Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Cautionary Note: Botulinum Toxin for Cervical Dystonia Reconstituted in Sterile Water: More Pain, Still Gain

Intramuscular injection with botulinum toxin is an evidencebased treatment for cervical dystonia. The injection is evidently accompanied by a certain degree of local injection site pain, but is generally well tolerated. We report four cervical dystonia cases who were inadvertently injected with botulinum toxin type A (Dysport) reconstituted in sterile water instead of isotonic saline. All patients reported intense injection site pain at the moment of injection, perceived as much more intense than previous injections (Table 1). No other symptoms were reported. The pain improved rapidly over a couple of minutes but persisted to a lesser degree for 2 hours to 2 days. Effectivity of the botulinum toxin treatment was comparable to previous injections in all patients regarding effect latency, effect duration and symptom improvement as measured on a visual analogue scale. These cases highlight the importance of proper reconstitution of botulinum toxin (ie, in preservative-free sterile saline 0.9%), as dissolution in sterile water generates intense injection site pain.
Residential Location Choice - Models and Applications

The effective planning of residential location choices is one of the great challenges of contemporary societies and requires forecasting capabilities and the consideration of complex interdependencies which can only be handled by complex computer models. This book presents a range of approaches used to model residential locations within the context of developing land-use and transport models. These approaches illustrate the range of choices that modellers have to make in order to represent residential choice behaviour. The models presented in this book represent the state-of-the-art and are valuable both as key building blocks for general urban models, and as representative examples of complexity science.
In Silico Target Analysis of Treatment for COVID-19 Using Huang-Lian-Shang-Qing-Wan, a Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula

Due to the significantly negative impact of the coronavirus (CoV) disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the health of the community and the economy, it remains urgent and necessary to develop a safe and effective treatment method for COVID-19. Huang-Lian-Shang-Qing-Wan (HLSQW) is a herbal formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been applied extensively for treating “wind-heat-associated” symptoms in the upper parts of the body. The objective of the present in silico study was to investigate the potential effects of HLSQW in the context of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 infection. We analyzed the possible interactions between bioactive compounds within HLSQW on targets that may confer antiviral activity using network pharmacology and pharmacophore-based screening. HLSQW was found to potentially target a number of pathways and the expression of various genes to regulate cell physiology and, consequently, the anti-viral effects against SARS-CoV-2. Bioactive compounds contained within HLSQW may exert combined effects to reduce the production of proinflammatory factors, which may trigger the “cytokine storm” in patients with severe COVID-19. Results from molecular modeling suggested that the bioactive HLSQW components puerarin, baicalin, and daidzin exhibit high binding affinity to the active site of 3-chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease (3CLpro) to form stable ligand-protein complexes, thereby suppressing SARS-CoV-2 replication. In addition, our results also demonstrated protective effects of the HLSQW extract against cell injury induced by the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, against reactive oxygen species production and nuclear factor-κB activity in normal human lung cells in vitro. To conclude, HLSQW is a potential TCM remedy that warrants further study with the aim of developing an effective treatment for COVID-19 in the future.
Improving the energy performance of houses in Montreal using the life-cycle analysis

This study presents tools to select the optimum solutions recommended for the design of energy-efficient house in Montreal, Canada. The computer model of the base case house was developed using BLAST program and using on-site measurements such as air leakage based on blower door test, short-term monitoring of indoor air temperature and electricity consumption derived from utility bills. Several design alternatives have been developed using both parametric and non-parametric approaches. The developed design alternatives included: (i) the modifications of the characteristics of building envelope, (ii) the modifications of the architectural design and (iii) the building operating conditions. The energy performance of selected design alternatives was evaluated using the calibrated model of base case and BLAST program. Results show that although the base case house is already energy efficient, there is still potential to improve its energy performance via developing the design tools of the house. The concept of energy efficiency includes more than the total energy consumption. The performance of the selected alternatives has been evaluated by using the multi-attribute life-cycle analysis. Three objective functions were used in the life-cycle analysis: (1) the total energy consumption, including the embodied energy and the operating energy; (2) the life-cycle cost, including the initial and the energy operating costs and (3) the environmental impacts, evaluated by using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) index, which is calculated in terms of equivalent CO 2 emissions. A database of design alternatives and related life-cycle performance has been developed in this study. A Decision Support System based on previous database for evaluating the design alternatives has been established to select the best set of alternatives during the energy-efficient design of low-residential buildings in Canada.
Statistical methods for the forensic analysis of striated tool marks

In forensics, fingerprints can be used to uniquely identify suspects in a crime. Similarly, a tool mark left at a crime scene can be used to identify the tool that was used. However, the current practice of identifying matching tool marks involves visual inspection of marks by forensic experts which can be a very subjective process. As a result, declared matches are often successfully challenged in court, so law enforcement agencies are particularly interested in encouraging research in more objective approaches. Our analysis is based on comparisons of profilometry data, essentially depth contours of a tool mark surface taken along a linear path. In current practice, for stronger support of a match or non-match, multiple marks are made in the lab under the same conditions by the suspect tool. We propose the use of a likelihood ratio test to analyze the difference between a sample of comparisons of lab tool marks to a field tool mark, against a sample of comparisons of two lab tool marks. Chumbley et al. (2010) point out that the angle of incidence between the tool and the marked surface can have a substantial impact on the tool mark and on the effectiveness of both manualmore » and algorithmic matching procedures. To better address this problem, we describe how the analysis can be enhanced to model the effect of tool angle and allow for angle estimation for a tool mark left at a crime scene. With sufficient development, such methods may lead to more defensible forensic analyses. « less
From Surrey to the Moons of Jupiter (via Mars): the story of Epsomite

Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (MgSO4•7H2O), the salt produced at, and named after, the Surrey town of Epsom where it was first described, has played a number of roles under the scientific spotlight over the past four centuries. Its first use and scientific description was as a laxative and a headache remedy. During the 18th century, it was central in Joseph Black's experiments upon magnesium compounds, and not long after found its place amongst the pages of mineralogical classifications by Torbern Bergman, René Haüy, and James Dana. Its physical properties were established in the following 150 years, using increasingly advanced techniques, most recently neutron diffraction. During the last 30 years, in situ chemical evidence, coupled with geochemical modelling, has shown that epsomite is likely to be an abundant mineral in the soils of Mars, possibly forming considerable subsurface equatorial deposits. And in the last decade, evidence has been found that epsomite may constitute a significant fraction of the Galilean satellites, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, which orbit Jupiter.
Development and Implementations of Virtual Reality for Decision-making in Urban Planning and Building Design

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) has been seen by many as holding great potential for increasing the effectiveness and improving communication in the decision making process in urban planning and building design. VR can facilitate processes so that participants can together better understand, identify and analyze problems to improve their decision making and thereby the future urban environment. However, VR has not had the impact and penetration that was predicted much due to often cited barriers to new technologies in the construction industry, e.g. human and cultural factors, lack of IT skills, lack of knowledge and awareness, and finally the lack of the technology itself including, for example, available tools and methods. This thesis contributes knowledge that enhances the usability and successful implementation of VR technology in the urban planning and building design process. The approach has been to investigate both the usability and technical aspects of VR. In the context of usability, this thesis deals with whether and how VR can be used in decision making in the urban planning and building design process. It examines how different stakeholders experience and are affected by the VR medium in different decision making situations in the urban planning and building design process. The technical part of this thesis aims to improve the usability and implementation of VR by presenting new tools and methods that suit the existing planning pipeline in the urban planning and building design process. Here it is important to create cost and time effective tools and methods for producing virtual worlds. The results show that VR was experienced to be useful by the participants in the investigated parts of the decision making process. The VR model imparted a broader understanding about the sizes and volumes of the new buildings and how these interact with the surrounding urban environment. The last study showed how the phenomena of reference points and anchoring points could cause biased judgment effects in decision making when the VR medium is used. This thesis also presents four technical methods that integrate VR efficiently into urban planning and building design by: 1. Enhancing the visual quality of ground material 2. Supporting collaboration and maintenance of 3D city modeling through a sub-version control system. 3. Integrating building proposals with its surrounding ground area into the 3D city model 4. Using the human body as an interactive navigation interface The methods have been integrated into the MrViz software that has been used at the City Planning Authorities of Goteborg and Kungsbacka.
7,8-Dihydroxyflavone Inhibits VEGF-Induced in Vitro Angiogenesis of RF/6A Cells via the Blocking of VEGFR2 Signaling Pathway

Background: This study aimed to investigate the anti-angiogenesis effect of 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF) and its potential molecular mechanism. Methods: The rhesus macaque choroid-retinal endothelial (RF/6A) cells were treated with different concentrations (from 0 to 100 μM) of 7,8-DHF and/or 40 ng/ml VEGF. The morphology, proliferation, migration, capillary-like tube formation，and apoptosis of RF/6A cells were evaluated by Giemsa staining, CCK-8 assay, transwell migration assay, matrigel tube formation assay, and flow cytometry/hoechst33342 staining, respectively. The protein content of VEFGR2 and p-VEGFR2 was assessed by western blotting. Results: 7,8-DHF significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of RF/6A cells and promoted their apoptosis in vitro. The expression of VEGFR2 in RF/6A cells was constant whether or not to administer 7,8-DHF. However, the phosphorylation of VEGFR2 significantly decreased after the administration of 7,8-DHF. Conclusions: 7,8-DHF could inhibit RF/6A angiogenesis in vitro. The inhibitory mechanism of 7,8-DHF in angiogenesis was attributed to the suppression of VEGFR2 phosphorylation and thus blocking of VEGF/VEGFR2 signal pathway.
Organizational Management, in the Context of Change Management and Performance of Companies Listed in Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya

Companies are faced with turbulent and chaotic business environment which has a significant effect on organizational performance. Notably, majority of organizations are unable to effectively manage operations/processes in the face of the changing organizational management, which has had an impact on their competitiveness. In Kenya, there are a number of companies that have either collapsed or stagnated as a result of their inability to manage change and adopt a suitable organizational management effectively. The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of organizational management, in the context of change management and performance of companies listed in NSE in Kenya. The theories that underpinned the study were; three-step change theory, open systems theory and industrial organization economics theory. The study objectives sought to assess the effect of organizational management on performance of companies listed in NSE. A cross sectional survey design was used on 64 companies listed in the NSE in Kenya. The sample size was 38 companies from (2013-2017) as at 30th June, 2017. Purposive sampling technique for 4 senior managers namely, Chief Executive Officers, divisional heads in Human Resource, Finance and Marketing in the listed companies in NSE were targeted with a sample size of 152 managers. Pilot study was conducted on 15 respondents and reliability coefficient(r) was above the recommended threshold of 0.7. The study used five point Likert Scale to measure change management and International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 0 , No. 2, Feb, 2020, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2020 HRMARS 214 performance. Secondary data was obtained from published sources and primary data from the semistructured questionnaire. The analysis comprised descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, hypotheses testing and regression analysis using ANOVA Descriptive statistics analysis assessed that there was a positive effect of organizational management on performance of companies listed in NSE to a large extent. There was a significant moderate positive correlation between organizational management and performance of companies. The null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was adopted. The regression showed that there was a significant positive relationship between organizational management and performance of companies. The study concluded that there was an effect of organizational management, in the context of change management and performance of companies listed in NSE. The study recommended that managers should get recent and relevant information that exists to ensure that wastage of resources is minimized. Further studies may re-look at the role of both middle and lower level employees as regards organizational management in the organization.
Time-resolved measurements of charge carrier dynamics and optical nonlinearities in narrow-bandgap semiconductors

All-optical time-resolved measurement techniques provide a powerful tool for investigating critical parameters that determine the performance of infrared photodetector and emitter semiconductor materials. Narrow-bandgap InAs/GaSb type-II superlattices (T2SLs) have shown great promise as a next generation source of these materials, due to superior intrinsic properties and versatility. Unfortunately, InAs/GaSb T2SLs are plagued by parasitic Shockley-Read-Hall recombination centers that shorten the carrier lifetime and limit device performance. Ultrafast pump-probe techniques and time-resolved differential transmission measurements are used here to demonstrate that Ga-free InAs/InAsSb T2SLs and InAsSb alloys do not have this same limitation and thus have significantly longer carrier lifetimes. Measurements at 77 K provided minority carrier lifetimes of 9 μs and 3 μs for an unintentionally doped mid-wave infrared (MWIR) InAs/InAsSb T2SL and InAsSb alloy, respectively; a two order of magnitude increase compared to the 90 ns minority carrier lifetime measured in a comparable MWIR InAs/GaSb T2SL. Through temperature-dependent lifetime measurements, the various carrier recombination processes are differentiated and the dominant mechanisms identified for each material. These results demonstrate that these Ga-free materials are viable options over InAs/GaSb T2SLs for potentially improved infrared photodetectors. In addition to carrier lifetimes, the drift and diffusion of excited charge carriers through the superlattice growth layers (i.e. vertical transport) directly affects the performance of photodetectors and emitters. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information pertaining to vertical transport, primarily due to difficulties in making measurements on thin growth layers and the need for non-standard measurement techniques. However, all-optical ultrafast techniques are successfully used here to directly measure vertical diffusion in MWIR InAs/GaSb T2SLs. By optically generating excess carriers near one end of a MWIR T2SL and measuring the transit time to a thin,
An exploration of the effectiveness of the 'Managed Move' protocol to support the integration of secondary aged pupils

The literature within the area of Managed Moves has highlighted that there is a lack of research considering young people? s experiences of integration. From the limited research, there is evidence that permanent exclusion has a deleterious effect on childhood development (Hayden & Dunn, 2001) and young people are placed at greater risk of later disadvantage (Sparkes, 1999). Previous research highlights that ? Managed Moves? offer pupils a carefully planned route to secure education (Abdelnoor, 2007) and are used as positive alternatives to permanent exclusion. All secondary schools are expected to be working in partnership to develop clear protocols for Managed Moves and hard to place pupils (DCSF, 2010). The research examines factors that may facilitate integration to mainstream secondary school following a school transfer under a ? Managed Move? process. The research focuses on three English Local Authorities and has taken a critical realist approach in exploring within school factors and out of school factors facilitating integration and factors that may improve the Managed Move process in the future. For the purposes of this research ? successful integration? has been defined as a young person maintaining integration for a period of at least two terms.The research adopts a case study design focusing upon three young people between the ages of eleven and fifteen who had experienced a successful Managed Move. Thematic analysis of the data suggest that ? consideration of child and parent views? , ? personalised intervention? , ? staff skills? , ? pupil characteristics? , ? school ethos? , and ? enabling ownership of behaviour? were important contributing factors to successful integration. Out of school? factors identified as facilitating successful integration included ? parental role? , ? friendship groups? and ? social connectedness? In addition, the research identified ? out of school support? and ? social networking? as key factors affecting the Managed Move outcome. Finally, this research identified factors that could lead to improvements in the effectiveness of the Managed Move protocol in the future. These included ? raising awareness of legislation and rights? , ? user friendly process? , ? consistency of personalised support? and ? details of the Managed Move protocol? Personalisation? is identified as an overarching principle needed to address the needs of pupils experiencing Managed Moves through a carefully managed educational plan.
The Association between Homocysteinemia and Mortality in Pre-dialysis CKD patients: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis Using NHANES-National Death Index Link

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) including chronic kidney disease (CKD). In this study, we investigated the association between serum homocysteine (Hcy) level and mortality according to the presence of CKD.Methods: Our study included data of 9,895 participants from the 1996–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Moreover, linked mortality data were included and classified into four groups according to the Hcy level. Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models using propensity-score were used to examine dose-response associations between Hcy level and mortality.Results: Of 9,895 participants, 1032 (21.2%) participants were diagnosed with CKD. In a multivariate Cox regression analysis including all participants, Hcy level was associated with all-cause mortality, compared with the 1st quartile in Model 3 (2nd quartile: hazard ratio (HR) 1.751, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.348-2.274, p<0.001; 3rd quartile: HR 2.220, 95% CI 1.726-2.855, p<0.001; 4th quartile: HR 3.776, 95% CI 2.952-4.830, p<0.001). In the non-CKD group, there was a significant association with all-cause mortality; however, this finding was not observed in the CKD group. The observed pattern was similar after propensity score matching. In the non-CKD group, overall mortality increased in proportion to Hcy concentration (2nd quartile: HR 2.195, 95% CI 1.299-3.709, p = 0.003; 3rd quartile: HR 2.607, 95% CI 1.570-4.332, p<0.001; 4th quartile: HR 3.720, 95% CI 2.254-6.139, p<0.001). However, the risk of all-cause mortality according to the quartile of Hcy level did not increase in the CKD groupConclusion: This study found a correlation between the Hcy level and mortality rate only in the non-CKD group. This altered risk factor patterns may be attributed to protein-energy wasting or chronic inflammation status that is accompanied by CKD.
DISABLED ADULTS: SERVICES, TRANSPORT AND EMPLOYMENT

Covers divided into two sections, the disabled people in private households and those in communal establishments; It looks at the way in which special services, equipments and adaptations are used by the disabled. Two chapters are dealing with the mobility and transport. The chapters focus mainly on how well disabled people can get around their accommodation, whether or not, they can go outside and the extent to which they need assistance to increase their degree of mobility. For those who can go out the extent to which they use various forms of transport in the past year have been examined. Shows how this relates to severity of disability and to mobility and then shows some of the problems which prevent people from using public transport and cars.