Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smartphone Technology and Text Messaging for Weight Loss in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Using smartphone technology and text messaging for health is a growing field. This type of technology is well integrated into the lives of young adults. However, few studies have tested the effect of this type of technology to promote weight loss in young adults Objective: The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a behaviorally based smartphone application for weight loss combined with text messaging from a health coach on weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference in young adults as compared with a control condition. Methods: Sixty-two young adults, aged 18 to 25 years, were randomized to receive (1) a smartphone application + health coach intervention and counseling sessions or (2) control condition with a counseling session. All outcome measures were tested at baseline and 3 months. These included weight, BMI, waist circumference, dietary habits, physical activity habits, and self-efficacy for healthy eating and physical activity. Results: The sample was 71% female and 39% white, with an average age of 20 years and average BMI of 28.5 kg/m2. Participants in the smartphone + health coach group lost significantly more weight (P = .026) and had a significant reduction in both BMI (P = .024) and waist circumference (P < .01) compared with controls. Conclusions: The results of this weight loss trial support the use of smartphone technology and feedback from a health coach on improving weight in a group of diverse young adults.
Advantages of Aluminium Hydroxide Adsorbed Combined Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis Vaccines for the Immunization of Infants

Three combined triple antigen vaccines were used to inoculate infants receiving primary immunization at 3 to 6 months of age. Laboratory potency and toxicity tests and clinical evaluation again showed that the mouse weight gain test is able to predict which vaccines will give reactions in children. The addition of aluminium hydroxide to the vaccine both increased potency and reduced the tendency to cause reactions. Assays on sera showed that almost all children produced agglutinins to Bordetella pertussis types 1, 2, and 3 when the vaccine contained aluminium hydroxide.
SPERMIDINE AND SPERMINE IN RAT TISSUES AT DIFFERENT AGES.

Concentrations of spermidine and spermine in fifteen different tissues of male and female rats aged three months were determined, using amido black as the quantitative reagent, after paper electrophoretic separation of the amines. The changes in the concentrations of these polyamines in relation to age were followed by determinations from six tissues of newborn rats and of male rats aged 1, 3 and 9 months. At the age of three months the largest amounts of the polyamines were found in the liver and the thymus, 900 to 1600 mμmoles of spermidine and 700 to 900 mμmoles of spermine per g wet weight. No great sex differences were observed. In most tissues the molar concentration of spermidine was higher than that of spermine. The spermidine content in every tissue studied decreased with increasing age, the fall being most marked during the first month of life. The spermine content as a rule increased somewhat during the first month and then remained nearly constant or decreased slightly. Consequently, the molar ratio spermidine/spermine was highest immediately after birth, decreasing in the liver, for instance, from 4.52 to 0.84 during 9 months. In the brain, in contrast to the other tissues investigated, it increased from 1.31 to 2.08 during the first 9 months.
“To pool or not to pool”: A comparison of temporal pooling methods for HTTP adaptive video streaming

Current objective video quality metrics typically estimate video quality for short video sequences (10 to 15 sec) of constant quality. However, customers of video services usually watch longer sequences of videos which are more and more delivered via adaptive streaming methods such as HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS). A viewing session in such a setting contains several different video qualities over time. In order to express this in an overall score for the whole viewing session, several temporal pooling methods have been proposed in the related work. Within this paper, we set out to compare the performance of different temporal pooling methods for the prediction of Quality of Experience (QoE) for HTTP video streams with varying qualities. We perform this comparison based on ground truth rating data gathered in a crowdsourcing study in the context of the NGMN P-SERQU project. As input data for the models, we use objective video quality metrics such as PSNR, SSIM but also very basic inputs such as the bitrate of the clips only. Our results show that certain pooling methods perform clearly better than others. These results can help in identifying well performing temporal pooling methods in the context of HAS.
Sensitivity and sensitisation in relation to pain severity in knee osteoarthritis: trait or state?

Objectives It is not clear whether heightened pain sensitivity in knee osteoarthritis (OA) is related to sensitisation induced by nociceptive input from OA pathology (‘state’) versus other confounding factors. Conversely, some individuals may be predisposed to sensitisation irrespective of OA (‘trait’). Methods The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study is a longitudinal cohort of persons with or at risk of knee OA. We obtained knee X-rays, pain questionnaires and comprehensive assessment of factors that can influence pain sensitivity. We examined the relation of sensitisation and sensitivity assessed by mechanical temporal summation (TS) and pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) to knee OA and knee pain severity. To test whether sensitisation and sensitivity is a ‘state’ induced by OA pathology, we examined the relation of PPT and TS to knee OA duration and severity. Results In 2126 subjects (mean age 68, mean body mass index (BMI) 31, 61% female), PPT and TS were not associated with radiographic OA (ORs 0.9–1.0 for PPT and TS; p>0.05). However, PPT and TS were associated with pain severity (ORs: 1.7–2.0 for PPT; 1.3–1.6 for TS; p<0.05). Knee OA duration and radiographic severity were not associated with PPT or TS. Conclusions PPT and TS were associated with OA-related pain, but not radiographic OA after accounting for pertinent confounders in this large cohort. Lack of association with disease duration suggests at least some sensitisation and pain sensitivity may be a trait rather than state. Understanding the relationship between pathological pain and pain sensitivity/sensitisation offers insight into OA pain risk factors and pain management opportunities.
30-year retrospective review of frontal sinus fractures: The Charity Hospital experience.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The optimal method of treating frontal sinus fractures has remained undetermined. The purpose of this retrospective review is to compare the mechanism of injury, diagnostic techniques, methods of fracture management, complications, and long-term results in different types of frontal sinus fractures. METHODS AND MATERIALS Over 4,000 records of patients with frontal bone or skull fractures, treated during a 30-year period in an academic nonprofit tertiary Level I trauma center, were considered. From these, the authors selected 150 patients with frontal sinus fractures--with complete records and adequate follow-up time--and conducted a retrospective review. RESULTS AND/OR CONCLUSIONS For anterior fractures, observation alone had a high rate of complications (18.2%). Reconstruction with obstruction of the nasofrontal ostia by vascularized tissue was found to be the best treatment, followed by osteogenesis (9.1%) or obliteration (7.7%). Cranialization was the safest form of management for posterior table fractures that were either comminuted or involved the nasofrontal ostia. The preferred obliteration materials were vascularized flaps, cancellous bone, temporalis muscle, and fat; hydroxyapatite cement was a good alloplastic alternative.
REVIEW ON VEHICULAR SPEED, DENSITY ESTIMATION AND CLASSIFICATION USING ACOUSTIC SIGNAL

Traffic monitoring and parameters estimation from urban to non urban (battlefield environment) traffic is fast-emerging field based on acoustic signals. We present here a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art acoustic signal for vehicular speed estimation, density estimation and classification, critical analysis and an outlook to future research directions. This field is of increasing relevance for intelligent transport systems (ITSs). In recent years video monitoring and surveillance systems has been widely used in traffic management and hence traffic parameters can be achieved using such systems, but installation, operational and maintenance cost associated with these approaches are relatively high compared to the use of acoustic signal which is having very low installation and maintenance cost. The classification process includes sensing unit, class definition, feature extraction, classifier application and system evaluation. The acoustic classification system is part of a multi sensor real time environment for traffic surveillance and monitoring. Classification accuracy achieved by various studied algorithms shows very good performance for the 'Heavy Weight' class of vehicles as compared to the other category "Light Weight". Also a slight performance degrades as vehicle speed increases. Vehicular speed estimation corresponds to average speed and traffic density measurement, and can be substantially used for traffic signal timings optimization.
Bis[(1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methanol-κ2 N 3,O]bis(thiocyanato-κN)cobalt(II) methanol solvate

In the mononuclear title complex, [Co(NCS)2(C9H10N2O)2]·CH3OH, the cobalt(II) ion is surrounded by two (1-methyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methanol bidentate ligands and two thiocyanate ligands, and exhibits a distorted octahedral coordination by four N atoms and two O atoms. The structure is consolidated by hydrogen bonds between the organic ligand, thiocyanate anion and the uncoordinated methanol molecule, leading to a chain along [100].
A population-based twin study of self-esteem and gender

Background. Self-esteem (SE), a widely used construct in the social sciences, is usually conceptualized as a reflection of socialization and interpersonal experiences that may differ considerably between the genders. Methods. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale was assessed at personal interview in both members of 3793 unselected twin pairs (1517 male–male, 856 female–female and 1420 male–female) from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. Gender effects on SE were assessed by both analysis of variance and biometrical twin modelling. Results. The mean SE score was slightly but significantly lower in women v. men, and in women who grew up with a male v. a female co-twin. Twin modelling suggested that: (i) individual differences in self-esteem in both men and women were best explained by genetic and individual-specific environment factors; (ii) heritability estimates were similar in women (32%) and in men (29%); and (iii) the same genetic factors that influenced SE in women also influenced SE in men. Analyses supported the validity of the equal environment assumption for SE. The heritability of SE cannot be explained by the moderate correlation between SE and symptoms of depression. Conclusions. These results are inconsistent with prominent gender-related aetiological models for SE, which postulate that individual differences arise from socialization experiences both within and outside the home of origin which differ widely for the two genders. Instead, a significant proportion of the population variance in SE is due to genetically-influenced temperamental variables that are the same in men and women.
Shells of the Philippines

Zo een uitgebreid boek als resultaat van een gedegen biologische studie krijgen we bij een buikpotigengeslacht zelden voorgeschoteld, David G. Reid reviseerde de taxanomie van wat bekend stond als het „Littorina scabra" soortencomplex. Twintig soorten uit de Indo-pacifische mangrovebossen worden onderscheiden en gerekend tot het geslacht Littoraria Griffith & Pidgeon. Een nieuw subgenus, twee nieuwe soorten en een nieuwe ondersoort worden beschreven. In een aantal hoofdstukken wordt eerst uitgebreid ingegaan op de morfologische kenmerken van zowel de schelp als ook in het bijzonder van de anatomie van het dier. Behandeld worden met name de geslachtsorganen, de voortplantingswijze, de ei-capsules en de radula. Vervolgens komen in enkele volgende hoofdstukken aan de orde: woonomgeving en gedrag, biogeografie (verspreidingspatronen en processen) en ten slotte phylogenie en indeling van het geslacht waarbij met behulp van vele relevante morfologische kenmerken een inzicht wordt verkregen in de relaties tussen de verschillende soorten en ondersoorten. Een determineersleutel gaat vooraf aan de zeer complete soortbeschrijvingen, die voorzien zijn van vele afbeeldingen vaak ook van type-materiaal, verspreidingskaartjes, SEM-foto’s van microstructuur, radula en protococonch en ten slotte vele tekeningen van het genitaalapparaat en andere anatomi­ sche kenmerken. Dit is een studie die met zijn bijdetijdse en goed gedokumenteerde aanpak hopelijk een voorbeeld zal kunnen zijn voor vele volgende. J.G.
Priming of endothelial colony‐forming cells in a mesenchymal niche improves engraftment and vasculogenic potential by initiating mesenchymal transition orchestrated by NOTCH signaling

The prospect of using endothelial progenitors is currently hampered by their low engraftment upon transplantation. We report that mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), independent of source and age, improve the engraftment of endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs). MSC coculture altered ECFC appearance to an elongated mesenchymal morphology with reduced proliferation. ECFC primed via MSC contact had reduced self‐renewal potential, but improved capacity to form tube structures in vitro and engraftment in vivo. Primed ECFCs displayed major differences in transcriptome compared to ECFCs never exposed to MSCs, affecting genes involved in the cell cycle, up‐regulating of genes influencing mesenchymal transition, adhesion, extracellular matrix. Inhibition of NOTCH signaling, a potential upstream regulator of mesenchymal transition, in large part modulated this gene expression pattern and functionally reversed the mesenchymal morphology of ECFCs. The collective results showed that primed ECFCs survive better and undergo a mesenchymal transition that is dependent on NOTCH signaling, resulting in significantly increased vasculogenic potential. —Shafiee, A. , Patel, J., Wong, H.Y. , Donovan, P., Hutmacher, D. W. , Fisk, N. M. , Khosrotehrani, K. Priming of endothelial colony‐forming cells in a mesenchymal niche improves engraftment and vasculogenic potential by initiating mesenchymal transition orchestrated by NOTCH signaling. FASEB J. 31, 610–624 (2017). www.fasebj. org
Balkans Syndrome: A Potential Link Between Multiple Sclerosis and Hypervaccination

Balkans Syndrome is a recent term that has been widely used in the media to describe a heterogenous group of medical conditions that presented in soldiers following deployment on military operations to the former Yugoslavia and its neighbouring countries. These individuals had been subjected to an intense and protracted course of vaccinations (termed hypervaccination) prior to deployment, which has subsequently been implicated by the media as the cause of this disease. We describe the case of a 33- year old army officer, who received twenty vaccinations and boosters during the period 2000-2006, and was subsequently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008.
SUT System Description for Anti-Spoofing 2017 Challenge

Reliability of Automatic Speaker Veriﬁcation (ASV) systems has always been a concern in dealing with spooﬁng attacks. Among these attacks, replay attack is the simplest and the easiest accessible method. This paper describes a replay spooﬁng detection system applied to ASVspoof2017 corpus. To reach this goal, features such as Constant-Q Cepstral Coeﬃ-cients (CQCC), Modiﬁed Group Delay (MGD), Mel Frequency Cepstral Coeﬃcients (MFCC), Relative Spectral Perceptual Linear Predictive (RASTA-PLP) and Linear Prediction Cepstral Coeﬃcients (LPCC), and diﬀerent classiﬁers including Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Linear Gaussian (LG) classiﬁer have been employed. We also used identity vector (i-vector) based utterance representation. Finally, scores of diﬀerent subsystems have been fused to construct the proposed system. The results show that the best performance is attained using this score level fusion.
Product Design and Supply Chain Coordination Under Extended Producer Responsibility

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation focuses on the life‐cycle environmental performance of products and has significant implications for management theory and practice. In this paper, we examine the influence of EPR policy parameters on product design and coordination incentives in a durable product supply chain. We model a manufacturer supplying a remanufacturable product to a customer over multiple periods. The manufacturer invests in two design attributes of the product that impact costs incurred by the supply chain—performance, which affects the environmental impact of the product during use, and remanufacturability, which affects the environmental impact post‐use. Consistent with the goals of EPR policies, the manufacturer and the customer are required to share the environmental costs incurred over the product's life cycle. The customer has a continuing need for the services of the product and optimizes between the costs of product replacement and the costs incurred during use. We demonstrate how charges during use and post‐use can be used as levers to encourage environmentally favorable product design. We analyze the impact of supply chain coordination on design choices and profit and discuss contracts that can be used to achieve coordination, both under symmetric and asymmetric information about customer attributes.
Urinary Tract Infection with Esherichia coli and Antibacterial Activity of Some Plants Extracts

Urinary tract infections are the most common pathogenic infections, these infections lead to many difficult problems, especially increasing resistance to antibiotic drugs. Generally humans in many countries, especially developing countries expose to urinary tract infection in different ages and sex. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activities of natural extracts against pathogenic E. coli causing urinary tract infections. A total 130 urine samples was collected from patients examined for urinary tract infection in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Urology Department, Saudi Arabia. Results indicated a positive bacterial growth on cled, macConkey's agar and nutrient agar. E. coli was the most predominant pathogen causing urinary tract infection with ratio 43.9%. The incidence of bacteriuria was higher among patients ages 41-52 years old (35.3%) and decrease to 15.5% with age of 29-40 years old and less incidence was detected among 77-87 years old (1.7%). Also, the infection was more prevalent among females (56.9%) compared to males (43.1%). Ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and norfloxacin were the best antibiotics used against E. coli isolates. Clove, ginger (dry, fresh), peppermint, spearmint and thyme alcoholic extracts were the most effective plant extracts against selected isolates of E.coli. It was concluded that combination between clove alcoholic extract and antibiotics as gentamicin, levofloxacin, amikacin and norfloxacin increase the synergistic effect of antibiotics against selected E. coli isolates.
Characteristics of patients with prostate cancer who have initially been treated by hormone therapy in Japan: J-CaP surveillance.

OBJECTIVE Hormone therapy for prostate cancer has empirically prevailed in Japan. We planned to evaluate the trends and outcome of hormone therapy for establishing an adequate guideline. METHODS Patients with prostate cancer who were initially treated by hormone therapy were registered through the J-CaP registration system. This report summarizes the background factors. RESULTS From January 2001 to October 2003, 17,872 patients were registered from 395 institutes throughout Japan. The background factors of 17,312 patients were analyzed. The 17,872 patients were estimated as composing more than half of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients in Japan. Of these, 22.9, 35.1, 32.9 and 8.6% belonged to T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. For the purposes of hormone therapy, 77.5% was primary hormone therapy. Neoadjuvant setting and adjuvant setting were 18.1 and 4.3%, respectively. About 60% of the hormone therapy was combined hormone therapy with LH-RHa plus anti-androgens. CONCLUSION Irrespective of patients' age, TNM, stage of illness, or histological background, the majority of prostate cancer patients in Japan are receiving hormone therapy. It is necessary to evaluate whether this trend is merely a continuation of past experience of Japanese urologists or if there is a difference in the profile of effect and side-effect in the case of Japanese patients compared to therapy given in Westerners.
Photoperiod and Testosterone Interact to Drive Seasonal Changes in Kisspeptin Expression in Siberian Hamsters (Phodopus sungorus)

Kisspeptin, a neuropeptide product of the KiSS‐1 gene, has recently been implicated in the regulation of seasonal breeding in a number of species, including Siberian hamsters. In this species, kisspeptin expression is reduced in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) following exposure to inhibitory day lengths, and exogenous kisspeptin activates the reproductive neuroendocrine axis of reproductively quiescent animals. Because sex steroids can impact kisspeptin expression, it is unclear whether changes in kisspeptin occur in direct response to photoperiodic cues or secondarily in response to changes in sex steroid concentrations resulting from the transition to reproductive quiescence. The present study aimed to assess the relative contributions of photoperiod and testosterone in regulating kisspeptin expression in Siberian hamsters. Animals housed in long or short day lengths for 8 weeks were either castrated or received sham surgeries. Half of the hamsters in each photoperiod were given testosterone to mimic long‐day sex steroid concentrations. The results obtained indicate that kisspeptin neurones in the AVPV and arcuate nuclei were influenced by both photoperiod and testosterone. In the AVPV, removal of testosterone or exposure to inhibitory day lengths led to a marked reduction in kisspeptin‐immunoreactive cells, and testosterone treatment increased cell numbers across conditions. Importantly, long‐day castrates exhibited significantly more kisspeptin cells than short‐day castrates or intact short‐day animals with empty capsules, suggesting the influences of photoperiod, independent of gonadal steroids. In general, the opposite pattern emerged for the arcuate nuclei. Collectively, these data suggest a role for both gonadal‐dependent and independent (i.e. photoperiodic) mechanisms regulating seasonal changes in kisspeptin expression in Siberian hamsters.