Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring barriers to the delivery of cervical cancer screening and early treatment services in Malawi: some views from service providers

Background Cervical cancer is the most common reproductive health cancer in Malawi. In most cases, women report to health facilities when the disease is in its advanced stage. In this study, we investigate service providers’ perceptions about barriers for women to access cervical cancer screening and early treatment services in Malawi. Methods We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 district coordinators and 40 service providers of cervical cancer screening and early treatment services in 13 districts in Malawi. The study was conducted in 2012. The district coordinators helped the research team identify the health facilities which were providing cervical cancer screening and early treatment services. Results Almost all informants reported that cervical cancer was a major public health problem in their districts and that prevention efforts for this disease were being implemented. They were aware of the test and treat approach using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). They, however, said that the delivery of cervical cancer screening and early treatment services was compromised because of factors such as gross shortage of staff, lack of equipment and supplies, the lack of supportive supervision, and the use of male service providers. Informants added that the lack of awareness about the disease among community members, long distances to health facilities, the lack of involvement of husbands, and prevailing misperceptions about the disease (eg, that it is caused by the exposure to the VIA process) affect the uptake of these services. Conclusion While progress has been made in the provision of cervical cancer screening and early treatment services in Malawi, a number of factors affect service delivery and uptake. There is a need to continue creating awareness among community members including husbands and also addressing identified barriers such as shortage of staff and supplies in order to improve uptake of services.
The evolutionary history of Boloria (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): phylogeny, zoogeography and larval–foodplant relationships

Boloria is restricted to cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, and represents a model for understanding recent diversification of phytophagous insects in the Holarctic region. We infer the phylogeny of the genus based on characters from adult morphology and three genes (COI, EF1-α and wingless). We revise the subgenus level classification, and divide the genus into three subgenera, corroborating earlier works. The largest subgenus, Clossiana, is divided into nine informal species groups. A relaxed Bayesian clock analysis combined with a dispersal-vicariance analysis shows that the genus originated and first diversified in the Central Palaearctic region in the Middle Eocene. This region has remained important throughout the evolution of the genus, but independent diversifications also occurred in the Nearctic region. At least nine independent dispersal events between the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions are needed to explain the current distribution of the genus, whereas vicariance appears to have played only a minor role. An analysis of the evolution of larval–foodplant associations shows that although monophagous Violaceae-feeding is the original feeding strategy within Boloria, numerous host-shifts or broadenings of diet have happened. This inherent plasticity in host choice has likely been an important factor in the diversification in alpine and arctic environments by Boloria.
Quantitative validation of nicotine production in tea (Camellia sinensis L.)

Endogenous nicotine was confirmed to be present in tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.) by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry of tea samples from tea-producing regions in six Asian countries. All samples contained nicotine (0.011–0.694 μg g−1 dry weight). Nicotine contents remained constant during manufacturing of green, oolong and black teas, implying that nicotine is stable against heating, drying, enzymatic oxidation and mechanical damage during processing. Flower buds and seeds of cultivar Yabukita also contained nicotine (0.030–0.041 μg g−1 dry weight). A comparison of two cultivars revealed that higher nicotine contents were found in the black tea cultivar Benifuki. All plant parts of hydroponic Yabukita contained nicotine (0.003–0.013 μg g−1 dry weight). Tea cells cultured in B5 medium as well as roots and stems of tea seedlings contained nicotine levels similar to those of new leaves from field-grown plants. Although the levels of endogenous nicotine in tea plants are extremely low and sample contamination cannot be discounted, these levels exceed the maximum acceptable limit in Japan (0.01 μg g−1 dry weight).
Clinical characterization of 42 oligospermic or azoospermic men with microdeletion of the AZFc region of the Y chromosome, and of 18 children conceived via ICSI.

BACKGROUND Severe spermatogenic compromise may be the result of a Y-chromosomal deletion of the AZFc region. Prior studies are limited to relatively small numbers of AZFc-deleted men. In this study, we have fully characterized 42 infertile men with a Y chromosome microdeletion strictly confined to the AZFc region, and we report on 18 children conceived through the use of ICSI. METHODS A total of 42 oligospermic or azoospermic men had AZFc deletions. History, physical examination, karyotype, FSH, LH, testosterone, testis histology and results of ICSI using ejaculated or testis sperm were retrospectively accumulated in two academic clinical practices. RESULTS All men were somatically healthy. Karyotypes were 46,XY in all but two men. FSH, LH, testosterone and testis histology could not differentiate those with oligospermia or azoospermia, nor could they predict whether sperm could be found in harvested testis tissue. Paternal age was not increased. Sperm production appeared stable over time. The results of ICSI were not affected by the AZFc deletion. All but one of the offspring were healthy. The sons inherited the AZFc deletion with no increase in length. CONCLUSIONS AZFc-deleted men are somatically healthy, will most likely have useable sperm, will have stable sperm production over time and will have a good chance to experience biological paternity, but their sons will also be AZFc-deleted.
Partisan Strength and Social Media Use Among Voters During the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election: Examining the Roles of Ambivalence and Disagreement

High identifiers to political parties are typically the most cognitively and behaviorally engaged during elections. Using a national postelection survey of voters (N = 924) in the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election, the present study examined the relationship between partisan strength and a variety of social media behaviors. Findings showed that partisan strength was positively associated with social media use during the campaign. However, the relationships were generally only significant under conditions of lower ambivalence toward political parties and less disagreement among one’s friendship networks. Implications for the findings are discussed.
The Role of Religiosity in Adolescents' Compulsive Pornography Use: A Longitudinal Assessment

ABSTRACT Despite increasing concerns that adolescent men are vulnerable to developing compulsive pornography use, little research has been done in this area. Given recent theorizing and research concerning moral incongruence, we hypothesized that symptoms of compulsive pornography use should generally be associated with higher levels of pornography use and increased growth in male adolescent pornography use over time, but that this pattern would be attenuated among very religious participants. These hypotheses were tested with mixed effects growth models using two independent panel samples of male Croatian adolescents. As expected, adolescent men who reported features of compulsive pornography use tended to exhibited higher levels of pornography use. However, contrary to expectations, increased growth in pornography use was limited to more religious compulsive users. Compared to nonreligious compulsive users, these adolescents started with lower initial levels of pornography use and their use increased over time at a greater rate of change. This study's results are the first to suggest that some adolescent men who report high levels of pornography use tend to exhibit symptoms of compulsive use, which highlights a need for counseling and therapeutic attention. Our findings also have implications for the emerging theory of moral incongruence.
The experiences and preparedness of family carers for best interest decision‐making of a relative living with advanced dementia: A qualitative study

AIM To explore the experience and the preparedness of family carers in their caregiving role as best interest decision-makers of a relative living with advanced dementia. BACKGROUND The prevalence of dementia is a global issue. The role of being a carer of a relative living with dementia does not necessarily lessen once they are admitted to a nursing home. Best interest decision-making including end-of-life care decisions need to be made and reaching these choices can be challenging. The preparedness of family carers in this role needs greater understanding. DESIGN Descriptive qualitative study. METHODS During 2015 twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted of family carers of nursing home residents living with advanced dementia, then analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. RESULTS Three themes were identified: (1) Caring for someone living with dementia. The impact on the carer's holistic well-being and their experience of being a best interest decision-maker; (2) Accessing support. The influential nature of formal and informal networks; (3) Perceived knowledge and understanding of the dementia trajectory of carers and nursing staff. CONCLUSION The experiences and preparedness of informal carers is a reflection of their personal response, but the distress experienced highlights the significant need of adequate support availability and of enhancing nursing staffs' dementia expertise to maximize their role in facilitating best interest decision-making. This has significant implications for nursing practice and for service user and nursing staff education. Considering the global impact of dementia, our findings have international relevance to similar nursing homes across the world.
Biomechanical differences of arm swing countermovement jumps on sand and rigid surface performed by elite beach volleyball players

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible arm swing effect on the biomechanical parameters of vertical counter movement jump due to differences of the compliance of the take-off surface. Fifteen elite male beach-volleyball players (26.2 ± 5.9 years; 1.87 ± 0.05 m; 83.4 ± 6.0 kg; mean ± standard deviation, respectively) performed counter movement jumps on sand and on a rigid surface with and without an arm swing. Results showed significant (p < .05) surface effects on the jump height, the ankle joint angle at the lowest height of the body center of mass and the ankle angular velocity. Also, significant arm swing effects were found on jump height, maximum power output, temporal parameters, range of motion and angular velocity of the hip. These findings could be attributed to the instability of the sand, which resulted in reduced peak power output due to the differences of body configuration at the lowest body position and lower limb joints’ range of motion. The combined effect of the backward arm swing and the recoil of the sand that resulted in decreased resistance at ankle plantar flexion should be controlled at the preparation of selected jumping tasks in beach-volleyball.
The Emergence of First Language Phonology : Perception , Articulation and Representation *

Since the mid-1990s, we have observed a resurgence in the number of competing approaches to linguistics and language acquisition, a few of which also came with a noticeable degree of radicalization in the area of theoretical modelling. Focussing on phonology and phonological development, recent proposals now range from views that explicitly depend on phonological features as innately available primitives (Hale & Reiss 2008) or, at the other extreme of the spectrum, reject the notion of phonological feature altogether (Vihman & Croft 2007). In this paper, I argue that neither of these (irreconcilable) views is tenable. I instead defend the view that while abstract phonological categories are crucially relevant to both developing and end-state phonological systems, these categories need not be assumed to be innately available. The paper is organized as follows. In section 1, I address the two approaches mentioned above, both of which I consider to be too radical to provide an adequate level of explanatory power for phonological development, an issue I discuss in section 2. I move to the current proposal in section 3. My general aim is to explain relationships between phonological perception, representation, and production in the context of first language development while keeping with the relevant scientific literature on the topic. I discuss this proposal in light of data on the first language acquisition of French and of European Portuguese, in section 4. A brief discussion of additional implications and perspectives follows, in section 5.
Salivary cortisol and behavioral response to social evaluative threat in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social behavior. One possible explanation for social communication deficits in ASD could be differences in biological systems that support responses to environmental stimuli. If so, it is unclear if differences in the arousal response to social stimuli in ASD are due to reduced interest in social information, or to an increased stress response. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis facilitates arousal and the stress response to sensory input, including social stimuli. Previous research shows blunted cortisol response to social evaluative threat in children with ASD. The majority of prior work has focused on children with ASD, but adolescents with ASD are understudied. The adolescent period is of interest, as this developmental epoch is associated with increased salience of social evaluative threat in typically developing (TD) populations. In this study, we employed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a laboratory paradigm that involves exposure to social evaluative threat, to study the cortisol and behavioral response to social evaluative threat in ASD and TD adolescents. Salivary cortisol data were collected at six time points before and after the TSST. Behavioral data were collected using video recordings of the TSST, which were then operationalized and coded. Paired sample t‐tests were used to calculate within‐group cortisol response to the TSST. Cortisol significantly increased in response to the TSST in the TD group but not the ASD group. The TD group showed a trend for more self‐soothing behaviors during the stressor than the ASD group. The lack of a cortisol response to the TSST in the ASD group suggests that the TSST is not interpreted as stressful or salient for ASD adolescents. Autism Res 2017, 10: 346–358. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On Neotropical Merophysiinae with descriptions of a new genus and new species (Coleoptera, Endomychidae)

Abstract Intensive survey of museum collections and new field collecting resulted in discovery of six new, closely related species of the Neotropical Merophysiinae. A new species of the genus Lycoperdinella Champion, L. boliviensis sp. n. , from Bolivia and Brazil, and five new species from Mexico for which a new genus is proposed here as Rueckeria gen. n. : R. inecol (type species), R. nigrileonis, R. ocelotl, R. puma, R. skelleyi spp. n. , have been discovered. Lycoperdinella, Rueckeria gen. n. , L. subcaeca Champion and all new species are diagnosed, described, and illustrated. Keys to the species of Lycoperdinella and Rueckeria and a distribution map are provided. A lectotype of Lycoperdinella subcaeca Champion, 1913 is designated. Molecular barcodes of three new species of Rueckeria are provided in order to help with the identification of these taxa.
WASP-80b has a dayside within the T-dwarf range ?

AHMJT is a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) fellow under grant number P300P2-147773. MG and EJ are Research Associates at the F.R. S-FNRS; LD received the support the support of the F.R. I.A. fund of the FNRS. DE, KH, and SU acknowledge the financial support of the SNSF in the frame of the National Centre for Competence in Research ‘PlanetS’. EH and IR acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the ‘Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional’ (FEDER) through grants AYA2012-39612-C03-01 and ESP2013-48391-C4-1-R.
Sampling-Based Path Planning for a Visual Reconnaissance UAV ∗

This article considers a path planning problem for a single fixed-wing aircraft performing a reconnaissance mission using EO (Electro-Optical) camera(s). A mathematical formulation of the general aircraft visual reconnaissance problem for static ground targets in terrain is given and it is shown, under simplifying assumptions, that it can be reduced to a PVDTSP (Polygon-Visiting Dubins Traveling Salesman Problem), a variation of the famous TSP (Traveling Salesman Problem). Two algorithms for solving the PVDTSP are developed. They fall into the class of algorithms known as sampling-based roadmap methods because they operate by sampling a finite set of points from a continuous state space in order to reduce a continuous motion planning problem to planning on a finite discrete graph called a roadmap. Under certain technical assumptions, the algorithms are resolution complete, which means the solution returned provably converges to a global optimum as the number of samples grows, i.e., as the the resolution of the roadmap becomes finer. The first algorithm is resolution complete under slightly milder assumptions, but the second algorithm achieves faster computation times by a novel roadmap construction. Numerical experiments indicate that, for up to about 20 targets both algorithms deliver very good solutions suitably quickly for online purposes. Additionally, the algorithms allow trade-off of computation time for solution quality and are shown extensible to handle wind, airspace constraints, any vehicle dynamics, and open-path (vs. closed-tour) problems.
Lunar meteorites from Oman

Abstract– Sixty named lunar meteorite stones representing about 24 falls have been found in Oman. In an area of 10.7 × 103 km2 in southern Oman, lunar meteorite areal densities average 1 g km−2. All lunar meteorites from Oman are breccias, although two are dominated by large igneous clasts (a mare basalt and a crystalline impact‐melt breccia). Among the meteorites, the range of compositions is large: 9–32% Al2O3, 2.5–21.1% FeO, 0.3–38 μg g−1 Sm, and <1 to 22.5 ng g−1 Ir. The proportion of nonmare lunar meteorites is higher among those from Oman than those from Antarctica or Africa. Omani lunar meteorites extend the compositional range of lunar rocks as known from the Apollo collection and from lunar meteorites from other continents. Some of the feldspathic meteorites are highly magnesian (high MgO/[MgO + FeO]) compared with most similarly feldspathic Apollo rocks. Two have greater concentrations of incompatible trace elements than all but a few Apollo samples. A few have moderately high abundances of siderophile elements from impacts of iron meteorites on the Moon. All lunar meteorites from Oman are contaminated, to various degrees, with terrestrial Na, K, P, Zn, As, Se, Br, Sr, Sb, Ba, U, carbonates, or sulfates. The contamination is not so great, however, that it seriously compromises the scientific usefulness of the meteorites as samples from randomly distributed locations on the Moon.
Effect of the presence of pre-service construction cracks in concrete decks on the thermal profile of composite steel-concrete bridges in cold regions

Thermally induced stresses in composite steel-concrete bridges are higher than those experienced by their concrete and steel cousins, leading to significant damage in the concrete deck and corrosion of the steel reinforcement. Bridge design engineers use thermal profiles prescribed by codes such as AASHTO to predict future service stresses. A 3D finite element model is presented that investigates the temperature distribution in a case study bridge with pre-existing construction deck cracks. The non-linear transient simulation is performed using actual environmental loads for a geographic region with severe climate (North Dakota), and the resulting profile is compared to that of AASHTO. The results show the thermal gradient proposed by AASHTO to be overly conservative in cold regions. Existing models seem to ignore the nonlinearity of the thermal gradient, which can be critical for thermal stress calculations. The pre-service deck cracks appear to have a considerable effect on both the vertical and the longitudinal temperature distributions, and it is recommended that they be given careful consideration by design codes.
Effects of wear load on mechanical and morphological properties of A356 matrix carbon nano tube composites

Abstract In this study, CNT-A356 composites were prepared by reinforcing an aluminum alloy A356 matrix material with carbon nanotubes (CNT) in 4 different ratio (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2) and the hardness, abrasion and microstructure properties of these composites were investigated. The powder metallurgy method was used in the production of composite samples. A356 powder and CNTs’ were mixed by ball milling for 1 hour and cold pressed in the powder compression mold. The mold was then taken into a functional oven and hot pressing was performed. The compacted powder bodies were sintered at 550° C for 1 hour in a 10−6 millibars vacuum environment. Hardness measurements, wear tests and microstructure analyzes of the produced samples were carried out. As a result of experimental studies; it has been observed that the CNTs’ are placed in bulk and between the matrix grains and a more hollow structure is formed by increasing the CNT ratio. Moreover, while the CNT ratio exceeded 1%, the hardness values decreased and weight loss increased. The highest hardness value was obtained in the composites containing 1% CNT.
Analysis of mechanical and dimensional properties of the denim fabrics produced with double-core and core-spun weft yarns with different weft densities

AbstractElastic structures are preferred for improving the elasticity and recovery properties of denim fabrics. With the intention of improving comfort during body movements in denim jeans, 10–35% elasticity is required. In this study, the effect of the composition of double-core (dual-core) and core-spun weft yarns and weft density on the mechanical properties of denim fabrics was investigated. For this purpose, different core materials were used in the production of elastic yarns. The sheath material was cotton for all yarn types. Yarn samples were spun with the same yarn count and twist coefficient. 100% cotton Ne 8/1 Ring slub warp yarns were used as warp yarn while double-core and core-spun yarns were used as weft yarns in weaving. The weaving process was performed with three different weft density values (16, 22, and 28 weft /cm) and the other production parameters were kept constant. Twill 3/1 woven fabrics were treated according to standard denim finishing procedures. After domestic washing proces.