Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A study on evaluating lipid profile of patients with diabetes mellitus

Background: The diabetic patients are at increased risk to develop lipid abnormalities (hyperlipidemia). Diabetic patients who have lipid abnormalities are more prone to develop cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the current study was to estimate lipid profiles of patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus at Savar area, Dhaka, Bangladesh.Methods: This was a multidisciplinary study conducted between January to April, 2017. A total of 105 known cases of type-2 diabetic patients were investigated. Demographic characteristics and clinical data situation of the patients were taken by interview questionnaire. About 5 ml of fasting venous blood sample was collected from each subject for biochemical analysis. Data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS-IBM) version 22.Results: Out of 105 patients, 64.8% patients were male and 35.2% were female. The mean±SD for age of patients was 47.67±5.9. The pattern of lipid abnormalities estimated was high serum triglycerides (TGs) in 58.1% patients, high serum total cholesterol (TC) in 61.9%, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in 44.8%, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in 53.3%. Among all the variables only HDL levels was found significantly associated with age group (p=0.043). Study also revealed that, among all the variables only LDL-C level was found significantly associated with education (p=0.028) and TC level was associated with gender (p=0.003). Conclusions: Hyperlipidemia is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Therefore maintaining good lipid profile can prevent development and progression of related complications among patient with diabetes mellitus.
Nursing Students’ Academic Performance in a Clinical Practice Course and Perceptions of Their Clinical Experience in Hospitals in Two Parishes in Jamaica

In nursing programmes, students are exposed to both theoretical and practical components. The main purpose of this study was to determine the academic performance of the nursing students in the clinical practice course during the 2017/2018 academic programme in a university in Jamaica. The study is also designed to investigate their perceptions of their clinical practice placement and to determine if there was a significant relationship between the students’ perceptions and their performance in the clinical practice course.An ex-post-facto design was used in the study. One hundred and seven Jamaican nursing students (3 males & 104 females) who were enrolled in a four-year degree nursing programme were purposefully selected for the study. A questionnaire which had a reliability coefficient of 0.87 was used to collect data from the nursing students. The nursing students who participated in the study completed at least 40 hours of clinical practice in the different units of the hospitals. These include the renal unit, medical ward, surgery ward, the psychiatric ward, and the maternity ward. Travelling was the main problem for the students who travelled for an average of 52.5 minutes to where they were posted. Approximately 88% used public transportation. The mean score for the academic performance of the nursing students was 80%. Approximately 40% of the nursing students felt that the patients were disrespectful. Seventy-four (69%) of the nursing students indicated that they would remain in the nursing profession after their training. There was a weak, positive relationship between nursing students’ perceptions and their performance in the clinical practice course (r = 0.23; n= 107, p =.017). Based on the findings, recommendations were made on how to address the issues encountered by the nursing students during their clinical practice, and how to continue to promote the intrinsic values of becoming a nurse so that more nursing students would want to remain in the profession.
SMAD pathway mediation of BDNF and TGFβ2 regulation of proliferation and differentiation of hippocampal granule neurons

Hippocampal granule cells self-renew throughout life, whereas their cerebellar counterparts become post-mitotic during early postnatal development, suggesting that locally acting, tissue-specific factors may regulate the proliferative potential of each cell type. Confirming this, we show that conditioned medium from hippocampal cells (CMHippocampus) stimulates proliferation in cerebellar cultures and, vice versa, that mitosis in hippocampal cells is inhibited by CMCerebellum. The anti-proliferative effects of CMCerebellum were accompanied by increased expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 and p27, as well as markers of neuronal maturity/differentiation. CMCerebellum was found to contain peptide-like factors with distinct anti-proliferative/differentiating and neuroprotective activities with differing chromatographic properties. Preadsorption of CMCerebellum with antisera against candidate cytokines showed that TGFβ2 and BDNF could account for the major part of the anti-proliferative and pro-differentiating activities, an interpretation strengthened by studies involving treatment with purified TGFβ2 and BDNF. Interference with signaling pathways downstream of TGFβ and BDNF using dominant-negative forms of their respective receptors (TGFβ2-RII and TRKB) or of dominant-negative forms of SMAD3 and co-SMAD4 negated the anti-proliferative/differentiating actions of CMCerebellum. Treatment with CMCerebellum caused nuclear translocation of SMAD2 and SMAD4, and also transactivated a TGFβ2-responsive gene. BDNF actions were shown to depend on activation of ERK1/2 and to converge on the SMAD signaling cascade, possibly after stimulation of TGFβ2 synthesis/secretion. In conclusion, our results show that the regulation of hippocampal cell fate in vitro is regulated through an interplay between the actions of BDNF and TGFβ.
SENSITIVITY OF GALLIUM SCINTIGRAPHY FOR EVALUATION OF RECURRENT LYMPHOMA: COMPARISON OF PLANAR AND SPECT IMAGING

Introduction: Although PET scanning using F-18[FDG] is considered the superior radiotracer for tumnor imaging, Gallium-67 is still in use for some malignancies such as lymphoma and hepatoma. One of the strategies to improve the diagnostic accuracy of Gallium is to perform SPECT which is reported to be more sensitive compared to planar imaging. In this study we compared the sensitivity of SPECT and planar imaging in patients suspicious of thoracic recurrent lymphoma. Methods: 129 patients with suspicious recurrent lymphoma of the thorax were included into the study. All patients received 10 mCi Gallium-67-citrate intravenously. Twenty four and 48 hours post injection whole body and thoracic SPECT imaging was performed. The final diagnosis of recurrence was achieved by combination of clinical and imaging findings or pathologic examination whenever possible. Results: The final diagnosis of 83 (64.3%) patients was recurrence of lymphoma in the thoracic area and the remainder 46 (35.7%) were in remission. The sensitivity of planar and SPECT imaging for diagnosis of recurrent lymphoma was 63% ([52-73%] with 95% confidence intervals) and 87% ([79-94%] with 95% confidence intervals), respectively. Conclusion: In our study, 20 patients with the final diagnosis of lymphoma recurrence in the thoracic area had negative planar despite positive SPECT imaging. This showed an increase of 24% in sensitivity of the scan (from 63% to 87%) by adding SPECT imaging to the procedure. Our recommendation is integrating SPECT modality into all gallium scintigraphy for lymphoma recurrence.
A generalized backdoor criterion

We generalize Pearl's back-door criterion for directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to more general types of graphs that describe Markov equivalence classes of DAGs and/or allow for arbitrarily many hidden variables. We also give easily checkable necessary and sufficient graphical criteria for the existence of a set of variables that satisfies our generalized back-door criterion, when considering a single intervention and a single outcome variable. Moreover, if such a set exists, we provide an explicit set that fulfills the criterion. We illustrate the results in several examples. R-code is available in the R-package pcalg.
An explanation of the relationship between mass, metabolic rate and characteristic length for placental mammals

The Mass, Metabolism and Length Explanation (MMLE) was advanced in 1984 to explain the relationship between metabolic rate and body mass for birds and mammals. This paper reports on a modernized version of MMLE. MMLE deterministically computes the absolute value of Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and body mass for individual animals. MMLE is thus distinct from other examinations of these topics that use species-averaged data to estimate the parameters in a statistically best fit power law relationship such as BMR = a(bodymass)b. Beginning with the proposition that BMR is proportional to the number of mitochondria in an animal, two primary equations are derived that compute BMR and body mass as functions of an individual animal’s characteristic length and sturdiness factor. The characteristic length is a measureable skeletal length associated with an animal’s means of propulsion. The sturdiness factor expresses how sturdy or gracile an animal is. Eight other parameters occur in the equations that vary little among animals in the same phylogenetic group. The present paper modernizes MMLE by explicitly treating Froude and Strouhal dynamic similarity of mammals’ skeletal musculature, revising the treatment of BMR and using new data to estimate numerical values for the parameters that occur in the equations. A mass and length data set with 575 entries from the orders Rodentia, Chiroptera, Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Perissodactyla and Proboscidea is used. A BMR and mass data set with 436 entries from the orders Rodentia, Chiroptera, Artiodactyla and Carnivora is also used. With the estimated parameter values MMLE can calculate characteristic length and sturdiness factor values so that every BMR and mass datum from the BMR and mass data set can be computed exactly. Furthermore MMLE can calculate characteristic length and sturdiness factor values so that every body mass and length datum from the mass and length data set can be computed exactly. Whether or not MMLE can calculate a sturdiness factor value so that an individual animal’s BMR and body mass can be simultaneously computed given its characteristic length awaits analysis of a data set that simultaneously reports all three of these items for individual animals. However for many of the addressed MMLE homogeneous groups, MMLE can predict the exponent obtained by regression analysis of the BMR and mass data using the exponent obtained by regression analysis of the mass and length data. This argues that MMLE may be able to accurately simultaneously compute BMR and mass for an individual animal.
The growth and assembly of a massive galaxy at z∼ 2

We study the stellar mass assembly of the Spiderweb galaxy (MRC 1138-262), a massive z = 2.2 radio galaxy in a protocluster and the probable progenitor of a brightest cluster galaxy. Nearby protocluster galaxies are identified and their properties are determined by fitting stellar population models to their rest-frame ultraviolet to optical spectral energy distributions. We find that within 150kpc of the radio galaxy the stellar mass is centrally concentrated in the radio galaxy, yet most of the dust-uncorrected, instantaneous star formation occurs in the surrounding low-mass satellite galaxies. We predict that most of the galaxies within 150 kpc of the radio galaxy will merge with the central radio galaxy by z = 0, increasing its stellar mass by up to a factor of ≃2. However, it will take several hundred Myr for the first mergers to occur, by which time the large star formation rates are likely to have exhausted the gas reservoirs in the satellite galaxies. The tidal radii of the satellite galaxies are small, suggesting that stars and gas are being stripped and deposited at distances of tens of kpc from the central radio galaxy. These stripped stars may become intracluster stars or form an extended stellar halo around the radio galaxy, such as those observed around cD galaxies in cluster cores.
The mass profile of A1413 observed with XMM-Newton: Implications for the M-T relation

We present an XMM-Newton observation of A1413, a hot (kT= 6:5 keV) galaxy cluster at z= 0:143. We construct gas and temperature profiles over the radial range up to1700 kpc. This radius corresponds to a density contrast 500 with respect to the critical density at the redshift of the cluster, or equivalently0:7r200. The gas distribution is well described by a model in the outer regions, but is more concentrated in the inner250 kpc. We introduce a new parameterisation for the inner regions, which allows a steeper gas density distribution. The radial temperature profile does not exhibit a sharp drop, but rather declines gradually towards the outer regions, by20% between 0:1r200 and 0:5r200. The projected temperature profile is well described by a polytropic model with= 1:07 0:01. We find that neither projection nor PSF eects change substantially the form of the temperature profile. Assuming hydrostatic equilibrium and spherical symmetry, we use the observed temperature profile and the new parametric form for the gas density profile to produce the total mass distribution of the cluster. The mass profile is remarkably well fitted with the Moore et al. (1999) parameterisation, implying a very centrally peaked matter dis- tribution. The concentration parameter is in the range expected from numerical simulations. There are several indications that beyond a density contrast 600, the gas may no longer be in hydrostatic equilibrium. There is an oset with respect to adia- batic numerical simulations in the virialised part of the cluster, in the sense that the predicted mass for the cluster temperature is40% too high. The gas distribution is peaked in the centre primarily as a result of the cusp in the dark matter profile. The X-ray gas to total mass ratio rises with increasing radius to fgas 0:2. These data strongly support the validity of the current approach for the modeling of the dark matter collapse, but confirm that understanding the gas specific physics is essential.
Micro-ribonucleic acids: potential noninvasive biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies globally. Each year, more than 500,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with HCC. The onset of HCC is typically unnoticeable, and the prognosis is usually poor. The early diagnosis of HCC and dynamic monitoring of this disease can contribute to more effective therapeutic interventions and improve patient outcomes. To achieve early diagnosis, more sensitive, specific, and easily detectable biomarkers are necessary. Recently, scientists have focused on identifying novel, sensitive, and minimally invasive or noninvasive biomarkers. Micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous noncoding single-stranded RNAs that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. By negatively regulating target-gene expression, miRNAs play a critical role in diverse biological processes, including apoptosis, proliferation, differentiation, and developmental timing. Unique changes in miRNA expression in serum or plasma samples from HCC patients have been reported, suggesting that miRNAs may serve as novel noninvasive biomarkers for diagnosing HCC and evaluating therapeutic responses or as potential therapeutic targets in HCC. This review focuses on recent progress in understanding the role of miRNAs in HCC pathogenesis and progression, and highlights their diagnostic and prognostic value for HCC patients.
Does Organizing for Creativity Really Lead to Innovation?

Stimulation of creativity has long been assumed to enhance innovation. Accordingly, organizing the work environment to unleash the creative potential of employees has been studied extensively. However, the present creativity literature has yet to produce sufficient empirical evidence to confirm this assumption, and therefore the generalizability of the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation remains indeterminate. This paper adopts the leading creativity and innovation models to identify the work environment characteristics stimulating creativity, and subsequently analyses whether this environment leads to product and process innovation in small and medium sized firms. The findings demonstrate that this environment does not yield the same results for product and process innovation, and particular factors of the work environment do not behave according to the expectations to enhance the likelihood of doing innovation. The study discusses these findings and advances the literature by showing that the relationship between organizational creativity and innovation is not generalizable, but is contingent upon the innovation type and, as the discussion will show, particular characteristics related to the firm. Accordingly, the paper suggests new research opportunities to further explore organizational creativity and innovation.
Prefrontal-Hippocampal Interactions in Memory and Emotion

The hippocampal formation (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) have well-established roles in memory encoding and retrieval. However, the mechanisms underlying interactions between the HPC and mPFC in achieving these functions is not fully understood. Considerable research supports the idea that a direct pathway from the HPC and subiculum to the mPFC is critically involved in cognitive and emotional regulation of mnemonic processes. More recently, evidence has emerged that an indirect pathway from the HPC to the mPFC via midline thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) may plays a role in spatial and emotional memory processing. Here we will consider how bidirectional interactions between the HPC and mPFC are involved in working memory, episodic memory and emotional memory in animals and humans. We will also consider how dysfunction in bidirectional HPC-mPFC pathways contributes to psychiatric disorders.
Top-Down Spatial Categorization Signal from Prefrontal to Posterior Parietal Cortex in the Primate

In the present study we characterized the strength and time course of category-selective responses in prefrontal cortex and area 7a of the posterior parietal cortex during a match-to-sample spatial categorization task. A monkey was trained to categorize whether the height of a horizontal sample bar, presented in rectangular frame at one of three vertical locations, was “high” or “low,” depending on whether its position was above or below the frame's midline. After the display of this sample bar, and after a delay, choice bars were sequentially flashed in two locations: at the top and at the bottom of the frame (“choice” epoch). If the monkey timed its response to the display of the choice bar that matched the sample bar, he was rewarded. We found that cells in prefrontal cortex discriminated category early after the initial sample bar was shown, and continued to differentiate “up” from “down” trials throughout the delay and choice periods. In contrast, parietal cells did not differentiate category until the choice period. Therefore, our results support the notion of a top-down categorical signal that originates in prefrontal cortex and that is only represented in parietal cortex when it is necessary to express the categorical decision through a movement.
A Commentary on Poudrier's "Tapping to Carter: Mensural Determinacy in Complex Rhythmic Sequences"

This paper is a brief commentary on Poudrier's (2017) research article titled "Tapping to Carter: Mensural Determinacy in Complex Rhythmic Sequences. " Poudrier's study aimed "to explore the relative salience of an implied beat in two contrasting rhythmic sequences" (p. 277) taken from one of Elliott Carter's compositions using a pulse finding paradigm. In our commentary, we critically evaluate the current approach and discuss further interpretations based on the author's results. Primarily, we argue that it is very difficult to draw any clear conclusions from the data (on a mathematical/statistical basis) because the recorded tapping behavior, namely the overall synchronization rate of the participants was far below chance level. These results therefore need to be interpreted with caution, which also implies that emergence of temporal expectations in terms of the concept of "mensural determinacy," originally conceptualized by Hasty (1997), still needs further clarification. Nevertheless, this study may serve as a fruitful example for a pulse finding study, offering some helpful insights into the methodological issues when applying a tapping paradigm to highly complex art/modern music.
Efficacy of 1.5% Dish Washing Solution and 95% Lemon Water in Substituting Perilous Xylene as a Deparaffinizing Agent for Routine H and E Staining Procedure: A Short Study

Aim. To assess the efficacy of dish washing solution and diluted lemon water in deparaffinizing sections during conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining technique. Objective. The objective is to utilize eco-friendly economical substitute for xylene. Materials and Methods. Using twenty paraffin embedded tissue blocks, three sections each were prepared. One section was stained with conventional H and E method (Group A) and the other two sections with xylene-free (XF) H and E (Groups B and C). Staining characteristics were compared with xylene and scoring was given. Total score of 3–5 was regarded as adequate for diagnosis and less than that inadequate for diagnosis. Statistical Analysis. Chi-square test, Kruskal Wallis ANOVA test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used. Results. Adequacy of nuclear staining, crispness, and staining for diagnosis were greater in both Groups A and C (100%) than Group B (95%). Adequacy of cytoplasmic staining was similar in all the three groups (100%). Group B showed comparatively superior uniform staining and less retention of wax. Conclusion. Dish washing solution or diluted lemon water can be replaced for xylene as deparaffinizing agent in hematoxylin and eosin procedure.
Good Character Is What We Look for in a Friend: Character Strengths Are Positively Related to Peer Acceptance and Friendship Quality in Early Adolescents

This study investigates the role of character strengths in peer relationships among early adolescents. A sample of students (N = 339; X ¯ age = 12.84 years, 53.1% female) nominated friends in the classroom and completed assessments of character strengths, the desirability and importance of character strengths in a friend, and friendship quality. Results indicate that the character strengths of honesty, humor, kindness, and fairness were most desirable and important in a friend. Perspective, love, kindness, social intelligence, teamwork, leadership, and humor were associated with higher peer acceptance. Dyadic analyses of mutual best friends suggested that a number of character strengths were also positively related to friend-rated friendship quality. Overall, the results demonstrate the relevance of character strengths for positive peer relationships in adolescents.