Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Withdrawing From School

Research on dropping out of school has focused on characteristics of the individual or institution that correlate with the dropout decision. Many of these characteristics are nonmanipulable, and all are measured at one point in time, late in the youngster’s school career. This paper describes two models for understanding dropping out as a developmental process that may begin in the earliest grades. The frustration-self-esteem model has been used for years in the study of juvenile delinquency; it identifies school failure as the starting point in a cycle that may culminate in the student’s rejecting, or being rejected by, the school. The participation-identification model focuses on students’ “involvement in schooling,” with both behavioral and emotional components. According to this formulation, the likelihood that a youngster will successfully complete 12 years of schooling is maximized if he or she maintains multiple, expanding forms of participation in school-relevant activities. The failure of a youngster to participate in school and class activities, or to develop a sense of identification with school, may have significant deleterious consequences. The ability to manipulate modes of participation poses promising avenues for further research as well as for intervention efforts.
A Quantitative Kinetic Model for the in Vitro Assembly of Intermediate Filaments from Tetrameric Vimentin*

In vitro assembly of intermediate filament proteins is a very rapid process. It starts without significant delay by lateral association of tetramer complexes into unit-length filaments (ULFs) after raising the ionic strength from low salt to physiological conditions (100 mm KCl). We employed electron and scanning force microscopy complemented by mathematical modeling to investigate the kinetics of in vitro assembly of human recombinant vimentin. From the average length distributions of the resulting filaments measured at increasing assembly times we simulated filament assembly and estimated specific reaction rate parameters. We modeled eight different potential pathways for vimentin filament elongation. Comparing the numerical with the experimental data we conclude that a two-step mechanism involving rapid formation of ULFs followed by ULF and filament annealing is the most robust scenario for vimentin assembly. These findings agree with the first two steps of the previously proposed three-step assembly model (Herrmann, H., and Aebi, U. (1998) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 8, 177-185). In particular, our modeling clearly demonstrates that end-to-end annealing of ULFs and filaments is obligatory for forming long filaments, whereas tetramer addition to filament ends does not contribute significantly to filament elongation.
Understanding Compressed Sentences: The Role of Rhythm and Meaning a

The language user can recognize words uttered by different speakers, even when they vary their intonation and speaking rate. In this paper we focus on the user’s ability to recognize word forms regardless of whether they are spoken fast or slow. Indeed, speech rate is highly variable in natural context. For example, a word uttered in isolation may be twice as long as the same word uttered in the middle of a sentence. However, regardless of the mode in which a word is pronounced, the two resulting acoustic signals activate the same lexical representation. That people have this ability suggests that speech must be coded in a time-invariant fashion. Psychologists are quite familiar with the study of perceptual invariance for the visual When it comes to speech, however, the study of perceptual invariance, in particular that of time, has generated less interest, and we are thus still unable to explain how the acoustic/phonetic processors solve this problem. Cognitive scientists who work in the area of speech recognition generally assume that subjects use their lexical knowledge to normalize the signal. Undeniably, lexical processing does intervene at some level, but we believe that normalization of the signal is a necessary part of prelexical processing, that is, it has to take place prior to the intervention of lexical lookup routines.
Endothelial function progressively deteriorates during normal pregnancy

Objective: To elucidate changes in endothelial function throughout the gestational period in normal pregnancy and its relationship with plasma soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) levels. Methods: Endothelial function was evaluated by reactive hyperemia index (RHI) using Endo-PAT2000 and plasma sFlt-1 levels were measured simultaneously by ELISA. Results: RHI gradually deteriorated with increasing gestational age. Plasma sFlt-1 levels exhibited a gradual increase at late pregnancy and were inversely correlated with RHI. Conclusion: Maternal endothelial function gradually deteriorates with increasing gestational age and there is an inverse correlation between endothelial function and plasma sFlt-1 levels in normal pregnancy.
Mechanical and dry sliding wear behavior of Al7075 alloy-reinforced with SiC particles

In this article, the experimental results of the mechanical and tribological properties of Al7075–SiC composites are presented. The composites of Al7075 containing 2–6 wt% SiC were fabricated by liquid metallurgy route. The experimental results showed that the density of the composites increase with increased SiC contents and are in line with the values obtained by the rule of mixtures. The hardness and tensile strength of the Al7075–SiC composites are found to be increased by increased volume percentage of ceramic phase at the cost of reduced ductility. The wear properties of the composites containing SiC exhibited the superior wear-resistance properties.
Short-Term Exposure to Exogenous Lipids in Premature Infants and Long-Term Changes in Aortic and Cardiac Function

Objective— Intravenous lipid use is associated with an acute hyperlipidemia, but long-term consequences have not been studied. We investigated whether elevated lipids in humans during the critical period of preterm neonatal life have a long-term impact on aortic and myocardial function relevant to adult disease. Methods and Results— We followed up 102 subjects born prematurely and now aged 23 to 28 years. Eighteen received intravenous lipids as neonates and were matched to controls with equivalent perinatal characteristics. Global and regional aortic stiffness and left ventricular function were assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Those who received intravenous lipids had greater aortic stiffness in early adulthood (P=0.0002), with greater stiffness in the abdominal aorta (P=0.012). The relationship was graded according to the elevation in neonatal cholesterol induced by intravenous lipids (P<0.0001) but not other metabolic parameters altered by the infusion. Peak systolic circumferential strain was also reduced in the lipid group (P=0.006), which, again, was proportional to neonatal cholesterol level (P<0.01). Conclusion— Aortic and myocardial function in young adulthood is associated with intralipid exposure during neonatal life for preterm infants, in a graded manner related to the rise in cholesterol. Circulating cholesterol during critical developmental periods may have long-term impacts on the human cardiovascular system.
Treatment Outcomes of Tuberculosis at Asella Teaching Hospital, Ethiopia: Ten Years’ Retrospective Aggregated Data

Background Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) has been one of the major strategies to combat the epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) globally. This study aimed to evaluate TB treatment outcomes between September 2004 and July 2014 under the DOTS program at one of the largest public hospitals in Ethiopia. Methods A retrospective data of TB patients registered at Asella Teaching Hospital between September 2004 and July 2014 were obtained from hospital registry. Treatment outcomes and types of TB cases were categorized according to the national TB control program guideline. Binomial and multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between treatment outcomes and potential predictor variables. Results A total of 1,755 TB patients’ records were included in the study. Of these, 945 (53.8%) were male, 480 (27.4%) smear-positive TB, 287 (16.4%) HIV positive, and 1,549 (88.3%) new cases. Among 480 smear-positive pulmonary TB cases, 377 (78.5%) patients were cured, 21 (4.40) completed the treatment, 35 (7.3%) transferred out, 19 (4.0%) died, 24 (5.0%) defaulted, and 4 (0.8%) failure. Overall, 398 (82.9%) smear-positive pulmonary TB patients were successfully treated. For smear-negative TB (n = 641) and extrapulmonary TB cases (n = 634), 1,036 (81.3%) completed the treatment and demonstrated favorable response. Taking all TB types into account, 1,434 (81.7%) were considered as successfully treated. In the multivariate binary logistic model, patients in older age group (AOR = 0.386, 95% CI: 0.250–0.596) and retreatment cases (AOR = 0.422, 95% CI: 0.226–0.790) were less likely to be successfully treated compared to younger and new cases, respectively. In multinomial logistic regression, age increment by 1 year increased the risk of death and default of TB patients by 0.05 (adjusted β = 0.05; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.06) and 0.02 (adjusted β = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.04). The odds of TB patients who died during treatment were higher among HIV-infected TB patients (adjusted β = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.28, 5.50). Conclusion The treatment success rate of TB patients was low as compared to the national target. TB control needs to be strengthened for the enhancement of treatment outcome.
A multidimensional data model for TPC-DS benchmarking

To evaluate the performance of OLAP engines, adapted benchmarks have been developed in the industry. In this paper, we propose a multidimensional model with cube structure for data analytic system benchmarking based on TPC-DS. A number of analytic operations corresponding with SQL templates are given with MDX forms. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed model on big data stores by experiments of SQL and MDX queries on relational DBMSs and NoSQL databases.
Automatic writer identification using fragmented connected-component contours

In this paper, a method for off-line writer identification is presented, using the contours of fragmented connected components in mixed-style handwritten samples of limited size. The writer is considered to characterized by a stochastic pattern generator, producing a family of character fragments (fraglets). Using a codebook of such fraglets from an independent training set, the probability distribution of fraglet contours was computed for an independent test set. Results revealed a high sensitivity of the fraglet histogram in identifying individual writers on the basis of a paragraph of text. Large-scale experiments on the optimal size of Kohonen maps of fraglet contours were performed, showing usable classification rates within a non-critical range of Kohonen map dimensions. Further validation experiments on variable-sized random subsets from an independent set of 215 writers gives additional support for the proposed method. The proposed automatic approach bridges the gap between image statistics approaches and manual character-based methods.
Social deprivation and mortality in adults with diabetes mellitus

To investigate the relationship between measures of social deprivation and mortality in adults with diabetes, data from 2104 randomly selected adults (>16 years of age) with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus from 8 hospital out‐patient departments were analysed. A total of 38 % of subjects had Type 1 (diagnosed before the age of 36 years and treated with insulin), 55 % were male and 85 % Caucasian. During a follow‐up period (mean (SD) of 8.4 (0.9) years), 293 (14 %) of the subjects died, the most commonly recorded cause of death being cardiovascular disease. Duration adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated separately for Type 1 and Type 2 subjects. The mortality rates for men were higher than for women (Type 1: OR 1.27, CI 0.61–2.62; Type 2: OR 1.79, CI 1.27–2.52); were higher for those of lower vs higher social class (Type 1: OR 1.34, CI 0.61–2.96; Type 2: OR 2.0, CI 1.41–2.85); and were higher for those who left school before 16 years of age compared to those who left school at or after 16 years of age (Type 1: OR 3.98, CI 1.96–8.06; Type 2: OR 2.86, CI 1.93–4.25). Subjects who were unemployed had a higher mortality rate than those employed at the time of the study (Type 1: OR 3.10, CI 1.67–5.79; Type 2: OR 2.88, CI 2.12–3.91) and those living in council housing had a greater mortality than those who were living in other types of housing (Type 1: OR 2.57, CI 1.35–4.91, Type 2: OR 2.76, CI 2.05–3.73). Also for both Type 1 and Type 2 subjects mortality was significantly higher in those subjects who had a least one diabetic complication at baseline and reported one or more hospital admissions in the previous year and in Type 2 subjects with poor glycaemic control. After adjusting for duration of diabetes, hospital admissions, and the presence of diabetic complications, being unemployed, male, in poor glycaemic control (Type 2 only), and less educated were significant risk factors for mortality (p<0.001). These results suggest that there are important indicators of social deprivation which predict mortality over and above diabetic health status itself. Locally targeted action will be required if these inequalities in health experienced by people with diabetes are to be reduced. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Is Abstraction a Kind of Idea or How Conceptualization Works

In this commentary, I review papers by Ohlsson & Regan (O&R), van Oers, and Dreyfus, Hershkowitz, & Schwarz (DH&S). The papers are nominally about abstraction and learning, but emphasize different kinds of problems and levels of analysis. O&R focus on mathematical, domain independent characteristics of abstract thinking, claiming that experience in a domain is not the main determinant of scientific discovery. van Oers focuses on the development of abstraction within activities, especially as a sequence of nested domains of concern. DH&S emphasize how nested conceptualizations co-define and provide meaning for each other (a dialectic relation).
Quantitative PCR analysis of DNA, RNAs, and proteins in the same single cell.

BACKGROUND The single cell represents the basic unit of all organisms. Most investigations have been performed on large cell populations, but understanding cell dynamics and heterogeneity requires single-cell analysis. Current methods for single-cell analysis generally can detect only one class of analytes. METHODS Reverse transcription and the proximity ligation assay were coupled with quantitative PCR and used to quantify any combination of DNA, mRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), and proteins from the same single cell. The method was used on transiently transfected human cells to determine the intracellular concentrations of plasmids, their transcribed mRNAs, translated proteins, and downstream RNA targets. RESULTS We developed a whole-cell lysis buffer to release unfractionated DNA, RNA, and proteins that would not degrade any detectable analyte or inhibit the assay. The dynamic range, analytical sensitivity, and specificity for quantifying DNA, mRNAs, miRNAs, ncRNAs, and proteins were shown to be accurate down to the single-cell level. Correlation studies revealed that the intracellular concentrations of plasmids and their transcribed mRNAs were correlated only moderately with translated protein concentrations (Spearman correlation coefficient, 0.37 and 0.31, respectively; P < 0.01). In addition, an ectopically expressed gene affected the correlations between analytes and this gene, which is related to gene regulation. CONCLUSIONS This method is compatible with most cell-sampling approaches, and generates output for the same parameter for all measured analytes, a feature facilitating comparative data analysis. This approach should open up new avenues in molecular diagnostics for detailed correlation studies of multiple and different classes of analytes at the single-cell level.
Mortality and long-term quality of life after percutaneous tracheotomy in Intensive Care Unit: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND Quality of life and mortality after percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy (PDT) has been poorly investigated. The aims of this study were to evaluate the independent risk factors for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) mortality and investigate quality of life over the first year after PDT in critically ill patients. METHODS This was a prospective, single-center, cohort study performed in a tertiary care University Hospital, enrolling consecutive ICU patients requiring elective PDT, collecting data during the tracheotomy procedure and the ICU stay. Follow-up was performed at three, six and twelve months after PDT. The medical interview included the Euro Quality of Life questionnaire comprising five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression). RESULTS A total of 137 patients were included in the study. In the multivariate analysis, ICU mortality was independently associated with age (OR 1.089; P=0.003) and SAPS II (OR 1.047; P=0.003), and inversely with neurologic disease (OR 0.162; P=0.004). Mortality increased over time (ICU mortality 26.7%; in-hospital mortality 43.1%; 3-months mortality 47.4%; 6-months mortality 61.3%; and 1-year mortality 70.8%; P=0.0001). Tracheostomized patients due to respiratory disease had a higher ICU mortality (50%) compared to those with neurological disease (13.6%). quality of life (QoL) of tracheostomized patients was severely compromised at 3-months (QoL: 17, 15-19), 6-months (QoL: 17; 16-19), while moderately compromised at 1-year (QoL: 13; 9-16). A subgroup analysis showed better QoL at 3-months, 6-months and 1-year in respiratory compared to neurological tracheostomized patients (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS Patients baseline characteristics and indication for PDT procedure are important determinants of in-ICU mortality and QoL in tracheostomized patients.
Pressure, Feed Rate, and Abrasive Mass Flow Rate Influence on Surface Roughness for Recombinant Bamboo Abrasive Water Jet Cutting

The effects of pressure, feed rate, and abrasive mass flow rate on surface roughness were investigated during abrasive water cutting of recombinant bamboo. Two different thicknesses (10 mm and 15 mm) of recombinant bamboo were cut in the longitudinal and transversal directions by abrasive water jet. All experiments were arranged using response surface methodology. The parameter Ra was selected to represent the surface roughness. The value of Ra increased with an increase in feed rate and abrasive mass flow rate, but decreased with an increase in pressure. The surface roughness was lower when cutting the fiber longitudinally than when cutting transversally.
Efficacy of intralesional recombinant human epidermal growth factor in diabetic foot ulcers in Mexican patients: A randomized double‐blinded controlled trial

The healing process in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is hindered by factors such as chronic inflammation, defects in fibroblast function, poor angiogenesis, and lack of cell migration. Recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) has been shown to enhance extracellular matrix formation, cellular proliferation, and angiogenesis. Therefore, intralesional application of rhEGF in DFU could accelerate wound healing. Our objective was to determine the efficacy and safety of rhEGF in patients with DFU. A randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled study was conducted comparing a thrice‐per‐week intralesional application of rhEGF (75 μg) or placebo in patients with DFU for 8 weeks. The number of completely healed ulcers, size, and wound bed characteristics were evaluated to determine the efficacy of rhEGF. Adverse events were recorded and analyzed to establish its safety. A total of 34 patients were recruited for the study. After three dropouts, we were able to follow and analyze 16 patients in the placebo group and 15 patients in the rhEGF study to the end of the trial. Baseline testing showed that both groups were similar. Compared to the placebo group, more ulcers achieved complete healing in the rhEGF group (rhEGF, n = 4; placebo, n = 0; p = 0.033); ulcers in the rhEGF group decreased in area size (12.5 cm2 [rhEGF] vs. 5.2 cm2 [placebo]; p = 0.049); and more epithelial islands in the wound bed were present (28% vs. 3%; p = 0.025). Mild transitory dizziness was the only side effect that was more frequently noted in the rhEGF group. Our results showed that in patients with DFU who received standard care, intralesional rhEGF application resulted in complete healing in more patients, promoted the epithelialization of the wound bed, and significantly reduced the area of the DFU treated. Therefore, rhEGF resulted in better outcomes for patients suffering from DFU.
Furin Overexpression Suppresses Tumor Growth and Predicts a Better Postoperative Disease-Free Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Furin is a member of the pro-protein convertase family. It processes several growth regulatory proteins into their active forms, which are critical to tumor progression, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Furin over-expression could occur in liver cancer and a previous study showed that over-expression of furin promoted HepG2 cell invasion in tail vein xenograft models. However, the clinical relevance of furin expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remained unknown. Surprisingly, in a postoperative survival analysis for HCC patients, it was found that the tumor/non-tumor (T/N) ratio of furin expression ≥ 3.5 in HCC tissues predicted a better postoperative disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.010; log-rank test). Furthermore, subcutaneous xenograft experiments demonstrated a significant suppression effect of tumor growth in the furin-overexpressed xenografts (Huh7-Furin) compared to the mock control. Administration of a synthetic furin inhibitor for inhibition of the pro-protein convertase activity, decanoyl-Arg-Val-Lys-Arg-chloromethylketone (decRVKR-CMK), to the Huh7-Furin xenograft bearing mice restored the repression effect of tumor growth. In contrast, administration of decRVKR-CMK to the mock Huh7 xenograft bearing mice showed no change in growth rate. In conclusion, furin overexpression inhibited HCC tumor growth in a subcutaneous xenograft model and predicted a better postoperative DFS in clinical analysis.
Risk factors for low birth weight in Nigeria: evidence from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey

Background Low birth weight (LBW) continues to be the primary cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Objective This study was undertaken to identify the predictors of LBW in Nigeria. Design The data for this study was extracted from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the National Population Commission. Several questionnaires were used in the survey, some covering questions on pregnancy characteristics. The inclusion criteria include mothers who gave birth to a child 5 years before the interview and aged 15–49 years who were either permanent residents or visitors present in the household on the night before the survey conducted. The birth weight of the infants was recorded from written records from the hospital cards or the mothers’ recall. Results The prevalence of LBW in this study was 7.3%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed an adjusted significant odds ratio for mothers from North West region (aOR 10.67; 95% CI [5.83–19.5]), twin pregnancy (aOR 5.11; 95% CI [3.11–8.39]), primiparous mother (aOR 2.08; 95% CI [1.15–3.77]), maternal weight of less than 70 kg (aOR 1.92; 95% CI [1.32–2.78]), and manual paternal employment (aOR 1.91; 95% CI [1.08–3.37]). Conclusions The risk factors for LBW identified in this study are modifiable. In order to reduce this menace in Nigeria, holistic approaches such as health education, maternal nutrition, improvement in socio-economic indices, and increasing the quality and quantity of the antenatal care services are of paramount importance.