Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelagem Vetorial Estendida por Regras de Associação

The goal of this work is to present an extension to the vector model that accounts for the correlation among query terms, by using association rules, a popular data mining technique. In Information Retrieval, the vector model allows retrieving a set of documents from a termbased query, where both query terms and documents are vectors in a vector space. Although the vector model has been used succesfully for decades, there are no practical and efficient mechanisms that account for correlations among query terms in each document from the collection until now. The novelty of this work is the proposal of a method for computing the correlations among query terms. The changes to the original vector model are minimal, and experimental results show that our extended vector model enhances the precision of the results for all the collections evaluated.
Smartphone-aided reconfigurable multi-device controller system for the visually challenged

Visually challenged people find it difficult to operate ICT devices with remote controllers which is an essential aspect of modern living. On the other hand, Smartphones have become common among the visually challenged community as they provide voice assistance through the accessibility features. This paper presents a novel user-friendly Smartphone-aided remote controller system for ICT devices. It can control multiple devices and can be reconfigured easily to add more devices. It can also be customized to suit the user's needs. The system uses a Smartphone app to control the devices in a room equipped with a Smart Module. Positive results from the tests conducted with a prototype implementation establish the effectiveness of the system to serve the needs of the visually challenged community.
Working towards healthy air in dwellings in Europe

Poor indoor air quality has been implicated in the increase in allergic and respiratory diseases seen in industrialized countries in recent decades. Although air pollution in the workplace is well studied, much less is known about the consequences of poor air quality in homes. In an attempt to halt or slow down the increase in allergic and respiratory diseases, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA) carried out the EU‐funded project entitled ‘Towards Healthy Air in Dwellings in Europe’ (THADE). The aims were to: compile an overview of evidence‐based data about exposure to indoor air pollution and its health effects, particularly in relation to allergies, asthma and other respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; review cost‐effective measures and technology to improve indoor air quality; review legislation and guidelines on indoor air pollution; produce maps of pollutants in dwellings; and recommend an integrated strategy that defines appropriate indoor air quality policies for implementation in Europe. This paper summarizes the information about air quality in dwellings and indoor environment‐related diseases collected by expert consultants within the framework of THADE and terminates with recommendations for actions aimed at improving air quality in homes. The results of this project confirmed that air pollution in dwellings is a relevant health problem. It is a complex problem that must be addressed at European and international levels, and it involves the medical profession, scientific societies, patients’ organizations, lawmakers, architects and the building industry. The complete THADE report is available at http://www.efanet. org/activities/documents/THADEReport.pdf.
Exploring the Public Sector Adoption of HRIS

– Human resources information systems (HRIS) are becoming increasingly important in helping modern organizations manage their human assets effectively. Yet, HRIS adoption remains an under‐researched phenomenon. The purpose of this paper to isolate the factors that influence the organizational adoption of HRIS in public sector organizations. , – Adopting the technology‐organization‐environment model as an analytical framework, the paper draws on qualitative evidence from 16 interviews across 11 Australian public sector organizations. , – The authors find that champions in public sector organizations should demonstrate HRIS benefits before their adoption can succeed. With standardization trends adopted by HRIS vendors, complete organizational fit between adopted HRIS and business processes may be elusive for adopters suggesting that post‐adoption vendor support must be negotiated if costly customizations are to be minimized. In addition to various organizational factors, including management commitment and human capability, the authors also find that broader environmental factors including regulatory compliance can have a deep impact on the success of HRIS adoption by creating urgency in adoption intentions. , – There is paucity of research concerning HRIS adoption in the public sector which presents unique challenges due to its idiosyncrasies. This paper contributes to the existing body knowledge by investigating the role of technological, organizational, and environmental factors and their interactions. It provides an improved understanding of the challenges related to HRIS adoption in public sector organizations.
Toxicities and complications of implanted pump hepatic arterial and intravenous floxuridine infusion

Toxicities and complications were prospectively analyzed in patients with liver metastases receiving hepatic intra‐arterial (IA) and systemic intravenous (IV) floxuridine (FUDR) with the Infusaid (Intermedics‐Infusaid Corp., Norwood, MA) implantable pump. Among 55 patients treated with IA FUDR (0.3–0.1 mg/kg/day × 14, every 28 days), elevations in liver enzyme values, not attributable to disease progression, developed in 96% of patients. Serious biliary toxicity occurred in 31 patients (56%). In 16, biliary sclerosis was documented radiographically and was diagnosed clinically in 15 additional patients. Ten patients were hospitalized for biliary toxicity, including five who required cholecystectomy for acalculous cholecystitis. Because of the high reported incidence of serious gastroduodenal toxicity after IA FUDR infusion, our procedure for hepatic arterial cannulation was designed to eliminate misperfusion of the stomach and duodenum with drug; none of our patients experienced FUDR‐associated gastroduodenal ulceration or bleeding. Cyclic IV FUDR (0.05–0.15 mg/kg/day × 14, every 28 days) was administered to 31 participants of the Northern California Oncology Group trial (3L‐82‐1) of IV versus IA FUDR. Dose‐limiting toxicity was diarrhea. Serious toxicities were: protracted diarrhea (three), dermatitis (two), tear duct stenosis (two), and stomatitis (two). Three patients were hospitalized for toxicity. No hematologic or biliary toxicity occurred. The optimal route for treatment of hepatic metastases with continuous FUDR infusion has not yet been established. Systemic IV infusion has low morbidity, but preliminary response data need to be substantiated in controlled clinical trials before there can be widespread clinical application. High response rates for IA infusion have been previously documented. Morbidity due to acalculous cholecystitis and gastroduodenal ulceration can now be avoided. Despite significant progress in characterization of hepatobiliary toxicity, it remains dose‐limiting. Continuous IA FUDR infusion should remain under the aegis of dedicated treatment centers until standardized protocols with diminished toxicity are established.
Determination of glutaraldehyde residues on flexible endoscopes after chemothermal treatment in an endoscope washer-disinfector.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS Although there are several cases of glutaraldehyde-induced colitis following colonoscopy there is only one study on residues after disinfecting. Our report describes the determination of water-soluble glutaraldehyde residues after processing endoscopes with a glutaraldehyde-containing disinfectant. MATERIALS AND METHODS A gastroscope and a colonoscope were processed in a washer-disinfector and then immersed in 201 of NaCl solution. Glutaraldehyde was determined by high performance liquid chromatography in 84 samples. Samples were taken after immersing the endoscopes for 5 h and 24 h with and without rinsing the channels. RESULTS After 5 h and with the channels having been rinsed, the median for colonoscopes was only 0.409 mg/l. The highest level of glutaraldehyde was 0.846 mg/l. CONCLUSIONS After endoscopes have been processed in the washer-disinfector there is no risk of a glutaraldehyde-induced colitis, proctitis or diarrhoea.
Disposition of nerve fibers in the regenerating limb of the adult newt, Triturus

Bundles of nerve fibers invade the early regenerating limb of the adult newt Triturus. These fibers are unmyelinated and are only partly enveloped by accompanying Schwann cells. Isolated fibers make intimate contact with mesenchymatous cells. The fine structure of such contact regions suggests possible functional nerve terminations.
Study of the two-frequency moment generating function of the PMD vector

We study the properties of the polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) vector as a stochastic process in frequency. An equation for the joint-moment-generating function of PMD at two offset optical frequencies is derived and used to obtain analytical expressions for the conditional first and second moments of PMD. We find Mat the rate at which the PMD vector decorrelates in frequency does not depend on whether its modulus is significantly different from its average value.
Handwritten character recognition of Odia script

This paper presents a character recognition system of handwritten Odia script. Although, a lot of research has been carried out in handwritten character recognition, not considerable research has been carried out to recognize handwritten Odia characters. In this work we have attempted to classify 36 basic Odia consonants. Total 48 geometric features were extracted which includes shadow features, centroid features and distance based features. Weighted Euclidean Distance method has been used to classify the characters. The overall accuracy of our method is 87.6%. Further, Unicode mapping of the Odia characters has been proposed for uniform encoding of the Odia characters and thus paves the way for recognition and transmission of the characters easily.
Flipping the Classroom and the Pedagogy: Using Active Learning Principles to Bring Leadership Training in Affirmative Sexuality to Public Health Education

With increasing frequency, public health and healthcare services scholars are putting forward proposals and strategic plans of action to improve the nation’s ability to promote sexual health,1–3 including reports from the U.S. Surgeon General4 and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.5 What these proposals and plans have in common is not just their call for improved leadership and training on sexual health in general, but also the positive and affirming aspects of sexuality and sexual relationships, often referred to as an “affirmative sexuality approach. ”6–8 Despite the increasing interest in developing national leadership in sexual health, focused training in schools of public health that would support these goals is absent. In a simple comparison, an informal review of inclusion of nutrition and sexual health in the curricula at 51 accredited schools of public health in the United States was conducted in 2014. Not surprisingly, courses in nutrition were standard fare in the curricula, with 20% of the schools housing an academic department of nutrition. By contrast, courses covering sexual health from an affirmative sexuality perspective were rare, and none of the schools had departments of sexual health (Unpublished data. S. Bryn Austin, 2014). In another comparison, an informal PubMed search for literature on sexual health in the curricula of medical schools identified dozens of articles on the topic, including several review articles. By contrast, a similar search of the literature focused on sexual health in the curricula of schools of public health turned up no articles (Unpublished data. S. Bryn Austin, 2015). The purpose of this article is to describe a course, Women, Gender and Health (WGH) 220: Sexuality and Public Health, offered as part of the WGH Interdepartmental Concentration at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (hereinafter, Harvard Chan School) in Boston, Massachusetts, which was developed in 2007 to address the gap in affirmative sexuality curricula in schools of public health. What follows is an explanation of the pedagogical rationale and design of the course. It is hoped that this course may serve as a way for faculty and curricular planners at other institutions to introduce affirmative sexuality into their curricula while emphasizing professional competencies necessary for public health leadership in sexual health.
Exercise training in polycystic ovarian syndrome enhances flow-mediated dilation in the absence of changes in fatness.

INTRODUCTION Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is associated with an adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) profile. A surrogate marker for CVD risk is endothelial dysfunction. Limited studies exist examining the cardiovascular and metabolic effects of exercise in PCOS and specifically its impact on endothelial function. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of exercise on endothelial function, in parallel with body composition, insulin resistance, and cardiopulmonary fitness in PCOS. METHODS Ten women with PCOS (27 yr, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 23-32; 31 kg·m⁻², 95% CI = 28-34) completed a 16-wk exercise (EX) program, and seven women with PCOS (29 yr, 95% CI = 24-35; 35 kg·m⁻², 95% CI = 31-40) undertook conventional care (CC) following lifestyle advice. Brachial artery endothelial function was assessed pre- and postintervention using flow-mediated dilation adjusted for variability in baseline diameter. Visceral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was assessed using whole-body magnetic resonance imaging and ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy quantified liver fat. Cardiorespiratory fitness, glycemic control, hormone, and lipid profiles were also assessed. Data were analyzed using covariate-controlled generalized estimating equations. RESULTS At follow-up, EX improved flow-mediated dilation by 3.6% (95% CI = 0.5-6.7, P = 0.03) more than CC. There was a parallel improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness of 4.7 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ (95% CI = 1.4-7.9, P < 0.001) with EX versus CC. These changes were not explained by changes in visceral adipose tissue, subcutaneous adipose tissue, liver fat or insulin resistance. CONCLUSIONS Supervised exercise in women with PCOS improves endothelial function, an adaptation associated with reduced CVD risk. This change occurs independent of changes in body weight or composition. The success of public health interventions in this patient group should not be solely judged by weight loss.
Routine male neonatal circumcision and risk of infection with HIV-1 and other sexually transmitted diseases

Routine neonatal male circumcision as policy excites strong medical opinions both for and against. In the USA over 70% of all males have been circumcised1 while the UK’s national survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles found in 1990/1 that 21% of adult males (aged 16–59 years) reported having been circumcised.2 The percentage was 13% among those aged 16–24 years but 32% for those 45–59 years indicating that British rates have declined recently,2 as they may also have done in the USA.3 Circumcision rates are intermediate in Canada1 but very low in the Nordic countries.4 These large intercountry differences are not explicable on religious grounds.1 2 They are best explained on grounds of medico/social culture and fashion, as is the case for some other elective surgical procedures of uncertain effectiveness.1 5 The case for routine male circumcision has rested most firmly on the observation that rates of infant urinary tract infection and adult penile cancer are lower in circumcised males.6 However when weighed against the irreducible complication rates and costs of the procedure, these are thought insufficient grounds to recommend routine circumcision.1 3 7 Recently added is the observation that circumcised males seem less likely to acquire infection with HIV-1, or other …
Induction of Apoptosis in Vascular Cells by Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 and High Molecular Weight Kininogen Correlates with Their Anti-Adhesive Properties

Abstract Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and twochain high molecular weight kininogen (HKa) exert antiadhesive properties in vitronectindependent cell adhesion. Here, the hypothesis was tested that these anti-adhesive components promote apoptosis in vascular cells. PAI-1 or HKa induced a 2- to 3-fold increase in apoptosis of human umbilicalvein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) adherent to vitronectin, as determined by annexin VFACS assay, similar to αvintegrin inhibitor cyclo-(Arg-Gly-Asp-D-Phe-Val)-peptide (cRGDfV). Apoptosis occurred after 12 h incubation and was attributable to caspase 3 activation that in turn induced DNA fragmentation. Induction of apoptosis strongly correlated with the antiadhesive effect of PAI-1 and HKa on these cells. In contrast, PAI-1 and HKa did not affect fibronectin-dependent adhesion or cell survival. uPA did not influence apoptosis in vitronectin- or fibronectin-adherent cells. In atherosclerotic vessel sections, congruent distribution of vitronectin, PAI-1, HK, and of components of the urokinase plasminogen activator/receptor system with apoptotic cells lining foam cell lesions was demonstrated by immunostaining. These results indicate that inhibition of vitronectindependent cell adhesion through PAI-1 and HKa correlates with apoptosis induction in vascular cells mediated through the caspase 3 pathway. Co-distribution of apoptosis with plasminogen activation system components in atherosclerosis exemplifies the significance of antiadhesive mechanisms and apoptosis for tissue remodeling, such as in neointima development.
Polish evaluation dataset for compositional distributional semantics models

The paper presents a procedure of building an evaluation dataset. for the validation of compositional distributional semantics models estimated for languages other than English. The procedure generally builds on steps designed to assemble the SICK corpus, which contains pairs of English sentences annotated for semantic relatedness and entailment, because we aim at building a comparable dataset. However, the implementation of particular building steps significantly differs from the original SICK design assumptions, which is caused by both lack of necessary extraneous resources for an investigated language and the need for language-specific transformation rules. The designed procedure is verified on Polish, a fusional language with a relatively free word order, and contributes to building a Polish evaluation dataset. The resource consists of 10K sentence pairs which are human-annotated for semantic relatedness and entailment. The dataset may be used for the evaluation of compositional distributional semantics models of Polish.
Sensor Activation and Communication Problems in Discrete-Event Systems

This paper is an overview of the current research on problems involving dynamic sensor activation and communication in discrete-event systems. In problems of sensor activation agents observing a discrete-event system can turn their sensors responsible for detecting observable event occurrences on / off dynamically. In problems of communication agents communicate information such as observed event occurrences, state or string estimates of a discrete-event system to each other when necessary. Sensor activation and communication have been investigated in problems of control, diagnosis and opacity of discrete-event systems. This paper attempts to provide a coherent categorization and presentation for works on these problems. Their strengths, weaknesses and avenues for future research are highlighted.
Recurrent Ocular Surface Inflammation Associated With Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection

Objectives: To report a case of atypical herpes keratitis and bilateral conjunctivitis associated with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). Methods: An immunocompetent 34-year-old man was referred for herpetic epithelial keratitis in his left eye, which was non-responsive to topical acyclovir. Biomicroscopy revealed a central dendritic ulcer with a white stromal infiltrate beneath the ulcer. Results: The corneal scraping multiplex polymerase chain reaction (CLART ENTHERPEX, Genomica, Spain) was positive for HHV-6 and negative for herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus. An improvement of the keratitis and visual acuity was achieved with topical fluorometholone and systemic valacyclovir. One year later, the patient complained of redness of the eyes. A slit-lamp examination disclosed bilateral follicular conjunctivitis, and HHV-6 DNA was once again detected in a conjunctival scraping of both eyes. Conclusions: Human herpesvirus 6 may be another causative agent for corneal ulcers and conjunctivitis in isolation. Stromal necrosis is a rare manifestation of herpetic dendritic keratitis. In these cases, we should consider the presence of HHV-6 in the differential diagnosis, even in immunocompetent patients.
Improved deterministic real-time estimation of Maximum Power Point in photovoltaic power systems

Heuristic tracking algorithms are commonly adopted for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), which generates oscillations around the Maximum Power Point (MPP) of the PV array. Alternative solution using deterministic curve-fitting approach is proposed in this paper to locate the MPP accurately. The non-linear PV curve is approximated by a polynomial equation, of which the coefficients can be identified in real time by using a recursive methodology with variable forgetting factors. This method is named as Recursive Estimation with Variable Forgetting Factor (REVFF). Thus, the tracking accuracy is improved without the perturbation of PV voltage. The proposed system and control scheme are implemented and verified by simulation.