Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of curcumin in prevention of pre-invasive lesions of the cervix

Background: Cervical cancer is the leading cause of deaths of women due to malignancies in developing countries world-wide. Having a latency period of upto10 years, pre-invasive lesions of cervix give us a wide margin for detection and treatment before it becomes cancerous. It has been estimated that even after putting in all the resources it’s not possible to screen one fourth of the population of women in India. This is the aim of this study to establish a pattern of prevalence of these pre-invasive lesions and find out correlation with various epidemiological factors and establish best screening modality in low resourse settings like ours. Curcuminoids are the extract of curcuma longa, and it has been found to have myriad effects like anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and anti-cancerous as well. In this study we have tried to determine its effect on precancerous lesions of the cervix. Methods: In this study, patients coming to the OPD of the Gynaecology Department with various complaints like vaginal discharge and post coital bleeding etc were subjected to en VIA examination (visual inpection with acetic acid), and cytology. Selected cases were subjected to colposcopy and biopsy, which is taken as gold standard in the study. The cases were studied in terms of their epidemiologic charecterestics. The diagnostic accuracy of VIA and cytology was assessed using colposcopy and biopsy as the gold standard, chi square test applied and power of the screening test calculated. Results: 226 cases were subjected to VIA examination, using freshly prepared 5% acetic acid . 105(46.5%) cases were VIA positive. Same no of cases were also subjected to cytological evaluation. Upon cytological evaluation, 21(9.3%) had a normal cytology, 158(69.9%) were inflammatory, 3(1.3%) had ASCUS, 1(0.4%) had AGUS, 26(11.6%) had LSIL and koilocytic changes, 11(4.9%) had HSIL, and 6 cases (2.6%) had squamous cell carcinoma. Abnormal cytology (47/226) was mostly found in age group 30-40 29/47 (61.7%), were para 2 to 4 34/47 (72.3%), belonged to class IV-V socioeconomic class 28(59.6%), belonged to rural areas 32/47(68%) were illiterate 29/47(61.7%) were married at a young age 15-17 23/47(49%) and were not using any contraception 22/47(46.8%). Conclusions: Cervical cancer being one of the most easily preventable cancer owing to the easy accessibility of the cervix to the clinician, and easy screening methods available, is amenable to eradication of the disease one day.
THE EFFECT OF A SUPPLEMENT OF CHROMIUM (PICOLINATE) ON THE LEVEL OF BLOOD GLUCOSE, INSULIN ACTIVITY AND CHANGES IN LABORATORY EVALUATION OF THE EJACULATE OF BREEDING BOARS

HORKÝ, P., JANCIKOVA, P., ZEMAN, L. : The eff ect of a supplement of chromium (picolinate) on the level of blood glucose, insulin activity and changes in laboratory evaluation of the ejaculate of breeding boars. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun. , 2012, LX, No. 1, pp. 49–56 The experiment was based on feeding the organic form of chromium (picolinate) and the assessment of its eff ect on the level of blood glucose, insulin activity and changes in the laboratory values of the ejaculate (sperm motility, ejaculate volume, sperm concentration and per cent of pathological sperm) in breeding boars. The experiment involved 40 boars divided into two equal groups. Boars of the experimental group (n = 21) received 181.81 μg of chromium per kg of feed ration (FR) administered perorally, in the control group (n = 19) chromium intake was not increased. The chromium supplement signifi cantly (P < 0.05) increased cell absorption of blood glucose in the experimental group of boars as against the control group. There was no diff erence in insulin activity between the two groups. Changes in laboratory values of the ejaculate were evaluated and no signifi cant diff erences were discovered in any of the parameters. During the experiment the sperm concentration and motility were absolutely the same in boars of both groups; it can therefore be concluded that increasing the level of chromium in the feed ration of boars of the experimental group had no direct eff ect on these parameters. It was the same in the case of the ejaculate volume which gradually decreased between periods 1 and 4, in boars receiving chromium by 12.8 % and in the control group by 8.1 %. The benefi cial eff ect of chromium was seen in the reduced count of pathological sperm in boars in periods 3 and 4 of tests as against boars of the control group. In spite of the considerable 26.3 % diff erence between the groups this decrease was not statistically signifi cant. Data evaluation revealed a signifi cant correlation (P < 0.01) between the number of samplings per boar and sperm concentration. A correlation (P < 0.05) was also detected between the ejaculate volume and sperm concentration
GeoEye-1 and WorldView-2 pan-sharpened imagery for object-based classification in urban environments

The latest breed of very high resolution (VHR) commercial satellites opens new possibilities for cartographic and remote-sensing applications. In fact, one of the most common applications of remote-sensing images is the extraction of land-cover information for digital image base maps by means of classification techniques. The aim of the study was to compare the potential classification accuracy provided by pan-sharpened orthoimages from both GeoEye-1 and WorldView-2 (WV2) VHR satellites over urban environments. The influence on the supervised classification accuracy was evaluated by means of an object-based statistical analysis regarding three main factors: (i) sensor used; (ii) sets of image object (IO) features used for classification considering spectral, geometry, texture, and elevation features; and (iii) size of training samples to feed the classifier (nearest neighbour (NN)). The new spectral bands of WV2 (Coastal, Yellow, Red Edge, and Near Infrared-2) did not improve the benchmark established from GeoEye-1. The best overall accuracy for GeoEye-1 (close to 89%) was attained by using together spectral and elevation features, whereas the highest overall accuracy for WV2 (83%) was achieved by adding textural features to the previous ones. In the case of buildings classification, the normalized digital surface model computed from light detection and ranging data was the most valuable feature, achieving producer's and user's accuracies close to 95% and 91% for GeoEye-1 and VW2, respectively. Last but not least and regarding the size of the training samples, the rule of ‘the larger the better' was true but, based on statistical analysis, the ideal choice would be variable depending on both each satellite and target class. In short, 20 training IOs per class would be enough if the NN classifier was applied on pan-sharpened orthoimages from both GeoEye-1 and WV2.
Alternate destinies for survey items destined for the Island of Misfit Toys: An analysis of teachers’ perceptions of NAPLAN

This is a methodological paper describing when and how manifest items dropped from a latent construct measurement model (e.g., factor analysis) can be retained for additional analysis. Presented are protocols for assessment for retention in the measurement model, evaluation of dropped items as potential items separate from the latent construct, and post hoc analyses that can be conducted using all retained (manifest or latent) variables. The protocols are then applied to data relating to the impact of the NAPLAN test. The variables examined are teachers’ achievement goal orientations and teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the test on curriculum and pedagogy. It is suggested that five attributes be considered before retaining dropped manifest items for additional analyses. (1) Items can be retained when employed in service of an established or hypothesized theoretical model. (2) Items should only be retained if sufficient variance is present in the data set. (3) Items can be retained when they provide a rational segregation of the data set into subsamples (e.g., a consensus measure). (4) The value of retaining items can be assessed using latent class analysis or latent mean analysis. (5) Items should be retained only when post hoc analyses with these items produced significant and substantive results. These suggested exploratory strategies are presented so that other researchers using survey instruments might explore their data in similar and more innovative ways. Finally, suggestions for future use are provided.
HIV/AIDS and Cross-National Convergence in Life Expectancy

This article analyzes the effect of HIV/AIDS on the cross-national convergence in life expectancy as well as infant and child survival rates by comparing three scenarios. One is based on historical and future best-guess estimated values given the existence of the epidemic. The second scenario assumes that the effect of the epidemic is much worse than expected. The final scenario is based on hypothetical values derived from estimations where the mortality caused by the epidemic is removed. For life expectancy, convergence becomes stalled in the late 1980s (without weighting by country population size) or 1990s (with weighting). Convergence in infant and child survival rates does not become stalled, but slows down. These results are mainly attributable to the epidemic since all signs of stalled convergence or even divergence disappear in the "No AIDS scenario. " Given the existence of the epidemic, however, the reduced degree of inequality in life expectancy attained by 1985 is only expected to be achieved again by 2015 at the earliest. If the epidemic turns out much worse than expected, divergence could continue to 2050. No divergence is to be expected in infant and child survival rates in any of the scenarios. Copyright 2004 The Population Council, Inc.
EFFECTS OF BIOFERTILIZER “M-STAR” ON LAND PRODUCTIVITY AND GROWTH OF SWEET CORN IN ACID SULPHATE SOIL OF SWAMPLAND

This research aims to test the effectiveness of biofertilizer “M-Star” in increasing land productivity, growth of sweet corn and the efficiency of inorganic fertilizer used in acid sulphate soil of swampland. Research was conducted from May – July, 2012 in acid sulphate soil of Barambai, Barito Kuala Regency, South Kalimantan. The treatments involved (B1) Biofertilizer 25 kg/ha, (B2) Biofertilizer 15 kg/ha, (P1) NPK (recommendation dose), (P2) NPK (1/2 recommendation dose), (B1P1) Biofertilizer 25 kg/ha + NPK (recommended dose), (B1P2) Biofertilizer 25 kg/ha + NPK (1/2 recommended dose), (B2P1) Biofertilizer 15 kg/ha + NPK (recommended dose), (B2P2) Biofertilizer 15 kg/ha + NPK (1/2 recommended dose), and (K) No fertilizer. The treatments were arranged by randomized completely block design with 3 replications. Recommended dose of NPK fertilizer was at 90-60-50 NPK kg/ha. Observations were conducted on soil pH, soil and plant nutrients, growth of sweet corn (plant height and biomass weight), and microbial population. Research results showed that 15 kg/ha biofertilizer “M-Star” combined with inorganic NPK fertilizer could increase soil nutrients and sweet corn growth. This biofertilizer also increased the efficiency of inorganic fertilizer by 50%. Keywords: biofertilizer, sweet corn, swampland Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Innovation in services – how different from manufacturing?

Using standardised firm data a comparative analysis of the determinants of product and process innovation in manufacturing and services is performed. Results show that in services there are significant differences in innovation behaviour, in terms of intramural and extramural R&D. It is also found that size matters less in services than in manufacturing. Although youth has a positive effect in both cases, young service firms are more likely than young manufacturing of being pioneer innovators. The results reveal the importance of learning by doing in service process innovations, as young service firms are less likely to introduce process innovations.
Incremental syntactic tree formation in human sentence processing: A cognitive architecture based on activation decay and simulated annealing

A new cognitive architecture is proposed for the syntactic aspects of human sentence processing. The architecture, called Unification Space, is biologically inspired but not based on neural nets. Instead it relies on biosynthesis as a basic metaphor. We use simulated annealing as an optimization technique which searches for the best configuration of isolated syntactic segments or subtrees in the final parse tree. The gradually decaying activation of individual syntactic nodes determines the ‘global excitation level’ of the system. This parameter serves the function of ‘computational temperature’ in simulated annealing. We have built a computer implementation of the architecture which simulates well-known sentence understanding phenomena. We report successful simulations of the psycholinguistic effects of clause embedding, minimal attachment, right association and lexical ambiguity. In addition, we simulated impaired sentence understanding as observable in agrammatic patients. Since the Unification Space allows for contextual (semantic and pragmatic) influences on the syntactic tree formation process, it belongs to the class of interactive sentence processing models.
Extracellular á-L-arabinofuranosidase from Aspergillus niger and A. oryzae

Interest in the a-L-arabinofuranosidases (ABFs) increased recently because of their application in the conversion of various hemicellulosic substrates to fermentable sugars for subsequent production of fuel alcohol and other industrial applications. The production of extracellular ABF and some of its properties by locally isolated strains of Aspergillus niger and A. oryzae were studied. The best culture conditions for the enzyme production were 1% Sugar beet pulp syrup; pH 5.5 for Aspergillus niger and 6.0 for A. oryzae; 30oC for Aspergillus niger and 35oC for A. oryzae; 7 days of incubation for both, finally the nitrogen source is ammonium Sulphate for both. The enzyme from Aspergillus niger was purified 8.34 folds from the culture supernatant by ammonium sulfate treatment, 100 gel filtration on Sephadex G column. While the enzyme from Aspergillus oryzae was purified 11.37 100 folds from the culture supernatant by ammonium sulfate treatment, gel filtration on Sephadex G column. The purified enzyme of both fungi displayed an optimal activity at 50oC and pH 4.0. The enzyme was stable at 30-90oC and pH 3.5-5.5.
Effects of Oxygen on Pyrolysis Kinetics of Tetra Pack

The effects of oxygen on the pyrolysis of tetra pack, a principal component of municipal solid wastes in Taiwan, were investigated with a thermal gravimetric analysis ~TGA! reaction system. The pyrolysis experiments of tetra pack were carried out in four different oxygen concentrations (CO2 , 5.37, 10.40, 14.82, and 20.95%! at the heating rates of 5.25, 10.36, and 15.06 K/min. The TGA curves indicated two principal reactions, distinguished by significant and distinct mass changes over the experimental range. Oxygen enhanced the pyrolysis reaction of tetra pack. A kinetic model was proposed for the pyrolysis of the tetra pack in an oxygen environment. The corresponding activation energies, preexponential factors, and reaction orders were determined. The experimental results were satisfactorily fitted by the proposed kinetic model. DOI: 10.1061/~ASCE! 0733-9372~2003! 129:4~382! CE Database subject headings: Pyrolysis; Kinetics; Oxygen; Solid wastes.
Instability and multiple steady states in a meridional-plane model of the thermohaline circulation

A meridional-plane model of the thermohaline circulation with a simple friction force and advection and vertical diffusion of the T-S field has been used to demonstrate the instability and existence of multiple steady states associated with “mixed” T-S boundary conditions (specified temperature, flux condition for salinity). With forcing and geometry symmetric to the equator, the symmetric solution was found to be unstable to infinitesimal perturbations, and an asymmetric pole-to-pole circulation was the end-result in all cases. The structure obtained for the meridional-plane stream function and for the poleward heat flux are in qualitative agreement with those obtained by Bryan (1986). Convective overturning caused by static instability was not found to be essential for the transition to the asymmetric steady state. The study suggests that certain aspects of the ocean circulation, in particular those related to the ocean climate, may be profitably explored by use of two-dimensional, zonally averaged models. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0870.1988. tb00414.x
Increasing the compressive strength of Portland cement concrete using flat glass powder

This paper analyzes the compressive strength of Portland cement concrete in response to the incorporation of 5%, 10% and 20% of flat glass powder in place of sand, at w/c (water/cement) ratios of 0.50, 0.55 and 0.58. A statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed after 7, 14 and 28 days of curing. The compressive strength test results indicate that the concrete containing a w/c ratio of 0.50 can be used for structural applications, regardless of the waste glass content, as can that with a w/c ratio of 0.55 containing 20% of waste glass. We suggest that the use of flat glass powder in place of sand in the abovementioned percentages is feasible for the production of an environmentally appropriate and structurally applicable concrete. However, the concrete's fluidity and void content must be taken into account.
Atrial Function and Glutathione in Children with Iron Deficiency Anemia- Tanta-Egypt-2012

Aims: is to correlate the atrial function with the level of oxidative stress marker (Glutathione) in children with Iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Materials and Methods: Thirty children with IDA and 20 healthy children had serum Ferritin, total blood Glutathione level and studied with conventional trans-thoracic 2-D echocardiography, Tissue Doppler (TDI) and Speckle Tracking Strain (STI) analysis. Study Design: A case–controlled study Place and Duration of Study: Pediatric Outpatient Clinic; Pediatric Hematology Unit; Pediatric Cardiology Unit; Pediatric Department; Faculty of Medicine; Tanta University Hospital; Egypt. The study was conducted between January; 2012 to December; 2012. Results: Children with IDA had significantly low Glutathione [4.63 ±3.4 ng/ml] (P =.013) and Ferritin [11.88 ±5.3 ng/ml] (P .05), but there was significant negative correlation between Hemoglobin% and atrial septal velocity (P < .05). Conclusion: IDA is associated with diastolic dysfunction. Tissue Doppler and STI were more sensitive than conventional echocardiography in detection of subclinical structural and functional changes due to hemodynamic abnormality in children with IDA.
Impact of Crude Oil Storage Tank Emissions and Gas Flaring on Air/Rainwater Quality and Weather Conditions in Bonny Industrial Island, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of gaseous emissions from crude storage tank and gas flaring on air and rainwater quality in Bonny Industrial Island. Ambient air quality parameters, rainwater and weather parameters were collected at 60 m, 80 m, 100 m, 200 m and control plot for 4 weeks at the Bonny. Rainwater parameters were investigated using standard laboratory tests. Data analyses were done using Analysis of variance, pairwise t-test and Pearson’s correlation statistical tools. Results show that emission rates, volatile organic compound (VOC) noise and flare temperature decreased with increasing distance from flare points and crude oil storage tanks. Findings further revealed the emission rates varied significantly with distance away from the gas flaring point (F = 6.196; p = 0.004). The mean concentration of pollutants between gas flare site and crude oil storage tank showed that CO (0.02 ± 0.001 - 0.002 ±0.001), SPM (0.011 ± 0.001 - 0.01 ± 0.001), VOC (0.005 ± 0.001 - 0.01 ± 0.001) and NO2 (0.04 ± 0.001 - 0.005 ± 0.000) had significant variations (p > 0.05) with CO, O3 and NO2 having higher concentrations at the gas flare site while SPM, and VOC were higher around the crude oil storage tank site. Wind turbulence was higher around the gas flaring point (4.93 TKE) than the crude oil storage tank (4.55 TKE). Similarly, there was significant variation in the sun radiation, precipitation, and wind speed caused by gas flaring (1582.25 w/m2, 436.25 mm, 0.53 m/s) and crude oil storage tank (1536.25 w/m2, 3.91.41 mm, 0.51 m/s). There were also significant variations in flared temperature (F = 22.144; p = 0.001); NO2 (F = 8.250; p = 0.001), CO (F = 6.000; p = 0.004) and VOC (F = 5.574; p = 0.006) with distance from the gas flaring point. The variation in the rainwater parameters with distance from the gas flaring indicated significant variations in pH (F = 5.594; p = 0.006). The study showed that the concentration of VOC and particulates were high in the supposedly control area which is perceived to be safe for human habitation. Significant variations exist in emission rate (p = 0.015), flare temperature (p = 0.001), NO2 (p = 0.003), VOC (p = 0.001), noise (p = 0.041), hydrogen carbonate (p = 0.037) and chromium (p = 0.032) between the gas flaring and crude oil storage tank. Regular monitoring is advocated to mitigate the harmful effects of the pollutants.
Chemospecific manipulations of a rigid polysaccharide: syntheses of novel chitosan derivatives with excellent solubility in common organic solvents by regioselective chemical modifications

Efficient procedures for the preparations of soluble chitosan derivatives have been established on the basis of the regioselective chemical modifications. Selective and quantitative N-phthaloylation of chitosan proceeds smoothly by the reaction of chitosan with phthalic anhydride in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 130 "C. The resulting phthaloylchitosan exhibits much improved solubility in common organic solvents such as DMF, NJV-dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, and pyridine. The enhanced solubility of new types of chitosan derivatives under homogeneous reaction conditions. Facile conversions of phthaloylchitosan, a key starting material, into several 6-0-substituted derivatives are carried out by the reactions with bulky substituents such as triphenylmethyl (trityl) and @-tolylsulfony1)oxy (tosyloxy) groups. These reactions also proceed in homogeneous solution under mild conditions, and the degrees of substitution are estimated to be 1.0. Subsequent 3-0-acetylation of the secondary hydroxyl groups of 6-0-substituted materials gives rise to regioselectively modified chitosan derivatives showing much better solubility. Specific N-dephthaloylation or 0-detritylation of 6-0-trityl derivatives affords versatile intermediates, which permit the introduction of additional functional groups regioselectively.