Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hormonal protection of gender-related peculiarities of testosterone metabolism in the brain of prenatally stressed rats.

OBJECTIVES Prenatal stress results in demasculinization and feminization of sexual behavior in adult male rats. Earlier the preventive effect of testosterone replacement of an androgen deficiency in male fetuses during exposure to stress has been demonstrated. Nevertheless the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying hormonal protection of the brain sexual differentiation are not clear. MATERIAL AND METHODS Time-mated rats were undergone to 1 h strict immobilization during days 15 to 21 of gestation. Another group of stressed dams was injected with testosterone propionate on the 17th, 19th and 21st gestational days subcutaneously (5 mg/kg b.w.) 30 min prior to restraining. Aromatase and 5alpha-reductase activities were determined in the preoptic area and medial basal hypothalamus of 10-day old offspring. RESULTS Aromatase activity in the preoptic area declined in affected with prenatal stress males and reached the normal female level. It completely restored in prenatally stressed males under influence of prenatal testosterone replacement. 5alpha-reductase activity decreased in the preoptic area of prenatally stressed females. In those pretreated with testosterone propionate, 5alpha-reductase activity was significantly elevated above normal level. CONCLUSIONS The data obtained demonstrate a preservation of aromatase activity in the preoptic area of males resulted from testosterone replacement. Presumably testosterone exerts its protective effect on the male sexual behavior by prevention of neurochemical feminization of the brain preoptic area and, perhaps, due to some other mechanisms.
Influence of the dielectric force on a thermoelectric convection phenomena in case of weak injection

The electro thermal convection in a plane layer of dielectric liquid subjected to simultaneous action of electric field and thermal gradient is studied. The influence of the dielectric forces on the convective flow is analyzed in the case of a weak charge injection. The set of equations associated with the thermo-electro convective phenomena is solved directly using a finite volume method. The results are analyzed in the configuration of a cavity heating from below and with charge injection from below. The values of EHD instability criteria Tc with and without dielectric forces for different values of parameter L are presented. L provides a measure of the temperature variations of the dielectric constant. Our results are compared with theoretical and experimental ones obtained by other authors. The time evolution of Nusselt number, associated with heat transfer, in terms of various non dimensional electrical parameters (instability criteria T, Rayleigh number Ra and L) is given and analyzed.
Nursing home placement is related to dementia progression

Objectives: To examine the relationship between nursing home placement (NHP) and measures of change in other well-established clinical disease assessments in a longitudinal study of patients with probable AD. Background: NHP is a common, major milestone in the natural history of AD. NHP is a readily identified event that can be accurately dated. NHP can be used in survival analyses, which are an efficient means of determining efficacy in clinical trials. NHP usually occurs in the setting of severe AD, but in cross-sectional studies, the strength of the association with disease severity has been controversial.Design/methods:— We used data from 341 AD patients who were enrolled in a recently published clinical trial of selegiline and tocopherol. At entry, all were rated as Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) stage 2, were community-dwelling, and had an identified caregiver. Patients were followed at 3-month intervals for 2 years. We examined the relationship between four measures of dementia severity and a measure of behavioral dysfunction and NHP. The measures included changes in CDR status, changes in activities of daily living performance, changes from baseline to last measurement in dependence level, changes from baseline to last measurement on the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale (BDRS) score, and changes from baseline to last measurement on the total score and subscales of the Behavior Rating Scale for Dementia (BRSD). Statistical models were used to assess the strength of the associations. Results: At the end of the 2-year period, 33% of patients had been institutionalized. The NHP patients did not differ at baseline from the not-NHP patients in gender, age, caregiver status, duration of illness, CDR sum of boxes, BDRS, or dependence level. The NHP patients had a lower baseline Mini-Mental State Examination score and a slightly worse BRSD total score. Patients reaching CDR3 were eight times more likely to be institutionalized than those who remained at CDR2. The change scores on all four dementia severity measures were strongly associated with NHP; the change score on the BRSD and its subscales were not. On the other hand, adverse events that included a behavioral disturbance, especially agitation, were associated with NHP. Conclusion: These data show that NHP closely reflects dementia progression in the context of a clinical trial. Coupled with the high face validity of NHP as a milestone of severe dementia, NHP is a valid primary outcome measure for AD clinical trials.
Comparison of methods for localization of impacted maxillary canines by panoramic radiographs.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to compare three methods for localization of impacted maxillary canines using only conventional panoramic radiographs. METHODS The panoramic radiographs of 94 patients (102 impacted maxillary canines) were reviewed and evaluated using the methods magnification, angulation and superimposition. The actual positions of them were decided with cone beam CT images. The predicted positions of impacted canines from the magnification and angulation methods were compared using the McNemar χ(2) test. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive-likelihood ratio and negative-likelihood ratio were calculated. The canine-incisor index values and α angles of palatally and bucally non-rotated impacted canines were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS The statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between the magnification and angulation methods (p < 0.01). Using the magnification method, 68.00% of buccal canines and 69.57% of palatal canines could be localized correctly. The results of the angulation method were 28.57% and 84.91%, respectively. The sensitivity of the angulation method for buccal canines was very low. In the superimposition method, 82.98% of the superimposing samples were palatal. CONCLUSIONS The magnification and angulation methods were not reliable methods for locating the impacted canine with a single panoramic radiograph. Magnification was more successful than the angulation method. Further research is needed on the magnification method. The image superimposition method could be used as an adjunct to others.
Experimental comparison of LQG/LTR and robust control approaches in 2D piezoactuation

This paper provides a comparison of three robust control approaches for structural vibration present in piezoelectric actuators. The considered system is a 2D scanning stage composed of two piezoelectric actuators. It already contains compensation for nonlinear hysteresis and creep effects of piezo. Then, single-input single-output (SISO) LQG/LTR approach, SISO Htc and two-input two-output (TITO) are subsequently investigated and applied to the linearized system, with illustrative comparison via experimental results.
Enhancement of the Dissolution and Permeation Rates of Meloxicam by Formation of Its Freeze-dried Solid Dispersions in Polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30

ABSTRACT Freeze-drying (FD) and solvent evaporation (SE) were used to prepare solid dispersions (SDs) of meloxicam (MX) in polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 (PVP). The SDs were prepared at different ratios, namely 1:1, 1:3, and 1:5 MX:PVP weight ratio. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR), and x-ray powder diffractometry (XPD) were utilized to characterize the physicochemical properties of the SDs. Meloxicam (MX) in the solid dispersions appeared with less crystallinity form and was present in a complete amorphous form at higher PVP ratio. Dissolution rates of MX as a pure drug, physical mixtures (PMs), and SDs indicated a marked increase of the dissolution rate of MX in presence of PVP. The increase in the dissolution rate was dependent on the ratio of PVP and the method of preparation. In addition, the permeability of the drug through standard cellophane membrane and hairless mouse skin was also evaluated. The permeation rate of MX was significantly increased in the case of SDs and was dependent on the ratio of PVP. The results were primarily due to increase wettability, the solubilization of the drug by the carrier, and formation of MX amorphous form.
Long-term variation in plasma activities of aspartate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase in health.

1. Plasma aspartate transaminase and alkaline phosphatase activities were measured weekly for approximately 30 weeks in a group of healthy males and females. 2. The magnitude of variation of the enzyme activities within any individual was studied with respect to four criteria: (a) the individual9s normal range, (b) the normal range calculated for each sex separately, (c) the clinically accepted normal ranges, (d) the distribution of a derived term which excluded the variation of the predominant enzyme activities between individuals, and the between-batch variation. 3. The main conclusions were: (a) Normal variation for both these enzymes is small. (b) Most of the variability is contributed by analytical variation. Within-individual variation is very small, this applying particularly to the male subjects9 activity of alkaline phosphatase, and the aspartate transaminase activity of female subjects. (c) Elevation of the two enzyme activities above clinical normal ranges was infrequent, never of great magnitude, and occurred almost exclusively in males. When elevations of enzyme activity occurred, they tended to be associated either with particular males, or to occur on certain weeks. (d) When the latter effects were allowed for, and a new set of criteria calculated, the resulting ‘abnormal’ values now appeared to be more randomly distributed.
Validation of a 15-gene hypoxia classifier in head and neck cancer for prospective use in clinical trials

Abstract Background: In head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) hypoxic radioresistance can be reduced by use of the hypoxic modifier nimorazole, as shown in the DAHANCA 5 trial. Recently, a 15-gene hypoxia classifier has shown predictive impact for the effect of nimorazole by identifying ‘more’ and ‘less’ hypoxic tumors in the DAHANCA 5 cohort. A prospective multicentre EORTC-1219 study is initiated, where nimorazole and prospective use of the classifier as a predictor is tested in relation to the most recent accelerated chemoradiotherapy treatment. Validation of the gene expression classification procedures is described here. Material and methods: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor material from three recent HNSCC cohorts [DAHANCA 18 (n = 96), 24 (n = 40), and IAEA Hypo (n = 55)] was used to establish and validate procedures for prospective classification of patients. Repeatability was tested for the different steps in the gene expression analysis, and reproducibility was tested with xenograft tumors (FaDuDD, UTSCC33), where gene expression in complementary sections was compared after fixation and embedding locally and at international institutions, respectively. Intra-tumor heterogeneity was addressed by classifying biopsy samples from HNSCC tumors, where 2–4 biopsies from each tumor was accessible. Results: Procedures were successfully established for individual classification of HNSCC patients in retrospective and prospective cohorts. Measurements of gene expression levels were reproducible between different international institutions. Conclusion: Technical validation of the 15-gene hypoxia classifier demonstrated that it is suitable for implementation in prospective clinical trials.
Surgical Site Infection After Surgery to Repair Femoral Neck Fracture: A French Multicenter Retrospective Study

Objective. Femoral neck fracture is the most frequent orthopedic emergency among elderly persons. Despite a high prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage in this population, no multicenter study of antibiotic prophylaxis practices and the rate and microbiological characteristics of surgical site infection (SSI) has been performed in France. Design. Retrospective, multicenter cohort study. Setting. Twenty-two university and community hospitals in France. Patients. Each center provided data on 25 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for femoral neck fracture during the first quarter of 2005. Demographic, clinical, and follow-up characteristics were recorded, and most patients had a follow-up office visit or were involved in a telephone survey 1 year after surgery. Results. These 22 centers provided data on 541 patients, 396 (73%) of whom were followed up 1 year after surgery. Of 504 (93%) patients for whom antibiotic prophylaxis was recorded, 433 (86%) received a cephalosporin. Twenty-two patients had an SSI, for a rate of 5.6% (95% confidence interval, 3.7-8.0). SSI was reported for 15 (6.9%) of patients who had a prosthesis placed and for 7 (3.9%) who underwent osteosynthesis (P = .27). SSI was diagnosed a median of 30 days after surgery (interquartile range, 21-41 days); 7 (32%) of these SSIs were superficial infections, and 15 (68%) were deep or organ-space infections. MRSA caused 7 SSIs (32%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa caused 5 (23%), other staphylococci caused 4 (18%), and other bacteria caused 2 (9%); the etiologic pathogen was unknown in 4 cases (18%). Reoperation was performed for 14 patients with deep or organ-space SSI, including 6 of 7 patients with MRSA SSI. The mortality rate 1 year after surgery was 20% overall but 50% among patients with SSI. In univariate analysis, only the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System risk index score was significantly associated with SSI (P = .006). Conclusions. SSI after surgery for femoral neck fracture is severe, and MRSA is the most frequently encountered etiologic pathogen. A large, multicenter prospective trial is necessary to determine whether the use of antibiotic prophylaxis effective against MRSA would decrease the SSI rate in this population.
Extraction of spiked metals from contaminated coastal sediments: A comparison of different methods

Various extraction methods have been developed to assess metal bioavailability from sediments. In this study, we compared the extraction of Cd, Cr, and Zn from contaminated sediments using different extractants (normal seawater, acidic seawater of pH = 5, seawater with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS], and gut digestive fluids collected in vitro from deposit‐feeding peanut worm Sipunculus nudus) coupled with concurrent metal speciation measurements. The influences of sediment aging on metal extraction were also examined using radiotracer‐spiked techniques. Sediments aging up to 100 d did not significantly affect the partitioning of spiked Cd and Cr in different geochemical phases, but the spiked Zn was partitioned more into the reducible fraction and less into the carbonate phase with increasing sediment aging. There was a major difference in the partitioning into different geochemical phases between the spiked metals and the native metals within the 100‐d sediment aging. The difference between the spiked and native Cd and Zn extraction using gut juices was somewhat smaller than the strong geochemical contrast. Metals bound with the anoxic sediments were hardly extracted by different extractants. There was a significant relationship between the extraction of spiked Cd and its distribution in the exchangeable phase (positive correlation) or in the reducible phase (negative correlation). For Cr and Zn, extraction was not correlated with their partitioning in any of the geochemical phases. Further, extraction of all three metals by digestive gut fluids was not correlated with the concentrations of simultaneously extractable metals (SEM), nor with the difference between SEM and acid volatile sulfide (AVS). Our study suggests that there were large differences in extraction among metals using different extractants and only Cd extraction was significantly related to its geochemical speciation in sediments.
Statistical methods for facial shape-from-shading and recognition

This thesis presents research aimed at improving the quality of facial shape information that can be recovered from single intensity images using shape-from-shading, with the aim of exploiting this information for the purposes of face recognition and view synthesis. The common theme throughout this thesis is the use of statistical methods to offer enhanced accuracy and robustness over existing techniques for facial shape-from-shading. The work presented goes some way to reinstating shape-from-shading as a viable means to recover facial shape from single, real world images. In Chapter 2 we thoroughly survey the existing literature in the areas of face recognition, shape recovery and skin reflectance modelling. We draw from this review a number of important observations. The first is that existing solutions to the general shape-fromshading problem prove incapable of recovering accurate facial shape from real world images. The second is that statistical models have been shown to be highly effective in modelling facial appearance and shape variation and have been applied successfully to the problem of face recognition. Finally, we highlight the complex nature of light interaction with skin and note that previous attempts to apply shape-from-shading to real world face images have, almost exclusively, discounted these effects. Chapter 3 presents our first contribution, which is to explore the idea of incorporating a statistical model within an iterative shape-from-shading framework. In order to do so, we first show how a statistical model can be constructed in the domain of fields of surface normals. We overcome problems of modelling directional data using ideas borrowed from directional statistics and cartography. We use the model as a regularisation constraint within a shape-from-shading algorithm which imposes satisfaction of Lambert’s law as a hard constraint. We show how the approach provides both a model-based and data-driven solution and how the model-based solution can be used to estimate facial albedo. We use the estimated shape and albedo information for the purposes of novel view synthesis.
Reproductive division of labour and thelytoky result in sympatric barriers to gene flow in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)

Determining the extent and causes of barriers to gene flow is essential for understanding sympatric speciation, but the practical difficulties of quantifying reproductive isolation remain an obstacle to analysing this process. Social parasites are common in eusocial insects and tend to be close phylogenetic relatives of their hosts (= Emery’s rule). Sympatric speciation caused by reproductive isolation between host and parasite is a possible evolutionary pathway. Socially parasitic workers of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, produce female clonal offspring parthenogenetically and invade colonies of the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In the host colony, socially parasitic workers can become pseudoqueens, an intermediate caste with queenlike pheromone secretion. Here, we show that over an area of approximately 275.000 km2, all parasitic workers bear the genetic signature of a clone founded by a single ancestral worker genotype. Any gene flow from the host to the parasite is impossible because honeybee workers cannot mate. Gene flow from the parasite to the host is possible, as parasitic larvae can develop into queens. However, we show that despite sympatric coexistence for more than a decade, gene flow between host and social parasite (Fst = 0.32) and hybridizations (0.71%) are rare, resulting in reproductive isolation. Our data suggest a new barrier to gene flow in sympatry, which is not based on assortative matings but on thelytoky and reproductive division of labour in eusocial insects, thereby suggesting a new potential pathway to Emery’s rule.
The status of evidence-based medicine education in urology residency.

INTRODUCTION Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of the current best evidence in decision-making for the care of patients. Teaching best evidence practice in residency should include both formal or freestanding content, as well as integration into clinical scenarios and patient care. We sought to assess the attitudes, experience and knowledge of EBM in urology residency training across Canada. METHODS An anonymous, cross-sectional, self-report questionnaire was completed by a convenience sample of 29 residents, including all chief urology residents in English-speaking programs across Canada. The survey included both open-ended and closed-ended questions designed to assess familiarity and attitudes towards EBM and potential barriers to developing EBM skills in a surgical training program. Questions were formatted to determine the understanding of statistical and analytical concepts, as well as familiarity of available EBM resources. Descriptive and correlative statistics were used to analyze the responses. RESULTS The response rate was 100%. An overwhelming majority of residents felt that EBM is an important component of the urology residency and journal club was the most common vehicle for discussing best evidence concepts. However, there was significant variation in the presence of freestanding, formal curricula across programs, with only 28% of residents signifying that they received any formal training in their program. The apparent level of understanding of important EBM terminology and resources appears to be limited. The most frequently stated barriers to incorporating EBM curricula into urology training were time constraints and a perceived lack of expert educators. CONCLUSION This self-report survey of urology chief residents identified the overwhelming acceptance of the importance of EBM in their training. Although best evidence practices appears to be addressed in journal clubs and in real-life clinical experiences, the obvious lack of familiarity and understanding of EBM content and resources would suggest a need for redoubling efforts to ensure appropriate exposure and instruction in our training programs.