Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arabic version of situational characteristic questionnaire for diagnosis of visual vertigo syndrome

Abstract Objectives: To develop and validate an Arabic version of the situational characteristic questionnaire (SCQ), which is the gold standard and easy method in diagnosing visual vertigo syndrome (VV). Methods: The adapted SCQ was translated according to the cross-cultural adaptation guidelines that included: original author permission, forward and backward translation, Expert committee review, pretesting and final version of the Arabic SCQ. The questionnaire was completed by 100 normal controls (control group) and 100 patients with VV symptoms (VV group). Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were examined. Reliability included internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Validity was examined by evaluating the content and construct validity. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the possible cut-off values. Results: Indicated good reliability of the Arabic SCQ (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.84 for control group, and = 0.79 for VV group). Test–retest correlation was done on a subgroup of 46 control subjects and 50 VV patients after 1 week. Repeatability of the questionnaire was high for the total Arabic SCQ score using Spearman’s correlation (r = 0.99 and 0.97 for the control and VV groups, respectively). For construct validity, Spearman’s correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations between the Arabic SCQ total score and the modified Arabic visual vestibular mismatch score (r = 0.64, p < .001*). The Arabic SCQ total scores of VV patients were significantly different from normal controls (p < .001* using the Mann-Whitney test). Conclusion: The Arabic version of the SCQ is a valid and reliable tool for diagnosing VV and for the assessment of severity of symptoms in the Egyptian and Arabic populations. The most sensitive cut-off point of the Arabic SCQ for diagnosing VV was (1.15).
How does leadership influence incident reporting intention in healthcare? A dual process model of leader–member exchange

Building on social exchange and social identity theory, we examined how leader–member exchange (LMX) influences intention to report incidents in healthcare organizations through two different mechanisms. Using survey data of 15 hospitals in Germany (N = 480) and multilevel structural equation modelling, we found as expected that LMX positively related to reporting-specific trust and organizational identification of employees. However, only reporting-specific trust but not organizational identification was directly related to incident reporting intention. Furthermore, top management support for patient safety moderated the link between LMX and reporting-specific trust, indicating a compensatory mechanism of top management support for followers with a low-quality leadership relationship. In addition, codification of patient safety regulations moderated the link between organizational identification and incident reporting intention. As expected, the institutionalization of patient safety norms through a strong follow-through of the organization is related to increased reporting only for employees with high organizational identification. Results are discussed in terms of how safety leadership can be enacted at both the supervisory and top management level in order to promote safety behaviour in healthcare organizations.
Cohort profile: the Danish nurse cohort.

From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, 20–30% of Danish women between 55 and 65 years of age used hormone replacement therapy (HRT). It was primarily used to alleviate climacteric symptoms, but from 1980s the therapy was also used for prevention of osteoporosis and from the 1990s for prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The literature based on observational studies, primarily US studies, suggested a considerable risk reduction of osteoporotic fractures and coronary heart disease, whereas findings on the effect of HRT on breast cancer were inconsistent. In 1976, the US Nurses’ Health Study was established, comprising 121 700 female registered nurses, who were between 30 and 55 years of age. This cohort was originally established to assess risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular diseases, with a particular interest in effects of oral contraceptives, use of hormones, cigarette smoking and other lifestyle factors. Ever since, the participants have been followed every other year with a mailed questionnaire to update exposure information and information on illnesses diagnosed since the previous questionnaire. Inspired by this US cohort of nurses, the Danish Nurse Cohort was established to examine the benefits and risks associated with HRT use in a European population.
Constitutive expression of arginase in microvascular endothelial cells counteracts nitric oxide‐mediated vasodilatory function

Arginase shares a common substrate, L‐arginine, with nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS). It is thought that arginase, if it is expressed in the endothelium, might play a pivotal role in the regulation of NO‐mediated vasodilation by reducing the L‐arginine availability to NOS. In the present study, we wanted to determine whether arginase is expressed and active in coronary arterioles and to demonstrate whether endothelial arginase can influence NO production and play a functional role in regulating NO‐mediated dilation. In this regard, the expression of arginase mRNA and distribution of arginase protein in porcine coronary microvessels were determined by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. To assess the role of arginase in vasoregulation directly, porcine subepicardial coronary arterioles (60–110 µm in diameter) were isolated, cannulated, and pressurized for in vitro study under the conditions with and without arginase inhibition. Molecular evidence indicated that arginase I, but not arginase II, mRNA was expressed in the coronary arterioles. The constitutive expression of arginase I protein in the coronary arteriolar endothelial cells was revealed immunohistochemically. Adenosine and serotonin stimulated a threefold increase in NO release and produced dilation of isolated coronary arterioles. NOS inhibitor L‐ NMMA abolished the stimulated NO release and attenuated the dilations in response to these agonists. In contrast to L‐NMMA, arginase inhibitor α‐difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) increased the NO release by about 80% and also enhanced vasodilations in response to adenosine and serotonin. DFMO inhibited arginase (by 80%), but not NOS, activity in these microvessels without affecting their dilation in response to sodium nitroprusside. Similar to DFMO, intraluminal application of L‐arginine enhanced NO‐mediated vasodilations. The DFMO‐enhanced vasodilation was not observed in the presence of L‐NMMA or after endothelial removal, which suggests a regulatory role of endothelial arginase in the NO‐ mediated response. Collectively, this study provides novel findings that the arginase expressed in the endothelium plays a counteracting role in the stimulated NO production, and thus NO‐mediated vasodilatory function.
Use, misuse and extensions of “ideal gas” models of animal encounter

Biologists have repeatedly rediscovered classical models from physics predicting collision rates in an ideal gas. These models, and their two‐dimensional analogues, have been used to predict rates and durations of encounters among animals or social groups that move randomly and independently, given population density, velocity, and distance at which an encounter occurs. They have helped to separate cases of mixed‐species association based on behavioural attraction from those that simply reflect high population densities, and to detect cases of attraction or avoidance among conspecifics. They have been used to estimate the impact of population density, speeds of movement and size on rates of encounter between members of the opposite sex, between gametes, between predators and prey, and between observers and the individuals that they are counting. One limitation of published models has been that they predict rates of encounter, but give no means of determining whether observations differ significantly from predictions. Another uncertainty is the robustness of the predictions when animal movements deviate from the model’s assumptions in specific, biologically relevant ways. Here, we review applications of the ideal gas model, derive extensions of the model to cover some more realistic movement patterns, correct several errors that have arisen in the literature, and show how to generate confidence limits for expected rates of encounter among independently moving individuals. We illustrate these results using data from mangabey monkeys originally used along with the ideal gas model to argue that groups avoid each other. Although agent‐based simulations provide a more flexible alternative approach, the ideal gas model remains both a valuable null model and a useful, less onerous, approximation to biological reality.
An Overview of Results from Rutgers' Investigations of Interactive Information Retrieval

Over the last four years, the Information Interaction Laboratory at Rutgers' School of Communication, Information and Library Studies has carried out a series of investigations concerned with various aspects of people's interactions with advanced information retrieval systems. We have been especially concerned with understanding not just what people do, and why, and with what effect, but also with what they would like to do, and how they attempt to accomplish it, and with what difficulties. These investigations have led to some quite interesting conclusions about the nature and structure of people's interactions with information, about support for cooperative human-computer interaction in query reformulation, and about the value ∗ Research supported in part by a DARPA Equipment Grant, by NIST Cooperative Agreement No. 70NANB5H0050, and by TIPSTER Phase III Contract No. MDA904-96-C-1297
Parent and Friend Emotion Socialization as Correlates of Adolescent Eating Behavior

Eating disorders and disordered eating affect about half a million teenagers in the United States. Restrained eating is a type of disordered eating behavior where individuals limit their food intake to avoid weight gain, maintain their current weight, or lose weight. Although researchers have examined numerous predictors of this eating style, there are gaps in the literature related to the role of emotion socialization on restrained eating. Parents and peers continually interact with adolescents; as such, both groups often witness adolescents’ emotion expressivity behaviors. They can respond supportively or unsupportively and these responses contribute to adolescents’ emotion regulation strategies. The current study examined parents’ and friends’ supportive and unsupportive emotion socialization behaviors as correlates of adolescents’ restrained eating directly and indirectly through emotion regulation strategies (i.e., inhibition, dysregulation, regulation cope). Since gender differences are typical in how emotions are socialized and in restrained eating behaviors, the role of gender was examined. Data were collected from 91 youth (Mage = 16.50 years; 56.0% female; 76.9% Caucasian) and their parents (Mage = 49.30 years; 91.2% mothers). Youth responded to the You and Your Friends Questionnaire which assessed best friends’ emotion socialization, the Children’s Emotion Management Scales, which assessed adolescents’ emotion regulation behaviors, and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, which assessed adolescents’ restrained eating. Parents completed the Emotions as a Child Questionnaire, which asked about parents’ emotion socialization. Conditional process analyses and parallel mediations were conducted to examine the direct and indirect effects of emotion socialization on restrained eating through emotion regulation and as a function of gender. Results indicated that emotion inhibition mediated the effects of friend supportive and passive unsupportive responses on restrained eating. Additionally, friend passive unsupportive responses predicted higher levels of restrained eating in girls and lower levels of restrained eating in boys. Lastly, parent and friend active unsupportive responses predicted restrained eating in girls, but in different directions. Parents’ active unsupportive responses predicted lower levels of restrained eating in girls, whereas friends’ active unsupportive response predicted higher levels of restrained eating in girls. These findings demonstrate that during adolescence individuals, especially friends, influence adolescents’ restrained eating behaviors. Further, girls may be at greater risk of restrained eating compared to adolescent boys.
The homeobox transcription factor Barx2 regulates chondrogenesis during limb development

Among the many factors involved in regulation of chondrogenesis, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and members of the Sox and homeobox transcription factor families have been shown to have crucial roles. Of these regulators, the homeobox transcription factors that function during chondrogenesis have been the least well defined. We show here that the homeobox transcription factor Barx2 is expressed in primary mesenchymal condensations, digital rays, developing joints and articular cartilage of the developing limb, suggesting that it plays a role in chondrogenesis. Using retroviruses and antisense oligonucleotides to manipulate Barx2 expression in limb bud micromass cultures, we determined that Barx2 is necessary for mesenchymal aggregation and chondrogenic differentiation. In accordance with these findings, Barx2 regulates the expression of several genes encoding cell-adhesion molecules and extracellular matrix proteins, including NCAM and collagen II (Col2a1) in the limb bud. Barx2 bound to elements within the cartilage-specific Col2a1 enhancer, and this binding was reduced by addition of Barx2 or Sox9 antibodies, or by mutation of a HMG box adjacent to the Barx2-binding element, suggesting cooperation between Barx2 and Sox proteins. Moreover, both Barx2 and Sox9 occupy Col2a1 enhancer during chondrogenesis in vivo. We also found that two members of the BMP family that are crucial for chondrogenesis, GDF5 and BMP4, regulate the pattern of Barx2 expression in developing limbs. Based on these data, we suggest that Barx2 acts downstream of BMP signaling and in concert with Sox proteins to regulate chondrogenesis.
Time-Compression of Speech in Information Talks Using Spectral Entropy

Speech is one of the richest sources of information in human communication. In several situations, for example, classroom lectures, speech data alone conveys the majority of pertinent information. Large speech archives of lecture material are increasingly available on the Internet, but the lack of effective audio skimming tools complicates the interaction between users and audio material. In this paper, we describe a novel method for time-compression of speech based on the information theoretic measure of entropy. We demonstrate the applicability of spectral entropy in identifying important segments in speech, enabling time-compression of speech for skimming. We present results from a user study which confirms the viability of our approach.
Survey on robust H∞ control for consensus problem of multi-agent systems

This paper investigates the analytical methods of the consensus problem for multi-agent systems by the Robust H∞ control theory. The system model, the control protocol and the desired H∞ performance are analyzed for multi-agent systems with external disturbance, uncertainty and time-delay. The results obtained by different analysis methods regarding the consensus of multi-agent systems by robust H∞ control are introduced in detail. The characteristics of the methods for the first-order, second-order and high-dimension linear dynamics are compared with each other. Finally, some existing problems and future research directions in this research field are discussed.
EM-MAC: An energy-aware multi-channel MAC protocol for multi-hop wireless networks

We propose an energy-aware MAC protocol, referred to as EM-MAC, for multi-hop wireless networks with multi-channel access capabilities. EM-MAC relies on iMAC's efficient channel selection mechanism to resolve the medium contention on the common control channel, enabling wireless devices to select the best available data channel for data communication. Our protocol saves energy by allowing devices that have not gained access to the medium to switch to doze mode until the channel becomes idle again. Simulations results show that EM-MAC reduces energy consumption when compared with iMAC.
A multiscale theory for the dynamical evolution of sentiment in novels

Recent work in literary sentiment analysis has suggested that shifts in emotional valence may serve as a reliable proxy for plot movement in novels. The raw sentiment time series of a novel can now be extracted using a variety of different methods, and after extraction, filtering is commonly used to smooth the irregular sentiment time series. Using an adaptive filter, which is among the most effective in determining trends of a signal, reducing noise, and performing fractal and multifractal analysis, we show that the energy of the smoothed sentiment signals decays with the smoothing parameter as a power-law, characterized by a Hurst parameter H of 1/2 <; H <; 1, which signifies long-range correlations. We further show that a smoothed sentiment arc corresponds to the sentiment of fast playing mode or sentiment retained in one's memory, and that for a novel to be both captivating and rich, H has to be larger than 1/2 but cannot be too close to 1.
Reduced Serotonin Receptor Subtypes in a Limbic and a Neocortical Region in Autism

Autism is a behaviorally defined, neurological disorder with symptom onset before the age of 3. Abnormalities in social‐emotional behaviors are a core deficit in autism, and are characterized by impaired reciprocal–social interaction, lack of facial expressions, and the inability to recognize familiar faces. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and fusiform gyrus (FG) are two regions within an extensive limbic‐cortical network that contribute to social‐emotional behaviors. Evidence indicates that changes in brains of individuals with autism begin prenatally. Serotonin (5‐HT) is one of the earliest expressed neurotransmitters, and plays an important role in synaptogenesis, neurite outgrowth, and neuronal migration. Abnormalities in 5‐HT systems have been implicated in several psychiatric disorders, including autism, as evidenced by immunology, imaging, genetics, pharmacotherapy, and neuropathology. Although information is known regarding peripheral 5‐HT in autism, there is emerging evidence that 5‐HT systems in the central nervous system, including various 5‐HT receptor subtypes and transporters, are affected in autism. The present study demonstrated significant reductions in 5‐HT1A receptor‐binding density in superficial and deep layers of the PCC and FG, and in the density of 5‐HT2A receptors in superficial layers of the PCC and FG. A significant reduction in the density of serotonin transporters (5‐HTT) was also found in the deep layers of the FG, but normal levels were demonstrated in both layers of the PCC and superficial layers of the FG. This study provides potential substrates for decreased 5‐HT modulation/innervation in the autism brain, and implicate two 5‐HT receptor subtypes as potential neuromarkers for novel or existing pharmacotherapies. Autism Res 2013, 6: 571–583. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Characterization of polybacterial clinical samples using a set of group-specific broad-range primers targeting the 16S rRNA gene followed by DNA sequencing and RipSeq analysis

The standard use of a single universal broad-range PCR in direct 16S rDNA sequencing from polybacterial samples leaves the minor constituents at risk of remaining undetected because all bacterial DNA will be competing for the same reagents. In this article we introduce a set of three broad-range group-specific 16S rDNA PCRs that together cover the clinically relevant bacteria and apply them in the investigation of 25 polybacterial clinical samples. Mixed DNA chromatograms from samples containing more than one species per primer group were analysed using RipSeq Mixed (iSentio, Norway), a web-based application for the interpretation of chromatograms containing up to three different species. The group-specific PCRs reduced complexity in the resulting DNA chromatograms and made the assay more sensitive in situations with unequal species concentrations. Together this allowed for identification of a significantly higher number of bacterial species than did standard direct sequencing with a single universal primer pair and RipSeq analysis (95 vs 51). The method could improve microbiological diagnostics for important groups of patients and can be established in any laboratory with experience in direct 16S rDNA sequencing.
A Monetary Model of Factor Utilisation

The propagation mechanism of monetary shocks in an otherwise standard sticky-price model is examined, modified to incorporate factor hoarding in the form of variable capital utilisation rates and labour effort. In contrast to previous studies, it is found that real effects of monetary shocks can be generated at relatively low degrees of nominal rigidity. Factor hoarding enriches the propagation mechanism by flattening the marginal cost responses to monetary shocks. The assumption of labour hoarding is crucial for generating persistence, while the assumption of variable capital utilisation allows the generation of realistic investment volatility, without having to introduce capital adjustment costs.
Intra-body communication for biomedical sensor networks

Intra-body communication is a novel data transmission method that uses the human body as an electrical channel. The idea is driven by the vision of a cable-free biomedical monitoring system. On-body and implanted sensors monitor the vital functions and transfer data through the human body to a central monitoring unit. Especially for risk patients and long-term applications, such a technology offers more freedom, comfort, and opportunities in clinical monitoring. In this thesis, the human body is characterized as a transmission medium for electrical currents by means of the dielectric properties and the developed electrical models of human tissue. Numerical finite-element simulations are compared to in vivo measurements. For that purpose, a sophisticated measurement hardware has been developed that applies alternating 1 mA peak current in the promising frequency range of 10 kHz to 1 MHz. The individual-specific variations of the transmission characteristics have been investigated in a clinical trial. The subjects’ extra-cellular and intracellular water distribution and skin condition have been identified as the most significant indicators. Overall, the thorax features reasonable transmission characteristics with an averaged attenuation of 55 dB and a typical SNR of 20 dB, while the extremities and joints cause poorer transmissions. Finally, this work proposes transmitter and receiver architectures for intrabody communication. Data transfers of up to 64 kbit/s with BPSK modulation have been achieved through the human body. The first VLSI implementation of a modified SPIHT algorithm offers compression ratios of up to 20:1 for ECG signals still containing all significant details for medical diagnosis. The implementations fulfill all biomedical requirements on galvanic coupling into and within the human body.