Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is a retention time after the instillation of anesthetic lubricant necessary when performing male flexible cystoscopy?

OBJECTIVE Flexible cystoscopy is a common practice in urology. We wanted to determine whether a retention time of 5 minutes between the administration of a local anesthetic lubricant and flexible cystoscope insertion decreased the degree of discomfort or pain in the patient. MATERIALS AND METHODS Males who underwent flexible cystoscopy during 5 months were randomized in a prospective study. They were divided into two groups. In the first one, the Cathejell lubricant with lidocaine 12.5 g was administered and cystoscopy was performed immediately. In the second one, the same lubricant was maintained in the urethra for 5 minutes before the performance of cystoscopy. After scanning, all the patients were requested to indicate the degree of perceived pain on a visual pain scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being no discomfort and 10 being the maximum degree of pain bearable. As a secondary objective, the relationship of pain to age and to the type of cystoscopist (urologist/resident doctor) was studied. For statistical analysis, a Student's t-test for independent samples and correlation analysis were used. RESULTS A total of 242 patients were studied, 110 in the immediate group and 132 in the 5-minute delay group, with samples being homogeneous for the age and type of cystoscopist. The mean in the pain scale in the immediate group was 2.41, and in the 5-minute delay group was 2.04, with no significant differences between them (p=0.175). There was no relationship with age (r=-0.061, p=0.348) or with the type of cystoscopist (2.06 of average pain in the associate group, 2.35 in the resident, p=0.28). CONCLUSIONS There is no benefit in waiting a short time after the administration of intraurethral lubrication with a local anesthetic in flexible cystoscopy in men. There is also no relationship between the patient age or the type of cystoscopist (urologist/resident doctor) and perceived pain.
Recent progress in the transgenic modification of swine and sheep

INTRODUCTION For centuries the genetic composition of domestic animals has been manipulated to enhance their usefulness to man. In the past decade, development of recombinant DNA technology has enabled scientists to isolate single genes, analyze and modify their nucleotide structures, make copies of these isolated genes, and transfer copies into the genome. Animals that integrate this recombinant DNA in their genome are called “transgenic. ” Recently, medically important human proteins have been produced in large quantities in milk of transgenic sheep. Unless unforeseen complications arise during extraction and purification of these proteins, we can expect to see such products to begin clinical evaluation very soon. Use of transgenic animals for food and fiber remains more distant in the future. Few agriculturally useful genes have thus far been isolated, sequenced, and cloned. In addition, insufficient information on gene regulation is available so that these integrated transgenes can be regulated sufficiently to prevent overexpression that has been shown in some instances to adversely impact the health status. The purpose of this paper will be to briefly review the progress that has been achieved since transgenic modification of swine and sheep was first reported in 1985 (Hammer et al., 1985), with emphasis on developments during the past year.
Independence and trade: the specic effects of French colonialism

The consequences on international trade of colonial rule have received anincreasing attention. This paper investigates the effect of independence on trade with a focus on former French colonies. Thanks to an original dataset including data on pre-independence bilateral trade for former French colonies, we obtain more accurate results on the effect of independence on bilateral trade patterns. We show that that independence reduces trade (imports andexports) with the former metropole and that this effect is mainly driven byformer French colonies. We also show that, after independence, trade (importsand exports) of all former colonies increase with the rest of the world (othercountries not belonging to the same empire).
A user-centred mobile diary study approach to understanding serendipity in information research

Introduction. While serendipity is gaining increasing attention in the context of information research these years, there is a lack of empirical evidence to demonstrate the nature of serendipity in literature. Method. We conducted a diary study with eleven participations to understand serendipity in information research. A mobile diary application was developed which allows participants to rapidly capture how serendipity happens in their daily life and the context in which they experience serendipity for one week. Their diary entries were discussed during post-study interviews. Analysis. An Emergent Themes Analysis was conducted to understand our data. Results. We identified: 1) some key elements to support understanding of serendipity, 2) the influential role of context in serendipitous experiences, 3) a framework of understanding how serendipity happens and 4) the positive impacts of serendipity in people's information research. Conclusions. Our research suggests that a framework for classifying serendipity should consider aspects associated with the activity, the value of the information, the source of the information and the interaction between the individual and the context.
Focal Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by relative sparing of primary sensory and motor cortex and a lack of sensory or motor symptomatology. We report a case of presenile onset dementia accompanied by a slowly progressive hemi-paresis. Autopsy examination showed severe pathologic involvement of somatosensory cortex with neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, in addition to degeneration of the nucleus basalis and locus ceruleus. Neurochemical and immunocytochemical studies showed a moderate cortical cholinergic deficiency with normal somatostatin-like immunoreactivity and a profuse immunostaining of somatosensory cortex with the Alz-50 antibody. These unusual features emphasize that Alzheimer's disease is extremely variable in its clinical symptomatology, pathologic distribution, and neurochemical dimensions.
Body fluid changes which influence drinking in the water deprived rat.

1. After overnight deprivation of water both the cellular and extracellular fluid volumes are significantly reduced in the rat. 2. In the rat with functional kidneys oral, intragastric or intravenous preloads of 10 ml. water reduce the total water intake after 1 hr by 64‐69%. These preloads restore plasma osmolality to pre‐deprivation levels but have little effect on plasma volume. 3. In the same rats if the plasma volume is restored with an oral, intragastric or intravenous preload of 10 ml. of an isotonic balanced salt solution which has little effect on osmolality, drinking is significantly reduced by 20‐26%. The reduction of drinking correlated with the volume of the preload of balanced salt. 4. Plasma analysis shown that 1 hr after an oral preload of 10 ml. isotonic balanced salt solution, the extracellular fluid volume of the deprived rats is restored to pre‐deprivation levels but osmolality is unchanged. Three hr after the balanced salt preload, extracellular fluid volume is still at pre‐deprivation levels and there has been a slight decrease in osmolality due to excretion of salt. 5. In rats which had been nephrectomized or had the ureters ligated so there could be no renal modification of the preloads, the effects of the preloads of water and balanced salt are the same as in rats with intact kidneys. 6. The results indicate that after water deprivation in the rat, changes in both the cellular and extracellular fluid compartment are stimuli to drinking.
A modeling methodology and pre-run-time scheduling for embedded real-time software

One of the most intricate problems in the synthesis of real-time systems is the scheduling. We present a formal modeling methodology based on time Petri nets (TPN) and a framework for application-specific scheduler synthesis. Finding a feasible scheduling is not an easy task because this problem, in its general form, is NP-hard. The method proposed finds a scheduling, whether one exists, using state space exploration. The problem with this approach is the space size, which can be very large for medium to large systems. We show how to minimize this problem using behavior restrictions at system modeling, and a partial-order reduction method. Additionally, the algorithm proposed for finding a feasible schedule uses a depth-first search based method. Therefore, states are only generated if strictly necessary. It is verified through real-world experimental results that a schedule is found examining a reduced number of states.
Extensible Multi Agent System for Heterogeneous Database

Very often data relevant to one search is not located at a single site, it may be widely distributed and in many different forms. Similarly there may be a number of algorithms that may be applied to a single Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) task with no obvious “best” algorithm. There is a clear advantage to be gained from a software organization that can locate, evaluate, consolidate and mine data from diverse sources and/or apply a diverse number of algorithms. Multi Agent Systems (MAS) often deal with complex applications that require distributed problem solving. Since Multi Agent Systems are often distributed and agents have proactive and reactive features, combining Data Mining (DM) with Multi Agent Systems for Data Mining (DM) intensive applications is therefore appealing. This framework promotes the ideas of high availability and high performance without compromising data or Data Mining algorithm integrity.
Structural determinants of concanavalin A specificity for oligosaccharides.

Iodinated glycopeptides (50 to 200 x lo3 cpm/pmol) have been utilized to examine the structural determinants affecting interaction with the saccharide binding site of concanavalin A by Scatchard plot analyses of saturation curves. Glycopeptides with association constants in the range of 4.5 X 10’ M-’ and 25 X 10’ Mm1 are retained by concanavalin A-Sepharose while glycopeptides with association constants in the range of 0.3 x lo6 M-’ and 4.0 X 10’ M-’ are not retained by concanavalin A-Sepharose. All of the glycopeptides examined have a core with the structure: Mancul + 3[Manal --+ G]Manpl + 4GlcNAcj? l+ 4GlcNAc + Asn. The presence of the 2 a-linked mannose residues is essential for interactions with the saccharide binding site that yield association constants of 4.5 X IO6 M-’ or greater. The presence of substituents at position C-2 of the a-linked mannose residues does not reduce the association constants below 4.5 x lo6 M-‘; however, sequential removal of peripheral sugars on branches arising from position C-2 results in a progressive increase in the association constants to a maximum of 20 to 23 X lo6 Mm1 for the core structure. Additional a-linked mannose residues do not result in a significant increase in the association constant as compared to the core sugars alone. The presence of a single fl1,4-linked N-acetylglucosamine residue on the cwl,6-linked mannose is sufficient to reduce the association constant to 3.3 x lo6 M-‘. Glycopeptides with an N-acetylglucosamine residue linked /31,4 to the b-linked mannose display an association constant of 2.0 X lo6 Mm1 or less if the cul,3-linked mannose bears a branch consisting of Gal@ --+ 4GlcNAcfil+ arising from position C-2. Removal of the galactose results in an increase of the association conStaXIt to 5.0 X lo6 M-‘.
Repertory Grid, Laddering e Análise de Conteúdo: Uma Abordagem Psicométrica Integrada para Entender Profissionais de Tecnologia da Informação

Accuracy is a challenge when collecting information from people. The challenge is to access what lies intimately in people’s mind. Except for using methods such as biometrics or brain imaging, access is limited by the informant’s cognitive screening and rhetoric. The joint application of laddering, content analysis and repertory grid has been proven effective to elicit the phenomenology of information technology (IT) professionals’ work routines. In this paper, laddering, content analysis and repertory grid are used to contrast theoretical constructs about the management of IT customer teams with constructs that reside in the cognition of IT professionals who implement enterprise systems. Findings show the desirability of this methodological combination in terms of eliciting one’s particular views.
Question answering system with Hidden Markov Model speech recognition

Question answering system is a system that can give an answer from the user. In general, question answering can generate answer to text questions. This paper reports the result of question answering system that can receive input questions from speech and text. Hidden Markov Model (HMM) used to recognize the voice provided by the user. The HMM speech recognition used the feature value obtained from Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients method (MFCC). The question answering system used Vector Space Model from Lucene search engine to retrieve relevant documents. The result shows that HMM speech recognition system's success rate in recognizing words is 83.31% which obtained from 13 tested questions. The result also shows that question answering system can answer 4 out of 6 questions that correctly identified by speech recognition system.
The ratio of FEV1 to FVC as a basis for establishing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

RATIONALE The lambda-mu-sigma (LMS) method is a novel approach that defines the lower limit of normal (LLN) for the ratio of FEV1/FVC as the fifth percentile of the distribution of Z scores. The clinical validity of this threshold as a basis for establishing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is unknown. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between the LMS method of determining the LLN for the FEV1/FVC, set at successively higher thresholds, and clinically meaningful outcomes. METHODS Using data from a nationally representative sample of 3,502 white Americans aged 40-80 years, we stratified the FEV1/FVC according to the LMS-LLN, with thresholds set at the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th percentiles (i.e., LMS-LLN5, LMS-LLN10, etc.). We then evaluated whether these thresholds were associated with an increased risk of death or prevalence of respiratory symptoms. Spirometry was not specifically completed after a bronchodilator. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Relative to an FEV1/FVC greater than or equal to LMS-LLN25 (reference group), the risk of death and the odds of having respiratory symptoms were elevated only in participants who had an FEV1/FVC less than LMS-LLN(5), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.68 (95% confidence interval, 1.34-2.12) and an adjusted odds ratio of 2.46 (95% confidence interval, 2.01-3.02), respectively, representing 13.8% of the cohort. Results were similar for persons aged 40-64 years and those aged 65-80 years. CONCLUSIONS In white persons aged 40-80 years, an FEV1/FVC less than LMS-LLN5 identifies persons with an increased risk of death and prevalence of respiratory symptoms. These results support the use of the LMS-LLN5 threshold for establishing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A national survey of health-related work limitations among employed persons in the United States

Purpose: To estimate the total prevalence of health-related work limitations among working people in the United States (US) as well as their condition-specific prevalence. Methods: A new questionnaire measuring limitations in ability to perform specific work demands was administered to 940 employed people in a national household survey. The prevalence of specific work limitations is reported as are conditionspecific risk estimates (odds ratios) based on logistic regression. Results: In the US, 19.3% of working people (CI=14.0, 24.6) were limited in their abilities to perform physical work demands; 24.1% (CI=18.9, 29.2) were limited in performing psychosocial work demands; and 13.8% (CI=8.3,19.3) were limited in their abilities to function without difficulty within the ambient work environment. With successive increments in the number of conditions, the odds of having a limitation increased significantly. Conclusions: This study contributes new information concerning the implications of chronic health problems for working people and the significant risks for workers with multiple chronic conditions.
Linear antenna array synthesis for wireless communications using particle swarm optimization

In this paper, the synthesis of linear antenna array for wireless communications is described using particle swarm optimization (PSO). PSO is applied to optimize amplitude excitations for performance improvement such as minimum side lobe level and null control with periodic spacing between the elements. Two design examples are considered and results are illustrated. In comparison with the conventional linear array antenna radiation pattern, this approach yields lower side lobe levels and advanced null control.
Large-deviation analysis for counting statistics in mesoscopic transport

We present an efficient approach, based on a number-conditioned master equation, for large-deviation analysis in mesoscopic transports. Beyond the conventional full-counting-statistics study, the large-deviation approach encodes complete information of both the typical trajectories and the rare ones, in terms of revealing a continuous change of the dynamical phase in trajectory space. The approach is illustrated with two examples: (i) transport through a single quantum dot, where we reveal the inhomogeneous distribution of trajectories in a general case and find a particular scale invariance point in trajectory statistics; and (ii) transport through double dots, where we find a dynamical phase transition between two distinct phases induced by the Coulomb correlation and quantum interference.
Sexing of spermatozoa in farm animals: a mini review.

Received: Revised: Accepted: 2014 – 03 – 26 2014 – 04 – 11 2014 – 04 – 12 Livestock farmers always have a wish for producing young ones of desired sex. Among the several techniques available, use of sexed semen for artificial insemination is recognized as more pragmatic and easy way to pre – select the sex of the offspring. Selective use of sexed semen in breeding will not only increase the genetic progress from the daughter – dam path but would also help in producing good male germplasm from elite bulls for future breeding. Several attempts have been made, elsewhere in the globe, to develop methods that efficiently separate bovine semen into fractions containing higher concentrations of X – or Y – bearing sperm. These technologies include sex specific antibodies, centrifugation and flow cytometry. Of these attempts, the only method proven to be commercially viable is flow cytometry. However, sorting pressure, speed, electrical deviation, laser radiation all leads to membrane alteration and pre – capacitation like changes in the sorted sperm leading to reduced fertility. Despite these limitations, production of sexed semen usually followed by cryopreservation is being used commercially for cattle production. Development of the instrument for increasing the sorting rate and also purity of sorting without affecting the viability and fertility is still an active area of research. The aim of this review is to update the readers with the recent developments in sexing of spermatozoa with special reference to farm animals. All copyrights reserved to Nexus® academic publishers
Evaluation of Attribute II Bt Sweet Corn Resistance and Reduced-Risk Insecticide Applications for Control of Corn Earworm

The corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea Boddie, is a serious pest of corn. Larval feeding in ear tips destroys kernels and allows growth of fungi and production of mycotoxins. Infested sweet corn is not marketable. Development of improved transgenic hybrids expressing insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) may limit or prevent crop losses. The effectiveness of Attribute II Bt resistance and applications of Voliam Xpress insecticide were evaluated for effectiveness in controlling corn earworm in plots near Urbana, IL, USA, in 2013. Where no insecticides were applied, ear infestations and kernel damage in Attribute II ‘Protector’ plots were consistently lower (near zero) than in plots of the non-Bt isoline ‘Garrison. ’ Multiple applications of Voliam Xpress significantly reduced the number of corn earworm larvae and kernel damage in the Garrison plots, but infestations and damage in these plots were greater than in Protectorplots that did not receive insecticide applications. Our results indicate that Attribute II Bt resistance is more effective than multiple applications of an insecticide for preventing losses caused by corn earworm in sweet corn. Keywords—Bacillus thuringiensis, Helicoverpa zea, insect pest management, transgenic sweet corn.
Assessment of morphological changes and DNA quantification: An in vitro study on acid-immersed teeth

Context: Acid immersion of victim's body is one of the methods employed to subvert identification of the victim, and hence of the perpetrator. Being hardest and chemically the most stable tissue in the body, teeth can be an important forensic investigative medium in both living and nonliving populations. Teeth are also good reservoirs of both cellular and mitochondrial DNA; however, the quality and quantity of DNA obtained varies according to the environment the tooth has been subjected to. DNA extraction from acid-treated teeth has seldom been reported. Aims: The objectives of the present study were to assess the morphological changes along with DNA recovery from acid-immersed teeth. Materials and Methods: Concentrated hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid were employed for tooth decalcification. DNA was extracted on an hourly basis using phenol–chloroform method. Quantification of extracted DNA was done using a spectrophotometer. Results: Results showed that hydrochloric acid had more destructive capacity compared to other acids. Conclusion: Sufficient quantity of DNA was obtainable till the first 2 hours of acid immersion and there was an inverse proportional relation between mean absorbance ratio and quantity of obtained DNA on an hourly basis.