Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adult Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction and Intermittent Catheterisation in a Community Setting: Risk Factors Model for Urinary Tract Infections

A risk factor model for urinary tract infections in patients with adult neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction performing clean intermittent catheterisation was developed; it consists of four domains, namely, (1) general (systemic) conditions in the patient, (2) individual urinary tract conditions in the patient, (3) routine aspects related to the patient, and (4) factors related to intermittent catheters per se. The conceptual model primarily concerns patients with spinal cord injury, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, or cauda equina where intermittent catheterisation is a normal part of the bladder management. On basis of several literature searches and author consensus in case of lacking evidence, the model intends to provide an overview of the risk factors involved in urinary tract infections, with specific emphasis to describe those that in daily practice can be handled and modified by the clinician and so come to the benefit of the individual catheter user in terms of fewer urinary tract infections.
Acute and Subchronic Toxicity Assessment of Conventional Soxhlet Cymbopogon citratus Leaves Extracts in Sprague–Dawley Rats

Background In Ghana, Cymbopogon citratus leaves together with guava, pawpaw, and lime are processed into a decoction to treat fever. To encourage its usage, preclinical validation of the safety profile of the plant is required. The acute and subchronic toxicities of the conventional Soxhlet ethanolic Cymbopogon citratus leaves extract in Sprague–Dawley rats were investigated. Methods Pulverized Cymbopogon citratus leaves were extracted with 98% ethanol using the conventional Soxhlet extraction (CSE) method and dried. In the acute toxicity study, a single dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight was administered to six female Sprague–Dawley rats and 1 ml/100 g body weight normal saline to control (6) once, and signs of toxicity were observed every hour for the first 12 hr, 24 hr, and 48 hr through to 14 days. In the subchronic study, the treatment groups were administered 200 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg, and 1200 mg/kg, respectively, of the CSE C. citratus leaves extract for six weeks. Analyses were conducted on the blood, urine, and serum samples of the rats. Histopathological examination of the liver, heart, kidney, spleen, and lungs was carried out at termination. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine statistically significant differences between the test and control rats at P < 0.05. Results The results revealed that there were no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) in the urinalysis and haematological analysis between control and test rats over the treatment period. Similarly, CSE C. citratus leaves extract did not induce any significant biochemical changes in the treatment group; however, there was a weight loss effect on the treated rats. There were no noticeable morphological changes in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney of the test rats compared to the control. Conclusion CSE ethanolic C. citratus leaves extract has a weight loss effect, and long-term administration of the extract may not cause any organ-specific toxicity to the consumers.
Cash Is Alive: How Economists Explain Holding and Use of Cash

Research on holding and use of cash involves many aspects, such as reasons for holding and hoarding cash, transactional demand for cash, cash management, type of spending paid with cash, type of consumer who pays cash, merchant acceptance, how consumers get cash, currency denominations, legal aspects, cash substitutes, and cost of cash. The purpose of this article is to introduce the reader to some of the research economists do on consumer holding and use of cash. (JEL D11, D12, E26, E31, E41, E42)
Closing the nutrient loops in (peri-)urban farming systems through composting

Organic amendments are used to improve soil fertility and maintain agricultural fields in a productive state. Despite these benefits, the use of organic amendments is limited in many developing countries. The overall objective of this thesis is therefore to provide a better understanding of current waste management practices in developing countries and ensure sustainable crop production via the biotransformation of urban waste into a high-quality soil amendment. First, I aimed at determining the causes for the limited use of organic amendments in small-scale urban farming systems. I interviewed 220 urban farmers in Ethiopia and found that competition for agricultural waste between fuel, feed and soil amendment is a major cause for the limited use of organic amendments. I demonstrated that allocation of agricultural waste for soil amendment is linked with farmers’ livelihood strategies. I also studied variation in compost demand among different farmer groups, and the socio-economic variables which explained these variations. Gaseous losses of ammonia and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occur during composting of nitrogen-rich urban waste. Several technologies could reduce these losses. However, these technologies are inadequate to fit within the broader farming systems because they are expensive. The second aim of this thesis was to develop low-cost methods to mitigate N losses and GHG emissions from composting, while retaining its fertilising value. Composting by earthworms (vermicomposting) is proposed as a low-cost strategy for minimising N losses and GHG emissions. Using a wide range of substrate qualities (C:N ratio, labile C sources) and other factors (earthworm density, amount of input, and moisture), I showed that vermicomposting reduced N losses and GHG emissions compared with traditional thermophilic composting, but the magnitude of the earthworm effect varied between substrates. Earthworms also change the quantity and composition of dissolved organic carbon during composting. Another low-cost strategy is to delay the addition of N-rich substrates during composting. I demonstrated that addition of nitrogen-rich substrate after the thermophilic phase reduced N losses. Delayed addition of N-rich substrates increased N2O emissions, but reduced CH4 emissions. Delayed addition resulted in compost that was as stable and effective at completely eradicating weed seeds as traditional composting. In conclusion, urban waste compost should be considered as alternative source for soil amendment, particularly in developing countries with competition for agricultural waste. Technologies such as vermicomposting and delayed addition of N-rich substrate are recommended to increase or maintain the nitrogen content of compost, reduce N losses and mitigate GHG emissions.
Effect of microwaves pretreatments on extraction yield and quality of mango seed kernel oil.

Effect of microwave radiation on mango seed was probed by employing it as a substrate pretreatment prior to oil extraction by soxhlet method. Samples were treated by microwave radiation at a frequency of 2,450 MHz by a household microwave oven. Eighteen microwave pretreatments were established, together combining three potencies (110, 330 and 550 W) and six times of pretreatment (0-150 s). Microwave pretreatment could be applied to mango seed kernel oil extraction prior to soxhlet extraction to decrease the extraction time was generally concluded. Pretreatment at 60 s and at 110 W potency was found as the most appropriate condition of microwave pretreatment since it decreased the extraction time from 150 min to up to 30 min. The major advantage of microwave pretreatment is the reduced time of extraction and energy consumption costs, when is compared to conventional methods. Analysis of oil quality indices (e.g. acid value, peroxide value, oil composition) extracted by microwave pretreatment and non-pretreatment indicated that oils from both processes have comparatively similar properties, thus it was justification of microwaves use as a rapid tool for oil extraction pretreatment.
Novel Telehealth Adaptations for Evidence-Based Outpatient Suicide Treatment: Feasibility and Effectiveness of the Crisis Care Program

Background: Suicide rates in the United States have escalated dramatically over the past 20 years and remain a leading cause of death. Access to evidenced-based care is limited, and telehealth is well-positioned to offer novel care solutions. The Crisis Care program is a suicide-specific treatment program delivered within a national outpatient telehealth setting using a digitally adapted version of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) as the framework of care. This study investigates the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of Crisis Care as scalable suicide-specific treatment model. Methods: Patient engagement, symptom reduction, and care outcomes were examined among a cohort of patients (n = 130) over 16 weeks. The feasibility of implementation was assessed through patient engagement. Clinical outcomes were measured with PHQ-9, GAD-7, and the CAMS SSF-4 rating scales. Results: Over 85% of enrolled patients were approved for Crisis Care at intake, and 83% went on to complete at least four sessions (the minimum required to graduate). All patient subgroups experienced declines in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, suicidal ideation frequency, and suicide-specific risk factors. Conclusions: Results support the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of Crisis Care as a suicide-specific care solution that can be delivered within a stepped-care model in an outpatient telehealth setting.
Single-Use Flexible Ureteroscopes: How Difficult Is It Today to Stay Up to Date? A Pictorial Review of Instruments Available in Europe in 2023

The invention of the flexible ureteroscope (fURS) and its subsequent spread have revolutionized the surgical management of urolithiasis and upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). During the last few years, single-use flexible ureteroscopes (su-fURSs) have been developed to improve the limitations of reusable fURSs, namely their cost, durability and risk of device contamination. Since the introduction of the first fully disposable digital fURS, several su-fURSs have been developed by various manufacturers. In this pictorial review, we combined the different physical and technical features of su-fURSs currently available on the market with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Conformity (CE) approval, in order to help surgeons choose the appropriate device according to each case requirement and personal preferences. To the best of our knowledge, 17 su-fURSs with CE and FDA approval have been developed to date.
Israeli teachers' attitudes toward parental involvement in school: A qualitative study

The aim of this qualitative study is to gain in-depth understanding of teachers' views and attitudes toward parental involvement in school. Twenty seven Israeli elementary-school and secondary-school teachers were interviewed and asked to define parental involvement, their feelings toward it, and its challenges and benefits. Our findings revealed relatively high level of inconsistency between declared positive attitudes and perceived challenges and threat. This inconsistency manifests a need for significant progress in teacher-parent relationship in Israel. The practical implications of this study are that training programs should be constructed to improve teacher-parent collaboration, focusing on ways of reducing teachers’ tension and enhancing their understanding of the possibilities and potential outcomes of parents’ involvement.
Minimized Training of Machine Learning-Based Calibration Methods for Low-Cost O3 Sensors

Low-cost sensors (LCSs) show a huge potential toward enabling the pervasive and continuous monitoring of crucial environmental parameters, supporting environment preservation, and informing citizens’ well-being through ubiquitous air quality data. The main drawback of LCSs is that their data is usually biased, even if LCSs are calibrated by their manufacturer at production time. More accurate in-field calibration methods based on machine learning (ML) and neural networks (NNs) are being considered in some recent studies. They typically imply LCSs colocation with reference measurement stations certified by environmental agencies. Due to seasonality effects, however, the correlation between LCSs and their reference may rapidly degrade once the LCSs are moved from the calibration site, making even really accurate calibrations useless. In this work, we specifically target this problem by optimizing the training settings of the most popular ML and NN calibration models for LCSs when a sequential split schema is adopted to separate training and test sets. Then, we assess the degradation of the calibration over time based on the ${R}^{{2}}$ score, when the splitting of the dataset between training and test sets is different from the classical 80%–20% ratio. This method is applied to real data gathered from an O3 sensor deployed in co-location with a certified reference station for a period of six months. Eventually, we show that, in the case of long-short term memory NNs, using 20% of the dataset for the training is a trade-off condition that minimizes the calibration effort and still yields a robust and long-lasting calibration.
LEMLEM W ORKING P APER S ERIES

We provide a survey of the main mechanisms of market selection used in economics. We gather them in three theoretical paradigms (rational equilibrium, Simonesque and evolutionary), that we try to reconcile in terms of underlying laws of selection. We show that the three paradigms have been converging in their focus on firm heterogeneity and increasing returns. These selection mechanisms are however fostered by theories which differ in terms of sources of increasing returns, generating mechanisms of firm heterogeneity, firm rationality and emphasis on equilibrium states vis-à-vis out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Our discussion suggests that the convergence between the three theoretical paradigms is taking place in the direction of research, which is aimed at the replication of empirical patterns related to firm heterogeneity, rather than in the theory underlying selection mechanisms.
Assessment of the Risk of Future Metabolic Syndrome among Non-Hypertensive and Non-Diabetic Nigerian Pregnant Women Presenting with either Glycosuria or Proteinuria at Different Trimesters

BackgroundIn pregnancy, women experience physiological changes which could increase the risk of insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome later in life. This study assessed the risk of future metabolic syndrome among pregnant women with either glycosuria or proteinuria at different gestational ages. MethodsEight-Six participants were recruited from health facilities in South-west, Nigeria and they were in three categories: those with glycosuria (n = 32), proteinuria (n = 27), and control (n = 27), based on urinalysis result. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows version 25.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). Groups were compared using one way ANOVA. Association between the variables was determined using Pearson correlation. Linear regression analysis was performed to predict the risk of future metabolic syndrome.ResultsParticipants with glycosuria, proteinuria and control were 29.19 (SD 6.04), 27.15 (SD 4.37) and 25.74 (SD 4.67) years respectively. Glycosuria group had higher (P = 0.01) triglycerides, HOMA-IR, and a-positive association (P = 0.001) between, FBG and HBA1C. Linear regression analysis predicted future risk of metabolic syndrome (P< 0.05) for those with glycosuria and proteinuria respectively with their plasma insulin values. ConclusionHealthy volunteers with glycosuria and proteinuria are at greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome.Rwanda J Med Health Sci. 2023;6(3): 315-325
The Impact of an 8-Week Supplementation with Fermented and Non-Fermented Aronia Berry Pulp on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes

Aronia berries contain antioxidants that may be health-promoting, e.g., demonstrated positive effects on hypertension and dyslipidaemia. There is a close link between cardiovascular diseases and hypertension and dyslipidaemia, and cardiovascular events are the leading cause of death among subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus, we investigated the effect of an 8-week supplementation with fermented aronia extract (FAE), non-fermented aronia extract (AE), and placebo on cardiovascular risk factors. Snack bars were produced containing 34 g (37%) aronia extract, or 17 g (21%) wheat bran for placebo, as well as raisins and coconut oil. The study was randomized and blinded with a triple-crossover design. We examined the effects of aronia extracts on blood pressure, adiponectin, and high-sensitive C-reactive protein, and found no effects. After supplementation with placebo, there were significantly higher blood concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol, with the placebo group showing significantly higher increases in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol than the AE group. Furthermore, we observed an increase in HDL-cholesterol in the FAE group and an increase in triglyceride in the AE group. Thus, we assume that the raisins may have increased the participants’ cholesterol levels, with both AE and FAE having the potential to prevent this increase.
Occurrence,distribution and spreading of imported red fire ant(Solenopsis invicta Buren) in Xinluo district,Longyan,Fujian

The imported red fire ant (IRFA),Solenopsis invicta Buren,is a notorious,dangerous invader species in the world. An investigation was carried out on IRFA in Dachi Town,Xinluo District,Longyan,Fujian. The study included the invader's origins,occurrence,distribution,hazard-spreading,infested habitats and colony density,as well as size of their mounds. Survey results showed that IRFA was initially from a local plastics recycling factory. Five years ago,the factory purchased waste plastic bags from Guangdong that brought IRFA into the region. The ants spread 53-297 m in diameter from the quarantined area. The distribution of IRFA was affected by factors,such as sunlight,degree of human disturbance and habitat types.
Calibration of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) VSP Data

The usefulness of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) VSP data to map reservoir structures and extract rock properties is limited only by our understanding of the fidelity and characteristics of the measurement. In order to calibrate both the kinematics and dynamics of DAS VSP products, we document the correspondence of the DAS and geophones measurements for extracted slowness values, corridor stacks, amplitudes, linearity with source effort, and response to incident angle. The DAS slowness values match very well with the corresponding geophone slowness and up-scaled sonic log. The arrival times and amplitudes of the corridor stacks show a very good agreement. The average earth attenuation extracted from the first break amplitudes are nearly identical for the DAS (Q=86) and geophone (Q=88) data sets. Tests varying the source effort confirm that the DAS measurement performs linearly with seismic amplitude. We also confirm the cosine squared response of the fiber to the incident angle of the seismic wave field. These tests show that properly acquired DAS VSP data sets can be trusted for both travel times and amplitude information.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health Care Utilization in the Vaccine Safety Datalink: Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Understanding the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care utilization is important to health care organizations and policy makers for strategic planning, as well as to researchers when designing studies that use observational electronic health record data during the pandemic period. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the changes in health care utilization across all care settings among a large, diverse, and insured population in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study within 8 health care organizations participating in the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project using electronic health record data from members of all ages from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2021. The visit rates per person-year were calculated monthly during the study period for 4 health care settings combined as well as by inpatient, emergency department (ED), outpatient, and telehealth settings, both among all members and members without COVID-19. Difference-in-difference analysis and interrupted time series analysis were performed to assess the changes in visit rates from the prepandemic period (January 2017 to February 2020) to the early pandemic period (April-December 2020) and the later pandemic period (July-December 2021), respectively. An exploratory analysis was also conducted to assess trends through June 2023 at one of the largest sites, Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Results The study included more than 11 million members from 2017 to 2021. Compared with the prepandemic period, we found reductions in visit rates during the early pandemic period for all in-person care settings. During the later pandemic period, overall use reached 8.36 visits per person-year, exceeding the prepandemic level of 7.49 visits per person-year in 2019 (adjusted percent change 5.1%, 95% CI 0.6%-9.9%); inpatient and ED visits returned to prepandemic levels among all members, although they remained low at 0.095 and 0.241 visits per person-year, indicating a 7.5% and 8% decrease compared to pre-pandemic levels among members without COVID-19, respectively. Telehealth visits, which were approximately 42% of the volume of outpatient visits during the later pandemic period, were increased by 97.5% (95% CI 86.0%-109.7%) from 0.865 visits per person-year in 2019 to 2.35 visits per person-year in the later pandemic period. The trends in Kaiser Permanente Southern California were similar to those of the entire study population. Visit rates from January 2022 to June 2023 were stable and appeared to be a continuation of the use levels observed at the end of 2021. Conclusions Telehealth services became a mainstay of the health care system during the late COVID-19 pandemic period. Inpatient and ED visits returned to prepandemic levels, although they remained low among members without evidence of COVID-19. Our findings provide valuable information for strategic resource allocation for postpandemic patient care and for designing observational studies involving the pandemic period.
Secondary Metabolites from the Genus Eurotium and Their Biological Activities

Eurotium is the teleomorph genus associated with the section Aspergillus. Eurotium comprises approximately 20 species, which are widely distributed in nature and human environments. Eurotium is usually the key microorganism for the fermentation of traditional food, such as Fuzhuan brick tea, Liupao tea, Meju, and Karebushi; thus, Eurotium is an important fungus in the food industry. Eurotium has been extensively studied because it contains a series of interesting, structurally diverse, and biologically important secondary metabolites, including anthraquinones, benzaldehyde derivatives, and indol diketopiperazine alkaloids. These secondary metabolites have shown multiple biological activities, including antioxidative, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antitumor, insecticidal, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory activities. This study presents an up-to-date review of the phytochemistry and biological activities of all Eurotium species. This review will provide recent advances on the secondary metabolites and their bioactivities in the genus Eurotium for the first time and serve as a database for future research and drug development from the genus Eurotium.