliers and the systematic bias caused by signal censoring of highly expressed genes. We have applied the method to experimental data. Simulation studies suggest that the model can estimate the true gene expression with negligible bias.


AVAILABILITY
FORTRAN 90 code for implementing the method can be obtained from the authors.
Angiographic and clinical outcome following coronary stenting of small vessels: a comparison with coronary stenting of large vessels.

OBJECTIVES
Stent implantation reduces restenosis in vessels > or =3 mm compared with balloon angioplasty, but few data are available for stents implanted in vessels <3 mm. The aim of this study was to evaluate immediate and follow-up patient outcomes after stent implantation in vessels <3 mm compared to stent implantation in vessels > or =3 mm.


METHODS
Between March 1993 and May 1996, a total of 1,298 consecutive patients (1,673 lesions) underwent coronary stenting. The study population was divided into two groups based on angiographic vessel diameter. In case of multivessel stenting, patients were randomly assigned only one lesion. Group I included 696 patients (696 lesions) in whom stents were implanted in vessels > or =3 mm, and group II included 602 patients (602 lesions) in whom stents were implanted in vessels <3 mm.


RESULTS
There was no difference in procedural success (95.4% in group I and 95.9% in group II), or subsequent subacute stent thrombosis (1.5% in group I and 1.4% in group II, p=NS). The postprocedure residual diameter stenosis was 3.31+/-12.4% in group I and -2.45+/-16.2% in group II. Angiographic follow-up was performed in 75% of patients, restenosis occurred in 19.9% of patients in group I and 32.6% in group II (p <0.0001). Absolute lumen gain was significantly higher in group I compared to group II, but absolute late lumen loss was similar in the two groups (1.05+/-0.91 mm in group I vs. 1.11+/-0.85 mm in group II, p=NS). Subsequently, the loss index was more favorable in group I (0.45 vs. 0.56; p=0.0006). Independent predictors of freedom from restenosis by multivariate logistic regression in the total population were: larger baseline reference diameter (odds ratio 2.032 p=0.006), larger postprocedure minimal stent cross-sectional area (odds ratio 1.190, p=0.0001) and shorter lesions (odds ratio 1.037, p=0.01). At long-term clinical follow-up, patients with small vessels had a lower rate of event-free survival (63% vs. 71.3%, p=0.007).


CONCLUSIONS
Coronary stenting can be performed in small vessels with a high success rate and low incidence of stent thrombosis. However, the long-term angiographic and clinical outcome of patients undergoing stent implantation in small vessels is less favorable than that of patients with large vessels.
The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players.

STUDY OBJECTIVES
To investigate the effects of sleep extension over multiple weeks on specific measures of athletic performance as well as reaction time, mood, and daytime sleepiness.


SETTING
Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory and Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.


PARTICIPANTS
Eleven healthy students on the Stanford University men's varsity basketball team (mean age 19.4 ± 1.4 years).


INTERVENTIONS
Subjects maintained their habitual sleep-wake schedule for a 2-4 week baseline followed by a 5-7 week sleep extension period. Subjects obtained as much nocturnal sleep as possible during sleep extension with a minimum goal of 10 h in bed each night. Measures of athletic performance specific to basketball were recorded after every practice including a timed sprint and shooting accuracy. Reaction time, levels of daytime sleepiness, and mood were monitored via the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS), respectively.


RESULTS
Total objective nightly sleep time increased during sleep extension compared to baseline by 110.9 ± 79.7 min (P < 0.001). Subjects demonstrated a faster timed sprint following sleep extension (16.2 ± 0.61 sec at baseline vs. 15.5 ± 0.54 sec at end of sleep extension, P < 0.001). Shooting accuracy improved, with free throw percentage increasing by 9% and 3-point field goal percentage increasing by 9.2% (P < 0.001). Mean PVT reaction time and Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores decreased following sleep extension (P < 0.01). POMS scores improved with increased vigor and decreased fatigue subscales (P < 0.001). Subjects also reported improved overall ratings of physical and mental well-being during practices and games.


CONCLUSIONS
Improvements in specific measures of basketball performance after sleep extension indicate that optimal sleep is likely beneficial in reaching peak athletic performance.
Effects of VDT and paper presentation on consumption and production of information: Psychological and physiological factors

Two experiments were performed to investigate the influence of VDT (video display terminals) and paper presentation of text on consumption of information (Study 1) measured in the form of convergent production and production of information (Study 2) measured in form of divergent production. The READ test of reading comprehension was used as the convergent task whereas the ‘‘Headlines’’ test was used as the divergent task. Several other factors pertaining to performance were also studied including the PANAS test of positive and negative affect, the STH test of stress, tiredness and hunger, the TRI (Technology Readiness Inventory) and the SE test of stress and energy. The results show that performance in the VDT presentation condition where inferior to that of the Paper presentation condition for both consumption and production of information. Concomitantly, participants in the VDT presentation condition of the consumption of information study reported higher levels of experienced stress and tiredness whereas the participants in the VDT presentation condition of production of information study reported only slightly higher levels of stress. Although the results are discussed inboth physiological andpsychological terms arguments are made that the incremental effects of VDT text presentation stem mainly from dual-task effects of fulfilling the assignment andworkingwith the computer resulting in a higher cognitiveworkload. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Canny Edge Detector Revisited

Canny (IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Image Proc. 8(6):679-698, 1986) suggested that an optimal edge detector should maximize both signal-to-noise ratio and localization, and he derived mathematical expressions for these criteria. Based on these criteria, he claimed that the optimal step edge detector was similar to a derivative of a gaussian. However, Canny’s work suffers from two problems. First, his derivation of localization criterion is incorrect. Here we provide a more accurate localization criterion and derive the optimal detector from it. Second, and more seriously, the Canny criteria yield an infinitely wide optimal edge detector. The width of the optimal detector can however be limited by considering the effect of the neighbouring edges in the image. If we do so, we find that the optimal step edge detector, according to the Canny criteria, is the derivative of an ISEF filter, proposed by Shen and Castan (Graph. Models Image Proc. 54:112–133, 1992). In addition, if we also consider detecting blurred (or non-sharp) gaussian edges of different widths, we find that the optimal blurred-edge detector is the above optimal step edge detector convolved with a gaussian. This implies that edge detection must be performed at multiple scales to cover all the blur widths in the image. We derive a simple scale selection procedure for edge detection, and demonstrate it in one and two dimensions.
Review of the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of giant fennel (Ferula communis L. subsp. communis)

Ferula communis L., subsp. communis, namely giant fennel, has extensively been used in traditional medicine for a wide range of ailments. Fresh plant materials, crude extracts and isolated components of F. communis showed a wide spectrum of in vitro and in vivo pharmacological properties including antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and cytotoxic activities. The present paper, reviews the traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of F. communis in order to reveal its therapeutic potential and future research opportunities. A bibliographic literature search was conducted in different scientific databases and search engines including Scopus, Cochrane Library, Embase, Google Scholar, Pubmed, SciFinder, and Web of science. Phytochemical studies have led to the isolation of different compounds such as sesquiterpenes from F. communis. This plant has two different chemotypes, the poisonous and non-poisonous chemotypes. Each chemotype is endowed with various constituents and different activities. The poisonous chemotype exhibits anticoagulant and cytotoxic activities with sesquiterpene coumarins as major constituents, while the non-poisonous one exhibits estrogenic and cytotoxic effects with daucane sesquiterpene esters as the main compounds. In addition, although various pharmacological properties have been reported for F. communis, anti-microbial activities of the plant have been investigated in most studies. Studies revealed that F. communis exhibits different biological activities, and contains various bioactive compounds. Although, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities are the two main pharmacological effects of this plant, further studies should focus on the mechanisms underlying these actions, as well as on those biological activities that have been reported traditionally.
Near-Linear Unconditionally-Secure Multiparty Computation with a Dishonest Minority

In the setting of unconditionally-secure MPC, where dishonest players are unbounded and no cryptographic assumptions are used, it was known since the 1980’s that an honest majority of players is both necessary and sufficient to achieve privacy and correctness, assuming secure point-to-point and broadcast channels. The main open question that was left is to establish the exact communication complexity. We settle the above question by showing an unconditionally-secure MPC protocol, secure against a dishonest minority of malicious players, that matches the communication complexity of the best known MPC protocol in the honest-but-curious setting. More specifically, we present a new n-player MPC protocol that is secure against a computationally-unbounded malicious adversary that can adaptively corrupt up to t < n/2 of the players. For polynomially-large binary circuits that are not too unshaped, our protocol has an amortized communication complexity of O(n logn+κ/n) bits per multiplication (i.e. AND) gate, where κ denotes the security parameter and const ∈ Z is an arbitrary non-negative constant. This improves on the previously most efficient protocol with the same security guarantee, which offers an amortized communication complexity of O(nκ) bits per multiplication gate. For any κ polynomial in n, the amortized communication complexity of our protocol matches the O(n logn) bit communication complexity of the best known MPC protocol with passive security. We introduce several novel techniques that are of independent interest and we believe will have wider applicability. One is a novel idea of computing authentication tags by means of a mini MPC, which allows us to avoid expensive double-sharings; the other is a batch-wise multiplication verification that allows us to speedup Beaver’s “multiplication triples”.
Best Practices for Business and Systems Analysis in Projects Conforming to Enterprise Architecture

This paper aims to identify best practices for performing business and systems analysis in projects that are required to comply with Enterprise Architecture. We apply two qualitative research methods to study real-life projects conforming to architecture at Statistics Netherlands. First, a Canonical Action Research approach is applied to participate in two business process redesign projects. Second, we use Focus Group interviews to elicit knowledge about carrying out projects conforming to architecture. Based on this empirical research we present seven observations and ten best practices. The best practices point to the fact that project conformance is not only the responsibility of project members, but also of enterprise architects. Considering four levels of best practices (good idea, good practice, local best practice, industry best practice), we argue that our guidelines are located at the second (good practice) level. More research is required to prove or falsify them in other settings.
Racial differences in microbleed prevalence in primary intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND
Primary intracerebral hemorrhage is two to three times more common in many racial populations, including black patients. Previous studies have shown that microbleeds, identified on gradient echo MRI (GRE), are present in 50-80% of patients with primary ICH. The objective of this study was to compare, by race, the rates, risk factors, and topography of microbleeds in patients hospitalized for primary ICH.


METHODS
Patients diagnosed with primary ICH at two metropolitan stroke centers were included. Clinical and neuroimaging data were recorded for each patient. Analyses were performed to compare baseline characteristics as well as imaging findings by race.


RESULTS
A total of 87 patients met inclusion criteria (42 black subjects, 45 white subjects). The black cohort was younger (p < 0.001), and had a greater rate of hypertension (p = 0.001), but not other vascular risk factors. Microbleeds were more prevalent in the black population, with 74% of blacks having one or more microbleeds compared to 42% of whites (p = 0.005). The black population also tended to have a greater frequency of microbleeds in multiple territories than the white population (38% vs 22%, p = 0.106). When adjusting for age, hypertension, and alcohol use, race was an independent predictor of microbleeds (OR 3.308, 95% CI 1.144-9.571, p = 0.027).


CONCLUSIONS
These pilot data suggest that significant racial differences exist in the frequency and topography of microbleeds in patients with primary ICH. Microbleeds may be an important emerging imaging biomarker with the potential to provide insights into ICH pathophysiology, prognosis, and disease progression, as well as possible therapeutic strategies, particularly in medically underserved populations.
Consumption of Dairy Products and Cognitive Functioning: Findings from the SU.VI.MAX 2 Study.

OBJECTIVES
Research concerning the link between dairy product intake and cognition is scant while experimental studies suggest links through various biological mechanisms. This study's objective was to examine the cross-time associations of total and specific dairy product consumption with cognitive performance in aging adults. We also explored compliance with dairy intake recommendations in France.


DESIGN
The study was based on the «Supplémentation en Vitamines et Minéraux Antioxydants» randomized trial (SU.VI.MAX, 1994-2002) and the SU.VI.MAX 2 observational follow-up study (2007-2009).


SETTING
A general-population cohort in France.


PARTICIPANTS
N=3,076 participants included in both the SU.VI.MAX and SU.VI.MAX 2 studies.


MEASUREMENTS
Dairy product consumption was estimated using repeated 24h records (1994-1996; mean=10 records, SD=3). Cognitive performance was assessed by neuropsychologists after an average of 13 years post-baseline via a battery of six validated tests. Mean age at the time of the cognitive function evaluation was 65.5 (SD=4.6) years. Principal component analysis revealed factors for verbal memory and working memory. Associations of energy-adjusted dairy product consumption and compliance with the respective dietary guidelines with subsequent cognitive impairment were examined using ANCOVA, providing mean differences (95% confidence intervals, CI) according to tertiles (T), adjusted for confounders including overall dietary patterns.


RESULTS
Total dairy product consumption was not associated with cognitive function. However, milk intake was negatively associated with verbal memory performance: mean difference T3 versus T1= -0.99 (-1.83, -0.15). Among women, consuming more than the recommended amount of dairy was negatively associated with working memory performance: excess versus adequate = -1.52 (-2.93, -0.11).


CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that dairy products consumption and especially compliance with dietary guidelines regarding dairy product intake are differentially associated with performance in specific cognitive domains after a comprehensive adjustment for lifestyle factors, health status markers and dietary patterns. Further longitudinal research is needed given the limited data available.
UriSed 3 and UX-2000 automated urine sediment analyzers vs manual microscopic method: A comparative performance analysis.

BACKGROUND
Fully automated urine analyzers now play an important role in routine urinalysis in most laboratories. The recently introduced UriSed 3 has a new automated digital imaging urine sediment analyzer with a phase contrast feature. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the UriSed 3 and UX-2000 automated urine sediment analyzers with each other and with the results of the manual microscopic method.


METHODS
Two hundred seventy-seven (277) samples of leftover fresh urine from our hospital's central laboratory were evaluated by two automated urine sediment analyzers-UriSed 3 and UX-2000. The results of urine sediment analysis were compared between the two automated analyzers and against the results of the manual microscopic method.


RESULTS
Both devices demonstrated excellent agreement for quantitative measurement of red blood cells and white blood cells. UX-2000 had a lower coefficient correlation and demonstrated slightly lower agreement for squamous epithelial cells. Regarding semiquantitative analysis, both machines demonstrated very good concordance, with all applicable rates within one grade difference of the other machine. UriSed 3 had higher sensitivity for small round cells, while UX-2000 showed greater sensitivity for detecting bacteria and hyaline casts. UriSed 3 demonstrated slightly better specificity, especially in the detection of hyaline and pathological casts.


CONCLUSIONS
Both instruments had nearly similar performance for red blood cells and white blood cells measurement. UriSed 3 was more reliable for measuring squamous epithelial cells and small round cells, while the UX-2000 was more accurate for detecting bacteria and hyaline casts.