Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using the circumstances of symptom experience to assess the severity of urgency in the overactive bladder.

PURPOSE We identified a method for quantifying the symptoms of the overactive bladder that addresses the assessment of urgency. MATERIALS AND METHODS An observational study of a cohort was used. Data were collected prospectively from 5,423 consultations on 1,797 patients (158 males and 1,639 females) being assessed and treated for the overactive bladder. The study was conducted during 5 years. The reported frequencies and incontinence episodes were recorded. Using ranked ordinal scales (none, mild, moderate, severe) the symptoms of urgency and urge incontinence associated with waking and rising, hearing running water, arriving home ("latchkey"), cold weather and when feeling tired or worried were noted. The experiences of urgency and urge incontinence, without reference to the circumstances in which they were experienced were similarly assessed and if on treatment, they were asked to grade their overall response. RESULTS Reported urinary frequency and incontinence episodes were strongly associated with patient grading of response to treatment. Therefore, the symptoms assessed on the scale of none, mild, moderate and severe were compared with disease severity by using reported frequency and incontinence episodes. The description of the symptoms with reference to the situations in which they were experienced showed clear associations with frequency and incontinence, falling along a progressive scale. An overall pattern could be detected in that at points on the scale of none, mild, moderate and severe, the least frequency and incontinence tended to be associated with waking, rising and latchkey symptoms. Next followed symptoms precipitated by running water and cold weather. Aggravation by fatigue or worry was associated with the greatest disease severity (ANOVA F = 8.9, p <0.001). This scale covered a wide range from frequencies of 7 to 15 times daily and incontinence episodes through 0 to 4 times daily. CONCLUSIONS Qualifying the experience of urgency and urge incontinence, according to the circumstances in which these symptoms are experienced, seems to offer a promising new method for assessing the severity of urgency and urge incontinence.
Smad6 functions as an intracellular antagonist of some TGF‐β family members during Xenopus embryogenesis

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) transmit signals via the intracellular protein Smad1, which is phosphorylated by ligand bound receptors, translocates to the nucleus, and functions to activate BMP target genes. Recently, a subclass of Smad proteins has been shown to inhibit, rather than transduce, BMP signalling, either by binding to the intracellular domain of BMP receptors, thereby preventing phosphorylation‐mediated activation of Smad1, or by binding directly to Smad1, thereby inhibiting its ability to activate gene transcription.
Evaluating user experience in green buildings in relation to workplace culture and context

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the relationship between green building design and workplace design practice, and to examine the role of organizational culture in shaping design and operation decisions with consequence for user experience.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review and introduction of key concepts establish the foundation for the research and provide a context for interpreting results. Empirical findings are presented from a pre‐ and post‐occupancy evaluation of a company's move to a new headquarters building designed both to shift organizational culture and to meet environmental objectives.Findings – The paper demonstrates that, while there are potentially significant gains to be made from integrating green building with workplace design strategies from the outset, there are many other factors beyond the quality of the space, which may play a role in shaping user experience. Links are drawn between improved occupant comfort, health and productivity in the new headquarters buil.
Fast binary support vector machine learning method by samples reduction

Support vector machine is a well-known method of statistical learning by its good accuracy; however, its training time is very poor especially in case of huge databases. Many research works aim to reduce training samples to improve training time without significant loss in accuracy. In this paper, we propose a method called CB-SR, based on filtering and revision stages to eliminate samples that have little influence on learning results. Filtering stage uses a covering-based principle of samples to eliminate those faraway from decision boundaries and keep the closest ones. Revision stage allows to add after the first learning, samples eventually discarded by mistake. The results we obtain show the benefits of our approach over others existing ones.
Histomorphometric study on fetal development of red Sokoto goat kidney

A study was conducted on the kidney of seventeen (17) fetuses of the Red Sokoto Goat (Capra hircus) collected from the Sokoto metropolitan abattoir, over a period of one month at different gestational ages. The approximate age of the fetuses was estimated from the crown vertebral rump length (CVRL) and samples were categorised into first, second and third trimester. Out of the seventeen (17) fetuses at different gestational age used for the study, 7 (48%) were females while 10 (52%) were males. 6(35%) fetuses belong to first trimester, 5(30%) belong to second trimester and 6(35%) belong to third trimesters of pregnancy respectively. The mean crown vertebrate-rump length (CVRL) ranged from 12.47 ± 1.80 cm at first trimester to 33.79 ±1.52 cm at third trimester. The development of renal tissues were found to be in succession; from the stage of mesenchyme cells, developing glomerulus and finally to fully developed glomerulus with advancement of gestational age among the three groups. The duct system also followed the same trend of development from immature to matured duct system. The cortex of the first trimester kidney was found to have numerous mesenchymal cells and connective tissues with few developing glomerulus. At second trimester few fully developed glomerulus were found, moderate number of mesenchyme cells and immature developing duct system. Numerous developed glomerulus and matured duct system with moderate developing glomerulus and connective tissue were seen at third trimester. The medulla at first trimester shows only various types of connective tissue (collagen, reticular and elastic) fibers and mesenchyme cells. At second trimester the medulla was found to have numerous developing collecting ducts, few developed collecting ducts and few mesenchyme cells. Developed collecting ducts were predominant in the medulla at third trimester with few mesenchyme cells. The histological differentiation of the Red Sokoto Goat kidney is similar to that of ovine, bovine, equine, Llama, and guanaco but differs from that of the feline, canine and porcine. Mean while, considering the histological features observed in the study, the Red Sokoto Goat kidney may become fully matured and functional at post-natal age.
Peptidomics of Cpefat/fat mouse brain regions: implications for neuropeptide processing

Quantitative peptidomics was used to compare levels of peptides in wild type (WT) and Cpefat/fat mice, which lack carboxypeptidase E (CPE) activity because of a point mutation. Six different brain regions were analyzed: amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex, striatum, and thalamus. Altogether, 111 neuropeptides or other peptides derived from secretory pathway proteins were identified in WT mouse brain extracts by tandem mass spectrometry, and another 47 peptides were tentatively identified based on mass and other criteria. Most secretory pathway peptides were much lower in Cpefat/fat mouse brain, relative to WT mouse brain, indicating that CPE plays a major role in their biosynthesis. Other peptides were only partially reduced in the Cpefat/fat mice, indicating that another enzyme (presumably carboxypeptidase D) contributes to their biosynthesis. Approximately 10% of the secretory pathway peptides were present in the Cpefat/fat mouse brain at levels similar to those in WT mouse brain. Many peptides were greatly elevated in the Cpefat/fat mice; these peptide processing intermediates with C‐terminal Lys and/or Arg were generally not detectable in WT mice. Taken together, these results indicate that CPE contributes, either directly or indirectly, to the production of the majority of neuropeptides.
Pituitary metastases: current practice in Japan.

OBJECT With advancement of cancer treatment and development of neuroimaging techniques, contemporary clinical pictures of pituitary metastases (PMs) must have changed from past reports. The goal of this paper was to elucidate the clinical features of PMs and current clinical practice related to those lesions. In this retrospective study, questionnaires were sent to 87 physicians who had treated PMs in Japan. RESULTS Between 1995 and 2010, 201 patients with PMs were treated by the participating physicians. The diagnosis of PM was histologically verified in 69 patients (34.3%). In the other 132 patients (65.7%), the PM was diagnosed by their physicians based on neuroimaging findings and clinical courses. The most frequent primary tumor was lung (36.8%), followed by breast (22.9%) and kidney (7.0%) cancer. The average interval between diagnosis of primary cancer and detection of PM was 2.8 ± 3.9 (SD) years. Major symptoms at diagnosis were visual disturbance in 30.3%, diabetes insipidus in 27.4%, fatigue in 25.4%, headache in 20.4%, and double vision in 17.4%. Major neuroimaging features were mass lesion in the pituitary stalk (63.3%), constriction of tumor at the diaphragmatic hiatus (44.7%), hypothalamic mass lesion (17.4%), and hyperintensity in the optic tract (11.4%). Surgical treatment was performed in 26.9% of patients, and 74.6% had radiation therapy; 80.0% of patients who underwent radiotherapy had stereotactic radiotherapy. The median survival time was 12.9 months in total. Contributing factors for good prognosis calculated by Cox proportional hazard analysis were younger age, late metastasis to the pituitary gland, smaller PM size, and radiation therapy. The Kaplan-Meier survival was significantly better in patients with breast cancer and renal cell cancer than in those with lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS At the time of this writing, approximately 60% (120/201) of PMs had been treated by stereotactic radiation therapy in Japan. The median survival time was much longer than that reported in past series. To confirm the changes of clinical features and medical practice, a prospective and population-based survey is mandatory.
Comparison of the effects of lanthanum, cerium and praseodymium on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestion and plasma biochemical parameters in beef cattle

The objectives of the trial were to compare the effects of supplementing rare earth elements (REE) lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce) and praseodymium (Pr) on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestion, methane (CH4) production, nitrogen (N) balance and plasma biochemical parameters in beef cattle. Four Simmental male cattle, aged 12 months, with initial average liveweight of 333 ± 9 kg and fitted with rumen cannulas, were fed with a basal ration composed of concentrate mixture and maize silage. Animals received a basal ration without adding REE (Control) or three treatments, i.e. supplementing LaCl3, CeCl3 or PrCl3 at 204 mg/kg DM to the basal ration, respectively, which were allocated in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Each experimental period lasted 15 d, consisting of 12 d for pre-treatment and three subsequent days for sampling. Results showed that all tested levels of REE tended to increase neutral detergent fibre digestibility (p = 0.064) and tended to decrease rumen CH4 production (p = 0.056). Supplementing LaCl3 and CeCl3 decreased total N excretion and urinary N excretion, increased N retention (p < 0.05), tended to increase total urinary purine derivatives (PD) (p = 0.053) and microbial N flow (p = 0.095), whereas supplementing PrCl3 did not affect N retention, urinary PD and microbial N flow. No differences were found in the effects of nutrient digestibility, CH4 production and plasma biochemical parameters among LaCl3, CeCl3 and PrCl3. Further trials using graded levels of LaCl3, CeCl3 and PrCl3 in a wide range are needed to obtain more pronounced results for comparing effects of La, Ce and Pr on rumen fermentation and nutrient digestion in beef cattle.
Developing a Virtual Reality Game User Experience Test Method Based on EEG Signals

User Experience (UX) of virtual reality games is usually measured by subjective and objective methods: subjective methods are most convenient way to rating usability, comfort, satisfactory, etc., however, subjective methods are more easily to be misguided. Eye tracking is one of the most popular objective methods to measure usability. However, when wearing a VR helmet, eye tracker is hard to use to record eye movement data. In our study, we developed a new method and indicator to test virtual reality game UX: Electroencephalography(EEG) signals and the brain functional connectivity (FC). We tested two kinds of VR games by using EEG signals, the results showed the FC has a significant difference for two VR games of different usability, and a significant difference were observed in Gamma band, which indicated EEG can be a good tool to analyze UX of virtual reality game.
Attachment Style and Individual Differences in Leadership Perceptions and Emergence

The authors examined whether individuals' approaches to relationships, expressed in terms of attachment styles, was related to how they viewed ideal leadership and to their degree of tendency to emerge as team leaders. Specifically, the authors hypothesized that attachment styles, or cognitive representations of orientation to others, would explain individual differences in leadership perceptions and emergence. Participants were 127 American students in college teams. The authors found that securely attached individuals (n = 81) perceived themselves as more effective team members than did insecurely attached individuals (n = 46) and that fellow team members saw securely attached team members as emerging team leaders significantly more often than they did insecurely attached team members.
Complementary combination in i-vector level for language recognition

Recently, i-vector based technology can provide good performance in language recognition (LRE). From the viewpoint of information theory, i-vectors derived from different acoustic features can contain more useful and complementary language information. In this paper, we propose an effective complementary combination for two kinds of i-vectors. One is derived from the commonly used short-term spectral shifted delta cepstral (SDC) and the other from a novel spectro-temporal time-frequency cepstrum (TFC). In order to overcome the curse of dimension and to remove the redundant information in the combined i-vectors, we use principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and evaluate their performances, respectively. For classification, cosine distance scoring (CDS) and support vector machine (SVM) are applied to the new combined i-vectors. The experiments are performed on the NIST LRE 2009 dataset, and the results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the better performance than baseline by EER reducing 1% for 30 s duration and 2.3% for both 10 s and 3 s.
Latest Industry Information on the Safety Profile of Levofloxacin in the US

This paper reviews the safety data for levofloxacin utilizing reports from clinical and post-marketing surveillance trials. The side effect incidence rates are 1.3% for nausea, 0.1% for anxiety, 0.3% for insomnia, and 0.1% for headache. No levofloxacin-related adverse events were reported at a rate higher than 1.3%, and most were lower. Four clinical trials were reported. Levofloxacin achieved superior clinical and microbiological results compared to ceftriaxone/macrolide combination, and was better tolerated. Results comparing IV azithromycin plus ceftriaxone versus 500 mg levofloxacin in hospitalised CAP demonstrated that levofloxacin performed better, with more adverse events associated with the comparators (levofloxacin 5.3%, comparators 9.3%). High-dose levofloxacin (750 mg) was also evaluated and found to be well tolerated. Surveillance data reported low ADR rates for levofloxacin: nausea 0.8%, rash 0.5%, abdominal pain 0.4%, and diarrhoea, dizziness, and vomiting 0.3%. Worldwide and US surveillance data confirmed that tendon rupture occurred in less than 4 per million prescriptions, taste perversion in less than 3 per million, convulsions in 2 per million, and photosensitivity, hepatitis, hepatic failure, QT prolongation, torsade de pointes or empyema all in less than 1 per million.
In vitro Antioxidant Activities of Extracts from Some Nepeta Species

In this study, the purpose is to investigate and compare the in vitro antioxidant activities of methanol extracts of Nepeta italica, Nepeta cilicia and Nepeta caesarea . The antioxidant capacities of 3 different species collected from different locations and extracted with methanol were assayed by 1, 1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assay. The total phenolic contents of N. italica , N. cilicia , N. caesarea extracts measured by Folin-Ciocalteu method were 24.8, 21.4 and 17.3 µg/mg (extract) as gallic acid equivalent whereas the antioxidant activities found by CUPRAC expressed as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity and DPPH assay expressed as IC 50 ; 114.5±1.4, 90.4±1.05 and 80.4±0.71 µmol TR/g and 25.5 ± 0.55 33.4 ± 1.25 and 39.1± 0.76 µg/ml, respectively. The present results showed that the extracts exhibited antioxidant properties. E specially, the extract of N. italica has higher activity than others for all assays. It may be suggested that the extracts of Nepeta species possessed middle antioxidant power when compared to other plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family.
These self-evident truths: Power and control in intellectual disability research

Thomas Jefferson, rejecting the prevailing doctrine that monarchs enjoyed a ‘‘divine right’’ to rule, thought it a self-evident truth that all men are created equal. Years later George Orwell added to the rhetoric when he said that all animals are equal. As the reality of this position unfolded in Orwell’s parable, the author had the characters impart some spin by adding ‘‘but some animals are more equal than others. ’’ Of course he was writing a political satire rather than a commentary on intellectual disability research, but do parallels exist? Are all researchers equal or do some of us have a tendency to display our self-importance? In the UK, dissatisfaction with the research process as experienced by people with physical disability was articulated by Paul Hunt in 1981 when he referred to the researchers who were invited to examine the institutionalised living he inhabited as ‘‘parasites. ’’ They adopted a detached approach that ignored the lived experiences of the very people who had instigated the research in the first place. Their final product was politically biased and methodologically insensitive. The by-product, however, was more enduring: it introduced a realignment of thinking that forced academics to confront the inherent power relations in their dealings with supposedly subaltern populations. The cause was taken up worldwide and pursued with vigour in the ‘‘Nothing about us, without us’’ movement. The self-advocacy movement and the social model of disability have combined to persuade enquiry to dance to a different drum. Words like ‘‘inclusive,’’ ‘‘shared,’’ ‘‘collaborative,’’ and ‘‘emancipatory’’ are now in common usage. Suddenly participatory research has become the new black. Black is an excellent colour for covering over stains
Working with risk: Occupational safety issues among healthcare workers in Kenya

Abstract The objective of this study was to explore knowledge of, attitudes towards and practice of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Thika district, Kenya. We used site and population-based surveys, qualitative interviews and operational research with 650 staff at risk of needlestick injuries (NSIs). Research was conducted over a 5-year period in five phases: (1) a bio-safety assessment; (2) a staff survey: serum drawn for anonymous HIV testing; (3) interventions: biosafety measures, antiretrovirals for PEP and hepatitis B vaccine; (4) a repeat survey to assess uptake and acceptability of interventions; in-depth group and individual interviews were conducted; and (5) health system monitoring outside a research setting. The main outcome measures were bio-safety standards in clinical areas, knowledge, attitudes and practice as regards to PEP, HIV-sero-prevalence in healthcare workers, uptake of interventions, reasons for poor uptake elucidated and sustainability indicators. Results showed that HCWs had the same HIV sero-prevalence as the general population but were at risk from poor bio-safety. The incidence of NSIs was 0.97 per healthcare worker per year. Twenty-one percent had had an HIV test in the last year. After one year there was a significant drop in the number of NSIs (OR: 0.4; CI: 0.3–0.6; p<0.001) and a significant increase in the number of HCWs accessing HIV testing (OR: 1.55; CI: 1.2–2.1; p=0.003). In comparison to uptake of hepatitis B vaccination (88% of those requiring vaccine) the uptake of PEP was low (4% of those who had NSIs). In-depth interviews revealed this was due to HCWs fear of HIV testing and their perception of NSIs as low risk. We concluded that Bio-safety remains the most significant intervention through reducing the number of NSIs. Post-exposure prophylaxis can be made readily available in a Kenyan district. However, where HIV testing remains stigmatised uptake will be limited—particularly in the initial phases of a programme.
Proportional fairness packet scheduling with transmit beamforming for multi-user MIMO systems

In this paper, the well known proportional fairness scheduling is investigated when we joint transmit beamforming and packet level scheduling taking into consideration the traffic arrival process with different packet lengths for the downlink of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) multi-user systems. The new scheduler called the proportional fairness zero-forcing beamforming (PF-ZB) can perform at the packet level and provide low average packet transmission delay as well as fairness to users. The scheduler is work conserving. We compare the performance of our scheduler with another well known MIMO scheduler when it is performing in the packet level with transmit beamforming. Simulations that consider the traffic characteristics show the low average packet transmission delay and demonstrate the fairness capabilities of PF-ZB.
Health State Utilities in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Patients with Heartburn: A Study in Germany and Sweden

The objectives of this study were to assess health state utilities in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease with heartburn and to analyze if severity and annual frequency of heartburn can predict utilities. Atotal of 1011 patients in Germany and Sweden participated in telephone interviews, where utilities were assessed using the rating scale (RS), EQ-5D, time trade-off (TTO) and standard gamble (SG) instruments. The average RS, EQ-5D, TTO, and SG utilities were 0.69, 0.70, 0.88, and 0.89, respectively. Linear regression analyses showed that the EQ-5D and RS utilities were negativelyand significantly related to the severity and frequency of heartburn. The EQ-5D and RS results indicate that patients with heartburn assign their health states substantial disutility and that it is feasible to estimate regression equations to predict utilities from heartburn-specific variables. In the TTO and SGanalyses, the impact of heartburnwas in the expected direction but smaller and in general not significant.