Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drug therapy of epileptic seizures among adult epileptic outpatients of University of Gondar Referral and Teaching Hospital, Gondar, North West Ethiopia

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the practice of pharmacotherapy of epilepsy and its treatment outcomes in adult epileptic outpatients at the University of Gondar Referral and Teaching Hospital, Gondar, North West Ethiopia. Methods An institution based, retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from the medical charts of 336 adult epileptic patients at the outpatient epileptic clinic of Neurology Department of University of Gondar Teaching Hospital from May 2014 to April 2015. Reviewing follow-up information from the medical charts was used to evaluate antiepileptic drug (AED) prescribing patterns and treatment outcome. Data were collected by using data collection format and analyzed using SPSS software version 16. Results The most common type of seizure diagnosed was generalized tonic–clonic seizure (n=245, 72.91%). Monotherapy with an AED accounted for 80.35% of the cases, whereas dual therapy and polytherapy with three AED combinations accounted for 16.37% and 3.28%, respectively. The most frequently prescribed AED was phenobarbitone (62.47%) followed by carbamazepine (17.91%). From the total epileptic cases, 277 (82.4%) had well-controlled seizure status in the last three consecutive months. Conclusion Most of the patients were maintained by monotherapy, and largely this was by the older antiepileptic drug, phenobarbitone. Considering the development of pharmacotherapy of epilepsy and other patient related factors, the standard treatment guideline for Ethiopia needs to be revised periodically.
Perceptions of knowledge management and intellectual capital in the banking industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to capture the perceptions of knowledge management and intellectual capital in the banking industry. The reason for developing such a study is that little research has clearly addressed both subjects at the same time. After verifying that knowledge management and intellectual capital are identified as different concepts in the banking industry, the final aim of the paper is to identify the relevancy and perceived value of such organizational variables in the banks.Design/methodology/approach – This research paper follows a qualitative approach and considers two different knowledge management strategies: exploitation and exploration and three different intellectual capital components: human capital, internal structures and external structures. The paper develops and analyses several interviews in the banking industry at top management level across different banks.Findings – This study led to some interesting findings, allowing verification of most of the theoretical k.
SMC in space and time: a project to study the evolution of the prototype interacting late-type dwarf galaxy

Abstract We introduce the SMC in space and time, a large coordinated space and ground-based program to study star formation processes and history, as well as variable stars, structure, kinematics and chemical evolution of the whole SMC. Here, we present the Colour-Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs) resulting from HST/ACS photometry, aimed at deriving the star formation history (SFH) in six fields of the SMC. The fields are located in the central regions, in the stellar halo, and in the wing toward the LMC. The CMDs are very deep, well beyond the oldest Main Sequence Turn-Off, and will allow us to derive the SFH over the entire Hubble time.
Isolation and characterization of human melanoma cell variants expressing high and low levels of CD44.

Variants of the human melanoma cell line LT5.1 were selected for high and low expression of the Mr 90,000 CD44 glycoprotein by using the Hermes-3 monoclonal antibody combined with fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Cells were single cell cloned and clones of CD44 high-expressing and CD44 low-expressing phenotype were isolated. The variants, which exhibited up to a 7-fold difference between high and low expression, have maintained a stable phenotype over a period of 3 months in tissue culture. Northern blot analysis of mRNA from the different clones showed correlation of levels of transcripts with fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis data. Wound migration assays, utilizing the different clones, showed that the low-expressing clones manifested less motility than did cells showing high levels of CD44. Homotypic aggregation of cells was increased in those cells expressing high levels of CD44, and these variants were also better able to adhere to hyaluronate substrates. All of these activities were inhibited by the presence of anti-CD44 antibody. When injected i.v. into nu/nu BALB/c mice, the low-expressing clones gave significantly fewer lung nodules than the high-expressing clones, although the two variant types did not differ in their capacity to form s.c. tumors in similar mice. These results suggest that the CD44 molecule, possibly as a function of its activities as a hyaluronate receptor, may play a vital role in determining the fate of hematogenously disseminating melanoma cells.
Perceptual Training Prevents the Emergence of the Other Race Effect during Infancy

Experience plays a crucial role in the development of the face processing system. At 6 months of age infants can discriminate individual faces from their own and other races. By 9 months of age this ability to process other-race faces is typically lost, due to minimal experience with other-race faces, and vast exposure to own-race faces, for which infants come to manifest expertise [1]. This is known as the Other Race Effect. In the current study, we demonstrate that exposing Caucasian infants to Chinese faces through perceptual training via picture books for a total of one hour between 6 and 9 months allows Caucasian infants to maintain the ability to discriminate Chinese faces at 9 months of age. The development of the processing of face race can be modified by training, highlighting the importance of early experience in shaping the face representation.
Protective antigenic determinant of streptococcal M protein shared with sarcolemmal membrane protein of human heart

We present definitive evidence that at least one protective antigenic determinant on type 5 M protein of group A streptococci evokes antibody that is cross-reactive with human heart tissue. One of nine rabbits immunized with a peptide fragment of type 5 M protein (pep M5) produced antibody that cross-reacted by immunofluorescence with sarcolemmal membranes of human heart. The cross-reactive antibody could be removed by absorbing the antiserum with sarcolemmal membranes, types 5 and 19 streptococci, or their pepsin-extracted M proteins, but with no other serotypes tested. Although each of the pep M5 immune sera was opsonic for type 5 streptococci, only the heart-reactive antiserum opsonized type 19 streptococci. The opsonization of type 19 streptococci was abolished by absorbing the antiserum with sarcolemmal membranes isolated from human heart tissue. Purified heart-reactive antibodies eluted from sarcolemmal membranes opsonized both types 5 and 19 streptococci, indicating that the heart cross-reactive determinant of type 5 M protein is cross-protective. The cross-reactive antigen was purified by affinity chromatography from detergent extracts of sarcolemmal membranes and determined to be a complex protein composed of four subunits apparently linked by disulfide bonds.
Effects of Accent Strength Expectancy Violations on Language Attitudes

This study examined how violations of listeners’ expectancies of the strength of speakers’ foreign accents influence evaluations of foreign-accented speakers. Participants (N = 275) listened to a male or female speaker reading a short passage in Spanish-accented English. Compared to participants whose expectancies about the strength of speakers’ foreign accents were confirmed, listeners whose expectancies were negatively violated reported a more negative affective reaction and attributed less status to the speaker. Affect partially mediated the effect of negative expectancy violations on ratings of status. Participants whose expectancies were positively violated did not differ from those whose expectancies were confirmed on any dependent measures.
Numerical study on aluminum panels used in braced steel frames as energy dissipation systems

In this paper, aluminum panels were used to improve the seismic behavior of the braced steel frames. One of the methods used to improve the seismic behavior of structures is the use of vertical links as energy dissipation systems. Aluminum has a low yielding stress and it yields faster than steel which results in a significant ductility. The investigation method was simulation by ABAQUS software. The steel frames with 1, 4, 8 and 12 stories were modeled by four different bracing systems and two types of rectangular and square aluminum panels. The results of using aluminum panels were compared with Easy Going Steel (EGS) through the structure capacity curves. The results indicate that using the aluminum panel as vertical link in braced steel frames made significant energy dissipation.
Routes and relations in Scandinavian interfaith forums: Governance of religious diversity by states and majority churches

In the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as elsewhere in Europe, governance of religious diversity has become a matter of renewed concern. A unique aspect of the Scandinavian situation is the hegemonic status of the respective Lutheran Protestant majority churches, usually referred to as ‘folk churches’, with which the majority of the population associates, alongside a prevalence of high degrees of regional secularism. As such, the majority churches have played a key role as both instigators and organisers of several interfaith initiatives, and have thereby come to interact with the public sphere as providers of diversity governance. Based on country-level studies of policy documents on majority-church/interreligious relations and field studies, this article sets out to explore the prompting and configuration of majority-church-related interfaith initiatives concerning church–state relations and the governance of religious diversity.
A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies. II. Formation of Red Ellipticals

We develop and test a model for the cosmological role of mergers in the formation and quenching of red, early-type galaxies. By combining theoretically well-constrained halo and subhalo mass functions as a function of redshift and environment with empirical halo occupation models, we predict the distribution of mergers as a function of redshift, environment, and physical galaxy properties. Making the simple Ansatz that star formation is quenched after a gas-rich, spheroid-forming major merger, we demonstrate that this naturally predicts the turnover in the efficiency of star formation and baryon fractions in galaxies at ~L* (without any parameters tuned to this value), as well as the observed mass functions and mass density of red galaxies as a function of redshift, the formation times of early-type galaxies as a function of mass, and the fraction of quenched galaxies as a function of galaxy and halo mass, environment, and redshift. Comparing our model to a variety of semianalytic models in which quenching is primarily driven by halo mass considerations or secular/disk instabilities, we demonstrate that our model makes unique and robust qualitative predictions for a number of observables, including the bivariate red fraction as a function of galaxy and halo mass, the density of passive galaxies at high redshifts, the emergence/evolution of the color-morphology-density relations at high redshift, and the fraction of disky/boxy (or cusp/core) spheroids as a function of mass. In each case, the observations favor a model in which some mechanism quenches future star formation after a major merger builds a massive spheroid. Models where quenching is dominated by a halo mass threshold fail to match the behavior of the bivariate red fractions, predict too low a density of passive galaxies at high redshift, and overpredict by an order of magnitude the mass of the transition from disky to boxy ellipticals. Models driven by secular disk instabilities also qualitatively disagree with the bivariate red fractions, fail to predict the observed evolution in the color-density relations, and predict order-of-magnitude incorrect distributions of kinematic types in early-type galaxies. We make specific predictions for how future observations, for example, quantifying the red fraction as a function of galaxy mass, halo mass, environment, or redshift, can break the degeneracies between a number of different assumptions adopted in present galaxy formation models. We discuss a variety of physical possibilities for this quenching and propose a mixed scenario in which traditional quenching in hot, quasi-static massive halos is supplemented by the strong shocks and feedback energy input associated with a major merger (e.g., tidal shocks, starburst-driven winds, and quasar feedback), which temporarily suppress cooling and establish the conditions of a dynamically hot halo in the central regions of the host, even in low-mass halos (below the traditional threshold for accretion shocks).
According to Plan? Examining the Intended and Unintended Treatment Effects of EL Classification in Early Elementary and the Transition to Middle School

Abstract Research has demonstrated that classification as an English learner (EL) is consequential for students, with important effects on educational achievement and attainment. Yet we know little about the mechanisms that underlie the effects of EL classification. This study explores whether, and to what extent, EL classification results in the treatments it is designed to trigger, and also whether, and to what extent, EL classification triggers unintended treatments. The study uses longitudinal school district data and regression discontinuity analyses to evaluate the treatment effects of EL classification. It examines two moments: initial classification as students enter kindergarten, and retained EL classification as students transition into middle school. Findings suggest that EL classification, for students near the margin of classification, results in many treatments it is intended to trigger including language assessments in early elementary, and English language development instruction and modified content instruction in middle school. In addition, findings show that EL classification triggers two unintended treatments among students; Classification limits access to English speaking peers in early elementary, and negatively impacts enrollment in a full academic course load in middle school.
Clinical Profile of HIV/AIDS-infected Patients Admitted to a New Specialist Unit in Dhaka, Bangladesh—A Low-prevalence Country for HIV

This paper describes the clinical features of a series of patients admitted to the specialist HIV/AIDS unit (Jagori) of the Dhaka Hospital, ICDDR, B (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) during May 2008–February 2010. Data were collected from a review of documents and electronic case-records and collation of laboratory results with respect to CD4 counts. One hundred and nine patients were admitted during this period. Their mean age was 33.4 years, and 62% were male. On admission, the mean CD4 count±standard deviation (SD) was 244±245 (range 2-1, 549). The death rate was 12%. The patients were classified as World Health Organization clinical stage 1: 23%, stage 2: 30%, stage 3: 23%, and stage 4: 24% during the admission. The commonest diagnosis recorded was tuberculosis (TB) (23%), which was also the commonest cause of death (38%). Even for those clinicians with limited experience of managing AIDS cases, the commonest problem encountered in this patient group was TB, reflecting the continued high burden of TB on health services in Bangladesh. Additional challenges to managing TB/HIV co-infection include atypical presentations in HIV-infected persons and the complex drug interaction with antiretroviral therapy.
Post‐training excitotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus attenuate forward trace, backward trace, and delay fear conditioning in a temporally specific manner

The present study sought to determine whether post‐training excitotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus would disrupt retention of fear conditioned using a trace procedure. Rats were trained using one of six procedures. Forward trace conditioning consisted of 10 trials in which a 16‐s tone conditional stimulus (CS) was followed by a 28‐s stimulus‐free trace interval and then a mild footshock unconditional stimulus (US). We used two forms of delay conditioning where the tone and footshock co‐terminated. Short delay used a 16‐s tone and long delay used a 46‐s tone. Backward trace conditioning was the same as forward trace, except that the order of the CS and US was reversed. CS‐only and US‐only were similar to forward trace except that the footshock or tone, respectively, was eliminated. One day later, animals received either an N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA)‐induced lesion of the dorsal hippocampus or sham surgery. One week later, the rats were tested for freezing to the tone in a novel context. The next day, they were tested for freezing to the original training context. Hippocampal lesioned trace conditioned rats showed significantly less freezing during the tone compared with their sham lesioned controls. The lesion did not affect freezing during the tone in delay conditioning, nor in the other training conditions. During the 1‐min period after tone offset, there was a trend in all hippocampal lesioned animals toward a deficit in freezing, compared with their corresponding sham lesioned controls, although only short delay, forward and backward trace groups showed a significant deficit. Hippocampal lesions also attenuated contextual conditioning. Thus, the hippocampus is critical for the consolidation and/or expression of a trace fear conditioned stimulus. Hippocampus 2002;12:495–504. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Essays on the Behavioral Economics of Social Preferences and Bounded Rationality : Essays over de Gedragseconomie van Sociale Preferenties en Beperkte Rationaliteit

textabstractHumans sometimes behave very selfishly, yet in other cases they prefer to help others. These “social preferences” in turn play a key role in many economic phenomena ranging from financial fraud to charitable donations. This dissertation presents a series of lab- and field-experiments about the drivers of social preferences, with a particular focus on bounded rationality, culture and beliefs. These experiments are conducted in a diverse set of populations, ranging from bank employees to entrepreneurs in a developing country to professionals in charitable organizations. The results indicate that humans differ considerably in their prosociality. Furthermore, well-intended “nudges” such as a group-level ethics training can be ineffective or even cause more selfish behavior. In addition, it is shown that people have a tendency to interp
Characterization of Photosynthetic Performance during Senescence in Stay-Green and Quick-Leaf-Senescence Zea mays L. Inbred Lines

The net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence and 820 nm transmission were investigated to explore the behavior of the photosynthetic apparatus, including light absorption, energy transformation and the photoactivities of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI) during senescence in the stay-green inbred line of maize (Zea mays) Q319 and the quick-leaf-senescence inbred line of maize HZ4. The relationship between the photosynthetic performance and the decrease in chlorophyll content in the two inbred lines was also studied. Both the field and laboratory data indicated that the chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and the photoactivities of PSII and PSI decreased later and slower in Q319 than in HZ4, indicating that Q319 is a functional stay-green inbred line. In order to avoid the influence of different development stages and environmental factors on senescence, age-matched detached leaf segments from the two inbred lines were treated with ethephon under controlled conditions to induce senescence. The net photosynthetic rate, light absorption, energy transformation, the activities of PSII acceptor side and donor side and the PSI activities decreased much slower in Q319 than in HZ4 during the ethephon-induced senescence. These results suggest that the retention of light absorption, energy transformation and activity of electron transfer contribute to the extended duration of active photosynthesis in Q319. Although the chlorophyll content decreased faster in HZ4, with decrease of chlorophyll content induced by ethephon, photosynthetic performance of Q319 deteriorated much more severely than that of HZ4, indicating that, compared with Q319, HZ4 has an advantage at maintaining higher photosynthetic activity with decrease of chlorophyll although HZ4 is a quick-leaf-senescence inbred line. We conclude that attention should be paid to two favorable characteristics in breeding long duration of active photosynthesis hybrids: 1) maintaining more chlorophyll content during senescence and 2) maintaining higher photosynthetic activity during the loss of chlorophyll.
Why continue to use social Apps? Exploring the influential factors from satisfaction, habit, and three perspectives

In conjunction with the worldwide use of smartphones, countless application software packages, commonly known as Apps, have also seen with rapid development. Despite the substantial number of downloaded Apps globally, factors influencing users’ continuance intention with App usage are still vague. Grounded in the IS continuance theory, this study introduces utilitarian, hedonic and social perspectives to investigate mobile App satisfaction, habit, and continuance of social App usage. Of 440 actual App users, 401 usable questionnaires collected for subsequent analysis. Structural equation modeling was employed in the data analysis. The results indicated that all three perspectives successfully explained satisfaction, habit, and continuance intention, except the path from perceived usefulness to continuance intention. In addition, satisfaction has significant effect on continuance intention, but habit failed to explained users’ continuance intention toward social Apps. Further discussions are provided.
The taming of IL‐12: suppressing the production of proinflammatory cytokines

Interleukin (IL)‐12 is a cytokine that possesses both proinflammatory and immunoregulatory activity. IL‐12, and the interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) that is induced by IL‐12, play central roles in the development of the Th1‐type immune responses that are required for immunity to intracellular pathogens. Recently a number of these pathogens, including Leishmania, measles virus, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), have been shown to subvert the development of cell‐mediated immunity by actively inhibiting the production of IL‐12. Similarly, the ligation of phagocytic receptors on macrophages has also been shown to suppress IL‐12 production. The suppression of IL‐12 production by receptor ligation occurs by at least two distinct mechanisms: one involves a direct inhibition of gene transcription and the other depends on the production of inhibitory cytokines. We review studies in which IL‐12 has been experimentally manipulated, and we compare the mechanisms by which this regulation can occur. Because the IL‐12 that is produced during acute inflammation and chronic autoimmune disorders can lead to exacerbated disease, the development of pharmacological means to suppress IL‐12 production is currently under investigation. This review focuses on the production of IL‐12 by antigen‐presenting cells and the methods by which the down‐regulation of IL‐12 production can be exploited either by pathogens or for therapeutic ends. J. Leukoc. Biol. 65: 543–551; 1999.