Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PARTICIPATION IN HOMESTEAD CATFISH PRODUCTION IN THE CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF DELTA STATE

The study examined the effects of socio-economic factors on participation in homestead catfish production, in the Central Agricultural zone of Delta State. Data for the study were obtained from a cross-section of 137 farmers engaged in fish farming, with the aid of questionnaire. Both descriptive and probit analysis was employed to analyse the data. The results indicated that majority of homestead catfish farmers were men (68.6%) while 70.1% of operators were married. About 93% of participants had some form of formal education, and the average pond size was 9.99m 2 . The results of the probit analysis showed that age, adults per household, marital status, years of education, pond size, disposable income and location of pond had positive effects, and were significant determinants of participation in homestead catfish production. The probit model had a good fit with a highly significant likelihood ratio (LR) test (P <0.00), a McFadden R 2 of 0.52, with 83.2% of cases correctly predicted. Given the low level of animal protein consumption and the rising fish import bill in Nigeria, there is the need to explore every means to boost domestic fish production, to conserve foreign exchange and to ensure self-sufficiency in fish production. And a policy of homestead catfish production may just be a right step in the right direction.
LONG CHAIN NON-ESTERIFIED FATTY ACID PATTERN IN PLASMA OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS PATIENTS AND THEIR PARENTS

Summary: The absolute and the percentage plasma NEFA pattern of healthy children, Cystic Fibrosis (C.F.) patients and their parents have been determined (table I, III, V) and compared with those of age and sex matched control subjects (table II, IV, V). There is a striking difference in the percentage plasma NEFA pattern of C.F. patients with pancreatic insufficiency: palmitic, palmitoleic and oleic acid are significantly increased while linoleic, linolenic and stearic acid are decreased (table IV). Four C.F. children without pancreatic involvement have the same abnormal NEFA pattern (fig. 3). The overlapping areas of the distributions of both palmitoleic and linoleic acid (as shown in fig. 2α and β) are small for healthy and C.F. subjects. About 90% of the C.F. subjects examined show an abnormal palmitoleic and/or linoleic acid concentration. Tested individually, recognition of this typical C.F. pattern involves a possible error of 15% (fig. 3). A correlation exists between the abnormality of the plasma NEFA pattern in C.F. patients and the severity of pulmonary disease.The percentage plasma NEFA pattern of C.F. parents is modified by an increase of linoleic acid and a decrease of saturated fatty acids (table V, fig. 1α,β). This is possibly due to an higher dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids.Speculation: It has not been convincingly demonstrated yet that the abnormal plasma NEFA pattern in Cystic Fibrosis is entirely due to malabsorption of dietary essential fatty acids. Rather, a primary defect in fatty acid metabolism also remains possible.
Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm with Two-Stage Eagle Strategy

Pointing at that Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm (ABC) has the defect of slow search speed and low precision, the article proposed an Improved Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm with Two-Eagle Strategy (ETABC) through using a kind of optimization method-Eagle Strategy, and proved the convergence of ETABC. The simulation results show that ETABC is more effective in solving optimization problems.
Bartter syndrome

Beginning in infancy, affected individuals often fail to grow and gain weight at the expected rate (failure to thrive). They lose excess amounts of salt (sodium chloride) in their urine, which leads to dehydration, constipation, and increased urine production (polyuria). In addition, large amounts of calcium are lost through the urine (hypercalciuria), which can cause weakening of the bones (osteopenia). Some of the calcium is deposited in the kidneys as they are concentrating urine, leading to hardening of the kidney tissue (nephrocalcinosis). Bartter syndrome is also characterized by low levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia), which can result in muscle weakness, cramping, and fatigue. Rarely, affected children develop hearing loss caused by abnormalities in the inner ear (sensorineural deafness).
Targeted deletion of murine coagulation factor XII gene-a model for contact phase activation in vivo

Summary To analyze the biological role of factor XII (FXII, Hageman Factor) in vivo, we generated mice deficient for FXII using a gene targeting approach on two distinct genetic backgrounds, i.e. mixed C57Bl/6J X 129X1/SvJ and inbred 129X1/SvJ. Homozygous FXII knockout (FXII-/-) mice showed no FXII plasma activity and had a markedly prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). In contrast, coagulation factors XI, VIII, IX, X,VII,V, II and fibrinogen did not differ between FXII-/- mice and their wild-type littermates. Heterozygous matings segregated according to the Mendelian inheritance indicating that FXII deficiency does not increase fetal loss. Furthermore, matings of FXII-/- males and FXII-/females resulted in normal litter sizes demonstrating that total FXII deficiency in FXII-/females does not affect pregnancy outcome. Also, gross and histological anatomy of FXII-/mice was indistinguishable from that of their wild-type littermates on both genetic backgrounds. Thus it appears that deficiency of murine FXII does not cause thrombophilia or impaired fibrinolysis in vivo. These results indicate that FXII deficiency does not affect hemostasis in vivo and we anticipate that the FXII-/mice will be helpful to elucidate the biological role(s) of FXII in health and disease.
Adenovirus hexon monoclonal antibody that is group specific and potentially useful as a diagnostic reagent

A monoclonal antibody to the adenovirus 2 hexon protein was produced and characterized as a group-specific antibody. Positive reactivity in immunoprecipitation, indirect immunofluorescence, and radioimmunoassays was observed with human, canine, swine, bovine, murine, and simian adenoviruses. This monoclonal antibody should provide a specific and sensitive diagnostic reagent for detection of all mammalian adenoviruses.
Universal properties of mythological networks

As in statistical physics, the concept of universality plays an important, albeit qualitative, role in the field of comparative mythology. Here we apply statistical mechanical tools to analyse the networks underlying three iconic mythological narratives with a view to identifying common and distinguishing quantitative features. Of the three narratives, an Anglo-Saxon and a Greek text are mostly believed by antiquarians to be partly historically based while the third, an Irish epic, is often considered to be fictional. Here we use network analysis in an attempt to discriminate real from imaginary social networks and place mythological narratives on the spectrum between them. This suggests that the perceived artificiality of the Irish narrative can be traced back to anomalous features associated with six characters. Speculating that these are amalgams of several entities or proxies, renders the plausibility of the Irish text comparable to the others from a network-theoretic point of view.
Is routine replacement of peripheral intravenous catheters necessary?

BACKGROUND Guidelines developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga, recommend that peripheral intravenous catheters be changed every 3 days. However, routine replacement of central venous catheters is no longer supported in their latest update. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the risk to patients of having peripheral intravenous catheters left in place for as long as they are clinically indicated. METHODS This observational study in a university-affiliated, 700-bed hospital was designed to evaluate the day-specific risk (incidence density) for phlebitis, catheter infection, and obstruction with catheters remaining in place as long as clinically indicated. All consecutive patients who required peripheral intravenous catheterization for 24 hours or more were enrolled during a 10-week period. Outcome variables are phlebitis, catheter-related infections, and obstruction. Evaluated risk factors include age, sex, underlying disease, anatomical insertion site, catheter diameter, first or subsequent catheter, duration of catheterization, type of admission, hospital location, type of infusate, and antibiotic therapy. RESULTS A total of 609 catheters that were in place for 1 to 28 days were evaluated. Phlebitis, catheter-related infection, and obstruction occurred in 19.7%, 6.9%, and 6.0% of catheters, respectively. We were unable to demonstrate an increased risk after 3 days of catheterization. The day-specific risk indicated a linear function of all outcome variables. CONCLUSIONS The hazard for catheter-related complications--phlebitis, catheter-related infections, and mechanical complications--did not increase during prolonged catheterization. The recommendation for routine replacement of peripheral intravenous catheters should be reevaluated considering the additional cost and discomfort to the patient.
Adaptive Discrete Hypergraph Matching

This paper addresses the problem of hypergraph matching using higher-order affinity information. We propose a solver that iteratively updates the solution in the discrete domain by linear assignment approximation. The proposed method is guaranteed to converge to a stationary discrete solution and avoids the annealing procedure and <italic>ad-hoc</italic> post binarization step that are required in several previous methods. Specifically, we start with a simple iterative discrete gradient assignment solver. This solver can be trapped in an <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-circle sequence under moderate conditions, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the order of the graph matching problem. We then devise an adaptive relaxation mechanism to jump out this degenerating case and show that the resulting new path will converge to a fixed solution in the discrete domain. The proposed method is tested on both synthetic and real-world benchmarks. The experimental results corroborate the efficacy of our method.
Nerve Conduction Studies of Median Motor Nerve and Median Sensory Branches According to the Severity of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Objective To evaluate each digital branch of the median sensory nerve and motor nerves to abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and 2nd lumbrical (2L) according to the severity of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods A prospective study was performed in 67 hands of 41 patients with CTS consisting of mild, 23; moderate, 27; and severe cases, 17. Compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) were obtained from APB and 2L, and median sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs) were recorded from the thumb to the 4th digit. Parameters analyzed were latency of the median CMAP, latency difference of 2L and first palmar interosseous (PI), as well as latency and baseline to peak amplitude of the median SNAPs. Results The onset and peak latencies of the median SNAPs revealed significant differences only in the 2nd digit, according to the severity of CTS, and abnormal rates of the latencies were significantly lower in the 2nd digit to a mild degree. The amplitude of SNAP and sensory nerve conduction velocities were more preserved in the 2nd digit in mild CTS and more affected in the 4th digit in severe CTS. CMAPs were not evoked with APB recording in 4 patients with severe CTS, but obtained in all patients with 2L recording. 2L-PI showed statistical significance according to the severity of CTS. Conclusion The branch to the 4th digit was mostly involved and the branch to the 2nd digit and 2L were less affected in the progress of CTS. The second digit recorded SNAPs and 2L recorded CMAPs would be valuable in the evaluation of severe CTS.
Thermal Transport Characteristics of Human Skin Measured In Vivo Using Ultrathin Conformal Arrays of Thermal Sensors and Actuators

Measurements of the thermal transport properties of the skin can reveal changes in physical and chemical states of relevance to dermatological health, skin structure and activity, thermoregulation and other aspects of human physiology. Existing methods for in vivo evaluations demand complex systems for laser heating and infrared thermography, or they require rigid, invasive probes; neither can apply to arbitrary regions of the body, offers modes for rapid spatial mapping, or enables continuous monitoring outside of laboratory settings. Here we describe human clinical studies using mechanically soft arrays of thermal actuators and sensors that laminate onto the skin to provide rapid, quantitative in vivo determination of both the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity, in a completely non-invasive manner. Comprehensive analysis of measurements on six different body locations of each of twenty-five human subjects reveal systematic variations and directional anisotropies in the characteristics, with correlations to the thicknesses of the epidermis (EP) and stratum corneum (SC) determined by optical coherence tomography, and to the water content assessed by electrical impedance based measurements. Multivariate statistical analysis establishes four distinct locations across the body that exhibit different physical properties: heel, cheek, palm, and wrist/volar forearm/dorsal forearm. The data also demonstrate that thermal transport correlates negatively with SC and EP thickness and positively with water content, with a strength of correlation that varies from region to region, e.g., stronger in the palmar than in the follicular regions.
Exploring the Role of Microorganisms in the Disease-Like Syndrome Affecting the Sponge Ianthella basta

ABSTRACT A disease-like syndrome is currently affecting a large percentage of the Ianthella basta populations from the Great Barrier Reef and central Torres Strait. Symptoms of the syndrome include discolored, necrotic spots leading to tissue degradation, exposure of the skeletal fibers, and disruption of the choanocyte chambers. To ascertain the role of microbes in the disease process, a comprehensive comparison of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other eukaryotes was performed in healthy and diseased sponges using multiple techniques. A low diversity of microbes was observed in both healthy and diseased sponge communities, with all sponges dominated by an Alphaproteobacteria, a Gammaproteobacteria, and a group I crenarchaeota. Bacterial cultivation, community analysis by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (Bacteria and Eukarya), sequencing of 16S rRNA clone libraries (Bacteria and Archaea), and direct visual assessment by electron microscopy failed to reveal any putative pathogens. In addition, infection assays could not establish the syndrome in healthy sponges even after direct physical contact with affected tissue. These results suggest that microbes are not responsible for the formation of brown spot lesions and necrosis in I. basta.
Probabilistic checking of proofs: a new characterization of NP

We give a new characterization of NP: the class NP contains exactly those languages <italic>L</italic> for which membership proofs (a proof that an input <italic>x</italic> is in <italic>L</italic>) can be verified probabilistically in polynomial time using <italic>logarithmic</italic> number of random bits and by reading <italic>sublogarithmic</italic> number of bits from the proof. We discuss implications of this characterization; specifically, we show that approximating Clique and Independent Set, even in a very weak sense, is NP-hard.
The Anorectic Actions of the TGFβ Cytokine MIC-1/GDF15 Require an Intact Brainstem Area Postrema and Nucleus of the Solitary Tract

Macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1/GDF15) modulates food intake and body weight under physiological and pathological conditions by acting on the hypothalamus and brainstem. When overexpressed in disease, such as in advanced cancer, elevated serum MIC-1/GDF15 levels lead to an anorexia/cachexia syndrome. To gain a better understanding of its actions in the brainstem we studied MIC-1/GDF15 induced neuronal activation identified by induction of Fos protein. Intraperitoneal injection of human MIC-1/GDF15 in mice activated brainstem neurons in the area postrema (AP) and the medial (m) portion of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), which did not stain with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). To determine the importance of these brainstem nuclei in the anorexigenic effect of MIC-1/GDF15, we ablated the AP alone or the AP and the NTS. The latter combined lesion completely reversed the anorexigenic effects of MIC-1/GDF15. Altogether, this study identified neurons in the AP and/or NTS, as being critical for the regulation of food intake and body weight by MIC-1/GDF15.
Validation of Three Body Composition Techniques with a Comparison of Ultrasound Abdominal Fat Depths against an Octopolar Bioelectrical Impedance Device

The aims of this study were to cross-validate three clinical-grade measures of body composition, using an octopolar Bioelectrical Impedance (BIA), an ultrasound analyzer (US) and Air-Displacement Plethysmography (ADP) and second to compare the US scans of total abdominal, subcutaneous and visceral fat depths (mm) against the trunk percent fat (%BF) from the octopolar BIA. Twenty-six college-aged (22.9 ± 1.35 years) men (n = 18) and women (n = 8) volunteered to participate in this study. Body composition was assessed using BIA (total and by segments), ADP and US. In addition, total abdominal, subcutaneous and visceral fat layers were measured using the US. All measurements were done in accordance with manufacturers’ guidelines. The %BF comparing the three clinical grade machines were all significantly correlated and no significant differences were found using a 1-way ANOVA. All three fat depths were significantly correlated to the trunk fat % via BIA, while significant differences were found for the 1-way ANOVA. A Tukey post-hoc test showed significant differences between the BIA trunk %BF and both subcutaneous and visceral US fat depths. Having valid ways to measure body composition and visceral fat that is accessible in terms of being transportable, cost effective, and simple to use, should become a part of preventive medicine.
Best Practice Elements of Multilevel Suicide Prevention Strategies

Background: Evidence-based best practices for incorporation into an optimal multilevel intervention for suicide prevention should be identifiable in the literature. Aims: To identify effective interventions for the prevention of suicidal behavior. Methods: Review of systematic reviews found in the Pubmed, Cochrane, and DARE databases. Steps include risk-of-bias assessment, data extraction, summarization of best practices, and identification of synergistic potentials of such practices in multilevel approaches. Results: Six relevant systematic reviews were found. Best practices identified as effective were as follows: training general practitioners (GPs) to recognize and treat depression and suicidality, improving accessibility of care for at-risk people, and restricting access to means of suicide. Although no outcomes were reported for multilevel interventions or for synergistic effects of multiple interventions applied together, indirect support was found for possible synergies in particular combinations of interventions within multilevel strategies. Conclusions: A number of evidence-based best practices for the prevention of suicide and suicide attempts were identified. Research is needed on the nature and extent of potential synergistic effects of various preventive activities within multilevel interventions.
Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing Country Multinationals: Identifying Company and Country-Level Influences

ABSTRACT: The extant literature on cross-national differences in approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has mostly focused on developed countries. Instead, we offer two inter-related studies into corporate codes of conduct issued by developing country multinational enterprises (DMNEs). First, we analyse code adoption rates and code content through a mixed methods design. Second, we use multilevel analyses to examine country-level drivers of differences in code content—specifically, elements of a country’s National Business System (NBS). We find that DMNEs are much more likely to adopt a code of conduct than their domestic counterparts; however, this does not translate into greater code comprehensiveness. We also find support for the ‘substitute view’ of CSR in developing countries, i.e. that MNEs from poorer countries and from countries with lower governance effectiveness tend to express more comprehensive commitments. However, this dynamic does not extend to a country’s labour system; instead, CSR appears here to match the efficiency of a country’s labour market, thus reflecting the ‘mirror view’ of CSR.
Influenza Vaccination of Healthcare Workers

Abstract Objective: To assess factors associated with influenza vaccination of healthcare workers. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: University-affiliated Veterans' Affairs medical center. Participants: Staff physicians and nurses employed by the medical center. Methods: A mailed, self-administered questionnaire. Results: The response rate was 38.0%. The mean age of the respondents was 43.6 years, 71.5% were females, and 26.2% were physicians. Nearly all of the practitioners had daily or weekly contact with elderly or high-risk patients. The influenza vaccination rate of the respondents was 61.2%. More than 50% of vaccine recipients indicated that avoiding illness, protecting patients, and being able to receive the vaccine conveniently and free of charge all were very important factors influencing their decisions to receive the vaccine. Avoiding illness was rated the most important factor by 58.8% of vaccine recipients. Among vaccine nonrecipients, concern about side effects was identified as a very important factor by 36.2% and as the most important factor by 30.9%. Vaccine recipients were significantly more likely than were vaccine nonrecipients to indicate that influenza and its complications are very serious for high-risk patients. They also were more likely to report that the vaccine is very effective, that influenza vaccination is uncommonly associated with side effects, that healthcare workers' risk for contracting influenza is higher than the general public's risk, and that it is very important for healthcare workers to receive the vaccine to decrease risk for transmission to high-risk patients. After stepwise logistic regression, variables independently associated with receipt of vaccine were age, prior receipt of vaccine, being a physician, considering the vaccine to be very effective, believing that systemic side effects are uncommon, and indicating that it is very important for healthcare workers to receive vaccine for the protection of their patients. Conclusion: Many healthcare workers fail to receive influenza vaccine each year. Strategies to improve immunization levels should address concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy, barriers to vaccination including inconvenience and cost, and the reasons for targeting healthcare workers.