LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Trigonal injection of botulinum toxin A in patients with refractory bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis.

BACKGROUND
Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) is a chronic disease without an effective treatment, characterized by pain during bladder filling. Most nociceptive bladder afferents course in the trigone.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate efficacy and tolerability of trigonal injection of botulinum toxin A (BoNTA) in patients with BPS/IC. Urine concentration of nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were also evaluated.


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Women with refractory BPS/IC were included in an open, exploratory study.


INTERVENTION
Under sedation, 100 U of BoNTA (Botox) were injected in 10 trigonal sites (10 U per 1 ml saline). Retreatment was allowed 3 mo after injection.


MEASUREMENTS
Pain, urinary frequency, O'Leary-Sant score (OSS), quality of life, (QoL), and urodynamic testing at 1 and 3 mo and every 3 mo thereafter. Urine NGF and BDNF were assessed at the same points. Patients who were retreated were evaluated every 3 mo.


RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS
All patients reported subjective improvement at 1- and 3-mo follow-up. Pain, daytime and nighttime voiding frequency, OSS, and QoL improved significantly. Bladder volume to first pain and maximal cystometric capacity more than doubled. Treatment remained effective in >50% of the patients for 9 mo. Retreatment was also effective in all cases, with similar duration. A significant, transient reduction in urinary NGF and BDNF was observed. No cases of voiding dysfunction occurred. The low number of patients and the lack of a placebo arm are obvious limitations of this study.


CONCLUSIONS
Trigonal injection of BoNTA is a safe and effective treatment for refractory BPS/IC.
Pathogen-free, plasma-poor platelet lysate and expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells

Supplements to support clinical-grade cultures of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are required to promote growth and expansion of these cells. Platelet lysate (PL) is a human blood component which may replace animal serum in MSC cultures being rich in various growth factors. Here, we describe a plasma poor pathogen-free platelet lysate obtained by pooling 12 platelet (PLT) units, to produce a standardized and safe supplement for clinical-grade expansion of MSC. PL lots were obtained by combining 2 6-unit PLT pools in additive solution (AS) following a transfusional-based procedure including pathogen inactivation (PI) by Intercept technology and 3 cycles of freezing/thawing, followed by membrane removal. Three PI-PL and 3 control PL lots were produced to compare their ability to sustain bone marrow derived MSC selection and expansion. Moreover, two further PL, subjected to PI or not, were also produced starting from the same initial PLT pools to evaluate the impact of PI on growth factor concentration and capacity to sustain cell growth. Additional PI-PL lots were used for comparison with fetal bovine serum (FBS) on MSC expansion. Immunoregulatory properties of PI-PL-generated MSC were documented in vitro by mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) mitogen induced proliferation. PI-PL and PL control lots had similar concentrations of 4 well-described growth factors endowed with MSC stimulating ability. Initial growth and MSC expansion by PI-PL and PL controls were comparable either using different MSC populations or in head to head experiments. Moreover, PI-PL and PL control sustained similar MSC growth of frozen/thawed MSC. Multilineage differentiation of PI-derived and PI-PL-derived MSC were maintained in any MSC cultures as well as their immunoregulatory properties. Finally, no direct impact of PI on growth factor concentration and MSC growth support was observed, whereas the capacity of FBS to sustain MSC expansion in basic medium was irrelevant as compared to PL and PI-PL. The replacement of animal additives with human supplements is a basic issue in MSC ex vivo production. PI-PL represents a standardized, plasma-poor, human preparation which appears as a safe and good candidate to stimulate MSC growth in clinical-scale cultures.
Attachment and the regulation of the right brain

It has been three decades since John Bowlby rst presented an over-arching model of early human development in his groundbreaking volume, Attachment. In the present paper I refer back to Bowlby’s original charting of the attachment landscape in order to suggest that current research and clinical models need to return to the integration of the psychological and biological underpinnings of the theory. Towards that end, recent contributions from neuroscience are offered to support Bowlby’s assertions that attachment is instinctive behavior with a biological function, that emotional processes lie at the foundation of a model of instinctive behavior, and that a biological control system in the brain regulates affectively driven instinctive behavior. This control system can now be identied as the orbitofrontal system and its cortical and subcortical connections. This ‘senior executive of the emotional brain’ acts as a regulatory system, and is expanded in the right hemisphere, which is dominant in human infancy and centrally involved in inhibitory control. Attachment theory is essentially a regulatory theory, and attachment can be dened as the interactive regulation of biological synchronicity between organisms. This model suggests that future directions of attachment research should focus upon the early-forming psychoneurobiological mechanisms that mediate both adaptive and maladaptive regulatory processes. Such studies will have direct applications to the creation of more effective preventive and treatment methodologies.
Behavioral interventions and counseling to prevent child abuse and neglect: a systematic review to update the US Preventive services task force recommendation.

BACKGROUND
In 2004, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force determined that evidence was insufficient to recommend behavioral interventions and counseling to prevent child abuse and neglect.


PURPOSE
To review new evidence on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions and counseling in health care settings for reducing child abuse and neglect and related health outcomes, as well as adverse effects of interventions.


DATA SOURCES
MEDLINE and PsycINFO (January 2002 to June 2012), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (through the second quarter of 2012), Scopus, and reference lists.


STUDY SELECTION
English-language trials of the effectiveness of behavioral interventions and counseling and studies of any design about adverse effects.


DATA EXTRACTION
Investigators extracted data about study populations, designs, and outcomes and rated study quality using established criteria.


DATA SYNTHESIS
Eleven fair-quality randomized trials of interventions and no studies of adverse effects met inclusion criteria. A trial of risk assessment and interventions for abuse and neglect in pediatric clinics for families with children aged 5 years or younger indicated reduced physical assault, Child Protective Services (CPS) reports, nonadherence to medical care, and immunization delay among screened children. Ten trials of early childhood home visitation reported reduced CPS reports, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and self-reports of abuse and improved adherence to immunizations and well-child care, although results were inconsistent.


LIMITATION
Trials were limited by heterogeneity, low adherence, high loss to follow-up, and lack of standardized measures.


CONCLUSION
Risk assessment and behavioral interventions in pediatric clinics reduced abuse and neglect outcomes for young children. Early childhood home visitation also reduced abuse and neglect, but results were inconsistent. Additional research on interventions to prevent child abuse and neglect is needed.


PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Predictive factors for the effect of the α1-D/A adrenoceptor antagonist naftopidil on subjective and objective criteria in patients with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES
• To assess the effect of α1-D/A adrenoceptor antagonist naftopidil on patients with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) and voiding difficulty. • To explore the effectiveness of naftopidil in these patients by using urodynamic variables, including pressure flow study (PFS), and to find good and simple parameters (International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Post-void residual urine (PVR), and uroflowmetry (UFM) parameters) as substitution of PFS for predicting the effect of naftopidil.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
• The main inclusion and exclusion criteria were, IPSS ≥8, voiding symptoms with IPSS ≥5, IPSS-quality of life (QOL) ≥2, PVR ≥50 mL, and without prostatic enlargement ≥ 20 mL. • After initial assessment, patients were stepwisely administered for 12 weeks with the following: placebo for 2 weeks, naftopidil 25 mg/day for 2 weeks, naftopidil 50 mg/day for 2 weeks, and naftopidil 75 mg/day for 6 weeks. At the end of both placebo and 6 weeks' naftopidil 75 mg/day, their IPSS, UFM, PVR, and PFS were assessed. • A total of 82 Japanese patients (men 40, women 42) with lower urinary tract symptoms complicated by NLUTD, with a mean age of 63.9 years, were included from private or institutional clinics. • The lesions were spinal cord 42, and peripheral nervous system 40. The spinal cord lesions were all lumbar spine (injury or lumbar canal stenosis).


RESULTS
• In all patients, pressure at maximum urinary flow rate (P(det) Q(max) ) in PFS significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and maximum urinary flow rate in UFM significantly increased (P < 0.01). Analysis of data for men and for women also showed a significant decrease in PVR, %PVR, and total IPSS score. • The degree of improvement of voided volume, PVR (%), and IPSS in patients with PVR <300 mL was significantly greater than those in patients with PVR ≥300 mL. • The degree of improvement of P(det) Q(max) in PFS, and IPSS in patients with bladder contractility was significantly greater than that in patients without bladder contractility.


CONCLUSIONS
• α1-D/A adrenoceptor antagonist naftopidil has a significant effect on both symptoms and urodynamic variables of patients of both genders with NLUTD in Japan. • PVR <300 mL and bladder contractility are predictive factors for the efficacy of naftopidil on patients with NLUTD.
Overexpression and properties of a new thermophilic and thermostable esterase from Bacillus acidocaldarius with sequence similarity to hormone-sensitive lipase subfamily.

We previously purified a new esterase from the thermoacidophilic eubacterium Bacillus acidocaldarius whose N-terminal sequence corresponds to an open reading frame (ORF3) reported to show homology with the mammalian hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL)-like group of the esterase/lipase family. To compare the biochemical properties of this thermophilic enzyme with those of the homologous mesophilic and psychrophilic members of the HSL group, an overexpression system in Escherichia coli was established. The protein, expressed in soluble and active form at 10 mg/l E. coli culture, was purified to homogeneity and characterized biochemically. The enzyme, a 34 kDa monomeric protein, was demonstrated to be a B'-type carboxylesterase (EC 3.1.1.1) on the basis of substrate specificity and the action of inhibitors. Among the p-nitrophenyl (PNP) esters tested the best substrate was PNP-exanoate with Km and kcat values of 11+/-2 microM (mean+/-S.D., n=3) and 6610+/-880 s-1 (mean+/-S.D., n=3) respectively at 70 degreesC and pH7.1. In spite of relatively high sequence identity with the mammalian HSLs, the psychrophilic Moraxella TA144 lipase 2 and the human liver arylacetamide deacetylase, no lipase or amidase activity was detected. A series of substrates were tested for enantioselectivity. Substantial enantioselectivity was observed only in the resolution of (+/-)-3-bromo-5-(hydroxymethyl)-Delta2-isoxazoline, where the (R)-product was obtained with an 84% enantiomeric excess at 36% conversion. The enzyme was also able to synthesize acetyl esters when tested in vinyl acetate and toluene. Inactivation by diethylpyrocarbonate, diethyl-p-nitrophenyl phosphate, di-isopropylphosphofluoridate (DFP) and physostigmine, as well as labelling with [3H]DFP, supported our previous suggestion of a catalytic triad made up of Ser-His-Asp. The activity-stability-temperature relationship is discussed in relation to those of the homologous members of the HSL group.
A ?5-V CMOS analog multiplier

A four-quadrant CMOS analog multiplier is presented. The device is nominafly biased with +5-V supplies, has identicaf full-scafe single-ended x and y inputs of +4 V, and exhibits less than 0.5 percent Manuscript received March 1, 1987; revised July 18, 1987. The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3128. IEEE Log Number 8716852. + I–— ————_—
Nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid for lip augmentation and facial rhytid ablation.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid as an injectable filling agent.


DESIGN
Nonrandomized, retrospective, interventional case series.


RESULTS
A total of 1446 consecutive patients (1029 women and 417 men) underwent intradermal injection of commercially available nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid (2242 treatments) for the enhancement of lip volume and contour and the reduction of visible facial rhytids. Almost 61% of all patients remained satisfied with their results after 9 months. The effect was longest in the glabellar and nasolabial fold areas. Minimal transient sequelae were noted.


CONCLUSIONS
Nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid is an effective and safe facial soft tissue expander. Its duration varies with each facial area treated.
The importance of educational theories for facilitating learning when using technology in medical education.

BACKGROUND
There is an increasing use of technology for teaching and learning in medical education but often the use of educational theory to inform the design is not made explicit. The educational theories, both normative and descriptive, used by medical educators determine how the technology is intended to facilitate learning and may explain why some interventions with technology may be less effective compared with others.


AIMS
The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of medical educators making explicit the educational theories that inform their design of interventions using technology.


METHOD
The use of illustrative examples of the main educational theories to demonstrate the importance of theories informing the design of interventions using technology.


RESULTS
Highlights the use of educational theories for theory-based and realistic evaluations of the use of technology in medical education.


CONCLUSION
An explicit description of the educational theories used to inform the design of an intervention with technology can provide potentially useful insights into why some interventions with technology are more effective than others. An explicit description is also an important aspect of the scholarship of using technology in medical education.
Relationships of personality, affect, emotional intelligence and coping with student stress and academic success: Different patterns of association for stress and success

a r t i c l e i n f o The associations of personality, affect, trait emotional intelligence (EI) and coping style measured at the start of the academic year with later academic performance were examined in a group of undergraduate students at the University of Edinburgh. The associations of the dispositional and affect measures with concurrent stress and life satisfaction were also examined. The survey was completed by 238 students, of whom 163 gave permission for their end-of-year marks to be accessed. Complete data for modelling stress and academic success were available for 216 and 156 students respectively. The associations of academic success and stress differed, and high stress was not a risk factor for poor academic performance. Further analyses were based on the extraction of three composite factors (Emotional Regulation, Avoidance and Task Focus) from the EI and coping subscales. Structural equation modelling showed that academic performance was predicted by Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, positive affect and the Task Focus factor. Modelling for stress and life satisfaction showed relationships with personality, affect, and the Task Focus and Emotion Regulation factors. The Task Focus factor played a mediating role in both models, and the Emotion Regulation factor acted as a mediator in the model for stress and life satisfaction. The theoretical interpretation of these results, and their potential applications in interventions targeting at-risk students, are discussed. The emotions which students experience within the learning environment are known to be related to important outcomes such as academic success and academic adjustment, and also to student health and well-being. The specific topic of test anxiety and its effect on academic performance has been widely studied (e.g. Zeidner, 1995, 1996). Studies of other correlates of negative emotions have established associations with stress in students (Austin, Saklofske, & Mastoras, 2010) and with poorer academic adjustment (Halamandaris & Power, 1997). The role of positive emotions in educational contexts has been less widely researched but associations have been found with academic performance and In the context of studying student emotions, it is also appropriate to examine the potential utility of emotional intelligence (EI) as an explanatory variable. Models of EI highlight a range of emotion-related capabilities; a component of EI which appears to be particularly likely to support students in the learning environment is Emotion Regulation, since individuals who can regulate their emotions well are better able to manage stress. Other emotional capabilities such as being …
Ultra-Low-Power Cascaded CMOS LNA With Positive Feedback and Bias Optimization

<?Pub Dtl?>A novel circuit topology for a CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) is presented in this paper. By employing a positive feedback technique at the common-source transistor of the cascade stage, the voltage gain can be enhanced. In addition, with the MOS transistors biased in the moderate inversion region, the proposed LNA circuit is well suited to operate at reduced power consumption and supply voltage conditions. Utilizing a standard <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">${\hbox {0.18-}}\mu{\hbox {m}}$</tex></formula> CMOS process, the CMOS LNA has been demonstrated for 5-GHz frequency band applications. Operated at a supply voltage of 0.6 V, the LNA with the gain-boosting technique achieves a gain of 13.92 dB and a noise figure of 3.32 dB while consuming a dc power of <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">${\hbox {834 }} \mu{\hbox{W}}$</tex></formula>. The measured <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${ P}_{{\rm 1}{\hbox{-}}{\rm {dB}}}$</tex> </formula> and input third-order intercept point are <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$-{{\hbox {22.2}}}$</tex></formula> and <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$-{{\hbox {11.5 dBm}}}$</tex></formula>, respectively
Is trauma a causal agent of psychopathologic symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder? Findings from identical twins discordant for combat exposure.

OBJECTIVE
The diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is unique in that its criteria are embedded with a presumed causal agent, viz, a traumatic event. This assumption has come under scrutiny as a number of recent studies have suggested that many symptoms of PTSD may not necessarily be the result of trauma and may merely represent general psychiatric symptoms that would have existed even in the absence of a trauma event but are subsequently misattributed to it. The current study tests this hypothesis.


METHOD
A case-control twin study conducted between 1996-2001 examined psychopathologic symptoms in a national convenience sample of 104 identical twin pairs discordant for combat exposure in Vietnam, with (n = 50) or without (n = 54) combat-related PTSD (DSM-IV-diagnosed) in the exposed twin. Psychometric measures used were the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, and the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD. If a psychopathologic feature represents a factor that would have existed even without traumatic exposure, then there is a high chance that it would also be found at elevated rates in the non-trauma-exposed, identical cotwins of trauma-exposed twins with PTSD. In contrast, if a psychopathologic feature is acquired as a result of an environmental factor unique to the exposed twin, eg, the traumatic event, their cotwins should not have an increased incidence of the feature.


RESULTS
Combat veterans with PTSD demonstrated significantly higher scores (P < .0001) on the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised and other psychometric measures of psychopathology than their own combat-unexposed cotwins (and than combat veterans without PTSD and their cotwins).


CONCLUSIONS
These results support the conclusion that the majority of psychiatric symptoms reported by combat veterans with PTSD would not have been present were it not for their exposure to traumatic events.
Dimensioning the power supply of a LTE macro BS connected to a PV panel and the power grid

The use of solar energy to power base stations of cellular networks is becoming increasingly interesting, in both areas where the power grid is not present or not reliable, and where the power grid is ubiquitous and reliable, but energy costs keep growing. In this paper, we investigate the dimensioning of the photovoltaic panel and energy storage of a hybrid base station powering system that can exploit both solar and grid energy. The objective of the dimensioning is the minimization of the total capital and operational expenditures over a period of 10 years, accounting for the evolution of technology and traffic load. Results show that in a south European city like Torino, a hybrid base station powering system allows significant cost and size reductions, with respect to the case of solar energy only (and of a diesel power generator), and roughly equals the cost of the grid-only case in 8-9 years. When the extra energy produced by the solar panel can be sold back to the grid, the hybrid systems allow significant savings with respect to the grid-only case. For the city of Aswan, with a production that is much higher than in Torino and more constant over the year, costs of pure solar and hybrid systems are significantly lower in absolute terms; hybrid systems result to be still advantageous with respect to pure solar systems.
Humanoid Vertical Jumping based on Force Feedback and Inertial Forces Optimization

This paper proposes adapting human jumping dynamics to humanoid robotic structures. Data obtained from human jumping phases and decomposition together with ground reaction forces (GRF) are used as model references. Moreover, bodies inertial forces are used as task constraints while optimizing energy to determine the humanoid robot posture and improve its jumping performances.