Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medical and self-care practices reported by women with urinary incontinence.

OBJECTIVES To determine the extent to which women with incontinence have been identified by physicians, the coping and treatment strategies that incontinent women use, and the factors associated with treatment strategy utilization. STUDY DESIGN A 2-stage, nationwide, cross-sectional survey. METHODS Survey participants were adult women from representative US households in NFO WorldGroup survey panels. Of 2310 incontinent women who received the second-stage detailed questionnaire, 1970 (85%) responded. Descriptive analyses were performed to determine the impact of incontinence, the proportion of respondents who had talked to a physician about incontinence, the responses of physicians to these incontinent women, and coping strategies used. We conducted logistic regressions to determine factors associated with treatment strategy utilization. RESULTS Almost half of incontinent women considered their incontinence moderately to extremely bothersome, yet only 56% of the moderately to extremely bothered women had ever talked to a physician about incontinence. In 85% of all cases, the incontinent woman, rather than the physician, raised the issue of incontinence. Coping strategies women reported ever trying included limiting fluid intake (38%) and physical activity (21%). Kegel exercises and prescription medications were used currently by 20% and 6% of this population, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Among women of all ages, only about half of women bothered by incontinence have ever talked to a physician about it, and many incontinent women rely on strategies to avoid or conceal incontinence. A better understanding of the current use of coping and treatment strategies as well as the interaction between women and physicians regarding incontinence may help to inform efforts to optimize management of incontinence for women bothered by incontinence symptoms.
Variation in physical development in schoolboy rugby players: can maturity testing reduce mismatch?

Objectives This study set out to pursue means of reducing mismatch in schoolboy rugby players. The primary objective was to determine whether application of previously reported thresholds of height and grip strength could be used to distinguish those 15-year-old boys appropriate to play under-18 school rugby from their peers. A secondary objective was to obtain normative data for height, weight and grip strength and to assess the variation within that data of current schoolboy rugby players. Design Cross-sectional cohort study. Setting 3 Scottish schools and ‘Regional Assessment Centres’ organised by the Scottish Rugby Union. Participants 472 rugby playing youths aged 15 years (Regional Assessment Centres) and 382 schoolboys aged between 12 and 18 years (three schools). Outcome measures Height, weight and grip strength. Results 97% of 15-year-olds achieved the height and grip strength thresholds based on previous reported values. Larger mean values and wide variation of height, weight and grip strength were recorded in the schoolboy cohort. However, using the mean values of the cohort of 17-year-olds as a new threshold, only 7.7% of 15-year-olds would pass these thresholds. Conclusions Large morphological variation was observed in schoolboy rugby players of the same age. Physical maturity tests described in earlier literature as pre-participation screening for contact sports were not applicable to current day 15-year-old rugby players. New criteria were measured and found to be better at identifying those 15-year-old players who had sufficient physical development to play senior school rugby.
An examination of risk factors associated with beef cattle shedding pathogens of potential zoonotic concern

The prevalence of three waterborne zoonotic pathogens (Campylobacter sp., Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium parvum) in rectal faecal samples from a random sample of adult beef cattle was determined. Management factors that may be associated with shedding of these organisms were examined. For Campylobacter sp. prevalence was 5·0%, and the number of females on the farm was positively associated with the proportion that tested positive. For Giardia sp. prevalence was 6·5%, and none of the management factors examined was significantly associated with the proportion in a herd testing positive. C. parvum was identified in 1·1% of samples. The length of calving season and whether any procedures were performed on the calves in the first 2 days of life were positively associated with the proportion that tested positive. We conclude that this sample of adult beef cattle represent a relatively limited threat to water supplies and subsequent disease transmission to humans from these pathogens.
Abdominal Pregnancy in the United States: Frequency and Maternal Mortality

From an analysis of 11 abdominal pregnancy-related deaths and an estimated 5221 abdominal pregnancies in the United States, we estimated that there were 10.9 abdominal pregnancies per 100,000 live births and 9.2 per 1000 ectopic pregnancies; the mortality rate was 5.1 per 1000 cases. Although the risk of having an ectopic pregnancy is rising, the risk of abdominal pregnancy, which is probably always a sequel of a missed ruptured ectopic pregnancy, is apparently declining; this may be due to improved prenatal care. However, only one of nine women who reached the hospital alive had an accurate preoperative diagnosis of abdominal pregnancy, which suggests that preventing abdominal pregnancy-related death may depend, at least in part, upon increasing physicians' awareness of its clinical features.
Adenine Nucleotide-dependent Regulation of Assembly of Bacterial Tubulin-like FtsZ by a Hypermorph of Bacterial Actin-like FtsA*

Cytokinesis in bacteria depends upon the contractile Z ring, which is composed of dynamic polymers of the tubulin homolog FtsZ as well as other membrane-associated proteins such as FtsA, a homolog of actin that is required for membrane attachment of the Z ring and its subsequent constriction. Here we show that a previously characterized hypermorphic mutant FtsA (FtsA*) partially disassembled FtsZ polymers in vitro. This effect was strictly dependent on ATP or ADP binding to FtsA* and occurred at substoichiometric levels relative to FtsZ, similar to cellular levels. Nucleotide-bound FtsA* did not affect FtsZ GTPase activity or the critical concentration for FtsZ assembly but was able to disassemble preformed FtsZ polymers, suggesting that FtsA* acts on FtsZ polymers. Microscopic examination of the inhibited FtsZ polymers revealed a transition from long, straight polymers and polymer bundles to mainly short, curved protofilaments. These results indicate that a bacterial actin, when activated by adenine nucleotides, can modify the length distribution of bacterial tubulin polymers, analogous to the effects of actin-depolymerizing factor/cofilin on F-actin.
A techno-economic evaluation of Bracke and M-Planter tree planting devices.

Techno-economically reasonable mechanization of tree planting has proved to be a difficult task in the Nordic working conditions. Although planting machines and combinations of base machine and planting device have been developed since the 1970s, mechanized planting has not been cost-competitive to manual planting. The aim of this study was to find out work time distributions, productivities, costs and effects of different work difficulty factors on productivities and costs of the state-of-the-art Nordic planting devices, Swedish Bracke and Finnish M-Planter, and to compare the devices with each other. The theory of comparative time studies was the base for the experimental design of this study. In the average working conditions, productivity (E15) of M-Planter (236 seedlings/hour) was 36.0% higher than that of Bracke (174 seedlings/hour). Here, M-Planter performed planting work 23.4% cheaper than Bracke. However, the difference depended greatly on the working conditions; the more stones or stumps the smaller the difference, and the more slash the bigger the difference.
Lymphatic transport of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor in rats.

The lymphatic transport of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rHu-TNF) was investigated after its administration via various routes in anesthetized rats. After intravenous (i.v.) administration, the level of rHu-TNF in the lymph reached a peak at 2 h, and thereafter decreased exponentially in a pattern similar to that of the elimination from plasma. Intramuscular (i.m.) and subcutaneous (s.c.) administrations resulted in low levels of rHu-TNF both in the plasma and in the lymph. On the other hand, intraperitoneal (i.p.), intra-stomach wall (s.w.) and intra-gut wall (g.w.) administrations gave high lymph levels of rHu-TNF. After the s.w. , g.w. and i.p. administrations, the ratios of rHu-TNF recovered from the thoracic duct to the cumulative amount estimated from the rHu-TNF concentration in plasma were about 25, 32 and 8 times higher than in the case of i.v. administration, respectively. These results suggest that the routes of local administration of rHu-TNF such as s.w. , g.w. and i.p. may be highly effective for the treatment of lymphatic metastasis of cancer.
Sex and the single cell. I. On the action of major loci affecting sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster.

Sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster is under the control of the X chromosome:autosome ratio and at least four major regulatory genes: transformer (tra), transformer-2 (tra-2), doublesex (dsx) and intersex (ix). Attention is focused here on the roles of these four loci in sex determination. By examining the sexual phenotype of clones of homozygous mutant cells produced by mitotic recombination in flies heterozygous for a given recessive sex-determination mutant, we have shown that the tra, tra-2 and dsx loci determine sex in a cell-autonomous manner. The effect of removing the wild-type allele of each locus (by mitotic recombination) at a number of times during development has been used to determine when the wild-type alleles of the tra, tra-2 and dsx loci have been transcribed sufficiently to support normal sexual development. The wild-type alleles of all three loci are needed into the early pupal period for normal sex determination in the cells that produce the sexually dimorphic (in pigmentation) cuticle of the fifth and sixth dorsal abdominal segments. tra(+) and tra-2(+) cease being needed shortly before the termination of cell division in the abdomen, whereas dsx(+) is required at least until the end of division. By contrast, in the foreleg, the wild-type alleles of tra(+) and tra-2(+) have functioned sufficiently for normal sexual differentiation to occur by about 24 to 48 hours before pupariation, but dsx(+) is required in the foreleg at least until pupariation. --A comparison of the phenotypes produced in mutant/deficiency and homozygous mutant-bearing flies shows that dsx, tra-2 and tra mutants result in a loss of wild-type function and probably represent null alleles at these genes. -All possible homozygous doublemutant combinations of ix, tra-2 and dsx have been constructed and reveal a clear pattern of epistasis: dsx > tra, tra-2 > ix. We conclude that these genes function in a single pathway that determines sex. The data suggest that these mutants are major regulatory loci that control the batteries of genes necessary for the development of many, and perhaps all, secondary sexual characteristics. -The striking similarities between the properties of these loci and those of the homeotic loci that determine segmental and subsegmental specialization during development suggest that the basic mechanisms of regulation are the same in the two situations. The phenotypes and interactions of these sex-determination mutants provide the basis for the model of how the wild-type alleles of these loci act together to effect normal sex determination. Implications of these observations for the function of other homeotic loci are discussed.
Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Problems

429 A significant proportion of problems related to alcohol use—including motor vehicle crashes, other injuries, health problems, and family difficulties—occur in persons who are not alcohol dependent (Institute of Medicine 1990). In fact, estimates suggest that alcohol dependence is found in only one in four persons seen in primary care settings who drink above recommended limits of alcohol use (for men, more than two drinks per day or four per occasion; for women, more than one drink per day or three per occasion) (Manwell et al. 1998; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA] 1995; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1996).
Opposing Action of Casein Kinase 1 and Calcineurin in Nucleo-cytoplasmic Shuttling of Mammalian Translation Initiation Factor eIF6*

Eukaryotic initiation factor 6 (eIF6), a highly conserved protein from yeast to mammals, is essential for 60 S ribosome biogenesis and assembly. Both yeast and mammalian eIF6 are phosphorylated at Ser-174 and Ser-175 by the nuclear isoform of casein kinase 1 (CK1). The molecular basis of eIF6 phosphorylation, however, remains elusive. In the present work, we show that subcellular distribution of eIF6 in the nuclei and the cytoplasm of mammalian cells is mediated by dephosphorylation and phosphorylation, respectively. This nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling is dependent on the phosphorylation status at Ser-174 and Ser-175 of eIF6. We demonstrate that Ca2+-activated calcineurin phosphatase binds to and promotes nuclear localization of eIF6. Increase in intracellular concentration of Ca2+ leads to rapid translocation of eIF6 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, an event that is blocked by specific calcineurin inhibitors cyclosporin A or FK520. Nuclear export of eIF6 is regulated by phosphorylation at Ser-174 and Ser-175 by the nuclear isoform of CK1. Mutation of eIF6 at the phos-phorylatable Ser-174 and Ser-175 to alanine or treatment of cells with the CK1 inhibitor, D4476 inhibits nuclear export of eIF6 and results in nuclear accumulation of eIF6. Together, these results establish eIF6 as a substrate for calcineurin and suggest a novel paradigm for calcineurin function in 60 S ribosome biogenesis via regulating the nuclear accumulation of eIF6.
The Geography of Asset Holdings: Evidence from Sweden

This paper analyzes the determinants of cross-border asset holdings on cross-country data and a Swedish data set. We focus our analysis on the effect of the euro not only for the determinants of bond holdings, but also of equity and banking assets. With the help of a simple theoretical model, we attempt to disentangle the different effects that the euro may have had on asset holdings for both euro zone countries and countries outside of the euro zone such as Sweden. We find evidence that the euro has implied 1) a unilateral financial liberalization which makes it cheaper for all countries to buy euro zone assets. For bonds and equity holdings, this would translate into a 14% and 17% decrease in transaction costs. Using Swedish data, we find that the effect is larger for flows than for stocks. 2) a preferential financial liberalization which on top of the previous effect has decreased transaction costs inside the euro zone by 17% and 10% for bonds and equity respectively. 3) a diversion effect due to the fact that lower transaction costs inside the euro zone have led euro countries to purchase less Swedish equity. Our empirical analysis also suggests that the elasticity of substitution between bonds inside the euro zone is higher than between bonds denominated in different currencies. We illustrate this effect for transaction costs generated by the difference in the legal system.
NON-THEMATIC REVIEW Ovarian cancer molecular pathology

Ovarian cancer (OVC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Europe and the United States. Its early detection is difficult due to the lack of specificity of clinical symptoms. Unfortunately, late diagnosis is a major contributor to the poor survival rates for OVC, which can be attributed to the lack of specific sets of markers. Aside from patients sharing a strong family history of ovarian and breast cancer, including the BRCA1 and BRCA2 tumor suppressor genes mutations, the most used biomarker is the Cancer-antigen 125 (CA-125). CA-125 has a sensitivity of 80 % and a specificity of 97 % in epithelial cancer (stage III or IV). However, its sensitivity is 30 % in stage I cancer, as its increase is linked to several physiological phenomena and benign situations. CA-125 is particularly useful for at-risk population diagnosis and to assess response to treatment. It is clear that alone, CA-125 is inadequate as a biomarker for OVC diagnosis. There is an unmet need to identify additional biomarkers. Novel and more sensitive proteomic strategies such as MALDI mass spectrometry imaging studies are well suited to identify better markers for both diagnosis and prognosis. In the present review, we will focus on such proteomic strategies in regards to OVC signaling pathways, OVC development and escape from the immune response.
Intraoperative findings and postoperative complications in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: the Greek experience with 5,539 patients in a single center.

BACKGROUND This is a retrospective study presenting the experience of a teaching-oriented laparoendoscopic unit with laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in order to add data to the international literature concerning issues such as epidemiology, intraoperative findings, conversion and complication rates. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this study 5539 consecutive patients who underwent LC between 1990 and 2000 were included. Elective (n=4903) or emergent (n=636) LC was performed in all but 99 patients (who were converted to the open procedure). Conversion rate, complication rate, mortality, and length of stay were the main outcome parameters in this study. RESULTS There was no intraoperative or in-hospital mortality in our series. The conversion rate was 1.8%. The complication rate was 2.92% (162 patients). The vast majority of our patients (92%) were discharged from the hospital on the first postoperative day. CONCLUSIONS LC is a safe technique when up-to-date equipment and meticulous dissection techniques are employed. A specialized laparoscopic unit is important in a general surgery department, to have an experienced laparoscopic surgeon in all cases. In our opinion this is the only way to minimize common bile duct injuries and the rates of other major complications.
Neurocognitive and Psychological Functioning of Children with an Intracranial Germ Cell Tumor

Purpose This study was conducted to investigate the neurocognitive functioning of children with intracranial germ cell tumor (IGCT) prior to receiving proton beam therapy (PBT), and to identify differential characteristics of their neurocognitive functioning depending on tumor location. As a secondary object of this study, neurocognitive functions were followed up at 1-2 years after PBT to examine early post-treatment changes. Materials and Methods Between 2008 and 2014, 34 childrenwith IGCT treatedwho received PBT atNational Cancer Center, Korea were enrolled in this study. Standardized neurocognitive tests of intelligence, memory, and executive functioning were performed with baseline psychological assessments using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Follow-up assessments after PBT were conducted in 20 patients (T2). The results were analyzed based on the locations of tumors, which included the suprasellar, pineal gland, basal ganglia, and bifocal regions. Results The neurocognitive function of IGCT patients was significantly lower than that of the normal population in performance intelligence quotient (p=0.041), processing speed (p=0.007), memory (p < 0.001), and executive functioning (p=0.010). Patients with basal ganglia tumors had significantly lower scores for most domains of neurocognitive functioning and higher scores for CBCL than both the normal population and patients with IGCT in other locations. There was no significant change in neurocognitive function between T1 and T2 for all types of IGCT patients in first 1-2 years after PBT. Conclusion Tumor location significantly affects the neuropsychological functioning in patients with IGCT. Neuropsychological functioning should be closely monitored from the time of diagnosis in IGCT patients.
Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Bisphenol A in Aqueous Solution by Ag-Doping ZnO

The metal-doping into the photocatalyst was evaluated for the photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A in aqueous solution with ZnO powder. Au/ZnO, Ag/ZnO and Cu/ZnO were tested in the present work. Ag-doping ZnO was effective for the improvement of efficiency for the photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A in water. The optimum doping concentration of silver was found to be 3 wt%. The pseudo first-order rate constant with 3 wt% Ag/ZnO was 1.3 times better compared with bare ZnO. The photocatalytic degradation of treatment for the wastewater containing bisphenol A is simple, easy handling and low cost.
Multiplier-less based architecture for variable-length FFT hardware implementation

This paper presents a new variable-length, multiplierless Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) hardware implementation. The proposed implementation handles with 16, 64 and 128 point FFT frames. The architecture is designed based on Single-path Delay Feedback (SDF) scheme which implements the mixed radi×2, 22 FFT algorithms. In order to improve the performance, the complex multipliers are replaced by simpler and faster units which use only shift and addition/subtraction operations. As consequence, we obtain twofold increase in the speed.
["I am a Misunderstood Being on Earth" - Concept of illness of patients suffering from schizophrenic psychosis before and after psychoeducational treatment].

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of a psychoeducational intervention on the individual concepts of illness of patients suffering from schizophrenia. METHOD 27 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 were interviewed with open ended questions about their concept of illness at admission to a day hospital and after 10 weeks of attending a psychoeducational program. Questions concerned terminology, diagnosis, prognosis, interventions and aetiology. A qualitative analysis of these data is presented. RESULTS The terms used to describe the illness were mostly colloquial. Highly individualized and heterogeneous concepts of illness, aetiology and helpful interventions and a positive view regarding prognosis prevailed. Changes over time were limited and arbitrary. CONCLUSIONS The concepts offered by professionals were adopted in a very limited way, which can be understood in the context of highly individualized ways of coping with diagnosis and illness.