Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived Risk of Cervical Cancer and Barriers to Screening among Secondary School Female Teachers in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia

Background: No previous studies had addressed the perceived risk of cervical cancer (CC) and its influence on screening practices and perceived barriers in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 506 randomly selected Saudi female secondary school teachers in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia to assess their level of knowledge about risk factors and signs of CC in relation to perceived risk and to characterize CC screening compliance using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Of the included female Saudi teachers, 65.4% and 63.4% were considered less-knowledgeable about CC risk factors and early signs and symptoms respectively. Only 17.2% reported being previously examined for CC. The majority of participants perceived themselves to be at an average or below average risk of CC. Residing in urban areas was the strongest predictor of CC screening (Odds ratio ‘OR’= 3.39; 95% confidence intervals ‘CI= 1.76-6.46; P=0.001). Awareness of risk factors was significantly associated with higher awareness of signs of CC (OR 2.5; 95% CI=, P=0.001). Exploratory factor analysis showed that personal fears (of screening being embarrassing) was the major factor that hindered CC screening with a high loading eigenvalue of 4.392, explaining 30.8% of the barriers toward utilization, followed by health care related factors. Conclusion: Secondary school teachers in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia showed low perceived risk, poor awareness about risk factors, signs and symptoms of CC and limited uptake of screening practices. This underlines the need for education programs on CC targeting this group.
Pounding Between Superstructure Segments in Multi-Supported Elevated Bridge with Three-Span Continuous Deck Under 3D Non-Uniform Earthquake Excitation

Reports after severe ground motions show that the earthquake-induced structural pounding may lead to significant damage in elevated bridges. The aim of this paper is to analyze pounding between superstructure segments of a highway elevated bridge with three-span continuous deck under 3D non-uniform earthquake excitation, which is induced by spatial seismic effects related to the propagation of seismic wave. The conditional stochastic approach has been applied to generate the earthquake records for different support locations along the structure. The analysis has been conducted with the help of FEM taking into account the influence of rotation of superstructure segments due to corner collisions. The detailed non-linear strain-rate-dependent model has been applied to simulate the behavior of bearings under earthquake excitation. The results of the study confirm that pounding has considerable influence on the behavior of the analyzed bridge and may lead to the substantial increase in the structural response. They show that the structural response depends much on the gap size between adjacent superstructure segments. Moreover, the results clearly indicate that the incorporation of the non-uniform earthquake excitation may lead to considerable changes in the structural behavior. The application of the method of conditional stochastic modeling for generation of earthquake records has also been proved to be useful for practical purposes of modeling the spatial seismic effects for long multi-supported elevated bridges.
Against the View that Consciousness and Attention are Fully Dissociable

In this paper, I will try to show that the idea that there can be consciousness without some form of attention, and high-level top-down attention without consciousness, originates from a failure to notice the varieties of forms that top-down attention and consciousness can assume. I will present evidence that: there are various forms of attention and consciousness; not all forms of attention produce the same kind of consciousness; not all forms of consciousness are produced by the same kind of attention; there can be low-level attention (or preliminary attention), whether of an endogenous or exogenous kind, without consciousness; attention cannot be considered the same thing as consciousness.
Correlated changes in life history traits in response to selection for faster pre-adult development in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Insects including the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster are under intense pressure to develop rapidly because they inhabit ephemeral habitats. We have previously shown that when selection for faster development was artificially imposed on D. melanogaster in the laboratory, reduction of pre-adult development time and shortening of the clock period occurs, suggesting a role for circadian clocks in the regulation of life history traits. Circadian clocks in D. melanogaster have also been implicated in the control of metabolic pathways, ageing processes, oxidative stress and defense responses to exogenous stressors. In order to rigorously examine correlations between pre-adult development time and other life history traits, we assayed pre-adult survivorship, starvation and desiccation resistance, body size and body weight, fecundity and adult lifespan in faster developing populations of D. melanogaster. The results revealed that selection for faster pre-adult development significantly reduced several adult fitness traits in the faster developing flies without affecting pre-adult survivorship. Although overall fecundity of faster developing flies was reduced, their egg output per unit body weight was significantly higher than that of controls, indicating that reduction in adult lifespan might be due to disproportionate investment in reproduction. Thus our results suggest that selection for faster pre-adult development in D. melanogaster yields flies with higher reproductive fitness. Because these flies also have shorter clock periods, our results can be taken to suggest that pre-adult development time and circadian clock period are correlated with various adult life history traits in D. melanogaster, implying that circadian clocks may have adaptive significance.
MRI Measurement of Bone Marrow Cellularity for Radiation Dosimetry

The current gold standard for measuring marrow cellularity is the bone marrow (BM) biopsy of the iliac crest. This measure is not predictive of total marrow cellularity, because the biopsy volume is typically small and fat fraction varies across the skeleton. MRI and localized MR spectroscopy have been demonstrated as noninvasive means for measuring BM cellularity in patients. The accuracy of these methods has been well established in phantom studies and in the determination of in vivo hepatic fat fractions but not for in vivo measurement of BM cellularity. Methods: Spoiled gradient-echo in vivo images of the femur, humerus, upper spine, and lower spine were acquired for 2 dogs using a clinical 3-T MRI scanner. Single-peak iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least squares (SP-IDEAL) was used to derive BM fat fractions. Stimulated-echo acquisition mode spectra were acquired in order to perform multipeak IDEAL with precalibration (MP-IDEAL). In vivo accuracy was validated by comparison with histology measurements. Histologic fat fractions were derived from adipocyte segmentation. Results: Bland–Altman plots demonstrated excellent agreement between SP-IDEAL and histology, with a mean difference of −0.52% cellularity and most differences within ±2% cellularity, but agreement between MP-IDEAL and histology was not as good (mean difference, −7% cellularity, and differences between 5% and −20%). Conclusion: Adipocyte segmentation of histology slides provides a measure of volumetric fat fraction (i.e., adipocyte volume fraction [AVF]) and not chemical fat fraction, because fat fraction measured from histology is invariant to the relative abundances of lipid chemical species. In contrast, MP-IDEAL provides a measure of chemical fat fraction, thus explaining the poor agreement of this method with histology. SP-IDEAL measures the relative abundance of methylene lipids, and this measure is shown to be equivalent to AVF. AVF provides the appropriate parameter to account for patient-specific cellularity in BM mass predictive equations and is consistent with current micro-CT–based models of skeletal dosimetry.
Accuracy of simple predictive equations for visceral fat area after 8 weeks of training

Abstract We previously proposed two predictive equations of visceral fat area applicable in a field setting (Demura & Sato, 2007a, 2007b). One uses the fat mass of the trunk measured by bioelectrical impedance as the main predictor (equation 1) and the other uses internal fat mass estimated from several anthropometric variables (equation 2). In this study, we examined the inter- and intra-individual accuracy of estimated values using these equations after 8 weeks of exercise training. Participants were 42 Japanese adults aged 42.7 ± 10.3 years (22 males, 20 females). Visceral fat area, body composition, and blood biochemistry were measured at baseline and after 8 weeks. There were no significant differences in reference visceral fat area measured by computed tomography and visceral fat area predicted by the equations either at baseline or after 8 weeks, and the values were highly consistent (equation 1: baseline R 2 = 0.829, after R 2 = 0.860; equation 2: baseline R 2 = 0.832; after R 2 = 0.850). No significant relationship was observed between the reference and change in visceral fat area for equation 1 (males: r = 0.272, P > 0.05; females: r = 0.428, P > 0.05), but there was a significant relationship for females with equation 2 (males: r = 0.279, P > 0.05; females: r = 0.474, P <0.05). Our findings indicate that these equations have high inter-individual consistency but low intra-individual consistency with the reference and are of limited use for the longitudinal evaluation of visceral fat area.
Photodynamic Therapy of Tumors Can Lead to Development of Systemic Antigen-Specific Immune Response

Background The mechanism by which the immune system can effectively recognize and destroy tumors is dependent on recognition of tumor antigens. The molecular identity of a number of these antigens has recently been identified and several immunotherapies have explored them as targets. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an anti-cancer modality that uses a non-toxic photosensitizer and visible light to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species that destroy tumors. PDT has been shown to lead to local destruction of tumors as well as to induction of anti-tumor immune response. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a pair of equally lethal BALB/c colon adenocarcinomas, CT26 wild-type (CT26WT) and CT26.CL25 that expressed a tumor antigen, β-galactosidase (β-gal), and we treated them with vascular PDT. All mice bearing antigen-positive, but not antigen-negative tumors were cured and resistant to rechallenge. T lymphocytes isolated from cured mice were able to specifically lyse antigen positive cells and recognize the epitope derived from beta-galactosidase antigen. PDT was capable of destroying distant, untreated, established, antigen-expressing tumors in 70% of the mice. The remaining 30% escaped destruction due to loss of expression of tumor antigen. The PDT anti-tumor effects were completely abrogated in the absence of the adaptive immune response. Conclusion Understanding the role of antigen-expression in PDT immune response may allow application of PDT in metastatic as well as localized disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that PDT has been shown to lead to systemic, antigen- specific anti-tumor immunity.
A performance bound for MIMO-OFDM channel estimation and prediction

The performance of a mobile MIMO-OFDM system depends on the ability of the system to accurately account for the effects of the frequency-selective time-varying channel at every symbol time and at every frequency subcarrier. In this paper, a vector formulation of the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) for biased estimators and for functions of parameters is used to find a lower bound on the estimation and prediction error of such a system. Numerical simulations demonstrate the benefits of multiple antennas for channel estimation and prediction and illustrate the impact of calibration errors on estimation performance when using parametric channel models.
Influence of phospholipids on the assessment of factor VIII activity

Summary. In view of reported discrepancies between different factor VIII assays, the influence of phospholipids on the performance of one‐stage clotting (OS) and chromogenic substrate (CS) assays was evaluated. The B domain deleted recombinant factor VIII, rVIII SQ, two full‐length recombinant products and a plasma derived factor VIII concentrate were each diluted into severe haemophilia A plasma and assayed against a plasma standard. The one‐stage activity was 50, 80, 75 and 106%, respectively, of the chromogenic result. Variations in the phospholipid concentration did not affect the chromogenic assay, except at very low levels where the apparent activity increased. In contrast, dilution of the phospholipid reagent had a substantial influence on the activity measured by OS assays, especially in the case of rVIII SQ. At low levels of phospholipid, the one‐stage activity of rVIII SQ exceeded the chromogenic result. When mixtures of phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidyl‐choline (PC) were used as a source of phospholipid, the OS results for rVIII SQ agreed well with the CS activity as long as the content of PS was below 10%, i.e., closer to the physiological level. At higher levels of PS, as in most commercial APTT reagents, the OS activity decreased. When the APTT reagent was replaced by platelets in the OS assay, the results compared well with those obtained by the CS assay for both t‐VIII SQ and full‐length factor VIII products.
Hierarchical geometry of faulting

Several joint and fault patterns were mapped at different scales (from 1 cm to 100 km) on the sedimentary cover of Saudi Arabia. They were analyzed using a new multifractal algorithm improved to correct for irregular geometry of mapped domains and finite size effects. Moreover, a new technique (the Optimal Anisotropic Wavelet Coefficient method) was conceived. It allows transformation to large scales maps from smaller scales ones and quantifies the multiscale behavior of faulting anisotropy. It consists of finding at each point on a fault map an optimum filter that reveals the local structure. Fault length distributions are also computed. Our main conclusion is that different geometrical power laws and anisotropic textures hold separately in distinct limited ranges, separated by characteristic scales. we can observe a one-to-one correspondence between those characteristic scales and the depths of the main lithological or rheological interfaces in the Arabian crust. Fracturing and faulting can thus be better modeled as a hierarchical process, controlled in large part by the layering of the crust.
Source and path effects in the wave fields of tremor and explosions at Stromboli Volcano, Italy

The wave fields generated by Strombolian activity are investigated using data from small-aperture seismic arrays deployed on the north flank of Stromboli and data from seismic and pressure transducers set up near the summit crater. Measurements of slowness and azimuth as a function of time clearly indicate that the sources of tremor and explosions are located beneath the summit crater at depths shallower than 200 m with occasional bursts of energy originating from sources extending to a depth of 3 km. Slowness, azimuth, and particle motion measurements reveal a complex composition of body and surface waves associated with topography, structure, and source properties. Body waves originating at depths shallower than 200 m dominate the wave field at frequencies of 0.5–2.5 Hz, and surface waves generated by the surficial part of the source and by scattering sources distributed around the island dominate at frequencies above 2.5 Hz. The records of tremor and explosions are both dominated by SH motion. Far-field records from explosions start with radial motion, and near-field records from those events show dominantly horizontal motion and often start with a low-frequency (1–2 Hz) precursor characterized by elliptical particle motion, followed within a few seconds by a high-frequency radial phase (1–10 Hz) accompanying the eruption of pyroclastics. The dominant component of the near- and far-field particle motions from explosions, and the timing of air and body wave phases observed in the near field, are consistent with a gas-piston mechanism operating on a shallow (<200 m deep), vertical crack-like conduit. Models of a degassing fluid column suggest that noise emissions originating in the collective oscillations of bubbles ascending in the magma conduit may provide an adequate self-excitation mechanism for sustained tremor generation at Stromboli.
Soil physical properties, soil carbon dioxide fluxes, and soil drainage dynamics of select bioenergy cropping systems

Bioenergy cropping systems have been proposed as a way to enhance United States energy security. However, research on soil physical properties, soil-surface CO2 effluxes, and soil drainage dynamics in such systems is needed to ensure environmental sustainability in the field. The objective of our research was to evaluate soil physical properties and conditions as well as soil-surface CO2 effluxes and soil drainage dynamics of selected annualand perennial-based biofuel cropping systems with the goal of comparing these systems for the greatest environmental sustainability in regards to soil and water resources. Near Ames, Iowa, six cropping systems of mixed prairie (nitrogenfertilized and unfertilized), continuous maize with 50 % stover removal (with and without cover crop), and maize-soybean rotation (each crop type grown each year) was initiated with four replications in a randomized complete block design. Soil physical properties evaluating soil structure and water, solute, and gas transfer were evaluated near the soil surface and soil-surface CO2 effluxes, surbsurface drainage quantity and quality, and soil physical conditions were monitored over time. Overall, the environmental sustainability greatly varied among the cropping systems. The removal of corn stover in the early stages after system establishment did not significantly impact soil physical properties, soil-surface CO2 effluxes, or soil water drainage with regards to subsurface drainage flow dynamics or water quality as compared to corn-soybean systems with only grain harvest. However, the incorporation of a winter rye cover crop in continuous corn systems did tend to be more environmentally sustainable as compared to when a cover crop was not used. Though soil physical properties were not improved, spatial variability associated
An Introduction to ATINER ' s Conference Paper Series

Dealing with ethical issues is a central aspect of many professions. Consequently, ethics is taught to diverse student groups in universities and colleges, alongside philosophy students. In this paper, we address the question of how ethics is best taught to such “non-philosophy” student groups. The standard way of introducing ethics to non-philosophy students is to present them with a set of moral theories. We refer to this approach as the “smorgasbord approach”, due to the impression it is likely to make on non-philosophy students approaching ethics as an academic discipline for the first time. This approach invites the assumption that adopting an ethical position is mainly a matter of choosing from this smorgasbord of different theories. We argue that this approach is problematic for several reasons, both theoretical and practical, and we suggest a methodsbased approach – focusing on methods for moral reasoning – as a more fruitful alternative. The main purpose of this paper is to explain and defend this methods-based approach to teaching ethics to non-philosophy students. In so doing, we also consider and meet some expected objections to this approach.
Computer simulation of tide‐induced residual transport in a coastal lagoon

A two-dimensional, four-layer numerical model of tidally induced residual flow is used to quantify longitudinal transport through the interior of Indian River lagoon, on Florida's Atlantic coast. Water depths and surface slopes at the approximate midpoint between two inlets are calculated by assuming that the tide in the interior of the lagoon is the superposition of exponentially damped sine waves representing six tidal constituents. Tidal waves moving south from one inlet are modified significantly by the same six constituents moving north from a second inlet. The net slope as they pass through each other at the study site quantifies the barotropic pressure gradient. Tidal period variations in longitudinal flow are simulated as a response to the barotropic pressure gradient, vertical eddy viscosity, and horizontal and vertical advective accelerations. The model is tuned and simulations are verified by comparing amplitudes and phase angles with values computed from currents and water levels measured over a 65-day study period in the summer of 1981. Results indicate a depth-averaged tidally induced residual flow of 0.8 cm/s at the study site. The residual flow varies from 0.1 to 1.2 cm/s over a synodic lunar month. Just under two thirds of the total is explained by Stokes transport; Eulerian mass transport contributes slightly more than one third. The total mass transport residual current through individual layers decreases from 1.0 cm/s in the top layer to 0.6 cm/s in the lowest 75 cm. An analysis of individual terms in the momentum equation indicates that the force balance is dominated by the barotropic pressure gradient and vertical eddy viscosity forces. The significance of tidally induced residual flow lies in the base-line level of transport it provides at times of low wind speeds.
Reliability and Availability Analysis of a Repairable k-out-of-n: G System With R Repairmen Subject to Shut-Off Rules

The k-out-of-n:G system is widely used in reliability and maintenance engineering. We consider a general k-out-of-n:G system which has identical components with identical repair time and lifetime distributions. There are R identical repairmen in the system. The shut-off rules of suspended animation, continuous operation, and a mixture of these two are studied. Repair times and lifetimes are assumed to be statistically independent and exponentially distributed (within, and between). We derive new closed form solutions for important performance measures including steady state availability, mean time to system failure, and mean time to first system failure.
Effect of Gate Leakage in the Subthreshold Characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

This letter studies the effect of gate leakage on the subthreshold slope and ON/OFF current ratio of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). We found a strong correlation between the gate leakage current and the transistor subthreshold characteristics: the lower the gate leakage, the higher the ON/OFF ratio and the steeper the subthreshold slope. To improve the subthreshold characteristics in GaN HEMTs, the gate leakage current was reduced with an O2 plasma treatment prior to the gate metallization. The O2 plasma treatment effectively reduces the gate leakage current by more than four orders of magnitude, it increases the ON/OFF ratio to more than seven orders of magnitude and the improved AlGaN/GaN HEMT shows a nearly ideal subthreshold slope of 64 mV/dec.