Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Evaluation of the Safety and Efficacy of Long-Term Use of Imidafenacin and Solifenacin in Patients with Overactive Bladder: A Prospective, Open, Randomized, Parallel-Group Trial (the LIST Study)

Objectives. Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic disease, but comparative trials of anticholinergics, which are commonly used for treatment of OAB, have generally been performed for up to 12 weeks only. There is no comparative study of a long-term intervention. Methods. We conducted a 52-week prospective randomized comparative study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of two anticholinergics. Results. Forty-one Japanese patients with untreated OAB were randomly assigned to imidafenacin and solifenacin groups. There was no difference in OABSS and KHQ scores between the two groups, but the severity and incidence of adverse events caused by the anticholinergics showed increased differences between the groups with time. The severity of dry mouth and the incidence of constipation were significantly lower in the imidafenacin group (P = 0.0092 and P = 0.0013, resp.). Conclusions. This study is the first long-term trial to show differences in the properties of anticholinergics that were not detected in short-term studies. Since OAB is a chronic disease, we conclude that imidafenacin is preferable to solifenacin from a perspective of safety.
Regulatory principles and experimental approaches to the circadian control of starch turnover

In many plants, starch is synthesized during the day and degraded during the night to avoid carbohydrate starvation in darkness. The circadian clock participates in a dynamic adjustment of starch turnover to changing environmental condition through unknown mechanisms. We used mathematical modelling to explore the possible scenarios for the control of starch turnover by the molecular components of the plant circadian clock. Several classes of plausible models were capable of describing the starch dynamics observed in a range of clock mutant plants and light conditions, including discriminating circadian protocols. Three example models of these classes are studied in detail, differing in several important ways. First, the clock components directly responsible for regulating starch degradation are different in each model. Second, the intermediate species in the pathway may play either an activating or inhibiting role on starch degradation. Third, the system may include a light-dependent interaction between the clock and downstream processes. Finally, the clock may be involved in the regulation of starch synthesis. We discuss the differences among the models’ predictions for diel starch profiles and the properties of the circadian regulators. These suggest additional experiments to elucidate the pathway structure, avoid confounding results and identify the molecular components involved.
A Theology of Accommodation as a Resource for Integrating Youth and Children into Intergenerational Church

This paper argues that a theology of accommodation can provide help to those wishing to integrate youth and children into an intergenerational local church. It will be demonstrated that God's accommodation to humanity is not only communicative, but behavioral, and that in the New Testament we see that this behavioral accommodation principle is normative for relationships within the church. Through an examination of 1 Corinthians 8–11:1, this paper demonstrates that those with authority and knowledge in the church are to accommodate those without, which almost invariably implies youth and children. Christians are to imitate Christ, and so as God accommodates in Christ, those with authority and knowledge follow suit.
Self-determination theory: The roles of emotion and trait mindfulness in motivation

Within the framework of Self-determination theory, influences of emotions on motivation are largely neglected. And when considering the recent findings that mindfulness is associated with emotional management, it is unknown how mindfulness may buffer emotions in relation to autonomous and controlled motivations. The present study examined the relationship between the two dimensions of emotion (i.e., pleasantness and arousal) and relative autonomous-oriented motivation, and the moderation effect of trait mindfulness on such relationship. A hundred and seventy-one students of a Swedish university participated in the survey. It was found that pleasantness, arousal and trait mindfulness were correlated positively with relative autonomous-oriented motivation, and that trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between pleasantness and the motivation. The findings suggest that pleasant and arousal emotions, and dispositional mindfulness may have positive effects on autonomous motivation.
More Effective Optimum Synthesis of Path Generating Four-Bar Mechanisms

The one-phase synthesis method using evolutionary or heuristic optimization algorithms can successfully solve the dimensional synthesis problems of path generating four-bar mechanisms discussed in the literature, where the input angles are usually used as design variables and the constraint of the rotational sequence of the input angles is necessary. However, there is still room for improvement in solution reliability and accuracy. To understand the influence of the input angles used as design variables, a new one-phase synthesis method without using the input angles as design variables is presented where the square deviation of the nearest distance between the target point and the coupler curve is used as the error metric and the differential evolution is used to solve the optimum synthesis problems. A scale-rotation-translation transformation technique, which can transform the coupler curve of the initial guess nearer to the desired curve in a similar scaling, orientation and location, is proposed. Findings show that the new one-phase synthesis method can improve solution accuracy markedly. Moreover, the scale-rotation-translation transformation technique for the initial guess is effective to improve solution reliability, accuracy or efficiency. Keywords—evolutionary algorithm; dimensional synthesis; mechanism optimization; path generation; scale-rotation-translation transformation
Do Interventions Designed to Support Shared Decision-Making Reduce Health Inequalities? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Increasing patient engagement in healthcare has become a health policy priority. However, there has been concern that promoting supported shared decision-making could increase health inequalities. Objective To evaluate the impact of SDM interventions on disadvantaged groups and health inequalities. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies. Data Sources CINAHL, the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, HMIC, MEDLINE, the NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Open SIGLE, PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge were searched from inception until June 2012. Study Eligibility Criteria We included all studies, without language restriction, that met the following two criteria: (1) assess the effect of shared decision-making interventions on disadvantaged groups and/or health inequalities, (2) include at least 50% of people from disadvantaged groups, except if a separate analysis was conducted for this group. Results We included 19 studies and pooled 10 in a meta-analysis. The meta-analyses showed a moderate positive effect of shared decision-making interventions on disadvantaged patients. The narrative synthesis suggested that, overall, SDM interventions increased knowledge, informed choice, participation in decision-making, decision self-efficacy, preference for collaborative decision making and reduced decisional conflict among disadvantaged patients. Further, 7 out of 19 studies compared the intervention's effect between high and low literacy groups. Overall, SDM interventions seemed to benefit disadvantaged groups (e.g. lower literacy) more than those with higher literacy, education and socioeconomic status. Interventions that were tailored to disadvantaged groups' needs appeared most effective. Conclusion Results indicate that shared decision-making interventions significantly improve outcomes for disadvantaged patients. According to the narrative synthesis, SDM interventions may be more beneficial to disadvantaged groups than higher literacy/socioeconomic status patients. However, given the small sample sizes and variety in the intervention types, study design and quality, those findings should be interpreted with caution.
An Approach for Intent Identification by Building on Deception Detection

Past research in deception detection at the University of Arizona has guided the investigation of intent detection. A theoretical foundation and model for the analysis of intent detection is proposed. Available test beds for intent analysis are discussed and two proof-of-concept studies exploring nonverbal communication within the context of deception detection and intent analysis are shared.
Segmentation Based Recovery of Arbitrarily Warped Document Images

Non-linear warping appears in document images when captured by a digital camera or a scanner, especially in the case that these documents are digitized bounded volumes. Arbitrarily warped documents may have several slope changes along the text lines as well as along the words of the same text line. In this paper, a novel segmentation based technique for efficient restoration of arbitrarily warped document images is presented. The proposed technique recovers the documents relying upon (i) text lines and words detection using a novel segmentation technique appropriate for warped documents, (ii) a first draft binary image de-warping based on word rotation and translation according to upper and lower word baselines, and (Hi) a recovery of the original warped image guided by the draft binary image de-warping result. Experimental results on several arbitrarily warped documents prove the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Strategies of resistance to anti-Islamic representations among Australian Muslim women: an intersectional approach

ABSTRACT Contemporary anti-Islamic discourses in Australia construct Islam as an uncivilised belief system and its Muslim followers as homogenous unassimilable Others. Within these discourses, the diversity among Muslim women has been overshadowed, and they are constructed as a monolithic ‘veiled’ woman. Drawing on 20 conversational interviews with veiled and unveiled Australian Muslim women from various cultural backgrounds, this paper explores the diverse ways in which Muslim women resist and challenge anti-Islamic discourses on Islam, Muslims and Muslim women. Guided by intersectional theories on identity and resistance, our analysis show that the women drew on discursive and performative strategies to contest anti-Islamic representations that homogenise and vilify Muslims and construct Muslim women as veiled and oppressed. The findings also show that the ways in which women contested hegemonic anti-Islamic representations were diverse and informed by intersecting power and social locations, including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. Implications for research on resistance and identity negotiations of minority groups are discussed.
ANALYSIS OF SCATTERING FROM THREE- DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS BURIED BELOW A RANDOM ROUGH SURFACE BY MONTE-CARLO MPSTD METHOD

This paper presents a Monte-Carlo multidomain pseu- dospectral time-domain (MPSTD) algorithm developed for the analy- sis of scattering from a three dimensional (3D) object buried below a random rough surface separating two half spaces. In the development, special attention is paid to the 3D computation domain decomposition and subdomain mapping involving the random rough surface as well as the subdomain patching along the rough surface. The Mote-Carlo MPSTD algorithm is then employed to determine the scattering of 3D objects of various shapes and electromagnetic properties; embedded in the lower half space with difierent permittivity and the roughness of the random rough surface may vary. Sample numerical results are presented, validated, and analyzed. Through the analysis, it is ob- served that the roughness of the random rough surface and the elec- tromagnetic properties of the lower half space can signiflcantly afiect the scattered signature of the buried object.
The cell biology of secondary endosymbiosis – how parasites build, divide and segregate the apicoplast

Protozoan parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa harbour a chloroplast‐like organelle, the apicoplast. The biosynthetic pathways localized to this organelle are of cyanobacterial origin and therefore offer attractive targets for the development of new drugs for the treatment of malaria and toxoplasmosis. The apicoplast also provides a unique system to study the cell biology of endosymbiosis. This organelle is the product of secondary endosymbiosis, the marriage of an alga and an auxotrophic eukaryote. This origin has led to a fascinating set of novel cellular mechanisms that are clearly distinct from those employed by the plant chloroplast. Here we explore how the apicoplast interacts with its ‘host’ to secure building blocks for its biogenesis and how the organelle is divided and segregated during mitosis. Considerable advances in parasite genetics and genomics have transformed apicomplexans, long considered hard to study, into highly tractable model organisms. We discuss how these resources might be marshalled to develop a detailed mechanistic picture of apicoplast cell biology.
Enhancing DDoS Flood Attack Detection via Intelligent Fuzzy Logic

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) flood attack remains great threats to the Internet. This kind of attack consumes a large amount of network bandwidth or occupies network equipment resources by flooding them with packets from the machines distributed all over the world. To ensure the network usability and reliability, real-time and accurate detection of these attacks is critical. To date, various approaches have been proposed to detect these attacks, but with limited success when they are used in the real world. This paper presents a method that can real-time identify the occurrence of the DDoS flood attack and determine its intensity using the fuzzy logic. The proposed process consists of two stages: (i) statistical analysis of the network traffic time series using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and Schwarz information criterion (SIC) to find out the change point of Hurst parameter resulting from DDoS flood attack, and then (ii) adaptively decide the intensity of the DDoS flood attack by using the intelligent fuzzy logic technology to analyze the Hurst parameter and its changing rate. The test results by NS2-based simulation with various network traffic characteristics and attacks intensities demonstrate that the proposed method can detect the DDoS flood attack timely, effectively and intelligently. Povzetek: Opisan je postopek za prepoznavo spletnega napada DDoS s pomocjo mehke logike.
Safety and Efficacy of Single Dose versus Multiple Doses of AmBisome® for Treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa: A Randomised Trial

Background Anti-leishmanial drug regimens that include a single dose AmBisome® could be suitable for eastern African patients with symptomatic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) but the appropriate single dose is unknown. Methodology A multi-centre, open-label, non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial with an adaptive design, was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of a single dose and multiple doses of AmBisome® for the treatment of VL in eastern Africa. The primary efficacy endpoint was definitive cure (DC) at 6 months. Symptomatic patients with parasitologically-confirmed, non-severe VL, received a single dose of AmBisome® 7.5 mg/kg body weight or multiple doses, 7 times 3 mg/kg on days 1–5, 14, and 21. If interim analyses, evaluated 30 days after the start of treatment following 40 or 80 patients, showed the single dose gave significantly poorer parasite clearance than multiple doses at the 5% significance level, the single dose was increased by 2·5 mg/kg. In a sub-set of patients, parasite clearance was measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase (qRT) PCR. Principal Findings The trial was terminated after the third interim analysis because of low efficacy of both regimens. Based on the intention-to-treat population, DC was 85% (95%CI 73–93%), 40% (95%CI 19–64%), and 58% (95%CI 41–73%) in patients treated with multiple doses (n = 63), and single doses of 7·5 (n = 21) or 10 mg/kg (n = 40), respectively. qRT-PCR suggested superior parasite clearance with multiple doses as early as day 3. Safety data accorded with the drug label. Conclusions The tested AmBisome® regimens would not be suitable for VL treatment across eastern Africa. An optimal single dose regimen was not identified. Trials Registration www.clinicaltrials. gov NCT00832208
Gender Earnings Differentials in Total Pay, Base Pay, and Contingent Pay

Using data from a 1988 survey of business school graduates, the authors analyze gender differentials in earnings by form of pay—total pay, base pay, and contingent pay—with controls for human capital, occupation, job level, and individual characteristics. The results indicate that within narrowly defined occupations and jobs, most of the unexplained difference in total pay between the men and women in the sample was due to gender differences in the portion of pay that was contingent on job performance. The greater importance of contingent pay in the earnings of the men than of the women may reflect differential treatment of men and women by firms, gender differences in performance, gender differences in risk preferences, or some other sorting mechanism.
Algorithm 478: Solution of an Overdetermined System of Equations in the l1 Norm [F4]

Submittal of an algorithm for consideration for publication in Communications of the ACM implies unrestricted use of the algorithm within a computer is permissible. General permission to republish, but not for profit, all or part of this material is granted provided that ACM's copyright notice is given and that reference is made to the publication, to its date of issue, and to the fact that reprinting privileges were granted by permission of the Association for Computing Machinery. Description The algorithm calculates an l~ solution to an overdetermined system of rn linear equations in n unknowns, i.e. the algorithm determines a vector x = {xy} which minimizes the sum of the absolute values of the residuals e(x) = ~'~i~l [ b~-~'-~i~l aij xy I. A typical application of the algorithm is that of solving the linear l~ data fitting problem. Suppose that data consisting of m points with coordinates (t~, yd is to be approximated by a linear approximating function c~l~,~ (t) + c~,~ (t) + . -. + a,~ (t) in the l, norm. This is equivalent to finding an l~ solution to the system of linear equations ~=i 4~i (t~)c~s = Y~ for i = 1, 2 . m. If the data contains some wild points (i.e. values of the dependent variable that are very inaccurate compared to the overall accuracy of the data), it is advisable to calculate an ll approximation rather than an/2 (least-squares) approximation, or an 1~ approximation. The algorithm is a modification of the simplex method of linear programming applied to the primal formulation of the/1 problem. A feature of the routine is its ability to pass through several simplex vertices at each iteration. The algorithm does not require that the matrix {a;,i } satisfy the Haar condition, nor does it require that it be of full rank. Complete details of the method may be found in [1J. Computational experience with this and other algorithms indicates that it is the most efficient yet devised for solving the /1 problem. The parameters M and N represent the number of equations and number of unknowns respectively. M2 and N2 should be set to M q-2 and N q-2 respectively. The simplex iterations are carried out in the two dimensional array A of size (M2,N2). Initially the coefficients of the matrix {a,. j} should be stored in the first M rows and first N columns of A, and the …
Environmental Policy, the Porter Hypothesis and the Composition of Capital: Effects of Learning and Techonological Progress

In this paper, the effect of environmental policy on the composition of capital is investigated. By allowing for non-linearities, it generalizes Xepapadeas and De Zeeuw (Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 1999) and determines scenarios in which their results do not carry over. In particular, we show that the way acquisition cost of investment decreases with the age of the capital stock is of crucial importance. Also, it is obtained that environmental policy has opposite effects on the average age of the capital stock in the case of either deterioration or depreciation. We also focus more explicitly on learning and technological progress. Among others, we obtain that in the presence of learning, implementing a stricter environmental policy with the aim to reach a certain target of emissions reduction has a stronger negative effect on industry profits, which implies quite the opposite as to what is described by the Porter hypothesis.
Speech-based human-robot interaction robust to acoustic reflections in real environment

Acoustic reflection inside an enclosed environment is detrimental to human-robot interaction. Reflection may manifest as phantom sources emanating from unknown directions. In effect, a single speaker may falsely manifest as multiple speakers to the robot audition system, impeding the robot's ability to correctly associate the speech command to the actual speaker. Moreover, speech reflection smears the original speech signal due to reverberation. This degrades speech recognition and understanding performance. Conventional robot audition schemes that rely purely on acoustics and spatial information are very sensitive to acoustic reflection which ultimately leads to the failure in human-robot interaction. We propose a method for human-robot interaction robust to the effect of acoustic reflection. First, visual information is utilized and head tracking scheme is employed to reinforce the acoustic information with the visual presence of a prospect user. Second, we employ a model-based sound event identification scheme and scrutinize whether the acoustic information is likely to be speech or non-speech. Using all the information we have gathered, we create a simple rule construct to effectively discriminate the original source (actual speaker) from phantom sources (reflection). Consequently, the corresponding source identified as phantom (reflection) is used to estimate the unwanted smearing for effective suppression via speech enhancement. Experiments are conducted in human-robot interaction setting in which the proposed method outperforms the conventional method.
Levelized Product Cost: Concept and Decision Relevance

This paper examines a life-cycle cost concept that applies to both manufacturing and service industries in which upfront capacity investments are essential. Borrowing from the energy literature, we refer to this cost measure as the levelized product cost (LC). Per unit of output, the levelized cost aggregates a share of the initial capacity expenditure with periodic fixed and variable operating costs. The resulting cost figure exceeds the full cost of a product, as commonly calculated in managerial accounting. Our analysis shows that the LC can be interpreted as the long-run marginal product cost. In particular, this cost measure is shown to be the relevant unit cost that firms should impute for investments in productive capacity.