Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
My indications for treatment of the adolescent varicocele (and why?)

What to do with the adolescent varicocele? With merging the information obtained from an extensive review of the literature with our own clinical research, I believe that we already have knowledge enough to say that the adolescent with a varicocele often is in the midst of a progressive disease process. Strong evidence already exists that well more than the majority of Tanner 5 boys with a varicocele and 20% asymmetry will already have abnormally low total motile sperm counts (TMCs) and likely abnormally low sperm concentration as well. There are now many studies in addition to common sense to support the value of % asymmetry as a marker of future abnormal sperm parameters. While we know that some boys at lower Tanner stages who present with asymmetry will have catch-up growth during adolescence, we also know that almost all boys with 15% asymmetry or greater in conjunction with a Doppler detected peak retrograde flow (PRF) of 38 cm/s or greater will end up with greater than 20% asymmetry on follow-up. There also are some boys of concern with less asymmetry but instead have small testes bilaterally, perhaps as a result of the left varicocele slowing the growth of the right testicle and/or an associated undetected or overlooked palpable right varicocele that is also negatively affecting the right testicle. Fortunately, we now have another marker available, i.e., total testicular volume (TTV), to assist in decision making for the adolescent falling into this scenario. Once markers are in place in an early Tanner stage boy with a varicocele that indicate that abnormal semen parameters will likely be present when a Tanner 5 stage of development is reached, there is no reason to wait until the child is older so that a semen analysis can be comfortably requested for the documentation. One argument in favor of waiting is that abnormal semen parameters in a Tanner 5 male usually are reversible. However, how do we know that once abnormal parameters are reversed they then will stay normal in a testicle that already has incurred damage. In other words, I feel it is best to operate once the indicators are in place. We do not want to be suddenly surprised when that individual when older has difficulty fathering a child at a time in life when surgery might be too late to resolve what has taken years to develop. Within this manuscript I will try to document my reasons for the aforementioned rationale.
Elucidation of the role of rotation speed and stirring direction on AA 7075-B4C surface composites formulated by friction stir processing

In the present research investigation, aluminum–boron carbide surface composites were fabricated using friction stir processing technique. Boron carbide powder particles were incorporated into AA 7075 substrate by the thermomechanical mixing generated through multiple passes of friction stir processing. A parametric investigation was conducted to encounter homogeneous boron carbide powder particles distribution in the substrate matrix by employing various parameter combination sets like tool rotational speed and alteration in tool travel direction. Microstructural characterizations were performed by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis to investigate on boron carbide powder particles distribution, phases present, and grain morphologies in the substrate matrix. Homogeneous distribution of boron carbide powder particles was observed for surface composites processed at lowest tool rotational speed. Uniform boron carbide powder particles distribution in the processed zone along with various strengthening mechanisms brought about two-fold increase in microhardness and wear resistance of the prepared composites.
A Compact Intermediate Format for SimICS

Instruction set architecture (ISA) simulators are an increasingly popular class of tools for both research and commercial purposes. Common applications include trace generation, program development, and compatibility support. A major concern with ISA simulators is performance and memory overhead. A common technique for achieving good performance is to use threaded code, which involves translating the target object code to an intermediate format which is subsequently interpreted. We describe such an internal format, which we call the 64-bit format, that is compact and meets a range of requirements in terms of flexibility and simplicity. We show how a simulator using this format can be implemented efficiently by taking advantage of extensions to the C language supported by the GNU C compilers. We have used the format to write the core interpreter in SimICS, a system level multiprocessor simulator that supports the Motorola 88110 and the SPARC V8 instruction sets.
Performance Analysis of Relay Selection for Cooperative Relays Based on Wireless Power Transfer With Finite Energy Storage

Cooperative relaying with relay selection (RS) is a promising technique in exploiting diversity gain using simple hardware. In this paper, the outage probability performance of a new RS scheme for energy harvesting (EH) relays based on wireless power transfer is investigated. First, a timing structure for enabling EH, RS, and information relaying is defined. Based on the timing structure defined, we propose an RS scheme considering both the channel state information (CSI) and battery status of EH relays, assuming that each relay has finite energy storage for accumulating the energy harvested from the source signal. To understand the impact of critical system parameters on outage probability, a finite-state Markov chain is developed to capture the evolution of relay batteries under the proposed RS scheme, and the resultant outage probability is derived. As the computational complexity of the Markovian-based analysis exponentially grows with the number of relays, an approximated analysis with reduced complexity is conducted based on certain simplified assumptions. We present simulation results to verify the accuracy of both exact and approximated analyses. We also discuss the performance of the proposed RS scheme, subject to various important parameters via numerical results, to shed light on future developments of cooperative networks utilizing EH relays.
A threshold value of estimated glomerular filtration rate that predicts changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels: 4th Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2008.

BACKGROUND Vitamin D deficiency is known as an important risk factor for mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Nevertheless, the association of renal function itself with vitamin D status or serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) level has not been investigated thoroughly. METHODS We examined the association between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and serum 25OHD levels using data from the 4th Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2008. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to examine the relationship between eGFR and serum 25OHD levels and to estimate a threshold value of eGFR that predicts changes in serum 25OHD levels. RESULTS The mean serum 25OHD level was 20.4 ± 9.1 ng/mL, and the overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 29.9% in this population. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency began to increase at eGFR levels <45 mL/min/1.73 m(2). After adjustment, the logistic regression of dichotomized eGFR levels with a cut-point of 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2) yielded an increased odds ratio for vitamin D deficiency. Additionally, the continuous relationship between eGFR and 25OHD levels was explored using GAMs adjusted for various confounding factors. In this analysis, the difference from the mean serum 25OHD started to increase below an eGFR threshold of 55.4 mL/min/1.73 m(2), which suggests that renal function is directly related to the serum 25OHD levels in patients with CKD Stages 3-5. CONCLUSION Although moderate renal dysfunction (eGFR < 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) is an important predictor of vitamin D deficiency, serum 25OHD levels start to decrease below an eGFR level of ~60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) independent of other risk factors. These results suggest that more careful attention to 25OHD levels may be needed when patients reach Stage 3 CKD.
Least Maintenance Batch Scheduling in Cloud Data Center Networks

Nowadays, to efficiently safeguard the uptime of data centers, system-scale preventive maintenance is necessary. If all servers are under maintenance at the same time, it will completely disrupt the service continuity of all virtual machines that run over servers, thus it necessitates the proposition of an appropriate multi-batch scheme in which during each batch only a partial set of servers are maintained, leaving the remaining servers still on to fully support the virtual machine operations. To enable the cost-saving multi-batch scheme, in this letter, we aim to minimize the total number of batches to implement the system-scale maintenance, meanwhile guaranteeing the system service continuity. We propose a novel heuristic to solve the problem which can well achieve the problem lower bound.
The use of Petri nets as the basis of algorithm for gate level digital circuits simulation

This paper proposes a new event driven simulation algorithm for digital integrated circuits simulation based on Petri nets modification. The proposed algorithm avoiding priority choice problem, when two or more events are occurring simultaneously. A new gate level simulation tool has been developed based on proposed algorithm. With the developed simulator three different types of the basic digital circuits was simulated, including combinational and sequential units. The obtained waveforms correspond to the results of the well-known tools for the gate level simulation.
Whole-genome population genomic analyses

High-throughput Technologien haben in den letzten Jahren einen rasante und kostengunstige Produktion genomischer Informationen von tausenden biologischen Organismen ermoglicht. Das 1000 Genomes Projekt z.B. sequenziert zur Zeit menschliche Genome von Populationen auf der ganzen Welt, um den grosten Katalog menschlicher genetischer Variationen in der Geschichte zu erstellen. Es zielt darauf ab, bedeutende Fragen der Evolutionsbiologie zu beantworten und neue Erkenntnisse uber die Rolle einzelner Variationen bei der Entstehung von Krankheiten zu erlangen. Dieser Fortschritt geht einher mit der Notwendigkeit von Software Applikationen, mithilfe derer die Analyse dieser enormen Datenmengen problemlos zu realisieren ist. Etablierte populations-genetische Analyse Software, wie z.B. das Programm DnaSP, sind nicht dafur entwickelt worden Datenmengen solchen Ausmases effizient zu verarbeiten. Diese Dissertation prasentiert unter Anderem das neue Software Paket PopGenome. Zum einen beinhaltet PopGenome ein weites Spektrum populationsgenomischer Methoden, zum Anderen bietet die zugrunde liegende Architektur eine Umgebung, die die Integration neuer Methoden spielerisch einfach macht. Das Ziel theoretischer Populationsgenetiker ist es, Methoden zu entwickeln, die auf der Basis heutiger Muster im Genom moglichst genaue Aussagen uber die Evolutionsgeschichte machen konnen. Erst wenn diese Muster entschlusselt sind konnen zukunftige Entwicklungen biologischer Systeme sicher vorhergesagt werden. Gene, die unter Selektionsdruck stehen und somit eine bedeutende biologische Funktion implizieren, sind ein wesentlicher Bestandteil dieser Entwicklungen. Ein zweiter Teil dieser Dissertation stellt eine neue bayesianische Methode vor, die anhand von genomweiten SNPs (Single nucleotide polymorhisms) Gene veriziert, die sich entweder unter balancierender oder populations-spezischer Selektion befinden.
Formulation and Optimization of Floating Microspheres of Cefixime Trihydrate by Factorial Design

Cefixime trihydrate is an orally active third generation cephalosporin having a wide range of activity. But its bioavailability is limited to about 4050% after oral administration. The development of floating microspheres is a possible alternative to overcome this problem. The floating microspheres of cefixime were prepared with this objective using the biocompatible natural polymers like alginate and chitosan by ionotropic gelation method. A 3 full factorial experiment was designed to study the effect of independent variables such as alginate and chitosan concentration. The response parameters investigated are buoyancy and cumulative drug release percentage and was statistically analyzed by applying ANOVA. Contour plots and three-dimensional surface response plots were drawn to evaluate the interaction of the independent variables on the chosen dependent variables. Two optimal formulations were developed by setting the constraints on the independent variables to maximize the buoyancy and drug release percentage. The values of the observed responses are compared with those predicted by the mathematical models along with the % prediction errors. The low value of error proved the ability of response surface methodology to predict the behavior of the drug-loaded floating microspheres. Surface morphology of the microspheres was studied by SEM analysis. Kinetic studies reveal that the optimized formulations release the drug in the zero order manner with non-Fickian diffusion mechanism based on the regression values of zero order, Higuchi, and Korsmeyer-Peppas model.
Environmental and ecological factors that shape the gut bacterial communities of fish: a meta‐analysis

Symbiotic bacteria often help their hosts acquire nutrients from their diet, showing trends of co‐evolution and independent acquisition by hosts from the same trophic levels. While these trends hint at important roles for biotic factors, the effects of the abiotic environment on symbiotic community composition remain comparably understudied. In this investigation, we examined the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on the gut bacterial communities of fish from different taxa, trophic levels and habitats. Phylogenetic and statistical analyses of 25 16S rRNA libraries revealed that salinity, trophic level and possibly host phylogeny shape the composition of fish gut bacteria. When analysed alongside bacterial communities from other environments, fish gut communities typically clustered with gut communities from mammals and insects. Similar consideration of individual phylotypes (vs. communities) revealed evolutionary ties between fish gut microbes and symbionts of animals, as many of the bacteria from the guts of herbivorous fish were closely related to those from mammals. Our results indicate that fish harbour more specialized gut communities than previously recognized. They also highlight a trend of convergent acquisition of similar bacterial communities by fish and mammals, raising the possibility that fish were the first to evolve symbioses resembling those found among extant gut fermenting mammals.
Polymer Light Emitting Diodes: Materials, Technology and Device

ABSTRACT Polymer Light Emitting Diodes (PLEDs), the most promising name in the field of display technology has received tremendous attention from various research groups. The research on light emitting polymers are an interdisciplinary zone which has challenging investigates on materials science and engineering, physics of device architecture and technology. This review addresses the wide range of tailored polymers, evolution of LED device structure for high performance, single and multicolor polymer based LEDs. Though, polymers are possessing better efficiency and easy fabrication processes, it has very low stability and short life. This study also reviews, device degradation during device fabrication and operation.
In situ Rumen Degradation Kinetics of High-Protein Forage Crops in Temperate Climates

El presente estudio se desarrollo con el objetivo de evaluar el valor nutricional y la cinetica de degradacion in situ de ocho forrajes de alto valor proteico: alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), avena (Avena sativa L.), pastos mixtos y pastos de ballica (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), en las primeras etapas vegetativas, dos lupinos forrajeros (Lupinus albus L.) en etapas inicio de la floracion, hojas de remolacha azucarera (Beta vulgaris L.) y de col (Brassica napus var. pabularia (DC.) Rchb. ) La cinetica de degradacion ruminal de la materia seca (DM) y proteina cruda (CP) se evaluaron mediante la tecnica in situ de la bolsa de nylon descrita por 0rskov MacDonald (1979), con tres ovejas-fistuladas, en cinco tiempos de incubacion. La composicion quimica de los forrajes fue en promedio 13,7% DM, CP 21,4%; 31,5% de fibra detergente neutro (NDF), 17,7% fibra cruda (CF); digestibilidad de la materia organica (DOMD) 80,6% y 12,13 MJ kg-1 energia metabolizable (ME). La degradabilidad total de los forrajes fue alta (> 87% DM; > 93% CP) asociada a la presencia de grandes cantidades de la fraccion a (> 34% DMa; > 29% CPa) y a la alta degradabilidad de la fraccion b, determinando cantidades bajas de la fraccion no degradable (U) (7,02% DM y 3,55% CP). Las correlaciones entre la degradabilidad CPb y DMb (r = 0,79) y entre CPc y DMc (r = 0,78) fueron altas; sin embargo, las diferencias en c no se explican por las diferencias en CP o contenido de NDF, ni por la cantidad de fracciones de a o b. La degradacion de DM y CP durante las primeras 6 h de incubacion se correlaciono inversamente con b (36 h) (r = 0,93; P < 0,0001), independiente del tipo de forraje. La cantidad de CPa y CPb influencio la degradabilidad efectiva de CP (r = 0,79; P < 0,02), al aumentar CPa tambien lo hizo DEp y, disminuyo al aumentar la CPb (r = 0,76; P < 0,02). Por lo tanto, la PC y MS de estos forrajes se degrado en mas del 75% en las primeras 6 h de incubacion y esto puede asociarse con el contenido de DM y la cantidad de fraccion lentamente degradable presente.
Radiotherapy on hidradenocarcinoma

Context: Clear cell Hidradenocarcinoma is a rare carcinoma arising from sweat glands. It is an aggressive tumor that most metastasizes to regional lymph nodes and distant viscera; surgery with safe margins is the mainstay of treatment. Case Report: We report a case of 68-year-old woman who presented with an invasive clear cell hidradenocarcinoma situated in the left parotid area which recurred 5 months after surgery, this recurrence was managed successfully by high-dose irradiation of the tumor bed (66 Gy) and regional lymphatic chains (50 Gy), after a follow-up of more than 15 months, the patient is in good local control without significant toxicity. Conclusion: Post operative radiotherapy allows better local control and should be mandatory when histological features predictive of recurrence are present: positive margins, histology poorly differentiated, perineural invasion, vascular and lymphatic invasion, lymph node involvement, and extracapsular spread.
Farnesoid X receptor–induced lysine‐specific histone demethylase reduces hepatic bile acid levels and protects the liver against bile acid toxicity

Bile acids (BAs) function as endocrine signaling molecules that activate multiple nuclear and membrane receptor signaling pathways to control fed‐state metabolism. Since the detergent‐like property of BAs causes liver damage at high concentrations, hepatic BA levels must be tightly regulated. Bile acid homeostasis is regulated largely at the level of transcription by nuclear receptors, particularly the primary BA receptor, farnesoid X receptor, and small heterodimer partner, which inhibits BA synthesis by recruiting repressive histone‐modifying enzymes. Although histone modifiers have been shown to regulate BA‐responsive genes, their in vivo functions remain unclear. Here, we show that lysine‐specific histone demethylase1 (LSD1) is directly induced by BA‐activated farnesoid X receptor, is recruited to the BA synthetic genes Cyp7a1 and Cyp8b1 and the BA uptake transporter gene Ntcp, and removes a gene‐activation marker, trimethylated histone H3 lysine‐4, leading to gene repression. Recruitment of LSD1 was dependent on small heterodimer partner, and LSD1‐mediated demethylation of trimethylated histone H3 lysine‐4 was required for additional repressive histone modifications, acetylated histone 3 on lysine 9 and 14 deacetylation, and acetylated histone 3 on lysine 9 methylation. A BA overload, feeding 0.5% cholic acid chow for 6 days, resulted in adaptive responses of altered expression of hepatic genes involved in BA synthesis, transport, and detoxification/conjugation. In contrast, adenovirus‐mediated downregulation of hepatic LSD1 blunted these responses, which led to substantial increases in liver and serum BA levels, serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels, and hepatic inflammation. Conclusion: This study identifies LSD1 as a novel histone‐modifying enzyme in the orchestrated regulation mediated by the farnesoid X receptor and small heterodimer partner that reduces hepatic BA levels and protects the liver against BA toxicity. (Hepatology 2015;62:220‐231)
SSARC: The Short-Sighted Adaptive Replacement Cache

As the performance gap between disks and processors continues to increase, dozens of cache replacement policies come up to handle the problem. Unfortunately,most of the policies are static. Nimrod Megiddo etc put forward a low overhead adaptive policy called ARC. It outperforms most of the static policies inmost situations. But, ARC adapts itself to the workloads by the feedback of the missed pages. It hasn’t carried out the adaption before missed pages are discovered.We propose a high performance adaptive replacement policy. It adapts itself to the workloads by the feedback of the hit pages, so, it is more sensitive to the changes of the workloads than ARC. As the policy stares at the tails of the queues regardless of other pages, we name the policy as short-sighted adaptive replacement policy. The ARC usually regrets for the missed pages and wishes to rescue the neighborhood of them. However, SSARC endeavors to protect the would-be-reused pages from being replaced aggressively. So, it outperforms ARC in most situations. We compared SSARC with LRU, 2Q and ARC. The trace-driven experiments represent that SSARC gains higher performance.
Asthma control test via text messaging: could it be a tool for evaluating asthma control?

Abstract Introduction: Originally, the Asthma Control Test (ACT) was designed for English-speaking patients using a paper-and-pencil format. The Turkish version of the ACT was recently validated. This article compares the paper-and-pencil and web-based texting formats of the Turkish version of the ACT and evaluates the compatibility of these ACT scores with GINA-based physician assessments of asthma control. Methods: This multicentre prospective study included 431 asthma patients from outpatient clinics in Turkey. The patients were randomized into a paper-and-pencil group (n = 220) and a text messaging group (n = 211). Patients completed the ACT at Visit 1, after 10 ± 2 days, and at 5 ± 1 week to demonstrate the reliability and responsiveness of the test. At each visit, physicians assessed patients’ asthma control levels. Results: The ACT administered via texting showed an internal consistency of 0.82. For the texting group, we found a significant correlation between the ACT and physician assessments at Visit 1 (r = 0.60, p < 0.001). The AUC was 0.87, with a sensitivity of 78.0% and a specificity of 77.5% for a score of ≤19 for screening “uncontrolled” asthma in the texting group. Conclusion: When the Turkish version of the ACT was administered via either the paper-and-pencil or text messaging test, scores were closely associated with physician assessments of asthma control.