Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lidocaine Reduces Acute Postoperative Pain After Supratentorial Tumor Surgery in the PACU: A Secondary Finding From a Randomized, Controlled Trial

Background: Perioperative lidocaine infusion has been reported to reduce postoperative pain in patients after abdominal surgery; however, no study has examined lidocaine’s effect on acute postoperative pain after supratentorial tumor surgery. Methods: A total of 94 patients scheduled for supratentorial craniotomy were enrolled. Patients received either lidocaine through an intravenous bolus (1.5 mg/kg) after induction followed by infusion at a rate of 2 mg/kg/h until the end of surgery or the same volume of normal saline. Mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and bispectral index were recorded at different intraoperative time points. Patients were assessed for pain in the postoperative anesthesia care unit (PACU) by the numeric rating scale (NRS). Other complications including hypertension, tachycardia, dysphoria, and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) were reported. Results: There was no significant difference between the normal saline and lidocaine group for mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and bispectral index at any time point (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of hypertension, tachycardia, dysphoria, and PONV between groups (P>0.05). The incidence of mild pain (NRS between 1 and 3) after surgery in PACU was lower in lidocaine group than that in the normal saline group (P=0.014); the number of patients with an NRS pain score of 0 before leaving the PACU was significantly greater in the lidocaine group. No patient in either group had moderate or severe pain. Conclusions: Intraoperative infusion of lidocaine significantly decreases the proportion of patients with acute pain after supratentorial tumor surgery in the PACU.
Epistemic action increases with skill

On most accounts of expertise, as agents increase their skill, they are assumed to make fewer mistakes and to take fewer redundant or backtracking actions. Contrary to such accounts, in this paper we present data collected from people learning to play the videogame Tetris which show that as skill increases,the proportion of game actions that are later undone by backtracking also increases. Nevertheless, we also found that as game skill increases, players speed up as predicted by the power law of practice. We explain the observed increase in backtracking as the result of an interactive search process in which agentinternal and agent-external actions are interleaved, making the cognitive computation more efficient (i.e., faster). We refer to external actions which simplify an agent’s computation as epistemic actions.
Thermal And Stress Analysis Of Semiconductor Wafers In A Rapid Thermal Processing Oven

This paper describes studies of heat transfer in a rapid thermal processing-type oven used for several semiconductor wafer processes. These processes include 1) rapid thermal annealing, 2) thermal gradient zone melting, and 3) lateral epitaxial growth over oxide. The heat transfer studies include the measurement of convective heat transfer in a similar apparatus, and the development of a numerical model that incorporates radiative and convective heat transfer. Thermal stresses that are induced in silicon wafers are calculated and compared to the yield stress of silicon at the appropriate temperature and strain rate. Some methods of improving the temperature uniformity and reducing thermal stresses in the wafers are discussed.
Instruction set extension for high throughput disparity estimation in stereo image processing

This paper presents the implementation and evaluation of an application-specific instruction set for a customizable RISC-processor for very high throughput stereo image processing. Compared to the base processor the overall processing time is accelerated by a factor of over 130, while the processor silicon area requirement increases only by a factor of 2.9. The processor has been enhanced with algorithm-specific extensions (i.e. special functional units), as well as with extensions that are not restricted to a specific algorithm (e.g. single-instruction-multiple-data). Hereby, the special functional units account for 50 % of the speed-up, but less than 14 % of the processor silicon area requirement. The proposed processor extensions thereby sustain the full flexibility of a programmable processor while enabling disparity estimation of 640×480 stereo video sequences at 20 fps when running at a clock frequency of 373 MHz.
Preliminary communication: glycated hemoglobin, diabetes, and incident colorectal cancer in men and women: a prospective analysis from the European prospective investigation into cancer-Norfolk study.

BACKGROUND Increasing evidence suggests that abnormal glucose metabolism may be associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer. METHODS We examined the relationship between known diabetes and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) concentrations measured in 1995 to 1997 and subsequent incident colorectal cancer after 6 years follow-up in 9,605 men and women ages 45 to 79 years in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk Study. RESULTS Among individuals not known to have cancer at the baseline survey, there were 67 incident colorectal cancers. HbA1c concentration appeared continuously related to incident colorectal cancer risk, with lowest rates observed in those with HbA1c below 5%. Known diabetes was also associated with incident colorectal cancer, with relative risk (RR) 3.18 and 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.36-7.40 (P < 0.01) adjusting for age and sex and RR 2.78 and 95% CI 1.10-7.00 (P = 0.03) adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and smoking compared with those without known diabetes. The RR (95% CI) of incident colorectal cancer per 1% absolute increase in HbA1c was 1.34 (1.12-1.59; P < 0.001). HbA1c concentrations appeared to explain the increased colorectal cancer risk associated with diabetes in multivariate models. CONCLUSIONS Known diabetes was associated with approximately 3-fold risk of colorectal cancer in this analysis; this increased risk was largely explained by HbA1c concentrations, which appears continuously related to colorectal cancer risk across the population distribution.
Standardized Study of Carbonate Apatite as Bone Substitute in Rabbit’s Tibia

The objective of this study was to investigate the bone repair of carbonate apatite (cHA) in comparison to hydroxyapatite (HA, control group) on osseous repair of rabbit’s tibia. Spheres (400-500 µm) of both materials were synthesized under 37°C (cHA) and 90°C (HA) and were not sinterized. Ethics Commission on Teaching and Research in Animals approved this project (CEPA/NAL 208/10). Six White New Zealand rabbits were submitted to general anesthesia and one perforation (2mm) was made in each tibia for implantation of cHA (left tibia) and HA spheres (right tibia). After 4 weeks all animals were killed and one fragment of each tibia with the biomaterial was collected with a total of 6 bone blocks for each group. Five bone blocks of each group were demineralized and 5-µm thick semi-serial sections were stain with Hematoxillin and Eosin and Trichromic of Masson for histological analysis and two fragments were collected and embedded in a methacrylate-based resin and cut into slices with ~30 µm and were analyzed by light microscopy (bright field and polarized microscopy). Both groups didn’t show the spheres after 4 weeks, new-formed bone was observed from the periphery toward to the center of the surgical defect, which was even filled with connective tissue. Both materials are biocompatible, promote osteoconduction and showed to be resorbable.
Staff behaviour and resident engagement before and after active support training

Abstract Background Identifying the factors associated with greater increases in resident engagement has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of active support (AS). Method Observational data from Stancliffe, Harman, Toogood, and McVilly's (2007) study of AS were analysed to evaluate amount of staff help, effectiveness of staff help, and staff use of praise. Results Lag analyses showed that antecedent staff help was consistently followed by resident engagement at pre-test. This strong association did not increase significantly at post-test. Resident engagement was more likely to follow staff help than the other way around. There was an increase from pre-test to post-test in help and praise by staff. The higher absolute amount of praise was largely the result of the increase in staff help. Conclusions The amount of staff help, its effectiveness, and use of praise by staff may each be important in increasing engagement. These factors should continue to be the focus of research attention and applied efforts to help ensure active support is consistently effective.
PAH-DNA adducts in a petrol refinery in Egypt

Epidemiological surveys in occupationally exposed populations postulate that long-term exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is carcinogenic. We studied the ability of PAHs to induce the formation of adducts in the DNA of white blood cells of petrol refinery workers exposed at the workplace. Our study included a random sample of 56 workers exposed to PAHs and 37 non-exposed workers. In the univariate analysis, the DNA adduct level of PAH-exposed workers (42.22 ± 45.11) was significantly increased (P < 0.05) compared with that in the non-exposed group (20.90 ± 22.56). However, we could not identify either current smoking or absence of glutathione S-transferase class Mu as possible risk factors for DNA adducts. Linear regression analysis identified degree of exposure to PAHs as the only DNA adducts risk factor. Further research with a larger sample size is under investigation to identify the DNA adduct levels and relationship between the different types of PAHs.
Effects of pitavastatin on serum lipids and high sensitivity C-reactive protein in type 2 diabetic patients.

AIM Previous studies have been inconsistent results about the effects of statins on serum triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels. We therefore investigated the effects of pitavastatin on serum lipid profiles and hsCRP levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS The study population was 65 Japanese type 2 diabetic patients who had been administered 2 mg daily of pitavastatin and completed a 6-month follow-up. Serum lipids and hsCRP were measured before and after treatment for 1, 3, and 6 months. RESULTS Total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and TG had significantly reduced after 1 month and remained reduced for 6 months, while HDL-C levels had significantly increased after 1 month and remained at the higher level for 6 months. Baseline median levels of hsCRP were 0.49 mg/L and showed a significant reduction to 0.37 mg/L at 6 months' treatment (p<0.001). Six-month changes in hsCRP levels were not associated with those in TC, LDL-C, HDL-C or TG. CONCLUSION Pitavastatin improved serum lipid profiles and reduced serum hsCRP levels in type 2 diabetic patients with relatively low inflammation. The effect on hsCRP was not related to the effects on serum lipid profiles.
Isolation of Exosomes from Blood Plasma: Qualitative and Quantitative Comparison of Ultracentrifugation and Size Exclusion Chromatography Methods

Background Exosomes are emerging targets for biomedical research. However, suitable methods for the isolation of blood plasma-derived exosomes without impurities have not yet been described. Aim Therefore, we investigated the efficiency and purity of exosomes isolated with potentially suitable methods; differential ultracentrifugation (UC) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Methods and Results Exosomes were isolated from rat and human blood plasma by various UC and SEC conditions. Efficiency was investigated at serial UC of the supernatant, while in case of SEC by comparing the content of exosomal markers of various fractions. Purity was assessed based on the presence of albumin. We found that the diameter of the majority of isolated particles fell into the size range of exosomes, however, albumin was also present in the preparations, when 1h UC at 4°C was applied. Furthermore, with this method only a minor fraction of total exosomes could be isolated from blood as deduced from the constant amount of exosomal markers CD63 and TSG101 detected after serial UC of rat blood plasma samples. By using UC for longer time or with shorter sedimentation distance at 4°C, or UC performed at 37°C, exosomal yield increased, but albumin impurity was still observed in the isolates, as assessed by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and immunoblotting against CD63, TSG101 and albumin. Efficiency and purity were not different in case of using further diluted samples. By using SEC with different columns, we have found that although a minor fraction of exosomes can be isolated without significant albumin content on Sepharose CL-4B or Sephacryl S-400 columns, but not on Sepharose 2B columns, the majority of exosomes co-eluted with albumin. Conclusion Here we show that it is feasible to isolate exosomes from blood plasma by SEC without significant albumin contamination albeit with low vesicle yield.
A Computational Role for Dopamine Delivery in Human Decision-Making

Recent work suggests that fluctuations in dopamine delivery at target structures represent an evaluation of future events that can be used to direct learning and decision-making. To examine the behavioral consequences of this interpretation, we gave simple decision-making tasks to 66 human subjects and to a network based on a predictive model of mesencephalic dopamine systems. The human subjects displayed behavior similar to the network behavior in terms of choice allocation and the character of deliberation times. The agreement between human and model performances suggests a direct relationship between biases in human decision strategies and fluctuating dopamine delivery. We also show that the model offers a new interpretation of deficits that result when dopamine levels are increased or decreased through disease or pharmacological interventions. The bottom-up approach presented here also suggests that a variety of behavioral strategies may result from the expression of relatively simple neural mechanisms in different behavioral contexts.
Developing the Test of the Van Hiele Levels of Geometrical Reasoning Based on Grey Relational Analysis

This study is going to use the Grey relational analysis (GRA) to analyze the Test of the van Hiele levels of geometrical reasoning. The current results of this study is not only identify the easiest and the most difficult questions for students, but also displays that the proposed GRA provides a novel approach in handling educational test.
The Cell Wall Integrity-Associated Map Kinase Homolog, AbSlt2 in the Necrotrophic fungus Alternaria brassicicola is Required for Pathogenicity of Brassicas

Using the genome database of the phytopathogenic fungus, Alternaria brassicicola, we identified a gene with high homology to the cell wall integrity-associated mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, Slt2 in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This MAP kinase consists of a predicted 1,251-bp open reading frame, and encodes a 416-amino-acid protein weighing 47501 Da. This homolog was designated AbSlt2 (A. brassicicola Slt2) and gene disruption knockout (KO) mutants were generated in an A. brassicicola wild type background. Several altered phenotypes were found in the mutants compared to the wild type. During growth in various liquid and solid media, the abslt2 mutants displayed slightly aberrant hyphal growth and were unable to develop at the same rate as wild type. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed the abslt2 mutants showed decreased penetration ability, underdeveloped appresoria, and altered morphology on the leaf surface of the host plant, Brassica oleracea (cabbage) when compared to wild type. Abslt2 mutant hyphae exhibited slower growth in planta ultimately resulting in highly reduced virulence. Complementation of the disruption mutant with the wild
Determinants of pulmonary function improvement in patients with scleroderma and interstitial lung disease.

BACKGROUND In patients with scleroderma-related interstitial lung disease (ILD), improvements of pulmonary function have been reported after treatment with cyclophosphamide (CYC) alone or CYC and high-dose steroids. The study objective was to identify therapeutic regimen that alone or in combination with laboratory or clinical characteristics were associated with pulmonary function improvement in these patients. METHODS Scleroderma patients with ILD and serial pulmonary function measurements were retrospectively analyzed. We recorded forced vital capacity (FVC, % predicted), diffusion capacity (DLCO, % predicted), type of therapy, and various clinical and laboratory parameters. Treatment with IV CYC was recorded as cumulative dose (grams) and treatment with steroids as high or low dose; outcome was defined as a sustained increase in FVC (% predicted) >or= 10 points. RESULTS Of the 59 patients who were included in the study, 29 (49 %) patients received IV CYC (cumulative dose 13.9 +/-6.2, range 5.2-26.2 gr) for 3.3 +/- 2.4 years (range 5-60 months). Eighteen out of 59 (30 %) patients received high-dose prednisolone and 41 (70 %) received low-dose prednisolone. In an ordinal logistic model, patients receiving > 12 gr of CYC were 6 times more likely to improve FVC than to decrease or maintain FVC, compared to those who did not receive CYC (p = 0.02). In multivariate analysis, the effect of high dosage CYC on FVC persisted (OR 10.82, p = 0.02). Steroid dosage (high or low) was not associated with FVC improvement (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION In patients with scleroderma and ILD, treatment with CYC is the only variable that is independently associated with pulmonary function improvement and that prolonged (> 1 year) CYC therapy increases the probability of pulmonary function improvement more than shorter CYC courses.
On the theory and practice of shaking infants. Its potential residual effects of permanent brain damage and mental retardation.

In the first modern discussion in 1946 of the parent-infant stress syndrome (PITS), or battered baby syndrome, I described six infants, 13 months or younger, who suffered from the combination of subdural hematomas and characteristic bone lesions.1During the last 25 years2-5substantial evidence, both manifest and circumstantial, has gradually accumulated which suggests that the whiplash-shaking and jerking of abused infants are common causes of the skeletal as well as the cerebrovascular lesions; the latter is the most serious acute complication and by far the most common cause of early death.6 Today we invite your attention to the evidence which supports our concept that the whiplash-shaking and jerking of infants are frequently pathogenic and often result in grave permanent damage to infantile brains and eyes. We shall also point out that potentially pathogenic whip-lash-shaking is practiced commonly in a wide variety of ways, under a wide
A Series of Double Well Semiconductor Quantum Dots

Five-layered nanocrystals have been prepared that consist of a CdS core covered by a shell of HgS followed by several monolayers of CdS that are covered by again a shell of HgS and an outer cladding layer of CdS. The resulting quantum dots, thus, contain a double well electronic structure. Both HgS wells are either as thick as a monolayer or as two monolayers. The wells are separated by a wall of two to three monolayers of CdS giving rise to a family of double well semiconductor quantum dots. Absorption spectra of eight members of this family are presented together with some first results from TEM measurements.
Major Facilitator Superfamily

SUMMARY The major facilitator superfamily (MFS) is one of the two largest families of membrane transporters found on Earth. It is present ubiquitously in bacteria, archaea, and eukarya and includes members that can function by solute uniport, solute/cation symport, solute/cation antiport and/or solute/solute antiport with inwardly and/or outwardly directed polarity. All homologous MFS protein sequences in the public databases as of January 1997 were identified on the basis of sequence similarity and shown to be homologous. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the occurrence of 17 distinct families within the MFS, each of which generally transports a single class of compounds. Compounds transported by MFS permeases include simple sugars, oligosaccharides, inositols, drugs, amino acids, nucleosides, organophosphate esters, Krebs cycle metabolites, and a large variety of organic and inorganic anions and cations. Protein members of some MFS families are found exclusively in bacteria or in eukaryotes, but others are found in bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. All permeases of the MFS possess either 12 or 14 putative or established transmembrane α-helical spanners, and evidence is presented substantiating the proposal that an internal tandem gene duplication event gave rise to a primordial MFS protein prior to divergence of the family members. All 17 families are shown to exhibit the common feature of a well-conserved motif present between transmembrane spanners 2 and 3. The analyses reported serve to characterize one of the largest and most diverse families of transport proteins found in living organisms.
Sketch-Based Linear Value Function Approximation

Hashing is a common method to reduce large, potentially infinite feature vectors to a fixed-size table. In reinforcement learning, hashing is often used in conjunction with tile coding to represent states in continuous spaces. Hashing is also a promising approach to value function approximation in large discrete domains such as Go and Hearts, where feature vectors can be constructed by exhaustively combining a set of atomic features. Unfortunately, the typical use of hashing in value function approximation results in biased value estimates due to the possibility of collisions. Recent work in data stream summaries has led to the development of the tug-of-war sketch, an unbiased estimator for approximating inner products. Our work investigates the application of this new data structure to linear value function approximation. Although in the reinforcement learning setting the use of the tug-of-war sketch leads to biased value estimates, we show that this bias can be orders of magnitude less than that of standard hashing. We provide empirical results on two RL benchmark domains and fifty-five Atari 2600 games to highlight the superior learning performance obtained when using tug-of-war hashing.
Regression methods used for the determination of induction generator efficiency

The paper presents issues regarding the usage of regression functions for the determination of a dual fed induction generator's efficiency. The authors studied the case of regression function of one, respectively of two independent variables. The preliminary data were obtained through measurements performed on an experimental laboratory setup constituted from a dual fed special type constructive induction generator driven by an induction machine in motor regime. There are presented the results of several regression functions both of one (frequency) and of two variables (frequency and current). There are stated conclusions regarding the obtained results and the suitability of using them in the context of planning control and maximum power point tracking strategies applied in the case of hybrid electrical energy conversion systems - wind/solar/hydro micro grids.