Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exposure to Indoor Allergens in Homes of Patients with Asthma and/or Rhinitis in Southeast Brazil: Effect of Mattress and Pillow Covers on Mite Allergen Levels

Background: Exposure and sensitization to indoor allergens have been associated with the development of asthma and other allergic diseases in many parts of the world. It is important to establish the degree of exposure, and to evaluate whether allergen control measures are effective in a particular area. Methods: Concentrations of major allergens of mites, cockroach, cat and dog were measured in dust samples from homes of 24 mite-allergic patients living in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Allergen concentrations were quantitated by monoclonal antibody-based ELISA. Mite-impermeable mattress and pillow covers were applied to beds in the homes of 19 of the 24 patients, and group 1 mite allergen levels were measured 1 and 6 months following intervention. Results: Patients were exposed to high concentrations of mite allergens in their homes. 87.5% of the homes presented concentrations of group 1 allergens >10 µg/g of dust in at least one site. Cockroach allergen concentrations were low in most samples. Dog allergen concentrations were significantly higher in homes with dogs as compared to those without dogs. Mean concentrations of cat allergen were 0.1 µg/g. Mite allergen concentrations in bedding samples dropped from 24 µg/g at baseline to 0.9 and 1.0 µg/g, respectively, 1 and 6 months following encasement of mattresses and pillows. Conclusions: Significant mite allergen reduction can be achieved in an area of high degree of exposure to mite allergens. Further studies evaluating the effect of this reduction on symptoms and airway inflammation will be necessary to establish the effectiveness of mite avoidance measures in our area.
A Detailed Survey on Various Aspects of SQL Injection: Vulnerabilities, Innovative Attacks, and Remedies

In today’s world, Web applications play a very important role in individual life as well as in any country’s development. Web applications have gone through a very rapid growth in the recent years and their adoption is moving faster than that was expected few years ago. Now-a-days, billions of transactions are done online with the aid of different Web applications. Though these applications are used by hundreds of people, in many cases the security level is weak, which makes them vulnerable to get compromised. In most of the scenarios, a user has to be identified before any communication is established with the backend database. An arbitrary user should not be allowed access to the system without proof of valid credentials. However, a crafted injection gives access to unauthorized users. This is mostly accomplished via SQL Injection input. In spite of the development of different approaches to prevent SQL injection, it still remains an alarming threat to Web applications. In this paper, we present a detailed survey on various types of SQL Injection vulnerabilities, attacks, and their prevention techniques. Alongside presenting our findings from the study, we also note down future expectations and possible development of countermeasures against SQL Injection attacks.
Laser interstitial thermal therapy in the management of brain metastasis and radiation necrosis after radiosurgery: An overview

ABSTRACT With advances in stereotactic and neuroimaging techniques, various minimally invasive image-guided techniques have gained widespread acceptance in the field of neuro-oncology. Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is an image-guided technique that involves generation of high temperatures using a laser fiber, to ablate pathological tissue. Radiation necrosis (RN) and radiosurgery resistant brain metastasis often pose significant challenges to the treating physicians. In the last two decades, various studies have documented the efficacy of LITT in managing radiosurgery resistant metastases, radiation necrosis, surgically inaccessible malignant gliomas and ablation of epileptogenic foci. The aim of this paper is to summarize the current literature on the efficacy of LITT in patients with radiation necrosis and brain metastasis. We have also touched upon the physical properties of currently available LITT systems and the mechanism of action of laser therapy including histopathological changes.
Propolis immunomodulatory action in vivo on Toll‐like receptors 2 and 4 expression and on pro‐inflammatory cytokines production in mice

Propolis is a bee product and its immunomodulatory action has been the subject of intense investigation lately. The recent discovery and characterization of the family of Toll‐like receptors (TLR) have triggered a great deal of interest in the field of innate immunity due to their crucial role in microbial recognition and development of the adaptive immune response. This work aimed to evaluate propolis's effect on TLR‐2 and TLR‐4 expression and on the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines (IL‐1β and IL‐6). Male BALB/c mice were treated with propolis (200 mg/kg) for three consecutive days, and TLR‐2 and TLR‐4 expression as well as IL‐1β and IL‐6 production were assessed in peritoneal macrophages and spleen cells. Basal IL‐1β production and TLR‐2 and TLR‐4 expression were increased in peritoneal macrophages of propolis‐treated mice. TLR‐2 and TLR‐4 expression and IL‐1β and IL‐6 production were also upregulated in the spleen cells of propolis‐treated mice. One may conclude that propolis activated the initial steps of the immune response by upregulating TLRs expression and the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in mice, modulating the mechanisms of the innate immunity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Evaluation of Frailty in Older Adults With Cardiovascular Disease: Incorporating Physical Performance Measures

Rapid growth in the numbers of older adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is raising awareness and concern of the impact that common geriatric syndromes such as frailty may have on clinical outcomes, health-related quality of life, and rising economic burden associated with healthcare. Increasingly, frailty is recognized to be a highly prevalent and important risk factor that is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. A limitation of previous studies in patients with CVD has been the lack of a consistent definition and measures to evaluate frailty. In this review, building upon the work of Fried and colleagues, a definition of frailty is provided that is applicable for evaluating frailty in older adults with CVD. Simple, well-established performance-based measures widely used in comprehensive geriatric assessment are recommended that can be readily implemented by nurses in most practice settings. The limited studies conducted in older adults with CVD have shown physical performance measures to be highly predictive of clinical outcomes. Implications for practice and areas for future research are described for the growing numbers of elderly cardiac patients who are frail frailty and at risk for disability.
Sourcing faecal pollution : A combination of library-dependent and library-independent methods to identify human faecal pollution in non-sewered catchments

Library-dependent (LD) (biochemical fingerprinting of Escherichia coli and enterococci) and library-independent (LI) (PCR detection of human-specific biomarkers) methods were used to detect human faecal pollution in three non-sewered catchments. In all, 550 E. coli isolates and 700 enterococci isolates were biochemically fingerprinted from 18 water samples and compared with metabolic fingerprint libraries of 4508 E. coli and 4833 enterococci isolates. E. coli fingerprints identified human unique biochemical phenotypes (BPTs) in nine out of 18 water samples; similarly, enterococci fingerprints identified human faecal pollution in 10 water samples. Seven samples were tested by PCR for the detection of biomarkers. Humanspecific HF134 Bacteroides and enterococci surface protein (esp) biomarkers were detected in five samples. Four samples were also positive for HF183 Bacteroides biomarker. The combination of biomarkers detected human faecal pollution in six out of seven water samples. Of the seven samples analysed for both the indicators/markers, at least one indicator/marker was detected in every sample. Four of the seven PCR-positive samples were also positive for one of the human-specific E. coli or enterococci BPTs. The results indicated human faecal pollution in the studied sub-catchments after storm events. LD and LI methods used in this study complimented each other and provided additional information regarding the polluting sources when one method failed to detect human faecal pollution. Therefore, it is recommended that a combination of methods should be used to identify the source(s) of faecal pollution where possible. & 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Granularin, a novel molluscan opsonin comprising a single vWF type C domain is up‐regulated during parasitation

Snails are intermediate hosts to schistosome parasites, some of which are the main cause of human schistosomiasis (bilharzia), and have been used as models for parasite—host interactions for a long time. Here, we have characterized a novel internal defense peptide of the snail Lymnaea stagnalis, of which the relative abundance in brain tissue increases upon infection with the avian schistosome Trichobilharzia ocellata. This protein, named granularin, is secreted by granular cells, which are numerous in the connective tissue surrounding the brain. The protein is unique because it comprises only a single Von Willebrand factor type C domain that is normally found in large transmembrane and secreted extracellular matrix proteins. The granularin gene is twice up‐regulated during parasitation. Purified granularin stimulates phagocytosis of foreign particles by blood hemocytes. Together, our data indicate that granularin represents a novel protein that acts as an opsonin in the molluscan internal defense response.
Using the Forces of Magnetism to Bridge Nursing Research and Practice

JONA • Vol. 34, No. 9 • September 2004 393 Staffing crisis, patient safety, and work environment redesign are but a few of the dilemmas facing the nursing workforce. In addressing these issues, many nursing leaders are targeting those elements that the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has identified in the Magnet Recognition Program criteria to structure change processes. Magnet-designated facilities have improved care environments with higher rates of nurse recruitment and retention, improved patient outcomes, and satisfaction scores for both patients and nurses. When in place, the forces of magnetism demonstrate the organization’s capabilities at providing nurses with the knowledge, support, resources, and opportunities to provide the highest level of patient care. The Magnet criteria for nursing research emphasizes nursing research utilization—evidenced-based practice and the research process for solving quality management issues. However, promotion of scholarly activities and building nursing research capacity are often difficult to translate into the care environment. At first, asking busy nurses to add nursing research to their clinical practice may be viewed as an unrealistic and overwhelming task, despite their best professional intentions and the potential benefits research has in their clinical practice and career development. Some of the processes used at our large teaching hospital to increase its nursing research capacity and to narrow the practice-research gap were spearheaded by nursing leaders. Nurse executives provided capacity-building leadership, primarily because they understand the change process and then identify themselves as the driver of change. Leading by example, our chief nurse executive’s (CNE) first research initiative involved focus groups of all upper and midline nursing managers to investigate the communication patterns before and after organizational restructuring. This initiative was followed by additional research protocols—investigating retention and recruitment, and then studying nurse-sensitive indicators for patient outcomes. First-hand participatory experience in the research process energized all management level members to engage in the research process to solve care/service line and unit problems. Although informal research, quality management or performance improvement projects, has been common in our facility, now formal research (Institutional Review Board approved) was role modeled as a valued management methodology for our nursing leaders. Reinforcing nursing research’s importance and to assist with staff development, proposal design, and funding, a nurse researcher (NR) was added to the CNE’s staff.
WebGL-based 3D furniture layout system using interactive evolutionary computation and its user evaluations

This paper treats 3D furniture layout systems that use interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) for the user to easily generate 3D furniture layouts without any expertise in 3DCG and manipulative skills. The layout work for 3D virtual room takes a long time because 3D objects have six degrees of freedom and furniture has peculiar features. To deal with this problem, the authors present an automatic optimisation method by using IEC. Furniture layouts are optimised through the use of prior information stored in a semantic database and the user preference. The authors have built two systems. The first system builds the ergonomic constraints into the fitness function, and the second system expands the versatility. The second system is implemented using WebGL, and treated with the new IEC method. In this paper, the authors also describe the usefulness of this WebGL-based prototype system by indicating experimental results of the user study.
Association between obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE Evidence suggests that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is related to metabolic syndrome; however, the relationship among metabolic syndrome parameters (blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL)) and OSA is unclear. METHODS PRISMA guidelines were followed for this study. Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases were searched until December 23, 2015, using following terms: obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea, OSA and metabolic syndrome. RESULTS Ten studies were included in the analysis which included 2053 patients. Patients with OSA had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) (pooled standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.56, 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.71, P.
2 3 O ct 2 00 2 Boundary effects in the stepwise structure of the Lyapunov spectra for quasi-one-dimensional systems

Boundary effects in the stepwise structure of the Lyapunov spectra and the corresponding wavelike structure of the Lyapunov vectors are discussed numerically in quasi-one-dimensional systems consisting of many hard-disks. Four kinds of boundary conditions constructed by combinations of periodic boundary conditions and hard-wall boundary conditions are considered, and lead to different stepwise structures of the Lyapunov spectra in each case. We show that a spatial wavelike structure with a time-oscillation appears in the spatial part of the Lyapunov vectors divided by momenta in some steps of the Lyapunov spectra, while a rather stationary wavelike structure appears in the purely spatial part of the Lyapunov vectors corresponding to the other steps. Using these two kinds of wavelike structure we categorize the sequence and the kinds of steps of the Lyapunov spectra in the four different boundary condition cases.
Usage of divergence within concatenated multithreshold decoding convolutional codes

The present paper has considered multithreshold decoders for self-orthogonal codes providing a near-optimal efficiency of the error correction under linear computational complexity. New divergence principle used within construction and decoding convolutional codes has been discussed. The paper has shown that usage of such principle allows significantly approximating an area of the decoder effective operation to the channel capacity. Application of obtained self-orthogonal codes within construction of concatenated convolutional codes where parity-check codes are used as the outer codes has been indicated, as well as simulation results for the obtained concatenated construction have been represented.
Review of A Large Clinical Series: Intrahospital Transport of Critically Ill Patients: Outcomes, Timing, and Patterns

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of intrahospital transport patterns with patient throughput and outcomes in an oncological intensive care unit. We retrospectively reviewed all patients admitted to a closed medical-surgical intensive care unit at a cancer center between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2005. We compared the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with and without transport and analyzed all intrahospital transports in relation to intensive care unit occupancy, length of stay, and intensive care unit and hospital outcomes. Transport patterns were also assessed by day of week, time of day, timing of the first transport to intensive care unit admission, and destination. Transported patients (n = 413, 43.5%) had significantly higher severity of illness scores on intensive care unit admission, greater use of vasopressors and mechanical ventilation, and longer intensive care unit and hospital length of stay and higher hospital mortality than nontransported patients (n = 535, 56.5%). Multiple transports (! 2) occurred in 45% of the transported patients. The number of transports was directly proportional to intensive care unit length of stay. The highest transport rates and nearly half of all first transports occurred during the first 24 hours of intensive care unit admission. Transports were most common during weekdays and on afternoon and evening hours and most frequently to the computed tomography suite. Our study shows that intrahospital transport of the critically ill is a multifaceted process with important implications for intensive care unit resource analysis, workload and throughput.
Which clinical variables predict an abnormal double-contrast barium enema result?

OBJECTIVE To determine the relations among patient history, symptoms, objective indicators, and abnormal double-contrast barium enema results in outpatients. PATIENTS AND SETTING Seven hundred and ninety-four patients receiving care in a large multispecialty medical group. DESIGN Physicians completed a form before ordering a double-contrast barium enema, listing information about patient history, symptoms, and objective findings, including the results of a complete blood count, stool hemoccult, and sigmoidoscopy. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Outcome measures were colon cancer and any abnormal finding. The results of 18.6% of the barium enemas were abnormal. The most frequent positive findings were of polyps (8.8%) and colon cancer (2.9%). Over 50% of the barium enemas were ordered solely on the basis of symptoms, yet there was no statistical correlation between symptoms and colon cancer or any positive finding. Using logistic regression, four variables were shown to be significant predictors of colon cancer (P less than 0.05): abnormal sigmoidoscopy, iron deficiency anemia, positive stool hemoccult results, and relevant history. The respective odds ratios of these variables were 3.76 (95% CI, 2.89 to 4.90); 2.86 (CI, 2.13 to 3.74); 1.87 (CI, 1.46 to 2.39); and 1.91 (CI, 1.44 to 2.52), respectively. In a patient without any of these indicators, the predicted probability of having colon cancer was only 0.7%. In a patient with at least two objective indicators, the probability of having colon cancer was greater than 15%. CONCLUSIONS Symptoms without objective indicators or pertinent risk factors do not correlate with an abnormal double-contrast barium enema result. Objective indicators are useful predictors of an abnormal barium enema result, particularly when looking for colon cancer.
Physico-chemical Properties, Pasting Behavior and Functional Characteristics of Flours and Starches from Improved Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Varieties Grown in East Africa

Haricot bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) starch from improved varieties was isolated by wet milling process and physico-chemical properties, pasting behavior and functional characteristics of bean flours and starches were analyzed. The functional and physical properties of the starches and flours including, swelling power and solubility pattern, color, pH, water and oil absorption capacity of bean starch-water suspension were examined. A rapid visco-analyzer and color flex spectrocolorimeter were used for evaluation of the pasting properties and color of the flours and starch extracts from beans respectively. Chemical composition of whole bean seed flours and starch isolates such as moisture, crude protein, crude fat, total ash, crude fiber, crude lipid, total carbohydrates, starch, phosphorus and amylose content were assessed. Results of analyses for pasting behavior, functional and physico-chemical properties indicated that significance differences (P < 0.05) among bean varieties existed. The factors which influence the pasting characteristics resulting to decrease in peak viscosity (PV), trough (MV) and final viscosity (FV) of starch compared to bean flour are attributed to the interaction of starch with the protein, fat, etc. which in their turn are dependent on the variety. These factors play an important role in governing the pasting properties of starch. The swelling power of the bean flour and starch isolates put them in the category of highly restricted-swelling starch. This characteristic is desirable for the manufacture of value-added products such as noodles and composite blends with cereals. The uses of starch from improved bean varieties to impart viscosity to local processed foods have remarkable potential in the context of East and Great Lakes Regions of Africa where bean consumption of such products are increasing.
Shaping ability of Hero 642 rotary nickel-titanium instruments in simulated root canals: Part 2.

AIM To determine the shaping ability of Hero 642 nickel-titanium rotary instruments during the preparation of simulated canals. METHODOLOGY A total of 40 simulated root canals made up of four different shapes, in terms of angle and position of curvature, were prepared by Hero 642 instruments using a crown-down preparation sequence. Pre- and postoperative images of the canals were taken using a video camera attached to a computer with image analysis software. The pre- and postoperative views were superimposed to highlight the amount and position of material removed during preparation. This report describes the efficacy of the instruments in terms of prevalence of canal aberrations, the amount and direction of canal transportation and overall postoperative shape. RESULTS Four zips and four elbows were created during preparation, all in canals with 40 degrees, 12 mm curves. No perforations or danger zones were created. Highly significant differences (P < 0.001) were apparent between the canal shapes in total canal width at the apex and beginning of the curve, and in the amount of resin removed from the inner and outer aspects of the curve at the orifice. Canal transportation was most frequently directed toward the outer aspect of the curve at specific points along the canal, except at the orifice, where it was apparent that canals with 20 degrees curves transported toward the inner. Overall, mean absolute transportation was always less than 0.15 mm; however, significant differences occurred between canal shapes at the end-point (P < 0.01), apex of the curve (P < 0.01) and at the orifice (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Under the conditions of this study, Hero 642 rotary nickel-titanium instruments created canals with few aberrations and no perforations. The relatively high proportion of aberrations in canals with short, acute curves may indicate that instruments with increased taper should be used with caution at or near the full working distance. Further research in real teeth is necessary to elucidate the full potential of these new rotary instruments for use in root canal preparation.