Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multidisciplinary approach to improving urinary continence.

NURSING STANDARD URINARY INCONTINENCE is defined as the involuntary leakage of urine (Abrams et al 2002). It is a problem that affects a large proportion of men and women of all ages in the population. Perry et al (2000) found that 34% of people aged more than 40 years reported symptoms of urinary incontinence. Peters et al (2004) identified that 39% of women and 23% of men over the age of 65 were affected. Studies have also identified that urinary incontinence tends to remain an under-reported problem. Only 15% of patients questioned by Peters et al (2004) had sought help from healthcare providers, even though many of these patients were in regular contact with a district nurse or GP. Reasons for under-reporting included incontinence being perceived as an inevitable consequence of ageing, feelings of embarrassment and the associated stigma of being unable to control bodily functions. The National Audit of Continence Care for Older People (Royal College of Physicians 2006) supported these findings, stating that older people with urinary symptoms often experienced them for many years before seeking help. The audit reported that the delay between the onset of symptoms and consultation with a health professional about the problem greatly affected people’s quality of life their dignity, self-image and emotional wellbeing.
Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential : literature review Potencial evocado miogênico vestibular ocular : revisão de literatura

Purpose: To identify and systematize the main studies on the ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and their applications in the diagnosis of various vestibular diseases. Research strategy: Articles that describe the use of ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials the evaluation of vestibular diseases were located in PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, LILACS e SciELO. Selection criteria: Original studies, with available abstract, published in the period 2010 to March 2016 were included. Data analysis: The study design was described, and the characteristics for the evaluation of ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials were listed. Results: 265 studies were found, but just 14 contemplated the proposed selection criteria. In relation to the population / sample of patients with vestibular disorders included in the study, it was observed that the most researched diseases were the vestibular neuritis, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, vestibular Schwanoma and Meniere’s disease. Conclusion: The most of the research realized in recent years and published in the databases PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE and Scopus revealed that the ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials is an effective method to evaluate the utricular function in various vestibular disorders.
Post alignment clustering procedure for comparative quantitative proteomics LC‐MS Data

Comparative LC‐MS is a powerful method for detailed quantitative comparison of complex protein mixtures. Dedicated software is required for detection, matching, and alignment of peaks in multiple LC‐MS datasets. However, retention time shifts, saturation effects, limitations of experimental accuracy, and possible occurrence of split peaks make it difficult for software to perfectly match all chromatograms. We describe a procedure to assess the above problems and show that dataset quality can be enhanced with the aid of cluster analysis.
Characterization of the fimA gene encoding bundle-forming fimbriae of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria

The fimA gene of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria was identified and characterized. A 20-mer degenerate oligonucleotide complementary to the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified 15.5-kDa fimbrillin was used to locate fimA on a 2.6-kb SalI fragment of the X. campestris pv. vesicatoria 3240 genome. The nucleotide sequence of a 1.4-kb fragment containing the fimA region revealed two open reading frames predicting highly homologous proteins FimA and FimB. FimA, which was composed of 136 amino acids and had a calculated molecular weight of 14,302, showed high sequence identity to the type IV fimbrillin precursors. fimB predicted a protein product of 135 amino acids and a molecular weight of 13,854. The open reading frame for fimB contained near the 5' end a palindromic sequence with a terminator loop potential, and the expression level of fimB in vitro and in Xanthomonas was considerably lower than that of fimA. We detected an efficiently transcribed fimA-specific mRNA of 600 bases as well as two weakly expressed, longer mRNA species that reacted with both fimA and fimB. A homolog of fimA but not of fimB was detected by Southern hybridization in strains of X. campestris pv. vesicatoria, campestris, begoniae, translucens, and graminis. A fimA::omega mutant of strain 3240 was not significantly reduced in virulence or adhesiveness to tomato leaves. However, the fimA mutant was dramatically reduced in cell aggregation in laboratory cultures and on infected tomato leaves. The fimA mutant strain also exhibited decreased tolerance to UV light.
TVFind (TM): an MPEG-7-based video management system over Internet

A projected growth of digital video databases and hence the importance of management strategies creates a challenging task for researchers. Index and search technology must enable access to humanly meaningful segments within video data streams if this increase of content is to be at all useful. The fundamental task in video analysis and retrieval then is to facilitate the human computer interface by bridging the worlds of low-level physical features in media and high-level human description. In this paper, we have discussed the key issues about design and implement a video management system based on MPEG-7. From this, we introduce Tsinghua Video Find-It System (TVFind), a prototype platform for retrieving and browsing within a video database system over web.
Development of amyloid imaging PET probes for an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Progressive accumulation of senile plaques (SPs) is one of the major neuropathological features of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) that precedes cognitive decline. Noninvasive detection of SPs could, therefore, be a potential diagnostic test for early or presymptomatic detection of AD patients. For this purpose, many attempts have been made to visualize AD‐specific pathological changes in the living brain. Currently, a most practical method for the in vivo measurement of SP depositions is using positron emission tomography (PET) and contrast agent that specifically label SPs. We have developed a novel compound 2‐[2‐(2‐dimethylaminothiazol‐5‐yl) ethenyl]‐6‐[2‐(fluoro)ethoxy] benzoxazole (BF‐227) as a candidate for an amyloid imaging probe for PET. BF‐227 displayed high affinity to synthetic amyloid β fibrils and clearly stained both SPs and diffuse plaques in AD brain sections. Intravenous administration of [11C]BF‐227 into normal mice indicated that this labeled tracer readily penetrated the blood brain barrier (BBB) and was washed out quickly from brain tissue. Currently, we have investigated the clinical trial of [11C]BF‐227 in healthy subjects and AD patients.
Robotic Task-Planning By Using Markov Logic Networks

Generating plans in real world environments by mobile robot planner is a challenging task due to the uncertainty and environment dynamics. Therefore, task-planning should take in its consideration these issues when generating plans. Semantic knowledge field has been planned as a source of information for deriving implicit information and generating semantic procedure. This paper extend the SemanticKnowledge Based (SKB) plan generation to take into account the uncertainty in accessible of objects, with their type and property, and proposes a new approach to construct plans based on probabilistic values which are resultant from Markov Logic Networks (MLN). An MLN module is established for probabilistic knowledge and inferencing jointly with semantic information to provide a basis for plausible learning and reasoning armed forces in at the bottom of of robot task-planning. In addition, an algorithm has been devised to construct MLN from semantic information. By provided that a means of model uncertainty in system archit ecture, task-planning serves as a behind tool for programmed applications that can profit from probabilistic conclusion within a semantic domain. This come up to is illustrate by means of test scenario run in a domestic environment using a mobile robot.
Identification of yeast proteins from two‐dimensional gels: Working out spot cross‐contamination

With the complete sequence of the yeast genome now available, efforts by many laboratories are underway to identify each of the spots on two‐dimensional (2‐D) gels corresponding to the most abundant yeast proteins. The high mass accuracy now attainable using matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)‐mass spectrometry equipped with delayed extraction simplifies the process of identification, such that many spots can be unambiguously identified in a short period of time merely by using peptide mass fingerprinting and generally available database matching programs. Although it is not always possible to match spots between gels run by different laboratories, proteins generally yield the same abundant proteolytic fragments when tryptic digestions are performed. Databases containing these signature peptides not only simplify the task of reidentifying proteins from different gels, but also make it possible to identify small amounts of cross‐contaminating proteins from different spots, as well as common extraneous contaminants such as human keratins. In this paper, we present data on the identification of > 20 previously unreported yeast proteins from 2‐D gels. Some novel proteins were identified from randomly analyzed spots. Focusing on 14 spots in a narrow‐pH‐range gel, we demonstrate how organizing peak‐table data and peptide match‐list data into databases enables the identification of a larger percentage of the peaks.
Modeling Supernova Light Curves: An Application of Hierarchical Gaussian Processes

With large data collection projects such as the Dark Energy Survey underway, data from distant Supernovae (SNe) are becoming increasingly available. As the quantity of information increases, the ability to quickly and accurately classify SNe has become essential. An area of great interest is the development of a strictly photometric classification mechanism. The first step in the advancement of modern photometric classification is the estimation of individual SN light curves. We propose the use of hierarchical Gaussian processes to model light curves. Individual SN light curves are assigned a Gaussian process prior centered at a type specific mean curve which is also assigned a Gaussian process prior. Properties inherent in this Bayesian non-parametric form of modeling yield flexible yet smooth curves estimates with a unique quantification of the error surrounding these curve estimates. Specifying the hierarchical structure relates individual SN light curves in such a way that borrowing strength across curves is possible. This allows for the estimation of SN light curves in entirety even when data are sparse. Additionally, it also yields a meaningful representation of SN class differences in the form of mean curves. The differences inherent in these mean curves may eventually allow for classification of SNe.
Caspase‐independent retinal ganglion cell death after target ablation in the neonatal rat

In neonatal rats, superior colliculus (SC) ablation results in a massive and rapid increase in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death that peaks about 24 h post‐lesion (PL). Naturally occurring cell death during normal development, and RGC death after axonal injury in neonatal and adult rats, has primarily been ascribed to apoptosis. Given that normal developmental cell death is reported to involve caspase 3 activation, and blocking caspase activity in adults reduces axotomy‐induced death, we examined whether blocking caspases in vivo reduces RGC death after neonatal SC lesions. Neither general nor specific caspase inhibitors increased neonatal RGC survival 6 and 24 h PL. These inhibitors were, however, effective in blocking caspases in another well‐defined in vitro apoptosis model, the corpus luteum. Caspase 3 protein and mRNA levels in retinas from normal and SC‐lesioned neonatal rats were assessed 3, 6 and 24 h after SC removal using immunohistochemistry, western and northern blots and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick‐end labelling (TUNEL) was used to independently monitor retinal cell death. The polymerase chain reaction data showed a small but insignificant increase in caspase 3 mRNA in retinas 24 h PL. Western blot analysis did not reveal a significant shift to cleaved (activated) caspase 3 protein. There was a small increase in the number of cleaved caspase 3 immunolabelled cells in the ganglion cell layer 24 h PL but this represented only a fraction of the death revealed by TUNEL. Together, these data indicate that, unlike the situation in adults, most lesion‐induced RGC death in neonatal rats occurs independently of caspase activation.
The link between negative emotions and eating disorder behaviour in patients with anorexia nervosa.

BACKGROUND Several theoretical models suggest that deficits in emotional regulation are central in the maintenance of anorexia nervosa (AN). Few studies have examined how patients view the relationship between negative affect and anorectic behaviour. We explored how patients with AN manage the aversive emotions sadness, anger, fear and disgust, and how they link these experiences to their eating disorder behaviours. METHODS Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 women aged 19-39 years diagnosed with AN (DSM-IV). Interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory methods. RESULTS The participants tended to inhibit expression of sadness and anger in interpersonal situations and reported high levels of anger towards themselves, self-disgust and fear of becoming fat. Different emotions were managed by means of specific eating disorder behaviours. Sadness was particularly linked to body dissatisfaction and was managed through restrictive eating and purging. Anger was avoided by means of restrictive eating and purging and released through anorectic self-control, self-harm and exercising. Fear was linked to fear of fatness and was managed through restrictive eating, purging and body checking. Participants avoided the feeling of disgust by avoiding food and body focused situations. CONCLUSION Treatment models of eating disorders highlight the significance of working with emotional acceptance and coping in this patient group. Knowledge about how patients understand the relationships between their negative emotions and their anorectic behaviour may be an important addition to treatment programmes for AN.
Differential expression of two mRNA species indicates a dual function of peripheral myelin protein PMP22 in cell growth and myelination

Two peripheral myelin protein PMP22 transcripts, CD25 and Sr13, have been identified by Northern blot and RNA‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods in rat. The CD25 and SR13 mRNA species (each approximately 1.8 kb in size) differ significantly in their 5′‐untranslated region (5′‐UTR) sequences but encode the same protein. While CD25 mRNA is largely confined to the peripheral nervous system, the Sr13 transcript is more ubiquitously expressed in rat tissues. Both transcripts are differentially expressed during postnatal sciatic nerve development, while CD25 expression steadily increases from low levels in neonates up to a maximum at postnatal day 14, SR13 mRNA levels are elevated at birth but decrease throughout adulthood. CD25 and Sr13 transcripts are expressed at very low constant levels in developing and adult brain. In degenerating and regenerating segments of injured peripheral nerve changes in CD25 mRNA levels clarly resemble the expression pattern of other myelin genes, whereas expression of SR13 is inversely correlated with the time course of Schwann cell proliferation. In cultured rat meningeal fibroblast SR13 mRNA expression is strictly growth arrest‐specific and independent of forskolin. On the other hand, regulation of CD25 mRNA levels in these cells is more complex with respect to interfering effects of serum and forskolin. In cultured Schwann cells neither CD25 nor SR13 expression is growth arrest‐specific. However, both transcript levels are consistently enhanced by forskolin under all conditions of cell growth tested. Expression of CD25 (but not SR13) depends on high Schwann cell density. Our results substantiate the hypothesis that PMP22 serves two biological functions, one related to cell growth (SR13) and another to myelination (CD25). © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evaluating the Approach Run of Class F11 Visually Impaired Athletes in Triple and Long Jumps

The present study examined stride pattern characteristics of Class F11 visually impaired long jumpers and triple jumpers. Athletes demonstrated initial ascending footfall variability followed by descending variability, on the second (long jumpers) and third (triple jumpers) stride prior to take-off, at a mean distance of 6.26 m (long jumpers) and 7.36 m (triple jumpers) from the take-off board. Toe-board-distance variability reached a maximum value of 0.36 m and 0.38 m for the long and triple jump, respectively. Last stride toe-board-distance variability was 0.29 m (long jump) and 0.25 m (triple jump). Class F11 visually impaired athletes exhibit regulation of goal-directed gait analogous to that of non-visually impaired athletes.
Design of reactive porous polymer supports for high throughput bioreactors: poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethylazlactone-co-acrylamide- co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monoliths.

Enzymatic bioreactors with both high flow characteristics and mechanical stability based on macroporous poly(2-vinyl-4, 4-dimethylazlactone-co-acrylamide-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monoliths have been prepared. Covalent immobilization of trypsin on these support is achieved in a single reaction step using the azlactone functional groups. Optimization of hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of the monolith affords a support that does not shrink in water and leads to immobilized enzyme that shows high activity in the hydrolysis of both low and high molecular weight substrates such as L-benzoyl arginine ethyl ester and casein. The catalytic activity of the monolithic reactor is maintained even at a flow velocity of 180 cm/min, which substantially exceeds those reported in the literature for packed bed reactors.
Intragenic Suppressors of P-loop Mutations in the -Subunit of the Mitochondrial ATPase in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae(*)

Three intragenic second-site suppressors, P353L, T237I, and L390F, were identified that suppressed two mutations in, and one adjacent to, the P-loop in the β-subunit of the yeast F-ATPase. The crystal structure of bovine F-ATPase (Abrahams, J. P., Leslie, A. G. W., Lutter, R., and Walker, J. E.(1994) Nature 370, 621-628) shows that these suppressor residues are located in the nucleotide-binding domain. Specific hypotheses have been formulated that suggest the conformational coupling of the P-loop with the suppressor sites. P353L is in a “catch” region, which forms unique interactions with the -subunit in the three different conformational states of the catalytic site. The identification of this suppressor mutation demonstrates genetically that the catch region is conformationally coupled to the P-loop. T237I is shown to interact with Lys-209, which occurs just after the P-loop. This suggests that this interaction changes the conformation of the P-loop to suppress the initial mutation. L390F interacts with Ala-181, which is adjacent to the P-loop. The mechanism of this suppression is suggested to occur through the interactions of L390F with Ala-181. These results identify critical interactions that modulate the structure of the P-loop and thus the biochemistry of the enzyme.
Validity of internal expression of the major histocompatibility complex class I in the diagnosis of inflammatory myopathies

Objective The inflammatory myopathies (IMs) are a group of disorders characterised by weakness and inflammation of the skeletal muscles. Muscle biopsy is the most crucial test to confirm the clinical diagnosis, but also the most common cause of misdiagnosis. There are currently no markers specific or sensitive enough to distinguish IMs from other diseases with similar clinical and morphological features, and an international multidisciplinary effort is under way to develop new classification criteria for IMs. Methods Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy recommendations to validate a diagnostic test based on the quantification of internal major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) positive fibres were adopted. MHC-I immunostained specimens from 64 patients were scored by two independent blinded investigators, and the percentage of positive fibres was determined. Agreement between investigators was evaluated with the k-weighted statistic. The receiver operating characteristic curve, area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of each percentage range of positive fibres versus the diagnosis of IM were calculated. Results The main difference between IM and non-inflammatory samples was the number of internal MHC-I positive fibres. The k-weighted value was 0.89 for a percentage of MHC-I positive fibres above 50%; the positive predictive value was 100%, and the negative predictive value was 94%. Conclusions This is the first study on the validity of a quantitative analysis of internal MHC-I positive fibres for an IM diagnosis performed according to Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy recommendations. The interobserver agreement was almost perfect, thus making the method reproducible. Applying an MHC-I cut-off above 50% is an optimal marker for polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM) diagnosis.
Mammalian Tissue Oxygen Levels Modulate Iron-Regulatory Protein Activities in Vivo

The iron-regulatory proteins (IRPs) posttranscriptionally regulate expression of transferrin receptor, ferritin, and other iron metabolism proteins. Although both IRPs can regulate expression of the same target genes, IRP2–/– mice significantly misregulate iron metabolism and develop neurodegeneration, whereas IRP1–/– mice are spared. We found that IRP2–/– cells misregulated iron metabolism when cultured in 3 to 6% oxygen, which is comparable to physiological tissue concentrations, but not in 21% oxygen, a concentration that activated IRP1 and allowed it to substitute for IRP2. Thus, IRP2 dominates regulation of mammalian iron homeostasis because it alone registers iron concentrations and modulates its RNA-binding activity at physiological oxygen tensions.
Rapid ELISA D-Dimer Testing in the Exclusion of Venous Thromboembolism in Hospitalized Patients

The clinical diagnosis of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) is known to be unreli able. Until now, no biological marker has been found to con firm thrombosis, but help can be gained from a biological marker ruling out the diagnosis of DVT or PE, i.e., the sensitive measurement of D-dimer (DD) species. This article summa rizes our experience in introducing a rapid D-dimer test (ELISA VIDAS D-dimères test, bioMérieux) in a collaborative strategy for thrombosis diagnosis during 9 consecutive months involving 1,131 measurements. The efficacy of the DD test was very different according the type of patient, and departments where the DD test provides a real diagnostic benefit were iden tified. High clinical probability for thrombosis was encountered in 32 patients and radiology was carried out, although D-dimer was negative: none of these patients was found to have a throm bosis after radiologic examination. However, extensive prog ress must be made in test prescription to reduce the excessive rate of positive D-dimer tests (78%) and positive measurements that are not followed up by radiology (42%).