Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of scorpion sting incidence in turkey

Scorpion stings are common in Turkey due to its geographical location, climate and socioeconomic structure. Scorpion envenomation cases are a considerable public health problem in all regions of the country. Important health-threatening scorpions in Turkey are Androctonus crassicauda, Leiurus quinquestriatus, Mesobuthus gibbosus and M. eupeus, all of which belong to the Buthidae family. They are described to be potentially dangerous to humans. So far, there is no study about scorpion sting incidence covering all geographical regions of Turkey; therefore, in this study, we analyzed the frequency of scorpion sting cases in the country. A total of 24,261 scorpion sting cases were reported during 2005. Most of which (about 80%) occurred in the Southeastern Anatolia (30.4%), Mediterranean Sea (24.9%) and Aegean regions (23.5%), where medically important scorpion species are found. The sting cases mostly occurred during the summer period. Our results suggest that scorpion stings are an important problem in Turkey. This simple descriptive study will help develop interventions to prevent scorpion stings, which should take local sting cases into consideration.
Cosmeceutical peptides

ABSTRACT: Peptide cosmeceuticals are one of the new, popular options to treat aging skin. There are three main categories of cosmeceutical peptides: signal peptides, neurotransmitter‐affecting peptides and carrier peptides. Although their benefits currently may not be as rigorously tested as most FDA‐regulated drugs, the evidence to support their use is growing. This article attempts to review the various current popular cosmeceutical peptides, the published studies on their theoretical effects, and their practical use in dermatology.
Sage: The New BBN Speech Processing Platform

To capitalize on the rapid development of Speech-to-Text (STT) technologies and the proliferation of open source machine learning toolkits, BBN has developed Sage, a new speech processing platform that integrates technologies from multiple sources, each of which has particular strengths. In this paper, we describe the design of Sage, which allows the easy interchange of STT components from different sources. We also describe our approach for fast prototyping with new machine learning toolkits, and a framework for sharing STT components across different applications. Finally, we report Sage’s state-of-the-art performance on different STT tasks.
Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus salivarius GJ-24, a Probiotic Strain Isolated from Healthy Adult Intestine

ABSTRACT The draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus salivarius GJ-24 isolated from the feces of healthy adults was determined. Its properties, including milk fermentation activity and bacteriocin production, suggest its potential uses as a probiotic lactic acid bacterium and start culture for dairy products.
Ti plasmid-specified chemotaxis of Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1 toward vir-inducing phenolic compounds and soluble factors from monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants

Twelve phenolic compounds with related structures were analyzed for their ability to act as chemoattractants for Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1 and as inducers of the Ti plasmid virulence operons. The results divided the phenolic compounds into three groups: compounds that act as strong vir inducers and are chemoattractants for A. tumefaciens C58C1 harboring the nopaline Ti plasmid pDUB1003 delta 31, but not the isogenic cured strain; compounds that are at best weak vir inducers and are weak chemoattractants for Ti plasmid-harboring and cured A. tumefaciens C58C1; and compounds that are vir noninducers and are also nonattractants. A strong correlation between vir-inducing ability and Ti plasmid requirement for chemotaxis is thus established. In addition, chemical structure rules for vir induction and chemotaxis are outlined. Positive chemotaxis toward root and shoot homogenates from monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants was observed. At low extract concentrations, chemotaxis was enhanced by the presence of Ti plasmid. The chemoattractants do not derive from intact cell walls. Lack of attraction is not responsible for the apparent block to monocot transformation by A. tumefaciens.
Is childhood blood pressure higher before or after clinic consultation?

1. Quigley MA, Hockley C, Davidson LL. Agreement between hospital records and maternal recall of mode of delivery: evidence from 12 391 deliveries in the UK Millennium Cohort Study. BJOG 2007; 114: 195–200. 2. Troude P, L’Helias LF, Raison-Boulley AM, Castel C, Pichon C, Bouyer J, de La Rochebrochard E. Perinatal factors reported by mothers: do they agree with medical records? Eur J Epidemiol 2008; 23: 557–64. 3. Wigert H, Berg M, Hellström AL. Health care professionals’ experiences of parental presence and participation in neonatal intensive care unit. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being 2007; 2: 45–54. 4. Nyqvist KH, Engvall G. Parents as their infant’s primary caregivers in a neonatal intensive care unit. J Pediatr Nurs 2009; 24: 153–63.
The international workshop on meibomian gland dysfunction: report of the subcommittee on anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of the meibomian gland.

The tarsal glands of Meibom (glandulae tarsales) are large sebaceous glands located in the eyelids and, unlike those of the skin, are unassociated with hairs. According to Duke-Elder and Wyler,1 they were first mentioned by Galenus in 200 AD and later, in 1666, they were described in more detail by the German physician and anatomist Heinrich Meibom, after whom they are named. Lipids produced by the meibomian glands are the main component of the superficial lipid layer of the tear film that protects it against evaporation of the aqueous phase and is believed also to stabilize the tear film by lowering surface tension.2 Hence, meibomian lipids are essential for the maintenance of ocular surface health and integrity. Although they share certain principal characteristics with ordinary sebaceous glands, they have several distinct differences in anatomy, location, secretory regulation, composition of their secretory product, and function. Functional disorders of the meibomian glands, referred to today as meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD),3 are increasingly recognized as a discrete disease entity.4–8 In patients with dry eye disease, alterations in the lipid phase that point to MGD are reportedly more frequent than isolated alterations in the aqueous phase. In a study by Heiligenhaus et al.,9 a lipid deficiency occurred in 76.7% of dry eye patients compared with only 11.1% of those with isolated alterations of the aqueous phase. This result is in line with the observations by Shimazaki et al.10 of a prevalence of MGD in the absolute majority of eyes with ocular discomfort defined as dry eye symptoms. These observations noted that 64.6% of all such eyes and 74.5% of those excluding a deficiency of aqueous tear secretion were found to have obstructive MGD, or a loss of glandular tissue, or both.10 Horwath-Winter et al.11 reported MGD in 78% of dry eye patients or, if only non-Sjogren patients are considered, in 87% compared with 13% with isolated aqueous tear deficiency. It may thus be accepted that MGD is important, conceivably underestimated, and possibly the most frequent cause of dry eye disease due to increased evaporation of the aqueous tears.5,9–12 After some excellent reviews of MGD4,7,8,13,14 in the past, many new findings have been reported in recent years, and other questions remain to be identified and resolved. A sound understanding of meibomian gland structure and function and its role in the functional anatomy of the ocular surface15 is needed, to understand the contribution of the meibomian glands to dysfunction and disease. Herein, we seek to provide a comprehensive review of physiological and pathophysiological aspects of the meibomian glands.
Carbon Nanotube Arrays for Enhanced Thermal Interfaces to Thermoelectric Modules

Thermoelectric materials exploit the Seebeck effect in which an electric potential is generated from a supplied temperature gradient. High thermal conductance through the interfaces between the thermoelectric module and its heat source and sink is crucial for generating maximum power. Primarily due to increased surface contact area and inherently low diffusive thermal resistance, carbon nanotube arrays can provide low thermal interface resistance. Vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays are synthesized on one or both sides of copper foil by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition. Growth of similar structures on graphitic foil resulted in carbon nanofiber arrays. The products become insertable thermal interface materials. The thermal interface materials are evaluated by measuring the efficiency of a standard bismuth-telluride thermoelectric module with the thermal interface materials applied. Experiments indicate that a copper foil coated on both sides with carbon nanotubes increases thermoelectric p.
Modèles de langue appliqués à la recherche d'information contextuelle

Il est reconnu que le contexte joue un role important en recherche d'information (RI). Or, peu de systemes operationnels en tiennent compte. Dans cet article, nous considerons un des aspects importants du contexte - le domaine d'interet de l'usager. La requete, generalement tres courte, est interpretee dans son domaine particulier. Ceci se traduit par la creation d'un nouveau modele de langue pour la requete. Dans cette etude, le domaine est utilise de trois facons differentes pour completer la requete, pour reordonner les resultats de recherche ou pour etendre la requete en utilisant les relations lexicales extraites du domaine. Nos experiences sur des collections TREC montrent clairement l'utilite du domaine. Nos approches d'integration du domaine nous permettent d'ameliorer les performances de recherche de facon significative.
Limit-Cycle Based Auto-Tuning System for Digitally Controlled Low-Power SMPS

This paper presents a new method and system for the parameter extraction and dynamic auto-tuning of low power digitally controlled dc-dc switch-mode power supplies (SMPS). During a short-lasting test phase, SMPS parameters, such as output capacitance and load, are estimated by examining the amplitude and frequency of intentionally introduced limit cycle oscillations. Then, accordingly, the digital compensator of SMPS is automatically tuned to improve the output regulation and dynamic performance. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated on an experimental 200 kHz, 12V-to-5 V, 10 W, digitally controlled buck converter
Experimental evaluation of four-phase floating interleaved boost converter design and control for fuel cell applications

Power electronic converters are essential part of hybrid fuel cell automotive application systems. The converter needs to provide high-voltage ratio for a wide range of input voltage. In addition, the converter should have high efficiency for a wide range of duty cycle control range. A four-phase floating interleaved boost converter (FIBC) is analysed and a small-signal AC model using an averaged pulse-width modulation (PWM) switch technique is used for supporting the feedback controller and aiding a frequency response design. The small-signal AC model as well as the current controller are validated by simulation and evaluated by experimental results. The proposed converter has competitive device ratings, the total inductance volume and weight is decreased, current ripple is minimised and converter efficiency and reliability are improved. Proof of concept of the proposed topology is demonstrated through an experimental prototype.
Is diazepam an antidepressant?

Covi, L. , LIPMAN,R. S. , PATrISON, J. H. , el a! (1973)Length of treatmentwith anxiolytic sedativesand responseto their sudden withdrawal. Acta PsychiatricaScandinavica, 49,51â€”64. MANHEIMER,D. I. , DAVIDSON,S. T. , BALTER,M. B. , et al (1973) Popular attitudes and beliefs about tranquillisers. American Journalof Psychiatry,130,1246-1253. MARKS,J. (1985) The Benzodiazepines. Use. Overuse. Misuse, Abuse (2ndedn). Lancaster:MTP Press. OLivizal, S. ,CANT0PHER, T. & EDWARDS,J.G. (l986). Two hundred yearsof dependence onantianxietydrugs.HumanPsychophar macology. 1, 117â€”123. SMITh, M. C. (1988) Small comfort: the introduction of minor tran quillisers to the public and the medical profession. Journal of PsychoactiveDrugs.20,409-418. N. GENE-COS Charing Cross Hospital Fulham Palace Road, London K. KH0
Among Developmental Regulators, StuA but Not BrlA Is Essential for Penicillin V Production in Penicillium chrysogenum

ABSTRACT In filamentous fungi, secondary metabolism is often linked with developmental processes such as conidiation. In this study we analyzed the link between secondary metabolism and conidiation in the main industrial producer of the β-lactam antibiotic penicillin, the ascomycete Penicillium chrysogenum. Therefore, we generated mutants defective in two central regulators of conidiation, the transcription factors BrlA and StuA. Inactivation of either brlA or stuA blocked conidiation and altered hyphal morphology during growth on solid media, as shown by light and scanning electron microscopy, but did not affect biomass production during liquid-submerged growth. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling identified a complex StuA- and BrlA-dependent regulatory network, including genes previously shown to be involved in development and secondary metabolism. Remarkably, inactivation of stuA, but not brlA, drastically downregulated expression of the penicillin biosynthetic gene cluster during solid and liquid-submerged growth. In agreement, penicillin V production was wild-type-like in brlA-deficient strains but 99% decreased in stuA-deficient strains during liquid-submerged growth, as shown by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Thus, among identified regulators of penicillin V production StuA has the most severe influence. Overexpression of stuA increased the transcript levels of brlA and abaA (another developmental regulator) and derepressed conidiation during liquid-submerged growth but did not affect penicillin V productivity. Taken together, these data demonstrate an intimate but not exclusive link between regulation of development and secondary metabolism in P. chrysogenum.
Effects of molybdenum intake on primary infection and subsequent challenge by the nematode parasite Trichostrongylus colubriformis in weaned Merino lambs.

In a study designed to test the effect of molybdenum (Mo) on resistance to trichostrongylosis, the Mo content of the diet during primary infection of 8-month-old Merino lambs with Trichostrongylus colubriformis was found to affect the number of worm eggs found in the faeces during challenge and the total number of worms in the jejunum after six weeks of challenge infection. The optimal intake of Mo in this experiment was in the range of 4-8 mg sheep(-1)day(-1), approximately equivalent to feeding a diet containing 6-10 mg Mo kg(-1)dry matter (DM) and to 0.15-0.30 mg Mo kg(-1)liveweight. Lambs fed Mo at this rate showed a 90 per cent reduction in faecal egg count and total worm count six weeks after challenge compared with lambs fed quantities of Mo outside this range. The mechanism by which Mo exerted these effects was not defined, although the interactions of molybdenum, worm establishment and faecal egg count suggested that this trace element may be acting via an effect on the host's acquired immune response. This hypothesis is supported by the observed enhancement of immune responses (intestinal antibody and granulocyte numbers and in vitro worm-specific proliferation of lymphocytes) associated with Mo intake of 0.15-0.3 mg kg(-1)Lwt.
Analysis and Evaluation of Five Short-Term Load Forecasting Techniques

Load forecast has been a central and an integral process in the planning and operation of electric utilities. Many techniques and approaches have been investigated to tackle this problem in the last two decades. These are often different in nature and apply different engineering considerations and economic analyses. In this paper a comparative evaluation of five short-term load forecasting techniques is presented. These techniques are: 1. Multiple Linear Regression; 2. Stochastic Time Series; 3. General Exponential Smoothing; 4. State Space Method; and 5. Knowledge-Based Approach. The authors have applied these algorithms to obtain hourly load forecasts (for up to 24 hours) during the winter and summer peaking seasons. Thus the five forecasting methodologies have been applied to the same database and their performances are directly compared. The forecast error analyses are provided in Tables 1 and 2 for the winter and summer days respectively. As these results are based on forecasts of two single days, these should be used for comparative purposes only. Some interesting observations are made about the results presented in Tables 1 and 2. For example, for the peak summer day the transfer function (TF) approach gave the best result, whereas for the peak winter day the TF approach resulted in the next to the worst accuracy. During the peak summer day the temperature profile was typical whereas during the peak winter day the profile was unseasonal.
Weighted Tree Transducers

In recent investigations, tree transducers were generalized to tree series transducers [21, 8, 12] by allowing tree series as output rather than trees, where a tree series is a mapping from output trees to some semiring. The semantics of tree series transducers was defined in an algebraic framework, more precisely, as an initial algebra semantics. In this paper we suggest an alternative approach by introducing weighted tree transducers, of which the semantics is defined in an operational style. A weighted tree transducer is a tree transducer each (term rewriting) rule of which is associated with a weight taken from a semiring. Along a successful derivation the weights of the involved rules are multiplied and, for every pair of input tree and output tree, the weights of its successful derivations are summed up. We show in a constructive way that the two approaches, i.e., tree series transducers and weighted tree transducers, are semantically equivalent for both, the top-down and the bottom-up case.
Evaluation of low intensity laser effects on the thyroid gland of male mice.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess whether there were alterations in the thyroid hormone plasma levels under infrared laser irradiation, in the thyroid gland region. BACKGROUND DATA Studies have demonstrated that infrared laser can cause alterations in thyroid glands. METHODS Sixty-five albino male mice were used and assigned to five groups (n = 13), with differences in the times that they were sacrificed. Irradiation procedures consisted of an infrared diode laser emitting at 780 nm, at 4 J/cm(2) energy density, in contact mode, point manner. Blood was collected before irradiation (group 1), and then at 24 h (group 2), 48 h (group 3) and 72 h (group 4), and 1 week (group 5) after the third irradiation. The collected material was used for clinical analysis to evaluate the T(3) (triiodothyronine) and T(4) (thyroxin) hormones. Five animals were used for light microscopy analysis. RESULTS A statistically significant hormonal level alteration between the first day and 7 days after the last irradiation was found. CONCLUSIONS It was concluded that low-level laser therapy (LLLT) of the thyroid gland may affect the level of thyroidal hormones.
Digital Library Image Retrieval using Scale Invariant Feature and Relevance Vector Machine

With the advance of digital library, the digital content develops with rich information connotation. Traditional information retrieval methods based on external characteristic and text description are unable to sufficientlyreveal and express the substance and semantic relation of multimedia information, and unable to fully reveal and describe the representative characteristics of information. Because of the abundant connotation of image content and the people’s abstract subjectivity in studying image content, the visual feature of the image is difficult to be described by key words. Therefore, this method not always can meet people’s needs, and the study of digital library image retrieval technique based on content is important to both academic research and application. At present, image retrieval methods are mainly based on the text and content, etc. But these existing algorithms have shortages, such as large errors and slow speeds. Motivated by the above fact, we in this paper propose a new approach based on relevance vector machine (RVM). The proposed approach first extracts the patch-level scale invariant image feature (SIFT), and then constructs the global features for images. The image feature is then delivered into RVM for retrieval. We evaluate the proposed approach on Corel dataset. The experimental result shows that the proposed method in this text has high accuracy when retrieves images.
An exploratory analysis of counterfeiting strategies: Towards counterfeit-resilient supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify strategies employed by product counterfeiters in their exploitation of legitimate supply chains; to develop a theoretical understanding of counterfeiting and its impact on competitive resources; and, to propose counter-measures for increasing the resilience of supply chains to the counterfeiting threat. Design/methodology/approach – An inductive, qualitative analysis of secondary case data obtained from three sources. Findings – Initial searching and coding identified four sets of strategies: extraction strategies, for obtaining products or materials from the legitimate economy; production strategies, for manufacturing counterfeit goods; distribution strategies; and, infiltration strategies, for introducing counterfeits into the legitimate economy. Secondary, focused coding revealed that much of what the counterfeiting strategies set out to achieve involves the generation, suppression or exploitation of signals. A theoretical account of counterfeiting and.
Fate of extrahepatic human stem and precursor cells after transplantation into mouse livers

In recent years, a large number of groups studied the fate of human stem cells in livers of immunodeficient animals. However, the interpretation of the results is quite controversial. We transplanted 4 different types of human extrahepatic precursor cells (derived from cord blood, monocytes, bone marrow, and pancreas) into livers of nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency mice. Human hepatocytes were used as positive controls. Tracking of the transplanted human cells could be achieved by in situ hybridization with alu probes. Cells with alu‐positive nuclei stained positive for human albumin and glycogen. Both markers were negative before transplantation. However, cells with alu‐positive nuclei did not show a hepatocyte‐like morphology and did not express cytochrome P450 3A4, and this suggests that these cells represent a mixed cell type possibly resulting from partial transdifferentiation. Using antibodies specific for human albumin, we also observed a second human albumin–positive cell type that could be clearly distinguished from the previously described cells by its hepatocyte‐like morphology. Surprisingly, these cells had a mouse and not a human nucleus which is explained by transdifferentiation of human cells. Although it has not yet been formally proven, we suggest horizontal gene transfer as a likely mechanism, especially because we observed small fragments of human nuclei in mouse cells that originated from deteriorating transplanted cells. Qualitatively similar results were obtained with all 4 human precursor cell types through different routes of administration with and without the induction of liver damage. Conclusion: We observed evidence not for transdifferentiation but instead for a complex situation including partial differentiation and possibly horizontal gene transfer. (HEPATOLOGY 2007.)