Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil on postoperative performance following total intravenous anaesthesia with midazolam and alfentanil

Postoperative performance following total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) using midazolam and alfentanil was studied with and without the administration of a single dose of a benzodiazepine antagonist, flumazenil (Ro 15–1788). Performance was compared with a reference group anaesthetized with thiopentone, alfentanil and nitrous oxide. All patients were assessed by use of a rating scale which took into account the degree of sedation, amnesia, comprehension and cooperation as well as temporal and spatial orientation. There was a slow recovery following TIVA with somnolence and amnesia lasting several hours. Administration of flumazenil 1.0 mg i.v. at extubation caused a significant reduction of sedation (P<0.001) during the first postoperative hour, with patients fully awake or only lightly sedated, but was later followed by resedation. The patients of the reference group were moderately sedated during the observation period. Five and six hours postoperatively there was no difference between the groups. Amnesia was more profound in the groups that received midazolam; the effect of the antagonist could only be seen for 15 min after its administration. Comprehension and cooperation, as well as orientation, were equally good in the antagonist and in the reference group during the immediate postoperative period, whereas in the TIVA group a gradual improvement over the first hours was seen. In the antagonist group there was no increase in the number of analgesic requirements, no anxiety attacks or other adverse effects. It is concluded that flumazenil offers an improvement in postoperative performance following TIVA induced by midazolam and alfentanil, but the effects are of short duration.
INTAKT: A new instrument for assessing the quality of mother-child interactions

Despite abundant evidence for the influence of primary caregivers’ interaction with young children, on their further development, there is a lack of standardized and published inventories for assessing the quality of such interactions. INTAKT, a newly developed instrument, which helps to rate maternal sensitivity, maternal feedback, and maternal interaction in joint attention episodes, is designed to close this gap. Two studies examined the psychometric properties of INTAKT, applying it to different kinds of mother-child dyads. Inter-rater reliabilities, as well as validation data using internal and external criteria, showed that the INTAKT scales allowed for an objective, reliable, and valid assessment of interaction quality between mothers and their children. Thus, the inventory is suitable as a diagnostic instrument for assessing the quality of mother-child interactions.
Simple and rapid protocol for isolation of chromosomal and plasmid DNA from Saccharomyces cerevisiae suitable for polymerase chain reaction analysis

Majority of the shuttle vectors developed for the metabolic engineering of yeast have low copy number, hence the need to be rescued and optimized in Escherichia coli prior to genetic manipulation studies. Methods that are currently available are complicated, contain lot of detergents, time consuming and often yield poor quality plasmid DNA. The present method describes a simple and rapid protocol for isolation of plasmids from yeast using buffer without any detergents. The plasmids isolated by this protocol can be transformed efficiently in E. coli. Further, we also demonstrate that Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA preparations are best suited for PCR amplification. Key words: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, plasmid, chromosomal DNA, plasmid rescue, PCR, transformation.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH BLOOD CONCENTRATIONS OF INDOXYL SULFATE AND p-CRESOL IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING PERITONEAL DIALYSIS

♦ Background: Accumulating evidence supports the important role of protein-bound uremic toxins such as indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol in uremic syndrome. They exert direct deleterious effects on a variety of cells and could link to clinical outcome. Factors relevant to indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol levels in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients have rarely been investigated. We conducted a cross-sectional study to analyze the factors that correlate with both total and free indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol. ♦ Methods: 182 stable PD patients with mean PD therapy duration 38.5 ± 33.3 months were enrolled. Their mean age was 48.9 ± 13.5 years; 62.6% (114/182) were female patients. Demographic data, including age, gender, and PD therapy duration, were reviewed and recorded. PD-associated features such as residual kidney function (RKF), peritoneal transport property, and dialysis modality were also recorded. Hemoglobin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10 were measured. Levels of total and free indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol were determined. ♦ Results: Patients without RKF had lower Kt/V and weekly creatinine clearance and higher serum creatinine and IL-6 levels. These patients also had higher total and free indoxyl sulfate levels. There was no difference in indoxyl sulfate or p-cresol levels compared to patients with different peritoneal transport properties or with different treatment modalities. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that weekly creatinine clearance and serum creatinine were independent associates of total indoxyl sulfate level; IL-6, total indoxyl sulfate, and free p-cresol were associated with free indoxyl sulfate level. Weekly creatinine clearance and free p-cresol level independently correlated with total p-cresol; while gender, total p-cresol, and free indoxyl sulfate were associated with free p-cresol level. ♦ Conclusion: The free forms of indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol constituted a small portion of their total forms. The presence of RKF affected levels of free and total indoxyl sulfate. IL-6 level was significantly associated with free indoxyl sulfate level. There was a close relationship between indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol levels in their free forms in PD patients.
Human motion recognition using directional motion history images

Nowadays many persons are needed to observe images from surveillance cameras, because many surveillance cameras are installed in a town or in buildings. They are working under stress, because they must always watch the images from surveillance cameras to find a person with abnormal motion. Therefore reduction of the load is necessary. Many existing researches on human motion recognition are only recognition and the information of the result is not used. We assume that human motion is a set of basic motions. So, we think we are able to translate an overall motion using the recognition result of basic motions. The goal of the present research is to develop a method of human motion representation and translation using directional motion history images (DMHIs). In this paper, we describe a method of recognizing basic motions using the DMHIs. We perform the recognition by matching of a graph. When the matching of the graph is performed, the intervals of chosen image frames are changed and the most suitable interval is inspected.
The Mechanism of Training Effects: A Hypothesis

Exercises repeated systematically induce a great variety of changes in the body (2, 41, 44, 119). These include morphological changes, up to the subeellular structures, metabolic and functional changes, and improved coordination of the body's activities regarding nervous, hormonal, and cellular autonomic regulations. The improvements in performance and various somatic faculties are directly related to these changes. However, the question of why these changes develop has not been completely answered.
Accessibility of Portuguese Public Universities' sites

The aim of this study is to characterise the accessibility of all Public Portuguese Universities' homepages and the support services they offer to disabled students. We employed two different online automatic tools: using the ‘eXaminator’ to determine the conformance of websites to checkpoints; using ‘HERA’ to identify any automatically detectable errors or checkpoints. The choice of these tools was according to the Portuguese Government recommendation, to public in general, as the ones best suited to perform accessibility check-ups. Thus, we used those tools to present a brief characterisation of the sites' accessibility. The data collection took place in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to identify differences. Following this work, we chose all the sites that stated to have specific services to support disabled students and made a detailed analysis to: (a) identify existing university services to disabled students; (b) identify possible relations among the accessibility' scores in the universities that offer services to disabled students. The main results of this study were as follows: schools overall accessibility of the webpage were not acceptable and only 12.5% sites had information regarding supporting services to disabled students. The data collected identified an overall web accessibility improvement during the 2007–2008, followed by a stabilisation of the results.
1000 fps visual servoing on the reconfigurable wide SIMD processor

Visual servoing has been proven to obtain better performance than encoders at comparable cost. However, the often computationally intensive vision algorithms and the ever growing demands for higher frame rate make its realization very challenging. This paper demonstrated the feasibility of achieving high frame-rate visual servoing applications on the wide Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data (SIMD) processors. An industrial application, Organic-Light-Emitting-Diode (OLED) substrate localization, is chosen as a typical example. Firstly, we proposed an improved vision pipeline for repetitive structure localization, which is more robust, and also more friendly to embedded processors and FPGA/ASIC realization. Then, a highly-efficient SIMD processor for vision servoing is also proposed. The number of processing elements (PEs) in this proposed SIMD processor is dynamically reconfigurable, which (i) enables efficient processing for different vector lengths; (ii) can easily adjust to the various performance requirements; and (iii) saves energy consumption. For input frames of 120 x 45 resolution, the proposed vision pipeline can process a frame within 275 mus, sufficient to meet the throughput requirement of 1000 fps with a latency of less than 1 ms for the whole vision servoing system. Compared to the reference realization on MicroBlaze, the proposed SIMD processor achieves a 18x performance improvement.
Theoretical model of fishbone oscillations in magnetically confined plasmas.

Les oscillations electromagnetiques observees dans des plasmas magnetiquement confines avec injection de faisceaux de particules neutres, sont associees a l'excitation d'un mode de nombre d'onde poloidal m 0 =1 et vitesse de phase egale a la vitesse diamagnetique des ions du coeur. L'interaction resonnante du mode avec les ions du faisceau est consideree comme une forme de dissipation qui permet la liberation d'energie d'excitation du mode, liee au gradient de pression du plasma
A discontinuous mean-square filter for stochastic differential systems

This paper presents a mean-square filter for Lipschitz stochastic differential systems, which contains a discontinuous innovations term in the form of unit control. It is demonstrated that the designed filter yields the ultimate boundedness of the estimation error variance. The developed algorithm is then applied to a third degree polynomial system and compared to the extended Kalman-Bucy filter. The simulation results show the faster convergence and better approximation properties of the proposed filter.
Research on MEMS failure modes and failure mechanisms

In view of the reliability of micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) devices, the common failure modes and mechanisms of MEMS are introduced through a lot of data research and failure information collection. The key failure modes of MEMS (adhesion, mechanical fracture, and wear) and their failure mechanisms are further analyzed and summarized. Meanwhile, the corresponding prevention and improvement measures are put forward. The research results are helpful to guide the failure analysis and reliability design of MEMS devices in future.
End-user developers at home

There have been many "homes of the future" demonstrations, in which intelligent appliances communicate with each other for the convenience of the homeowner. Manufacturers, wealthy celebrities, gadget lovers, and researchers think they are great. But now that transport-layer technology for highly networked homes is commercially feasible (whether WiFi or simply cheap cabling), it's time to ask why typical households need it.
Amplification-based DNA fingerprinting: from artifactual to definitive typing and in between.

During past years, several hundred publications have appeared describing the successful application of arbitrarily primed PCR or randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. From a screening of MedLine for articles on this PCRbased DNA fingerprinting method, it appears that in 56% of all publications the subject concerns microbiological typing. Recently, two extensive reviews focusing on the technical aspects of PCR-based DNA fingerprinting of clinically relevant bacteria appeared in peer-reviewed journals (9, 11). It is striking to observe the rather extreme differences in the points of view formulated by the different authors. Although it is clear that the PCR-mediated methodology is currently far from optimal with respect to experimental reproducibility, especially when intercenter studies are concerned (8, 13), the contrast between the conclusions reached requires additional discussion. Power (9) foresees that PCR-mediated fingerprinting, although presently considered to be a comparative typing procedure at best, will eventually develop into a speedy, flexible, and cost-effective definitive typing strategy. This proposition may be considered somewhat optimistic in light of the current state of affairs, although in view of modern developments in the field of DNA chip technology (2) optimization of the interpretation and standardization of PCR fingerprinting may be feasible in the not-too-distant future. Precisely this novel revolutionary and miniaturized DNA-probing methodology will most probably replace all of the current typing procedures in the long run. In clear contrast with Power’s recommendations (9), Tyler et al. (11) suggest that PCR-mediated typing should be performed “for the sole purpose of satisfying some immediate internal goal or curiosity” and consider larger comparative studies a waste of time and effort. This type of reasoning is
piggyBac‐based insertional mutagenesis in Tribolium castaneum using donor/helper hybrids

We describe an efficient method for generating new piggyBac insertions in the germline of F1 hybrid Tribolium castaneum derived from crosses between transgenic helper and donor strains. Helper strains carried single Minos elements encoding piggyBac transposase. The donor strain carried a single piggyBac element inserted into an actin gene, expanding the eye‐specific, 3xP3‐EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) reporter expression domain to include muscle. Remobilization of the donor element is accompanied by loss of muscle fluorescence but retention of eye fluorescence. In a pilot screen, the piggyBac donor was remobilized in 84% of the hybrid crosses, generating hundreds of new lethal, enhancer‐trap, semisterile and other insertions. The jumpstarter system described herein makes genome‐wide, saturation insertional mutagenesis a realistic goal in this coleopteran species.
Is previous respiratory disease a risk factor for lung cancer?

RATIONALE Previous respiratory diseases have been associated with increased risk of lung cancer. Respiratory conditions often co-occur and few studies have investigated multiple conditions simultaneously. OBJECTIVES Investigate lung cancer risk associated with chronic bronchitis, emphysema, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and asthma. METHODS The SYNERGY project pooled information on previous respiratory diseases from 12,739 case subjects and 14,945 control subjects from 7 case-control studies conducted in Europe and Canada. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between individual diseases adjusting for co-occurring conditions, and patterns of respiratory disease diagnoses and lung cancer. Analyses were stratified by sex, and adjusted for age, center, ever-employed in a high-risk occupation, education, smoking status, cigarette pack-years, and time since quitting smoking. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Chronic bronchitis and emphysema were positively associated with lung cancer, after accounting for other respiratory diseases and smoking (e.g., in men: odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-1.48 and OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.21-1.87, respectively). A positive relationship was observed between lung cancer and pneumonia diagnosed 2 years or less before lung cancer (OR, 3.31; 95% CI, 2.33-4.70 for men), but not longer. Co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and/or pneumonia had a stronger positive association with lung cancer than chronic bronchitis "only. " Asthma had an inverse association with lung cancer, the association being stronger with an asthma diagnosis 5 years or more before lung cancer compared with shorter. CONCLUSIONS Findings from this large international case-control consortium indicate that after accounting for co-occurring respiratory diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema continue to have a positive association with lung cancer.
The effect of sampling rates on the performance of a three phase PWM inverter and choice of appropriate sampling rates

Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) inverters are most commonly used for grid interfacing in renewable energy systems and for speed control of induction motors in Variable Frequency Drives (VFD), wherein the control computations are implemented in digital signal controllers (sample-based in nature) and are highly complicated. Sampling interval is a critical parameter in PWM control algorithms, because the controller is required to complete one set of control computations within one sampling interval. This is owing to the fact that PWM control algorithms typically involve several axis transformations during a single sampling interval, and consequently take up thousands of instruction cycles, as the trigonometric transformation equations are implemented in modern processors using iterative procedures. This paper presents the effect of sampling frequency on the performance of a PWM inverter in a VFD for speed control of an induction motor. A step by step procedure for sampling rate selection is also proposed. A simulation study is done using MATLAB/Simulink to analyze the performance of the PWM inverter under variable frequency operation. At a fundamental frequency of 50 Hz, a substantial reduction in the THD, by about 9.12% in the voltage and about 39.01% in the current is observed with the proposed increase in sampling frequency by about ten times. Also, a reduction in the % error in voltage by about 5.3% is observed.
A model to identify urban traffic congestion hotspots in complex networks

The rapid growth of population in urban areas is jeopardizing the mobility and air quality worldwide. One of the most notable problems arising is that of traffic congestion. With the advent of technologies able to sense real-time data about cities, and its public distribution for analysis, we are in place to forecast scenarios valuable for improvement and control. Here, we propose an idealized model, based on the critical phenomena arising in complex networks, that allows to analytically predict congestion hotspots in urban environments. Results on real cities’ road networks, considering, in some experiments, real traffic data, show that the proposed model is capable of identifying susceptible junctions that might become hotspots if mobility demand increases.
Locality in multi-label classification problems

Lately, multi-label classification (MLC) problems have drawn a lot of attention in a wide range of fields including medical, web, and entertainment. The scale and the diversity of MLC problems is much larger than single-label classification problems. Especially we have to face all possible combinations of labels. To solve MLC problems more efficiently, we focus on three kinds of locality hidden in a given MLC problem. In this paper, first we show how large degree of locality exists in nine datasets, then examine how closely they are related to labels, and last propose a method of reducing the problem size using one kind of locality.
Novel and Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adolescents

Cardiovascular diseases are prevalent conditions which impose significant negative impacts on the healthcare system. According to World Health Organization (WHO), noncommunicable diseases (NCD) including cardiovascular diseases account for more than 60% of all deaths globally. Overweight/obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia are all traditional cardiovascular risk factors in adults. Of particular concern, adolescence obesity and its associated cardiovascular risk and co-morbidities have substantial tracking into adulthood (1-4).
Geopolitical and urban changes in Sarajevo (1995 – 2015)

Durante el colapso de la Yugoslavia socialista y en medio de un proceso de division etnoterritorial de Bosnia y Herzegovina, Sarajevo sufrio un asedio que tras tres anos y medio resulto en un orden social, politico y territorial completamente nuevo. Con posterioridad a la firma del acuerdo de paz en Paris en diciembre de 1995 se inicio una transicion de la guerra a la paz y del socialismo al capitalismo. Esta doble transicion estuvo marcada por una creciente intervencion de la comunidad internacional, que desplego una administracion internacional en Bosnia y Herzegovina para supervisar la implementacion de los acuerdo de paz. A pesar de que no se establecio una mision local de consolidacion de la paz especifica para su capital, la ciudad de Sarajevo, la Oficina del Alto Representante, en tanto que organismo responsable de la supervision de los anexos civiles de los acuerdos, participo activamente entre 1996 y 2003 en la supervision, coordinacion e incluso ejecucion de procesos clave en la transformacion urbana despues de la guerra, en ambitos como el retorno de las personas desplazadas durante el conflicto o las reformas economicas. Asi, esta tesis analiza tanto el papel de la Oficina del Alto Representante en la transformacion de la ciudad de Sarajevo durante el periodo posbelico asi como la influencia de sus politicas en la actual configuracion etnica y espacial de la ciudad.
Efficient stochastic multicriteria arm trajectory optimization

Performing manipulation with robotic arms requires a method for planning trajectories that takes multiple factors into account: collisions, joint limits, orientation constraints, torques, and duration of a trajectory. We present an approach to efficiently optimize arm trajectories with respect to multiple criteria. Our work extends Stochastic Trajectory Optimization for Motion Planning (STOMP). We optimize trajectory duration by including velocity into the optimization. We propose an efficient cost function with normalized components, which allows prioritizing components depending on user-specified requirements. Optimization is done in two stages: first with a partial cost function and in the second stage with full costs. We compare our method to state-of-the art methods. In addition, we perform experiments on real robots: centaur-like robot Momaro and an industrial manipulator.