Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of penile prosthesis methods: Which is more successful?

1 Selçuk Esengen1, İsmail Nalbant2, Ufuk Öztürk3, Can Tuygun3, Serkan Yıldız4, Musa Ekici5, Muhammed Abdurrahim İmamoğlu6 1Polatlı Devlet Hastanesi, Ankara, 2Ordu Universitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Ordu, 3Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Eğitim Araştırma Hastanesi, Ankara, 4Siirt Devlet Hastanesi, Siirt, 5Hitit Universitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Çorum, 6Bozok Universitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Yozgat, Türkiye Comparison of Penile Prosthesis Methods Comparison of Penile Prosthesis Methods: Which is More Successful?
Motion and Vibration Control Using Passive and Active Hydraulic Mounts : Improved Nonlinear and Quasi-Linear Models , Latest Design Trends and Some Insights

Hydraulic engine mounts are utilized in many vehicles to control motion and vibration. These are inherently nonlinear devices and their steady-state characteristics are extensively reported and used for design, usually in the form of spectrally-varying and amplitude-sensitive stiffness spectra. Although several linear and nonlinear mathematical models have been proposed, some key questions still remain. For instance, how should we comparatively evaluate the competing linear, quasi-linear and nonlinear (fluid or analogous mechanical system) formulations? Next, we examine the dynamic system design issues as a combination of passive and active hydraulic (and/or elastomeric) mounts is utilized to isolate engines and other machines. Requirements include not only the minimization of forces transmitted into the rigid or compliant foundations but also a careful examination of multi-dimensional motion control and sub-system
Genome-wide Transcriptional Analysis of Oxidative Stress-related Genes and Pathways Induced by CdTe aqQDs in Mice

Objective: Quantum dots (QDs) has widely applied in the field of science, whose potential toxic effect has increasingly become a focus concern we need pay attention to in public health. The purpose of this article was to explore the toxicity mechanism with oxidative damage from treatment with QDs at the molecular level through a gene microarray. Methods: Mice were administered aqueously synthesized cadmium telluride QDs (CdTe aqQDs) via intravenous tail injection of a 2 µmol/kg solution (based on the molar mass of Cd), and their kidneys were collected at 1 day in strict accordance with the programs used for treated mice. We determined the hierarchical clustering of expression ratios, enriched gene ontology (GO) terms and signaling pathways through gene microarray analysis and bioinformatics analysis in kidney tissue and screened the key enzyme genes, which were verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR). Results: Compared to control group, 459 lncRNAs (197 down-regulated and 262 up-regulated) and 256 mRNAs (103 down-regulated and 153 up-regulated) were differentially expressed. According to biological processes in enriched GO terms, the response to a redox state played a significant role in the biological processes involved altered genes. Pathway analysis showed that the signaling pathways that involved cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes had a close relationship with QDs. Among these signaling pathways, gene expression profiling revealed that selected differentially expressed mRNAs (CYP19A1, CYP1B1, CYP11A1, CYP11B2, and CYP17A1 in the kidney and CYP19A1 and CYP1B1 in the liver) were validated by real-time qPCR, resulting in expression levels of CYP11A1, CYP11B2 and CYP17A1 in the kidney and CYP19A1 and CYP1B1 in the liver that were significantly increased, however in expression levels of CYP19A1 and CYP1B1 compared with control group in the kidney, there was no significant difference. Conclusions: Our results provide a foundation for and potential insight into the role of CYP450-related genes in QD-induced oxidative stress. QDs may produce a great deal of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by promoting high expression of CYP450 enzymes and accumulating steroid hormones, which may be an important toxicity mechanism for mediating oxidative stress and tissue damage.
Corridors maintain species richness in the fragmented landscapes of a microecosystem

Theory predicts that species richness or single–species populations can be maintained, or at least extinctions minimized, by boosting rates of immigration. One possible way of achieving this is by establishing corridors of suitable habitat between reserves. Using moss patches as model microecosystems, we provide here probably the first field experimental test of the idea that corridors can reduce the rate of loss of species, and therefore help to maintain species richness. Connecting patches of habitat with corridors did indeed slow the rate of extinction of species, preserving species richness for longer periods of time than in disconnected habitat patches. The pattern of γ–diversity, the cumulative species richness of entire connected systems, is similarly higher than that of fragmented systems, despite the homogenizing effects of movement. Predators are predicted to be more susceptible to fragmentation because of their greater mobility and smaller population sizes. Our data are consistent with this prediction: the proportion of predator species declined significantly in disconnected as compared with connected treatments.
Methane fluxes from tropical coastal lagoons surrounded by mangroves, Yucatán, Mexico

Methane concentrations in the water column and emissions to the atmosphere were determined for three tropical coastal lagoons surrounded by mangrove forests on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Surface water dissolved methane was sampled at different seasons over a period of 2 years in areas representing a wide range of salinities and anthropogenic impacts. The highest surface water methane concentrations (up to 8378 nM) were measured in a polluted canal associated with Terminos Lagoon. In Chelem Lagoon, methane concentrations were typically lower, except in the polluted harbor area (1796 nM). In the relatively pristine Celestún Lagoon, surface water methane concentrations ranged from 41 to 2551 nM. Methane concentrations were negatively correlated with salinity in Celestún, while in Chelem and Terminos high methane concentrations were associated with areas of known pollution inputs, irrespective of salinity. The diffusive methane flux from surface lagoon water to the atmosphere ranged from 0.0023 to 15 mmol CH4 m−2 d−1. Flux chamber measurements revealed that direct methane release as ebullition was up to 3 orders of magnitude greater than measured diffusive flux. Coastal mangrove lagoons may therefore be an important natural source of methane to the atmosphere despite their relatively high salinity. Pollution inputs are likely to substantially enhance this flux. Additional statistically rigorous data collected globally are needed to better consider methane fluxes from mangrove‐surrounded coastal areas in response to sea level changes and anthropogenic pollution in order to refine projections of future atmospheric methane budgets.
The Interplay Between Keratinocytes and Immune Cells in the Pathogenesis of Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease resulting from genetic, epigenetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. To date, several immunopathogenic mechanisms of psoriasis have been elucidated, and, in the current model, the cross talk between autoreactive T cells and resident keratinocytes generates inflammatory and immune circuits responsible for the initiation, progression, and persistence of the disease. Several autoantigens derived from keratinocytes (i.e., LL37 cathelecidin/nucleic acid complexes, newly generated lipid antigens) have been identified, which may trigger initial activation of T cells, particularly IL-17-producing T cells, T helper (Th)1 and Th22 cells. Hence, lymphokines released in skin lesions are pivotal for keratinocyte activation and production of inflammatory molecules, which in turn lead to amplification of the local immune responses. Intrinsic genetic alterations of keratinocytes in the activation of signal transduction pathways dependent on T-cell-derived cytokines are also fundamental. The current review emphasizes the aberrant interplay of immune cells and skin-resident keratinocytes in establishing and sustaining inflammatory and immune responses in psoriasis.
Comparison of Genetic and Self-Identified Ancestry in Modeling Intracerebral Hemorrhage Risk

Background: We sought to determine whether a small pool of ancestry-informative DNA markers (AIMs) improves modeling of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) risk in heterogeneous populations, compared with self-identified race/ethnicity (SIRE) alone. Methods: We genotyped 15 preselected AIMs to perform principal component (PC) analysis in the ERICH study (a multi-center case-control study of ICH in whites, blacks, and Hispanics). We used multivariate logistic regression and tests for independent samples to compare associations for genetic ancestry and SIRE with ICH-associated vascular risk factors (VRFs). We then compared the performance of models for ICH risk that included AIMs and SIRE alone. Results: Among 4,935 subjects, 34.7% were non-Hispanic black, 35.1% non-Hispanic white, and 30.2% Hispanic by SIRE. In stratified analysis of these SIRE groups, AIM-defined ancestry was strongly associated with seven of the eight VRFs analyzed (p < 0.001). Within each SIRE group, regression of AIM-derived PCs against VRFs confirmed independent associations of AIMs across at least two race/ethnic groups for seven VRFs. Akaike information criterion (AIC) (6,294 vs. 6,286) and likelihood ratio test (p < 0.001) showed that genetic ancestry defined by AIMs achieved a better ICH risk modeling compared to SIRE alone. Conclusion: Genetically-defined ancestry provides valuable risk exposure information that is not captured by SIRE alone. Particularly among Hispanics and blacks, inclusion of AIMs adds value over self-reported ancestry in controlling for genetic and environmental exposures that influence risk of ICH. While differences are small, this modeling approach may be superior in highly heterogeneous clinical poulations. Additional studies across other ancestries and risk exposures are needed to confirm and extend these findings.
Restructuring Batch Normalization to Accelerate CNN Training

Because CNN models are compute-intensive, where billions of operations can be required just for an inference over a single input image, a variety of CNN accelerators have been proposed and developed. For the early CNN models, the research mostly focused on convolutional and fully-connected layers because the two layers consumed most of the computation cycles. For more recent CNN models, however, non-convolutional layers have become comparably important because of the popular use of newly designed non-convolutional layers and because of the reduction in the number and size of convolutional filters. Non-convolutional layers, including batch normalization (BN), typically have relatively lower computational intensity compared to the convolutional or fully-connected layers, and hence are often constrained by main-memory bandwidth. In this paper, we focus on accelerating the BN layers among the non-convolutional layers, as BN has become a core design block of modern CNNs. A typical modern CNN has a large number of BN layers. BN requires mean and variance calculations over each mini-batch during training. Therefore, the existing memory-access reduction techniques, such as fusing multiple CONV layers, are not effective for accelerating BN due to their inability to optimize mini-batch related calculations. To address this increasingly important problem, we propose to restructure BN layers by first splitting it into two sub-layers and then combining the first sub-layer with its preceding convolutional layer and the second sub-layer with the following activation and convolutional layers. The proposed solution can significantly reduce main-memory accesses while training the latest CNN models, and the experiments on a chip multiprocessor with our modified Caffe implementation show that the proposed BN restructuring can improve the performance of DenseNet with 121 convolutional layers by 28.4%.
Comparing the impact of leader–member exchange, psychological empowerment and affective commitment upon Australian public and private sector nurses: implications for retention

This study uses Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) theory to test the associations between the supervisor–subordinate relationship, psychological empowerment and affective commitment amongst 1283 nurses working in Australian public and private hospitals. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, analysed and presented. The findings show that the quality of LMX is more important in public sector nursing contexts than in the private sector with regard to the relationship between empowerment and affective commitment. Furthermore, the relationship between empowerment and affective commitment is stronger for nurses in public sector organisations with low-quality LMX than for nurses in public sector organisations with high-quality LMX. As empowerment and affective commitment are both predictors of staff retention, the findings can assist in developing targeted current and future retention strategies for healthcare management.
A Preliminary Study on Phytoplankton inFresh Water-Lake of Gogi, Yadgir District,Karnataka

The present study was conducted in a semi arid region of Karnataka. The study discusses the phytoplankton diversity of the Gogi lake ecosystem. A standard methodology was followed in conducting to complete this study and samples were collected at different points from the lake ecosystem located at the core area of the proposed uranium mining site. Through a field survey, twenty one species of phytoplankton were recorded coming under four classes viz., Bacillariophyceae(8), Chlorophyceae(7),Cyanophyceae (5) Charophyceae (1) and twelve families and Fragilariaceae (4), Bacillariaceae (3), Zygnemataceae(3), Desmidiaceae (2), Oscillatoriaceae (2), Melosiraceae (1), Cladophoraceae (1), Scenedesmaceae (1), Microcystaceae (1), Nostocaceae (1), Phormidiaceae (1), Characeae (1). The data were collected over two seasons- March to May and September to November -2012. A total of 21 species were recorded from the study region of which 10 species were recorded during March to May, while 02 species from September to November, nine species were recorded.
Contact Theory as a Framework for Experiential Activities as Diversity Education: An Exploratory Study

Participation in experiential education is said to enhance people's appreciation for diversity. This article reports on a study that found significant changes in participants' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors following a nonformal diversity education program using adventure-based and community-service activities. Additionally, hypothesized program conditions, as outlined by contact theory, were significantly predictive of outcomes, although majority and minority participants differed on their perceptions of these conditions. These findings suggest that experiential activities may be considered a viable approach to diversity education in nonformal settings, assuming key conditions are met. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.
The Periodogram of Spurious Long-Memory Processes

We derive the properties of the periodogram local to the zero frequency for a large class of spurious long-memory processes. The periodogram is of crucial importance in this context, since it forms the basis for most commonly used estimation methods for the memory parameter. The class considered nests a wide range of processes such as deterministic or stochastic structural breaks and smooth trends as special cases. Several previous results on these special cases are generalized and extended. All of the spurious long-memory processes considered share the property that their impact on the periodogram at the Fourier frequencies local to the origin is different than that of true long-memory processes. Both types of processes therefore exhibit clearly distinct empirical features.
Examination of sensitivity and specificity of some serological tests in diagnostics of bovine brucellosis.

The most reliable diagnosis of an infectuous disease is confirmed by isolation of its pathogen. When it comes to brucellosis, it is important to know that brucella isolation is rarely successful; it is not only very complicated but is as well hazardous for laboratory workers. Due to the above mentioned reasons, it is reasonable to use serological tests for routine diagnosis of this zoonose. This paper deals with examination of bovine sera samples with the aim to detect the titer of specific antibodies against brucellosis. In order to choose and evaluate properly the best test in terms of applicability, speed of performance, and provision of correct results, five serological tests were assayed: rapid serum plate agglutination (Rose Bengal test), Brucella abortus bovis test (RB, BAB test); serum agglutination test (titration) - by Wright, as micro method (mSAT); reaction of complement fixation, and also as micro method (mCF); indirect imunoenzyime test (iELISA) and competitive imunoenzyme test (cELISA). This paper includes 630 samples of bovine blood sera, as well as positive and negative international antibrucella serum as the mandatory control. The presence of specific antibodies against brucella was determined in 125 samples of bovine blood sera. Based on the analysis of the results obtained, evaluation of sensitivity and specificity of these tests was conducted. iELISA and RB test proved to be the most sensitive, while the highest specificity was determined in mCF, and less specific were mSAT and iELISA. RB test had the lowest specificity.
AUTOMATION AND EVALUATION OF SOFTWARE FAULT PREDICTION

Delivering a fault-free software to the client requires exhaustive testing, which in today’s ever-growing software systems, can be expensive and often impossible. Software fault prediction aims to improve software quality while reducing the testing eﬀort by identifying fault-prone modules in the early stages of development process. However, software fault prediction activities are yet to be implemented in the daily work routine of practitioners as a result of a lack of automation of this process. This thesis presents an Eclipse plug-in as a fault prediction automation tool that can predict fault-prone modules using two prediction methods, Naive Bayes and Logistic Regression, while also reﬂecting on the performance of these prediction methods compared to each other. Evaluating the prediction methods on open source projects concluded that Logistic Regression performed better than Naive Bayes. As part of the prediction process, this thesis also reﬂects on the easiest metrics to automatically gather for fault prediction concluding that LOC, McCabe Complexity and CK suite metrics are the easiest to automatically gather.
2 Literature Review on Requirements Process Models

Requirements engineering literature presents different models of the requirements engineering process. The process models range from linear to iterative in structure. This paper reports on a study of the requirements engineering processes at two Australian companies. Structured interviews were conducted with the aid of a qualitative questionnaire. The results from the interviews are discussed, with particular focus on requirements engineering activities and the high-level descriptive process models of the requirements engineering processes that were constructed from the data. These models are then compared with three descriptive requirements engineering process models from existing requirements engineering literature.
Absence of a Seasonal Variation of Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in Yeoncheon Compared to Nationwide Korea

Background Yeoncheon is an endemic region for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and has been reporting HFRS cases intermittently in other seasons, including autumn. This study was conducted to determine whether a seasonal variation pattern of HFRS exists in Yeoncheon. Materials and Methods From 2002 to 2016, raw data of the number of patients with HFRS in Yeoncheon and nationwide was collected from the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention. On the basis of the raw data, the incidence per 100,000 population was calculated for each month of the year. The twelve months were divided into four quarters, and the proportion of the disease by each quarter was calculated. The effects of sex, age, quarter, and time on HFRS occurrence were analyzed by Poisson regression analysis. Results A total of 6,132 HFRS cases occurred nationwide, and 62 cases occurred in Yeoncheon. The incidence of the disease in Yeoncheon (9.07/100,000) was statistically higher than that nationwide (0.81/100,000). The quarterly incidence showed that occurrence proportion of HFRS was high in the third and fourth quarters (12.9%, 67.5%) nationwide, whereas it was relatively similar in all quarters in Yeoncheon (17.7%, 21.0%, 25.8%, 35.5%). The Poisson regression model showed that the relative risk of HFRS nationwide was 1.322 in the third quarter and 6.903 in the fourth quarter, but Yeoncheon had no risk increase by quarter. Conclusion In this study, HFRS in Yeoncheon demonstrated no seasonal variation pattern compared to that in nationwide Korea, which may be considered a regional characteristic. Furthermore, in other regions where HFRS is endemic, like Yeoncheon, HFRS may arise regardless of seasonal variations.
Effects of storage duration at 5 ºC and type of cryoprotectant on cooled and frozen-thawed ram epididymal spermatozoa

Freezing of ejaculated and epididymal spermatozoa is currently a subject of interest with the purpose of establishing an efficient gene banking model for valuable animals or endangered species. Therefore, the present study evaluated the influence of different storage duration )0, 1.5 and 5 h) at 5 oC and type of cryoprotectant on freezability of ram epididymal spermatozoa. With increasing the storage duration from 0 to 3 h at 5 oC, the motility, progressive motility, viability and recovery rate of stored spermatozoa decreased (P 0.05). Addition of trehalose and sucrose to the basic diluent improved (P<0.05) the quality of frozen-thawed spermatozoa. Sperm motility, progressive motility, viability and hyaluronidase activity were higher in the present of DMSO than the control and BSA. There was no difference in the acrosomal integrity between extenders. In conclusion, quality of froze-thawed spermatozoa was not improved when the extender was supplemented with sugar. However, further studies are needed to determine the fertility of frozen-thawed epididymal spermatozoa
Personality and Memory in Old Age

We examined the impact of personality on episodic memory performance in a sample of 287 healthy adults aged 68-95 years. Extraversion and neuroticism were assessed with a standardized personality inventory. Episodic memory was assessed with an everyday task. Results from regression analyses controlling for the effects of age, gender, and education show that higher extraversion and lower neuroticism are associated with higher episodic memory performance. In addition, the strength of the correlations between neuroticism and episodic memory declined with increasing age in a male sub-sample, revealing an interaction between age and neuroticism.