Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic review of mentorship programs to facilitate transition to post-secondary education and employment for youth and young adults with disabilities

Abstract Purpose: Youth with disabilities experience barriers in transitioning to Post-Secondary Education (PSE) and employment. Mentorship programs provide a promising approach to supporting youth through those transitions. This paper aims to identify the effective components of mentorship programs and describe participants’ experiences. Method: We undertook a systematic review of mentorship interventions for youth and young adults with disabilities. We searched seven electronic databases for peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1980 and 2014. We included articles that examined mentorship interventions focused on PSE or employment outcomes among youth, aged thirty or younger, with physical, developmental, or cognitive disabilities. Results: Of the 5068 articles identified, 22 met the inclusion criteria. For seven mentorship interventions, at least one significant improvement was reported in school- or work-related outcomes. Mentorship programs with significant outcomes were often structured, delivered in group-based or mixed formats, and longer in duration (>6 months). Mentors acted as role models, offered advice, and provided mentees with social and emotional support. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that mentorship programs may be effective for helping youth with disabilities transition to PSE or employment. More rigorously designed studies are needed to document the impact of mentorship programs on school and vocational outcomes for youth with disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Mentorship interventions have the potential to effectively support youth with disabilities as they transition to post-secondary education and employment. Youth should consider participating in formal mentorship interventions, and clinicians and educators should encourage them to do so, to enhance social, educational, and vocational outcomes. When developing interventions, clinicians should consider incorporating the effective components (i.e. duration, content, format) of mentorship interventions identified in this paper. Future mentorship programs should also contain a rigorous evaluation component. Clinicians can help to create (build content, consult on accessibility), connect (youth to program, program to community agencies), and contribute to mentorship interventions.
Grain Refinement by Combined ECAE/Extrusion and Dieless Drawing Processes for AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Tubes

Grain refinement processing by severe deformation, combined equal-channel angular extrusion (ECAE) processing and conventional tube extrusion, is applied to AZ31 magnesium alloy. By a combination of ECAE processing and tube extrusion, a fabricated tube, with outer and inner diameters of 2 mm and 1 mm, respectively, has fine, homogeneous, and equiaxed grain structure with an average grain size of 1.5m. Tensile test results indicate that the fine-grained tubes exhibited a superplasticity potential m value of 0.55. The maximum elongation (688%) is obtained at a temperature of 673K. Furthermore, the tubes fabricated by combined ECAE/extrusion process is applied to dieless drawing process without using any tool and die.As a result, dieless drawing limit is enhanced due to high m value achieved by combined ECAE/Extrusion process. From these results, the effectiveness of new grain refinement processing for fabricating fine-grained tubes and its application for dieless drawing process to fabricate the fine tubes was demonstrated experimentally.
An evoked potential study of the cross-race effect of facial recognition in the South African context.

This research aimed to explore and contextualise research on the electrophysiological potentials evoked in response to human face recognition within the South African context. Previous research provides evidence that there is a measurable difference in the electrophysiological response to faces of people of other racial groups when compared to the response to one’s own race group. The difference is seen in greater peak amplitudes in response to one’s own-race (indicating greater attention being granted) in comparison to the other-race. This has been labelled the Cross-Race Effect. This research also attempted to expand on previous research in the use of a mixed-race sample and realistic colour images, in contrast to previously used greyscale images. A purposive sample of 40 students at the University of the Witwatersrand was split equally between gender and race (Black and White) with an Indian control group. The electrical potentials elicited by the facial stimuli were extracted from the ongoing electroencephalograms. The results obtained displayed inverse results to those found internationally, with Black participants eliciting no differences between racial groups, and White participants eliciting a greater peak amplitude to Black (other-race) faces. A gender effect was also seen, with White participants eliciting greater peak amplitudes towards female faces, while Black participant again showed no differences between male and female faces. Trends displayed in the results, and the significance thereof, are discussed, and the importance of the effect of society of developmental neurology is highlighted, with the rephrasing of cultural neuroscience to Socio-Cultural Neuroscience. The results ultimately suggest that the internationally seen crossrace effect is absent in a young South African population (with the principle of increased exposure leading to increased attention still in effect), indicating that South Africa is beginning to move away from racial discrimination, and moving towards a future of true integration and equality.
Unexplained fetal death: Another anti-angiogenic state

Background. Pregnancy creates a unique situation in which both vasculogenesis and extensive angiogenesis are required for successful fetal and placental development. Recently, the soluble form of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1), an antagonist to VEGF and placental growth factor (PlGF) (two important angiogenic factors), has been implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and small for gestational age (SGA) without preeclampsia. There is, however, a paucity of information concerning plasma sVEGFR-1 concentrations in other obstetrical disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine plasma sVEGFR-1 concentrations in normal pregnancy, term gestation in labor, and in patients with pregnancy complications including spontaneous preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), fetal death, and acute pyelonephritis. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the concentrations of sVEGFR-1 in plasma obtained from 499 women in the following groups: (1) non-pregnant women (n = 40); (2) pregnant women (n = 135); (3) normal pregnant women at term in labor (n = 60); (4) fetal death (n = 60); (5) spontaneous preterm labor with intact membranes (n = 102); (6) preterm PROM (n = 64); and (7) pregnancy with acute pyelonephritis (n = 38). Since plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration changes with gestational age, the difference between the actual and the expected plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration (derived from regression equation of normal pregnancy) for each patient (delta value) was calculated and used to examine the differences of plasma sVEGFR-1 concentrations among various groups. Plasma concentrations of sVEGFR-1 were determined by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Regression analysis and non-parametric statistics were used for analysis. Results. (1) Normal pregnant women before term had a median plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration significantly higher than non-pregnant women (p < 0.001); (2) plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration increased with advancing gestational age in normal pregnancy (r = 0.5; p < 0.001); (3) there was no significant difference in the median delta plasma concentration of sVEGFR-1 between normal pregnant women at term with and without labor (p = 0.09); (4) patients with fetal death had a median delta plasma concentration of sVEGFR-1 significantly higher than normal pregnant women (p = 0.001). Among patients with fetal death, those with unexplained causes (p = 0.04) and those with preeclampsia (p < 0.001) had a significantly higher delta plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration than normal pregnant women; and (5) there was no significant difference in the median delta plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration between normal pregnancy and preterm labor with intact membranes, preterm PROM (regardless of the presence or absence of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity), or acute pyelonephritis (all p > 0.05). Conclusions. Plasma sVEGFR-1 concentration is increased in a subset of patients with fetal death, but does not change in term and preterm parturition, rupture of fetal membranes, or acute pyelonephritis.
High Performance RDMA-based Multi-port All-gather on Multi-rail QsNet II

Scientific applications written in MPI use collective communications intensively. Efficient and scalable implementation of such collective operations is therefore crucial to the performance of MPI applications running on clusters. Quadrics QsNetII is a high-performance network that implements some collectives at its Elan user-level library. Its MPI implementation uses such primitives directly. Quadrics communication software supports point-to-point message striping over multi-rail QsNetII networks. However, multi-rail collectives, other than broadcast, are not supported. In this work, we propose, design and implement a number of RDMA- based multi-port algorithms for the all-gather operation over multi-rail QsNetII clusters directly at the Elan level. Our performance results indicate that the proposed multi-port all-gather Direct algorithm gains an improvement of up to 1.49 for 32 KB messages over the native Elan_gather() collective.
Optoelectronic investigation of novel PbSrSe thin films for mid-infrared device applications

We review our recently combined study of temperature-dependent photoluminescence, absorption, and photocurrent measurements with theoretical models on PbSrSe thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy for the key properties of PbSrSe thin films and their microstructures. The derived empirical equations for band gaps, effective masses, and refractive indices have been employed successfully in PbSrSe/PbSe multiple quantum well (MQW) mid-infrared laser systems, which opens the way for the design of IV-VI MQW mid-infrared lasers. The infrared detection of PbSrSe thin films has been demonstrated at different temperatures, where the spectral intensity and wavelength coverage are determined by the band gap and the film thickness. The bias- and frequency-dependent capacitance characteristics have also been investigated in detail.
Appropriate sample bags and syringes for preserving breath samples in breath odor research: a technical note

It is now generally accepted that the volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulfide are the main contributors to halitosis when of oropharyngeal origin. The VSCs hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan are the major causes of bad breath in oral malodour whereas dimethyl sulfide is generally the major cause of bad breath in extra-oral halitosis. To facilitate research in the field of halitosis, it is highly advantageous to be able to preserve breath samples for longer periods of time before measurement of the VSCs, e.g. for sampling patients at home or when studying a large cohort of patients where an immediate measurement of the VSCs is not possible. After testing numerous sample bags, ultimately the foil balloons, coated inside with the synthetic polymer polyethylene, were the preferred ones. All the VSCs in breath remained quite stable for at least 3 days in these balloons. Besides the sampling bags, the use of an appropriate syringe for sampling mouth air and for injecting samples in e.g. a gas chromatograph is also of great importance. Usually, syringes with a rubber barrel seal are used. However, some rubbers quickly adsorb the VSCs in breath. When preserving breath samples for longer periods, the rubber also releases VSCs, especially methyl mercaptan. It was also found that these syringes release a compound which interferes with dimethyl sulfide, when using gas chromatographic measurements with the OralChroma. We now use all-plastic syringes (B/Braun Injekt), made of polypropylene and polyethylene, in which the VSCs in breath remain quite stable for at least 9 h.
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 a Novel Baculovirus-derived Promoter with High Activity in the Baculovirus Expression System

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) has been widely used to produce a large number of recombinant proteins, and is becoming one of the most powerful, robust, and cost-effective systems for the production of eukaryotic proteins. Nevertheless , as in any other protein expression system, it is important to improve the production capabilities of this vector. The orf46 viral gene was identified among the most highly abundant sequences in the transcriptome of Spodoptera exigua larvae infected with its native baculovirus, the S. exigua multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SeMNPV). Different sequences upstream of the orf46 gene were cloned, and their promoter activities were tested by the expression of the GFP reporter gene using the Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) vector system in different insect cell lines (Sf21, Se301, and Hi5) and in larvae from S. exigua and Trichoplusia ni. The strongest promoter activity was defined by a 120 nt sequence upstream of the ATG start codon for the orf46 gene. On average, GFP expression under this new promoter was more than two fold higher than the expression obtained with the standard polyhedrin (polh) promoter. Additionally, the orf46 promoter was also tested in combination with the polh promoter, revealing an additive effect over the polh promoter activity. In conclusion, this new characterized promoter represents an excellent alternative to the most commonly used baculovirus promoters for the efficient expression of recombinant proteins using the BEVS.
Haptic information displays for computer-assisted surgery

We propose the use of robotic and haptic technology to develop haptic information displays for computer-assisted surgery applications. Such devices provide force and/or tactile feedback to a surgeon to communicate information that is difficult or impossible to communicate via a graphical display alone. Haptic information displays differ from autonomous robots and teleoperators used in surgical applications, and have different requirements than the haptic devices designed for training and simulation of surgical procedures. A haptic information display based on Barrett Technology's Whole-Arm Manipulator is introduced and early experiments for two different classes of medical applications are discussed. This new application area raises open research questions in the areas of haptic robotic systems and human machine interaction.
Modeling longitudinal data and its impact on survival in observational nephrology studies: tools and considerations: Clinical Epidemiology in Nephrology

Abstract Nephrologists and kidney disease researchers are often interested in monitoring how patients’ clinical and laboratory measures change over time, what factors may impact these changes, and how these changes may lead to differences in morbidity, mortality, and other outcomes. When longitudinal data with repeated measures over time in the same patients are available, there are a number of analytical approaches that could be employed to describe the trends and changes in these measures, and to explore the associations of these changes with outcomes. Researchers may choose a streamlined and simplified analytic approach to examine trajectories with subsequent outcomes such as estimating deltas (subtraction of the last observation from the first observation) or estimating per patient slopes with linear regression. Conversely, they could more fully address the data complexity by using a longitudinal mixed model to estimate change as a predictor or employ a joint model, which can simultaneously model the longitudinal effect and its impact on an outcome such as survival. In this review, we aim to assist nephrologists and clinical researchers by reviewing these approaches in modeling the association of longitudinal change in a marker with outcomes, while appropriately considering the data complexity. Namely, we will discuss the use of simplified approaches for creating predictor variables representing change in measurements including deltas and patient slopes, as well more sophisticated longitudinal models including joint models, which can be used in addition to simplified models based on the indications and objectives of the study as warranted.
Analysis of the Human Pancreatic Stellate Cell Secreted Proteome

Objective: Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) are important players in pancreatic fibrosis and are major contributors to the extracellular matrix proteins observed with the stromal response characteristic of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Pancreatic stellate cells are also believed to secrete soluble factors that promote tumor progression; however, no comprehensive analysis of the PSC proteome in either the quiescent or the activated state has been reported. Methods: Using 2-dimensional tandem mass spectrometry and the RLT-PSC cell line, we present the first comprehensive study describing and comparing the quiescent and activated human PSC-secreted proteomes. Results: Very few proteins are secreted in the quiescent state. In stark contrast, activated PSCs secreted a vast array of proteins. Many of these proteins differed from those secreted by PDAC-derived cell lines. Proteins associated with wound healing, proliferation, apoptosis, fibrosis, and invasion were characterized. Selected proteins were verified in human tissue samples from PDAC, dysplastic pancreas, and normal pancreas using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining. Conclusions: Our study represents the first comprehensive analysis of proteins secreted by PSCs. These findings lay the foundation for characterizing PSC-derived proteins involved in stroma-tumor interactions and the promotion of pancreatitis and PDAC.Abbreviations: &agr;-SMA - alpha smooth muscle actin, ANXA2 - annexin A2, ECM - extracellular matrix, EZR - ezrin, GFAP - glial fibrillary acidic protein, GO - gene ontology, KEGG - Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, LGALS3BP - galectin-3-binding protein, MMP2 - matrix metallopeptidase 2, NME1 - nonmetastatic cells 1, protein (NM23A), PCC - pancreatic cancer cell, PDAC - pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, PKM2 - pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, muscle isoform, PLAU - urokinase plasminogen activator, PSC - pancreatic stellate cell, SERPINE1 - plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, SERPINI2 - serpin peptidase inhibitor, clade I (pancpin), member 2, SILAC - stable isotope labeling of amino acids in cell culture, TBST - TBS with 1% Tween 20, TGFBI - transforming growth factor, &bgr;-induced, 68 kd, UCHL1 - ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal esterase L1
Generalizing Surrogate-Assisted Evolutionary Computation

Using surrogate models in evolutionary search provides an efficient means of handling today's complex applications plagued with increasing high-computational needs. Recent surrogate-assisted evolutionary frameworks have relied on the use of a variety of different modeling approaches to approximate the complex problem landscape. From these recent studies, one main research issue is with the choice of modeling scheme used, which has been found to affect the performance of evolutionary search significantly. Given that theoretical knowledge available for making a decision on an approximation model a priori is very much limited, this paper describes a generalization of surrogate-assisted evolutionary frameworks for optimization of problems with objectives and constraints that are computationally expensive to evaluate. The generalized evolutionary framework unifies diverse surrogate models synergistically in the evolutionary search. In particular, it focuses on attaining reliable search performance in the surrogate-assisted evolutionary framework by working on two major issues: 1) to mitigate the 'curse of uncertainty' robustly, and 2) to benefit from the 'bless of uncertainty. ' The backbone of the generalized framework is a surrogate-assisted memetic algorithm that conducts simultaneous local searches using ensemble and smoothing surrogate models, with the aims of generating reliable fitness prediction and search improvements simultaneously. Empirical study on commonly used optimization benchmark problems indicates that the generalized framework is capable of attaining reliable, high quality, and efficient performance under a limited computational budget.
PGC‐1α and fasting‐induced PDH regulation in mouse skeletal muscle

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether lack of skeletal muscle peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC‐1α) affects the switch in substrate utilization from a fed to fasted state and the fasting‐induced pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) regulation in skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle‐specific PGC‐1α knockout (MKO) mice and floxed littermate controls were fed or fasted for 24 h. Fasting reduced PDHa activity, increased phosphorylation of all four known sites on PDH‐E1α and increased pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK4) and sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) protein levels, but did not alter total acetylation of PDH‐E1α. Lack of muscle PGC‐1α did not affect the switch from glucose to fat oxidation in the transition from the fed to fasted state, but was associated with lower and higher respiratory exchange ratio (RER) in the fed and fasted state, respectively. PGC‐1α MKO mice had lower skeletal muscle PDH‐E1α, PDK1, 2, 4, and pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase (PDP1) protein content than controls, but this did not prevent the fasting‐induced increase in PDH‐E1α phosphorylation in PGC‐1α MKO mice. However, lack of skeletal muscle PGC‐1α reduced SIRT3 protein content, increased total lysine PDH‐E1α acetylation in the fed state, and prevented a fasting‐induced increase in SIRT3 protein. In conclusion, skeletal muscle PGC‐1α is required for fasting‐induced upregulation of skeletal muscle SIRT3 and maintaining high fat oxidation in the fasted state, but is dispensable for preserving the capability to switch substrate during the transition from the fed to the fasted state and for fasting‐induced PDH regulation in skeletal muscle.